Back to life, back to reality

It was strange coming back from my holiday this year.

Every year we go to Brittany - have done for the last eight or nine years. Some people would say we were boring and/or predictable, but it's a tradition the children love and have no desire to change, neither do we. Brittany is so beautiful. The weather is never TOO hot, and it's great cycling country which we do a lot of. This year we went back to the same area, usually we vary the area we go to (at least). It was because we were approached last year by a French couple who invited us to hire their house. As their house was the loveliest house I have EVER been in we said yes, and that's how we ended up coming to the same area. My parents came (as they do every year, and so did my my sister (the one who lives in Bangladesh), her husband (for one week only) and their three children. It was lovely to have us all together for three weeks. Time spent together these days is so rare, especially as Clare lives in Dhakka.
We put the kids in the 'outhouse'! (see left). A luxuriously appointed annexe! They had a great time, and we didn't have to look at their mess.
This was the view from mine and Andy's bedroom - this was our own personal deck, only accessible from our bedroom. I tell you it was wonderful. The one minor drawback, if one has to be mentioned is that the owners were very very worried about us wrecking their beautiful house and had stressed that should we drop the merest drop of liquid on their oiled oak flooring it would be ruined! Imagine our nervousness every time a child had a drink in their hands! But the kids soon got the hang of the rules (NO drinks or food in the living area) and we all relaxed. It was a lovely, lovely holiday.



But as I said at the start, it was odd coming back to Ipswich. Driving round the M25 on Saturday night (in the rain and cold) it felt odd to be driving past the exit for the A2 which would have in previous years taken us 'home'. When I woke up on Sunday morning in our rented house here in Ipswich it felt distinctly odd, 'what am I doing HERE?' I thought to myself, 'this isn't my town, I'm going back'. But that feeling soon wore off.

But it's a funny feeling, that post-holiday feeling. There is no desire to see ANYONE I know or interact in outside society for a few days. (or is that just me?). Yesterday evening I took myself to club tennis, and it felt odd (almost like going back to work). It was an effort to go, I almost felt like giving up the tennis, but I didn't and I played for two hours and people were pleased to see me and I had a great time (as always). So, now I feel more 'normal' and it's as if Brittany is a distant dream.

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So, it's back to normal life. Except I now have a job (gulp) and have to organise all the tax details, CRB stuff blah blah. I also have to continue looking for a house (sigh).

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Last night I did a bit of blog slutting (is that the word?) and looked at this lady's lovely stuff. What inspiring work - I also looked at her links - I love the idea of the painting a day - what a great way to discipline yourself, practise painting and improve one's skills. I'm thinking that I might set myself a similar task of 'a drawing or painting a day!' - watch this space!

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No more rambling for now! Bye