Project 52 2021 week 32 – sunflowers

Another week has gone by, it’s now week 32 of Project 52, and already the 3rd week of the summer holidays which are rushing by.

Here’s our weekly round up.

Sunday was just another weekend day. N had tennis at the club in the morning. There were only 3 children again, so the 2 boys got to hit with one club member, while the other girl who was more of a beginner had another club member coaching her. Next week is meant to get busier, so less hitting, but hopefully they’ll manage the ages and abilities ok.

On Monday it was my first day of leave. I was determined that this week would be more productive compared with my last week of leave. I got out my fabric and made a start on some Christmas decorations, although it didn’t actually involve sewing. I ticked off lots from my to do list, including a call to Vodafone to sort out paying off the OH’s device plan.

The saga of his phone continues – I’d been told that we had to upgrade before transferring it from my account to him. I checked that both the airtime plan and device plan/loan could both be transferred (both on chat and in store – yes). But it turned out only the airtime plan can be transferred. So rather than me being stuck paying half of his plan for the next 3 years, which is ridiculously long, I decided I’d just get it all paid off, then transfer the airtime after. One and a half hours later on the phone, and I still wasn’t sure if it was resolved because they hadn’t accepted my bank payment. Sigh. I would have to wait and hope it would go through before the first direct debit payment was due to come out. Their processes are terrible, and the fact that I had to speak to 2 different people, the final one having to check 4 times with other people, and still it wasn’t sorted out, is ridiculous.

Tuesday I decided it was time to sort out my tyres ahead of my car service and MOT next month. Kwik Fit were very helpful, and because I only needed one tyre, they had some in stock. I had a wander around the re-developed canal side while I waited – they’ve built a Lidl, Premier Inn and are still building a new cinema, bowling and 3 restaurants alongside the canal.

On Wednesday I’d booked a visit to the local sunflower field. I didn’t get there last year, so was pleased to get there this year. They were beautiful and I’ve now got some lovely happy sunflowers in the kitchen. I was only out for a short time, so pottered around at home in the afternoon. N went out on the farm instead, then his cousin came over to play out in the garden. They enjoyed going out on N’s old quad bike too, which the OH had managed to get going again.

Thursday we started combining on the farm. Finally the fields were ready and dry. N went out in the morning with them, then walked back over the fields for lunch. We made a sandwich for the OH, then took the dogs out for a walk back up the field again to drop N and the lunch off. I think it was the first time I’d had both of the younger dogs on leads at the same time. They were so good – a big difference from the last time N and I had had them out together with us.

On Friday I had a bad start to the day. I woke and realised I’d not done my online food order, which would arrive an hour later. Oops. I’d remembered the day before, written my list, but then got distracted with N going in and out to see his dad harvesting in the evening. Luckily the driver rang me to check if I really did just want a pack of ice creams, so he was able to cancel the order. Phew. It meant we had to do an early supermarket shop before N’s tennis lesson.

He had his last tennis private of the summer with the top coach – N worked hard, and was worked really hard trying to sort out his footwork. The coach wants to see him monthly or at regular points to ensure he’s progressing with the things they’ve worked on, so that’s good if we can get a time worked out. The rest of the day N spent playing out with his cousin. I was still charged for the first monthly payment for the OH’s phone, so my sorting it out obviously hadn’t worked. I’ll need to try it online again and hope it fixes it doing it that way. Frustrating when I’d been told it could only be done over the phone – lied to 3 times due to workers not knowing the correct processes.

Saturday meant an early start as N had a tennis tournament starting at 9, nearly an hour’s drive away. His first match was against one of his county training friends, and although he lost, it was a really good match. He served well, and had some really good rallies. It gave him some confidence in his game. He had an hour’s wait to his next match because one person was an hour late turning up, and N was playing the loser of that match. He then played another county player which was a lot more one sided, but he said he did better than he thought he would. They only had 7 instead of 8 boys for the draw, so he didn’t get to play his third match. But he came away really happy and deciding that he wants to play 1, or maybe even 2 tournaments a month going forward. I’m glad he’s still enthusiastic and hopefully we’ll be able to get in some more advanced coaching along with his normal privates, to bring on the technical side of his game more.

Afterwards we stopped at Pizza Express for lunch at N’s request. It was nice to have it basically back to normal other than having to check in on arrival. A good end to the week.

New posts this week:

• Fathead dough and how to have treats foods while on keto
• Where to visit sunflower fields in the UK