37 straight days of RAIN!!!

5/52

Wednesday weekly

I am soooo fed up of the rain now!

We have had enough!!

I went to London on Tuesday with the Year 10 art students. 

We visited 2 galleries, walking between the two....

......the Courtauld......

....and the Tate Modern.

I 'LOVE'd both but the rain, less so.

Herding 40 kids through London in the rain, wasn't much fun!

I hadn't been to either before. Art galleries aren't really anyone in the families 'thing'. So on previous trips to London, it's never been that high up on the list of 'must do' things to see. I could have happily spent longer there. There was soooo much to see.

Giacometti was a huge highlight - stunning.

To be fair most of the day was sat on a coach, slowly getting through London in the rain. 

It was a long day!

Which made Wednesday even more glorious, when we woke to blue skies and wind, the perfect weather for washing! I did all the bedding, towels etc before the rain returned.

I also caught up on the Take That documentary. This weather has lent itself to indoors, cosy up type activities. And it got me excited for summer and seeing them on tour!

The rain really has been a real dampener on proceedings, in every sense of the word. I have four weeks off, from the middle of January through to the middle of February. I had planned to go on lots of walks, get lots of steps in, but this weather curtails everything. It really has been relentless.

So other than the odd whizz around the block between showers, 

not much walking has taken place.

Yesterday (Saturday) I met up with my Uni friend, about an hour up the M5, half way'ish between home and Cheltenham. We decided on a pub, as the weather forecast was so bad. It was a great decision.

The food was delicious.

And, as always, the company, wonderful. We never run out of things to say.

Today (Sunday) the rain continues. 

Another catch-up with a friend, this time closer to home in Glastonbury

And teatime treats!

Can never resist a cinnamon bun!!

The forecast for the next two weeks, continues to be dominated by more rain!

We have just one more week of term, then half term.

Jeff needs some time off, he's tired and slightly under the weather.

We've no plans. To be fair, you don't feel like doing very much anyway and we never go away in half term. A week to re-charge!

Pinch and a punch.....

....hello February!

My only wish for the month ahead, is that it is drier, with more blue skies than January!!

January has been soooooo wet.

I am fed up of looking at the forecast and seeing more rain!

It's been grey, dull, damp and miserable.

4/52

Wednesday Weekly!

So, on Monday, I went into school, bright and early and did 2 hours in the gallery, 

helping to take down the student exhibition.

I then raced home to join the waiting room and subsequent queue, in getting harry Styles tickets!!

I was successful but we are up in the God's!!

It is one of the most stressful things! I actually got in the queue at quite a low number but it still took me over 30 minutes to get through and actually be in a position to select tickets. It was then, that my computer froze and became unresponsive!! Honestly, the stress levels were through the roof and then, when I did manage to select 2 tickets, they were over £300 each!!! So I had to go again! Anyway, I did get two tickets (£91.25 each) Sophie was happy and we get to see Harry Styles at Wembley!!

I have also spent time this week booking up the remainder of our Greek trip, 

which is only 22 weeks away!!

I got out all our old photo albums, from our trips to Greece, before we had children!!

Before we had children, we always spent our two week holiday in Greece.

1993, our first holiday together was on the island of Corfu. 

          We stayed in Roda, £600 for the two of us

1994, Zakynthos, in Laganas, the party spot!!

1995, Parga, on the main land, boat trip to Paxos/Anti-Paxos

1996, our honeymoon ♥️ 

We went to Majorca as we thought we should go somewhere different!! 

           We should have gone to Greece 

1997, we returned to Corfu, staying in Kassiopi

1998, Lefkas, staying in Vasiliki in the south

Children........23 years later

2021, we returned to Corfu for our 25th wedding anniversary
2022, Kefalonia - Argostoli, Fiskardo and Assos
2023, Easter time in Rhodes and the island of Symi
2024, a month island hopping around the Cyclades- 

Santorini, Milos, Kimilos, Sifnos, Paros, Antiparos, Syros, Pireaus and Athens
2025, Easter time in Crete
2025, summer in the Sporades - Alonissos, Skopelos and Skiathos
2025, September and a week with Sophie in Benitses, Corfu

This year, we are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary and we are planning a 5 week Ionian adventure, returning to the islands we first holidayed on together and adding in a few new islands too. Our love for the Greek islands continues 

I need something to look forward to, when all we have had this month is rain!

Somerset is flooded and everywhere is wet and muddy!!

On Wednesday, I met a friend (fellow invigilator) in Wells. 

The one morning we had blue skies!!

It was lovely to have a catch up but I could have also made the best of the weather 

and got out for a walk.

There are signs of Spring around, if you look for them!

The rain returned by midday, so I killed time in Wells and went to the cinema. My third film of the year, The Housemaid. I read the book last year so really wanted to see the film. Some bits were different but on the whole a reasonable reflection of the book.

On Thursday the forecast was for showers. So I met my friend in Glastonbury and we had a walk around the town. It's so hard to know where to walk with everywhere being so muddy.

Glastonbury has a mural trail, and this is by far my favourite.

We had a coffee before the rain returned and we headed home.

I met up with another friend on Friday morning for coffee and then on Saturday, I met up with my sister, over at Farrington Gurney farm shop for breakfast. It was a good half way spot and it was a delicious breakfast!!

Then yesterday evening, I popped up to school with Jeff to help him blow up some balloons for his Year 10 Formal. Poor guy had left the house at 7.30am taught all morning, refereed a football match all afternoon. Came home showered and changed, headed back up to school for the formal and got home after 9.30pm. a 14 hour day!!

Today, Sunday February 1st, is wet!!

The month ahead is pretty quiet.

There are two weeks remaining of  school, then it's half term week and then I'm back in the gallery for a four week stint. Which is when I presume, the weather will change and for the four days I am in, it will be lovely! (always happens!) 

I don't have much planned for the week ahead. I have a long, overdue haircut on Monday. I am then off to London on Tuesday with a group of Year 10 students on an Art trip. If it's dry I intend to walk, if it's wet I'm going to start planning out our October trip to Italy and continue with my de-cluttering!! 

Here's to good week x

Chunking out January, one piece at a time

3/52

My Instagram weekly round-up is on a Wednesday and I always check in here, on a Sunday!!
Sorry for any confusion.  You get a slice of both weeks in one square!

We have had so much rain here in Somerset. Any fleeting moments of dry, nice skies, no grey, are to be celebrated fully. It's felt a long month. Mainly because it's been wet and I can't get out much. I always have a chunk of time off in January that feels a little wasted if the weather isn't great. In past years I've done some decorating. Could've of done some now but haven't had the motivation!! 

I've spent a chunk of my time de-cluttering my wardrobe, meeting friends for coffee and going to the local cinema. My second film of the year, Song Sung Blue. It surprised me that the cinema was so full, but I guess everyone one else was thinking the same ....what do you do on a wet Wednesday afternoon in Wells?!!!

I've finally got my hands on the Lenzetto spray for my HRT. It is such a nice change from the faff of the gel and patches. Still have symptoms, but can still up my dose if necessary. Fingers crossed this works and things start to settle down.

A BIG surprise this week, which was definitely not on my radar, was getting Benson Boone tickets. He was absolutely amazing when we saw him in London in November. He'd had to cancel a show in Birmingham just days before our show and had promised to reschedule. It popped up on my FB page that he'd confirmed a new date, so I messaged my friend who should have been going, just to say 'good news'! Didn't think anything more of it, refreshed my Instagram feed and there was Benson, announcing the new date with a ticket link in his bio!!! It hadn't even crossed my mind that there would be extra tickets. After phone calls to Sophie and a frenzied 10 minutes, I got tickets!!! So we head to Birmingham on Mother's Day, super excited!!

I'm hoping the ticket God's will be kind tomorrow, when the Harry Styles tickets go on sale!!!

I finished my first book of the year 'The Seven Husbands of Hugo Evelyn' and started my next 'You and me on vacation'. I am determined to read more this year. I have plenty of reading material to choose from. Sophie passes down books she's read, plus I have my kindle, so no excuses.

I hate recommending books as everyone is so different, same goes for holiday recommendations, what suits one person may not suit someone else!! I have similar reading tastes to Sophie, and for me, I need something pretty easy to follow (menopause brain to blame there!) so I read what she passes my way. 

By Friday I was ready to head to the charity shop and drop off my de-cluttering!!

And then made the most of a window of dry weather. I looked at the weather radar, saw a clear patch and headed over to Ham Wall for a burst of fresh air. The paths and gravel tracks, although scattered generously with puddles

But it is so calm and peaceful over there, so good for the soul.

I did take these photo's. Annoyingly the kingfisher alluded me. I did spot it, but is was too fast and fleeting for me to capture. Next time!!

Friday night was Traitors final night. I've persuaded Jeff to watch this series with me and I'm pleased to say he stuck it out to the end. I love it. It's just good old family tv. Two very deserved winners!

Yesterday was a Gallery day, my final Saturday for this exhibition.

It all comes down on Monday morning, gets a refresh of paint before the next exhibition, and my longer stint resumes after February half term.

So here we are, another Sunday morning. So far it's dry, but not for much longer. Today I am booking the final two parts of our Summer trip. I've been doing some research the past few days and just need to get it booked now. Then I can run through the whole itinerary, remind myself what we have booked and then I can start to delve into the resorts and islands a little deeper and plan out some ideas of things to do, places to see.... The ferry schedules will be released soon, so we can get that all booked up and we have to book a car for Ithaca, as public transport there is very limited. You need some thing sunny to look forward to on these miserable, grey January days.