This evening I am experiencing an unusual and unwelcome phenomenon, hereafter known as TTTK. That is, Too Tired To Knit. This is not something I'm used to. Even after a hard day at work, a trying evening with the kids, and fitting in the household chores, I usually look forward to relaxing for a while with needles and yarn. But not today.
This weekend I have been at a family gathering with a difference. Let me explain. My husband has a large extended family and one of his family members owns a country house hotel in the South of England. Since 2003 it has been a family tradition that, roughly every other year, an invitation is extended to the family to come together in the hotel for a weekend of hospitality and good food, in exchange for work in the grounds. Or perhaps I should describe it as Work in the grounds. See the banks in the first photograph? See the rhododendrons at the bottom? On Saturday morning, that ravine was filled from bottom to top with them, and with laurel saplings and brambles. Where he's walking wasn't even visible, let alone accessible.
This weekend I have been at a family gathering with a difference. Let me explain. My husband has a large extended family and one of his family members owns a country house hotel in the South of England. Since 2003 it has been a family tradition that, roughly every other year, an invitation is extended to the family to come together in the hotel for a weekend of hospitality and good food, in exchange for work in the grounds. Or perhaps I should describe it as Work in the grounds. See the banks in the first photograph? See the rhododendrons at the bottom? On Saturday morning, that ravine was filled from bottom to top with them, and with laurel saplings and brambles. Where he's walking wasn't even visible, let alone accessible.
23 adults and 13 children, ranging in age from 13 to 2, can make a lot of difference even to the jungle that was there before. Cousins with chainsaws, uncles with winches, in-laws and partners with loppers and secateurs and leaf-blowers, a family with a sense of purpose all working together. Even the littlest ones helped out gathering up sticks cut from dead trees, piling up firewood for the grown-ups to deal with, and what a lesson in so many life skills. How many children get the chance to learn about teamwork, land management, proper use of tools and equipment, respect for fire, outdoor safety, like this?
All this hard physical work and fresh air has left me happy, to have spent time enjoying myself with family; with a sense of achievement, at having been a part of such a great team effort to clear the land and get the silted-up stream starting to flow again; aching, from lifting, carrying, dragging and cutting; and with my first case of TTTK! And so to bed, and here's to more energy for knitting in the morning!!
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