The morning we went to our favorite children’s activity, Natural Foundations. I’m sure I have mentioned it before, but it is just the best place for children. Open ended outdoor play. Think sandpits and mud kitchens, a plank of wood and a log for see-saw balancing…and today they added a sprinkler too, so it was lovely for the children to play.
Unfortunately it was also hot, hot, hot. Jessica was fine as she was running in and out of the sprinkler, but I sat and roasted. I had taken a hat, Carl had filled a bag with ice packs and bottles of water, but there was no shade at all, and I felt quite ill by the time we came home.
And so we have had a gentle afternoon. Watched a family film together, Jessica threaded wooden beads, and then did a jigsaw puzzle with Carl while I went upstairs for a much needed nap.
I wouldn’t have even considered a nap a week or so ago, but I am so, so glad I did.
I’ve been reading a lovely series about slow living over at the Little Birdie blog. I am getting lots of inspiration from Jen’s posts, and along with doing Eloise’s Rhythm In The Home course, I am thinking a lot about how I want life to be, particularly once we have moved and our baby is here. Slow yes, but also for me I think an important word is intentional. It feels a bit late for a word of the year, but it think this is the word for the next phase of my life.
We worked so hard yesterday, and we are another little step closer to being ready to move. There is a long way to go, but it feels like we are making progress. Several months ago, we had our boiler replaced, so I had to empty out the airing cupboard. Everything went into our bedroom, which is also where all the books which don’t fit on the shelves live. Along with all the towels, sheets and so on, there was bag after bag of Jessica’s old clothes that we had been holding on to in the hope we would need them.
You can imagine our bedroom was looking pretty busy! I’d been putting off sorting Jessica’s clothes because I was terrified of somehow jinxing things and being punished for being too presumptive. Yesterday I steeled myself and sorted all the clothes into different age groups, assorted out what we wanted to keep what we could donate, and then packed them into those stacking underbed storage crates. Carl has popped them in the garage, and our room looks so much bigger and so much more relaxing.
It has made me more determined than ever that our new home will be farfrom a show home, but will be relaxin fly calm and tidy.
I’m finding the peace which comes from sorting through our belongings outweighs the stress of doing it. I am a natural hoarder, and I associate memories and emotions with objects, so I find parting with them hard. But knowing what we have got and exactly where to find it feels lovely.
I’ve been working on a course from the lovely Alison at Brocante Home about designing and creating your own housekeeping routine. Part of it is really thinking about how you want your home to feel and how you want your life to be in it. This goes hand in hand with Eloise’s course, where we are thinking about what kind of childhood we want to create for our children. These two go hand in hand to me, and I am enjoying daydreaming about our future so that I can start to bring it into being.
Little Sips of Tea 