Cambridge Punting, House Concert and Garden Blooming!

 A little barbeque house warming, a lovely weekend with my sister and my garden has flowers! 

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. There's also a private vlog of the kids. 

With Covid delaying face-to-face training, the preceptorship team organised a skills and drills training day not dissimilar to the annual MIST and AIMS day that midwives normally undertake yearly...apparently. In the morning we had a session with one of the lead obstetricians in post-partum haemorrhages and it was really quite interesting. This was followed by obstetric emergencies. Again, really useful and much more relatable that that taught at university. Finally, the afternoon was ABCDE assessments, and again really useful because I'd never done that before. 

We ended up finishing about an hour earlier than expected so I went back to Sam and Vicki's new flat for a housewarming barbeque. The weather was lovely so we spent the evening sunbathing before snacking on crisps and chocolate mini rolls throughout the evening. 

After a full week at work, I headed off a little late to my sisters but got there just about on time at 8pm. It was so lovely to see my niece, nephew and of course my sister finally! I hadn't seen them since August so it had been almost a year. They were so cute and gave me lots of hugs and kisses, before we settled down to watch a Disney film. I got a KFC on the way and had a little bit of a disaster with the petrol station, because I've been using my phone for contactless payments due to leaving my card in Wakefield. 

The next day, we headed to Cambridge. I actually had a lovely lie in, after being woken up by my nephew at 6am. He was so sweet. I was in his room and he was looking for new pants after wetting the bed and very politely asked if he could turn the light on because he couldn't see them. I love him! 

We ended up getting the Park and Ride into Cambridge which is funny, because after never doing it before, is the second one in as many weeks! We had a little shopping spree, where the kids got ukulele's and treated us to an all day concert...yey! We also saw some buskers who were incredible and switched up with some pop music. 

Then we went punting. I've never been before and always wanted to go. It was a lot of fun but I do think we had an interesting guide. Plus, it was funny to see the unexperienced punters needing help. Surprisingly, it's very low level water!  

It was fascinating to see all the buildings from a different vantage point. I love the history in Cambridge and have always loved the city itself. On the way back, we called at Prezzo and the food was amazing. Sadly, no one else wanted dessert and the kids were getting angry so we didn't stay too much longer. 

The next day was beautiful weather, despite the contrary. My nephew had football first thing and got a haircut on the way back. Whereas my niece enjoyed a lazy day in bed, playing on her iPad and doing games. Where they got back, my sister and I headed to the garden centre. We actually went to two different ones. I was looking for a hanging basket once again and thankfully found one pretty quickly. She got a bunch of new plants for the garden and spent the afternoon planting them, whilst I played with the kids in the pool. 

Tess of course, was as happy as ever to play fetch with the ball. I still think she should be entered into agile competitions! The paddling pool was pretty big and filled with hot water, making it feel more like a hot tub. The steam coming off it was visible even on the warm day! Then after a yummy tea outside of carbonara al fresco, it was time for me to head off. All day the kids had be saying "don't go Auntie Hannah" but just as I was going, they both got in trouble so I somewhat had to escape quietly. 

I few nights later, I had a bit of an emotional breakdown. I feel like I'm constantly either at work at the moment or alone at home. When Luke is over, I feel like he's always doing his own thing rather than spending time together, or helping me round the house. I don't like sharing positivity 24/7 on here. I try to be as realistic as possible and the truth is life is hard. I'll be going into more detail of my thoughts in my current rotation, but Luke came round the next day and made it all better as usual.

I'm still not that much of an avid gardener but after the previous night, Luke finally did what he had promised and weeded the garden. While there, he also cooked and helped me clean the house, which was just what I needed. 

I also bought some garden supports to help the flowers and spent the evening after work trying to prune everything. Over the next few days, all the flowers started to really come out and it is absolutely beautiful. Each day there are more and more getting bloomed!