The Countdown

The last few days of the Summer holidays are upon us.  The last six weeks have gone by in a blur of activity; visits to the beach, baking cakes, sunbathing in the garden and reading books.  Perfect days that we will hold in our memories and keep us going over the coming Winter months.  I find the best way of dealing with the end of something good is to plan for more good things to look forward to.  Line dancing will feature heavily over the cold, dark nights and visits to the gym to use the treadmill while listening to Luke Bryan on Pea's borrowed mp3 player will all help.  H2 starts senior school in a few days' time so my evenings will be spent gently supporting him while he does homework he is not accustomed to doing and propping him up emotionally when things take a wrong turn.  On top of all that, I have applied for a job; my first in 20 years.  Oh how I hope I don't get it...

The job is for a catering assistant in a school on the island; dinner lady to you and me.  Only a few hours a day but the main thing is I would be home at weekends, school holidays and basically whenever the children are, which is what I need and want.  I love the holls and love the whole routine-out-of-the-window thing.  We go with the flow and the weather, doing different things as the season dictates.  Sometimes we do nothing at all, which is the best bit.  So the thought of not being home with them and going to work instead is too much to think of, to be honest.  I'd rather have less money.  Which is just as well as that's exactly what I would get.  Anyway, term starts in a few days and I've heard nothing, so I can probably relax again now and forget about it for a bit longer!  Having said that, I will miss the children dreadfully when they go back and after the first week, won't know how to fill the hours.  I won't be doing the school run again, so won't have the chance to talk to other mums at the school gate, or to sing along with Luke on the journey.  I will need some contact with human beings at some point and getting a job seems to be the best way of going about it.  Let fate decide!

The countdown to Autumn is underway too.  There is still plenty of beauty to be seen and admired, both in the garden and the countryside but it is a balancing act between the dead and decaying and the seeds of new life for the next generation.  Bees still bumble around the flowers and butterflies flit over the grass when the sun shines.  There are strawberries and tomatoes waiting to ripen in the late summer sun and the sweetcorn holds its tassells aloft hoping for an Indian summer to ripen the fruit within.

The end also heralds the beginning.  We are planning and planting for next Spring and Summer, the perfect antidote to the impending gloom of colourless days.  Nothing in nature really ends, it steps aside to make way for the next part of the cycle.  I love that and it helps me move ahead with a smile and a positive thought in my mind.  The trick to moving from the end of Summer's flirtatious smile and lazy attitude to the beginning of Winter's serious mood and deep frown is to do something.  Don't let it get the better of you, keep moving and keep Summer in your heart all year round.

There are still two more days of freedom and Summer and we fully intend to enjoy them in our individual ways.  Pea has gone to see Boyf; H2 is building things with Lego in his bedroom and H1 is rolling around on the floor with the dogs.  Boredom kicks in now and then and is a good indicator that they are ready for a new term to start.  I am taking the opportunity to read during the day, which is something I won't be able to justify in my heart when school starts again.  I will have to stave off the guilt by Being Busy.  Yuk.  The countdown has begun!

Enjoy the rest of your Summer and thank you for reading.xxx