Thoroughly lovely weekend away.
Every so often its just lovely to get away from it all, and that is what Max and i did this weekend. Mum and Dad had the kids and we legged it off to our favourite pub/hotel in Derbyshire. Despite some seriously dodgy traffic we got there by just after 8 on Friday and spent a gorgeous weekend hunting through bookshops/charity shops/antique shops/craft shops and walking in lovely scenery.
Spent a really nice time in Buxton, Bakewell, Matlock and all the surrounding villages, walked along the Viaduct at Monsal Head (including a rather steep walk that reminded me how pregnant i am!!) tootled over Snake Pass, which as we normally go in winter is generally shut, and just got to talk and enjoy ourselves and sometimes just enjoy the silence and lack of “can i, will you, argh!!” type demands children make!!!! The kids had a complete ball with my parents and brother and didn’t want to leave – they had done piano and violin playing and Fran had learned to do a two handed scale of C, a pretend carnival using Granny’s toy tractor and bike with dollies in the trailor and Fran’s Poi for ribbons. Apparently Mum, Dad and Rich had to stand at the side and chuck coins at them and it was all a hark back to going to MortonHampstead Carnival last year. Maddy had completely floored mum by giving her an account of “Auntie Gaybor” (Maddys imaginary friend) which mum swallowed completely!!! lol!!! Auntie Gaybor lives in Torquay, wears a brown coat and blue shoes and was apparently flying the tornado that flew over MP camp – she has, this weekend, sprouted a husband or father called Uncle Bonkers-Bonkers. Who says she doesn’t have an imagination!!!!
If i may do a Jules (lol!) my book haul consisted of…
The I Can Draw compendium (been looking for that for AGES!!!)
How to Draw… Monsters (a big hit immediately!!! lol!)
The Aesop for Children illustrated by Milo Winter
A History of England (for Max!)
Not Just a Witch by Eva Ibbotson
Charlottes Web
A book of Van Gogh postcards
The Wizard of Oz
A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley
History of Costume
I Wonder Why Flutes Have Holes
The Adventures of Charles Darwin (creationists avert your eyes! ;~))
Teddy Robinson Himself
The Sheep Pig
Heidi
Tales from the Ark by Avril Rowland
Treasure Island
A Calender of Garden Lore
Tom Jones (Max’s)
Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf
A Cross stitch pattern collection
Compact History of the World (Max again – apparently the 20 we already have were not enough!)
All the kids ones were 3/4 for £1, so it was a pretty good bag of spoils i think!!!
I also indulged myself in a blackwork kit to try as i used to love that type of thing and have never done that particular type of sewing.
It was great to get a bit of time together; one of the things that has changed since Ammi came along is that i don’t seem to “need” time off quite so much – with 2 life could sometimes be near enough like the “olden days” for me to resent the impact of two small kids – once you have your 3rd or 4th i guess you know what you are doing and know that if you choose to make that particular bed you can’t really expect to get bailed out of lying in it much. I know when Moo was small i used to really need some time off, now its more a pleasant interlude, which yes i loved, but by this morning i was starting to look at things and think “the girls would love that”!!!! Plus of course, bigger kids are easier to get along with, for me anyway. All that is not to say i didn’t look forward to it, enjoy it and come back feeling refreshed for it.
I made a massive effort to get the house clean and tidy before we left – everything was away and sorted and organised – and it was so lovely to come home to it – really lifted me. Wonder how long it will last!!!!
Oh yeah – and the completely excellent thing about all the books was that as we were driving up, i opened the inner pocket of my purse and found the £30 cash i got out on the last day of Melrose to buy the kids shoes which i subsequently didn’t use!!!! Job is a good-un!!!!!
