A hot Saturday in August

September 09, 2020 by famapa in away from home

7.07am, our first full day in the house in the Cotwolds.
Oomoo crept down the stairs as quietly as he could as we were the only ones awake.

7.12am
We were soon joined by R, and I left them to chat and read on their Kindles. I stopped using mine years ago, but in lockdown it came into it’s own with Oomoo being such a bookworm. Saves us a lot of money, and bookshelf space.

7.32am
Can’t start the day without a huge cup of tea. This is cup is one fine specimen made by my father-in-law’s brother, who’s a potter, and lives next door. Much fancier than my regular morning mug at home from Ikea.

12.17pm
It was +31c or something, so out came this slide, which R and Oomoo kept cool with.

4.09pm
This day felt like such a treat. Usually when we go away I feel that we have to do something or go somewhere, but it was way too hot to move, so we stayed under this tree most of the day, reading, chatting and napping. It felt like the first day in ages we could really relax.

5.16pm
R’s older sister finally joined us after a long drive from Cornwall, and we thought it best to all go for a walk and a short game of frisbee, as the sun and heat wasn’t as intense anymore.

5.27pm
The little village where we were staying - from a distance.

5.51pm
Walky walk.

5.54pm
Sheepy sheep.

6.17pm
Back at the house. The younger peeps really felt the heat by this point, and Mr Famapa was more than happy to help them cool down.

6.19pm
It’s good to have a sister who’ll help you get warm afterwards.

6.20pm
Warm enough to have another go that is.

6.21pm
Oomoo’s turn! He either filmed this or took a picture at the same time - I want to see how it came out.

6.22pm
I love this picture. Oomoo’s cropped head, all of them in their own worlds but together, that green and the deep long shadows.

6.58pm
There’s an army base not far from the village, and we saw lots of unfamiliar looking planes fly over.

9.29pm
After dinner we tried a round of Balderdash, but we were all too fried for it to be fun and had to give up.

It’s so nice to be behind here, so I can prolong summer a bit. I don’t know about you, but for us it felt that it went by in a flash, even though we didn’t get up too much. In fact, I can’t believe we’re already in the ninth month of the year. 2020, what a strange year you have been.

An evening constitutional

August 27, 2020 by famapa in away from home

In our further UK travels this summer we went to my father-in-law’s house in the Cotswolds (which this is obviously not a picture of!) for a few days. We managed to time it just as it was the hottest week of the year, which felt very unfamiliar, as we’re normally there in autumn/winter. Staying in an old house with thick stone walls was PERFECT in that heat. After dinner on our first day there, we went out for a walk to stretch our legs and also because the temperature was finally more agreeable.

Mr Famapa and his friend C have known each other since they were about 4, which is a reeeeeaaaally long time, as we’re nearly a hundred years old now. Almost? Ok ok ok, nearly half a hundred.

Something funny happened as we were walking. Oomoo and R had a permanent cloud of flies above their heads for the whole walk, and we thought it must be down to them being sweaty from running about. Or just being smelly kids? Haha.

Best to get your dad to try and disperse them.

“Photo-op!”.

There is something so wonderful to see large expanses of fields and skies again, after having being cooped up in the city for so long.

One of my fondest memories from my childhood are the after dinner evening walks we’d go on as a family in the summers every now and again. There was something so special about being out a bit late, taking in things you’d miss if you were just parked on the sofa watching TV.

Our decision to go for a walk was a spur of the moment thing, and it turned out to be pretty special. We looked at this sunset in awe, I mean, wouldn’t you?!

So glad we made that decision as I will cherish this walk for long time. Maybe even for half a hundred years - if I’m lucky.

Around their house

August 20, 2020 by famapa in away from home

Love this corner in our York friends’ front room. I look forward to a day when we stop being such hoarders in our household so we have LESS STUFF, but I’m not sure we’ll ever get there.

Rae having a snooze. Which she did a lot, just like a cat. This is why I think a greyhound would be such an easy transition for us if we were ever to get a dog.

O getting the giggles whilst trying to keep her arms warm whilst eating an apple.

The little dudes in da house, in gaming heaven, playing Bomberman (love that game!).

This poster makes me smile every time I see it. Oh, the irony of it all.

Hello Mr Famapa! Hello funky hallway!

S and O trying to find some prints for us in the studio. This family are seriously talented.

S set himself a challenge during lockdown to make monoprints of every painting in the National Gallery, which of course lockdown wasn't long enough for. But maybe he’ll have a chance to continue come autumn, when it’ll all most probably kick off again.

His daughter O had a go at another Da Vinci work, and I so wish I remember now what this technique was. I’m reading a Leonardo Da Vinci biography at the moment, so it’s so cool to see these versions, made by our friends.

A couple of versions of the Portrait of a Man by Jan Van Eyck. Especially love the one on the right.

Who’s this crazy lady?! I realised there were (as usual) no pictures of me from this trip, so I quickly took this when everyone else were out of the room.

Had such a great time with these guys and I really hope we get to hang out again soon.

It's great up North

August 15, 2020 by famapa in away from home

OMG, that heat wave we’ve just had was quite something! Have you guys also had it? It was insane here. Luckily we were away during most of it in the Cotswolds (and yes, pics to come from that little trip away too!), but our house was like a sauna when we got back on Tuesday afternoon, and it was only yesterday, after Thursday night’s thunderstorm and heavy rain, that I felt fully functioning. Let me tell you as a lady of a certain age that heatwaves and hot flushes combined is no joke. Much respect to my menopausal sistas living in hotter climes!

Anyway anyway anyway. Still have some Yorkshire pics to share with you. On our second day there we went to Dalby Forest for a walk, and this section of the walk reminded me so much of our summer hikes in the Alps, but it was like someone had just photoshopped out the mountains. You can also mountain bike your way around, but it wasn’t possible to rent any bikes, because, you know, Covid.

Everyone loves a walk in the woods, whether you’re young or old, whether it be your local one or a new one. This Carl Jung quote I read at Swiss Miss the other day really resonated with me: “Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilisation take a walk in the woods, or a bath in the sea. Entering the unconscious, entering yourself through dreams, is touching nature from the inside, and this is the same thing, things are put right again.”

This brook looked so tempting to dip my feet in, but I didn’t.

In one section of the path we had to step carefully so we didn’t crush tiny little frogs to death.

Using tree roots to get up.

L waiting - and seeing what wearing a face mask upside down was like while he did.

On the way back to our friend’s house we took a detour so we could drive through the North York Moors. They didn’t disappoint. That vast expanse really felt planetary, if that makes sense. I also really loved the colours; the purple of the heather against the browns and greens looked amazing. All the colours below the sky in this picture would make such an opulent colour scheme for a room don’t you think?