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Ankle

Pic of the week 13/9/20

I came home on Saturday to find Sam mewling with pain and generally feeling sorry for himself.

The night before he had been staying with pals and they went on a night time (drunken) ramble and Sam fell over some logs and hurt his ankle. It was heavily swollen and he couldn’t weight bear.

Fearing it may be broken, this morning Sophie took him to Bridgwater A&E, where they diagnosied a sprain and sent him home. He can now walk gingerly on both feet, although he’s not going in to work until Friday. (He now needs to use his “time off” to focus on his physics  revision.)

The first week of term is over, and its been a tough start working in a socially distanced school. The pupils aren’t really socially distancing, teaching is harder (than normal) – its been a tiring start to the year. I hope we all begin to settle into some sort of normalcy soon, I don’t think the demands of last week are sustainable.  Normally, a day or two into term rhythms and routines are established, but that is yet to be the case.  An “interesting” term awaits, I think.

 

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Back to school!

Pic of the week 6/9/20

So the long summer holidays are over and its back to (physical) school for the first time since late March.

This last week has been INSET week and I’ve been in on most days, but it was Thursday and Friday that were the official INSET days. It was good to be back and see so many people in one day! On Thursday evening, sat on my sofa, I felt exhausted, in part because I’d “done” a full day, but I suspect it was also because of the many social interactions I had during the day.

However, things are very different from September ’19, staff wise we are “bubbling” in the department which is fine, and understandable, but it will be a shame to not so easily see friends and colleagues from other deprtments. We’ll also be teaching much more “electronically” (rather than using paper), and lunch times etc will be different.

The picture above shows me “suited and booted” as on Friday I had to record a short piece to camera for the Year 10 assembly, no more physical assemblies for now. I’ve enjoyed loafing around in shorts and a T-Shirt for six months, but it was good to be “looking good” in suit and tie again.

As predicted, I didn’t run as much in August, as I have done plenty of refereeing, and have swum 4 times, but still managed 115 Kms

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New Car

Pic of the week 30/8/20

Picked up our “new” (old) car on Friday, a 56 plate Vauxhall Corsa (D) 1.4 Design, with 90K miles for £995.

I’m pleased with it. It looks good and drives well.

Fixed the dripping kitchen tap today, having finally figured out how to remove the collar/shroud around the head gear (bodge tape on said collar, and the mole grips …)

I also ran a 10K pb today, 46 min 32 secs. Before this week, I had a week were I didn’t run at all (referee-ing, swimming) etc. and then ran on Tues, Thurs, Fri & today. I do feel very fit at the moment, so a PB was probably a just reward. I do find having a few days off from running does then boost my pace on my return. But, I fear, my running will soon start to diminish as term begins and the football season kicks off.

Weather – its a bit chilly! Yesterday & today have been bright but cool, but earlier in the week we’ve had a lot of rain and thunder and lightening, including one bolt that i’m sure was almost directly overhead – the loudest rumble of thunder!

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Aloha!

Pic of the week 23/8/20

A rare sighting of Sam in a shirt.

He was off to a semi-formal party on Saturday, so wore his “smart” trousers and an old pink shirt of mine.

Oh, and never one to fully conform (aka do as he’s told), he decided to give his appearance an Hawaiian feel with some leis he bought on e-bay, and sun glasses.

He did have something to celebrate, earlier this week the government caved to public pressure and U-turned on A level results, giving students their Centre (ie teacher) assessed grades. So he now has BBC (maths, chem, physics) and he still intends to retake his physics in October (all the weeks are passing swiftly …)

Other news, the Mini failed its MOT and with the repair bill to be at or around £600, I decided its days were numbered, and we sold it for scrap/trade (got £175 for it) and after much family debate & discussion, we are replacing it with a 2006 red Corsa (6 months MOT) for £995. Pick it up later this week, so will probably feature in next week’s blog.

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Results Day

Pic of the week 16/8/20

Thursday was A level results day, when Sam got his grades from his non-exams.

He came away with a B (maths), C (chemistry) & D (physics) and he has been done over by “the algorithm.”  His teachers had given him a B in Chemistry and C in Physics but, in a scandal that is rocking the country, many students, Sam included, have had their grades reduced by a computer algorithm to standardise results.

He’s stoic – he would have got better had he sat the exams, he was just beginning to ramp up his work rate when lock down came and he is a victim of a year’s idleness (which he recognises and admits.) The chemistry was a particular blow as he has been on course for a B in it for some time, long before Covid reared its head.

He’s going to resit (or, more accurately, sit) Chemistry and Physics in October in an attempt to improve upon these grades – he has promised that work starts tomorrow.

In other news, it is worth noting that the first half of this week was hot, mega hot – into the thirties for a prolonged period. Although I do enjoy the heat, this was too much and the rain that came to clear the air at the end of the week was a welcome relief.

 

 

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Birthday Boy

Pic of the week 9/8/20

Hard to believe, but Sam is now 18!

It was his birthday on Friday – he mainly got money (which is what he really wanted) but also 18 bottles of Corona, a microphone, a couple of T-shirts …

I think he had a good day, the sun shone, we ate, we ate again, and then he headed of to his pal’s (Tom) house, only to return two days later!

So no children in the house now, just four adults all living together in perfect harmony! Next week we get his A level results …

Saturday was set to be the hottest day of the year and, although when we first got up at 6.45 am the Tor could not be seen for low cloud, it didn’t disappoint as Becky and I headed off for another lovely day at Burton Bradstock. We arrived by 9am, with the tide still coming in, and the beach relatively empty, although this didn’t last for long.

The sea was deliciously refreshing – I do think that swimming in the sea of Burton Bradstock has been the best thing I have done since lockdown. The day was hot, hot, hot and by about 2pm we upped sticks and headed home topless in the mini. A lovely day.

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Back in Black

Pic of the week 2/8/20

So Saturday saw lock down conditions ease a little, and grassroots football to begin. Since the government announced the easing, my phone has been pinging through with requests for me to ref and, at high noon yesterday, 1st of August, I blew the whistle to begin my new season of refereeing, taking charge of a friendly between Ashcott reserves and Victoria Sports. It was good to get back in the saddle and I enjoyed the afternoon – something different after months of groundhog day. And today I did another game, New Forresters v Woolavington – the standard of football was pretty low, but again, good to be out and about once again.

With refereeing starting again, my running stats will begin to fall again, but here they are for the end of July:

So not quite the heights of April, but still a fair few k’s covered in July: 189 Kms to be exact, taking my total so far this year to 777 Km.

Friday was the hottest day of the year (so far!) and Becky, Sam and I headed to Burton Bradstock beach for the day – another lovely day out at the seaside, the sea was a little waveyer than before, and as ever, swimming in the sea was a highlight of a lovely day out.

Sophie didn’t come with us, she had an (virtual) induction day for her ONS work experience year, and she also heard her exam results for the year, scoring 82% – a First (the threshold was 70%).  Some great news to cap a great day.

 

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Pumpkins and plans

Pic of the week 26/7/20

Not a lot has happened this week – but unlike the groundhog weeks of earlier, its been quite nice to have had a reasonably chilled week.

Possibly the most exciting thing to happen is the emergence of a couple of baby pumpkins, one each on self seeded plants. Its always a nervous few days to see if the pumpkin has actually been fertilised and grows on to be a big daddy – I’ve had too many disappointments in the past when the swelling “seed” has clearly not been fertilised and then drops off after a few days. But a quick inspection leaves me encouraged, and a least one of them appears to be almost visibly growing.

In other news, Sam went away to Poole for a few days with some pals. He had a nice time.

I had a scare on Thursday.

7 Km into my morning run, I felt tweak at the base of my left hamstring. Kept going, 10 metres later I felt it again. I turned round and jogged gingerly home (0.5 k) I rested for the next two days, this morning embarking on my standard Sunday 10Km which was all good.

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Sophie’s new car

Pic of the week 19/7/20

Sophie has bought a car!

After much trawling through Facebook and eBay, we found this 2006 Nissan Micra (in blue) 1.2 petrol, went and had a look at it and she bought it on Thursday.

Its a good little runner, has done about 96K miles, a couple of months MOT (due 5th Oct) and cost £650.  She also paid £280 insurance (+ £45 for breakdown cover)

She is delighted with it. It drives really well, easy to handle, the perfect first car and she is certainly (and quite rightly) proud of it.

(In one of the pics above you can just about make out the new gravel on the front drive,  a job completed that I am rather proud of.)

 

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Burton Bradstock

Pic of the week 12/7/20

We should have been waking up today in our Majorcan villa, the first day of a week of sun, sea and sangria (and me attempting to speak Spanish.)

But, due to coronavirus, it was not to be, so Becky & I had a day trip to Burton Bradstock.

After some pretty “meh” weather of late, yesterday and today have seen the sun shine and it was blue skys all day. The sea was an inviting aqua-marine, with oh so gentle breakers lapping the shore. But slipping beneath the waves, one was not greeted with the warm bath embrace of the Mediterranean sea, but the frigid, icy sting that brutally reminds you that you are swimming in the English Channel.

But once you got used it, it was wonderful. Just slowly ambling my way through the water along the beach was – quite possibly – the best thing I have done since March. It was certainly the most novel experience I have had since lockdown began, and I drank in the sights, sounds and sensations that only swimming in the sea can provide.

I don’t know how long I was in for – perhaps 20 minutes – before getting out to warm my now frozen bones in the glorious sunshine.

Initially, the beach wasn’t too busy, but enough people to provide interest. As the day wore on, it got busier, but not crowded. We sat in the sun, read, ate lunch and felt a sense of normality had returned to our bizarre, Covid dominated world.

Of course, I’d prefer to be writing this  from a Spanish villa, but today was a special day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.