Saturday Afternoon

Guess what?  Yup, it's raining again.  And it's very windy too.  There is very little that can be done on a day like this, but at least it is Saturday and we all had an extra hour in bed this morning; except Pea, who had an extra two hours.  After a lovely sunny day, the wind got up yesterday evening and it howled and made the trees groan and creak all night long.  The rain and hail hit my bedroom window for hours on end, but I just wriggled further under the covers and dragged my quilt over my head.  It was lovely to wake this morning and remember there was no need to be up and about early and instead to carry on dreaming, snuggled up in my lovely cosy bed.  That is until Puppy began whimpering and scratching to be let out into the garden.  Peace shattered, I forced myself into a vertical position, pushed my feet into my slippers and headed for the kitchen and the comfort of hot tea.

Not sure what happened to the cleaning fairies, but they failed to materialise last night (again) to do the washing up and so the kitchen looked like a chimp's tea party had taken place in my absence.  Just about every cup, mug, plate and glass we own had been used and left casually on the work tops and in the sink.  Actually if they were in the sink that wouldn't be too bad, but they were in the washing up bowl that was filled with now stone cold, dirty, grimy water.  Oh, YUK!  I hate that.  Why can my children not just rinse out their cups and put them away?  It doesn't take a minute and I have requested on many occasions that they do this, they always say they will but rarely do.  They will even go as far as to protest strongly against any of their actual involvement in such behaviour and H1 is excellent at displaying his disbelief at my suggestion by rolling his eyes heavenwards, dropping his shoulders and exclaiming 'God-uh!', as if I am an amoeba in a laboratory.  Despite this elaborate smoke screen, there are still dirty pots swimming in cold water on a daily basis.  This morning however, I needed a good mug of tea before I tackled the mess.

H2 was already up and snuggled under a blanket in the lounge watching the Winter Olympics, H1 came in and the three of us settled down to watch the snowboarding.  In total contrast to what was going on outside our own windows, in Russia the sun was shining, the snow covered the mountains and the sky was blue; beautiful.  The snowboarding action was pretty hot and H1 and I sat holding our breath when the two British men had their turn!  I always get really into this kind of thing, but don't bother with sport (apart from Wimbledon) usually and never play any myself.  Another cup of tea was required to watch the final and to calm my nerves when one of our boys dropped from Bronze medal position to 6th place.  Boooo!!!  It was really good though and a lovely start to my Saturday.

A bit later on I headed into the kitchen to start on the washing up and found H2 having his 'breakfast' at the table.  He had made two slices of toast with lemon curd and added a packet of mini Ryvita.  'You can't have that for breakfast,' I said.  H2 looked at me with a lovely, warm smile and said 'Course I can!' and proceeded to make Stone Henge with the Ryvita.  I decided this wasn't worth pursuing, so I left him to it and washed the pots, then dried them and put them away.  I don't know why I bothered putting them away as they will all be back on the draining board again, probably before I have left the kitchen.  I should just leave them all lying about and have some nice pictures on the walls instead of cupboards.

When everyone was finally up and dressed, we took the dogs out for a walk during a lull in the rainfall.  The wind pulled at hair and coats as we walked, heads bent, up the lane.  The rain began again before we had been going more than a few minutes.  We carried on as long as possible but I then thought of the two wet dogs and four wet coats we would have to get dry on reaching home; so we turned round and went back.  Short and not very sweet, but at least we'd all had some fresh air and a bit of a stretch.  We had yet more tea and raspberry buns to warm up, then I drove Pea to see her boyfriend.  The roads were quiet but there was a lot of water lying about which slowed things down a bit.  When I got home, the boys were messing about in the garden, trying to make a pull-up bar (don't ask, I didn't) but came in soon after in search of food and warmth.

After lunch we all began to settle down for the afternoon, or at least until I have to go out into the storm and fetch Pea.  The dogs managed to reach the settee before we did and had to be dragged off and persuaded that their cosy beds with warm blankets were a much better option.  They didn't seem convinced and sulked until we put the fire on.  Dogs.

Mum just sent me a text to tell me she was enjoying sitting down with a DVD and her knitting.  She thinks she was born to sit down, which would explain why she loves the Winter months so much, what else is there to do after all?  In weather like this, not a darn thing apart from read blogs and buy books (mum's idea).  For me it's the warmer part of the year that sees me at my best.  I am a mere shadow at other times and long to feel the heat of the sun seep into my bones; sit and read in the garden and wander about in flowery skirts and bare feet with a glass of homemade lemonade clinking with ice in my hand.  As I look out of the window, all that feels like a distant dream that will never come true.  It will be lovely to see the children just hanging about in the garden, busy doing nothing, lost in their own thoughts.  

But for now we are cosy indoors watching the Winter Olympics, leaving Lego lying about, playing games and day dreaming of a garden full of flowers, bees and butterflies.

  Keep calm and carry on! Thank you for reading. xxx