I have very little to say this month beyond being very grateful that April blessed us with absolutely glorious weather and an abundance of beautiful Spring blooms, which I made the most of whenever I could. A reminder that the seasons continue onwards no matter what’s going on in our own personal worlds.
Here are all the little things I’ve been loving lately throughout April…
Colourful flowers in Whitehall Gardens in London
READ
The Salt Path: by Raynor Winn. I’ve been wanting to read this for ages and it was worth the wait – I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s the second book I’ve read so far this year connected to the SW Coast Path (the first was ‘The Electricity Of Every Living Thing’ by Katherine May), and the topic keeps popping up in other places I’ve been and conversations I’ve had too – perhaps I’m being nudged towards taking on the challenge myself sometime in the future…
I decided to read ‘The Salt Path’ in April for two reasons. 1/ We usually visit Cornwall in the Easter holidays so it seemed timely, especially as we weren’t able to go on holiday there this year and I wanted to feel connected to it somehow. And 2/ it’s been adapted into a film, which arrives in cinemas in May and I wanted to make sure I’d read the book before I go and see it at the cinema. Now that I’ve read it, I’m looking forward to the film even more – the trailer looks brilliant and I love Gillian Anderson, I think she’ll be perfect in the role.
The book itself was wonderful, and another one that I picked up at every opportunity. It’s such an extraordinary true story and I really felt like I’d travelled the SW Coast Path with them (many parts of which I recognised from our family trips!), walking every step of the way through all of the weather conditions, all of the emotions, all of the hope and despair, the challenges and the triumphs. It covers so many topics – homelessness, midlife, marriage, nature, chronic illness, tourism, the kindness of strangers and, ultimately, love. It’s impossible not to get drawn into it and really want them to succeed in their mission. She has written a couple more books since, so they have now been added to my wishlist too.
The Outrun: by Amy Liptrot. From the depths of the SW Coast Path in Cornwall in ‘The Salt Path’, to the most far-flung reaches of the Scottish Orkney Islands in ‘The Outrun’, I’ve certainly travelled a long way over the course of these two memoirs. Orkney has also randomly popped up in a couple of unrelated conversations – I’m genuinely starting to wonder if I need to start paying attention to these whispers.
This memoir – centred around recovery from alcohol addiction – has also been adapted into a film. It was out in cinemas last year but my local one didn’t show it so I didn’t get the opportunity to see it. It’s available on one of the numerous streaming services now so I’ll try and catch it there instead. I found the switching of timelines a little tricky at first – shifting back and forth between her present and her memories – but once I got further into her story it became more rhythmical. The author’s descriptions of the land and the environment around her, whether they matched or conflicted against the emotions and thoughts she was experiencing, were beautifully written – the juxtapositions illustrated her internal and external journeys in such an insightful way.
‘The Salt Path’ by Raynor Winn and ‘The Outrun’ by Amy Liptrot – I like how they both have similar bird designs on the front covers
WATCHED
Flowers: Maybe not so much ‘watched’ as ‘went to see’… I took my Mum to see an art exhibition (‘Flora In Contemporary Art And Culture‘) at the Saatchi Gallery in London for her birthday. It was a really lovely day out. First I spent a little time wandering around Whitehall Gardens near Embankment – they were full of colourful tulips and blossom trees, a little oasis of calmness and beauty in amongst the hustle and noise of the traffic and tourists. Once I met up with Mum we got some lunch together and then went to the exhibition itself.
It was much bigger than I’d anticipated – nine galleries in total! There were some classic pieces, some modern art, some that we instantly loved, and some that made us scratch our heads and say “huh?”. There was a wide array of mediums too – paintings, mixed media, sculptures… We both really liked three floral sculptures by Ann Carrington created entirely out of cutlery after being inspired by the concept of ‘memento mori’ (which is something I fully subscribe to after listening to this podcast interview between LeAnna Azzolini and Laura Aziz, and coming across it again in Ryan Holiday’s books)
We both also enjoyed the media room, which was full of vinyl album covers who’s artwork featured flowers; books who had flowers in their titles and/or on their covers; film posters and more. It was really different thing for us to do together – I’ve always loved flowers (I even have a tattoo of flowers on my inside forearm) so I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I think my Mum did too as she loves anything to do with art.
In the Media Room of the Flowers exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery – all of these are vinyl record covers that use flowers as part of their artwork
Grateful for strategically placed benches throughout the exhibition – nine galleries is a lot to take in!
HEARD
Frank Turner & Finneas: Mimi is doing extremely well for live music in 2025 so far – she experienced gig numbers two and three of the year this month (after seeing Alec Benjamin at the Royal Albert Hall with Lola and I last month). I didn’t go to either of these ones with her – Neil took her with him to see Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls ‘Undefeated’ tour, and she went with her best friend to see Finneas, both in Birmingham. She had a fantastic time at each of them, and I loved hearing all about it the next day (when she eventually resurfaced after a very long sleep!).
MADE
Applications: Ella heads off to uni in September and, up until now, even with all the university open day visits we did last year, it’s felt a bit…surreal? It’s all getting a bit more close to home now though as this month we made her official applications for her Student Finance and her accommodation preferences at both the University of York and the University of Birmingham – her firm and insurance choices.
WORE
Summer clothes: It unexpectedly hit 25° in the final week of April and therefore the few skirts and TShirts I actually own got to make a brief appearance. It made my soul SO happy – I’m solar-powered and need the warmth and the sunlight. I’m hopeful for more days like that as the summer approaches.
AND FINALLY…
Easter holidays: Lola had two trips during the Easter holidays – one fun adventure, and one not-so-fun. The first was up North to Wigan to spend a few days with a really good friend of hers who moved away with her family last year. She had an absolutely brilliant time there and we will, of course, return the favour during the summer holidays. And the second was to the emergency out-of-hours GP, based at the county hospital, on Easter Sunday when she started feeling really very unwell. I suspected tonsillitis and was correct. Fortunately (if that’s the right word) it was the bacterial variation, so she was able to have some antibiotics to clear it up – it really took a lot out of her.
Poor Lola had tonsillitis over the Easter holidays so many days of the break from school were spent like this…
Work experience: Whilst poor Lola was feeling ill, Mimi had the first two (out of the six she needs to do in total) days of work experience with an artist friend of mine at her studio. She had a great time learning about all the different ways to create a living out of making art, and loved getting to try out all of the different tools and mediums. She’s got two days in May and two more in June still to go. I love that it’s showing her what’s possible.
Blossom season: My Mum also came up to us to visit for the day during the Easter holidays, and we managed to convince the girls to leave the house and come for a walk down the trail to the orchard, where we took some photos in amongst the blossom trees. It was a really lovely afternoon – one of those days that I didn’t know I’d been needing until it happened.
Walking down the trail
My Mum and my girls – I really love this photo
And this one too!
As always, these are the best bits and the highlights. At the end of March there was a new star in the sky after cancer took someone dear to me, and this month a friend ended up in hospital after a brain haemorrhage, plus there are lots of big changes going on at home. It’s all a reminder that life really is very short, so I’m doing my best to focus on the good stuff.
Chapter four of 2025 is now closed and we’re a third of the way through the year. Exam season is upon us as we head into May, but there are birthdays to celebrate, a couple of trips to London (one for fun, one for work) and half term too.
I hope that you found plenty of little things to love throughout April and that you’ve got lots to look forward to in May.
With love,
Chloe x
