A weekday walk

Chilham Castle

Snowdrops and daffodils

Birthday man and his dog

Tudor house with pleached limes. It was raining at this point, so difficult to get a good photo.

Birthday beer

 

David was 50 yesterday. He’s been remarkably mellow in the run-up and took it all in his stride. I was wondering whether he’d wake up and have some major melt-down thingumy but, thankfully, he didn’t. He was so happy to have an extra day at home and a day off work that the age situation didn’t ruffle his feathers at all. And quite right too. Having reached my half-century in August I can vouch for it being absolutely fine. Better than fine, in fact. I am blazing a trail.

Being a Tuesday, the children begrudgingly went off to school (they hate the thought of fun being had when they’re not around) and we had a leisurely start to the day. I’d asked David what he’d like to do – anything, limited budget allowing – but all he wanted to do was to go for a decent walk and have a pub lunch. We drove to Chilham (a beautiful 15th-century village near Canterbury) and followed a circular 5-mile route from the village, through fields of sheep, along woodland paths and country lanes, past the river Stour and back to the village pub. It was a dull, grey, windy old day and the light levels were low (hence the darkish photos) but it was totally lovely to spend time together and catch up. That sounds daft but as he works away for most of the week and our weekends are busy, busy, busy there’s precious little time alone together and we are spectacularly rubbish at making it a priority.

We discussed our holiday plans for this summer (a long-awaited trip to the USA. Yes, I know! Exciting!); we talked about the children and how blinking proud we are of them and how well they’ve settled in to life here; we reviewed where we are with the house renovation (ongoing) and garden (always ongoing, as it should be); and we enjoyed the walking and the fresh air and the beautiful countryside. It was fabulous and precious, all the more so because it’s so rare. The children and I have more treats in store for him this weekend but I can’t tell you about them in case he reads this post. He doesn’t often read my blog, unless I tell him to have a look at the photos while he’s away, but sod’s law he would if I told you about our secret plans!

Have a great week. I will report back after the weekend 🙂