This week we should have been going on our family summer holiday. However, we made the decision to cancel the holiday a few weeks ago, when it became clear that the facilities which we had specifically booked the holiday for were not going to be available. Fortunately we got a full refund so are not out of pocket from our decision. We are so lucky to live where we do, we can enjoy the beach from home and it seems we’re so on trend having a staycation! I’m comfortable with our decision, I want to relax and rest on holiday and from what I’ve seen in the media, our holiday would look very different with us needing to be very organised to plan activities, meals out etc.. I don’t need that stress on holiday and am simply looking forward to a great holiday (or two) next year. Our cancelled holiday means we’ve needed to keep ourselves busy at home so here’s some of the things we’ve been doing.

I read ..

I do lots of park visits and as the children are now at a good age to play on their own, its a perfect reading time. I am really enjoying Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo. Its very cleverly written how each character’s story blends into a new one and the book is very addictive.

I ran ..

On Tuesday, I ran early as we had a family cycle trip planned and I got to see the most amazing sky at dawn. It was one of those runs in which you lose yourself in the beauty of our little planet and feel it is a privilege to be able to run. Later on we went on a cycle ride, well the children did but as Mr S and I don’t have bikes and were unable to hire any we traipsed behind them as they cycled through the forest. We went early so it was quiet and the whole morning gave me a strong sense of well being.

I helped out at the farm ..

We received a flyer in the post to advertise a Summer scheme being run by the council with a ‘passport’ number for our son. We didn’t quite understand how the scheme worked as details were sketchy but I looked at the website and found a few interesting activities to do. This week we went as a family for a morning at a therapy farm. What a joy, it was an amazing morning, just for the four of us supported by two workers. We all worked on the farm, feeding the animals, cleaning out their areas and grooming them where appropriate, (giant) pigs, goats, donkeys, sheep, cats, guinea pigs etc. Nature has such a healing power on us all and we felt really connected and happy after our morning.

I watched ..

I think we’ve given up on television at present, there is little on which we want to watch. For the past few weeks we’ve been using our 9-10pm slot, our joint tv time, to watch box sets. After last week’s excellent The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair we watched Chernobyl, following its critical acclaim. Yes it was a dark drama, but one which was interesting, terrifying and captivating.

And finally ..

Its more of the same next week, walks, picnics, bike rides and perhaps an early morning trip to the beach. For the first time ever, August simply seems a countdown to September and a little normality in going back to school.