February has been… interesting.  I’ve been solo-parenting and holding down the fort for just over three weeks whilst Neil travelled to the other side of the world to watch the England cricket team play two test matches in New Zealand, with adventures in Los Angeles and Fiji along the way.

We weren’t sure if he was even going to make it there at first, with Tropical Cyclone Gabriella hitting the north island of New Zealand with full force the day before he arrived in Auckland.  Thankfully, he and his friends made it safely  – even if they did have the stress of flights being cancelled then re-instated at the last minute plus an unexpected, very long, VERY expensive Uber trip to complete their journey.   He’s certainly going to have some stories to tell when he arrives home.

Here are all the little things I’ve been loving lately throughout February…

READ

Chain of Iron: by Cassandra Clare.  ‘Chain of Iron’ is the second book in ‘The Last Hours’ trilogy, a Shadowhunters mini-series. I read the first book last month.  I’m not usually particularly into historical fiction but this series is set at the turn of the 1900’s and I have to say I am rather enjoying it.  It’s quite steamy in places, definitely more so than the other Shadowhunter series she’s written I think, but it’s packed with plenty of adventure too.  I’ve noticed that there is a lot more depth to each of the characters as well, which I’ve enjoyed – I felt like I really got to know them all properly instead of just seeing them at a surface level.

I picked it up at every chance I got: waiting for the girls in the car after school; on my lunch break; and every evening with dinner at the kitchen table.  It’s a chunky book – I’m quite impressed that I finished it in just two weeks!  It ended on a real cliff-hanger so I was excited to start the third and final book in the trilogy – ‘Chain of Thorns’ – immediately afterwards. It’s already proving to be a page-turner.

‘Chain of Iron’ by Cassandra Clare

WATCHED

Lola’s performance:  Back in October, unbeknownst to me at the time, Lola auditioned for a part in the annual school production, which hasn’t been able to take place for the last three years due to Covid.  This year’s comeback show was ‘We Will Rock You’, the Queen musical.  She was absolutely thrilled to be chosen as a GaGa girl (with small extra parts as a Bohemian and a Yuppie too).  The whole cast has been rehearsing hard since November – it’s been a really big commitment.

I went to watch her on the opening night of the show and it was fantastic!  I’m so proud of Lola – three different roles meant three different costumes and make-up looks.  She coped so well with the multiple costume changes without letting her sensory struggles get in the way or stop her.  She had the biggest grin on her face the whole way through the performance and everyone involved did absolutely brilliantly – it was so good!

There were three nights of shows in a row and she was utterly exhausted by the end of it (there was still normal school to attend in between rehearsals and performances).  There was a torrent of tears on the final night – happy tears because it went well and she was proud of herself, sad tears because it was all over and some of the people she’d made friends with in older school years will be leaving soon, and most definitely tears of tiredness!  She’s already said she wants to be involved in next year’s show too.

Puss In Boots:  The girls and I went to see ‘Puss In Boots: The Last Wish’ at the cinema in the middle of half term. I had a few work clients booked in on some of the days during their week off school so I wanted to make sure that we did something fun all together to counteract that.  The weather wasn’t great so it seemed the cinema would be the best option.

The film ended up being much better than I’d thought it was going to be: ridiculous adventures; silly jokes that made me laugh out loud; and a good moral to the story.

HEARD

Classical music:  I am a planner and researcher through and through – it’s very rare that I do anything spontaneous. So I surprised myself as much as anyone else when, on the spur of the moment on a random Friday,  I booked a ticket to go to a Candlelit Concert at St Paul’s Church in Birmingham that was taking place that very same evening.

I’ve actually been wanting to go for ages – these concerts are only on select dates and I couldn’t make the ones in December or January work with everyone’s schedules.  The event moves around the country (it was in London last summer) and I knew this was to be the final date in Birmingham.  I didn’t think I’d be able to make it to this one either because it took place whilst Neil was away in New Zealand, but I called his Dad and asked him to come over to be with the girls and it all worked out perfectly.

I absolutely love old churches.  There is something intrinsically special about the stillness, the quiet, the muffled whispers and the hushed shuffles as people make their way carefully to their seats.  The music being played was pieces by Ludovico Einaudi (whom I saw play in person at the Royal Albert Hall last September, which was such an incredible experience), but these pieces were being performed by a different pianist on each date.  The performance I went to had a female pianist – Nicole Reynolds – and it was fascinating watching her play.

It was just as magical but in a different, much more intimate, way due to the small size of the venue.  I got goosebumps when she performed my favourite pieces and I felt quite emotional.  I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t go – I’m SO pleased I did it.

The candlelit concert I attended in Birmingham – it was such a beautiful setting.

MADE

Pancakes: Neil is normally the designated pancake-flipper within our household and with him not here for pancake day, it fell to me to step up to the role.  I was quite impressed with myself – none ended up on the ceiling or the floor and the girls declared them to be “delicious” so I’m calling it a win.

ClickPro application:  At the very end of the month I took a deep breath and submitted my application to become ClickPro – a sought after title within the photographic community.  It’s my third attempt.  I was declined first time around, back in 2020 – and rightly so.  Looking back at my original portfolio I can see exactly why I was declined and the feedback the panel gave me was invaluable in helping me prepare for this application.  I didn’t make the deadline in time for my second try.  Hopefully this one will be third time lucky and I’ll be accepted.

I can see how much I’ve grown as a photographer over the last few years and I’ve put so much work into creating and tweaking my set of images (150 in total!) over the last three months.  I’ve also had some incredibly insightful and valuable guidance from the ridiculously talented and very lovely Kirsty Larmour, who’s art and work I admire greatly.  I just hope the judges can see the improvements I’ve made too.  It takes a couple of weeks for them to reach a decision so I’m now nervously waiting for the email to land in my inbox sometime around the middle of March…

WORE

Inkbox tattoo:  A new tattoo is on my ’40 Things Before I’m 40′ list and I’ve been thinking for months (possibly even years) about what design I want and where I want it to be placed.  I couldn’t make up my mind so I decided to get a temporary one to try it out and see if I liked it.

I’d heard good things about Inkbox – on exploring their site I found a design similar to what I think I want (although it is quite a lot bigger, I only want a small one) so I ordered it.  It was really easy to do and incredibly realistic looking!  I highly recommend them – it lasted for 2 weeks and it’s definitely helped me step a bit closer to a final decision for the real one…

My Inkbox temporary tattoo (and a gorgeous bouquet from Bloom & Wild sent to me from afar by Neil for Valentine’s Day)

AND FINALLY…

Cat-sitting:  Neil travelled to New Zealand with his best mate, who lives around the corner from us.  He asked if I’d mind looking after his two kittens whilst he was away so of course I jumped enthusiastically at the chance and have been popping into his house twice a day to feed them, clean out their litter tray, play with them and give them lots of cuddles.  They’re brothers – only about six/seven months old – and absolutely gorgeous (as well as being very cheeky).  I’m going to miss seeing them every day when their ‘dad’ is back.

Biggun (l) and Fluff (r) – the two boys I had the pleasure of looking after for three weeks.

Half term:  February half term was very quiet other than the aforementioned trip to cinema.  My Mum came up to visit and stay overnight on the Fri/Sat, and it was lovely to have some company even though we didn’t actually do anything or go anywhere other than for a wander around the shops in town and a cuppa in a cafe.  I managed to have an occasional WhatsApp video call check-in with Neil so he could tell me all about what he’d been up to and where he was.

Dad’s anniversaries:  February can be a bit of a tough month as all of my Dad’s anniversaries are contained within it – his death, his birthday and his funeral.  In a way, as hard as it is, I’m kind of glad that it’s all over with in one go.  It’s been eight years now and I had a small wobble this year after being relatively ok for the last couple.  Grief is like that I suppose, it’s never linear.  I always buy a big bunches of daffodils to have in the house throughout February – they were his favourite flower so they remind me of him and their sunshine yellow colour reminds me that better days are coming and Spring will soon be here.

Daffodils for my Dad

Chapter two of 2023 is already at a close and Winter is finally (sort-of) over.  I’m excited for Spring to be here – we have lots of fun things booked in the diary over the coming few months.  First up though are Ella’s mock GCSE exams for two weeks in March so I shall mostly be doling out endless cups of tea to fuel her revision in between sitting the actual tests.

I hope that you found plenty of little things to love throughout February and that you are looking forward to whatever March brings.

With love,

Chloe x