Home Again, Home Again....

Home again and have almost caught up on the backlog of washing. As always after two weeks away there are mixed feelings. It is wonderful to be back in our comfortable bed and lovely to see how well big son has coped looking after the house. My hanging baskets were still lovely, the tomatoes and chillies were still alive and he’d done a full vac of the house before we returned.

All those resolutions about a new routine on returning home have already been broken and I seem to have drifted back to normal. Is this a bad thing?

Time for Writing

My husband tends to drive at break-neck speed and this can make me feel quite nervous and stressed. I normally cling to the door handle. Yesterday I decided no more and opened my notebook as soon as we began our journey. I managed to write the second chapter of a possible entry to the Mills and Boon New Voices competition and felt far less stressed.

The dilemma is now – which story to enter in the competition? Choice 1 is a historical story set at the time of the Norman Conquest and Choice 2 is a very racy modern day story. For once it is nice to have the choice, but I suspect the debate will rage on until the start of the competition.

We are on holiday for another few days, so potentially I could have another four or five chapters written in the car by the end of the week. Here’s to stress free but action packed journeys.

Tears for Toy Story 3

Did anyone else cry at Toy Story 3? I couldn’t believe that I would. It started when Andy was off to college and surveying his empty room with his Mum and continued when he gave his toys away. I glanced across and Daniel was in bits too – good job I’d picked up a couple of serviettes with the popcorn.

I have been contemplating sod’s law too. Bearing in mind that we are 200 miles from home – the house alarm went off on Friday night and I had to get my key holder friend out in her pyjamas. No apparent reason for the trigger. Then last night poor big son (who was then home from his weekend away) got woken by the smoke detector at 3am. What is going on? It doesn’t happen when we are home. Is my house missing me?

Blogging from Holiday

I’m blogging from holiday in County Durham. People seem to go blank when I say I am holidaying here. One man even asked me where I fly from! It will be our sixth year in this gold award winning self-catering barn in the North East. Only have to think of it now to relax. We started coming here as I was tracing my husband’s family roots and we liked it so much we keep coming back. There are the industrial centres but also lots of rolling countryside. Where we stay is on the border of Yorkshire, so there are plenty of options for outings.

My only objection to the barn is that it has lots of full length mirrors. Enter my holiday dilemma – I want to eat lots of naughty things, but then I am reminded constantly of the bumps I didn’t know I’d got (We only have one full length mirror at home and that’s in the image conscious 22 year old son’s bedroom). I have resolved my dilemma by promising myself I’ll remember where the bumps are and work on them when I get home.

We are having quite a lazy time, but have already visited my favourite Aladdin’s cave hardware store in Barnard Castle. Daniel has to play crazy golf near the castle in the town at least three times during the holiday. Yesterday we went for a walk in the lovely Blanchland, which is used for a backdrop in many films and photo shoots. The bonus was the not forecast hot sunny day. Last night my husband and I stood out on the patio under clear starlit skies. – Bliss.

Tension

I am becoming more and more aware of how I hold tension in my body. Making a conscious effort to release it means that I have to check at least four times and hour and breathe. I keep thinking back to when I was pregnant with Daniel. Having decided that I wanted a relaxed child, I kept my self relaxed and floated through the pregnancy. It was wonderful as things which would normally have stressed me just drifted by. I suppose the pregnancy hormones must have added to this state as I don’t seem to have been able to achieve it since.

It is a vicious circle, being tense means that I breathe less deeply and an more tetchy (but maybe that’s to do with being menopausal with a seven year old!) There is the other effect of course – if I relax more I let out my stomach muscles and look fatter. Maybe I’d better start a diet too!

Proud of Self

Well I’ve got to be proud of me or who else is going to be! I managed a chapter of my book today, despite looking after Daniel all day.

I took him to the playground and wrote sitting on a broken ride. Then we went to our favourite cafe (The Old village Stores in Wolverley). I had yummy cake and latte and Daniel had his favourite pancakes. The owner of the cafe says she’s going to give him a special pancake award at the end of the summer for the most pancakes consumed! He then played in the brook and I wrote. He did manage to sit in the said brook and had to come home on a plastic bag for a complete change of clothes.

Maybe I can finish my novel during the summer holidays, as I’m sure he wasn’t really aware I was writing, apart from to ask me if I was still writing about Normans. Good news on that front too – the BBC have very kindly arranged a season of programmes about the Normans, so hopefully I’ll be able to do some of my research watching the tele. The summer seems to be speeding by already, so I’d better enjoy it while I can. I am resolving to live and write each day as it comes!