weekend roundup

The last week has been filled with grey skies and no sign of the Autumn rain relenting. There's a part of me that loves the rain, especially when I'm inside and I can hear it thrumming on the windows, or the roof of a conservatory. But, when there are strings of days where it feels like daylight never fully appears? I get a little desperate for the sun. So, when the sun broke forth on Friday afternoon, and carried on shining to the end of the weekend, I was beyond thrilled. And along with the sun came a lot of beautiful moments.

My sister came to stay for the weekend, and we spent Saturday morning with my precious friend Hannah and her daughters, making pizza for lunch. There's nothing quite like little hands learning with food. Rolling, patting, poking, flouring the dough; chopping, slicing and carefully placing pizza toppings over the sauce. Childlike glee at the satisfaction of prodding cherry tomatoes into the dough and shredding mozzarella all over the pizza. Food is always fun, but with children? It just gets better.

On Saturday afternoon, we drove to a little village called Batheaston, which was just beautiful. The ladybirds caught our attention, the afternoon archers fascinated us with their bows and arrows as they aimed at their targets, and the sight of the river & red ivy made everything that little bit more beautiful.

Sunday brought more sunshine, and a morning swim. On my way home, I admired the hot air balloons on their early morning flights around the city, and wondered at how beautiful the city must appear from such a great height. But more than that, I wondered how fresh and thin the air tastes when you're travelling in a hot air balloon. Perhaps I will find out one day.

After Church, we packed up a picnic and went to our new favourite park that's just a few minutes away from our house. Each time we go there, I cannot get over how quiet it is, as though a lot of people have no idea it's there, and Sunday was no different. We easily found a secluded spot with beautiful views, munched down our food then took an afternoon nap. There's nothing quite like napping outdoors in the sunshine. As I awoke from my slumber, the warmth of the sun still gently beating down on me, I had that feeling of being completely at rest. For a moment, I forgot about the prospect of going to work in the morning, and reveled in that wonderful feeling of being deeply relaxed, before picking up my camera to take photos of my husband and sister playing catch. I hope we never forget that play is for everyone, and we will never be too old to play.