Sam’s Monstera plant has come crashing down off the drawers in his bedroom. So I’ve brought downstairs and re-potted it into a bigger pot. It’s now currently in the siting room, tied to a book shelf so it won’t fall over again, but this won’t be it’s permanent home (not sure where that will be)
In other news, the weather’s not been wonderful – a little chilly and interspersed with some heavy downpours …
My wildflower lawn is looking good …
… and my seedlings, both sunflower and pumpkins, seem to have “”taken” and look healthy …
I do love the summer term, but I don’t normally get as much exercise as in the other two terms. Not this week, though. On Wednesday afternoon I went for a run – albeit not quite 5K, to the B & Q roundabout and back, yesterday I refereed at the Ashcott FC charity football tournament – three hours solid of officiating, half of it in the middle and half on the line, and today I went for a swim, getting in 30 lengths – a kilometre – before breakfast. With a little over three weeks ’till we head to Greece I need to get my self beach ready!!!!
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.
A few years ago, running 10K would be nothing to write home about, a regular, weekly occurrence, but over the last couple of years my running has got shorter and slower. But my running mojo is returning – the “slower” bit remains, but I’m finding it easier to clock up the ks, and today I cruised round another 10Km loop. (Only slight irritation is that my map my run stopped working shortly after I had passed the house at 7K, so my times for the last 3 kms are lost to the mists of time. But these days I’m less bothered by the timings.)
After another wet day yesterday, today dawned cold, clear and windless and it was a nice day to pound the pavement. On my return, and after doing two loads of washing, a got the ladders out to put up the Christmas lights. Before I put the lights up, I took the opportunity – with the ladders out – to wash the upstairs front windows and clean the guttering and facia board on the extension, before finally putting up the lights, extending a 30 minute job to a couple of hours. But the suns was shining so it made for a pleasant morning chore, whilst getting my winter daily dose of vitamin D.
Its hard to believe that its December tomorrow, and in five days time we break for the Christmas holidays. At the tail end of this week, Becky went to Cardiff to stay with Sophie for a few days, Sam has been working long hours into the night as its Christmas party season at school and I have been slowly learning a few words of Italian when not at work.
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.
Today is our 29th Wedding Anniversary – we don’t do gifts, although I did get Becky these sunflowers, and she bought me a bar of chocolate – half of which has already been eaten, I fear it will not last the night!
Despite an hour or so of drizzle today, and similar on Tuesday, it continues to be warm/hot and very, very dry. Since we’ve been here in Street, I can’t recall such a prolonged period of dry weather, I suspect we are into 1976 drought territory, and I am suprised that we haven’t (yet) been subject to a hose pipe ban. (Other regions in the country have)
It’s been good weather for figs, with Becky collecting a harvest on a daily basis. And whilst the lawn is baked brown and solid, with regular watering my plants have done well.
The sunflowers are blooming, and the insects are enjoying a daily feast of pollen. I have my first confirmed pumpkin that has set – surprisingly out the front where I threw in a couple of pumpkin plants along with some sunflowers, where the box bush had been, and yesterday I spotted the first in the back – the jury is still out, but I am hopeful that it has set and will start to swell in the next day or so.
The geraniums that seemed so small when I first planted them as plug plants have all grown and are flowering profusely, offset by the dainty lobelia. I’m glad I bought these and that they have survived the dry summer – probably only because Sophie, and then Sam, have been home for much of the time we have been away to keep them watered.
I’ve run a few times this week (and refereed once) and whilst my legs do ache after exercise, I do think that I am working my way back to some semblance of fitness. Need to keep it up, and keep getting the miles under my belt.
On Friday I went to a Spanish coffee morning in Street – it was good to use the language again, this is something I must keep up.
Possibly should have been included in last week’s blog, as last Sunday Becky and I went to Bristol (again!) to see Sophie Ellis Bextor at the Bristol Beacon. It was an excellent show, both of us have seen her before (although not together) and we weren’t disappointed with her show of poppy disco, glitter and razzmatazz.
Fast forward a week, and today is Father’s Day. This morning I went over to see my dad, he was looking well for his 86 years, although he’s not as spritely as I remember him from my childhood (this is, of course, to be expected!) And this afternoon I’ve enjoyed video calls first with Sam, and then with Sophie (who also gifted me a couple of books and a snack mix.) I’ll be seeing them in person on Wednesday when the come home for a brief stay en route to see Becky’s mum and Dad (with Becky) on Thursday.
I ran 7K today, and I ran a new, 5.5/6K ish route on Wednesday: I ran through the fields to the weir, then along the canal path to the road and, initially, I crossed the road and ran back on the other side, through some very long swish-swashy grass, but then, at the first gate into the next field, I saw a lot of calves and one or two concerned looking mother cows. I decided not to chance it, and just doubled back on myself. It was, however, good to get a mid-week run in, and running cross country was a nice change and also forced me to slow down as you have to keep an eye on your foot placement. I do think I need to get away from thinking about times, and just run; I am starting to enjoy it again, and starting to get re-energised by running. My aim is that, over the summer holidays, I’ll run at least one 10K, just so that I know I can still do it.
The weather has been a bit changeable this week, with some rain at times, but today has been warm and windy, and next week the temperatures are set to soar – after a brief interlude, summer is following on nicely from Spring.
Its been a busy, but ultimately, fulfilling week as half term draws to a close. Becky’s return from Scotland was delayed by a few hours, meaning it was about 1am on Thursday, her return coincided with an improvement in the weather so it was worth the wait – everything is better with her at home.
My Love in The Mist has burst forth in flower and is looking magnificent
I include the picture below for reference for next year – before it all flowers – to see where there are still patches to be planted.
On Friday I took delivery of the 60 (!) geraniums and 30 lobelia that I had ordered earlier in the year from Thompson & Morgan and have planted them up. Although small, they seem healthy and appear to have settled in well. I also planted the last of my sunflower and pumpkin seedlings out into the big, bad world – so far, so good.
Yesterday I nearly trod on a slow-worm whilst hanging out the washing: a pleasing addition to the garden
and then later on, a baby blackbird thudded into the kitchen window and lay stunned below the outside tap. Later in the day, it seemed to have perked off and we witnessed it flying away
Earlier in the week the Ka had its MOT – it initially failed on one rear tyre, but I’ve had all the tyres replaced (the other rear was also very worn, there was a nail in the front left causing a slow puncture) and on Wednesday I took the Micra to Cardiff for a fleeting visit to collect a load of Sam’s stuff. Its hard to think he is now in the last month of his student days (he has his final exam on Friday) and then the next chapter of his life will open – whatever that may hold.
For info purposes, yesterday we signed up for EasyJet Plus.
Today I ran 7K – having run 6K on Monday and Friday – I get the sense that my running mojo may be returning, something to nurture this summer (although annoyingly for the last two runs, Map My Run didn’t work, so I’ve got no splits data)
Back to work tomorrow – 4 short weeks, and then we’re off to Greece!
After the blue skies and warmth of last week, this week we have still had the blue skies, but not the warmth – in fact its been positively cold. Its stayed dry all week, but the wind has whipped up and the temperature has plummeted making it much less pleasant to be outdoors.
Although I did, this morning, take to the outdoors, running my first 7K of the year! It was clear, cold and still at 8am when I set off optimistically this morning, having decided to run 7K. It all started well, I was feeling fit , if not fast, and enjoyed bounding along the pavement. After about 4 and a half Ks I was tiring, and beginning to rue my decision to run 7, not 5k, thinking that if I had done the latter I would now be on the final stretch. But I wasn’t, so I kept on plodding, lost myself in my thought and those final 2 and half k passed before too long. It wasn’t quick – I ran in just of 35 mins so averaging about 5 mins per K, but on getting home I was pleased that I’d done the extra distance, had pulled nor tweaked anything and I just need to start getting some miles in.
The pic above is from Friday, when we had a beautiful moon shinning over us. A “dark” pic of the week is perhaps appropriate – I’ve felt tired this week, classic three weeks into (a half) term tired. However, I can now glimpse Crete on the distant horizon, I’m very much looking forward to that.
One more week of school, one week to get organised before we vanish to Greece for the month of July. And after a busy week at school, that’s what I feel like doing: just vanishing for a month, away from cares, concerns and questions. Of course, living in the digital age as we do, we’ll keep in touch with the children, and up to date with the news (filled in my postal vote today – looking forward to learning of the destruction of the worst government of my lifetime whilst we are away) but I’m really looking forward to escaping for a month.
The weather hasn’t been stella this week, but it has been largely dry and with the long days I have enjoyed the evening light, like the pic of the week taken, I think, on the summer solstice.
Becky is away at the moment for a uni reunion in Ambleside; on Friday night into Saturday, at circa 4pm ish I was awoken by some noise in the back garden. going downstairs to investigate, I saw the rear light was on, but nothing obvious. Then, looking out of the side kitchen door, on the wall I saw what I first thought was a cat, but then recognised it as a fox. I watched it for a bit – I think it was also watching me – as it calmly trotted along the wall, over the gate into the front and then across the road and away. In the morning I discovered one of my bait boxes in the middle of the gravel, and found a dead mouse in it – I suspect this is what the fox was after, and the cause of the noise.
Went for a run today – my first for a few weeks – I was slow, but that’s not a bad thing. Other than the first k, they were all over 5 mins. In part I think this id use to not having run, and in part due to being “end of term tired” but I do think I need to be running a bit slower – better to run and enjoy it, than ran at speed be end up whacked. Will be interesting to see how my speed changes over the summer.
