The big news, this week, is that we are all together again, as a family. Eldest daughter has returned from her year abroad. We’ve not seen her for over five months, which is the longest time so far. More about that later. It is good to have them all home for the summer. I’m fully aware that soon they will start to scatter and we won’t see them quite so often, so I’m making the most of them being together.
Garden
In contrast, the garden is not working together. It’s been a strange year. The greenhouse is bursting and the rest of the garden is limping, which is partly due to the garden creatures and partly the weather.
We have a mob of rooks, magpies and jackdaws that visit each morning. A combined flock of about 50 birds, when they arrive together. It’s total mayhem some mornings. They’ve started to bring their young along, who are a gang of hoodlums. While they wait on the outside of the flock, the youngsters nonchalantly pull up my plants and untie my beans, just because they can. It drives me nutty. I’ve put up plant protection now and replanted, but it has set the garden back.
I’m glad I planted lettuces in the greenhouses this year. They’ve done well. No tomatoes or peppers yet, but we’ve had a few cucumbers. In the fruit garden, the blackcurrants are plentiful. We’ve picked 1.5kg which I’ve processed for later use. The rest I’ll probably leave for the wood pigeons and blackbirds, as they seem to love them too.
Out and about
The Sunday before the children all returned, Mr TTC, Hero the hound and I went for a walk along the Strawberry Line. It used to be a train line that brought the strawberries from Cheddar to Bristol and beyond. Now the train track has been dismantled and it’s a nature reserve and path for cyclists and walkers. Mr TTC sometimes runs along it, but it was my first time visiting.
We ambled through one village, where they were having a community get together, just by the path, and a petanque or boules competition was in full swing. It was a perfect scene. Lots of straw hats and cream teas, and friendly rivalry. I think I’ll buy a set for this summer and have our own tournament.
Gym
We are still going regularly to the gym. In fact, Mr TTC and Eldest have now joined up too, giving us all fresh energy.
I’m feeling a bit fitter, but I’m still very much on a journey. I’m loving the changes in me, albeit subtle, at the moment. There are several improvements that have surprised me. Firstly, I’m noticeably stronger. Not that I realised that I wasn’t strong before. It sort of creeps up on you. I’ve learnt a lot about my core strength, which quite frankly was just an expression to me before. I knew nothing.
Second surprise is how much I would enjoy the exercise community. We’ve been made to feel welcome. People are so friendly and fun in the classes. Even the shop owners around the centre recognise us now. Something we lost when our village shops closed. I’ve long been fascinated by blue zones*, where two of the shared features is a sense of community and exercise. I think this brings them together nicely.
* areas where people are reputed to live long and healthy lives due to lifestyle. Often into their 80s.
Travel
After over five months, Eldest is back, with so many tales to tell. She spent the first half of the year in Paris and these last five months in Beijing. She’s made so many friends, studied hard at a university over there and visited amazing places in China. She did incredibly well and I am exceedingly proud of her. It is so good to have her home. I had my group hug with all three children that I’d been looking forward to. To have them all together and under one roof. Bliss!
Youngest was away in Geneva the week before. His Physics class had the opportunity to go to Cern to learn more about the Hadron Collider. They also had time in the city, which he really enjoyed too. I think he could imagine working there in the future.
It’s almost the end of term for Youngest. Middle is also counting down till she leaves her job and can enjoy the end of her gap year. This week was the first shift that she was left on her own without a head chef and she handled it like a pro. They cook mostly from scratch, so not an easy day. She has learnt a lot in her time there.
Joining in with lovely Anne’s word of the week linky. Returning after a month, with my word “together”.
Aww! How lovely that you are all together again! Enjoy it while you can!
My garden is not doing well either, slugs are to blame and whatever other bugs are eating my plants. All of the birds sound like a right pain!
It sounds like a lovely walk out down the Strawberry Line and the gym sounds fantastic!
What a brilliant trip your eldest has had and well done to your middle child, being a chef is such a stressful job. x
I think this year has been awful for home growing. I’ve not given up, but it is not flourishing. I do love seeing all the birds. They are such characters, but I wish they would stop with the un-gardening.
It’s lovely that your family is together again. I wish mine would go away! No, honestly, they need to fly the nest but they just won’t go. Eldest daughter goes on holidays a lot (when she can afford it) but she’s had to cancel her trip to Japan after falling out with her girlfriend. 🙁 My teens don’t seem to want to leave the house but I’m going to get them going out this summer for sure. I enjoyed your story about the strawberry train, and boules is great fun.
Careful what you wish for! It will happen when you least expect it.
[…] not all sitting around though. Most of the time I’m weeding or watering and muttering at the crows and their pals, who insist on being un-gardeners. They seldom take me […]