Friday 24 January 2014

A Grand Day Out



Today Marc and I had a rare day out together.

Ostensibly we needed to choose and buy carpet for the stairs, landing and the boys bedrooms. We take our time when we decorate here. And to be honest the idea of trying to choose a suitable carpet with children running amok turns me cold. I have spent many years since having children trying to choose kitchens, floor tiles, bathrooms and various diy items with my rowdy boys in tow.

And lets be honest here. Choosing a carpet is not top of my list when it comes to a pleasurable pursuit at any time. If I had my way I would sand and paint the stairs, and leave it at that. I have persuaded Marc to laminate the boys rooms. It will be far easier to keep clean and tidy, I think. And as the teen has a habit of sneaking food and drink up to his room, this is no bad thing.

The carpet was chosen, ordered, bought and paid for in a record twenty minutes. Hooray! Marc and I were left with the rest of the day to ourselves. We decided to go to Truro. For coffee, lunch and a general mooch about the shops. Our first port of call was Waterstones book store, which has a coffee shop within. It was just a real treat to sit and drink. We relaxed with our lattes, and chatted about this and that.

 Of course I took some snaps (on my phone, so the quality isn't great), as a reminder of a lovely day out with Marc. We spend so little time together. He works away during the week, and weekends are always a blur of doing and seeing and chasing ones tail. I think I forget what fun we have together, and how much we talk and discuss and decide. It has been during days like today that we have made our biggest decisions - whether in the car, or over coffee.




It was while driving from Bristol to our first home with a young baby, that we concluded that we could change the status quo and escape the horrid commuter belt village we lived in. Together Marc and I have weathered the storm of marriage and children, sometimes under very difficult circumstances. As long as we can step out as a couple every now and again, we will always be okay. We are a team. A good team, I think. We bicker. A lot. We wind each other up. We are very different personalities. We don't always see eye to eye. But we do love each other very much, and we are still hanging on there. Together.







Marc indulged me today. He let me ooh and aah in The White Company store (see above for bored husband on phone as close to the exit as possible shot). He bought me some beautiful bits and bobs in Seasalt. We bought Olly some books for his birthday in a couple of months time. It was heavenly to casually wander around a store without children in tow.





It was topped off with lunch in the Arts Cafe. And such is the gentleman that he finished my lunch for me when my belly was full. I can't describe to you the pleasure of eating lunch in a public place from a plate, rather than a Tupperware box. Pouring tea the old fashioned way, rather than sucking juice through a straw. Eating uninterrupted. Not chasing a hyper three year old around the park or the beach. 

We made a big decision today too. A good one. A joint one. One that shall see changes afoot this year. I am excited at the next chapter in this family's mad existence. 

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Leanne xx



16 comments:

  1. This is a beautiful post Leanne, full of love and fun. Also a great reminder to myself that Richard and I really should finally go to Dukes for lunch (we have vouchers) and have some fun together. Days like this are rare and I am glad you and Marc enjoyed it so much. Have a great weekend. Cx

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  2. Sounds very promising, and just shows how important it is to have time together as a couple to share and dream, looking forward to seeing more of your adventures you have a really lovely blog x

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  3. hi there sis this is the first time i have ever read your posts or blogs. It made me smile luvs ya xx

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  4. Lovely post. I'm so glad you had some time together. It's so important and it does a marriage so much good.

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  5. What a lovely day Leanne, so glad you had this time together. Good luck with the new things. I know what you mean about shopping with boys. I remember letting my three loose in a big bathroom shop once while we chose all the things for a new bathroom. Nightmare. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

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  6. Thank you little sis. xx glad you liked it. Love you too xx

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  7. Glad that you had a lovely day out together, it is nice to take some time to just be isn't it! xx

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  8. What a beautiful post Leanne. I love that you appreciate these little things and it seems that you have a good man there. Isn't it wondeful to feel that you are a team and good team too. I think we are so blessed to be happy and content in this way and I also think that we need to make an effort to have some grown up time away from home, out, without kids to keep rekindling that spark and respect we have for each other. It sounds like you had the most perfect day out and I am so happy for you that you are looking forward to ukur year together. I must add that I absolutely LOVE that book 'shed chic' I had in loan from the library for months and really struggled to part with it. Hope you all enjoy your weekend lovely xoxo

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  9. Sounds and looks like a wonderful day x

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  10. A really lovely post. It's so difficult to make time to do stuff together and I find that even with living and seeing Mr P every day. Nice things and time gets caught up in just day to day stuff. It looks like a perfect sort of day...and from the sounds of it you've got something important to look forward to! x

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  11. lovely post, good luck to you all

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  12. I'm so glad you had such a lovely time together. That was amazing that you were able to pick out the carpet so quickly. Wonderful post, Leanne!

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  13. You tease!! I'm curious about your plans now... Yes, those couple days - or even hours - are vital I think to remind us why we are in a couple in the first place.

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  14. Such a lovely heart warming post - it's so important to grab those hours together when you can and they somehow recharge you for months of just doing and working hard side by side but not really engaging. X

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  15. That sounds a grand out day, when our children were growing up those sort of days were few and far between but meant so much. Hope your joint decision soon materialises. Sarah x

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