February was a busy month for everyone in the wellies household and a spate of good weather saw us out and about, enjoying the first glimpses of Spring, and a few day trips around the county. We’ve enjoyed several trips to John O’ Groats lately (which isn’t far from us) and a few lovely coffee dates at Stacks Bistro – our new favourite place thanks to its dog-friendly environment and generally yummy coffee/cake/gluten free option appeal. I’ll be spending a lot of time in John O’ Groats in the foreseeable, due to the second John O’ Groats Book Festival, which is happening there from the 5th to the 7th of April. There are lots of established authors and bookish types attending (plus me…..talking about blogging. Oh hi there imposter syndrome, how’ve you been? 😉 )
You can find out lots more about this, and more details on booking tickets on the John O’ Groats Book Festival Facebook page. It looks like a fantastic way to kick off the Easter holidays. I promise to do my best to organise blue skies!
READ
Staying on the bookish theme, we’ve been busy with lots of plans for World Book Day, and in particular taking part in an ‘extreme reading challenge’ the kids have been doing to get photos of themselves reading in unusual locations for a big display at school. A couple of weeks ago, we took them to Dunnet Head, the most northerly point on the British mainland, to get some pictures and generally enjoy a nice afternoon out around the Caithness countryside. I’ve also of course been doing my normal bookworm thing over the last month or so and you can read all about that in last week’s reading lately post.
WATCHED
In February, I was enthralled by the BBC’s latest Les Miserables adaption (which was actually on BBC 1 a while ago now but is still available on iPlayer). Having never read the book, or seen any other adaptions of Victor Hugo’s epic story, I wasn’t sure what I’d make of it but I have to say I thought it was absolutely amazing stuff. Even in this day and age some of it was utterly shocking (poor Fantine! I still can’t stop thinking about her.) One of these days I’ll have to set aside, oh, the odd three months or so, to read the novel 😉 . Have you ever read it? It looks like a pretty weighty tome.
HEARD
I haven’t been listening to as many podcasts as normal lately – one of the things I’ve taken from The Artist’s Way programme (you can read about that here), is the need to clear a bit of headspace for creativity (and general sanity). So this month I’ve stuck to just a couple, like The Worried Writer podcast, and Dr Chatterjee’s Feel Better Live More series, which are two of my absolute faves. I particularly liked Dr Chatterjee’s discussion on whether social media is making us ill with Cal Newport- it’s a real eye opener and I’d recommend a listen. It’s left me wanting to find out more about the whole concept of digital minimalism. I currently have Cal’s book waiting for me to pick up from the library reservations shelf!
WORE
Oh, I do love a Boden jumper and in February, I treated myself to this one in the sale (and with a £10 off voucher too, very grateful Mr Boden 🙂 ). The cold weather could last all year a while yet in Caithness so I’m sure I’ll get plenty of use out of this lovely before Summer finally arrives. I’ve also been ordering up new trainers, having spent the last few weeks at Parkrun running in my youngest son’s old Nikes (I have small feet, he has big ones!) I really need to get some lighter running gear now too, as I’ve been melting into a sweaty heap on our 5K course for several weeks now thanks to the weather’s unseasonably milder turn.
MADE
We spent a lot of February making plans for our kid’s birthdays – which both fall in March within a couple of weeks of each other. We have a Harry Potter sleepover planned, plus an overnight trip to Inverness to enjoy a bit of quality family time. At the end of the month, my eldest and I are due to attend at a kids’ retreat at The Highland Haven, an accommodation provider offering bespoke events in an idyllic setting here in Caithness. I’m due to be writing about that for the blog afterwards so I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, hope you all have your own idyllic start to March!
G x
Joining up with Mummy Hearts You and the Little Loves linky.
Sounds like a great month. I am loving the sound of the kid’s retreat. I look forward to hearing more about that xx
Yes we are looking forward to the retreat experience Susan. More on that very soon! xx
I loved Les Miserables too! I would love to have a go at reading it but I just don’t think I have the time to commit to it right now but you should totally go for it. I remember watching the BBC adaptation of War and Peace a couple of years ago and that inspired me to finally read it and I’m so glad I did. I think the sheer size of these books can be quite daunting but they’re always worth it in the end!
I remember you reading War and Peace after the TV show, Sarah! In fact, my parents have just watched that whole series and keep recommending it so I must find out where I can catch up with it now. I know, I am usually a bit put off by massive books but like you say, they often are worth reading. I’ve managed the massive Outlander books so hopefully I can set my mind to Victor Hugo soon! xx
YOU ARE LOOKING GOOD, CHINA
Ah, kind! 🙂