Project 365 2021 Week 36 Day 248 – 254   Our wedding anniversary and the first full week of Secondary School for my son.

Sunday 5th September – Day 248

Our 12th wedding anniversary – haven’t murdered him yet.  We traded in some Tesco vouchers for a day out at Longleat.  I’d booked it before I busted my toe but figured most of the time we’d be in the car on Safari, so hopefully it would be ok.  It was really grey and misty when we arrived but as the day went on the sun came out.

I’d say that there seemed fewer animals on the safari than we’ve seen on visits to other parks but we still enjoyed our time driving around.  The highlight really though was seeing the gorillas from the lake, the aardvarks sleeping together, the anteaters coming out in front of us and seeing koala bears for the first time.  I can confirm that they stink but who cares when they look as lovely as this.  We’ve followed their journey at Longleat through the Animal Park TV series and it was lovely to finally get to see Burke and his friends in the fur.

We headed home and made a detour through the Cotswolds so we could see the Diddly Squat Farm Shop on the way.  It looked busy considering it was later in the day, although the roads were clear. We’ll pop in one day when we’ve not already had a long day out.

Monday 6th September – Day 249

Lovely weather is forecasted for the next few days so my son gets to wear his PE kit until Thursday.

Not a hint of blue or purple in the print on my tunic dress today!  Busy workday and another positive day at school for my son.

My foot was protesting after the small amount of walking I did yesterday.  Not great, but it made me realise that I’m not going to be able to join the Ramblers hike I was booked on for next week, so I cancelled my space ahead of time.

Tuesday 7th September – Day 250

Another busy work and school day and the sun continued to shine down.

I spotted the cyclamen in flower under the Acer in the back garden.

Wednesday 8th September – Day 251

My day off and it was much needed after a busy couple of days.

I had my hair cut and coloured in the morning and got to have a good catch up with my hairdresser who finally got married in July. We’re both older mum’s with one son apiece, her’s has just started Year One, so we always have lots to talk about with shared experiences.

My son finishes school an hour early on Wednesdays which works really well with me being off as well.  When he got home he had to ask me some questions about my childhood for his History homework.  We decided to talk about life when I was also eleven, in 1979 and all the things that didn’t exist then.  My oldest friend (his godmother) went to boarding school when I started Secondary school and he was quite shocked that we had to write letters to each other to keep in touch!

Hopefully, he won’t get too bogged down with homework in the months ahead as it would be nice to have a bit of quiet time with him on Wednesday afternoons going forward.  Time for us without anything else to worry about.

It’s the start of full school uniform tomorrow, although blazers are now optional, so he probably won’t wear his every day.  On PE days he’ll wear his PE kit all day.  Time to check that his new school trousers fit him around the waist with a bit of adjustment and I ironed his shirt ready for the morning.

Thursday 9th September – Day 252

We got the obligatory school uniform shot in front of the garden gate but I loved this one the best.  A boy and his cat.  It’s amazing how much a tie and jacket (when he had that on) makes him look so grown up.

My uncle had his scan today so time will tell what is happening with him.  My BIL has been back and forth to the hospital this week and when’s he’s been home a nurse has been visiting him there.

Friday 10th September – Day 253

School photo day for Year 7 and in my son’s word ‘I forgot to smile, Mum’.

A really busy workday and I got home from job one to discover that my ‘virtual’ hospital appointment for Monday is now, in fact, a face to face appointment.  This is great news really but involves some last-minute juggling of working schedule for next week and arranging for my son to go to his best friend’s house after school.

I caught the shot of Brewster and Pippi, don’t they look guilty?

My son was shattered when he got home.  He’s got to use Google Classroom for his homework, he thought he’d got homework for French and Maths but we couldn’t find it online.  We did find a year’s worth of Design and Technology homework. He wasn’t impressed with the system, hopefully, it will get easier in the weeks ahead.  I did spot that one of the boys in his class was actually in our Early Days baby group with they were newborns.  We’ve not seen him or his Mum in years.  Small world.

Saturday 11th September – Day 254

Flaked out.  We’re all tired today it seems.  Just as well we’re having a chilled out day at home.  Although I had a mountain of ironing to wade through this morning and blog stuff that needs looking at this afternoon.

Hard to believe it’s 20 years since 9/11 – still remember that day vividly.

What have you been up to this week?