It’s Friday, again! The sun is still shining (just about), the birds are singing and the weekend is almost upon us. I know it’s only been a four-day week, but blimey, I’m absolutely knackered and 100% ready for a glass of something French, cold and made of grapes.
We’ve not got a whole heap planned for the weekend but here’s a few things that I’m looking forward to.
Down Time
For me, having time to relax and unwind is so important. It doesn’t mean I want to be on own, it means just taking time to enjoy not having to rush around or be bound by time.
Usually this consists of reading the paper, a book or the latest Country Living at leisure, with a pot of tea or cooking a new recipe from scratch (I’m obsessed with Nigel Slater, his Kitchen Diary books are amazing), which usually ends up with a trip to the butchers and the cheese shop.
Another treat is having a long and steamy bubble bath. I like to read in the bath but I have a tendency to drop them in the tub, so of late I’ve been propping up my iPad and catching up on Made in Chelsea (don’t judge). Whatever it is, I think it’s so important to take time to have a breather and do something just for you.
Reading
I love reading and since I can remember there has always been a pile of books next to my bed. When I was younger I wouldn’t get caught watching the TV, I’d get caught reading my book under the duvet with a flashlight! Reading for me is an escape; there is something so magical about getting lost in a world of words.
However lately, I’ve not been reading as much – I mean I’m up to date with my Country Living magazine, but I’ve not been reading books as much. I’m old school and I love actual books as I cannot get my head around the likes of Kindles. You lose that ability of excitedly turning over the page to see what’s next; I can’t imagine clicking a screen quite does the job.
The lack of reading could be something to do with the fact that we’ve become obsessed with The Crown so much so that we’ve been crawling into bed with the laptop and watching this until we fall asleep most nights.
In my defense I’m halfway through Spectacles by Sue Perkins, which so far is brilliant and I’m going to make a concerted effort to try and finish it this weekend, especially as I’m so behind on my reading challenge on Goodreads.
Swallows, Swifts and House Martins
It’s that time of year – the gorgeous trio have made their trip over to visit us and make the sky even more of a sight to behold. We have seen plenty of house martins and swallows, but the only swifts I’ve seen so far were outside my office in Cirencester.
Last year when we were in the midst of renovating our house (and still living in our rental property, Bear Cottage), the only time we would stop and take a breather was just before we were about to leave and we’d wonder into the garden, where we’d crack open a beer to share (despite having no running water, we of course had a fridge for beers).
We would lie down on the lawn as the sun was setting and watch these gorgeous birds flying around over heads, screeching and spinning in the air, and that was when we knew we’d made the right decision to make Great Wolford our home.
Renovation
Anyone who’s bought a house that they’re renovating will know that their to-do list will possibly never end. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll have seen pictures on my stories of beautiful sunsets, ruined by the heap of rubble outside the bifolds! Sorting the garden out is a priority but not top of the list.
We’ve reused cupboards from the original kitchen which are an unpleasant shade of blue, so I need to prime and paint these in Downpipe, so the colours from the kitchen continue into the utility. We also need to take all of the roll plugs out of the walls in the bedroom, decide colour schemes for the bedrooms, sort through the million boxes in the loft, order a shed, put flooring down in the front room, put shelving up in the kitchen – shall I go on and bore you to death?
If I can complete a least three tasks this weekend, I’ll be a happy girl.
Podcasts
I have a renewed love for podcasts at the moment! I travel for about two hours a day back and forth from work, and as much as I love BBC Radio 2 (Liza, you my fave), sometimes I want to listen to something different. I really enjoyed a Ted Talk on how amazingly different structure of languages are. For example one tribe of aboriginals in Australiadon’t say ‘left or right’, they say refer to the direction, such as ‘there’s an ant on your south-west leg’. Can you image talking like that? It truly must be magical to speak more than one language.
Another favourite of mine, is the posh version of Eastenders for your ears, The Archers. I mean, come on, the omnibus is perfect for those times when you just want to switch your brain off and listen to the delights of Ambridge.
If anyone has any recommendations for podcasts, please let me know; I’m always on the lookout for something new.
Happy Friday!
A x
Abi in the Garden 