Project 52 2021 week 34

We’re rapidly heading towards the end of the school holidays, and this week was my last week off work, probably until I get a few days off in half term. It’s been a week of sorting little jobs out. Car tyres, charity shop drop off, sorting out bills and payments. And trying to decide whether we’ll put in one or two teams for the winter tennis league. This was also the week that there’s been noticeably fewer people wearing masks. In our local village people still are in the shop and post office, but in town, in the barber’s and in Oxford which was really busy, we really felt like we were odd still wearing ours. But then we’re now hearing more people locally are catching covid, so maybe more people should still be wearing them and staying a bit more vigilant.

Here’s this week’s project 52.

Sunday started with tennis club. There were 5 older children on court with 2 adults, and the younger ones were with another 2 on the other court. It’s worked out really well, although it was surprising that there weren’t any new older children trying it out. The last 2 years, there have been so many new children coming along to the free sessions. But better for the regulars to get in more practice.

Monday was N’s age group’s county festival day. This was N’s first time playing in it. It was a nice atmosphere, there was a little rain (that hadn’t been forecast), and he really enjoyed it. He got in 3 matches although his 4th was a bye. The first match was against a boy who reached the final – his dad’s one of the coaches in town. N was pleased because he did better than expected, got some points, and a couple of games even went to deuce. His second match, he lost in 3 sets. A close one that he could (and probably should) have won. The third match he won (again it went to 3 sets). Once he gets into a longer rally, N tended to win. Shorter rallies, he’s not as good at finishing off points while the other boys seem to do better at those. But a win, and hopefully that gives him more confidence when playing more tournaments and matches in future.

We got the park and ride into Oxford afterwards for some lunch. After trying several areas which were really busy, we ended up in Zizzi. A blast from the past – I’ve not eaten there since I lived in Oxford after uni.

On Tuesday we cleaned out the inside of the car. The plan was that friends would be given a lift the next day although they didn’t in the end. But now I have a nice clean car inside. The booster seat was finally removed and will go to the tip at some point for recycling. N even got the vacuum out so all his crumbs and rubbish, flip flops left there from last summer, and all the other junk is gone. It only cost me a bargain 50p and no arguing for him to do it. Result!

Wednesday we’d arranged to meet friends at a local coffee shop. They brought their puppy and we sat outside with hot chocolate as it wasn’t the warmest. My first normal hot chocolate since being back on keto – it was too cold just to drink water, and I didn’t think to ask if they had almond or coconut milk instead of normal milk. We then went back to theirs afterwards where the boys played, we chatted, and then had some lunch. Then the boys went off walking into the village with a walkie talkie to meet some school friends to play on the green. N got dropped off later.

On Thursday we spent a bit of time catching up on things. I had my INR test – it had dropped quite a lot (the computer never allows for female hormones at different times of the month) so I need to go back next week. The computers were down though, so I had to ring back later for my dosage change and to book an appointment. We took the dogs for a walk, played football in the garden and enjoyed the flowers that are finally coming up. I managed to find a lot of ants by pulling out some weeds that were taking over the wall so it looks like I need to get rid of those. They make me want to itch. All the cows TB tested on Monday came back clear. Just one lot up the road need checking next. But it would be amazing if they were clear as well.

Friday was a day of little things to do, with a Tesco delivery followed by a hair appointment for N. Apart from 1 man, everyone else having their haircut were children, obviously doing he back to school cut. We mooched most of the day, at home, I read a lot. And I got organised for our mini tennis tournament we’ve organised for the older ones on Sunday. Trying to work out an order of play for 6 players in a round robin when you’ve only got an hour to play, and need to get specific matches in so we can work out a team order isn’t the easiest. N had his last tennis private of the summer.

On Saturday we headed into town to the bakery market stall, then I noticed I had a flat tyre. Quick stop to fill up with air – then to get the tyre repaired or replaced. Thankfully it was fixable – they found a huge nail in it, so I didn’t need another new tyre. While we waited we walked down by the canal where all the new building is happening. We spotted this floral bench and took some photos. We also played table tennis in the shopping centre – we’d quite like our own table. I reckon the OH would have a moan, but it would be great to have one in the garden. Once home it was just a relaxed afternoon.

New posts this week:

• How to make DIY fridge magnets