{"id":20935,"date":"2020-07-30T15:41:34","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T15:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=20935"},"modified":"2020-10-07T20:49:55","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T20:49:55","slug":"goodbye-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/goodbye-july\/","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye July"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Cake Guard!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Goodbye July!! I know there’s a day to go before the end of the month, but who knows when I get to write in this space currently.\u00a0 The past 20 odd weeks have been anything but the imagined sitting on my backside staring into space that I am pretty sure certain people are convinced that I do every single day (no names mentioned!).<\/p>\n

For what is such a strange time globally, it’s been a mostly weird but lovely month, with the end of certain chapters flung in here and there for good measure – such as the youngest’s time at Pre-School.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0He was able to go back in a bubble for the last few weeks, which, although initially the thought of it kept me awake at night turned out to be really good for both him (and me!) after such a long stint “home-schooling” together.<\/p>\n

He was thrilled to see his friends and teachers and let’s face it for this age group the lack of socialisation (given that his siblings are that much older and not always into the idea of playing with him much) is probably more damaging than the virus itself.\u00a0 \u00a0 That said, we did take all appropriate measures and it was sadly sweet how he got used to certain things such as the constant hand washing\/gel, and getting changed as soon as he got home.\u00a0 I wonder if he will remember much about the whole thing further down the line?<\/p>\n

I will miss wandering the beautiful Hampshire village where this little pre-school is based whilst, which is not to say that I won’t be able to in the future (it’s just up the road) but it won’t be so peaceful and I won’t get the chance to spot so much with my small accomplice!<\/p>\n

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Luckily for us, we were also able to have a socially distanced visit to his new school which seemed to abate any fears that he seemed to have, especially when he clocked the dinosaurs and diggers.\u00a0 It was also my first visit and I was very happy to note the forest school which had me harking back to his brother’s start at school in Denmark all those years ago…<\/p>\n

July has also been busy work-wise with various food reviews<\/a> and content creation for people for which I am very grateful, I am also grateful to have found a little time for my new venture\/addiction<\/a> which has been my therapy of sorts during the lockdown (do shout if I can make you anything!)…<\/p>\n

\"Maybug<\/p>\n

It was also a time for gathering (at a distance) for the first time with friends and loved ones.\u00a0 A first meal together, a first visit to the pub, and most importantly a special gathering with family for what should have been my youngest sister’s wedding.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I had initially thought that she wouldn’t really want to do anything to mark the day given that it should have been their really special one, but I was completely wrong.<\/p>\n

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Instead we had a non-wedding day celebration complete with “non-wedding day” cake, plenty of delicious food and wine, and lots and lots of laughter late into the night.\u00a0 \u00a0We camped out so as to not break any social distancing rules which was VERY exciting for the youngest member of our family who can’t remember his first camping trip to the Black Forest (even if it meant I got very little sleep as it was colder than expected and he insisted on sharing my air bed!).<\/p>\n

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Playing spot the four-year-old in his Auntie’s veg patch…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thankfully the day time was warm enough to chuck everyone in the pool to wear them all out and do it all again the following day.\u00a0 \u00a0And best of all?\u00a0 \u00a0We still have the real thing to look forward to next year (and still time to go on that big diet that I keep promising myself)… It was a real highlight of July, and a definite tonic for the soul after the last few months.<\/p>\n

I still believe the saying that you are meant to be somewhere at a certain time in your life.\u00a0 \u00a0I am not always happy to be back in the UK (still.\u00a0 Sorry about that!) but although generally, our country has and hasn’t coped with the pandemic equally I feel (and I am not going to go into the politics of the whole thing), it has been a comfort to be able to drive minutes up the road and see family at a distance, and get together as soon as we were able.\u00a0 \u00a0If we were still abroad who knows when we could have done that?<\/p>\n

Thankfully we have given the home-schooling the shove for the summer, and we will manage a few days away at lovely generous friend’s holiday cottage in late August, but apart from that we have very little planned, and right now I am very happy about that.<\/p>\n

I hope you have lovely plans for the Summer despite the circumstances, here’s to the Summer hols whatever they look like…<\/p>\n

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