Wagga Wagga to Worcestershire & back again
It’s been a hectic few months. Between my family’s visit from Australia and a few other trips Adam and I had organised earlier this year, it feels like we’ve barely had a weekend to ourselves for weeks and weeks.
After picking up my second cold in three months the other week, I decided some much needed quiet time was definitely on the agenda…
Living in the U.K. has definitely taught me about living more seasonally. That natural rhythm of change every few months is so evident, that you can’t help but adapt to it too.
In Wagga Wagga, where Adam and I lived before moved to England, there were four seasons, but autumn and spring often arrived in short bursts, breaking up the hot and cold weather. Here it’s more gradual and the seasons are given the opportunity to ‘breath’ a little more, so you get to learn the nuances of each quarter of the year…
The other evening I was laying in bed reading when the colour of the sky outside of my bedroom window caught my eye.
I glanced up towards the Malvern Hills and saw the most beautiful pastel coloured sky…
In a few hours time my mum, dad and brother will land in England. Fairly soon after Adam and I announced we were moving to Worcestershire, my family decided they would come and visit us in the English summer. After so many months of talking about the trip, I can’t quite believe it’s almost here!
It’s been around 10 months since I’ve seen my parents and closer to 11 months, my brother. Although we call and text on a regular basis, it’s still not quite the same as being able to talk face to face.
They’re splitting their time between Malvern and travelling around the U.K. so to help them get over their very long journey and to welcome them to our little part of Worcestershire, I’ve made up a small hamper…
For as long as I can remember being alone never really bothered me. Although I’m fairly sociable by nature, I can easily entertain myself for hours with books, music, films, cooking and daily chores. Before Adam and I met, I’d lived by myself for a number of years and was quite used to the peaceful solitude ‘flying solo’ provided. Of course life changed (and for the better) when we moved in together, and while I love being in a couple and living with my significant other, I still relish snippets of time by myself.
The nature of Adam’s work means he’s often away for a few nights a week, so I regularly still get a little ‘me time’. This week however he’ll depart for a three week long stint abroad. It’ll be the longest we’ve been away from each other since we met and I’ve got mixed feelings about the separation. I’m going to miss him like crazy but am trying to focus on the positives and the extended ‘me time’ I’ll have.
I’ve started mentally compiling a list of things I’m looking forward to doing…
I love going for a walk but sometimes I forget how much I enjoy it, and days turn into weeks and suddenly it’s been far too long since I went for a proper solo ramble.
I love that exhilaration you get when you’re walking with no particular path in mind, the joy of discovering new sights, the sweetness of being alone with your own thoughts and that pink cheeked endorphin rush you get after a good paced, athletic walk.
The other day I was up early so decided to get outdoors and go for a walk rather than having a slow morning lazing/working in bed over multiple cups of coffee (a decadent treat I’m too regularly giving myself on non ‘gotta get out the house’ mornings).
I found myself at St Wulstan’s Nature Reserve…
After teasing us and offering up a warm day or two here and there over the last few months, summer arrived in England this week.
We’ve had a solid six days in a row of temperatures in the high 20s, low 30s. It’s even prompted official government warnings, about beating the heat. Friends and Adam’s family have been asking all about how we Aussies cope with weather like this for months at a time.
Isn’t it amazing how when you go away and then come back home again you pick up on changes you never noticed before?
The day after returning from Scotland I spent almost a good hour poking around the garden, amazed at all the new flowers that had suddenly appeared.
Adam and I played host to our first visitors from Australia late last week. Kerri and Adrian have been friends with my parents for years – the sort of people in your life you can never remember not knowing.
They’ve been in Italy, Malta and England on a lovely long holiday and made the time to spend the day in Malvern with us.
I was chatting to a stranger the other day about moving to Malvern from Australia and it dawned on me that Adam and I have been in England for six months now. The time has truly flown ever so fast.
Malvern really feels like home now. Old buildings that I caught myself staring at in awe are now just part of scenery and picking a posey full of flowers from our rambling cottage garden seems second nature.
I know short cuts around town, can recommend pubs and cafes and am starting to sound a little bit English… well in a way!
Wattle and Ash 