Thursday photo #235

When you have children, it’s true what they say about needing a week off to get over your holiday. With the children in school Monday to Friday and doing so many extra-curricular clubs, we make the most of school holidays. That said, last week was probably the most manic one we’ve had. Luckily, the girls are old enough to cope with it these days, and they’re good company too.

London, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and home

Last Thursday, I caught the train from my sister’s house in London back to the Lincolnshire Wolds. A bracing walk along the coast as the weather cleared up helped to blow away the cobwebs. After our final night in our beautiful holiday cottage, we spent a day cycling before heading home.

Except that we didn’t go home. We’d decided to extend our holiday with an overnight stay in the van near Matlock Bath. I’d never been there before, but had assumed it would be quite busy. In fact, it was quiet, quaint and pretty. We skipped the two attractions there, Gulliver’s Kingdom and Heights of Abraham, in favour of a quiet day exploring the area by the river and having lunch in a cafe.

By early evening, we were home. We’d been away less than a week. But with the overnight stay in Hampshire the previous Saturday to go to Wizard Weekend at the Watercress Line, we’d managed a whistle stop tour of the country. Work had built up, so I had to use what was left of the weekend to get it done.

Back to school chaos

The girls went back to school on Monday with the bare minimum in their book bags. School reading books remain liberally distributed around the house and overdue library books are still staring at me. They did the sum total of no homework during the holiday and I couldn’t even find any of Lia’s school reading books. So, she sounded out some words from one of Libby’s books yesterday instead.

I’ve finally caught up on work now – just about. But it will be a while before things aren’t chaos at home. Add to that the rather pressing need for me to start clearing the house out ready to decorate, and things seem a little bit stressful.

Thankfully, I managed a short but bracing swim in the river on Monday. It’s all I need to make sure I don’t get too stressed and overwhelmed. I’m hoping we’ll be able to continue swimming into the Winter. It might seem like a ridiculous idea, but it always makes me feel better.

Thursday photo #235

So many photos to choose from over the past week, but it was an easy decision. I love this photo of them trying to make their shadows into a heart on the beach. I know I should have been taking a photo of the shadows, but watching them do it was adorable.