Malawi & More

Tetbury is soul tonic, as is R. Our men were off to be brutally beaten at an Ultimate Frisbee grand masters tournament in Glastonbury, and we headed to her gym for a 'body blast' of squatting and more. Followed by Tesco, dog walk and lunch, afternoon nap, oodles of tea and talk in time for our men to return to a lovely evening meal. Sunday we had a lie in and then more tea and talk before walking across fields on the public footpaths, into town, a brunch and for me to get my glasses fixed. We spent much of the afternoon in her garden, us women weeding and moving primroses while the men tried and failed to put up a second hand greenhouse. Once home I caught up with the girls, burnt dinner, ate around the burnt bits and went to bed, content and rested.  I was disappointed with the level of cloud on Monday but set about my list of things to do. One was a meeting to see if I could become a governor for a Trust in Islington. It is a fairly minimal commitment of 6 meetings across th...

In a too early burst of optimism I'd put my big winter coats at the back of my wardrobe last week, but had to relent and get one back out. The sun was shining brightly but I was glad I had my bigger coat as the wintery air chilled my face on the walk around the Embankment. There I met with 2 wonderful women who I have known now for over 20 years and who always make me feel loved and seen and we ate well and spoke lightly and deeply. C had to get back to her son and S and I continued the day wandering through Covent Garden and had a nice coffee and chats a plenty. I went home via A's work and at the end of her shift we ate an ice cream by a pond and chatted in the sun. A fitting day to remember my brother.  I once again headed to roller derby rookie practice on Sunday and this time I fell over quite a few times. I put this down to being on my period and slightly harder skills. This time we were practicing pushes, pace lines, weaving, skating backwards, turns and transitions. I l...

  I am always frustrated getting a headache when I've not been drinking so getting one last Saturday morning was annoying - but then I sat in the sun in my increasingly beautiful garden and let the cup of tea and cool air sooth it. BigA played an old record and the girls joined us in the sun. It reminded me of Malawi. The girls had been out in central London the night before and A told me about her day while wrapped in blue towels smelling fresh and looking completely fine despite not much sleep. I then spent most of the day in the garden, putting in a bit of colour that I'd got at the sale section in B&Q. Tidied and sat. Then when the sun stopped hitting the garden I set about preparing a meal for my pals who were coming over. I made far too much food. We had a really lovely evening.  Sunday was a fantastic day, I had signed up to do the beginner programme for roller derby - I was quite nervous. Worried my knees wouldn't let me even get a proper start. I don't reca...

  The warmer weekend continued. I applied for a part time maternity cover for a drama teacher - mindful that I still didn't know what the outcome was and aware I could pull out if offered an interview and it wasn't viable. And I can happily tell you I have an interview for it next week. I spent time in my garden and loved it, pottering about, mainly tidying and then sat on a dry chair reading a reply to last week's email and feeling loved and seen. I did this while listening to Eva Cassidy and contemplating the poignancy of what February and March mean to me and the importance of spring. I discovered half a tub of green fence stain and set about applying it to the tired looking fences in our garden. Of course I needed more and of course the tub I'd found was no longer produced, so I went for the one that had the same name and although not an exact match it did the trick. The garden continues to look more and more loved and full with the promise of colour and newness eek...

  I'll start with the happy news - as you know I went for the interview on Wednesday, and got offered the job there and then. It's 4 days a week and I get to teach A-level again which is something I always miss when I move to a school that doesn't offer it. I hadn't realized just how close the school is, such an easy commute in the car, annoyingly harder and longer by public transport but . Nice atmosphere as I came in. Then all the connections began to be revealed - Turns out I used to be the Headteacher's sons drama teacher when I taught at Southgate and after a bit we realised that was in fact his Had of Year too. So the reason I recognized him when I checked out the school website wasn't to do with some leadership conference, as I assumed but because he was in quite a bit for meetings with me because his son was quite naughty and he freely admitted that. Certainly helped I'm sure - he knows I can handle naughty students! Then the woman who the cover is f...

 A delightfully slow start to the weekend - tea brought to me by my wonderful husband and then he made a cooked breakfast. M headed off to work and he got on with his DIY projects and I lost myself in my book after a cleaning blitz.  A mate came over for dinner and we had a much needed catch up. She has overcome so much, not least a terrible work situation and so I was reminded of the fact that it can all turn out for the best. We did lots of laughing out loud and giggled over memories and her current, rather busy and crazy sounding love life.  Sunday was the first folk open mic event. Oh it was beautiful and so many performances moved me. I fought the tears but one song really hit me. So much of it made me think of D and my dad. The joy of hearing such talent. Our little band of two middle aged folks and a bunch of teenagers were ok. I wasn't great but not too bad given my lack of practice and subsequent confidence.  That evening an exhausted A arrived home. Too tri...

 Good morning  My mate picked me up and drove us to Bournemouth to see another mate's new gaff. All of us Park View survivors. We did a little pub crawl and really nice Chinese followed by an hour in a karaoke booth and then off to a casino. I didn't place any bets... and I think annoyed the croupier, because I was asking about the display thing and then exclaiming that it was all chance though, wasn't it. An extremely late night for me and a terrible night's sleep, booze does not help with that. But lots of fun. The next day we took a beautiful stroll through Bournemouth, along the beach and to a cafe called Flirt where D treated us both to a well needed breakfast. It was a glorious morning with the sun shining, we still needed our coats but it was great to have the sun on our faces. And then D drove us back to London. He has a LEXUS and it is very fancy indeed. He feels rather sad that he feels he should sell it because of Elon. I suggested that instead, he gets some ...