Back To Normal

...Well, almost.  Actually this is my New Normal for the next 3 months.  Pea at home in between exams, the boys at school.  Then in late July all 3 at home all day, every day...

My routine goes completely out of the window when they are on holiday.  I can't switch off properly and seem to spend all day going from one thing to another, ending up worn out but without actually achieving anything.  They don't make demands on me but I have the mindset that if they are there, they may want something and I need to be able to provide it.  It's just something that crept into my head with their births and hasn't, as yet, left me.  They are a distraction.

Take today for example, first day back to school after half-term.  Pea planned to revise for tomorrow's exams and I had a small mountain of papers casting a shadow over my day which really needed to be binned or dealt with.  The former not being an option, I resigned myself to a few hours work, intermittently broken by staring out of the window and day dreaming.

But... First the dogs needed a walk otherwise Puppy would spend his day going berserk and driving me to distraction.  It was a beautiful warm day, so obviously we'd want to make the most of it and go for a decent walk.  In order for me to get there and back without fainting, I would need something more substantial in my stomach than my 7 o'clock cup of tea.  So I had breakfast sitting in the garden with Pea.

It was lovely to walk the lanes on a hot, still morning.  Only the sound of a skylark way above us, out of sight broke the silence.  No wind howling in our ears today.  Bliss.

The walk took over an hour.  It doesn't seem far; up the hill to the scary house, but even at a brisk pace it's quite a stretch.  Once home and the dogs settled, we finally got down to some work, but it was hard going and dead boring and an hour seemed to drag on endlessly.

We had lunch and I planned to make some soap for Babs and Richard's shop at Cadeiriau Mon.  Pea had other ideas.  It was sunny and warm, why be in the kitchen when we could be at the beach?  Why indeed?  My resolve crumbled like a cheesecake base and we went to the beach.  She is clearly a bad influence on me and I will have to be more disciplined in future, (with myself, not Pea).

We drove the few miles to the beach down green lanes, frothing at the edges with cow parsley and buttercups.    I could feel the change in air temperature the moment we got out of the car.

It had been a still and hot morning but now the breeze kissed bare skin with chilly lips and made me pull my cardigan tight around me.

Pea seemed unfazed and indulged in the freedom of an empty beach and abandoned revision books.

The wind and waves had contrived to make ridges in the hard sand and the surface was covered in worm casts, like squiggles drawn by a child. The wind was just a teeny bit too keen to make it a truly relaxing experience, but we returned to the car revitalised and (in my case) desperate for a cup of tea and a warm jumper!

I had just enough time at home to plan tea, (pasta bake and rhubarb and custard tart) and have a panad before I was off again to pick H2 up from school.  And as we all know, once the children arrive home it is a never ending round of food, questions (them), answers (me), arguing (them), clothes on the floor (them), washing up (me, or them if I can bribe them into doing it), homework, showers and supper (all them).  My job from this point is to keep the peace and constantly remind them of what they should be doing next, just in case they get sidetracked by telly or something ghastly like that.

Somewhere around 9pm all will be quiet.  I can let my mind wander wild and free.  I can think of what I want, daydream and wish and be myself.
Until tomorrow!

Enjoy the sun and escape a little! xxx