Summertime, and the living is easy

Gordon Bennet, it's been a bit warm recently hasn't it?! I'm not  a fan of overly hot...heat, but summer sun is great under a shady tree with a book and a cuppa.

I've been getting plenty of sun after a week in Somerset with my old you group from home, but this time I'm playing the role of the leader (eep!). It was great to be back at Spring Harvest at Butlins in Minehead, back to the old haunts like the beach, the ice cream hut and the Poundshop. But the best thing about the whole week has probably been finding out what it is like to be on the other side of the age gap, seeing what my youth leaders had to go through when I was a whipper-snapper at SH.

This time around it was 22 kids versus 6 leaders all sharing 4 chalets, which made for some interesting balancing acts and times that were sometimes akin to herding cats.

The week has been a great start to the summer months, we just have to get through the traditionally rainy april, then dash through the month of maybugs, and arrive puffing and panting at the official start of the summer.

I just hope my hayfever doesn't get any worse, my eyes have been streaming while writing this, for which i blame the plants in the kitchen. Curse them!

Take a deep breath

It feels like I've been working solidly for weeks on end, but in reality I think I'm just experiencing what normal people call "day-to-day living".  Five days on and two days off? Repeating again and again? That's inhuman!

Having saturdays off is a great relief as it allows me to take stock of my progress in the week, see where I've learnt new things, where I've made stupid mistakes and try and create a sort of chart (in the executive boardroom in my head) of how I'm progressing in my "Trainee" role.

I must say the most refreshing thing about having a real job is that i have actual, real money! Not that there's much of it to go around, but being able to predict my earnings helps when I think of the things I'd like to buy. Like a shiny new pocket watch for instance...

Sometimes I wonder if buying these old-mannish items is like wishing my life away, as if buying a pipe will get me a cottage, reading good books will get me a comfortable life and getting a pocket watch will get me a good wife and kids. Ha!

Oh my word, I've just seen the most amazing bassist on TV, he has a beard to rival dumbledore!

Read it and weep!

That's one thing I don't think I'lll have in my old age: a beard that could sink the Titanic. That would drive me nuts, and I wouldn't have the patience to comb it everyday.