This morning we walked into Broadwater, mostly just because we are all feeling the downside of less exercise and more food, along with feeling slightly out of touch with each other again after such a lovely long period of time together all the time. I think we’ve gotten so used to operating as a unit this year that not having so much time bouncing off each other and just hanging out has felt very strange for all four of us since we’ve been staying at Mum & Dad’s. Certainly I feel disempowered living with my parents so the kids must be really feeling it given how much they were listened to and given attention while we were on the road.
Anyway, off we went for a walk and it was lovely. Lots of chatting, laughing, catching up with each other and enjoying the feeling of freedom being out of the house. We picked up a few books from a charity shop – Ady has suddenly realised charity shop shopping will not be a regular feature of a lifestyle on an island so is keen to build our book stash up with relevant farming books. Ones on fruit and veg growing seem easy enough to find, but smallholding and particularly livestock rearing are not so common. We also called into the little sweet shop that the kids and I used to go to often, having walked past earlier and been smiled at and helloed to by the owner, who was really pleased to see us in there spending :). He was at school, a few years above me and is an odd bloke really but clearly always wanted to have his own sweet shop when he grew up and is loving that having come true :). One of the blokes in one of the charity shops spent ages showing Davies and Scarlett a magic trick with a coin too so they had a very pleasant time interacting with shop keepers :).
We walked home again and made a speedy lunch before gathering up library books to return and dropping them off on our way over to Lewes to meet Ali and Freya at Spring Barn Farm. The kids were rather bemused to be visiting a farm and looking at animals in enclosures, infact they largely ignored the animals in favour of the go carts and zip wire. The go carts were rather good 🙂
It was so lovely to see Ali and catch up in person – I’ve so missed her this year although we discussed how life has moved on for us both during the time we’ve been away and sitting over endless cups of tea chatting all afternoon would be a rare rather than regular treat these days even if we did live along the road. Ali very generously treated us to admission, refreshments and rehomed some gorgeous toiletries with me (which I will look after very well 😉 ) which was all very much appreciated by all four of us. Thanks mate 🙂 xxx
We dropped them home having braved the wind and cold for as long as we could until rain began and we decided it had now crossed the line from ‘not exactly lovely weather’ to ‘bloody awful weather’. And then sat in traffic most of the way home, all of which serves to reassure us we are right to be moving away to the land of no cars, let alone traffic jams! Not helped by me bursting for a wee most of the way home either.
We listened to some Terry Deary reading Horrible Histories cds in the car today, those ones off cereal boxes from a few years ago and were all very moved by one about the war which included the Christmas Day football match story, a poster about worrying (ending with if you are dead you can’t worry) and poetry such as ‘think only this of me..’.
This evening was punctuated by two visits to Sainburys for Ady and I – one to buy dinner ingredients, for curry. The other later in the evening to walk off dinner. We sat with the kids this evening and read them out all of the application form and what we’ve done so far on the business plan. Scarlett says she misses being in the van. I feel ungrateful criticising being here as in lots of ways it is lovely – a bed, baths, running water and electricity etc are all luxuries we certainly don’t take forgranted, but living under someone else’s roof is always hard and we are all definitely itching to get cracking with the next phase of our plans.