Category: Family

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OMD (and omg its hot!)

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.

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And relax …

Half term has arrived. The term has passed quite swiftly – only 5 weeks and the summer term always has a different (easier!) vibe to it: Volleyball not Football buys me a lot of time, plus a couple of exam classes mean preparing lessons and marking is reduced, and with the better weather everyone’s mood is improved. But I still enjoyed a little afternoon snooze outside on Saturday once it was all over (Summer Celebration in the morning ’til 1pm ish)

The week’s weather has been extreme. It started perishingly cold (and wet, but annoying not volleyball cancelling wet) on Monday and Tuesday, but by the end of the school week it was warming up, and Sunday was scorchio!. (I’m writing this in the garden on Monday morning as I didn’t have time (!) yesterday)

Sam and Sophie both came home on Thursday, Sophie to get ready to go on holiday with Lucy to Majorca on Saturday, Sam to collect the last of his stuff for his new flat. (He starts his new job tomorrow, Tuesday)

But by Saturday afternoon we were home alone again. We have decided to make the most of the weather and go for a walk after tea each evening. On Saturday we parked in the YHA and walked to the windmill and back, beautiful vistas across the levels in the evening sunshine.

and last night we walked to the weir and then followed the water to the road and the river Brue. It was still very warm, and very, very picturesque.

We’d spent the morning having a good cut back and tidy up in the garden – with our many absences due to travel, only one day weekends, and some wet weather of late, the garden has been a bit neglected and there is still much cutting back to do, but it looks neater, and provides a pretty background to enjoy reading, eating (and occasionally snoozing) in the glorious sunshine.

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And he’s off …

Sam has moved out, into his new flat in Bristol. On Friday he headed off with a packed Micra to collect the keys and begin settling in.

Today (Sunday) we went up to help him build his IKEA furniture that arrived yesterday

The flat is on Gloucester Road, above a coffee shop. It’s quite a spacious 1 bedroom flat, a little bit shabby round the edges, but has a bit of character, is light, and will hopefully prove to be a good base for his new job that starts soon.

The view from the sitting room window!

Having built his bed, shelves, mirror; helped it tidy and organise himself, we headed home with a car full of cardboard and other packaging to take to the tip!

And in entirely unrelated news, my Christmas cactus is in full bloom …

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What a week!

It all started in such a care-free manner …

Becky was going down to Cornwall for a few days, leaving on Monday morning. Before I headed off to work I said I was looking forward to a fairly easy week, a bit of a downward slope, the final full week of term.

But that morning, at school, we got the call: the Inspectors are coming, and they were going to be in from Tuesday through to Thursday. This, of course, added a layer of extra work and, if not stress, at least a sense of heightened anxiety, and I began to rue having agreed to referee a school football game that evening, knowing I could have done with the extra couple of hours to prepare.

Then, that evening at home, Becky called me from Cornwall to say the car was making a terrible screeching noise when breaking. A certain sense of de-ja-vu and long distance fault diagnosis. Anyway, my suspicions that it was worn brake pads was correct, and the next day a local garage replaced the front pads and discs for £200.

On Thursday, Sam had the next, and final stage, of his job interview, to be a trainee manager at Enterprise car rental in Bristol.

In a borrowed suit and tie (the trainers were just for driving to the interview) he said it went well, and would find out early next week.

But on Friday morning they phoned him and offered him the job!

Needless to say, we are all delighted for him! He starts on May 18th, so will work for a couple of weeks up at school after the Easter holiday, before hopefully moving to Bristol.

On Saturday morning, I got up to find a note from Sam to say the boiler was leaking. Not the best start to the day – I really did wonder if this week could throw up any more surprises. On my return home, I did some investigation – took of the front cover – and it was clear that the leak was coming from the auto air vent. I’ve found a replacement on eBay for £10 – due to arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday – and have established it should be a (fairly) simple job to swap the old one out and replace it with the new one. And more research today has led me to discover that I can just screw down the cap and it stops leaking, although that does stop it being an “auto” air vent, so I my need to periodically bleed a radiator or two, but no big drama, and certainly a job that can wait until our return from Italy.

And also on Saturday it was my birthday!

I had some sweet treats and a chilled afternoon/evening, but I shall have to wait a few months to be in my true happy place pictured above!

And in the course of this week, I’ve refereed three games on the Sir Gareth Edwards picth: U14 (Monday) and U15 (Wednesday) mid-Somerset sides, and on Saturday our U17s v Bristol City U16s (we won 3-0) Today I was due to do a game on the Bridgwater & District League, but 5 mins into my journey I got a call to tell me the game was cancelled as the home side couldn’t get enough players, so I turned round and came home. After the hectic week I’ve had, I was quietly quite pleased!

No blog for the next couple of Sundays as on Thursday we are off to Italy for nine days. Arrivederci!

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Four games in five days

Today is Mothers’ Day and Sophie and Becky have travelled up to Birmingham to see Benson Boone. Sophie came home on Thursday and its been nice to have her around for a few days (she plans to return early Tuesday morning) and so this morning we we all home together, which was nice. Sam has now gone to work, and I went to Bridgwater to referee a football match.

It was my fourth game in five days (and my third in three) and I am really starting to enjoy it again. It helps that the weather is warmer, and dry – Wednesday and Saturday were both beautiful days, Friday and today less so. March is oscillating from sunny blue skies to cold windy days, with the odd rain shower (which fortunately I have missed) Being on quality pitches – Pitch one twice, SGE once and BCA astro today, helps, both with the quality of the football, and the ease of running around.

I was a little worried on Wednesday as my left calf felt as though it had a tight ball in it – not a pull, but running wasn’t as fluid as it should have been. So I invested in a massage gun (£20) and it has been brilliant. Working the back of the calf, a spot, say 4 cm diameter, was painful, but by repeated use the pain has gone away, as if the problem has been “broken up”, and refereeing back to back games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday has been no problems, with no more than a “normal” post-exercise slight ache across all leg muscles.

With the light and lengthening says, colour is returning to our world: greens are vibrant with new growth, bulbs continue to flourish and blossom brightens many a tree. The forsythia on the way to school is a blanket of yellow

and the bulbs in the lawn and borders bring me joy, with grape hyacinths and the odd tulip joining the yellow see of daffodils.

But is the backdrop of blue sky that is the best.

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It’s Christmas!

So Christmas has been and gone, and it was a lovely few days for the four of us together.

But before that, on Monday, we all headed over to Wells Weatherspoons to meet upwith Dad & June, Jane, Mark, Ollie & Ben, and Rog & Lisa, Joe and Lois. Unfortunately we have no photos of the day (for reference, we went for 1pm, left circa 6pm) but it was nice to catch up with everyone.

And this week the rain has stopped falling, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. We had a lovely day on the 25th – plenty of presents and lots and lots of food!

On Boxing Day we wrapped up warm and headed off to West Hay to walk off some of the excesses of the previous day

before heading home to lunch and then some fun and games together – the drawing game was particularly amusing

Some semblance of normality is beginning to return to the household – yesterday the table cloth came off, I washes it, and hung it out with the rest of the washing. In the early afternoon I thought I had been pranked by Becky – it was no longer on the line. Couldn’t see it anywhere, got my ladders out, peered over into next door’s garden to see it sat forlornly on their lawn. It was a very windy day!

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Homecoming!

On Tuesday Sophie came home for the holidays, and on Wednesday the three of us went to Bristol for the Christmas spectacular which was, as ever, a fun night out

Then on Thursday it was back to Bristol for me to collect Sam who was back from staying with Poppy in Carlisle.

The weather, though, has not been good – very wet for much of the time leading to the river Brue overtopping near Pomparles bridge

Although in between the deluges, on Friday and then Saturday morning, I did manage to jet wash the decks – a job that had become increasingly necessary as the wet autumn had led to a big build up of green algae, making them very slippery and unsafe. Not a pleasant job, but a satisfying one, probably something I should do more regularly throughout the year,

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Birthday Girl Part 2

After Sophie’s birthday at the start of last week, this week ended (on Friday) with Becky’s birthday. The weather, though, was terrible, with biblical rainfall (which led to bad flooding in Monmouthshire.) On Saturday she went to Bristol to meet Sophie and see Mamma Mia, before rendezvousing with Sam and all of them coming home on Saturday evening.

The weather has been unseasonable pretty much all year, and that has continued with a very warm week, certainly it hasn’t felt like mid-November. Plenty of my plants are in still in full bloom, although next week the weather is set to turn, with the cold arriving and the possibility of overnight frost – and snow if you believe the hype. So today I took some time to move my geraniums from the front to behind the gate in the hope that I can over-winter them.

On Wednesday evening, Sam was sat outside and had company:

and the ‘hog returned again on Friday night:

I didn’t run today as I have a “tight calf” (left leg). I first noticed it whilst refereeing last weekend, and it was quite sore on Wednesday evening (having ref-ed that afternoon) Yesterday it wasn’t too bad until about 20 mins into the second half when my right leg slipped and I felt a stabbing pain in the back of my left calf. I probably could have run today but wisely chose not to (and went for a haircut instead!)

My war on the fungus gnats has definitely swung in my favour – too early to claim total victory, but certainly far fewer of the little buggers.

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Birthday girl!

On Monday it was Sophie’s birthday – 26! I do find that hard to believe: that I am a father to a 26 and 23 year old! Sophie and Becky went to London to see Benson Boone, and by the sounds of it, it was an excellent show! Brian May was a guest appearance at the end, accompanying the boy Benson in a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.

For me, a far more mundane week, with a return to school, and dark evenings to walk home in. It does, however, remain remarkably warm – still no need to break out the winter clothes and coats. In the garden, my geraniums remain in full bloom, ably supported by the Bizzie Lizzie’s that keep on doing their thing, and offset by the lush green growth of some nasturtiums (which are also sported the odd orange flamed flower). There is a general dampness to the weather (and we’ve just had a quick downpour, soaking me as I rushed to retrieve the washing) but its not been too wet this week, although that is due to change in the coming days.

Progress is being made in the fungus gnat problem, the sticky traps are showing a much reduced incidence of the annoying insect, although I did give up on my avocado plant today, and took it to the compost bin: it had suffered through my reduced watering regime, with leaves curling and blackening, plus it still seemed to have a significant infestation, as manifested by both the the number of gnats on the yellow sticky trap, plus you could still see the little blighters crawling around the surface. For recording purposes, I took some photos of some of the yellow traps in my room before I replaced them today, after a week. (The one’s in Sam’s room I changed on Wednesday)

Today, I refereed on the Bridgwater District League – was aske by Keith to do so on Wednesday as they were short of refs, so I agreed. First ten minutes I was doubting my decision, but once I’d established myself on the game, and everyone recognised my levels and tolerances, I did come to quite enjoy myself. Of note was when one player commended me on a good advantage played, another when, with only about 10 mins to go a player from the losing side (8-0 down at this stage, ended 10-0) asked if I was a new ref. I explained I used to do this league, but hadn’t done for a while – he was very complimentary, him and his mate agreeing that I hadn’t got anything wrong. I’m not going back to doing this every week, but I am enjoying my refereeing at the moment, at whatever level.

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ABC!

On Friday we headed up to see ABC at Cardiff Arena. I’m not really sure if Becky enjoyed it, but I did.

We travelled up to Cardiff that day, dodging (well, not really) the showers, crossing the bridge, and meeting up with Sophie, who very kindly was hosting us for the evening.

We had a nice meal at Honest Burger, before she left us to head to the show, and was waiting for us in her nice warm flat afterwards – was good to be “home” before 11pm having been out to a concert!

On Saturday, after breakfast of Lidl’s pastries (delicious!) all three of us headed back over the bridge to Bristol, Becky & Sophie going to the theatre to see the Book of Mormon (coming out after the show, they both said how good it was) and I was left to do some shopping on a Saturday afternoon in Bristol. The first couple of hours were fine – purchasing from Primark, and the perusing a few other stores, but then my enthusiasm began to wane and I wandered aimlessly before rewarding myself with coffee and cake, and then just sitting on a cold stone bench in Cabot’s Circus waiting for the show to end. It wasn’t tooo bad, but I don’t think I shall be rushing back to a shopping mall any time soon!

I didn’t blog last week as we have been away in Lisbon, from Wednesday through to Monday. You can catch up with our adventures on our travel blog: https://hap-pea-travels.co.uk/portugal/loving-lisbon-day-1/

Before we went to Lisbon I dug up the front bed, so that on our return from Lisbon I was able to plant up all my spring bulbs, now we just need to batten down the hatches, endure the dark, cold winter to come, and await their colourful arrival next year.

Inside, I’ve been waging war against a legion of fungus gnats that have been plaguing the house – bought in, I think, when I re-potted all my Monstera plants. Although harmless, they are a bloomin’ nuisance, buzzing around your head. I’ve employed a three pronged plan to eradicate them: I have bought a load of yellow sticky traps -it is quite amazing (not sure that is the right word) to see how many of the little flies get stuck to these, I’ve applied a physical barrier of gravel on the tops of each worst affected plant, in an attempt to stop the adults reaching the soil and laying their eggs, and, most recently, I have tried biological control by watering Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis onto the plants in an attempt to kill the lava in the soil. I think I’m winning with the plants in my room, the verdict is still out on the infestation in Sam’s room.

On our trip to Cardiff, we had hoped to dovetail in a visit to the house she is buying, but we couldn’t be accommodated on that day. However, the day before, she had had her info back from the solicitor, and it stated that the garden was at significant risk of flooding, so after much heart ache and discussion, she is pulling out of the purchase. That does leave us with a big box of loo paper that she had purchased and delivered to our house – I do like the picture above of Sam taking delivering!