Forwards and occasionally sidewards – everyday musings of life

It’s been a proper week of milestones, miles logged across the South West, high-intensity table tennis, and reclaiming both garage space and sanity.

From quick-fire caravan sales to dodging traffic on the A303, here is the recap of everything published on the blog over the past week.

📩 A Quick Housekeeping Note

If you thought you’d subscribed by email but your inbox has been suspiciously quiet, you’re not going mad—the sign-up form’s had a bit of a wobbly moment. Turns out it’s been possible to enter your email, get a “you’re already subscribed!” message, and… not actually be subscribed.

If that sounds like you, pop your email in again in the “subscribe box”and keep an eye out for a confirmation email (check the spam folder—it does like to hide there). Once that’s clicked, you’re properly in.

🚐 The Great Caravan Result

We kicked off last Sunday with a bit of “pot stirring” regarding the caravan—which resulted in a brilliant outcome. With a local buyer snapping it up. Reclaiming that chunk of driveway space (and cash for the renovation budget) felt like a massive win, clearing the path for the final push on moving back in to the house.

🚗 An Unsolicited Tour of Cornwall

Monday saw a long-distance Land Rover delivery down to Cornwall. What should have been a straightforward run turned into an unintended guided tour courtesy of a local taxi driver who took every scenic, single-track back lane imaginable. Between taxicab comedy and a noisy “Quiet Coach” on the train home, it was a classic study in public transport survival.

🏓 Blank Canvases and Boiled Shirts

Tuesday was spent back on the table tennis court. First was a mindset session in Marlborough with a young, up-and-coming player whose drive and self-awareness were top-tier. Later in Pewsey, I coached a new player who turned up straight from work in a crisp long-sleeved shirt on a humid afternoon. He picked up the mechanics quickly, though by the time he left with a completely soaked shirt, I’m fairly sure he realised shorts will be mandatory for session two.

🚙 The Road to Hell (And the View from the Deck)

We wrapped up the published run on Friday with the dreaded A303. When Chris Rea sang about the road to hell, he clearly hadn’t tried navigating Stonehenge at Friday lunchtime. Facing complete gridlock, I leaned into a bit of Carma mindset driving: sit back, accept the crawl, and enjoy the air con. The payoff was Mum arriving to inspect the finished bungalow—she was completely gob-smacked by the transformation and officially gave her stamp of approval from the deck with a cup of tea.

Read the Full Posts

If you missed any of the individual entries this week, you can catch up on the full stories on the blog:

• 📖 Sunday: The Great Caravan Result
• 📖 Monday: An Unsolicited Tour of Cornwall
• 📖 Tuesday: Blank Canvases and Boiled Shirts
• 📖 Friday: The Road to Hell (And the View from the Deck)

Have a fantastic week ahead!