I am feeling like a bit of a criminal and that I've done something really bad...I have booked a holiday during term time. But before I beat myself with a proverbial stick let's consider the situation for what it really is. Presently the government's guidance is that holidays should not be booked during the academic year and that parents can be fined up to £50 for the pleasure. However, as any parent can attest the number of school residential trips just keeps increasing year on year, all in the name of education. These trips do not necessarily represent good value, they can be pretty extortionate, especially when you consider it is for one member of the family only. In fact when I checked the list of trips available to pupils throughout the five years of secondary education at the school where my children attend, the amount possible to spend was a staggering amount in the almost tens of thousands. On the flip-side I would also point out that our holiday will provide as many, if not more, educational opportunities - we are definitely not going to miss checking out Mount Etna while we are away (beat that Geography Department). In the interest of providing our children with opportunities to travel and explore are schools becoming rather over zealous? Our school has a trip to America skiing, is that really part of the school remit? While the nation struggles in this time of austerity every luxury is hard won. The school holiday monopoly enjoyed by the holiday industry bites harder every year, the 'season' starting earlier and ending later so that there are no 'cheap' weeks to choose from. Should schools be allowed to make it financially harder? I think not.
I enjoy watching Masterchef on the good old BBC and one of the reasons I like it so much is because it allows me to indulge in my fantasy restaurant list - places where, given a unique set of circumstances unhindered by the constraints of finance, time and travel I would definitely go and have the best slap up dinner. I was listening to the radio this morning, when I heard Greg Wallace being interviewed because the final is on TV this evening (Go Shelina!). Naturally Greg was discussing food and he admitted that he eats out at least four or five evenings a week. I sighed, a big envious 'you don't know how lucky you are' kind of a sigh. Not because he is a successful television personality with his own business and restaurants and I am not, but because if even if I had that kind of a lifestyle there is, quite frankly, not enough good restaurants in this part of Wiltshire that could service an eating out habit that big. If you could be bothered to drive to Bath perhaps, but not on the doorstep.
One notable exception though, must be The Bell (www.thebellwestoverton.co.uk). The decor is simple, functional yet stylish, the atmosphere is warm and welcoming and the food is quite superb. To steal a line from Mr Wallace, my lunch was like sunshine on a plate. The set menu is so reasonable considering the quality,at £16 for two courses and £20 for three. The service was prompt and polite. There is attention to detail and I got an impression that these people really care about food and about customers, so rare in these parts. I didn't just like it , I loved it. Eat your heart out Greg.
I promised myself that I would use the time wisely while the baby was asleep. I have written my first brief blog but he is still asleep! I could write another blog, do a fitness DVD, read, collect washing, ironing - but will I be able to finish any of them...the suspense of the unknown amount of 'free' time is excruciating. Activities are considered and discarded due to the amount of noise they may create and therefore commit the cardinal sin of waking the baby. One thing is for definite, this precious time cannot be wasted. I have spent many an hour lampooning people for committing such a crime. Telephone sales folk - they get it right in the neck; I am never even civil - don't phone. The retired next door neighbour or Power Tool Dave as I came to call him - I regularly shook my fist at him, safely hidden behind the hedge. The dog - suddenly deciding she needs to defend the household and environs from intruders and n'er-do-wells by barking - 'There's no-one there you stupid dog!'
It all gets a bit fraught. However, guess who is awake now? Dilemma avoided.
Where to start? I could start at the very beginning but that would be long winded and possibly dull, so I will start with now. Currently I am a stay-at-home mum, for the second time; no, I don't mean I've just had my second child but that I stayed at home when my eldest two children were young, during the 1990s and early 2000s. I returned to work again, albeit in a different field post divorce, studied, married again and hey presto - 40 years old and officially @home.
I've started this blog to get me going again. To make me work and more to the point make myself write. That's what I studied, English Literature and Creative Writing. I received a First Class degree and you could imagine that that, in itself is enough to boost your confidence through the roof, enough to forge a new career. But no, it did not. In fact failure to launch is what occurred. Too much procrastination. Let's face it, as a mother, step-mother, wife and daughter there is a ton of every day mundane tasks that have to be achieved no matter what. I haven't been bone idle but I have failed to grasp the nettle by the horns.
Hopping about, flitting here and there, dabbling with this, that and the other and not finishing. Here and now it stops.
This is a blog about my life, family, house, home and writing.
This is the day when I begin my blog-life, in the hopes that it saves my sanity in real life.
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