Hairband pot from enchanted cosy co
The beginning of July brought many things, including July tea club, always a good part of the month. The postcard this month is adorable, and it also came with some tea stickers.
I was a bit superstitious about ordering a badge before I got my vaccine, just in case the appointment was cancelled or a school bubble popped, so once I’d been I treated myself to these badges (could not decide, so got both in the end). One not suitable for work though!
We finally have a lily in our pond!
Running was back to normal (Tues, Wed and Thurs) although no yoga on Wednesday night due to the semi final of the Euros. I was so excited that the tiny football car was back, and then so annoyed at ITV for not even showing it! On a side note, when the football is on BBC, who on earth actually chooses to watch ITV??? Anyway, I’m not on twitter, but the tiny football car is, and well worth a look if you want something light hearted to look at.
The runs were OK, but I got absolutely soaked on Tuesday morning (and no time to wash my hair so just had to towel it down and hope for the best!). I was so tired on Thursday morning after the late night of football (and the excitement of being in the final) but I had a meeting after school and didn’t want to leave my run until then as I knew I’d just want to come home and rest.
Big puddle on a run and fresh lemonade with my waffle
On Friday after work the 4 people in my team went to The Waffle House as a nearly end of term celebration. I’ve not been to a restaurant probably since 2019 (only the outside afternoon tea for my birthday, plus we’ve got a few takeaways when we’ve been away for the weekend) so I was a bit apprehensive, but it was good- the seating is all outside anyway, and it was well spaced out so it felt OK. I had the hummus and avocado on a vegan waffle and it was delicious. We have sometimes recreated this at home, but never with all the garnishes and it is just so much nicer having it cooked for you.
On Saturday we had some sad news- people can no longer log a (not)parkrun if your home event is Ellenbrook Fields, as it is “no longer a live event”. I knew that it was not coming back right away, but this seems to suggest that it’s gone for good. It’s frustrating because with places like Tring and Little Stoke, the reasons were a bit clearer, but parkrun have posted something a bit ambiguous about not securing landowner permission (when people in my running club who are in the core team say this is not true). Anyway, I cheered myself up thinking about actual parkrun returning in a fortnight- it’s not all bad. It’s funny because I now need to choose a new home event, and for ages Panshanger was (it started as St Albans, but once Panshanger started I changed it to that), but as I was more involved in EF I just feel like that is my home because I know the community there much more than anywhere else. No doubt we will go between Jersey Farm and Panshanger when not touristing, as JF is right by my parents and I can run to Panshanger as they’ve moved the start closer to me, but EF was perfect as it was in the middle.
Pancakes for breakfast, vegan doughnuts ordered, and a cute postbox topper seen on my run.
Anyway, Saturday after my run was a lot of jobs (cleaning, work bits, car admin) to get done so Sunday was free to be enjoyed. We even popped out to charge the car a little bit as our home charger has not been installed yet. I must say I am not missing going to petrol stations.
The weather was gorgeous on Sunday. I went for a run to Panshanger trying to work out the new parkrun route (they’ve posted it on their page and I know some people who’ve put it on strava). I think I did it? It will be a fairly longish warm up and cool down though as it totalled over 8 miles in the end. Or maybe 9.
Andy’s parents popped by to sit in our garden for a bit, and then I was off out again. Socialising is turning out to be like buses! I’d arranged an afternoon tea with a couple of friends- we usually meet up a couple of times a year, but the last time we managed this was November 2019. We walked over to the farm where I’d been for my birthday- as the seating was all outside and very well spaced it felt good. Both of my friends are teachers too, and just hoping to make it to the end of term without any bubble popping going on, and they’ve been as cautious as me about mixing with others (or not basically). Apart from work colleagues and immediate family, they are the first people I’ve seen since the pandemic began- I felt out of practise with conversation! But it was lovely to catch up.
Just like in May, the vegan one was super tasty, and we appreciated the walk back after! They couldn’t hang about though as we’d booked it months ago without knowing about the football!
So, then there was the football. I enjoyed it. I think I went into it feeling happy that we’d made it that far, and of course winning would have been amazing. Penalties are always my most hated outcome (even if I don’t mind who wins I find them so stressful to watch), so that wasn’t great, but at least we got to celebrate a goal and be winning for a bit. Look on the bright side! I went to bed feeling OK (a late night but I slept better than the Wednesday night), but waking to see the news of the racism and the violence (the people trying to get in without tickets), was just depressing. This is why we can’t have nice things. This is why most other countries would be glad that we lost. And then the PM having the cheek to come out and criticise the racism after what he has said and done (check out Gary Neville’s interview on Sky…) and who he employs as Home Secretary just infuriated me more. So I went into Monday feeling a bit deflated, and not because of the loss, but because of the reminder of who I share this country with.
On a lighter note, it made me look forward to the Olympics and Paralympics.
Did you enjoy the football? Do you have any superstitions around sport? For us having nuts as a snack worked up until the penalties!
