I’m usually going to publish this series on a Wednesday each week, but with it being the first week, it’s a Friday edition! Happy Friday! For those of you whose main job is a 9-5 Monday – Friday, I’m sure you’ll join me in saying that Fridays are worth celebrating! I’m sat with a lovely glass of red, the sun’s out here in Stockport and the weather is beautiful. Birds are singing, the smell of Summer’s in the air and I’m hopeful that we may get some sort of Summer with friends and family this year!
So, what have I been up to for the last week?
Reading
After reading, and loving Beth O’Leary’s ‘The Flatshare’ I knew I had to get my hands on another of her books. The Switch is about Leena and her grandma Eileen who switch places and live in each other’s lives for a short while. They have to live exactly as the other does – with phones, apartments and houses, and friendship groups. It’s taken me a little while to get into this but I think it’s because I’m not getting much chance at the minute to sit down and read it properly. I’m making progress and starting to get stuck in now, and whilst I’m not sure whether I like it as much as I liked The Flatshare, it’s definitely getting better!
Watching
You might remember Lost from back in 2004 when it first aired on TV. I never got onto the hype back then, though my friends all watched it and debated over who they fancied more – Sayid or Sawyer. I can confirm for me, it is absolutely Sawyer. Lost is the story of a group of plane crash survivors who land in the middle of nowhere on a desert island. I actually watched this in 2010 for the first time, when my husband James introduced me to it and I was well and truly hooked. I’ve wanted to watch it again for years, and what better time than during lockdown? We’re coming to the end of season 3, and I forgot just how crazy the storyline got. Still, it’s providing much-needed comfort and entertainment right now and I’m looking forward to tackling the next 3 seasons.
I am very biased here because my immensely talented best friend produced this series, but this week in the UK we’ve had the honour of watching ‘Unprecedented’, which aired on BBC Four each night. It is a remarkable series portraying life in lockdown in the UK and the different situations faced by an array of people. I’ll be writing a full post on it soon enough, so keep an eye out for that! You can watch it on BBC iPlayer if you didn’t manage to catch it first time around!
Listening
Loreena McKennitt (artist)
I did a search on Spotify for new artists as I have been enjoying the ability to play music whilst working from home, but was getting a little tired of listening to Enya, Ludovico Einaudi and Max Richter. I found Loreena McKennitt and am really enjoying her sound at the minute. Check her out if you like any of the above artists.
The View – Hats Off to the Buskers (album)
When I was 17 back in 2007, I used to listen to The View on my way to work during the summer holidays at a cafe in Southport. I would listen on the train and look out of the window feeling content – it’s something I’ve always loved doing (listening to music whilst travelling). I recently heard somebody comment about having a ‘face for the radio’ and I was reminded of a song that I used to love so much by The View called – you guessed it -‘Face for The Radio’. I did a search for it and for some reason, it’s the only song on the album I can’t access, but I found myself listening to the album anyway and being transported back to 2007.
James Blunt – Monsters (song)
James Blunt is a bit like marmite – you either love him or detest him. But I don’t think there’s any denying that he is the King of Twitter for his humour. I kind of forgot he existed until recently and I asked Alexa to play him because I needed a bit of a pick me up. If you’ve heard James Blunt, you’re probably wondering why the hell I would choose him for a pick me up. But I’ve always liked him, and actually, some of his songs (like The Truth, or OK with Robin Schulz) are pretty upbeat. I was listening, when all of a sudden, the most beautiful song followed and I found myself stopped in my tracks, captivated by the lyrics. Intrigued, I got straight on Google to discover that this song was written about his Dad, who, at the time of writing, was battling stage four chronic kidney disease. Well, I was bawling like a baby in less than a minute. I thought I’d share the video with you below in case you’re brave enough to watch it (don’t say I didn’t warn you!).
So that’s it from me this week – feel free to share what you’ve been up to this week, you never know who it might interest!
Reflect and Introspect 