Hello hello, and welcome back.

Here in the Northern hemisphere (or maybe I just mean the North of England!) Spring is very much upon us. I saw the first blossom on a tree earlier this week when I was out on a run, and there has been blue skies a grand total of TWICE this week. My god, we don’t know we’re born do we?!

I don’t know about you but I am READY for some more light, warmth, and general freshness. I don’t feel like this Winter has been any longer than usual, in fact it’s been a bit nicer because we’ve been in our new home and it’s felt very different, but I’m definitely ready for the lighter evenings and warmer days.

I’m off to Spain for a few days next week for James’s birthday, so looking forward to some sun, and if I’m being really honest, just a few days off work and some quality time together. With him working away and then me/us being busy of a weekend, it can feel a bit like you’re just passing ships all the time. I’m really looking forward to being static ships, even if it’s just a few days.

Anyway, what do I have for you this week? I’ve got some good’uns!

Reading

The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

So unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have now heard of ChatGPT the AI that is going to take over the world and all our jobs with it. I use it for the odd thing here and there, and one of the first things I asked it was to provide books that were similar in theme and equally as uplifting to Libby Page’s book The Lido.

One of the options it gave me was this book, and I’ve been trying vehemently to get into it for weeks now. I’m a couple of chapters in but to be honest, I’m just not sure.

The main character (Harold Fry) seems just a bit annoying, and I’m sure we’re supposed to acknowledge the fact that there is something else going on (maybe something along the lines of depression or mental illness, or even something like ADHD or Aspergers) but I’m not really following and I just find him a bit annoying really.

I’ll stick with it and report back next week as to whether I recommend, but if I’m not hooked by now, I doubt I’ll be recommending. In the meantime, you can learn more about it here.

Watching

tHE gLORY

TRIGGER WARNING: There are themes of severe bullying and domestic abuse among many other topics.

One of perhaps the only good things about James working away and my wine qualification now being over is that I have time and capacity of an evening after work to watch TV on my own!! This means I get to watch all the programmes that look amazing, but that James won’t watch, usually it’s because they are in a foreign language with subtitles and he hates reading whilst watching!

One of these is The Glory on Netflix, and OMG I am LOVING it!!!!

It’s Korean, so it’s subtitled, but it’s about a woman, Moon Dong-eun, who was SEVERELY bullied as a teenager and is out for revenge now that she’s an adult. The bullying scenes are harrowing, I’ve had to fast-forward them mainly because they made me feel sick, but the show itself is absolutely BRILLIANT and you really find yourself rooting for her, even though it’s basically alluding to the fact that she’s going to do all this sadistic shit to her perpetrators.

There are A LOT of completely unlikeable, terrible characters, but also some really beautiful characters, and I’m surprised by how well-developed the plotline is while providing the depth of character that I love to see.

I am about 8 episodes in, and think there are 16, but I would soooooo recommend this show.

Race Across the World

IT’S BACK!!!!!!!!

IT’S BACK!!!!!!!!

The show that got us through those dreary horrible days of the very first 2020 lockdown IS BACK!

Back in 2020, during those early days of lockdown 1, this show gave me and James something to look forward to each week in a time that otherwise felt a bit aimless and mundane. With all the monotony and worry going on around us all, it was weirdly joyous to have something like a TV show to look forward to each week and have some order as we navigated the new territory. It was actually Season 2 of the show that aired in lockdown 2020, and we hadn’t seen the first, but we were instantly hooked!

We don’t really watch live TV, we just tend to watch things on Netflix or on players, but you can be sure I tuned in live to this show on Wednesday night at 9pm on the dot and it didn’t disappoint. I could already feel that familiar sense of wholesomeness that I got in the previous seasons – the reminder that kindness and humanity exist all around the world, and people are inherently good, when it can so often feel the opposite.

The show consists of 5 pairs (they can be couples, family, friends, etc.) but 5 couples are given a destination that they have to get to, with certain check points along the way, and there are just two rules. No flights, and no phones. They each have some money to spend, and they are all racing to get to the finish line to win £20,000.

I won’t share any details from previous seasons in case you watch them, but season 2 especially was filled with so much goodness, warmth, and a lot of laughs. We even created our own video to apply for the current series, but weirdly they didn’t choose us. I’m not sure why because the video we made was absolutely belting, and I spent so many of those lockdown hours editing the footage and getting it into the desired timeframe (1 minute only), it was a creative masterpiece if I do say so myself.

I would share it here but I watched it recently and discovered that clearly lockdown 1 absolutely was NOT kind to us, we look – for lack of a better word – like absolute shit!

Anyway, if you missed this week’s ep, catch up before next Wednesday, and then join in the fun. It’s on BBC 1! Learn more about it here.

Listening

Free by Florence + The Machine

I remember the first time I listened to this song and I felt my actual soul was being spoken to with so many of the lyrics. This always seems to come on at the right time on my running playlist, just when I need that boost. It’s a truly beautiful song and one to play at full volume especially on a sunny day and just bask in its beauty!!!!!!

Before You Go…

Would you believe it’s Friday night and I haven’t had a wine?! Not a single drop of ANYTHING.

I’m not quite sure what’s happening… but I did have a Five Guys for tea to make a trip to the Trafford Centre a bit more enticing, so I think I’m just overly full. Plus I did get through another bottle last night so I should probably have one night off this week at least.

I guess this is life now when you’re 32.

Rock. And. Roll.

Anyway, see you next week!

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.