Goodbye Summer, and the Sweetness of Ordinary Life

How are you all doing?  Today I want to sit and chat a little with you about daily life.  We have had such a busy and somewhat chaotic summer.  I feel like we did so much, yet there were so many things I had wanted to do, but was unable to.  Like making many trips to the beach!  On the other hand, we went to France twice, and spent quite a bit of time in London, and made many day trips to pretty and interesting places all around us.

My sister was our first visitor, and we took her to Paris for the first time-- fun!

We had three sets of visitors staying with us for a total of 1.5 months.  This was the first time we really had people visiting and getting a sense of our lives here.  That was nice-- to know that there are a few people out there who have a picture in their mind of our market, our home, the walks we take, and more.  We didn't know how we would feel after seeing family-- would we wish we lived in the States again, closer to them?  Would we feel incomplete once everyone left?  Those are very real concerns, especially when you have kids...

Jeff's parents came and got to see all the places we like to go to and explore our little corner of England.  And Amelia loved having grandparents here to dote on her a little bit.


We were happy to realize that our little family of three feels very complete.  Being alone again felt right even though we loved being with family for a time.  (We also learned something about our own limitations: I don't think we'll have 1.5 months of visitors next summer!)

So, now school has started again for Amelia, and that signals the end of summer and a return to the daily routines.  I am elated.  I have been completely exhausted, and in need of quiet and space.  Amelia has been a little bored at home, and thrives on lots of social interaction and activity all day at school.  I love sending everyone off in the morning, and then having the day to do my work, get the house back into shape, and enjoy the sound of silence.  I also love it when they come back, and we can eat dinner together and hear about each others' days.  I am reading A Little Princess to Amelia at bedtime, and we both love it.  Soon, we'll start reading The Chronicles of Narnia at the dinner table as a family-- I haven't read the series since I was 12, and Jeff has only ever read one of the books.  I have a long list of books I want to read together!  There wasn't much time for this kind of thing in the summer, and I am so happy to have routine again.

There are a couple of other things that will make daily life sweeter for me.  Jeff bought me a bike for my graduation, which means it will be easier for me to run errands and continue to explore the outer borders of Bury St. Edmunds-- we only have one car, and Jeff takes that to work every day, and I have always been on foot day-to-day.  And it's cute, like this one, but with a basket.  So, that's exciting.

The other new part is a big one-- we have a new family member!  Jack came home to live with us last night.  He is a really sweet three year old Jack Russell Terrier, snoozing next to me on the couch as I write this.  We have been wanting a dog for a long time, but hadn't found the right little companion yet.  The final push to look again came when I realized that the cold, dark weather is coming and I really need the motivation to get outdoors even when the sun isn't out.  We took our first walk together this morning, and I am looking forward to many more.

What else is happening around here?... Well, every September, as things cool down, I get an intense nesting urge.  The first step is always purging-- so I am planning to get rid of lots of things, and then it will be time to cozify around here.  I have a freezer full of elderberries, so a batch of Elderberry Wine will be underway by the end of the week.  I have one more video to shoot for the online cooking class I'm teaching, and then I need to send my camera in for some repairs.

I am going to be taking a couple of weeks off soon to get the extra rest and peace I need as we head into this next season.  Then I'll be back with lots of projects and hopefully some wonderful adventures to report on, too. 

How are things going at your house?  Are you ready for autumn?  What are you most looking forward to in the coming months?

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