A tomatoey surprise. #MySundaySnapshot

Over the past couple of weeks I have neglected my garden. Having Covid and the heat put me off going outside and I have just left it alone, Stu did water it a few times but that's it. I went out there during the week to have a look what had survived the latest heatwave and had a surprise that there was some tomatoes growing. I thought they had all died off a long while ago but there is at least 30 little tomatoes growing. Hooray!

Week 33 of #Project365 13th - 19th August. A photo every day for a year!

We are all over Covid, well we're testing negative, feeling a bit better but we're still tired all of the time. Everything feels like a chore at the moment and despite eating loads when I was ill I have totally lost my appetite and interest in food at the moment which is not like me at all.

We haven't had a bad week, it was Stu's birthday and he had a great few days. We celebrated on his day off because he had to work his birthday. Hmmf. He was so happy with all of his cards and presents, he better not expect that many presents next year. hehehe

Now for a photo every day!

225/365 - 13th August

I got Stu 50 presents for his 50th birthday and Saturday was the day that I wrapped them. We did have a couple of mishaps with missing presents. Ellie had put a smaller one in a bigger box for safe keeping and it took a while until she remembered about it. Oops.

226/365 - 14th August

This week I missed taking a photo on Sunday. I don't know what I was doing with my day, nothing much from what I remember so you're not missing much.

227/365 - 15th August

Another random thing that Becky has seen online and bought herself. She only bought it for the grater part but to be fair she does eat a lot of cheese.

228/365 - 16th August

After about 15 years the living room clock broke so I bought a new one off ebay and it arrived. I love the colours on it and it matches the rest of the decor in the living room.

229/365 - 17th August

Stu's birthday cake. We had it a day late as we were too full from pizza on Tuesday.

230/365 - 18th August

I had leftover pastry from a pie I made so made some jam tarts and they went a bit wrong, the jam overflowed and made such a mess.

231/365 - 19th August

Starburst and fake Starburst according to Ellie. lol I had to explain to her that Opal Fruits were Starbursts until the late 90's when they changed the name. lol

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This week my Word of the Week is: Better! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

The last time I used the word Better was the week after my dad tested positive for Covid way back in 2020. Here we are again a little over a week and a half since my family tested positive for Covid and we're all feeling better, mostly.

I got my first negative test yesterday, the last in my family to get it. Stu got his 4 days after being positive, Becky and Ellie 6 days and I had to wait 9 days for mine! Seeing just one line has made me feel so much happier, I thought it would never come.

The kids and Stu are feeling just about back to normal apart from feeling tired and I am still feeling snotty and have the only way I can explain it, a fuzzy head. I've realised if I move my head too quickly I feel dizzy. Dr Google says it's just a side effect from Covid. I am also feeling so tired too, exhausted from doing normal things. I think it's going to take some time to feel 100%.

Thankfully the latest heatwave seems to be over and we all feel so much better for it. We got to the point where we didn't know if Covid or the heat was making us feel rotten. I think it was a mixture of both. We got the rain on Tuesday night and it came down heavy, so much so there was a puddle in the bedroom because I forgot to shut the window. Oops. It has rained a bit since then and my garden is looking better for it. Phew!

Stu had a better birthday than we expected, not as good as I had planned because of us all not feeling 100% but he loved all of his presents, his takeaway and cake! We still have a meal out to have and are hopefully having that next week when we go and do some birthday shopping for the girls. I have got their main presents but still need a few extra bits.

I have told the girls that they better get thinking about what they want to do on their birthdays as I have no idea. Ellie's is on a bank holiday which limits what we can do as the buses are rubbish here using their Sunday service and Becky's is on a Saturday which is great especially since Stu has the day off work.

I hope you have all had a good week?

The biggest challenges parents face during the summer holidays.

We're halfway through the summer holidays. I think we are anyway, I seem to have lost track with losing a week to Covid. A study of 1,000 mums and dads of school aged children found two thirds struggle to find ways to occupy their youngsters during the break.

As a parent I used to feel such a huge pressure during the summer holidays, planning activities, covering the costs and keep the kids entertained. Six weeks seems such a long time. I would have loved the summer holidays to be shorter and have an extra week at Christmas and throughout the year.

These are the biggest challenges that parents face during the summer holidays:

The bad weather keeping them indoors.

This summer hasn't been that bad, usually we complain about the rain and what is keeping us inside is the extreme heat.

Stretching budget over the full length of the summer.

If my two had their way they would be having days out every day but our budget does not stretch that far. I try to keep it to one trip out a week either with me or with their friends. Thankfully now Becky is working she pays to amuse herself but the rule still applies to Ellie.

Trying to think of fun things to do at home.

I used to be quite good at things like this. Making things like Moon Sand, play dough, painting, baking, rainy days are great for movie days and playing board games are all fun. I did write 25 Ways to keep kids entertained this Summer with some more ideas.

Struggling to think of suitable day trips.

When my girls were younger we used to struggle with this, there was only so many times going to the park or beach would keep them happy but going further afield cost more.

Struggling to think of enough different meals to eat.

Evening meals are fine but lunches we struggle with. Sandwiches get boring and of course the kids don't want to spend time in the kitchen making something so we just usually eat picky bits out of the fridge.

Losing inspiration for activities.

I used to think up something really good to do with the kids and then they would be interested for 5 minutes and leave me thinking why do I bother or they would do something and leave all the tidying and cleaning up for me and again I would think why do I bother.

The days going slow.

This still happens, just the other day I said "how is it only 3pm". It felt like it should have been much later.

Lack of sleep.

Now my girls are teenagers we don't have this issue, it's the opposite, I struggle to get them out of bed. lol but when they were little it was a struggle. They would be up at the crack of dawn and of course didn't want to go to bed early.

All the extra laundry.

Oh yes, I don't know why but there does seem more laundry to do during the summer holidays. At least the weather has been OK so I can get it out on the line to dry.

Not having enough help with childcare.

This hasn't bothered us as I have been lucky enough to stay home but I can imagine this is such a stress for parents who work.

What is your biggest challenge during the summer holidays?