Sunday 14 March 2010

Mother's Weekend and a Rainstorm

I have returned to my tiny quiet flat after four wonderful days with my family; a trip home with hill-running, Mother's Day, Dad's birthday and a huge pile of laundry as its objectives.

Some of these objectives were more successful than others; slow training on Friday left me hobbling around the house, and so the hill-running was off the cards. It turns out that this worked in my favour, and left me with a lot of spare time to relax at home with my Mum. It also meant that I had chance to try out some futher baking, this time with absolute success! A stack of black bananas means a bakefest in my eyes, and so banana muffins and banana flapjacks were soon tempting us all everytime we crossed the kitchen. My oh my, the flapjacks were phenomenal! It seems I have some flapjack skills after all, which could be a dangerous thing! On Friday night I found myself alone with an open fire, a large glass of wine, a flapjack (of course) and my book; the perfect combination for an evening in.



Saturday was lazy, the way Sundays should be, but since I work on Sundays I allowed myself this small indulgence. I spent the whole day reading the paper, doing the crossword, chatting to my Mum and drinking too much tea and coffee. It was superb! I never usually dare spend the weekend like this, since the free time is so precious, but I reckon I could get used to slow, sloth-like days every once in a while. That evening we crashed in front of the fire, and flicking through the TV channels found a film called In Her Shoes. I am completely not a romantic comedy fan, and would never have chosen this film to watch, but it was wonderful! We both ended up laughing and sobbing at all the right bits - certainly a good sign!

And today is Mother's Day! I had to leave for York at 8:00, so got up super early to prepare a special Mother's Day breakfast of pink grapefruits (divine when peeled and eaten greedily and juicily), yogurt, crumpets, toast and jam. I also found these beautiful flowers at the nearby farm.



I am in love with the colours and the delicate leaves, the way they look wild and so precious at the same time. Maybe these (anenomes?) are my new favourite flower.

I also found this photo of me with my Mum as a tiny baby. Despite the dress (which I have borrowed a couple of times on Halloween!), I think it's a beautiful photo - my Mum's hair is so long!


After work today I decided to have a wander into town to buy a new yoga mat. As I was leaving the shop, fat raindrops were starting to fall slowly, and umbrellas started springing up around me. When needing to be nowhere and having no need to be especially elegant, being caught in the rain is one of my favourite things. The rain came so fast and heavy that I was soon soaked through, and that fresh rain smell started to rise from the ground. Too often the rain gets in the way of getting anywhere while remaining smart and warm, or it simply falls without much intent, drizzling its way unnoticed through the day. This rain was perfect, stormy rain, and it keeps coming and going as the sky changes from light blue to dark grey. Every now and then I hear it thundering down on my roof, making me feel warm and at home in the comfort of this little box.

3 comments:

  1. Awww another wonderful weekend at home ;-) and those chill days doing nothing are vital! Don't ever feel bad about having them ;-)

    I remember watching 'In her shoes' once and loved it - I think Toni Collette is such a brilliant actress - I particularly love her in 'Muriel's Wedding' - have you seen that? If not it's a must watch!

    Those muffins look lovely too - I hardly do any baking - but if I did then my belly really would be ever expanding!

    Lovely photos too ;-) x

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  2. Congrats on the flapjacks!
    I admire the way you remember to stop and enjoy everyday moments in life.
    Lisa x

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  3. those muffins look incredible!!
    and the photo of you and your mom is the sweetest! i can't believe its already mothers day in the uk.. its not till may in the usa!
    glad you had such a wonderful weekend!

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