Rest of June Round Up

My last post was just over a fortnight ago.

That wasn't part of my plan for June.

Then again when do things go to plan?

Everyone's ok but I'd be fibbing if I were to say that the last two weeks chez Jumble and Jelly have been plain sailing!

Enough of all that though, let's take a peek at some other news.

After a little discussion me, G and S have booked to go away to Amsterdam for 4 nights in early August.

Excited? 

You bet.

Amsterdam has been on my wish list for ages.

I went to the library and took out some books.

One is on self guided walks around the city and also for places such as Delft and Haarlem. We're not quite sure yet where else we will visit but Haarlem is definitely high on the list.

We need to go places and do things of interest to all 3 of us.

Last week I took S to Cambridge for her annual eye check up. The day was a hot, long one made all the more tolerable for S for our stop off at Five Guys so she could have one of their milkshakes.
The check up showed a minuscule cataract in S's left eye. It's something which can happen at an early age because of the condition she has, but it's nothing to worry about and is not likely to grow or require surgery for years and years.

My 90 day chuck out challenge failed after I reached 30 days. It started well enough when I had a really good clear out from our bedroom drawers and then went through the kitchen cupboards. I'm not too bothered as I regularly send items off to the charity shop. We may get a little cluttered at times but I'm not a hoarder.

A few weeks ago one of my school friends posted details on Facebook of an open evening at our old secondary school.

The reason for this special event is our school will soon be no more.

It's going to be demolished, it needed too much money to maintain the poor state it was in and so it was cheaper to construct a new one, which has been built on the school sports field.

The site the current school is standing on will then be converted into a sports area. 

Eventually.

The thing was the event was being held between 4 and 6.

How disappointing, many wanted to go but those hours are when lots are at work or travelling home from work.

Then just a few days beforehand they extended it by an hour until 7pm.

Hurrah.

I didn't want to pass up the opportunity of one last wander down those corridors and luckily neither did R, so he and I went together.

This is the door to my English classroom.

Our teacher used to have the girls and boys line up separately along here before going into class.

So many memories from just this one spot.

I left in 1984 and as you would expect during that time things have changed, but not as much as you may think.

Words can not describe how familiar it felt to once again be walking down the staircase (in what was known back then as the 'new block') as if I had just finished my maths lesson.

I will never forget that feeling.

Somewhere I hadn't set foot for over 30 years and yet it felt like I'd been there only yesterday.

We saw half a dozen others from our year group, the last time we had seen each other was the reunion last September.

We reminisced some more, took more photos and marveled over the fact our former headteacher was also visiting that evening and looking extremely sprightly at 86.

We had an entertaining afternoon out one Saturday in Eastleigh at their annual arts day.

The group of four acrobatic dancers showed such controlled strength as they threw themselves around this cage during their performance.

I loved watching the group of women all dressed in grey perform together. They are called Ceyda Tanc Dance and you can read about them and watch videos here. It was so inclusive, women of all ages and physical ability joined together in one rhythmic gathering, it was entrancing to watch.

Our favourite was definitely the couple on the left from Glasshouse dance who performed a classic boy meets girl tale with a twist or two along the way.

At the end they encouraged the audience to join them and dance along to Love Train. 

Some resolutely refused to get up and dance, I have to say that when the female performer approached me I jumped up and was happy to bop away with them. It seemed like the polite thing to do seeing they had entertained us so well.

I'm still settling into being at work for four days.

I have been trying to get a better handle on shopping and meal planning.

When the children were little it was so much easier.

Now with T sometimes being in for meal times and sometimes not, which can mean an hour before dishing up he'll say 'yes I'll be here to eat with you' and then suddenly his plans have changed, or saying he won't be in and then turning up, it seems I need to have an unending supply of meals which can instantly be adapted to suit.

And do you know what, I don't a limitless supply of food, time, money or patience to cater for each scenario and I've been finding it quite frustrating.

I am cooking from scratch so much less these days and I don't like that either as I have always tried to provide my family with a variety of foods. Then again I suppose this is just another change that our family is going through as the children are growing and doing more outside the home.

Only a couple of days left in June now but just enough so I can finish my posts for the month. If things go to plan of course.