Category: Pic of the week

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Return of the bambinoos

Pic of the week 26/3/28

Both bambinos came home yesterday – Sam as his term is over and Sophie just because; she’ll work from home for the next few weeks,

Other than that, though, not too much to report. My daffodils are looking good, both in the trough and the lawn, the clocks went forward today so its nice to welcome in the longer evenings, although we still haven’t had much spring like weather to enjoy.  Its been showery, grey and not warm, Still have one more week of term to get through, but light is definitely beginning to glimmer on the horizon.

My foot continues to improve  – still not sure I’d want to go running on it (although that day may need to come in the next weeks/months) most of the time I just don’t notice it; it doesn’t hurt but can still be “aware” of it at times.  Although when I think about it, its been a  term, or 3 months, that is quite a hefty length of time needed for recovery.

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Hope!

Pic of the week 19/3/23

After what has seemed a long, cold (and for the last few weeks, but not the first, wet) winter there is, at last, hope!

The daffodils are now in flower, their yellow heads mirroring the yellow sun that we saw for the first time today. This week, the temperature has risen – by no means scorchio, but not freezing –  and this, coupled with the lengthening days does give one hope that we’ve broken the back of winter. It has seemed long – I don’t know if it was because it was, or because I’m getting older, or because my foot hurt for much of it, but this week has seemed like a week of change, and filled me with a sense that things are getting better.

My foot is much less painful now – in fact I would go as far as to say that it doesn’t hurt, although  I remain “aware” of it.  I’ve refereed quite a bit this week (Wed, Fri and Sat) and haven’t really had to modify my running, and I think doing this exercise has helped my mood as well as the improving weather. Swam again this morning, and I’m enjoying being back in the pool. This week and last, I swam 46 lengths, 1.5km.

Two weeks ’till the Easter holidays, I’m looking forward to them, I’m ready for them!

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Visit from Sam

Pic of the week 12/3/23

Sam came home on Saturday for a couple of nights and it was lovely to see him. (He had been to a party at Smithy’s in Bristol on Friday night) He pretty much slept for most of today, emerging at circa 12.30pm, is currently out at Idris’s and he heads home tomorrow, but it has been nice to have him home for a few days.

Its been a cold week and we had some snow on Wednesday.  Not a great deal, and it didn’t really settle down here, but the Tor turned briefly white:

but it was all gone by the end of the day as the snow just turned to rain.  Has stayed cold for most of the week – I got v cold at games yesterday: low temperature, wind, some stinging rain – although this morning was pleasant with some sunshine and it didn’t feel cold. Although by late afternoon, everything had gone grey and it started to rain. Tomorrow promises to be wet and very windy – I would still struggle to say we are anywhere close to spring, beautiful blue skies have been a rarity.

Perhaps it was the weather, perhaps it was because tickets came on sale, most probably a combination of both, but we bought tickets to Malaga for December.

The plan is to fly to Malaga in the morning, then get the train to Cordoba, spend a couple of nights there before returning to Malaga for a night or two, then home.  The initial cost of the flights was circa £50 each return, but carry on luggage etc added an extra £80. Still return flights for less than £150 aint bad (although it does say something when your bags are worth more than you!)

My foot: continues to improve, but is “still there” Did have a wonderful dream in the week where I dreamt I was running barefoot on grass – wonderful. Went swimming today, did 46 lengths, 1.5km. I am enjoying doing some exercise on a Sunday morning again.

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Music of the movies

Pic of the week 5/3/23

Last night, Becky and I went to a concert at Wells Cathedral – The London Film Orchestra with a tribute to John Williams and Hans Zimmer, playing the music from the movies. We were treated to Jaws, ET, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones amongst others. A really enjoyable evening.

Our middle aged bodies continue to let us down; the pic above shows me pulling Becky’s leg, a new nightly treat to lengthen her left leg and stop her walking in circles.

(Its actually something to do with opening up a connector in the hip)

My foot finished the week probably a little more painful than the start of the week. Not sure why, possibly because I started experimenting in going barefoot at home, and trying my school shoes (DMs) without the insoles. Its not bad, but its still there.

Went for a swim this morning – it was good to start the day with some exercise – and then fiddled with the 205, bleeding its brakes and applying some filler. An enjoyable diversion for the morning.

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Hola!

Pic of the week 26/2/23

The days are getting noticeably longer, which is nice.  Its now at least 5.30 before the light starts to go, and today has been a lovely day full of blue sky and sunshine. But its been cold – last Monday was warm(ish) but since then the temperature has slide and, on the days that its been grey (most!) its just been cold with little redeeming features.  The daffs are starting to come out – the lawn is beginning to look good, and I hope that this week the big planter out the front will start to boast some flowers.  But things do seem late this week.

Becky went to Cornwall Tues, through to Thursday, hence the pic, (and I’ve done a little bit of Spanish to create a tenuous link.) My foot is getting a lot better – I refereed on Wednesday, Saturday and today and I must confess I’ve enjoyed the exercise (although I do feel quite unfit.) I’m not running freely, I still feel my foot and at times it does hurt as I traverse the pitch, but importantly it doesn’t leave me in crippling pain after the event. I’ve been wearing an ankle support whilst refereeing, and that has helped.  Still a long way to go on my recovery, I think, but I am in a much better place than a couple of weeks ago.

 

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A Busy Week

Pic of the week 19/2/23

Its been a busy, but enjoyable, (half term) week.

On Wednesday, Becky & I went to Clevedon for the morning, It was a beautiful day (well, the morning was – we left at lunchtime under gathering grey skies) and we watched the swimmers emerge, very pink, from the marine lake. We ambled along the seafront enjoying the big blue sky and then sauntered up and down the pier. We sat outside for coffee and felt a million miles from home. A very pretty seaside town that hasn’t declined like so many have.

On Thursday we went to Cardiff to visit the children.  A cold, damp day (I had misjudged the weather and found myself shivering in my lightweight spring coat, wishing I’d worn my puffa) As always, lovely to see the bambinos, we went for lunch, and then ice cream (ice cream! in the cold!?) Both seem well, and Sam appears to be doing some work for his course. I spent a small fortune on footwear – I’ve entered the “Sketchers ” phase of my life where function triumphs form as a I battle with the pain that is plantar fasciitis. On the whole my foot is getting better, but its still “there”, and still a constant thought on my mind as well as pain in my foot.

The Corsa passed its MOT, the 205 neither passed nor failed its MOT – it was “abandoned” as they couldn’t open the boot. An annoying occasional problem that I have now (hopefully) permanently fixed.

And I’ve been back in the pool. Twice. Unable to run, I thought I’d try swimming again (although I shall leave the frigid waters of Clevedon marine lake to warm up considerably before dipping a toe in there!) and swam a couple of times at Strode. Was pleasantly surprised how quickly I got back in the groove, and on both occasions completed 40 lengths. As running is still very much off limits, I can see an increasing number of visits to the pool in my near future.

And Saturday (18 Feb) saw our first daffodil of the year in flower, one of the ones I planted in the lawn in September.  We’ve had a lovely day today, and one gets the sense that before too long we’ll have a whole load more in flower, although it does seem like everything is a bit late this year. Oh well, good things come to those that wait …

Back to school tomorrow, but with the days staying lighter longer, the first flowers of spring and (hopefully) the odd day of lovely weather one hopes that the worst of winter is behind us.

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Taps

Pic of the week

So half term has finally arrived and I’ve been enjoying “pottering”. The pic above has me in my “job clothes” – did a little bit of minor prep on the 205 yesterday ahead of its MOT on Tuesday, and then I washed Becky’s car and the Corsa. The weather was dry, but grey, not cold, but you needed a reason to be outside, and I’m glad I had one.

Today I replaced the kitchen tap, which had been leaking from where the swan neck entered the body of the tap and tracking through into the cupboards underneath.  Not the simplest of jobs has the tap tails were solid (not flexi) and had been soldered into the system, and the biggest problem was the retaining nut keeping the tap in place was well and truly seized in place. Getting the old tap out was a problem, first cutting through the tails was not simple, but this did then give me a bit better access to the retaining nut and I was eventually able to free it. I reckon it took about 2 hours to remove the old tap, and then 30 minutes to install the new one.  Anyway, a job well done! (And I’ve left the plumbing in a much more maintenance friendly sate should the tap need replacing in the future.)

Foot update – its “still there” but getting much, much better. Not really painful now, but still not 100%.

 

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Nothing to report

Pic of the week 5/2/23

Not a lot to report this week – nothing major has happened – have been to work, come home, got up the next day, rinse and repeat. Perhaps not surprising, given that Thursday (2nd Feb) was Groundhog Day! Anyway, today the weather has perked up (has been dry and grey of late) and had a lovely sunny day, and it stayed light ’till gone five, so there is a sense of hope of better days to come, plus at the end of this week its half term.

(update: forgot to add, on Sunday I changed the oil & filter on the Corsa)

My foot is “still there” (the plantar fasciitis – of course my foot is still there at the end of my leg!) Did the line for a game yesterday and was a bit sore afterwards, but not as bad as last week.  Its certainly getting better, but I’m not sure its going away fully, just learning to manage it and live with it at the moment. (Deep stretching seems to be the best thing for it, that and my underfoot roller)

The pic is a treat that Becky kindly brought home for me today – I shall look forward to eating that this evening.

Am very much looking forward to a change of pace next week when half term arrives.

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Inspection

Pic of the week 29/1/23

So last week the inspectors came a calling at school.

We were notified before breaktime on Monday and they arrived on Tuesday. A busy week got a whole lot busier.  In truth, it wasn’t too bad, but a few meetings on the Monday evening, and then a meeting for (with 4 others) and an inspector on Thursday morning, a lesson observation period 3 on Thursday, extra lunch duty to swamp the dining room with staff … plus the “not knowing” did result in a draining few days. Don’t know the outcome of the inspection yet, but its done and we can now all carry on as normal for the next few years!

My foot: un update. It has been getting a lot better, such that I would describe as it not hurting, but I was just “aware” of my foot.  Which meant I did allow myself to be talked into refereeing at school on Saturday (as it turns out, I hadn’t missed any games as pitches have been frozen until this weekend, due to the cold spell) Was good to be out running about, but my foot did start to hurt a bit during the game, and afterwards, all Saturday evening, it hurt a lot.  Still painful when I got up this morning, but after stretching through some “tough” yoga, and padding around in sliders all day, its not hurting now (although, as before, still “aware” of my foot)

The pic of the week is “The Commitments” dvd – Becky and I watched it last night, as a precursor to deciding whether or not to go to the stage show in Bristol at the end of March. A good film, I enjoyed it.

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Foot pain!

Pic of the week

Sadly, the most overwhelming memory of my week has been the pain in my foot,  Monday and Tuesday it was particularly bad and I declared myself “off games” – although heavy frost saw all fixtures, indeed all sessions, at Kingweston cancelled.  Yoga on Wednesday evening seemed to do it a lot of good, I really focused on anything that stretched my lower leg, but its still not gone away completely.  I’d say that currently I’m “aware” of my foot, rather than in pain from my foot. Potentially quite a dangerous phase as I could return to activity too soon.  I must resist!

As I mentioned, its been a cold, cold week – overnight freezing and waking to heavy frost, but accompanied (in the main) by blue skies. Some bulbs have popped up in the lawn, and that does give hope.  These are, I think, the ones I planted this September.  The ones I planted the previous year are just beginning to pop up.  It is now still light at circa 4.30, which is nice, but it does still seem a long three weeks until half term…