Tl;dr: An epic train journey, and back to school focus.
For Monday 7th – Sunday 13th September 2026.
At work:
- Engagement coordination project: meeting and continued planning and development.
- Strategy co-design project: finishing my write ups on my current contract, and waiting for my proposal for follow-up work to be approved officially – but plugging away at it in the background so timings don’t slip over much.
- Workshop in North Wales: finalising the session planning and developing the materials.
Deliverables this week:
- Work in progress, didn’t send anything out (but will do next week).
Development this week:
- Still got the back to school sort of feeling and good work focus!
- I was considering applying for a public appointment to a board but I have decided against it. I am going for a non-exec role on a third sector board though, we had a meeting and I accepted.
- A lovely colleague and fellow freelancer shared an invitation to tender that sounds great, right in our wheelhouse, and we’re going to submit a proposal, deadline end of next week.
At home:
- Spent Saturday / Sunday / Monday / Tuesday in Marseille on a little jaunt with my bestie. I really enjoyed it, took hundreds of photos. Everything was amazing to me. I’m French but I grew up in the northern half of France, from the Loire valley and further up, and I haven’t really been in the south very much at all. It was beautiful and people were super friendly and helpful. I loved it.
- The UK air traffic control disruptions on Tuesday evening meant our return flight was cancelled, resulting in us travelling back by train on Wednesday. We went across France coast to coast from the south to the north, then to London and Bristol to pick up my car from the airport. In total, over 14.5 hours we covered over 900 miles (1,500 km) and we took 3 buses, 5 overground trains (of which 3 high speed trains), 4 underground / metro trains, and 1 car. It was an epic Odyssey. Aren’t modern times wonderful?
- 1 pilates (missed my Wednesday booking because of travel, but went on Friday).
- 1 HIIT on Thursday. A couple of the ladies who are regulars asked how I was and where I’d been (I pretty much missed all of August), they noticed even though I haven’t been going for very long, and that was nice. I have a sense of a little community of solidarity developing there.
- 1 swim down Penarth on Sunday. It was drizzly but still warm out, and the sea is starting to cool down.
- Missed Welsh class on Wednesday (first one in the new term / new school year) because of being on a train. I was so excited to see the teacher and the others too… I’ll catch up on the recording and be poised and ready for next week!
- Foster cats are doing well and getting more confident. That means getting up to more mischief, but it’s always funny and very cute. Their person is now out of hospital and recovering at home.
- To no-one’s surprise, I still have not done the 3rd and final coat of green paint on the lounge door.
Marseille seen from the Ile d’If