Thursday photo #327
For the first time since lockdown, I’m having to consult my diary to remember what we’ve been up to this week. It has been remarkably busy. When we were in full lockdown, I appreciated the break from constantly being on the go. But now that we’re easing ourselves back into life gently, I’m quite enjoying it. It’s great to see the children playing with their friends again and to start catching up with some friends myself.
The best version of normal
It has been interesting to see how different places have interpreted the covid compliance rules. We’ve been for a couple of days out this week to places the children always enjoy. It was lovely to meet Joy at Cob House on Monday. We enjoyed a coffee and a cake while the girls tucked into an ice cream. The café was open indoors as well as outdoors, but the children’s park was closed. It’s only a small park, but the girls love it and they were gutted it wasn’t open. Thankfully, we could still go and see the animals which is always a treat.
A few days later, we had another brilliant day out with friends. This time we opted for the Orchard Café at Worcester Woods Country Park. There, they have taken the opposite approach to Cob House. The café is takeaway only, with outdoor seating. Entry to the building is to use the toilet block only. The children’s park is fully open, as are the woods and the little children’s train. We much preferred this option. The children were able to run around and play and we could still have lunch there whilst remaining outside.
The good girl and the missing shoe
On Saturday, we popped to Bristol to see my husband’s family. First stop was a picnic at Portishead. The children and the dog all coped well with the heat and lack of shade, but they were baking. So, I took them down to the water to dip their feet in. It’s not somewhere you can swim and the edge of the water is incredibly muddy and boggy but it was ideal for paddling to cool off.
The girls both had water shoes on, so it seemed sensible to leave those on. That is until Libby lost a shoe. Lots of shouting and screaming followed as the shoe gently bobbed away. I didn’t fancy going up to my knees in muddy water to retrieve it. Thankfully, Bubbles was much more amenable to the idea and with a little encouragement, she went paddling off after the shoe and returned it safely to its owner. What a good girl.
After that, it was time for the rest of us to have a proper dip. We headed to the beautiful Clevedon Marine Lake. For some reason it’s busier in August than the last time I went which was January. But the children loved it and it was great to see them swimming again.
Thursday photo #327
The girls were none the worse for wear for their little scare when Libby’s shoe escaped at Portishead.
It sounds like you had a lovely busy week. I would have preferred the option you had at Worcester Woods too. We’ve done the parkrun there a couple of times so I could picture perfectly where you were.
How clever of Bubbles to go and retrieve the shoe!
Oh I didn’t realise you’d done Worcester Parkrun, it is the only one I’ve done. Hopefully it will be back soon!
Nat.x
Hi Nat, it must be nice to be able to get back to some sort of normality again with the children. Never mind being able to see friends, eating ice cream would have been enough for me… How clever is Bubbles? We have one dog that loves to fetch, but only if it’s thrown… Or my shoes (all of them) in anticipation of a walk.
xx
Well collecting your shoes to tell you they want a walk sounds super clever, I think you could probably persuade them to collect a shoe floating off into the sunset too!
Nat.x
Was great to see you and the girls – and for my virtual food and drink.
We still haven’t been to Worcester Woods since all of this and are probably going to pop over this week.
I have heard that Clevedon is very busy for swimming at the moment – I guess it is more popular because of all that has happened with pools. Hopefully things will get quieter again as we return to normal (and the water becomes colder).
Ah fab, we thought Worcs Woods was really well done. Yeah Clevedon is much quieter outside of peak time but actually, it was fine anyway despite being a really hot day. It was just good to get in the water.
Nat.x