Thursday 14 August 2008

A day in my life - August


Its the 14th of the month and so I am writing about my day. Jenny has listed the other participants in "A day in my Life" in this post.


Thursday 14th August has not been a typical day for us. Firstly because my husband is away in America for two weeks so its just the three of us and secondly because it was "A" level results day for my eldest son.


The day started very peacefully. I am not governed by alarm clocks for the next two weeks and I didn't wake until 7:00am. I am enjoying my little lie ins.


I got up straight away to make a cup of tea and went to let the chickens out.




It was a beautiful morning here. In complete contrast to the wind and rain of the last two days there was blue sky and no wind. It was very still and quiet. The grass was wet with dew



and everything looked fresh and clear in the sunshine.






I drank my tea and caught up with a bit of blog reading before making sure that my eldest was awake in time to be at school to collect his results. I dropped him at school and then went on to the allotment to keep myself busy while waiting to hear from him.



I weeded, picked a few late blackcurrants and some vegetables for dinner. As it was a dry day I collected seeds from the parsnips I had allowed to flower and go to seed. These will be stored in a paper bag in the shed where it is warm and dry for a while and then in a jam jar in the cool of the garage over winter.


The exam results. Well, he was disappointed. I felt so sorry for him as he sat looking at the piece of paper which in the end is what he has to show for all of his school career. We need to take a few days now to think, there must be a plan B, its just that at the moment we don't know what it is.

A group of his school friends had decided to play cricket on the village playing fields and he went off to join them. A good idea, no point in sitting at home moping.


I went out into the garden to see the chickens. Sage decided to join me on the bench but wasn't to sure about the camera.



This afternoon I didn't really feel like doing much at home so I went with my younger son to Borders for a good browse through the books. We both love bookshops and when we go as a family we are always the ones that don't want to leave, so it was nice that it was just the two of us and nobody was asking us to hurry. In the end all we bought was one magazine but I did treat myself to a coffee and the trip made a welcome little break.


On the way back we stopped for me to pick a few blackberries. Its still early for them and there were only a few but they were a good size, must be all the rain we have been having.




Back home and comfort food was called for, sausage and potato pie. This went down well and there is some left over which the boys can have cold for lunch tomorrow.

After dinner had been cleared away my eldest son decided to go out on his bike for a short ride before it got dark. My husband phoned from America and then I settled down to write this post.

By 8:30pm it was dusk, the chickens had gone into their house and I went into the garden to shut them safely in. It was definitely getting dark and I knew that my son didn't have any lights on his bike, so why wasn't he back. I was wondering what to do and imagining the worst, as mothers do, when he arrived home on foot. He had got a flat tyre while several miles from home and after pushing his bike for a while had realised that this was going to take too long so he had pushed the bike into some woodland and jogged home. It was now quite dark and we drove to retrieve the bike down very narrow lanes with overhanging trees. In the blackness it was quite difficult to identify which gap in the hedge he had pushed his bike through. He had hidden it thoroughly so it wasn't visible from the road but of course now it was dark and not visible at all! We did find it together with his helmet, gloves and jacket and he took the wheel off and loaded it into the car. It was a very quiet lane and we didn't see anyone, probably just as well, we would have looked a bit suspicious grovelling around in a wood in the dark.

Anyway we are home now, the bike still in the car to be unloaded tomorrow.

Its been quite a day. Time for me to go to bed.

11 comments:

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

BEAUTIFUL! I'm so, so jealous of your gorgeous garden and the meals it provides! I just love how chickens put themselves to bed at night. It never ceases to thrill me.

libby said...

Hi Willow,

As always I loved reading about your life. Sorry to hear about your sons results - I'm sure everything will work out. Sounds like you still had a lovely day regardless.
My chickens put themselves to bed but we've got things set up so I don't even need to go tend to them - and there is no wildlife to worry about.

Libby

Candyce said...

It annoys me that so much counts on test results. They are a very small part of the picture. I suppose there must need to be a way to measure. What it does not measure though is motivation and the whole picture. It shows a very limited view of a person.

I hope your son won't let the test results define him. They really shouldn't.

The sausage and potato pie looks yummy.

Simply Authentic said...

the pictures from the morning are so vivid and beautiful! the allotment is really growing! i feel so horrible for your son. that has to be frustrating! but i am SURE that something positive can come out of this. what are his options? and do those options align with his interests?
altogether it sounds like it was quite the day. ups and downs. i'm glad you were able to get to borders and spend some quality time with the younger son, and that the elder son made it home safely from the flat tire! what a day!

Heather L. said...

Always enjoy your diary day! LOVED the picture of the blackberries. Wish I had some here :) And enjoyed the picture of the allotment.

B. said...

Beautiful Garden and blackberries! Sounds like a great day!

Jenny said...

I'm sorry your sons results weren't what he wanted but I'm sure you'll come up with a great plan B.

Linda said...

What a big day for you while your husband was away. You did well.

Some of the unis here have an entry that doesn't go on results. It is described on the Ballarat website.

SueJ said...

Thank you for your comment on my blog. I would encourage your son to go with the plan -if the grades are good enough for his chosen course then they are just that, good enough. He can take the next step. I was Head of Sixth Form for 10 years & my husband is a Head of Sixth so we have seen thousands (sobering thought that!) take this step. Don't let him beat himself up, just enjoy his gap year & go to uni in good heart in 2009.

Your pictures remind me that my garden needs some love and attention!..... whilst its dry!

Moonroot said...

I'm sorry your son was disappointed with his exam results. It can feel like such a blow. Hopefully he can see it in perspective and realise that there are plenty of other possibilities out there.

willow said...

Thank you for all the comments. It is great to read such positive messages.
My son has since found out that although he fell short of the required grades he has in fact got a place at University to start in October 2009. He applied for deferred entry because he wasn't sure whether university was for him and his recent results have added to his uncertainty but at least he has cheered up a bit.