weekend days

It's first thing on a Monday morning. A dark, very wet and dreary morning with torrential downpours, winds and thunder predicted. Oh the joy.....

And after the weekend I've had, I really feel I could do with another day off. A mooch around the house kind of day, perhaps do some baking, read a few magazines ....but that isn't going to happen.

When I say the kind of weekend I've had, that's not saying it's been a bad weekend, it's been a great weekend, but just busy.

 Saturday mornings always mean a long walk with Eric and Boo.....we waited until the rain stopped but still the dark clouds rolled in....

Eric wanted to play King of the Castle on top of the trailer....

And as we walked home, there was a magical light, a strange glow as the sun tried to peep through the dark clouds...

We'd all got very muddy, but after a quick wash and brush up for us all, I left the dogs to snooze and whizzed over to the other side of the county to meet up with my friend  and work colleague Dave Andrews who was opening a local village show and presenting the prizes. Meanwhile I was recording enough material for  an hour long gardening programme. Dave is the usual presenter of that programme but is currently recovering from a hip replacement operation...hence the crutches.

It was a lovely afternoon in a beautiful village seeing the whole community getting together..
and admiring all the things they had grown, picked and made...

But then it was time to whizz home, spend an hour with the dogs, get changed and off out for another fifty mile round trip for a party...a great party thrown by Kay, Katherine and Annie  - three fabulous women to celebrate their joint big birthdays.

And what a cake they had....

Getting home at 1am, I was shattered but couldn't get to sleep. So I think it was safe to say when I woke up at 6.50am, I wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. But there was no time for a lie in..because my friend Laura and I were off to the local car boot sale.

It was a successful mission. We both got some absolute bargains...a car full. But more about that another time.

Yesterday afternoon , the dogs and I went off the allotment to pick beans , raspberries and apples, followed by cooking a Sunday roast and poaching a kilo of plums I'd picked on Fridays.But there was disturbing news from there...more later on that subject when I find out more.

So yes, I fell asleep on the sofa last night!

What's in store this week I wonder? I'd better go to work and find out........

Saturdays

Since schooldays, I've always loved Saturdays. Many of them spent playing in the park with my younger brothers, but it was also the  day when Mama (my mum) would often take me shopping.  It was a time when I could have a small slice of her all to myself. Sometimes, it was just grocery shopping, off in Mama's car...a Morris Minor, all leathery seats smell and the clickety click of the window wipers. Sometimes we would catch the bus to town and buy a new dress or coat, and she would give me the money to pay the driver...and oh didn't I feel grown up.


Growing up as a teenager and a convent schoolgirl in Africa, Saturdays meant freedom. Working in the city on a Saturday job selling books and magazines from 8am until 1.30pm and then walking to the beach for a long afternoon of sun, swimming, watching my friends surfing..and ice cold drinks from the café.

University Saturdays began late ....usually after a very good Friday night out...but always ready to meet the gang for a walk from the campus into town....for a mooch about, for a drink....and then to get ready for Saturday night. The thought of staying in on a Saturday night was unheard of...they meant going to a gig, a disco, a bar or a party..

When I became a mother, Saturdays was all about our gang of three....music lessons and tennis in the morning , a picnic, a village fete on summer afternoons or a winter walk in the park, all muffled up ....and then  for many years , the odd Saturday night out when we could get a babysitter. Out with friends for a meal, or going to friends' houses for supper....

Now, my Saturdays are still so precious. After a busy working week, Saturday mornings means nipping to the farm shop to buy something tasty for the weekend, perhaps a wine tasting here...

going to the allotment , walking the dog, being in the garden.

Sometimes there's the whole family gang of us for a meal, sometimes just Mr Thinking of the days and I sitting quietly with a glass of wine and a bowl of pasta.....but I love my Saturday nights at home.

And now in May , there's time after supper to just admire, appreciate and adore the lighter nights....I walked out into the garden at about eight o' clock last night...the light was extraordinary. Boo and I just stood there admiring the view

the colours in the garden...

and peered over our garden fence

and then we decided to make the most of a lovely evening , with a quick walk across one  of the fields which normally contains sheep ...Boo loved it....so much room to run about in....
to momentarily lose track of us

 



 

Ah, there you are....

 

 



We walked back through the village and saw the lambs playing

Admired the blossom everywhere

Inhaled  the sweet smell of the grass, and surprised myself by inadvertently taking a photo as we walked along.. I love it...the lushness of the grass in it's all its abstract glory.....

I still love Saturday nights....I really do......


Today's track is from Chicago...a band whose music I appreciate even more every time I hear it. Here's Saturday in the park....with lovely memories of Saturdays gone by.....