I think it’s fairly obvious just from looking at my blog that I have not been the most consistent at blogging. I went through a period where I wasn’t sure if it was something I still wanted to do. However after taking some time out I started to miss it. So here we are, back writing. This is a bit of a chatty post, the things we’ve been doing, watching and eating during April and May.
This year seems to be flying by, it’s just 6 weeks until Clementine finishes her first year of school. It feels like it was just yesterday we were applying for school. She has really enjoyed it though. She asks every morning, even on weekends, if she has school today. Her reading, writing and maths skills have really improved over the last month or so. She just moved up to the next tier of reading books. She also performed in a class assembly in front of the whole school!
The room where it happened
I went to London to see Hamilton for the second time. I first saw it just a month after it opened, and since then some of the cast has changed. However for the ones who haven’t they have really grown into their roles. It’s definitely one of my favourite musicals. Every one leaves with a smile on their face.
I also went to see my favourite band Papa Roach for the 14/15th time. I’ve actually lost count now. They are a band who I first heard back in my teens, 2000 to be exact. I was a depressed teen and their lyrics showed me that I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. It’s now almost 20 years on and I still love them just as much as I did then. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a 20th anniversary tour of their first album next year.
May is the month that Brighton really comes alive.
It is probably the busiest month of the year with the Fringe, Brighton Festival, Great Escape and more all going on. May was also the month I decided to ride a bike for the first time in 20+ years! Ever since BTN Bike Share started popping up all over the city I have been meaning to try them out.
Well I finally plucked up the courage to try them out and I really enjoyed it. The bikes are quite heavy but they are super handy if you want to explore the city a bit more. Considering I haven’t been on a bike since the late 90’s I decided to try it out in Hove Park. There are no roads, it’s big and there is grass incase I fell! I’ve since used them again along the seafront going all the way from West Hove to Bison by the sea.
Bison Beer now have 4 locations throughout the city, and are one of our favourite places to go for craft beer. The bar down on the beach is perfect in sunny weather. They also have regular food pop-ups on the weekend and we decided to head down when Baby Bao were there. The combination of sunny weather, good beer and food was too much to resist.
Both April and May have contained a lot of music and TV shows.
I also went to my first music festival in 6 years! Since 2001 festivals have been a huge part of my Summer, sometimes going to multiple in the same year. So to finally get back to one was great, and it was one I haven’t been to before. Slam Dunk is a one day festival that happens in Leeds on a Saturday and then Hatfield the day after. All bands play both both days, and it was a really nice day out. I plan to do a full post on it so I won’t say too much here.
May also saw the end of Game of Thrones. If you were anywhere on the Internet it was hard to avoid spoilers and everyone complaining about the final season. I won’t give anything away just in case you haven’t seen it yet. But I will say although there were definitely flaws with the last 6 episodes I liked the final episode. Another TV show that we have been watching is Chernobyl. A mini series made by HBO it has over taken Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and more to be the highest rated TV show on IMDB.
Chernobyl dramatises the true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history. The miniseries focuses on the nuclear plant disaster that occurred in Soviet Ukraine in April 1986, revealing how and why it happened, and telling the stories of those people who helped and died in tackling the disaster, and the Soviet cover up. It is only 5 episodes long, and each one is harrowing, hard to watch in places and absolutely brilliant.