Things that brought me joy this week

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I spent the week practising what I preach - knee deep in back to school admin. Books from the booklist, school shoes, uniforms, water bottles. The list is honestly endless and the cost is, eye watering. I do love the satisfaction of ticking everything off and I get a slightly nerdy thrill from the stationery side of things. But the bill at the end of it all is a different matter entirely.

The annual regatta has been on for the last few weeks - a stretch of family activities along the water. Sailing, paddleboarding, amusements, kite making workshops and the crowd pleaser - the rubber duck race. Two thousand rubber ducks launched simultaneously into the river, all racing to the finish line, each one carrying someone’s number and the possibility of winning a prize. It was very cute hearing all the kiddos cheer.

A WEEKEND AT SANDRINGHAM

I could sit and listen to this all day. Anything to do with the Royal Family and their dress code etiquette - the protocols, the unspoken rules, the loaded meaning of every hemline and hat. Could you imagine having a seat at that table. At that particular moment in history. Rubbing shoulders with Diana? Nipping off to the bathroom to text the group chat

KEEP MOVING

This is a very real reminder that we need to mind the body we have now for the body we want when we are eighty. It is easy to think - later. I'll start later. It is easy to think that when the body you currently have is working perfectly fine. I have been much more relaxed and lazy over the summer months, so this was the nudge I needed to get up and at it.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

These videos of private chefs cooking for their clients in the Hamptons are like a gateway-drug. I can’t get enough of them. Part vicarious scrolling - part interest in how the upper echelon live. Addictive.

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