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01 September 2022

Resting and Reflecting

I have been a little absent from here in the past few months, my sporadic posting in some part due to my busyness.  My life has been much quieter and slower over the past couple of weeks.  I read blogs and write posts in the evening, it is the time of day that is mine. When the evening arrives at the end of each day I have been reading blogs but the words have not been forming together in ways that I needed them to to bring a post together.  My evenings have been full of knitting, of watching, of pausing, of rest.  My head has been so full during my busy time now that that life has slowed the capacity to arrange words has taken a while to return. 

The summer is a time of energy, the world around us is at is peak, nature is bursting with life where I live. We have not had the drought that other parts of my country is experiencing, it is green and lush where I live, the occasional rain that has fallen nourishing the earth and all that grows.  It is a time of being busy, of making the most of the warm temperatures, of being outside soaking up the valuable vitamin D that the sun provides us with, before the temperatures turn cooler and we hibernate inside around our fires or whatever provides us with warmth during the colder months.  As an introvert who loves quiet I find summer a difficult time of year.

The weather has been really warm, it is lovely to not have to wrap myself up in endless layers each time I leave the house.  We have not had such a reliably warm summer for a few years here.  There is so much to love about the summer but it is not a time of year that I can completely embrace just yet.  It is not that I feel like a fish out of water it is more akin to that feeling when you are wearing an item of clothing which doesn't quite fit and despite your best efforts you cannot seem to make the adjustments so that it is a completely comfortable.  All that said we have had some wonderful adventures.  

Way back in July we went away camping during a very hot period, a large tree next to our tent bought some welcome shade and coolness to our living quarters.  We are so lucky to have such beautiful countryside on our doorstep, we travelled a couple of hours from home along winding slow roads to reach this wonderful spot.  We walked miles.  In an effort to reduce our driving whilst away we took our bikes with us and used them to reach the areas we wanted to walk in, a good move as there were few parking spots which were always full as we cycled, somewhat smugly, passed them.  We found places to lock our bikes up before heading into the hills or round lakes for long walks, interspersed with swims to cool ourselves down in the heat.  It was good to spend this time just the four of us, chatting and enjoying each others company.  As the children get older these times feel so much more precious, moments to treasure as we all spend more and more time doing our own things.

We were home for one day from that adventure before heading out to the next one, this time it was to drop Cameron for his D of E Expedition whilst Alice and I were supervising remotely.  I usually assess D of E expeditions but am, quite rightly, not allowed to do this when my own child is in the group.  I swopped roles and supervised his group, which involved us being in the area should we be needed if a problem arose.  We camped too although it was cooler and wetter for these four days.  It was a pottering time, with shorter walks which were no less interesting.  It was lovely to spend so much time with Alice, we spent lots of time in our tent chatting, playing games and reading many words from the chapter book I am reading to her at the moment.  We got ourselves into a lovely rhythm.

The next adventure, a couple of weeks later, was for Alice and Cameron. They headed out for an  international scout camp which was held a few miles down the road from us.  The,y along with 4,000 other Scouts and Explorers, enjoyed a week of activities both on and off site from the venue they were using.  I was hoping to have a relaxing week at home mostly by myself as my husband was also away for three days that week too.  Sadly one of the leaders did not leave me with much confidence in her ability to care for my children and those in the rest of the group, so it was not relaxing experience I had hoped for.  They enjoyed themselves in the main, Cameron felt that he was treated like a ten year old and as he is nearly eighteen this was somewhat waring for him.  The lack of trust and respect by the adults of the young people in their care has been reported back to those who can implement further training.  

We have enjoyed time with both sets of grandparents, time, which now that Cameron is at college, is restricted to college holiday time so it added to an already busy summer.  Time with them has always been arranged throughout the year, college holidays being new to us we need to get better at using this time more wisely so we don't end up filling the days up completely.  I have lost my ability to see the bigger picture too, a skill I had honed very well before lockdowns came to our shores.  I have already blocked out a few weekends in the coming months to ensure that we do not get ourselves too busy in the coming months which are already looking rather full.  They will be our pausing time, quiet time at home pottering and resting which is so important to us.

Whilst my parents were staying with us Cameron got his results from his course and exams.  He was delighted with them, his hard work over the year paid off, he passed them all including a Distinction in his Art Diploma (Film and Photography) which was higher than he had been predicted.  He had been working at upper merit all year and did not think he would gain this level of mark, we are so proud of him.  This means that he has easily gained a place on the next level Art Diploma which he starts next week, he is both nervous and excited.  I was really nervous when he went into college to get his results, it has felt like I have been examined as well as him, my support of his education over twelve years he was home educated under the microscope.  He has just applied for a part time job, having given up his village paper round of four years back in April so that he could focus on his final course project and his exams.  I hope he can find something to give him a small income whilst he is at college.  It was strange supporting him through the application process, it is years since I have written a CV or applied for a job.  Although I do have two very part time jobs, both of which I have started in the last couple of years,  I did not need to apply for either of them.

Over the past week I have felt things shifting, as the nights draw in, the temperatures steadily dropping especially at the beginning and end of the day we are heading slowly towards the start of Autumn, my favourite season.  After the busyness of the summer I am ready to head into a period of transition to hibernation over the Winter.  I wanted to have a summer which was full of wonderful adventures after what has felt like a long period of not being able to do that, I have had that this summer but I don't think I would do quite so much again.  It has felt a little too busy for me with not quite enough pausing in between for rest before the next thing.  This past week has seen that shift too of having a long enough pause that has enabled me to feel rested and ready for the next thing which is another four days of camping from Saturday.  A D of E Expedition again, this time I am assessing.  When we return Cameron will have started his new course and it will be time to start planning a rhythm for Alice as all her groups start up again.  I feel ready for that now.

15 comments:

  1. You are so right - reviewing and amending are very valuable things to do. I am going to do that in the garden following the hot temperatures we had this summer. Making sure you have time for unwinding and recharging the batteries is also really important, as is time for creative activities.
    I hope the busy-ness of your life slows through the Autumn and you are able to enjoy the time.
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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  2. Your summer sounds perfect especially your camping/walking holiday. I always love to see the scenery around your area. So beautiful. Well done on the exam results and like you I’m looking forward to autumn greatly. B x

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  3. Such a lovely post, thank you. It has never occured to me to block out time in the diary for pausing our busy lives, great tip.

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  4. What a busy summer you've had, I hope you're able to get into a new rhythm now that autumn is approaching and things start to wind down. Time for a little rest. Well done to Cameron, I'm always pleased to hear when hard work has paid off, you must be very proud.

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  5. I'm so looking forward to the natural shift in seasons and schedules. This summer was tremendously busy (and stressful) for me and I'm exhaling as we enter September. The kids return to school next week and we're all ready. I'm 100% ready for the next chapter and for my own introverted soul to take a few deep breaths and start the hibernation process, which I can tell my heart and head really need!

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  6. Wow, that sounds like a very busy summer. Lots of fun things, but I can imagine you need to slow down. Wishing you a nice and calm autumn!

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  7. Well done Cameron on his excellent results, I hope he loves the next phase of his learning. It sounds like a lovely summer, but I know what you mean about needing time away from the busyness. Gorgeous photos, they really capture the place beautifully. CJ xx

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  8. A lovely post. We were in Northumberland during the shift from August to September, so felt it a little more keenly that we would have done back down home. But it was so welcome! Summer does indeed feel like an item of clothing that doesn't fit, but I sometimes feel that the whole human world feels like a size-too-small itchy wool jumper. Such good news about Cameron's results! You must be over the moon for him.

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  9. I find summer difficult because I do not like to be hot! Your summer sounds busy but a wonderful busy!! I miss when my kids lived with me, sometimes. Other times I love my 'alone' time :)

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  10. All lovely things but what a worry for you regarding the scout camp :-( I hope that the feedback you gave and the concerns you shared will be listened to and acted upon. Thanks for the timely reminder to add much needed pauses dotted throughout the calendar. It can be difficult at this end with hospital appointments littering the calendar but we do our best! Like you I've been busy knitting, sewing and crocheting and have been short on brain energy to right a blog post but have finally cobbled together a snap shot of our summer :-) I hope your rhythm is a comfort to you as you navigate the seasonal changes ahead, San xx

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  11. I love how you describe not being totally comfortable with summer, I feel the same way. What a busy exciting summer though, you are lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country, good to know you haven't suffered drought, it's been dreadful here. Congratulations to Cameron and to you for your home tutoring. Snowbird.xxx

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  12. Enjoyed all your beautiful photos, thanks for sharing your summer news to.
    I, too, am not the greatest fan of summer, it is my least favourite season. While i can appreciate the longer days, the warmth, the growing season and all the sustenance it brings us, the heat and busyness of it is tiring and often makes me feel tetchy! A colleague this week mentioned the idea that we have the most affinity with the season we were born in, and that seemed to resonate with us all and does for me as an autumn baby.

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  13. It sounds like a beautiful summer but I hear you on the need for rest. Although it takes me a while to give over to autumn (I feel very comfortable in summer!) when I do, I feel this warm fuzziness of hope. The chance to slow things down and plan for hibernation. Beautiful landscape around you!

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  14. Sounds like you had a busy and rewarding summer. Your photos are beautiful, especially the waterfall one. Definitely an Autumnal nip in the air now though. X

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  15. Hello SM, beautiful photos. The lake dip looks wonderful. How lovely to go camping. We did a little bit of local camping and loved it. It is a good job it didn't rain though as the taped seams in my old festival tent are bust - something I discovered in situ! Like you I have had a busy summer and I'm looking forward to snuggling down for autumn. Well done to your son for his art course results - brilliant! xXx

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