Welcome to your Monday moment of pause...

At the risk of sounding very British and always taking about the weather ...phew, it's cooler at last!  I popped to the shop at 7am this morning in the shorts and tshirt we've all become accustomed to.  Then promptly put long trousers and a sweatshirt on when I got home.  It felt really nice to be covered up, cosy and cool!

We're on the home stretch here to the end of term.  3.5 days left and counting.  

A hot train journey from Bristol

I was excited to be going to Bristol for Weleda training on Thursday.  I was less thrilled when I saw the forecast was still heatwave temperatures.  It was pretty cool when I stepped onto the train at 8am.  It was a comfortable walk from the Temple Meads to Bedminster to the gorgeous Greenhouse venue.  The building was beautifully cloaked by trees and remained shaded and cool thanks to the fans situated in each corner of the room. 

It was far from cool on the train back to Gloucester.  I flapped my little fan almost constantly and still had sweat dripping from my forehead!   My Skin Food hydrating mist was light relief and I didn't even mind that I used about half the bottle in just one day!* I love this spray which instantly refreshes your skin.  It contains hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture, glycerin to hydrate and plant extracts of calendula, chamomile, rosemary and pansy to restore the skin's natural radiance.  It can even be used over makeup to refresh your look when it starts to dry out in the heat.  Good old Skin Food coming to the rescue as always.

*JULY10 on orders through my webshop this month

Wellbeing chats under the Mulberry tree

I spent Friday afternoon at Wotton House International School's 10th anniversary celebration.  It was the last day of term, the kids were delighted, speeches were made and ice creams eaten.  I had my wellbeing nook set up to talk about how I can support people with to rest in my treatment room, their home or in the workplace.  I was so grateful for a little shade from a beautiful Mulberry tree.  It was 33 degrees and I kept cool with a wet lavender soaked flannel on the back of my neck and regular spritzes of my skin food mist.  I had some lovely conversations with people about caring for loved ones and the challenge of doing right by yourself when there are demands from all directions, personal and professional.  

If you know anyone in need of support I'm always happy to chat about how aromatherapy treatments can support someone.  Feel free to share my website link or this information flyer which explains a bit more about what I offer.  I can treat people at my home in Kingsholm, in their home or in the treatment room at Still and Wild in Highnam.  I'm also working on a flyer to offer workplace wellbeing sessions for carers, teachers etc so if you have any ideas of where to circulate it they are always welcome.  Thanks always for your support. 

Proud Mum moments

This collage is the perfect example of the difference between my two boys - one a mover and one a maker.  Both boys are fab movers and makers but what lights them up is different.  Luca played a badminton tournament last week and won a Gold medal for doubles and a bronze for singles.  He was disappointed not to rank higher in singles but he'd held back on his energy to be sure he'd have some reserves and focus for his doubles games.  ''My Doubles partner would have been disappointed if we'd not done well so I didn't want to exhaust myself too early on.  I think I played it a bit too safe though and that's a shame''.  Hard lessons learned through frustration and regret and ultimately knowing your worth is not recognised only through medals.

On Thursday I attended the awards evening at Newent Community school for Euan (yes straight off the back of that hot train journey!).  Euan was receiving an award for D&T, so he thought.  He was completely flummoxed when his name was read out to receive an award for computer science as well.  He was a bit bemused when we found each other at the end of the evening.  Only one student per year group receives an award and he said ''I'm sure there are other kids who know more about computer science than I do''.  So I gently reminded him its not about what you know but who you are and what you bring.  He supports other students when they don't understand something.  He helps the cover teachers when trying to share software they've not used before.  He creates funny games on Scratch that the teachers don't mind the kids playing at the end of the lesson when they've finished their work.  That's my proud Mum moment - his curiosity, interest and quirky sense of humour being the driving force for his creativity, never a need to be acknowledged or rewarded.   Both boys have such kind hearts and their reports always say what a lovely member of the class they are.  I've always said it doesn't matter to me what they do in the world one day as long as they are kind. 

ps. You're wondering about Rad Bob aren't you.  There's a whole back story to this which involved the head (baby) being made out of a maths book and birthed on Friday at school to one of Euan's friends.  Euan brought Rad Bob home and made him a body (as any favourite Aunty would) and returned him to the parents today at school.  This baby is being raised by a village and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next (love Teen humour)

This week's heart smile ...

Meeting up with Weleda lovelies in Bristol for the first time in too long!  I've been a Weleda Advocate for 7 years now and some of these ladies have supported me through the hardest days and smiled with me through the best ones.  When you find your people you hang on to them and even the sweltering train journey home did not make me regret a single moment.  

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead sprinkled with many moments of love, connection and hilarity x