Lucent Imagery

Part two of reflection on a quiet break with family.

How was your weekend?

Ours was lovely, exciting, funny, cosy, intriguing, stimulating, satisfying and full of spontaneity.

I love that feeling of home and community when you bump into a friend when walking to meet others at “the usual spot under the tree”. As friends of friends join in, suddenly a small group breakfast turns into a large group of loved ones and friends we’re yet to make.

Together with a movie, dinners and a visit to an art exhibition, it is a sweet life.

We also continued our drive towards an increasingly minimal home with two garbage bags of clothes donated and one put aside to sell. We’re also acknowledging toys and gadgets that we don’t use and setting them aside to get rid of. I love the feeling of clearing our space of unwanted clutter. It is a process that is taking time but is well rewarded with feelings of weightlessness and clarity.

For a spontaneous Sunday afternoon drive we went in hunt of a cafe with only one criteria: it had to be a cafe we had never been to before. We relished the warm food and then set off on a walk through unfamiliar parklands, enjoying the discovery.

And now the washing is on, the dishes are clean and cooking ingredients are in the fridge. I will cook a delicious healthy dinner for a cosy winter’s night and I will thank my lucky stars for the happiness that life, long walks, food, friends, family, & dogs bring.

What is making you happy today?

My husband and I are very much city people. We love the urban life of walking everywhere to restaurants, cinemas, markets, museums, galleries and shops.

But it’s nice to escape to a quieter life for a short break every now and then. It’s also precious when you can do that with a lot of family and rejoice in a chance to be in each other’s company.

Strolling through the fields in the morning and evening, sometimes with a cup of tea in hand. Noisy mealtimes full of chatter and a seemingly endless supply of food. Quiet times when everyone scatters across the house to curl up with a book. Dogs running around happy and carefree. Sharing in the farm duties and watching the animals interact. All helping rein in the cows when the fence breaks!

The current chilly winter mornings have me remembering fondly of a weekend away with my husband a few years ago. We were relaxing at home on a Friday night and spontaneously decided to go away the next morning. We jumped onto the internet at 11pm, made a reservation at a winery and excitedly threw our things into bags.

I love to experience sunrises and we rugged up for the cold and ventured out of our cabin to enjoy the beauty of this winery in winter.