Time Out – February 2020

We’ve had two storms in quick succession here in the UK and in the midst of the second one, we all headed down to Devon for a few days.

The gale force winds and driving rain enforced the rest we all badly needed. We spent the first two days tucked away consuming copious cups of tea, reading, playing games, watching movies and drinking in the stunning scenery from the warmth of indoors.

With Lanky Dude now working full time and Rhythm Dude at college, time away with no distractions is even more precious. My mother’s heart was warmed to watch them playing games with their younger sisters, and then bonding over hot chocolate and an amazon prime series in the evening!

HWH and I took on the elements in order to search out a cafe for a coffee and catch up. And one morning he and Dancing Toes cooked breakfast for us all.

We had a wonderfully invigorating and blustery walk with long views over the sea.

This bent, gnarled tree suggests this wasn’t the only blowy day here!

We escaped to the relative calm of Overbecks, a National Trust property laid out with an impressive array tropical plants…a taste of the Mediterranean in the summer, but fascinating in all seasons. This glorious magnolia offered some much appreciated colour to the backdrop of grey weather.

And the British spring flowers gave me hope that warmer days are on the way.

Four days didn’t seem long enough and we all had a great reluctance to return to “real life”. But, we were so thankful for this small time of retreat; to shelve life’s daily challenges and responsibilities for a short while, to regroup as a family, and be restored by our Maker.