Half term has finally arrived, and I took the opportunity of a dry day yesterday to begin clearing the front bed ready for my spring bulbs to be planted. I cut down the sunflowers – one was still flowering so I cut off the flowers to bring indoors (pic above) and have also hung up a couple of big heavy seed heads out the back, and also out the front and I was encouraged that today a couple of Great Tits seem to have found the ones in the back to start feeding from.
Bumped into Sam delivering team – teas at Kingweston on Wednesday. He’s on a term-time only contract so is also enjoying half-term, yesterday he went up to Bristol. In true start of holiday style, after a prolonged period of dry weather, today has been wet, with heavy mizzle pretty much all day, which has now turned to proper rain. Tomorrow and Tuesday don’t promise to be much better so my trugg clearance and bulb planting will be on hold until after we return from Lisbon.
Today I ran 10K for the first time in over a year – 17 months to be precise. Checking my logs, I last ran 10K on 12 May 2024, and today is 12 October 2025.
As I wrote last week, my running has picked up of late and whilst I have been thinking that running a 10K is no too far off, I didn’t intend to do so today, however I had a bit of a Forest Gump moment and it just seemed right to keep running. After about 5 or 6 K I was thinking I might add in the extra K on top of my seven to make an 8K run – a stepping stone to future distance – but as I ran up the hill, past our house to the traffic lights it just seemed right to keep going straight ahead for the 10 rather than turn right to make it 8.
It had promised to be another nice day – yesterday afternoon was sunny and warm and today’s forecast was for similar so I set off running in two t-shirt layers which was fine, apart from my hands which were cold for most of the time, only warming up for the final three kms. The promised burn through of the sun hasn’t happened, and I would say its been cold today, with a stiff, chill breeze. Becky also got up early to go for a walk along the river, hoping to see the mist lift. It was just damp! But she did get the above photos of a sign that has appeared on the bypass roundabout.
The garden, particularly out the back, continues to bloom and flourish, my Bizzie Lizzies flowering fully, and the geraniums still looking strong and colourful. The sunflowers at the front are still bravely blooming, but they are beginning to look a little threadbare. There days are numbered – soon I will be taking them up to get my spring bulbs planeted.
The trees are defiantly all turning, time to soak in the sight of their colourful display as, before too long, they will be bare and barren – summer is over, autumn is upon us and winter is coming! The pic above is of the tree on the road outside the house – taken today 12/10/25, full of berries!.
Today, I went for a run – 7K, not especially quick, but for the first time in a long time (say about a year or more) I felt strong and fit, and that I had something left in the tank at the end of the run. None of my splits were sub 5 mins – those days seem an age ago – but most were sub 5m 10 sec. I’ve also felt quite fit whilst refereeing of late, still able to put in a sprint in the last 10 mins or so of a match. I’ve also been doing some weights – that probably sounds more than what I am doing, but after my run today, and a few evenings (when I have remembered!) I’ve spent 5 -10 mins with x 2 3Kg weights, and also have done a few sit ups as well. Looking back through my exercise logs, I think things really began to drop of throughout 2024, which was then compounded at the start of this year when I seemed to be pulling muscles for fun in the first few months of the year. I do feel fitter than I have for a long time, and that feels good.
Sophie’s also been exercising, her is a picture of her following her first Korf ball fixture of the season.
Weather wise, its been a typical end of September and start of October. Monday morning we woke up to cobwebs festooned across the garden …
and then the day ended in still, calm sunshine …
Note how the Tor has returned to green from the summer brown …
and we’ve been treated to some beautiful fiery orange, or perfect pink, sunsets.
… and then the next day dawned with the Tor emerging from the mist
Then, on Friday and Saturday, the first storm of the season struck. Friday was very wet, Saturday was very windy, and today has been, on and off, pleasantly sunny with a stiff breeze.
And Becky was delighted today to discover a second, if small (circa 3 or 4!) crop of figs
And the sunflowers keep on flowering (along with the geraniums and Bizzie Lizzes) – the pic at the top of the page was from today, the garden still looks lovely in full bloom.
In the week, Take That announced a tour for summer 2026 and so, on Thursday, the scrabble for tickets began. Neither Sophie nor I where successful, but Becky managed to bag a pair of tickets for her and Sophie to go and see them in Cardiff, and then another two for me and her to see them in Southampton – crucially, during May half term.
It has been a week of looking ahead, and our schedule for our summer Ionian excursion is beginning to firm up and today we booked two of our accommodations:
This, in Spartochori on the island of Meganisi, and this in Fiskado on Kefaloni:
After an early September dominated by rain, this last week has been sunny and pleasant, and today the sun has been beautifully warm, allowing me to sit outside, read my book and chill in the radiated warmth and glow of late September sun. The garden continues to flourish with flowers in full bloom, the geraniums and Bizzie Lizzies in particular providing bright splashes of colour. And a number of sunflowers, both front and back, continue to throw out new flowers – the flowers are not big, but it seems the multi-headed flowers are the success story of late summer blooming.
and although this should have probably have been in last week’s post (it was at a BBQ on the Thursday before we broke for exeat) I thought I’d post it here: father and son at work together!
Its exeat weekend, and Becky and I took the opportunity to go to Bristol to watch Starter for Ten an the Old Vic.
It was excellent – a great show, I really, really enjoyed it. Its a long time since I read the book but I could pretty much remember the block of the story as it unfolded. I didn’t really know what to expect before we went, but it was musical theatre, in a wonderful small venue; I do think it is the best bit of theatre I can recall seeing in a long time.
And to conclude the day, we went to The Stables to eat after the show (we had been to the matinee) I had beef nachos, Becky had a pizza, but it was so big I had several slices of that, too.
Today, I refereed on the Bridgwater & District Sunday league – they were short of a ref, I was asked and agreed to do it – enjoyed the game. I ran yesterday morning and I do think that my level of fitness is returning to a level I haven’t enjoyed for maybe a year or so. My running times are inching down, and when refereeing I am finding I can, once again, turn on that little burst of pace when needed.
This afternoon I spent a happy couple of hours in the garden, mainly tidying up the “raspberry patch” and then planting last year’s bulbs, in the hope of some Spring colour.
Medical: my right arm, and neck/shoulder area hurts, I think RSI from using a computer and mouse without giving myself the necessary support. Will monitor and report back.
Late on Monday night/early Tuesday morning, Becky and Sophie returned from Corfu, and then, during the day on Tuesday, Sophie headed home to Cardiff. Whilst travelling along the M4 near Newport, she heard a rumbling, followed very swiftly by feeling something very amiss, and seeing her rear right car tyre disintegrate.
She made it to the hard shoulder and called the AA. Fortunately they came within the hour, put a spare (of their own) on her car and drove with her to a nearby tyre shop. She got a new tyre for £65, and was on her way. A drama that fortunately didn’t become a crisis.
The weather continues to be predominantly wet, the temperature has fallen and it does feel definitively autumnal. After a few chilly nights in bed, the lightweight summer duvet has been taken off, replaced with the heavier winter one, and I shall be turning the heating back on this evening.
The garden, however, has enjoyed the almost continual rain. My sole surviving pumpkin* – a small self seeder in the front trug – is shaping and colouring up nicely.
(* I have, today, spotted another fruit, from the plants I planted in the front, where the box tree was, that does seem to be swelling. But this has been a season of false dawns as far as pumpkins are concerned, plus its late in the season. Will watch with interest and hope, but I don’t think that hope will amount to much)
Sunflowers – both in the front and back – are continuing to flower
which, along with my geraniums, lobelia and Bizzie Lizzies (bought late in the season) continue to provide interest and colour against the drab grey skies.
And it seems to be a good year for cyclamen, with swathes of pretty pink flowers carpeting the borders, particularly in the front. Knowing that late autumn and winter are not too far away, I’m keen to extend the colour in the garden as long as possible, and so far my plan seems to be working …
After the long hot summer, the inevitability of the first day of school dawned on Monday and it was back to work (for some of us)
Sam is working in the kitchens and, despite some moaning, is, I think enjoying it. The routine is good for him, and he got to see his old Art teacher (Jenny Weare) from The Blue School.
But not all of us have had our noses to the grindstone: Becky and Sophie have been having a lovely chilled* week in Corfu.
*chilled apparently, except when travelling by Greek bus (back from Corfu town). “Inhumane” see described the journey – and she’s probably right – but I would still happily swap 40 ins in an overcrowded bus if it meant I could spend the days bobbing in the clear blue sea, rather than dodging the immense rain we have been having hear in England this week. Thunder, lightening and biblical rain this morning – fortunately I had agreed to referee this morning, else I would have been caught it whilst running (was dry when I first got up). Match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch, so with Sam at work, I’ve had a lazy day of snoozing and music.
I think, sadly, it is time to say “so long” to summer. Since Tuesday I’ve been spending an increasing amount of time in school. and this has been coupled with a marked turn in the weather, and a return to rainy days.
But its been a magnificent summer. Greece was great, Nice was nice, Sam’s graduation was fun, and all of that before August, a hot, dry, month that just stretched out in front of us. (Almost) every day was dry and warm and I think the consistency just made it so magnificent – no thinking I must do that on Tuesday as it will be the only dry day. Although I’ve not done a lot, I don’t feel I wasted a day, sat inside, bored and with nothing to do but watch the rain outside the window. I’ve read a lot, and enjoyed being immersed in a good book; I’ve run quite a bit: 83 km in August (that will be pushed to 90 if I run tomorrow morning); I’ve refereed a number of games, mainly at Ashcott, but including a return to the Bridgwater Sunday league (albeit in a friendly) and I’ve enjoyed all the games I’ve done. My garden has been magnificent all summer, a source of joy, wonder and contentment at all times. I’m writing on a Saturday as tomorrow afternoon I need to go into school to meet and greet new Year 10 parents, and the term proper starts on Monday. I’d rather still be on holiday, but I do feel ready for the new school year, in part to see what it holds, I think it could be pivotal to my thinking for the next few years to come.
Sam has started work at school, working in the kitchens. It will be good for him to have some structure and routine, and to start earning some money. Sophie has had an offer accepted on a house, so that is really exciting; as a family it does seem like we are on the cusp of a new chapter in all our lives.
The weather has continued to be dry – I can’t recall the last significant rainfall – although it has been a little cooler this week, although has heated up again over the last couple of days, and tomorrow, to, promises to be a scorcher. But come Tuesday onwards, we are forecast rain at times for the rest of the week, so, whilst everything is still nice and dry, I decided to take the strimmer to the lawn and cut everything back. It does now look very barren and brown, but I’m sure it will green up again come some rain, and it (the lawn) has done its job since February, when the first daffodils gave us a splash if colour, through the flowering of the Love in a Mist in June, followed by the form of their seeds head providing some interest in driest of summers, when lawns have been less than green!
And with GCSE results published on Thursday, resulting in a very busy day or two at school, the sense that the wonderful summer is coming to a close was magnified.
But summer’s not yet quite done.
We’ve been out blackberrying again, and I am enjoying a few each morning on my cereal.
Sam is home, his jury service completed this week, and his future beginning to look a little more settled. He’s got himself a job at Millfield as a catering assistant, which will tide him over for a while whilst he works out what he wants to do.
We are getting used to having him back home – the washing machine seems to be in constant action. One morning a mountain of white socks appeared in the was basket. Duely washed and hung out to dry, there were to many to count, instead I decided to measure them – over 3 metres of socks!
I’ve also taken the opportunity of time + dry weather to clean all the guttering at the back of the house – a job I am pleased I have got done, so worth recording as I wonder when it will next need doing.
The long hot summer continues and, on both Friday and Saturday evenings, Becky and I went for a walk on the Poldens, in part to enjoy the views and peace, and in part to pick some blackberries.
It is still early for blackberries, but the hot, dry weather we have had all summer has led to many things being “early” (if they haven’t just dried out and died) so we got a good haul of the berries.
It is so dry everywhere, the ground baked solid underfoot. It was beautiful and peaceful, I was surprised how few people we saw, particularly as the days had been too hot, so the cool of the evening was the time to step out. Not a problem, just an observation.
Earlier in the week (Thursday), when it was a little cooler I took the opportunity to trim the hedge out front. It always looks better when this job has been done.
Sam has been home this week on Jury service. Having been in on Monday and Tuesday to little avail, he sat on a trial on Wednesday, which spilled into Thursday. I think he’s actually found it quite interesting. The case closed on Thursday lunchtime, and he was released until Monday, so he and Poppy travelled up to London on Thursday evening, with Sam returning on Sunday evening for his second week of jury service.
And just because I can, and just because it is giving me so much enjoyment, here’s a couple of pics of the garden to finish with. I fear my water bill will be high this summer, but it will be worth it given how fresh and colourful my garden has been.
