We don’t always start out with a plan. It’s sometime dependent on the weather, and there are weekends when staying home in pajamas is the only thing that sounds appealing (especially for our youngest daughter). Since I work from home, I’m usually the one itching to go somewhere, and I can usually talk the clan into an outing. We feel very fortunate to live only a short train ride from London. It’s undoubtedly one of the best cities in the world, but also one of the largest and most sprawling. So we know this means that we have a drive some distance to feel the seclusion that comes from being immersed in nature.
But then there’s Richmond Park.
Sometimes we find it hard to justify going anywhere else, when this beautiful natural setting is so nearby. But the UK is full of beautiful places and we feel pretty determined to see a lot of them. Last weekend we drove an hour and half away for a two-hour walk and bit of tea and cake. After 3 years of living without a car, the girls get quite excited about long car journeys. But it was our 9-year-old who pointed out that we would be spending more time in the car than at our location, which I admit, isn’t ideal. On the way home, we wondered if it was worth it, but decided that the Stowe Landscape Gardens, and reliably delightful cream tea in the National Trust café, were indeed worth the drive.
We didn’t need Groundhog’s Day to tell us that we’d have an early spring this year. There are signs all around us. Snow drops, crocus and daffodils arrived in January, which is a bit strange, but we can’t complain. Bring on the sunshine!