Friday 8 November 2013

Time On My Side



What do you do when you have time? I have snatches of time during the day, but on Fridays Olly is at nursery from 9-3. I relish it. All that time. It is the start of the weekend for me, and I feel myself relaxing as the day goes on. I come home from dropping him off, put the kettle on and have an uninterrupted cup of tea. Bliss. The house is quiet apart from the constant sound of the washing machine. I sit and breathe and stare at the wall. I often day dream, letting my mind wander at will where it wants to go.

Today I have decided to have a pottering day. I have flown around the house in record time. My wellies are by the front door ready for a walk to Steeple Woods, I will be baking something lemony (I need to use up some sorry looking lemons), making a cottage pie and generally enjoying some time to myself. Last week I cleared and tidied my wardrobe. That may sound dull, but if you could have seen it, you would understand the satisfaction I got from finally having a block of time in which to tackle it.




Most of the time I top and tail. It is a constant pick up and put away battle in this house. My boys are messy urchins. Things never find their way to a bin. This week for example I found what I think was the remains of a pear shoved down the side of my son's bed. It's being analysed as we speak. I retrieved it by my fingertips and held it away from me (sound familiar) making that noise that doesn't have a name. Something like 'eeeueww.'


"Can you fold up your school uniform for tomorrow, Alf?"


Clothes and towels are dmuped in the middle of their bedroom floors. Plates and glasses disappear from the kitchen and accumulate on their desks. There is usually a trail of cereal from the larder to the breakfast bar. And don't get me started on milk splashes and haphazard wiping of surfaces with a dry tea towel!! Downstairs the dining table is now Olly's craft space. We rarely eat there anymore, although I did rebel and pack it all away on Wednesday. I just needed a glitter free day.




Of course all of this chaos that I perceive around me only brings me down. No-one else is bothered. We do not live in a stainless steel spittoon, and I contribute to the clutter with my never ending collections of stuff - shells, pine cones, leaves, pots, cake stands, magazines, brochures from high end retail.......





...leaf garlands.

This week I have organised Olly's pictures and junk modelling. We now have places to hang his offerings around the house. They make for a colourful (and tidy) addition to the home. We have also started to hang some of the things we have made together from my Autumnal gatherings of dried Cow Parsley, seed heads and Thistles. A neat trick that makes them appear useful and functional to the other members of the family. The junk modelling has been photographed and archived. Only a few will survive next weeks cull.





At least when it all gets too much, I can grab my camera and my dog, and head outside into the great yonder of West Cornwall. Nature has it's own order and it gives me joy and peace. To be outside and survey it's beauty and wonder, is a natural antidote to the man made chaos of my home.



 
 

The funny thing is, when I return home, it doesn't feel so much like chaos anymore. It feels right. There is a natural order here too. My home has it's own space and beauty, and this is down to the people living in it.

I draw the line at rotting fruit though.

Have a great weekend!

Leanne xx





6 comments:

  1. Hello lovely Leanne. Firstly I wanted to say thank you for your very lovely message, it made me cry!! I am so grateful for your blog as it gives me life outside, it takes me to places I so miss and it reminds me of the joy I used to get from walking along and breathing in the beautiful fresh air that nature gives. Thank you! I know just how much the mess around the house can get you down and sometimes I want to scream, but it is just superficial and it will go away again, with the little help of some hands. I would love to see your bake, so if you fancy joining in your lemony bake to my weekly bake post. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for you lovely support, it means so much to me! xoxo

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  2. I like to have days to myself just to catch up on certain jobs I usually put off. Today has been one of those days for me. I really feel as if I have achieved such a lot. I know what you mean about the mess though, its a long time for me since my boys were small but I remember it well.

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  3. I envy your day alone. I long for so much time by myself. Right now, I have Wednesday 9-12 and every other Friday 9-12. Next year I'll at least have Mon-Thurs 9-12. I can't wait. I am glad to have chosen a 50% homeschool approach for our son (and starting next year, our daughter) but it leaves me with very little time for myself. I try not to complain but it grinds me down sometimes. And after the week I've had, I feel like complaining is just fine. :) I'm fortunate in that most people around here seem to be relatively tidy, but I still have to bark orders fairly often. My son never seems to be able to get his dirty socks to the hamper, no matter what I say or do. I could string him up by his thumbs and he'd still find a way to leave dirty socks in the middle of my family room floor, or shoved down the side of the couch cushion in a feeble attempt to hide them.

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  4. Boy induced chaos here all the time too. When and how do they learn how to do things for themselves?! Your Fridays sound lovely though. I took a morning off yesterday (to my other half's disgust) and went for a walk. It does help I think. Your house always looks beautiful and very welcoming to me. You have a very good eye for things I think. I hope you all have a lovely week Leanne. xx

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  5. My home is chaotic too Leanne and I am always picking up bits of manky fruit from my son's bedroom, I share your pain. I do like the idea of photographing the junk modelling, I always feel so bad chucking it out. Hope you have a lovely weekend x

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  6. What a great post. I too fight the clutter battle daily, but am somehow strangely immune to my own clutter, or pretty displays as I like to think of them. I love it when I do some cleaning then go out for a few hours and return home to the same tidy, mopped and vacuumed house that I left. It has a different feel, and it lasts for moments, but it's so peaceful. x

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