Susie and family have been discovering what is on the doorstep in Norfolk during the holidays
As I get older, the summers seem to get shorter. Those childhood memories of long, sunny weeks stretching ahead of you into the distant future are very nostalgic.
In my adult reality, it tends to be a few manic weeks of juggling work and childcare, followed by a couple of weeks on holiday (after which you feel you need time off to recover). Then there’s suddenly the realisation that it’s back to school in a few days’ time, and your nearly ten-year-old has elongated in the warm weather, outgrowing all his uniform, including the new shoes you bought him last term.
I have friends who plan out the summer, pretty much day by day. There are outings, playdates, lessons in a new sport, and maybe even a 'my summer' scrapbook to show for it.
I am in awe of these amazing women. That’s how I envisaged myself as a mother, how I would like to be.
But I’ve turned out to be the kind of mum who keeps all the tickets/programmes/memorabilia and then stumbles across them years later, having completely forgotten to do anything with them. Our 2019 Disneyland Paris trip is all in a little plastic bag, forlornly waiting for its scrapbook. Come to think of it, I still have a baby photo album given to us when our daughter was born 17 years ago - I must get round to putting in those photos.
In the absence of a grand plan, the most fun times in our summer are usually the impromptu outings. Like the time my son and I joined friends to 'play' tennis at the Lakenham courts in Norwich. I have not played since I was a child, and the children had only done a few lessons at school.
The result was that balls flew all over the place - hardly any landing within the court. The couple playing 'proper' tennis next to us were very kind and didn’t seem to mind as our rogue missiles whizzed across their serves and rallies. I ended up being convulsed with laughter, which is definitely good for the soul.
Another happy, last-minute decision took us to the Raveningham Sculpture Trail, which is in its 6th year in south Norfolk. Artists from around the country have created works on the theme of 'Journey', and they are exhibited throughout the wild gardens, woodland and meadows at Raveningham. It was beautiful, thought-provoking and great fun.
While my creative daughter immersed herself in the meaning of the art, my mathematical son enjoyed adding up the price of the artworks on sale to tell us how much we would need to buy them. You could chat to some of the artists who were on site, and there was a lovely cafe for afterwards.
Not only that, but it’s all for a good cause, as it’s run by a Community Interest Company that supports a wide range of arts projects. I was saying to the site manager that I couldn’t understand what I’d been doing for the five previous trails. Why had I never been before? She answered 'because it’s right on your doorstep'.
There is so much truth in that. When we are away visiting another part of the world, we make sure to find out what’s going on and plan our outings. When we’re at home, there are so many other distractions that great events can be happening unnoticed, right under our noses.
Note to self: you need to get out more! This magazine is very good at telling us what’s happening on our doorstep here in this wonderful county, so there is no excuse.
Given our experience at Raveningham, I am now looking forward to another sculpture trail that’s being curated for Bayfield Hall in October. A reminder that, even though the long summer is coming to an end, there’s still lots to look forward to.
