Marlow Musings

The weekend started off in a rather low key fashion; Erica headed off for a two hour training ride to the Chilterns, Mike took Cayden to football practice...all decked out in team red and grey colours, while Nana, Poppa and Keira enjoyed a quiet, somewhat lazy Saturday morning! Keira is a joy to be with. She loves the academic side of things, loves to question and reason things through. Her writing is clear and precise, so her journal and written homework is impressive. After school on Fridays, she attends a three hour drama/music group called, "Stage Coach". She is excited to have been invited to audition with the All Saints Marlow Children's' Choir on Thursday of this week...all this to say what a pleasure it is to watch her have a lazy Saturday morning too!
As I write, the grey skies have turned heavy and the rain, right on schedule has arrived. This is the first rain evidently in a long time and is welcomed by all to freshen lawns and flower beads and the 'green' space across from the house. It adds to the beauty of a quiet day!
So much for the joy of rain...on a very wet Monday morning, one full day in to our role as caregivers, we've had a walk to school, a walk to daycare and a walk to the High Street appropriately dressed in rain gear with umbrella in hand. The reality is that from Erica and Mike's house to the school, daycare, grocery stores and coffee shops, walking makes great sense, not only from an exercise perspective, but also in terms of parking a vehicle near the High Street. It is a very busy street, with limited parking!
Celebrating Marion's birthday today...started with some gift opening, breakfast with the children, then the aforementioned walk. We managed to check out some restaurant menus along the way for this evening's dinner out, shopped a few ladies' shops, bought the day's groceries and headed back home. That took the better part of the morning as we now move into the more mundane activities of keeping house and preparing for the return of the children. Being able to fire up the small fireplace allows us to rid ourselves of the damp morning chill that has settled over the house. Fresh, homemade (almost) soup will be a part of today's lunch, for sure. I know that after lunch, a walk to the post office is required to purchase 'international' stamps for all the October birthdays that will be celebrated at home, while we're away!
For now, it's a few hours of quiet...