The Greatest Showman, Rio Ferdinand and a Sunday Well Spent – #LittleLoves

It’s been another busy week here in the wellies household, and over the last seven or so days we’ve had Burns Night, my writing workshop, knitting club and all the usual Monday to Friday things 🙂 My youngest did really well in his performance as Robert Burns in his class assembly on Friday and we got a lovely note and a phonecall from his teacher to say how pleased with him she was. We had a lovely – albeit rather stormy, weekend – where we enjoyed a trip to the cinema, some nice walks and a Sunday afternoon spent cooking and clearing out the kids’ bedroom to find toys and books for a bring and buy sale their school is having. We managed to fill two big bags of stuff so we are entering the week feeling a little lighter. If only the weather would follow suit!

Anyway, onto what I’ve been reading, watching and generally loving this week.  So sit back, grab a cuppa, and let’s see if I can inspire you to making some little loves of your own 🙂

READ

At the weekend, I finished off Thinking Out Loud: Love, Grief and Being Mum and Dad by Rio Ferdinand. I watched the documentary that inspired this book last year and was touched by Rio’s story after losing his wife to cancer in 2015. This isn’t the easiest read in the world by any means, but it is a beautifully written, heartfelt and inspiring book. I think it’s so important to understand the struggles other people face in life and one of the things I love about reading is the empathy for others it creates. This would be a helpful read for anyone who is struggling with loss, as there is a lot of practical advice and pointers to support for people who are suffering. The fact that Rio’s own Mother also died from cancer as he was finishing off this book is heartbreaking – it is a credit to this very private man that he chose to share his story in the public domain in the hope of helping others who have suffered as he has.

WATCHED

At the weekend we went to the cinema to see The Greatest Showman. We’ve been meaning to see it for ages and I could tell I was going to love it as soon as the very first scene began. Watching it gave me the same rush as some of my other favourite movies like Moulin Rouge and La La Land – when it ended I felt like getting up and clapping (I wish I had done!) The soundtrack is amazing and the kids and I have been singing along to it’s catchy tunes ever since! 🙂

HEARD

Apart from listening to The Greatest Showman soundtrack, I discovered last week that one of my favourites, Dr Rangan Chatterjee, has recently started his own podcast called Feel Better, Live More. I caught up on the first two episodes on my dog walks and really enjoyed them. If you’re looking for tips on feeling healthy, I’d say that this is very good place to start.

WORE

I haven’t been wearing anything more exciting than skinny jeans and stripy stops this week, but I did dress my dog up a little in honour of Burns Night the other day. Doesn’t he look dapper in his little tartan necktie? I love how he always has his paw up in photos, it’s his way of saying ‘that’s your photo taken, now where’s my treat?’ 😉

MADE

Apart from clearing out the kids’ bedroom, we spent a lot of Sunday cooking. My son helped me make some yummy gluten and dairy free cupcakes and also this lovely pea and ham soup we had for lunch. I use this recipe from the BBC website and make our own ham stock. For some reason pea and ham soup still makes me think of that old Knorr advert – ‘Pea and ham, from a chicken?’ I think I’m showing my age now, but chicken or not, it tasted really good!

If you’d like to try the gluten and dairy free cupcakes, here’s the recipe. I can’t take any credit for this (except turning it into a nice picture), as it’s one a friend gave me some time ago before I went gluten and dairy free myself.  They don’t go as brown as normal cupcakes but I can assure you they are equally as tasty. My kids completely agreed and actually said they prefer these ones to the ‘real thing’!

AND LASTLY

That’s it for this week but I hope you’ve enjoyed this little round up. See you again in seven days or so –  till then, wishing you a week of Little Loves of your own to savour and enjoy! 🙂

Gx

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