It’s been a month where the first three weeks were pretty chilled.
I planned for the month to be light on client work, enabling me to enjoy a family holiday in Portugal and then a nine day motorhome trip to Yorkshire with Jo. The last week of the month ended up being a bit of a slippery slope back into client work, but I’m trying to see it as a warm-up week before things really kick off on Tuesday for a full-on autumn.
Having a bit of distance from the work is always a good thing to help see what’s gone on this year with each client with a bit of distance. That distance seems to really help me work out what’s really important in the longer term in their businesses – and what is important in the moment, but maybe not so crucial really. I feel very “zoomed out” right now but I know that’s not going to last.
Our family holiday to Portugal was probably the last time the four of us will have a holiday together. We have been saying that for a few years now but have always managed to sneak another one in – but with our eldest son graduating this summer and already established in the world of work, I’m pretty sure this is really the last time.
We rented a villa in a vineyard near the Duoro valley for a week, which was pretty idyllic. We enjoyed a bit of exploring the region but mostly taking it easy. I’m happy to admit I’m not that great at taking it easy, but I did slow down a bit and enjoyed running out from the villa. It’s a pretty hilly region so my legs were pretty tired by the end of the week.
We’re building a new house over the next 18 months, so it was interesting to stay in an architect-designed building. The framing of views through windows was really noticeable, as was the use of solar shading to reduce the heat gain inside even on the hottest sunniest days. A couple of good lessons for us to remember as we work with our architect.
Then we drove to Porto for a couple of nights and onwards to Lisbon for three nights before flying home. It was great to visit and explore two new cities. Just like much of Europe this summer, the heat was pretty extreme so we made the most of mornings and evenings, with afternoons reserved for chilling out.
After that it was back home for a couple of days and a quick turnaround as the two of us headed to Yorkshire in the motorhome. We were lucky to get eight sunny days before the weather turned. We enjoyed exploring the Yorkshire coast, North York Moors and the Dales. It was also nice to drop in on my brother and his family for a night – we enjoyed their hospitality and a night parked up on their drive too. I also managed some pretty spectacular bike rides in Yorkshire, including some 33% ascents on the moors and a ride up the famous Buttertubs pass on the dales.
Unfortunately our journey home was slowed down by the dreaded orange engine light and limp mode, which is proving a bit tricky to get fixed but hopefully we’ll get that sorted soon.
The last week of the month was meant to be time off, but I ended up working more than planned thanks to the combination of a few client emergencies and getting ahead of a busy September. We rounded off the month with a night seeing Fatboy Slim at Margate’s Dreamland on Friday night and then a day of eating, drinking and sauna in rainy Folkestone on bank holiday Saturday.
Cycling this month… nice to spend more time on the bike in new places – 119.7 miles
Running this month… no running in Yorkshire as I wanted to ride, then lost the last week of the month with an aquapark related shoulder injury! 11.8 miles
Music this month… because I’ve not been working that month this month, there’s not been a lot of music in my life, but this extended Hernan Cattaneo set from a few years back was a good soundtrack to some long hilly bike rides.
