Easter Clear-Out

Easter Day was quieter than normal for us this year. Having only arrived back home the evening before, everyone was suffering a bit from the post-holiday blues, our son was out all day at a friend’s birthday celebration, and both sets of grandparents had seen us for Easter visits only a week or so before. With our eldest daughter setting off the next morning for a week of volunteering with the ‘under-fives’ at a Christian holiday event, we weren’t planning on venturing too far either!

The church service in the morning was wonderful. The worship, which can at times seem rather tired, was uplifting and joyful and it was lovely to see the church full- not just with seasonal visitors but with our whole congregation, all gathered together at one service, which these days is unfortunately all too rare. With a body refreshed by the sea air, and a soul refreshed by the lovely Easter Day service, I at last felt properly well and able to tackle whatever life has in store for us next- having finally managed to shake off the illness that had plagued us all since the beginning of the year.

The second week of the holidays went by far too fast as well- I always enjoy having all my family around me, and it’s nice to have a break from the constant ‘clock watching’ that dictates term time weekdays. The weather had finally decided to have a go at doing spring properly, and we had clear blue skies and warm sunshine nearly every day- for the first time in many months! It certainly made catching up with all the holiday washing a bit easier as it was drying quickly outside, and as the children were able to spend long hours out in the garden, they were less inclined towards missing their elder sister and the previous week’s holiday!

Although I didn’t manage to get back to my sewing during that week, I did manage to have a good clear out and declutter of the things I’d already managed to sort through from our many boxes of old possessions. Some unwanted things had turned up that had been well hidden away and protected from the house, and which had been originally destined for selling on eBay. It was nice to find the chance at last to get them listed on there- they may not actually take a lot of time to describe, photograph and put onto the site’s templates, but in my normal day to day life I’m always aware of how quickly time seems to go. Every day seems to be a race between me with all my tasks, and the clock- which always wins!

It’s a well-documented fact that having a good clear out is good for the soul- ‘tidy house, tidy mind’ and all that, and I was finding that with each item I was able to list and potentially get out of the house, and out of our way, I was feeling more and more satisfied. As the bids started to come in I was feeling more encouraged, and I was only sorry that my ‘free’ week was coming to an end as I was ready to move on to the next load of unsorted boxes- in the hope of finding more things to either throw away, give away or sell.

I know that within the boxes there is also going to be a lot of heartache, as sorting through them all has shown already- possessions that would have normally been kept for sentimentality, or the children’s toys that are beyond keeping. But having got Christmas, and then all the winter illnesses out of the way at last, and having been rejuvenated by my holiday by the sea, I’m now just looking forward to any free time over the next few weekends so I can start to move further forward with the sorting, and finally move away from the past holding us back.

Easter Holiday by the Sea

At last the holidays arrived… and in seemingly no time at all they finished again. With one week away, and the other at home the two weeks may have whizzed past, but they leave behind a trail of happy memories, and all too rare quality family time, to be stored up and treasured.

Ok, we don’t have exotic, exciting or ambitious family holidays. We couldn’t afford to if we wanted them anyway, but fortunately we’re not that sort of family. I’m sure that one day at least some of the children will disagree with this, and will be forever jetting off to some out of the way corner of the earth, just to get away from work and normality for a few days, but for Mike and I (and the children for now) heaven on earth is a British caravan holiday at the seaside.

We’re very fortunate living where we do, in our little corner of England, in that there are numerous beautiful beaches within fairly easy reach, and we can travel a relatively short distance and end up feeling like we’re millions of miles away from home. Our particular favourite place is a holiday park, only an hour and a quarter’s drive away- far enough to feel we’ve got away, but not so far that the journey becomes tedious, boring or even very congested! We travel mainly cross country, and over the moors- taking main roads only where towing our small trailer of luggage dictates we should, and end up at one of the most beautiful coastal bays in southern Devon. The on-site static caravans provide far roomier and sturdier accommodation than a towed caravan would, and with children’s clubs and the beach for daytime entertainment, and a full programme of evening entertainment in the clubroom, our holiday choice suits us perfectly.

The weather could have been kinder to us during our week away, we’ve never before experienced such a cold or windy Easter there! One night we were even kept awake by the caravan shaking in the gales- we thought we were going to look out in the morning and find we’d been blown into the sea! Fortunately the caravans are well anchored down, and so it seems are the trees- by the morning the worst of the storm had passed, fortunately with very little damage to show for it. The weather also could have been much worse- the only rain we had tended to be either overnight or while we were in the clubroom in the evenings, so we weren’t really affected by it much.

Even the cold wind couldn’t stop us enjoying our week away and every day, well wrapped up against the weather, we went down onto the beach or walked along the coastal path to the next bay. Paddling was done in wellies rather than bare feet, and there was no sitting down on the picnic rug reading for hours- instead games of boules were made more interesting by watching to see in which direction the ball was going to be sent by the wind!!

The week flew by far too fast, and with a lot of tears from the younger (and not so young!) members of the family, we had to say ‘goodbye for now’ to all the wonderful staff there, and try to imprint the image of the beautiful sea views on our brains enough to keep us going for the next few months… until we’re able to return again…

A Mundane Couple of Weeks

Tidying up… cooking… cleaning… washing… working… 

All essential tasks for everyday living, but not exactly exciting stuff for writing about, are they? During the couple of weeks following my last published blog post, that’s what my life mainly consisted of with hardly any let up in between. Why? Firstly, it was just because I’m a wife and mother, and that’s what we do. Secondly, it was due to our holiday that I was so desperately saving up for and working towards.

Tightening the budget didn’t seem to have any major impact on anyone. Most of us were desperate for the break the holiday would give us- Mike works too hard in a job that pays the bills, but gives little satisfaction; the children work hard in school with little free time in the evenings; I never get to spend any quality time with any of them; and of course we had all had the flu bug going around for so long that it was easy to forget what ‘normal’ felt like any more.

It probably helped that we tend to live carefully anyway- even if we had the money spare I couldn’t imagine going out to the shops and buying anything ‘just because’. I don’t particularly enjoy shopping in any form anyway, and that includes the weekly grocery shop- by doing it online I can dip in and out of over the course of a day or two and not get too bogged down by the mundane everyday items needed. Tightening the shopping list further therefore made little difference to anyone- only the price I had to pay at the checkout!

With spring still a fair way around the corner for the majority of those couple of weeks, I could concentrate on getting Little Dolly Clothes Shop up to date before going away- my aim was to make up and send out all but the very latest orders, so that I could relax while on holiday, instead of keeping thinking about the work I had outstanding at home! Over two weeks I managed to complete about eight orders- some of which consisted of several items, and it was with a very satisfied feeling that I unplugged the sewing machine on the Friday before we went away. The oldest order left outstanding had only come in six days before, so perfectly reasonable to leave for another week before sewing.

I also wanted to end my Winter Sale before we left, and add my summer items to the store. Somehow though, the weather just didn’t put me in the mood for it- I couldn’t imagine anyone going online just to buy a summer dress for a doll, if they were unlikely to be buying one for themselves for several weeks! I made the decision therefore to end the sale over Easter weekend, once we were back home, thereby giving me plenty of free time to add the new items gradually before the children were back in school.

Once the weather began looking a little more cheerful, I found that old feeling of needing to spring clean kicking in again! I think the fact that I was trying to get up to date with the business before relaxing probably had a bit of a knock on effect here too- I felt like I just wanted life and housework sorted and organised so that I was free for the week away, without imagining the cleaning calling to me while I was there!

So other than a day off for Mother’s Day (lovely dinner cooked by my eldest daughter, flowers, home-made cards, family time etc.) the final two weeks in March went by in a blur of cleaning, tidying worktops and table tops that always seem to collect clutter, frantically sewing orders, and spending long evenings working my way down the ironing mountain! All very mundane- but all very essential tasks, and very satisfying once finished. 

And all tasks which helped towards the goal of me managing to have a relaxing holiday by the sea…