Word of the Week - Downtime

I've had some downtime this week. downtime for me isn't just time off, or time doing nothing, it's about time on my own, doing my own thing, no agenda and nothing of any importance, having nothing planned, but also just going with the flow and spending the day at Countrytastic with the grandchildren.

It's the easter holidays and I've 2 weeks off school and after a busy weekend in Bath with an Ultra Challenge I've spent this week trying to have a lie in. There have been coffees, gentle walks because my hips are still sore from the weekend and I've finally got on top of everything in the house and I left the house this morning with everything in tip top condition, just the washing out on the line and some ironing to be done.

I was so looking forward to a chilled evening on the sofa in my lovely clean and tidy house, a take away and TV and what happened?

Grandchildren ... 2 of them.

We had the takeaway and I've watched TV. The washing finally made it in. I've not dared look in the play room upstairs, but DIL did go up before they left which is always a good sign.

I was looking through my camera roll and I realised I hadn't taken any before and after pictures because the only thing I'd needed to do this week was clean. I'd done all the sorting the previous week. I've not taken a coffee shop photo for ages, but I had taken photos of the sunset that I raced home for and up two flights of stairs to capture and stopped for a while to watch. 

I went out to capture the magnolia at the end of the street.

I visited the library to get some books out and spent some time looking a the displays and enjoying some time in the grounds.

I went out of my way to fill my bottle from the spring in the town whilst out for a walk.

I took time to take photos of Stephanie's angel wing bulbs my friend gave me which me planted the day of her funeral.

There's another day left of this week and I'll be spending it in Birmingham at the football, my favourite way to relax. An hour on the train with my book and a picnic, a Starbuck on arrival and more reading and the bus to the ground and an hour back on the train.