Learning to Let Go

Grandma cutting up fresh pineapple for Supper

Sunday turned out to be quite a different sort of day.

And strangely, it felt quite hard to keep my spirits up,

when nothing much appeared at first to be happening.

What a contrast to yesterday's happy exploits...

Just as the sun had disappeared outside, the gloss seemed to have faded on our lives.

But it was up to me not to allow my inner mood to colour the day.

I needed to adopt a flexible attitude,

to enable myself to 'take the rough with the smooth' along the way.

The children spent a good part of the morning playing on screens and then retired to
the 'lego room' to make film sets and a mini film with their lego characters.
They were totally engrossed in, and animated by this activity.
Their excitement when telling us about their accomplishments was infectious.
Later in the day, we were all summoned to their play space for a proper viewing.
It was great!
By letting go a bit, I had allowed the children to explore another facet of their creativity!

I will try to upload the film here, when I have worked out how to do it...

I went out to do the food shop, armed with a list of healthier foods to buy to help us with our new vision re ''Smart Food....''

This took a while, as I had to spend a lot longer looking for new foods.
I couldn't find any polenta flour, recommended as a coating for home-made chicken nuggets and fish fingers...
I was also told that they no longer stocked pop corn kernels, which was a bit disappointing...
I think a visit to the local health food shop will be in order.

I was still searching the aisles, when the loud speaker announced that the store would be closing in 15 minutes!
I didn't know how they managed to clear everyone out!
One moment there were shoppers everywhere and then, by the time I had gone through the checkout, the store was like a ghost town in comparison.
I don't think I had ever cut it so fine before and it was certainly not something I wanted to repeat, if I could help it!

It was quite tiring actually.
And when I got home, I certainly needed to recharge my batteries with a cup of tea...

Sarah was really good and did some piano and cornet practice quite willingly....

Later, when I was unpacking the shopping, I decided to repot the herbs I had bought.
The aim was to extend their life, which appeared to be quite short when I kept them on the kitchen window sill.
This was quite a satisfying activity and we now have a selection of five herbs
displayed in large pots and window boxes outside,
but placed strategically out of reach of the hungry rabbits!

Later Paul made a roast dinner and we enjoyed another lively meal together with grandma.


Paul carving the large chicken



Roasties and Yorkshires

(It's a bit tricky as dad does like his white bread and Yorkshire puddings at the weekends....

I was really not quite sure how to work this one....

So here was another example of how I was learning to strike a balance,
and let go of rigid ideas.

I felt sure that we would find a healthy compromise and a good balance between week day food and weekend food, that worked for us.)



                            

I must say, it was an amazing spread!

And tasted delicious!

 

And so we enjoyed another lively meal with daddy and grandma!
Matthew polished his plate nicely, eating all the carrots and cabbage, which was great! 
I tried to steer away from using sugary foods as an incentive...

Following on from yesterday's theme, we finished the meal with fresh pineapple .

At the end of the meal, Matthew started to make a tune by striking the glass water bottles with a knife.

It's great how these experiences crop up from nowhere!

Using the water bottles as a xylophone

 

Sarah joining in the fun

 

Drinking some water to make a different sound

 

Testing it out again

 After dinner, grandma and Matthew cleared the table, while Sarah and I went out to have cuddles with the guinea pig and give him his supper.

By the time we had finished, It was quite late!
But I was determined to go out for a drink with Paul.
It wasn't often that we had a baby sitter on hand.
Grandma took the children upstairs to share stories with Matthew, while Sarah read to herself as she likes to do.

We drove down to the local, which was rather an underwhelming experience.
I checked out the digital duke box but it was the sort of place where you might think twice about disturbing the peace.
In the end, after one drink, we decided to make a hasty retreat and drive down to Porlock.

In the gloom I thought I saw a leaf blowing in the wind. I realised at the last minute that it was a frog hopping rhythmically across the road.
I sincerely hoped I had missed it! Otherwise it would make a mockery of missing yesterday's frog with the lawn mower!
It must be the season when they are on the move...
It became quite foggy as we drove up towards Dunkery Beacon and I felt like an intrepid explorer inching forward carefully negotiating the twists and turns in the road.
I showed Paul the Castle Pub, to check out the next day and then we continued on to Porlock_Weir.

We parked up and wandered down past the artists' studios and scattered dwellings, and on towards the pebbly beach.
The tide must have been quite far out, as we couldn't hear the sound of the waves.
Above the ugly noise of a generator whirring somewhere out in the darkness, we could just make out the soothing sound of a rippling brook, running out towards the sea.
This scene of contrasts somehow reflected the conflicting emotions raging within myself.
We looked out towards Wales and I felt thankful that we had made the effort to come out.
It felt like a magical place and conjured up images in my mind, of a former way of life, of fisherman's cottages and smuggling.

We decided to drive back home through Dunster to avoid the fog.
The town seemed cosy and welcoming in the darkness of the night.

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Here are some more videos, which relate to today's activity: