End of term

It always becomes a bit of a mad dash just before school finishes for the summer.  Here in England, the school holidays can be anything from six to eight weeks long, and sometimes longer depending on the school and the location.  It’s a long time!  And whilst I am sooo looking forward to not dashing about in the mornings, marvelling at how it can still be a surprise to small daughter than she has to get up and get dressed every week day, negotiating the traffic on the school run, making sandwiches, finding change for this and that, collecting big daughter from college during free periods when there’s no bus service and the constant battle to get homework done on time, there is a little part (OK, rather a big part) of me that will miss the freedom that I have during term time.

This week has been all about sports day and class parties, finding lost uniform (we’ve gone from losing most of it over the year to now having more of it than we started with – all with small daughter’s name in it.  How does that happen?) and cramming in all the jobs that I know I need time and silence to think about.  Baking muffins at a rather late hour ready to take to school the next morning.  Running in the parents’ race because small daughter asked me to.  Reading and re-reading the printout of the Sockalong book.  Changing a word here, fixing line spaces there, re-aligning photos.  It’s time-consuming work and not something that I can when there’s likely to be a “Mu-u-um” resounding off the walls at any given moment.

And yet, in the midst of all this last-minute chaos, the garden does it’s own thing, reminding me that it’s only us humans who dance attendance to the hours of the clock.  The vegetables have their own timetable and it’s good for me to remember that.  I’m really loving these rogue teasels this year, perhaps all the more so because I can’t let them take over the vegetable box again next year. They’re starting to turn pink now, just the slightest haze around the edges of their prickles. Beautiful.  Just like the scent of the star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) which grows by the front door.  I breathe in great lungfuls of the heady perfume every time I pass, and instantly I’m transported back to Italy on my honeymoon over twenty years ago.  How powerfully scents and music can affect our memories.

It’s been hard to slow down because of my desire to tick all the boxes on my list this week, but it’s been good for me to sit just for a few minutes whilst I drink my tea, instead of leaving it to go cold or slurping it on the go.  I’ve promised myself that I will take more time these holidays.  It doesn’t take long to watch the sun go down.

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18 Responses

  1. Penny says:

    Here in Scotland we are into theatrics week of the summer hol's and really enjoying the change of pace, sounds like you are ready for a break too! Amazing work on the sock book! What an achievement! Do you have a publisher? x

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Theatrics week? That sounds interesting! I know the Scottish schools break up earlier than us, but you go back earlier too, I think. I'm self-publishing the sock book which is good fun but takes a fair bit of thinking about – nearly done now, though! 🙂 xx

  2. Run Home To Crochet says:

    Now that the end of term is here I hope you get to unwind and enjoy some relaxing time knitting more socks and watching the sun go down!! Joy xx

  3. Jo says:

    I remember this last half term being so hectic when the kids were young but I loved it. I miss all the end of school assemblies, plays and sports days now that they're grown. I do enjoy the change of pace which the school holidays bring though, no having to get up quite so early and no clock watching waiting for her to get home. Let's just hope that we have some summer weather.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      It's the extra half hour in bed that I'm really looking forward to first of all, Jo! And yes, some sunshine over the holidays would be nice! 🙂 xx

  4. Amy at love made my home says:

    I hope that you do get lots of time to enjoy the sun going down, coming up and many other moments in between! xx

  5. Lilly's Mom says:

    I wish I could have one of those yummy looking muffins you made! I do hope you have a wonderful summer holiday with your family. It's always nice to slow down a bit and not have to be rushed. Enjoy your weekend – I'll send you some sun if needed 🙂

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Ooh yes, some sunshine would be lovely, Pat! We're having strange mixed weather again: bursts of sunshine in between heavy showers of rain. Oh well, I'm sure it will make up it's mind soon! xx

  6. Unknown says:

    Have a wonderful and relaxing Summer Holiday, we still have 3 more days to go yet until end of term but I am getting that holiday feeling and cannot wait to slow down for a bit. This last month has been crazy. xx

  7. Winwick Mum says:

    Apologies to Wendy – I have somehow managed to delete your comment but I very much appreciated you visiting! I can't believe that your boys have 13 weeks of school holiday, that certainly makes our 6 weeks seem like no time at all! xx

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Wendy's comment: I am originally from Chester but have lived here in Colorado for 18 years. My boys get 13 (yes, thirteen) weeks off for the summer! I would love them to have a shorter summer, we run out of things to do and they forget so much and being 10 year old twins they eat me out of house and home! They return to school August 19 and I am counting the days! 🙂

  8. J9sHappiness says:

    Hi Christine, its been lovely to catch up on your blog posts from the past few weeks. So much productivity and loveliness! I hope you enjoy the hols and look forward to seeing more of your lovely photos soon, J9 x

  9. carrie@northwoods scrapbook says:

    I hope you have a wonderful holiday break now Christine! It's so crazy how different it is here in the States. Your kiddos are just finishing their school year and mine are already starting to grab their lists of materials for the next one, as we're a little over a month away from heading back to school! (we were done by early June).
    Your veggies look wonderful! Take time to watch the veggies grow, smell the flowers, and watch the sunset. And just enjoy!
    And great job on the book by the way!! 😉
    xoxo

    • Winwick Mum says:

      It does seem strange to think that your school holidays are nearly over, Carrie! Some schools in the UK do finish earlier than ours did and in Scotland they are always earlier – I suppose the good thing is that places aren't quite as busy as all the holidaymakers aren't there at the same time! xx

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