And Breathe.....

Brrrr it has been really cold but beautiful here in Sussex, and despite hovering around freezing all day, it's been too dry to snow which I must confess to being rather relieved about. I walked Scruff this morning and saw a flock of lapwing in the field, and then the small herd of about 15 fallow deer sitting in the sun by the hedge in the next field. I know they are sufficiently common to be regarded as a pest, but there is something elegant and ethereal about deer, and in this little herd there is a pure white one who is rather stunning among its brown counterparts.

I cycled with the girls up to near the village hall yesterday afternoon to pick the last of the crab apples, and got many a strange look from the parents collecting their children from the local primary school. It wasn't a tremendous haul but we picked enough for a saucepanful and I now have another few jars of crabapple jelly. It also gave me a chance to try out my new bike basket that my parents got me for Christmas:

My lovely Scruff

Yesterday evening the children went to their father's for the night as they had a family event to go to today, so I had a much-needed break. The weekends that they spend with him have reduced down to 24 hours and I find I am just getting in to the swing of having some time and space when they come back, and bless them, they are understandably grouchy with all the changes and contrasts so rarely is it a particularly joyful reunion. So to have an extra bit of time is a real treat especially as Charles took the day off too.

We decided on a packed out program of a morning of doing nothing, then a pub lunch, followed by some more nothing. My nothing consisted of some crochet, sewing and giving extra food and bedding to the bunnies, guineas, ducks and chickens, and Charles' revolved around reading the paper and listening to the cricket on the radio, interspersed with the tastiest sausage and mash at the Three Cups. It has been bliss, even though I had to unravel my crochet 3 times and have come to the conclusion that my sewing machine definitely needs a service. The children are back tonight before going off to their dad's again tomorrow afternoon (the girls have Stagecoach in the morning) but I am hoping to retain some of my adult perspective and not get sucked in too much, with a view to seamlessly carrying on the weekend, and resting my poor addled and worrisome brain!