Category: Pic of the week

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Farewell to February

To be honest, I could have titled this post ” F$%k off February” – I must confess that I am glad to see the back of it. Although its not seemed too long, it’s been wet and grey, and I seem to have been either tired or full of cold, or both!

But the good news is is that these week has signalled a real change – the weather is improving: some rain still causing misery, but in between we are getting to see some blue skies, and feel a bit of warmth. And added to that, plants are beginning to come back to life. The back garden is awash with daffodils, and in the front wooden trug we now have some colour.

I do love the little daffodils, but I am regretting my decision to not plant some normal sized daffodils in there too – a planter of this size probably needs the height for impact. Noted for next year!

And its not just the daffodils that are brightening our days. Bird life is returning and bushes and trees are beginning to green up.

This morning I answered the call to referee a game on the Bridgwater & District league – glad I did, the game was good, the weather was pleasant and it was nice to be out and about on an early spring like day. I saw Keith, and he was encouraging me give him the next six Sundays, don’t think I’ll do that, but my head has probably been turned …

Last week I had my prostate PSA test, on Monday I got the results: in the green I’m pleased to say, with a recommendation to be retested in two years, Fen ’28.

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Half-term – a retrospective

And so half term draws to a close. On the one hand, I don’t feel I have done a lot, but when I look back, it has been an important week. I do feel rested – although still a little snuffly: mid-week I developed a bit of a cold, and I am still not 100% – but I do think it has taken most of the week for me to recuperate after a long, wet, cold, dark six week half term. This week has still been wet, but it has been interspersed with pockets of brightness – like now: I awoke to rain, but by mid morning it had stopped and now we have a mix of sun and clouds with a stiff breeze. I do get the sense that the awful, depressing locked in weather we have endured since the start of 2026 has now moved on, and that the weather (whilst still not perfect) has changed. And this, is evidenced in part by the flowering of some spring bulbs. Above are the snowdrops I planted in March ’21 – they are looking good, perhaps I ought to plant some more? And the daffodils in the lawn, and some bulbs salvaged from last year are in bloom, there yellow heads dancing in the breeze and lifting my spirits.

Also this week in the garden, I used a window of weather to remove a couple of the Miscanthus from the bed by the fig tree, and potted them into three pots. I hope they survive and thrive. (For the record, cut down the Miscanthus staying in the bed to ground level, but left those in the pots uncut.)

I also tidied up the porch – ditching some junk, gave the walls and floors a good clean, put up a shelf and built a couple of shoe racks from Argos. It looks a lot better: cleaner and more spacious.

Before …

During …

… and after

On a different note …

Yesterday I had my PSA test at an event run by Somerset Prostate Support Association. I went to Wells for my booked appointment, the test itself took less than 5 minutes – they took a small blood sample from m y arm – and now I await the results, which I should hopefully receive in the next day or so,

Whilst talking of my health – I went for a run on Tuesday, but at around the 5K mark my calf went ping again, so I hobbled home, and have done no exercise since!

Back to school tomorrow for a five and a half week term, hopefully the weather continues to improve, and at the end of which we head of to Italy for nine days, which I am starting to look forward to.

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More rain, and some wildlife

Yesterday was beautiful – blue sky and after an initial frost, some warmth to the sun. It was wonderful. But today the rain has returned with a vengeance – I didn’t run this morning: I just didn’t fancy getting soaked once again, and the picture above is me looking forlornly out onto the street this afternoon as, once again, the heavens opened. Tuesday was a particularly tough day – it was House football: we kicked of in the pouring rain at 1.45, and I finished two and a half hours later, cold, and very, very wet. I wasn’t best pleased!

Worried by a lot of soil activity around my compost heap – at times there seems to be as much outside the bin as in – I have invested in a “trail camera” and for £35 I am pleased with the results. You set it up and leave it, and it will take both video and still pictures. My first attempts didn’t capture anything untoward, just a wren:

(unfortunately, I can’t upload the videos directly to my blog, so will have to do so via Youtube)

I moved the camera so it was on the ground, and one night I got a bit of rat action.

The videos show it/them much more clearly.

Its a good little gizmo – I haven’t caught anything else on camera since Thursday night, but will keep trying. At some point I’ll move it to different parts of the garden,

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Tired, so tired

This week I have been very tired. I’ve also had a bit of a cough and a cold although its a bit of a chicken and egg situation – did I fall ill because I was so tired, or was I so tired because I was ill? Anyway, the good news is is that I have crested the hump and feel 100% better today, and much more rested, in part because, due to the continued and unrelenting rain, all fixtures were cancelled yesterday, so I had the afternoon off, was able to come home, and enjoyed an hour long snooze. I had another 45 minute nap today, and feel better for that, too.

Wednesday was a rare day of no rain, and by the afternoon we enjoyed blue skies and a breeze. Becky took the opportunity to get three loads of washing done and I ran the line at Kingweston, enjoying the change in the weather, and hoping of better things to come. But come the next day, it was wet, grey and miserable again.

Given how tired I’ve been, I wasn’t planning on running today, but given I did no exercise yesterday, and was feeling human once again after a restful day, I decided to head out this morning. Wish I hadn’t. I had just about reached the Red Brick building, one and a half k’s in, when I felt a painful “pop” in my right calf, and pulled up. I managed to hobble and slowly run my way back, but my run was over, and I’ve been hurting all day. Oh dear!

Anyway, one week – the wind down to half term begins.

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Rain, formal, and a (belated) new year resolution

Yesterday was my Year 10 Formal Dinner – the pic is of me after Becky and I had added the balloons, but before the event, which passed off, on the whole, without major incident. Glad to get it done, at the end of a tiring week a in a tough time of term – end of week 4 in the first half the Spring term. I will admit I am tired now (because of the cumulative four weeks, not just last night’s event) and wondering how I can manage myself through the next two weeks.

And how it has rained. I got lucky with my fixture on Wednesday afternoon – we started a few minutes late, (oppo arrived late) just as the rain stopped, and it remained dry for the afternoon. Not so lucky yesterday, it hailed just before we kicked off, and then rained throughout the first half. Shouldn’t have really played – standing water all over the pitch, very wet, very muddy, and very cold. And then I compounded my woes today. Earlier in the week I had agreed to referee Ashcott U16s on Strode astro. Its has pretty much rained all day, and was raining when we kicked off, and rained throughout. It was heavy, cold, rain. It was a good game, and I enjoyed it, but would have preferred to not get so cold and wet. (And Sod’s law, within 20 minutes of blowing the final whistle, the rain had stopped, the skies cleared and a weak February sun began to shine.)

This morning I hit upon a new New Year’s Resolution – albeit a month late. I’m going to start listening to more albums on Spotify, rather than just whatever it serves me up. Began to day by listening to Sound Affects by the Jam. Some others to listen to in the future:

Setting Sons by The Jam

More Specials – The Specials

You can’t hide your love forever – Orange Juice

Love – Aztec Camera

Purple Rain – Prince

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Snowdrops, Traitors, and more rain

Three times a week, for the last three (four?) weeks, we have had a “don’t miss” appointment with The Traitors. Becky has been a fan since the first series, and she convinced – no insisted – that I watch this series with her, and I am glad she did. Its been like the old days – a TV event you had to watch at the time, not just streaming it on catch-up at your convenience. It ended on Friday with the two traitors, Rachel and Stephen winning, below are the the final six, posted to help remind me who they were when I look back in the future.

Whilst today has been dry – other than five minutes of drizzle here and there – it has been a very wet week, with rivers overflowing and football pitches either being unplayable or soon turning into mud. And there is little respite forecast, with rain expected every day next week.

But in the “dry” (ie rain wasn’t falling from the sky, but everything was very, very wet, I spotted the first snowdrops flowering in the garden.

And there is even one, lonely, somewhat forlorn, daffodil bravely flowering despite the wind and rain in the flower bed on the back deck, by the fig tree. (And for the sake of recording it, today I took the netting off the front trugg as bulbs are just beginning to push through, although it does still feel like it will be some time before we see them in full flower)

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Hope

I would continue to describe the weather as wet, it has been wet for much of the week, and today, after grey start (in which I ran), drizzle has turned to incessant, continued rain, but we have had a couple of days respite from the rain, in which to hope of better to come. Yesterday (Saturday) was particularly good and, whilst not wall to wall blue sky, we saw quite a bit of sunshine. Refereeing an early (1pm) kick off I did, at times feel warm running around in my four layers, and the sun on your skin. As I left, and headed home, I would even go as far as to say that it was spring like, and the fact that it stayed light until nearly 5pm reinforced this feeling of hope of better to come.

Friday was also a pleasant day (although by the evening it turned – yes, you’ve guessed it – wet, and it poured overnight) and Becky got these three photos.

I do like this one. I imagine that I am the bird with its wings out stretched, soaking up the sun and, perhaps, saying to the world “look at me” whilst the one on the right on Becky looking on with a certain disdain: “what is he doing?” she thinks, with an almost imperceptible shake of the head.

and the pic above was taken on a frosty Wednesday morning.

Its January, so other than the weather, not too much to write about. I think I’ve finally shaken off my cold, and I enjoyed long snooze (in excess of an hour) this afternoon. At this time of year, there is little more to life than that!

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Micra wipers, and a tickly throat

So its been back to school this week, and after a few days, the holidays seemed some time in the past – and the next break a long way into the future. In the latter part of the week, I have succumbed to a “little” cold: at times a bit of a sore throat, runny nose, and just not feeling 100%. Consequently, I decided to not go for a run today (choosing instead to go for a hair cut!)

The weather has been either cold or wet. Predominantly cold, but Thursday was wet and miserable, and since mid-morning today it has been grey, bleak and drizzly. Yesterday we woke to clear skies and frosted cars, and I congratulated myself on having put paper on the Micra the previous night, as, on most Saturdays, I drive to work and then on to Kingweston for the afternoon. Whilst using the wipers (before heading off) to clear the windscreen, the wipers stuck at the vertical position. I could still her the wiper motor running, I suspected the linkage had popped of the ball joint. I spent a happy hour this morning removing the wiper arms and scuttle panel to reveal my diagnosis was correct. I have popped the linkage back on, but have also bought a clip of eBay to fashion a more permanent repair – when that arrives I’ll fit it for added peace of mind and longevity.

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Thursday saw the new year dawn cold and clear, a little warmer than the day before which had been very, very cold! Sam spent new years eve in Bristol (and returned home yesterday – Saturday) Sophie was at home with Becky and I – we watched a film (Wake up Dead man (Knives are out 3) that rather enjoyed, but I don’t think anyone else did. Sophie then returned to Cardiff on Thursday morning (1 Jan), Sam has trudged of reluctantly back to work today and I am back in tomorrow morning, and Becky invigilates tomorrow afternoon. It seems a long time (because it is!) since I was last at school.

Goals, aims and ambitions for 2026

Looking back at my blog from last year, I didn’t make any resolutions, or cite any aims or goals. Reading through it, I was becoming increasingly fed up with work, stating that something had to change. Well, that change came in the form of a change of year group, and the last term (autumn 25) was much better than Spring and Summer ’25, and I hope that this positivity continues.

My big goal for the year is to learn Italian. I have already started, picking up the basics, and am challenging myself to do some Italian study each day – even if it is only a few minutes each day.

Running – I finished last year/ started this year in a better place than this time last year. I am enjoying my running again and finding it easier than for much of last year. Encouragingly, in today’s 7K run, I ran four of those k’s in sub 5 minutes, something I have not done for a long time. So my goal is to run 400Km this year.

Weight – I end the Christmas period with the scales just tipping into the 13 stone mark – this needs to change. By Feb half term I would like this down to 12 stone 6 and the stabilize at or below this value.

Refereeing – I am enjoying that again, too and want to continue with it, finding the right balance between doing non-school games, and having enough time for myself.

That’s probably it for aims and ambitions – nothing grand or lofty!

Yesterday evening, at circa 4.15pm, the moon began to rise from behind the Tor, quite a sight to behold, and worth recording:

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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!