Winding down

Am back from the road trip, having covered 570 miles and three enjoyable visits in two days. Fortunately, there were very few hold-ups so I was able to stick to the planned schedule. I successfully delivered the boxes of assorted stuff to both my boys and our landing now looks strangely bare without them; some people would call it tidy. I enjoyed lunches with both of the boys, and with the girlfriend of one of them, and we had a good catch up on family news and discussed plans and possibilities for the Easter and summer holidays.

It was lovely to catch up with my friends in Lincolnshire, who I haven't seen for four years. It was lovely food and home comforts all the way including pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, and I have come away with a recipe for Seville Minted Chicken which we had for dinner and was delicious. It includes marmalade as an ingredient, so will be a way of making use of the jars of homemade marmalade in our cupboard.

My friends are both retired and it was interesting to hear how they spend their time; they have two dogs so exercising them is part of their daily routine all year round and before I left them this morning we all went to some nearby woods to give the dogs a run around in a safe, car-free environment. The trees were all in bud and with the lovely blue sky, there was a real feeling of the imminent arrival of Spring.

I will experience the contrast between the leisurely pub lunches and the woodland walk of the past two days with the working life I have so recently left behind me, when tomorrow I will return to the work environment to attend an annual staff development awards ceremony as a guest. This event celebrates the achievements of staff who have gained skills and professional qualifications, often balancing their studies with family responsibilities, as well as demanding jobs. This event is a high-profile event which involves a lot of careful preparation for the Learning and Development team, with changes made right up to the last minute. I already feel that I would struggle to be able to pick up the pace at which I was working as a member of that team and it will be interesting to view this event from a more detached perspective. In any case, I am looking forward to catching up both with my ex-colleagues and also with the staff from across the organisation who will be recognised for their achievements.