The lead up to the Summer holidays were a little bit angst ridden round these parts. There was rather a lot of breath holding, a lot of thinking, a lot of worrying and maybe a few tense words pushed about. When things aren’t particularly in your control, but effecting your loved ones in different ways, well, things can be a little stressful.

Then the storm finally passes, and you exhale just a little. A long, slow exhalation, that hadn’t been there for what feels like a very, very long time.

And then, you exhale a little more.

So what does one do with loved ones after a lengthy period of worrying breath holding?

You get out of the city, that’s what you do.

While you are out, you might also….

Make pizza, lots of it. Enough for a small clan anyway.

Start to build a veggie patch just because you can.

Play board games with family members that don’t often come together. (Also get introduced to the eye water laughing of Cards Against Humanity.)

Afternoon siestas are compulsory. Especially after Christmas pneumonia for a small one.

The beach finds it’s way inside with tramping sandy feet.

Food tastes better as it’s lingered over, and chewed rather than gulped…ahh, the novelty of it all.

Gardens are visited. Big ones with cars on the edges.

Books are contemplated and thought over. Instead of trapped under “stuff” that needs tending to first. There isn’t hours of lingering book reading, but there are consecutive minutes and that’s a good thing. (Nikki Gemmell your writing is the bees knees.)

Of course some bread gets made. Double Spelt sourdough, (wholemeal spelt flour and cooked wholegrain spelt in these.)

Thinking also comes in much needed extended periods instead of five second snippits. As a mother of three, and woman of many, many thoughts. This is also a good thing. Actually it’s a marvellous thing.

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Tell me, what have you been up to?