Throwback Thursday

Due to work shenanigans I am having to do some additional training (I keep referring to it as upskilling myself to it feel less daunting) and one of the courses I needed to do had an in-person in The East. I'm using that term because, as it turns out, my geography of anything in the eastern half of the country is diabolical. I did sort of know this because I joked with a friend who lived in Cambridge that his retirement plan could be to hunt for King John's treasure in The Wash and he very gently pointed out he was nowhere near there. But that happened a while ago and so I had slipped back into my comfortable ignorance of 'everything over there is 5 minutes away from everything else'. 

This is how I ended up organising to have dinner with old friends in Milton Keynes when my course was just outside Northampton. But nevermind. Those places are extremely close together, relative to their closeness to here. 

That dinner was a long time coming. These people were my very good friends in the late 90s; for the year before I went to uni and my first year there, we used to see each other pretty much every week. I last saw Stu in 2018. I last saw Steve at my wedding. And I last saw Si at Steve's wedding, which was two years before mine. I can't put a date on the last time we were all together (and I have tried) but I reckon, 2002 at the latest. Probably 2001. 

Here's the last picture taken of us all together - this was just before I moved to the US in 2000:

And here's the one from this week (one couldn't make it this week):

Obviously we haven't aged at all. We looked at old pictures and talked about the memories and the things we'd been doing. There is something about the easy comfort of being in the company of people you knew really well once, even if it was a long time ago. 

But at the same time it was a little unsatisfying because it wasn't enough. I'd like to have spent longer talking to everyone. Of them all, I knew Si the best because we were good friends and then we were in a relationship for about 18 months. I always found that transition from a favoured person to the favourite person to just a person quite hard when my relationships ended, because I don't see the need to throw away a friendship because you're ditching the romantic bit; though I suppose it does depend how it ends and both parties have to be into that idea. Still, I felt like what I really wanted to do was sit down and say to him, tell me everything, tell me it all. Tell me everything that has happened since we were together, I want to hear all of it. I don't mind how long it takes, I was always interested in your life and goings on and that didn't just go away when you did. Catch me up properly. 

Of course you can't actually say these things. Much water, old bridge; and I'd never want to give the wrong impression, much like my dilemma about how you ask a man you don't know very well to an event without it sounding like it's a date (can this be done? The jury is still out). 

Anyway. Even with this wrinkle, this will probably be the best throwback of the year! Worth the long drive and the hotel stay. Plus I also learned some new geography and I qualified to approve educational visits, so it was a very successful trip, all things considered. 

Where do you keep that?

Casting around for topics to write about for NaBloPoMo, I came across this post from Stephany Writes which was inspired by a podcast. I do enjoy reading things like this and comparing. I've used the OG list from her post but removed the things I don't have and Anglicised the terminology. 

Tissues

Everywhere. I hate it when I need a tissue and there isn't one to hand. There's a box on the sofa, one by my computer and, if I've got a cold, one by the bed. And one on my desk at work. Spare boxes live on top of the fridge because I buy them four at a time. I'm not playing when it comes to runny noses.

Medicine

In the cutlery drawer. Mr Z tried to break me of this habit for many years but, in the end, he had to admit it is the best place. In my defence, it is a very wide cutlery drawer. Anything liquid lives with the sauces in the cupboard. There has not yet been an incident of cough mixture on chips.

Plasters

Under the sink.

Nail varnish

I made myself throw most of it away a few years ago because I just get shellac now but a few bottles have crept back in, mostly for toes or shellac chips. We have an old drawer set that I think was originally used for CDs and it lives in there, in the living room, with my shellac remover clips and hair straightener, and a thousand wax melts I am never going to use up. 

Winter hats/gloves/accessories

We have a sideboard by the front door and they live in a box in the middle of that. Well, there, or in the pockets of my winter coats. 

Scissors

Everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. There are scissors in every room of our house - tell me you're a crafter without telling me you're a crafter. There are a large number of scissors that look suspiciously like they might have come home with me from school but nobody could ever prove it. The most reached-for pair live down the side of my preferred sofa seat. 

Tweezers

In the bathroom and in my car: the two places where the light is best on the chin. IYKYK. If you don't - either get into some better light or give it a few more years and then you will. 

Slow cooker

This has given me pause. Where is my slow cooker? I think it is under the kitchen cabinets. When we had the kitchen done, I refused to get the kickboard to seal in under the cupboards as I knew the space would be so useful. Father Z warned us the space would just become a 'glory hole' (I sincerely hope he had a different definition in mind than the one I know, don't google it) but I was right, that space is valuable storage. Also there: my jam pan, my collection of bundt tins, Mr Z's curry casserole dish, about 20 bags of bread flour, various other bread flours, our 10kg bag of rice, tinned tomatoes, mango chutney...we really could do with a bigger kitchen but there are only two of us. 

Dirty towels

I'm not apologising for this: we use our towels until they need washing and then we wash them. They might live in the washing basket for a day or so first, but probably not. What usually happens is, it's a Saturday, the weather is bright and breezy and I think I will make good use of the drying weather. Or, in the winter, I realise I can't remember when I last used a clean towel and our two bath towels, my hair-drying towel and the bathroom hand towel all go in together. 

In general, I feel like our society is massively obsessed with everything being super fresh and I see this as a plot to further capitalism. It's environmentally irresponsible and contributes to shorter life spans in clothes. With the exception of socks and undies, I wash things when they smell or if I have spilled and that is it. If we meet in person, please tell me if you think I have gone nose-blind. 

Also wash your things as often as you like, I don't judge in this respect. And if you come and stay with me, I provide clean towels and I wash them after you leave. 

Tape measure

As with scissors - pretty much every room in the house. There's one shaped like a cupcake on the desk in front of me. There's one Lenin played with too enthusiastically and broke its retraction, on my dressing table. They are much handier than you might think. 

Tuesday Ten

San suggested a little getting-to-know-you for people new to this version of NaBloPoMo so I left it a few days to align with my habitual posting. 

Ten things you may or may not know about me

1. I avoid being overly specific about some things in my life on my blog, because, while I know it is public and I know it is searchable, I am not really trying to reach a wide audience of people who might be googling me. This is because...

2. I am a teacher. In fact, I do a few jobs (currently four) related to education, mostly history. I've been in this profession for 24 years and now hold a senior role. Curious children (I teach those over 11) often find my social media, which is carefully locked, but it would just be easier for me if they didn't find this and, happily, it never comes up when I google myself, and I dive deep into the search pages (though I don't kid myself that I can guess all their possible search terms). I have a work blog too, which is much easier to find if you're looking for professional me. 

3. I am middle aged. I've been married to my husband, Mr Z, for 20 years. We met online (or at a meet-up for a BBS community, this is disputed - I say in person first, he says online first) in 1995 when all this was fields and the internet was for playing games against other people. We live with two cats and no children. I refer to where we live as the 'wood.

4. I have other family: a mum - Mother Hand; a brother - Sib; a niece and nephew - the niblings. They don't live close by. Father Hand lived in America from around 1991 until he passed away in 2024, so I have spent a lot of time over there. I think I've been to 27 states but some of them just to drive through. 

5. I love skiing. I usually only manage one week a year, there isn't really any skiing in England, but it keeps me fit the rest of the year because I want to be able to ski hard and for long hours when I do get to go, so it keeps me in the gym. I lead the trip for school. 

6. Other things I like doing: knitting, baking, reading, swimming in cold water, sauna. I don't crochet. It is a dark art. 

7. I also hugely enjoy travelling and reading about travel. I would like to be a travel writer, if I had time/talent/a publisher. I've been to 39 countries (according to a little app my friends and I use, called 'been') and six continents. I have no problem with flying but I am trying, as much as possible, to travel overland where I can because, yknow, climate change; I love rail and coach travel when I have enough time for them. I think my favourite place I've visited was the Galapagos, but it is hard to choose. 

8. Mr Z does not like travelling. I know this is about him rather than me but I do think some people might wonder why he's never on holiday with me. He is a homebody, worries about the cats when we're not here and isn't a big fan of other people. We have done some epic holidays together in the past, mainly camping in America, but a train journey taking in a few European cities, which is what my last couple of summer holidays have been, would not be to his tastes. I think we might go to Greece with Father Z and the other in-laws next year, though. 

9. I'm a sucker for nice stationery, a museum gift shop, cake, wearing dresses, a library, a forest, dogs...in fact, pretty much any animal or bird esp gulls, the beach, a comfy chair, a book talk or history lecture, hoop earrings, camping, taking pictures of things, a fancy coffee with a big pastry and anything sparkly or brightly coloured. 

10. My blog is 28 years old. I started it to complain about The Blair Witch Project, which I had just seen at the cinema and thought was rubbish. My favourite memory of that showing was pushing my hand up through the bottom of the popcorn box and grabbing my friend's hand when she went in for some more - the biggest jumpscare of the entire thing. 

I moved to Blogger in 2007 and retired the early years because they were quite raw. If my students found what I'd been writing here I wouldn't worry too much, my main fear is they'd think I was horribly boring; but my university years are perhaps best not spread all over the internet. 

Before I started my blog, and in fact for a few years after, I kept a real diary, from 1990 onwards. It's a habit now. I love writing. I also like remembering and writing is an act of memorialisation, imo. 

Chrysalis Term Week 1 progress

 

Not too shabby at all!

I couldn't fit in a sauna session. By the time I realised I had missed it, it was much too late to book. 

I FORGOT about my coffee rule when I was visiting another school on Monday for training, and I had two, maybe three cups of instant coffee. I don't count it as coffee, really. I drink it black and it tastes nothing like actual coffee, imo. But in the interests of transparency, I am only giving myself a half for that. 

Likewise, I seemed to just forget this whole thing on Tuesday, when I didn't go to the gym or bother walking very much. My Fitbit reckons not even 5,000 steps, for shame. I did much better on Friday when I got the bus to work and I even got over 10k on Saturday AND I went to hot yoga as well. So Tuesday was a blip. I blame Bake Off, I was engrossed. 

But, anyway. Pleasing. That gigantic chocolate hazelnut croissant I picked for the sweet treat of the week had me absolutely buzzing on Saturday morning, well worth the abstemious week. 

Now off to read my Christmas cookie book in bed, though. Some friends and I are going to Germany for Christmas markets in December and I need a list of all the ingredients I need to buy there and bring back. 

Blue Monday

I don't use my GoPro half as often as I should, but I did remember to take it along on our family holiday to Mallorca back in April and I had a lot of fun shooting videos of the niblings in the pool and then grabbing stills. I think this one is my favourite. 

But this is a close second.

And this is another close second. 

2026 Week 45

The first week of a new term and it was B.U.S.Y. and not in a good way. It felt like I got nothing done and over this weekend I managed to complete some training I had to finish yesterday but there has been no work today as a result; instead I have just spent nearly two hours looking for a photograph from the 90s, that I don't need or even particularly want to see, it's just that I can't find it and I've gone down that rabbit hole of, 'Where did I put it and if that's missing what else is missing?' - this is a sure sign of mental overload for me. And it's only week one of a new term!

But, no stress. I can only do so much. It is less than one more year - actually, 29 and a half school weeks if we're counting (we are). Then I can spend weeks organising, filing and throwing things out, and actually know what I have in my house and where it all is. 

I finished watching East of Eden and revised my thoughts about Steinbeck and women. The character made more sense as more story was told. I had to put off the last episode though because it was just one bad thing after another and I had to pace myself. I went to knitting group and finished colour six/moved onto colour seven on Sonja's scarf. I read a very small amount of library book. Honestly, there hasn't been much energy for things other than work this week. 

I did get my Christmas baking book out though, it is recipes for German biscuits to bake through advent and I feel like I need to start making lists. Last winter I bought a cookie press but it arrived after we'd finished for Christmas and most of my baking is done for work so I didn't really get the use of it, so I am determined it will be heavily used. It's this one by Anja Dunk. 

I also tried to see Alexei Sayle talking about his new book on Friday night but the traffic was against me. I got half way there and the traffic stopped dead. I crawled about 100m in half an hour and saw two sets of blue lights coming the other way but never pass me. So in the end, I turned around and came home. I will just have to buy the book. 

Early Autumn Goals

Much fail on this list but I'm not mad about it because things were occurring. 

I did not finish an audiobook. I started a new one, Ha-Joon Chang's Economics: A User's Guide that I enjoyed a lot, but strayed from because my brain just wasn't taking it in during my commute. I did start listening to Radio 4 for updates on the midterms, though. American politics is that much more exciting for being somewhat removed from my own life. Also, along with the student protests across Europe and other shifts in government, it feels a little 'spirit of 1968' and I am here for it. 

So anyway. Audiobook listening capacity will return when it can, I'm sure. 

I did not order new curtains. There just wasn't a good moment to go to John Lewis. One day, soon. Although probably not before Christmas because, no to the Mall in Christmas season.

Gym visits. Laughable! I love it when I'm there. Could I get there last term? Not really. Did I go back and attempt to do the same workout I was doing weekly back in the late spring? Yes. Did I pay for this with several days of aching? Also yes. 

I didn't clear the shelves by the fridge. I didn't do it in the summer, either. In fact, they still have the stuff on them in almost exactly the same precarious configuration as when I bought the shelves, 11 months ago. I can't find anything and have forgotten what is there. This week, a cake tin fell off the top in the middle of the night and woke me up and I thought we were being burgled. I think some people might call that karma. 

I didn't decide Easter holiday plans. My friend who moved to China probably has family visiting, though suggested I visit too (no). My skiing BFF has had a crisis and won't be able to come with me. So now I am thinking of taking the train to Seville, with a stopover in Barcelona. 

Books in the Hums toilet may need some unpicking. School is a very old building and a lot of our office and storage spaces used to be cloakrooms, so have toilets at the back. I have three boxes of books in the ones next to the Hums office. I have sorted them out and brought one home. The other two still need to come home, but they need stashing in waterproof boxes in the garage and so I am putting it off because the garage is quite a grim space at the best of times and worse in the winter. So I made that one a sort of completed. 

What should be top of that list is SUBMITTING THE DISSERTATION. The shadow over my life for a whole year finally departed. Results come in next week, eek - I am not ready. I know I will be simultaneously relieved and annoyed if it is only a Pass. But it had exactly as much time as I was able to give to it, so it could not have been better unless I had given up something else. And it will still be a Masters from Oxford, even if it is only a Pass. 

I did my glow swim. 

I skipped the one I booked for the following week because it got cold. This one was on 1st October and I was chilly by the time I finished. I think the following week might have required my wetsuit, not my favourite thing to wear. 

I saw the Last Princesses of the Punjab exhibition at Kensington Palace, as part of my whole weekend off in London. One suffragist and one suffragette - this will play very well with my students. 

I did four hot yogas - getting over the fact it's not bikram and quite enjoying it now. I went to the sauna often. I made mango chutney when the greengrocer had mangoes on 2 for £1.50. I got halfway through Sonja's scarf. 

So a mixed bag, but for good reasons, when you throw that hellish school term into the mix as well. And the list was helpful because it made me do things I might have skipped, like have a weekend off and go to the sauna. So a win, overall, I declare. 

Friday Five: jobs I think about training to do

1. Beautician. I go to a great beautician which is under 5 minutes' walk from my house. I've been going there for over 20 years. They are consistently fully booked a couple of weeks in advance. They teeter on the brink of closing down, though, because most beauticians now want to specialise in just one thing or they prefer working from home. I often consider training so that I could open up the shop for them on Sundays and Mondays, when they're closed, and be a relief person when the staff need time off.

2. Barista. I chat to the owner of a little coffee shop near school often and he has worked mostly 7 days a week for a couple of years now to keep it going. If I could barist (I am verbing that) then I could also be a relief barista, in between being a relief beautician. I'd even do it on a voluntary basis. Also I'd be able to make even better coffee at home. I might even get one of those coffee van concessions and go on the road. 

3. Bus driver. I've very seriously considered getting a PSV licence. It would be very useful to be able to drive minibuses and it would probably help with my fear of driving large vehicles. Also I have this dream that Mr Z and I will retire into the coach industry, becoming a husband and wife coach driving team and touring Europe with the cats in specially-constructed cradles that attach to the windscreen. 

4. Baker. One of my favourite bakeries advertised for a baker recently and I was sad that 'loving baked goods' was not enough of a qualification for me to consider applying. I love being in the kitchen and baking things and experimenting with new flavours, and learning how to do that professionally sounds exciting. It does sound like very hard work, though - lots of early mornings; and I bet, after a while, you get a bit sick of baked goods. That would be sad. 

All Bs, so far...

5. The Witch of Wookey Hole. Ever since I found out this was a real job I have felt an urge to do it. I'm not an actress or a witch but I think I could do a great job of cackling, sneaking around corners and making people jump (I do this anyway), scaring children and general witchery. 

Throwback Thursday

I keep this family picture tucked behind my computer tower. 

This is me with my parents and brother on holiday in America in 1986. I think this picture was taken in Gerlach, Nevada. Father Hand had friends there from when he'd spent time in Nevada supporting the land speed record attempt in ...1983? I was a bit young then, I forget the exact date. 

I have an album of family pictures that I made some time in my teen years but this picture isn't in it. I rescued it from Nanny Hand's flat when she passed away, she had it in a frame. It stirs a complicated memory in me, which is that this was a fun and happy day, we'd had a good time playing with the kids of my dad's friends, my mum had that t-shirt on that we all thought was really fun. Then we had someone take our picture and, at the last minute, I decided to pose like this. Mother Hand told me off. It was something like, '...one nice picture...you always have to show off...' This would explain why I hadn't seen it in so long and why my grandparents had it framed but it wasn't in our family box of pictures. 

I can see why she'd be annoyed, I mean, look at my scrunched up face! But I was having a fun day and I was feeling flouncy, but I wasn't after. 

This may not be true, of course. We are talking 40 years ago and memories are funny things. But I keep it just within eyesight because it is precious to have a picture with Father Hand, with the whole fam in fact. 

Chrysalis term

In case you're new here, I set myself goals for each term of the year and then another set over the summer - so seven in total. They are a mixture of chores and fun things and are mainly to ensure my life doesn't bleed away into an endless cycle of waiting for the weekend and then having decision fatigue and doing essentially nothing until I go back to work. I've to review my term 1 list at some point, I think that will be my Saturday post. 

Anyway, I've decided that this term is going to be one of working on my body, so I'm not setting myself any term goals that are not to do with this bigger goal (apart from nice ones obvs). Some of the weight I lost in 2024 has crept back on since the summer and I need a concerted push over a limited time span to arrest and reverse this trend, mainly because I bought some lovely new winter clothes and they are in danger of being a bit snug, plus I was almost back into some favourite clothes. Also health, etc. Skiing is a mere 14 weeks away.  

So it's a chrysalis term, at the end of which I will emerge like a glorious and well-insulated butterfly. I'm going to record a bit more here than I normally would, for accountability. You seven regular readers and you NaBloPoMo visitors and you 45 LLM-training bots can keep me honest. Here is my plan. I discussed it with the woman I see for PT and she said it needs to be full of things I can achieve so it mostly is:

Eating:

• No bread on weekdays. Not a hardship, I have just told Mr Z not to make any. 
• One sweet treat a week. Not HARD but SAD. But just for six weeks and then it will be the season of sweet treats. 
• Only fruits and vegetables between meals. I have a gigantic fruit bowl on my desk at work so this one is easy. 
• Back to daily tracking - stay within calorie goal over the week. Easy as long as I do the others. 

Movement:

• Four sessions a week. This should not be hard - it is not unusual for me to do four sessions a week already - but I need to make this consistent. Sunday workout. Monday cardio. Wednesday yoga. Thursday PT session. 
• Ten thousand steps on the days I'm not training. This will be hard, but I can always bus to and from school on weekdays and this will help. I can also give up and go do 20 minutes at the gym instead (it all counts). 

Other:

• Sleep. I am going to attempt to go to bed by 10pm on as many nights as I can (it is 10.17, ssshhh). I'll take a weekly average for sleep - averaging 7 hours a night. That allows a little catch up if I have a short night here and there. 
• Sauna. Once a week, every week. 
• Coffee - weekends only. This is mainly so I stop running down to the cafe for a coffee in the school day, which I don't really have time to do and which invariably leads to some kind of snack being purchased at the same time. 

Tuesday Ten

Ten places I want to go 

1. Hawaii. It has moved top of the list, but it is so, so far away. I am considering going on a solo trip at Easter, I have Virgin miles though I expect all their points flights are sold by now. But I am wrestling with liberal angst at the long-haul. 

2. Iran. The only reason this is not top of my list is because I currently can't go there. But it really is top of my list, because if I could choose between Iran and Hawaii, I would choose Iran. There's something about the place that I find fascinating in that old-world, Persian opulence way. There is also meant to be excellent skiing. What's not to like?

3. Some more 'stans. Uzbekistan is doing some good tourism outreach. Also Kyrgystan is supposed to be beautiful. 

4. Eibsee lake, Germany. It popped up on my social media a lot in the summer. It is on my list for next summer. 

5. Slovak Paradise national park. I did not see enough of the Tatras in the summer. A friend gave me a great story about this place and made me very keen. 

6. Mexico. Some cenotes, some Chichen Itza, some margaritas. 

7. The Antarcic. I actually found they are advertising a job down there at the moment and I downloaded the application pack. I reckon I could do that - 4 months on, 6 months off. It would be an easier way of ticking off my final continent. Yeah, 40 month work contract...way easier than, yknow, booking a cruise or something. Way easier. 

8. Tahoe for skiing. I love Tahoe for summer, but I still desperately want to try skiing there. Maybe also Jackson Hole. These are impossible dreams, I've nobody to go with and it is so far away. But a girl can dream. 

9. Brazil - but for waterfalls, not carnival. In general, the wilder bits of South America are quite inviting. 

10. There is a tussle over the 10th slot but I think I am going with Hong Kong/China. Not places I have been particularly interested in going to before, but now I have friends over there, so more reason to go and people who can help me navigate when I get there. 

Before writing this, I revisited my post on this topic from 2016 and there is an even older one from 2010. What have I bumped? From 2010 - Bucharest, Alaska, the Maldives, Santorini. From 2016 - Santorini, Kenya, the Falklands, Split. Probably all these places are still places I would consider going but are less inviting now: Santorini just looks overwhelmingly busy, for example. 

Blue Monday

Wheeling out some old pictures of vivid blue to revive this old theme. This one was taken in the Tunnel des Tuileres in Paris, back in February when Rachael and I stopped overnight on our way to ski in Italy. It's a long pedestrian tunnel that is full of graffiti. There was so much to look at and much of it was very artfully lit. I think this was meant to be the green fairy but it's obviously not green so perhaps I am remembering wrong. 

Though not blue, I had to also include this grumpy cat - one of a triptych of silver cats but my favourite expression. 

2026 Week 44

It has been a good week off, and much needed. There was the necessary work and I did have to cancel one day of plans to meet some deadlines but, in general, it hasn't felt too overwhelming. I do have quite a list for this week but, well, it is what it is. 

On Monday, Mr Z and I went to Calcot Spa for a nice dinner and an overnight stay. We didn't get away for our 20th anniversary in the summer, because he wasn't very well, so it was good to finally mark that with something just the two of us. The hotel even provided a half bottle of champagne and some chocolates. The meal was fabulous. There were two spa areas - one with a steam room and an outdoor hot tub, the other with saunas with a view and outdoor cold plunges. I might have looked up the cost of joining but probably need to admit that 40 minutes' drive is not really close enough. 

Then, on Friday, I went to London for the weekend. I saw Christine Baranski in Hay Fever - Richard E Grant also starred and I had to marvel at my timing, choosing to see this on the same night as the Traitors finale. It was a very funny play and I had booked myself a superb seat, very close to the front, so I could see everything really well. I thought Baranski was exceptional. My favourite line, which I must try to find occasions to use, was, 'Absolute agony I wish I were dead' which was delivered exactly thus, with no punctuation. I decided that Wyndham's Theatre had repainted its safety curtain to feature Christine Baranski, which a later Google confirmed to be true. 

I walked from the theatre to the station over Waterloo Bridge and London was looking delightfully spooky for the night. 

Then I spent Saturday with the niblings, including some trick or treating, and had dinner with Sib. Then a bit more nibling time this morning, during which Lara and I had a good go on the dance mat I bought her about two years ago - glad to see that has survived. All in all, a nice weekend to end the holiday. I'm looking forward to the next visit, which will happen at the end of this term - a nice book end. 

I continued to knit the accordion scarf which, it turns out, is actually called the infinity shawl. I got muddled because it's called accordion stitch, which is basically all stockinette but you change the 'right' side every four rows. I'm onto colour six of ten now. Torn between being very bored of it and not wanting to pick it up, and wanting it to be done so I can see (a) what happens to the yarn when I soak it, as it is Wee Yarns miniballs and they are...I forget. I want to say, spun in oil. They have lanolin still in them. They need a good soak to bloom properly. So anyway, yes, that and (b) how big the shawl will be. I think I am about 100m short of the required yarn but I think it will be wearable anyway. 

I do also keep thinking about what I might knit next, once I've finished this. Too many choices, as always. Currently I fancy a stripey jumper with the copper-flecked 4-ply I bought atWonderwool, but we'll see what the muse calls for when I eventually finish this shawl. 

I have been watching East of Eden this week, which I have enjoyed a lot - so much that I want to spoil it by reading the book synopsis. Or the book. I think it's exciting that Florence Pugh executive produced and starred - I am inferring that this is a character she was very keen to play. And what a character! Obvs it's not over yet but I am not sure I would agree that Steinbeck can write women accurately. Compellingly, though. I also finished off Celebrity Traitors, I didn't quite manage to avoid spoilers but it didn't really ruin the tension of the final, thankfully. 

I finally finished reading Maggie O'Farrell's Land. I had to pause reading it for a bit because there was a hint of something to happen that I really did not want to happen (to these made up characters) and I couldn't face being right; I pretty much was and ended up crying on public transport as I finished it on the coach to London. It was such beautiful writing, as was The Marriage Portrait that I read last year; I suppose it should be Hamnet next. But I went back to the 3rd in the My Brilliant Friend quartet and now that I'm home, I should pick up my library book again...it is good but not gripping. I've resolved it must go back to the library at next renewal, whether I've finished it or not. 

NaBloPoMo

My last year of participating in NaBloPoMo was 2019, when I was letting go of the target to post 127 times a year. I have found that I missed it, though; not necessarily the pressure of thinking of something to write every day, but the shared themes and reading other people's blogs and general community feel. It was all the good stuff about the old internet that I miss. 

So here I am, back again for another whirl. I was surprised to find a fair desert when I searched for places still doing NaBloPoMo but happily I came across San who has curated a list of participants and gathered some resources, so there are people the share with again. 

2026 Week 43

The term ended this week, probably just as awfully as might have been expected, with a nasty shock on Monday that is going to have a lot of fallout. Not being mysteriously, temptingly vague, just necessarily vague. Thankfully it doesn't directly involve me but it has left me feeling like I'm in mourning (nobody died). Just par for the course in this horrible term, thankfully now in the past. The only positive thing was that we managed to appoint another teacher of my subject, against all odds and at under a week's notice, so my timetable should ease a bit next term. Just as well because I am going to be doing my job and parts of two others. 

The last day of term was Hallowe'en dress up and I reprised an outfit from a party I went to a few years ago, the wicked witch of the east. It was windy enough to almost blow my house away for real; I had to deal firmly with a shouty parent in it; and when I leaned out of an upstairs window to shout at some truanting students, one of them actually screamed in horror and shouted, 'WHO IS THAT?!' much to the amusement of my year 10s.

It has been a fun weekend. I went to hot yoga and then to Gaz's house where we ate Chinese and sort of watched Strictly with Corners - an annual tradition, even down to the horrible storm I had to drive to and from her place in. Of course today has been lovely. I went to the cinema with Emrys to see Ghosts, very funny. I did a little actual, in-person shopping: a sadly dispiriting experience because of the whole 'find your size online' thing - you're telling me, Uniqlo, that in all your piles and piles of jumpers you don't have room for one XXS and one XXL? And then I bought a dress in Harvey Nicks and they didn't give me the expected 20% discount they were touting all over the shop and I didn't have the heart to ask. People talk a lot about the death of the high street but I'm not sure that I can recommend going in person when I can't try on my size or read the discount Ts&Cs ahead of time. I guess it was nice to actually look at things, though. 

I've continued with the usual knitting project and marvellous book, I want to devour it but I have been pretty sleepy. I've been catching up on Five Star Weekend (meh) and Leaving on Netflix, a very old three-part series with Helen McCrory that was better than I was expecting. Excitingly, I managed to see both the Bake Off and Traitors live, what a thrill - no avoiding spoilers needed. 

A whole week off awaits, though there will be exam board tasks within that. But still...lie ins, lazy hours with a book etc. 

2026 Week 42

A surprisingly good week at work. This might have been down to my complete weekend off or to the fact that Y13 have been in mocks, which has halved my teaching load. Either way, I have been joking that I must be about to die because it feels like golden time. I managed to get loads done. Perhaps the visitors will come next week (it has to be soon) and I can capitalise on this efficient feeling.

A couple of nice social things happened. I went to a supper club at a local charity that was a collab with a restaurant near work and Farro, a bakery I am obsessed with. Unfortunately we tried to go to the actual restaurant, only to discover the dinner was being hosted at the charity premises in Bedminster, so had to do a bit of a cross-town dash; but it was a very informal sort of dinner so it was all good. It was great to have a meal with Parpy Jo and a catch up, such as has not been had for a long time. Then on Friday night I went to see Lizzy's new house (she has been there a year but...) and we had dinner and did some knitting. Socially nourishing is this season's vibe. 

I went to the sauna and to yoga. I watched the Traitors and Bake Off. We started watching War, which I thought would be some sharp political thriller but it turns out to be about divorce and I predict they will reconcile because the whole thing is really being driven by the lawyers. Good characters and wow, what a cast, but I can't yet get over my disappointment at it not being what I was expecting. 

I continued to knit the accordion scarf I'm making for the cleaner at work. I've just joined colour five of ten, so we are getting there. It's a very, very easy pattern but I think this is making me slower because it's just not very interesting. I continue to read Land, which is very interesting. I have had to pause it briefly because it's sucking me in and I can't be doing late nights at this end of term. 

I've spent much of this weekend baking for the school bake sale tomorrow, something I haven't done in a very long time. I made this spiced squash and apple loaf from Riverford Farm; ginger butternut cupcakes from my Dan Lepard cookbook (it must be getting on for 10 years since I made these, ever since Sainers stopped selling pre-chopped glace ginger, I hate chopping the ginger); and snickerdoodle cupcakes with a caramel buttercream. I used the tinned condensed milk caramel for the buttercream and it is awesome, though very sweet. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy baking time: another thing that can come back now the Masters is finished. 

2026 Week 41

A really quite unpleasant week at work for reasons I won't go into. Many things that could be written in my journal of reasons why I will be resigning, but I am starting to believe that I won't need it and I will manage to resign without the support of my previous words; in fact, the difficult bit will be working out the year. 

Happily, I was able to leave at breaktime on Friday and travel to London for an exam board thing, which was a bit amorphous but did involve some merch, including little branded cupcakes, and a catch up with current and previous bosses. Afterwards, we all went to a nearby pub for some drinks with the guys I see every year at the May conference I go to, and usually only then - what a treat to get an extra evening with them. There was a gradual peeling away until it was just two of us but we managed to make the evening last until 10.30. I didn't even really notice I hadn't eaten dinner until I was in bed later. 

It made me reflect a bit about how hard it can be to make friends as an adult and how it's even harder to make friends with members of the opposite sex, due to the obvious. I also met up with this one - R - in July for drinks but it feels hard to suggest meeting just the two of us. How do you do that without potentially sounding like you're asking them on a date? Or does it just not sound like that: is that not what is assumed? I will continue my experiments in this area. We're probably going to the theatre together in December; I finally felt able to ask after five rounds of drinks. Absurd. 

Saturday was a lovely sunny London day; I took myself to the Last Princesses of the Punjab exhibition at Kensington Palace, to a conference at the British Library, then on a long walk to Trafalgar Square via an ice cream shop recommended on Ruby Tandoh's central London ice cream map (I recommend this). Mango and Milo in a black cone. Lush. 

I had a quick wander around the National Gallery which closed much earlier than expected, then tried to catch a bus back to my hotel in Kensington. It drove straight past me but I remembered that, the previous night, I'd been stuck on said bus in traffic not much further on, so I walked its route and overtook it, catching it at Green Park, where a woman was sitting in the actual bus stop on her suitcase (why, just why). I got a very early night after some Sticks n Sushi and some sweet treats from Whole Foods and with the new book I've started, Land by Maggie O'Farrell (superb). I had a very restful night. 

This morning, I went over to Liberty and managed to get their last Bayeux Tapestry scarf. Then home. I am about to go to bed because I am not sure I will be able to hold out and not check my school email, but I want it to be a properly work-free weekend because that is on my early autumn list. It has been restorative and very much needed. Now only two weeks until half term and this week will be much easier because there are exams happening which halves my lesson count. And I have two nice dinners planned and a sauna booked. I can do this. I will prevail. 

As for the rest of the week - a bit of shawl knitting. I have been enjoying Celebrity Traitors and watched Trust Me on Netflix, about Mormon polygamist paedophiles. I had my nails done in a glorious shade of almost-sparkly navy that I can't stop looking at. Not much else to say. 

Summer Holiday Goals

Slowly getting round to posting all the things I've wanted to post. It's been nearly four weeks since dissertation hand in so I am feeling more like myself again. 

Oh look, almost all the failures were chores! I think I can cope with that. 

I think the dissertation was 17,000 words before I went back to work - not too shabby. I didn't quite manage sauna every week but I did do enough sauna visits to count as one a week, just about, so tick to that - and a number of different saunas, too. Plus the hot yogas: I managed to make a very sweaty summer deliberately sweaty. 

There were many swims. I thought 10 would be a challenge and was fully prepare to visit both my local pools if needed but it turned out to be quite easy and it made me go and swim in at least two places I might not have done otherwise. When I landed in Krakow seven hours earlier than Zoe, and then had to queue through passport control for over two hours, throwing myself in a body of water was basically the only thing I wanted to do with the time so I took public transport and then a walk and then had to figure out how to swim with my phone because I was too nervous to leave it on the beach (waterproof pouch ftw). It felt like half of Krakow was down there: what a treat to be a little like a local. 

I stopped counting the places I bought ice cream from because they were so numerous (best flavour: cherry poppyseed in Bratislava) and, although I listed cocktails there, there were also considerably more than five of those (best new cocktail: plum sour in Budapest). There were plenty of novels. I read The Names almost in one day on my journey to Krakow: it was a good distraction in the passport queue. I didn't really rate Yesteryear and James was OK (probably would be better if I'd read Huckleberry Finn before) but I loved the others. 

At home, I finished Euphoria - a fitting end; and we defrosted the freezer early in the holiday so I got it out of the way before the heavy dissertation work kicked in. I went to one Tuesday crafting and haven't been able to go since, but I'm hoping to be a more regular visitor. 

Workfree days? There were a couple. One of the exam board guys finished an email to me saying he hoped the board wouldn't be 'chasing me down the runway with scripts' which they sort of did, a record 44 came through to mark after I'd left the country, but then they did finally stop and I did have a couple of days of holiday when I didn't do any dissertation work, though they were days with excursions or travelling involved. But it was always going to be a stretch and it got me out of some house chores and it was only one summer. Next summer will be much different. 

 

2026 Week 38

The dissertation is in! I am free! 

It has been an interesting couple of days reflecting on it, because the worry about getting it done has been a fixture for a year but I sort of forgot that the rest of the course was around for a whole year before that, so it has been two years of thinking, in most free moments, that I could be doing some reading or writing. I had my good weight loss episode right at the start of the course but haven't managed to lose any more and now I am wondering (hoping) if it was the distraction that has prevented it. I also noticed that, even though Thursday was a tired day as I'd been up very late finishing, I was straight away able to bring more to my job than I had been since the start of term. The brain is such an interesting thing. I definitely wanted to do the Masters, but I'm not sure I really considered how much work it would be. 

Anyway, it's done now. I submitted around 1am on Thursday morning, shortly after my computer fully crashed as I tried to save it as a pdf for the 4th time (kept spotting mistakes) and wiped at least a month off my lifespan. Naturally all I can think now was about the bits I wish I hadn't put in, or said, but at the least it should pass so I should try to worry a bit less. 

I've spent the weekend lazing, mainly: a 2 hour afternoon nap on Saturday (cannot remember the last time I allowed myself to do this), a lunch and a book talk from Robert Harris with Rachael on Sunday. Many re-marks, obvs, but the deadline for those is Thursday so the end is in sight for that, too. 

I continue to read my library book, At First Light. I've almost caught up on Vigil. I went to the sauna for an impromptu Thursday session and they have a new sauna installed, very lovely. I made it to hot yoga on Saturday morning, and then knitting, where I cast on a new project. The Return of the Life. 

Tuesday Ten

Ten things I will do when this dissertation is handed in (roughly 36 hours to go)

1. Catch up on Vigil.

2. Lie in bed reading a novel I borrowed from the library in June.

3. Shop for orange sport weight yarn for a jumper I will probably never get round to knitting.

4. Wash the living room floor.

5. Apply for my alumna Bodleian library card.

6. List my expensive book on coding for resale on Amazon. Probably the one on systematic reviews as well. Spend the money on cakes. 

7. Book a spa night away with Mr Z. 

8. More blogging. 

9. Sort and donate the charity shop pile....now more whole-room than pile.

10. Go back to the gym. Whoever thought I'd be a person who missed the gym. 

One thing I hope not to do

1. Fixate on how much better it might have been if I'd spent more time on it.