Caught between the quiet weight of grief and the comfort of staying busy, February became a month of movement, company, and noticing the world in all its grey and bright moments.
February has felt like a month lived with a heavy weight. Grief has been threaded through so much of it; I’ve already shared my piece on Pancake Day and don’t feel ready to say much more right now. It’s been a significant few weeks on that front, bigger than I can untangle into anything coherent yet, and there’s work I need to do privately before I can write about it with any real steadiness. That time will come, but this isn’t the month for it.
What I can talk about is the way I’ve kept myself moving. Because alongside all that emotional undercurrent, February has been full – deliberately so. Making plans, keeping them, doing things… it seems to be how I’m surviving at the moment. The how-to books would probably tell me to sit still and ‘be with my grief’, but right now the doing is what makes everything else doable, even if it leaves me permanently exhausted.
Since episode 180, I’ve walked and talked my way through several coffee catch-ups, hosted my sister, watched Death on the Nile and Legally Blonde at different theatres, and tucked myself away in a wooden hut with a grass roof in Carmarthenshire for another quirky stay. There was the annual shopping day with my mum, sister, and niece, and a meandering Birmingham wander with a friend where we simply followed our noses.
All of this has unfolded alongside my annual One Hour Outside daily photo challenge – made somewhat trickier by the relentless rain – and that’s where this month’s journal begins…
A Month of Photo-Based One Hour Outside Adventures
February’s weather felt like its own endurance test. Day after day of heavy, sometimes torrential rain left the rivers swollen, fields waterlogged, and more than a few more than unpleasant drives. On the rare occasions the sun did break through, you could almost feel the collective exhale, everyone suddenly aware of how depleted our natural stores of light and warmth had become.
Turns out my One Hour Outside photo challenge became a surprisingly grounding anchor. Having a daily prompt, and a reason to step outside even when the skies were throwing everything at me, was a good distraction, a small act of defiance against the gloom. My photos this year have ended up far more urban than usual: lots of concrete, lots of grey, lots of skies that can only be described as ‘reluctant’. I tried to keep things varied, but the weather had its own ideas. Still, there were moments worth capturing, and I’ve shared some of my favourites from this month through this blog. You can see the full set on my Instagram feed.
It’s been lovely seeing some of you join in, whether for a few days or the whole month. Thank you for tagging me in your photos over on Instagram. I hope the prompts nudged you outside a little more often than you might have gone otherwise, and helped you notice the world around you in a slightly different way – puddles, clouds, fleeting light and all.
Quirky Stay Number Nine
My ninth quirky stay (and the second of 2026) took me back to a familiar corner of Wales, though this time I wasn’t there to explore so much as to rest. I booked two nights at Hafan, a tiny grass‑roofed hut at Under Starry Skies in Carmarthenshire, tucked into a valley overlooking its own wildflower meadow. ‘Hafan’ means ‘haven’, and honestly, it lived up to the name. No mobile signal, no distractions, just 48 hours of quiet, birdsong, and the soft hum of being off‑grid. It felt like slipping out of my life for a moment to convalesce – appropriate, given I arrived full of cold and absolutely exhausted.
The hut itself was small but perfectly formed: a sofa for reading, a bed for collapsing into, a little kitchen for simple dinners, and a wood burner that kept the whole place warm and comforting. My own composting loo sat just outside, and a short walk away was Ty Mawr, the communal cabin with hot showers, a fully equipped kitchen, and (perhaps crucially) WiFi, so I wasn’t completely cut off from the world. The whole site is beautifully crafted, sustainable, and clearly loved; you can feel the care in every handmade detail.
Resting by Walking
Despite my intention to rest, I did manage two short walks. The first was a trig‑bagging mission up the hill I could see from my cabin, following a route the owner suggested and one or two ‘paths’ that definitely weren’t on the map. The rain was torrential and the wind howling, but it was a bracing stomp up to the summit that got the heart pumping and the legs moving. The second was the site’s own flag trail, a treasure‑hunt‑style wander through the valley that had been accurately described to me as ‘a bit of a swamp’. Both were under two-hours, both were exactly the right amount of effort for the state I was in.
The rest of the time I let myself be still: reading, writing, watching the meadow shift in the wind, listening to the stream at the bottom of the hill, and wandering the woodland in slow, unhurried loops. These quirky stays continue to be one of the best things I’ve chosen for myself in this season of life; tiny pockets of escape that help me reset, breathe, and remember what it feels like to be in my own company without pressure.
This one was booked through Canopy & Stars using a voucher my parents gave me for Christmas, which was the most thoughtful and perfectly timed gift. And, because I know myself well enough now, the next stay is already booked.
That’s Entertainment
February ended up being another good month for theatre, definitely my preferred entertainment channel at the moment, with two very different shows that each scratched a completely different itch. The first was a classic, tightly crafted whodunnit, the other a full‑throttle, pink‑soaked musical. Both were exactly what I needed in their own ways.
Death on the Nile, UK Tour in Cheltenham
There’s something deeply comforting about a well‑executed Agatha Christie, and this new stage adaptation of Death on the Nile delivers exactly that. The production is billed as a ‘thrilling’ and ‘proper whodunnit’ on its official site, and that’s exactly how it felt in the room; superbly written, beautifully staged, and performed with precision. The two-storey set was cleverly created, and the cast presented the red herrings, shifting alliances, and sharp humour with ease.
I went with my sister, who is a committed Christie fan, and she loved it too; she later said she kept thinking about the clever retelling sequence where the cast flicked between present‑day and past events, which really was a standout moment. It was also lovely to see something so polished at the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham (7 February), my local theatre, I don’t go nearly often enough. A proper old‑fashioned mystery, easy to watch but excellent all the same, and a reminder of why Christie’s stories endure.
Legally Blonde, UK Tour in Leicester
If Death on the Nile was all intrigue and elegance, Legally Blonde was pure dopamine. This new UK and Ireland tour is marketed as the ‘ultimate feel‑good rom‑com’ with a fresh, modern twist, and it absolutely lives up to that promise. It’s bright, bold, and packed with belters – exactly the kind of show that leaves you grinning as you walk out. I know the soundtrack well, but seeing it live brought a whole new energy.
This particular performance (20 February) was full of alternates and swings due to a sickness bug in the cast, and they were phenomenal. The professionalism it takes to step in like that – in this case well before they were officially due to – is commendable. Hannah Lowther was a brilliant Elle Woods, warm and funny with real vocal power, and the whole company matched her energy. The Curve itself is a great theatre, and catching the show there was a happy bit of timing. I left with a big smile on my face, which is exactly what Legally Blonde should do.
See You Next Time…
February has been a month of movement in every sense – full of plans, people, and little adventures threaded between the heavier things happening quietly in the background. Even though this journal is a shorter one, the month itself was anything but. There was my urban wander in Birmingham with Sarah, complete with a visit to the Secret Garden at the library and excellent Greek food in the new Custard Factory food court. There was a shopping day with my mum, sister, and niece. And there were the gentler moments too: coffee with Nat, brunch and a walk with Lucy, the kind of catch‑ups that make days feel fuller in the best way.
All of that sat alongside the weightier grief‑related things I’ve been navigating – big, consuming, not‑yet‑ready‑to‑write‑about things. It looks like March will hold a similar mix: the hard stuff still present, but life continuing around it in ways that feel grounding and necessary. I’m doing my best to make space for both.
March does have some bright spots on the horizon – a springtime travel adventure, a very pretty‑looking quirky stay, and more time with friends. Plus, the National Outdoor Expo is on 21 to 22 March – there might still be free tickets left using my code ZHOMES at checkout if you’re thinking of going.
If you’re more in the mood for watching than reading, my Norway video series is almost complete, with episodes 1–10 already on YouTube, and (hopefully) the final instalment this coming week. And if you missed them, do have a look at my Pancake Day post, my latest Currently Loving, and the new Sauna Stories series – fittingly, I’m writing this having just come home from trying out another sauna with Jenny.
See you next time.
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