A message from Gi

Hello you lovely lot! The team thought it might be nice for me to give you a little monthly update of what I’ve been up to…

So, to kick things off I thought I’d go through the last month and pick some highlights:

We attended a big and brilliant Portuguese wedding! We all flew over in half term to watch two close friends get married, and the boys all managed to even smarten themselves up for the occasion (without too much whining because they love the bride and groom so much).

The week was perfect with long days at the beach where the boys were determined to practise their backflips on the sand, and then trips into Porto where the grown-ups were determined to sample as much port as possible. Turns out, I love the sweet and thick delight!

A very different type of trip happened a couple of weeks later as I went down to the Jurassic Coast for the latest CoppaTrek! with Gi Challenge, and my twentieth trek for CoppaFeel!. I’m a patron for the charity and I head up their treks for them. On this occasion 120 beautiful humans joined me to walk 100kms along the Dorset Coast. The weather forecast looked incredibly rubbish as it was set to rain the whole week. I’ll be honest, I was dreading it but living in denial and doing my best to stay positive for everyone… all you can do in that situation is make sure you have the right kit and hope it’s not as bad as it looks. Thankfully, it wasn’t! Don’t get me wrong, I still got very very very wet BUT the sun also shone kindly, and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to so many wonderful people along the way.

My fellow trekkers joined for a variety of reasons. Some have had a breast cancer diagnosis, some may have reached a certain point in their life and wanted to challenge themselves, some just thought it would be fun to push themselves out of their comfort zone – there are so many reasons. I find the ‘whys’ fascinating as they’re all so personal and nuanced. The ‘why’ in life is so important to hold on to, and it’s something I keep returning to as it stops me getting sucked into doing things just because it’s what is expected of me. It also helps me focus on what I want to get out of something – which is often useful.

Talking of asking yourself ‘Why?’… Let’s chat about the veggie patch! The veggie patch has pretty much doubled in size this year. It was loosely planned however the truth is I got carried away when sowing my seeds and just couldn’t help but sow more. The germination process and the fact that a tiny seed actually grows into something delicious or beautiful, still feels like a bit of magic to me. Therefore, I never quite believe that it’s going to work… so I grow far more than I need and then seem shocked when I’m swamped with pots and seeing which family member or guest I can palm a tomato plant off to. I love growing my own fruit and veg – my kids LOVE coming over and sampling different bits and bobs – however, I do not need 160 tomato plants, OK?! After all, I’m not supplying Tesco!

Side note on the above, now I’ve sorted my irrigation out things are so much easier… and also, having my kids genuinely interested over there is what keeps me going. Testing and comparing different varieties of tomato is SO MUCH FUN!

I’m going to try and end each month with a mini letter on motherhood (seeing as it’s one of the things I end the podcast with each week)…

To you, the mother reading this…

I want you to take some time for YOU. Twelve years in and I still cry when someone tells me to do just that, but I cry because I know it’s true. I know I need to but don’t. And I also know it’s tough to hear because you LOVE being with your kids, but also because it feels like another thing to add to your to-do list (or another thing to fail at)… so how about we start small?

Go sit. Go sit on a bench. In a park. In the garden. With a coffee. With a smoothie – whatever you need. Just sit. Sit and be. No phone, no podcast, no book. Nothing that’s going to cloud your thoughts or demand anything of you… Concentrate on your breath. Just breathe… Just BE. Nothing more.

We forget we’re allowed to STOP.

Let this be a little reminder that the world will not crumble just because you’ve taken a seat and taken a few breaths. In fact, this little pause might just be what helps you through.

All my love, Gi. Xx