What an eventful week it’s been!
On Friday, Becky & I went to Bristol, met Sam, and the three of us went to see OMD at the Harbourside. It was, no surprise, excellent as they belted out hit after hit, after hit long into the night, ending at 11am. Just for the record, they were ably supported by the Undertones
Sam seemed in good form, it was good to hear about his job, what he actually does, and that he seems to be enjoying it, and living in Bristol.
A trip to see OMD is more exciting than what a do in a normal week, but this has been no normal week. It has been hot, hot, hot, hitting in excess of 36 degrees on Thursday, and we have been living under a red heat alert on Wednesday and Thursday. It has been uncomfortably hot; fortunately it was the last week of term with Y9 out on camp, Y11 and U6th departed after exams, leaving only Y10 and L6 in school, who were allowed to leave early if they wished due to the heat so work was easier than it might normally have been. We were allowed to wear sports/PE kit, meaning days in shorts which helped, but as the week wore on, and despite best efforts of closed curtains, blinds and windows during the day, the temperature inside both at home and school crept inexorably upwards.
Although Wednesday and Thursday were the most blisteringly hot, Monday was hot but come the evening, circa 5.30 pm, we were hit by the most intense storm, the like of which I have not seen before. It went dark – so dark the street lights came on – and then the rain began to fall in buckets, lightening lit the sky, thunder roared and the wind whipped trees and plants in a frenzy.
Even after the storm had passed, the sky continued to rumble in angry torment – not the odd rumble of thunder, but just continual noise from the sky. It really did feel like the end of days.
Friday came, and it was the end of the school year – hooray! This has been a better year than last, of course not easy, but much more tolerable than last year, in a large part due to a better year group. This time last year I was questioning why I did it, and I knew this year could be pivotal, but after a much better year, next year (which is still a blessed 10 weeks away!) holds no fears and my current thinking is to then do another 10/11 cycle after that. Very different from how I felt this time last year. Anyway, term finished, the temperature started to drop a little and I found a cooler spot to sit outside and read.
Sophie came home on Saturday, as we are off to see Scouting for Girls at the Cheese and Grain in Frome this evening – as I said, a very eventful week – and last night the three of us took advantage of the lower temperatures to go for a walk at Ham Wall
And then tomorrow I need to start packing for our next adventure, 5 weeks in Greece.
