Wednesday 10 September 2014

#One Week - Summer '14 - South Then North


First there was The South.

Figs in honey. Bresola and salami. Green olives and nutty bread. Pain au chocolat every morning on the sunlit terrace. Ah, The Provence. The bright waxing moon shone silver tongues on lapping waters, cast shadows through palm leaves overhead. My girl in the swimming pool, with arm bands, then without. So many of her family there; mummy, daddy, granny, aunts and uncles. Took it by turns to play pirates in the deep end, or holding her hand, jumping off the edge, making huge frothy splashes. What a joy to watch her confidence in the pool. And I rediscovered diving, swam fifty lengths every other day. Even the yoga mat was subjected to an occasional downward dog in the late afternoon heat. Simple postures, focused on the breath. And evenings spent listening to the cicadas in the trees, their incessant buzzing an electric circuit, jamming the air with their currents. Insect bites, large and swollen, on ankles and calves. The little one late to bed with a smile and satisfied sigh...  


A feast of mussels in white wine sauce. A string of mustard lights hanging slack between two boughs like a clown's smile. A hammock made for a long read. On days the air stood still, the surface of the swimming pool was as still as glass, the bottom paved in mosaic tiles, sloping deeper and deeper below. I laid the dinner table in taupe coloured clothes, added little glasses with flowers hand picked from the garden. Each night a different couple cooked a sumptuously simple dish. A fresh fish or a hunk of steak.

To my dismay, I'd forgotten verbs and nouns and tenses. Now I dearly wished to speak the language again, get by at the very least. Le singe est dans l'arbre... Fresh bread with a slice of tangy comte or a mild sheep's cheese. A flute of delicate rose. The never ending Sunshine. We didn't want to leave...

And then there was The North.  

A road trip. Just me and her. To visit grandma in a little market town on the North Yorkshire border. And how lovely to revisit home turf, it had been an age after all. The sweeping hills and pale Yorkshire stone. Grandma laid on some special comforts; chocolate rice crispy cakes, meat loaf and strawberry crumble. This the first time my girl acquainted herself with the new(ish) additions; two rag doll cats, one called Macho, the other Maisy. Both very, very fluffy. Macho was so amenable, so easy, the floppy thing. He didn't mind a four year old's constant attention; being picked up under his front legs, dragged from room to room like a marionette. Meanwhile, Maisy, wholly terrified, scarpered underneath every available chair.


We took a trip to adventure park. Found ourselves lost in the maze, retracing our steps, a hapless sense of direction. 'Come on,' she said. 'It's this way, I know it is, follow me.' And she was right. Clever girl. Then a walk avoiding determined rain drops in the enchanted forest. A tree with chiming notes. A damsel in distress. A witch's empty cauldron. And the following day we spent a delightful afternoon in the company of my God mother. Plates piled high with smoked salmon sandwiches, homemade malt bread, moist elder flower sponge, raspberry brownies and strawberries coated in chocolate. And of course, a proper pot of Yorkshire brew. What a delicious treat.

We shared a double bed in grandma's spare room, my girl and I. I think my fondest memory of the entire summer was climbing under the duvet, turning on the bedside light, and her arm curling around my stomach as I read the final chapters of The Goldfinch. A sleepy voice half-whispered, I love you Mummy...        

This is the second day of my One Week series. Due to the amount of work involved, I've decided not to run this series as a linky anymore, but please feel free to join in if you want to...




18 comments:

  1. Your summer sounds enchanting. How lovely that you spent these special moments with family and of course your little one. Memories to be treasured for ever. Welcome back. :) xx

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    1. We had a particularly lovely summer this year - I wanted to give Little A a summer she'd really remember before she started reception. Thank you - it's good to be back! X

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  2. Ooh I am glad you are back as I have just savoured these last two posts.
    Had to laugh at 'Le singe est dans l'arbre' - a favourite bit of silliness of ours.

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    1. Thank you lovely lady. It's good to be back, but it does seem very quite in blogland! I'm glad you got that joke.... :o)

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  3. Aww! Sounds like a lovely time, full of intimate moments.

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    1. It was lovely, thank you. A real vintage summer!

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  4. Two very different holidays, but both sounding equally idyllic! (: x

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    1. They were both lovely, thank you. And Little A had such a wonderful time too.... one of the best summers ever! X

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  5. This is such a heart-warming, lovely post. It made me feel all warm inside. I love the fact you had a sleepover together in the bed at Grandma's house. What wonderful memories - and may I say, so well written. Your descriptive prose is fab.

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    1. Thank you lovely lady..... it was a joy having Little A in bed with me at Grandma's. And we're going to do it again over half term; another trip back oooop north. :o)

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  6. What a beautiful holiday(s) and post. I can just feel that Provence heat. How lovely to have gone South and North, and with family. PS You thought of becoming a food writer? ;-)

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    1. Thank you very much my dear! I love The Provence.... so want to go back there again next year.A food writer? I'm not sure I'd be good enough :o).

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  7. Gorgeous photos, evocative post. Fab

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  8. Gosh that trip down south sounds even better than when you told me about it face to face! How wonderful and then topped off with exquisite Englishness. So pleased your families looked after you all :) XX

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    1. I think the holiday in France was one of the best ever in a long time, it was just lovely.... and then followed by another lovely trip to my mums; Little A and I felt very pampered :o) X.

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  9. Beautiful post and your pictures are so colourful! Lovely to see your little girl in them. She's gorgeous xx ps lovely to see you back!

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    1. Thank you very much lovely! I like these pictures of her too. And it's good to be back! X

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