At-home Weekend

I was at my friends house after school on Friday and we were talking about our plans for the weekend, as you do. I said we were planning on having an At-home weekend, quite possibly in our pyjamas for much of the time, and I was really, really looking forward to it.
My friend looked slightly alarmed and asked if we would be ok staying at home all weekend, wouldn't the children drive us nuts? Wouldn't we be climbing the walls, desperate to get out? Didn't the children need to be excercised? Wouldn't they go mad if they were cooped up all weekend, and wouldn't it all end in tears?  Because this is how it is in her house I guess. But in the Attic24 house, we have become very good at making At-home weekends work.



True, we don't seem to have them very often, and as it happened, we didn't stay indoors for the whole of the weekend :: we managed a short trip into town on Saturday to buy ourselves some magazines, and on Sunday a walk round a local reservoir and a wonderful Sunday lunch at a  village pub.
But essentially, as planned, we were delightfully, cosily, happily At Home.
And it was good.

The top picture is of our living room. Do you call it a  living room, or sitting room or lounge? I think we say living room, haha I'm not sure now I'm thinking about it! But anyways, whatever the word, its the room that we spend a lot of time in, especially during the weekend. We haven't decorated this room yet (well we haven't decorated any of the rooms yet), it remains as we found it when we moved in last year. And all the furniture came from our old house so consequently it's a little shabby, in need of a makeover, and generally quite untidy, but it is homely, relaxed, bright and warm, and we love it.

And this is our coffee table, as it looked this morning after the weekend was over. This table is never, ever, ever free of stuff. It is permanently in use, mostly as you can see by the Little People. You may remember me talking about this a while back. Oh I go through phases with this table. At times I rage with the Little People and despair at the state it is always in, beseach them to tidy their things away when they've finished with them. But mostly I've come to enjoy seeing them use this little table, love that they do various colouring/drawing/reading/roleplay/creative/construction activities here, that I can glance at the table throughout the day when they're at school and know that they will be home soon to carry on where they left off.
The table itself is nothing special :: I rescued it from the storage shed of our little local playgroup when they were having a clear out last summer, as it was destined for the skip. I had fully tended to give it a  makeover, possibly involving white or duck egg blue paint, but never got round to it. And now I'm not sure if I do want to paint it after all. It's quite worn and scratched, but I like that. I'll do what I do best and "ponder" it for quite some time more.
 

So this weekend, the little table was in constant use.
Magazines were browsed and coloured in.
Stories were read.

Afternoon tea was enjoyed (do you like my new spotty cake tin?? Tesco's, two tins for £4. Bargain? Yes wasn't it just!)

And during the later afternoon, at 4pm or thereabouts, J declared it to be fire-lighting time.

And so we settled down in front of the fire, using the little coffee table to hold an informal picnic tea. Actually, I would like to say a little something about this food here. On Saturday afternoon, I said to J that I wasn't going to cook :: I quite often bake at the weekends, and quite often refuse to cook meals. So he volunteered to go to the supermarket to buy non-cookable provisions for an impromptu At-home picnic. He came home with grapes, marinated olives and peppers, Chorizo sausage, a hunk of Wensleydale cheese with Autumn Fruits, some delicious little goats cheese and poppy seed cracker bites, and a french stick.

I was suitably impressed.
It was an utterly delicious picnic.
The rose wine just added the final rosy glow.

I am so very grateful  for our happy home life.
It's so very simply good.
And I try not to ever take it for granted.

Comments

[Rosa (larosanga)]

I really love your world!! Plein of colors and beauty.

[Frugal Trenches]

Oh I can so related, I like nothing more than an at home weekend with a good magazine (Country File or Coast) and a long walk!
Your blog is lovely!

[Elizabeth]

Lovely weekend indeed! I am also getting better at it myself. My 8yr. old son is every other weekend with me so we always have a major mess in the living room when he is here! Lots of pens, pencils and paper (he loves to draw and is very good at it too). Playmobil, wild animals and dinos all over the floor. In the evening it´s time to watch our favorite DVDs in my bed. And now and again I even bake some muffins :-)

[kitschen pink]

I have very mixed feelings after reading this post!! We very rarely go anywhere at the weekend. Shopping is strictly field sales or auctions, out of the house, usually means in the garden. "Untidy" means you cannot walk from one side of the room to the other without performing acrobatics and generally both the lighting of the fire and the opening of the wine would happen a lot lot earlier in the day! So I'm thinking this is all good? Also if we were to stay in our pyjamas we'd have to keep locking the door to the garden as neighbours are in the house before we hear them - most children know to ring the 'Fawlty Towers' bell on the hall cupboard, most adults know to make a beeline for the kettle! So we are 'At home', but sometimes it feels like the world tends to want to join us here! Lovely post. Thank-you for pointing out how important it is to think of the day to day things! t.xxxxx (LOVE your mantely piece bits and bobs!)x

[Sylvia C.]

Great post. Makes me feel all tingly inside.

truly,
Sylvia C.

[Mariana]

Oh Lucy, I can't believe it.
Where did you find "Chorizo de Pamplona"?
It's so weird to see it in your blog!

[Joanna]

You wont take your family life for granted because you are the one who works hard to make it work.

[periwinkle]

Looks like my kind of tea, he can do my shopping anytime :-)
Lisa x

[Kathryn]

Dear Lucy,
Looks so cosy your lounge room. Your fire & picnic look so inviting, bet you felt rested on the Monday.
Kathryn
Kathryn in the Loft
Australia

[Gill]

Have to say I haven't popped by for a while........

I think there is nothing better than having a weekend in the house. I love it, just chilling out all weekend, that is a perfect weekend for me.

Gill in Canada

[gardenymph]

"...homely, relaxed, bright, and warm..." Yes it is. May I come over for some tea? I feel much the same way about our living room. We are in desperate need of new furniture, but we will wait until the youngest is in the double digits at least.

I think this is such a wonderful post about the simple pleasures of home and family. These are the things that matter most in life, and the things that wrap us up in happiness. Thank you for sharing. :~) Oh, and we spent the whole day in our pj's yesterday. It was wonderful.

[AliceC]

Do you think you would notice if I borrowed your two adorable children for a weekend. Our house seemed very quiet, tidy and dull this weekend.

[Daisy Steiner]

Sounds like a lovely weekend to me.

[Lesley]

we never really do this i always seem to be running around like a headless chicken cramming stuff into the weekends so thanks for the idea to take time to do this once in a while!! i love those tins but they never have them in our local tesco :-(
Lesley x

[dottydesigns]

I want to come and live at your house it looks so cosy and warm with the lovely fire burning. FAB x

[Fiona]

We don't have children yet but we still love stay at home weekends. Especially in the winter it's lovely to be cosy at home. I very much appreciate our lovely home life too.

[Mrs Be]

Hello, sounds like a lovely ordinary weekend. Does make me wonder what your friend does at weekends, I'm not sure I'd have the energy!

[Claire]

Hi Lucy,

Just thought I'd let you know that despite the poop that's going on in my life right now your ramblings from the attic are still my daily treat and I love escaping into Lucy's world each day.

Thankyou

Clairex

[Sue]

After your post about the market and the evils of Tesco I was relieved to find two references to the supermarket in this post! Thank God I am not the only weak one.

[claire]

Apart from one mad children's party we did the same, mixed in with a dad and son trip down to Owxich beach armed with a bucket to collect Mussels! We had them for tea and yes we lived to tell the tale! I think quite a few locals foray there for moules, very sweet and tasty. I made felt jewellery whilst the kids mad glitter soup( don't ask) and hubby tied flies for fishing. yay for log burners, homemade cake, crayons and toy cars

[Jen]

I was thinking as I read that you sound like you try not take it for granted. Because, really, it goes by so fast and suddenly your almost 13-year-old is more interesed in Rock Band, YouTube, and girls. My 9 year old daughter still LOVES these kinds of weekends. She craves them and I think, after reading, that I should institute them at least once a month. The week is spent running running running and everyone, I think, would benefit so much from comfy pj's, warm blankies, and a snugglefest.

[Karen]

Hi Lucy, We love to have at home weekends too. This weekend we had a friend come up from Hampshire so even my oldest son (14) stayed in to see her. We did have a very blowy walk on the beach in the afternoon and tea in the beach cafe at the De La Warr Pavilion. Then home to more tea and cakes made by oldest son, chocolate sponge and your lemon cake. He had printed off the recipe himself! It was delicious.

[Pink feather paradise]

I love stay in weekends, I also have a red coffee pot exactly like yours and a smaller orange one, ideal for one cup of tea.... and what a lovely picnic... yummy chorizo and french bread......mmmmmmmmm

just how a family weekend should be

Alex

[kathy]

Hi Lucy, what a lovely weekend, I think staying in is the new going out. I HATE going out on a Saturday evening - this is the night my hubbie always cooks and we watch Merlin/X factor and read the papers. Oh and eat chocolate and drink wine too! Love it. Love the picnic - looks lovely but; did J go to the supermarket and not the market?!!! Lovely post, again. Really looking forward to meeting you at CL Kathyx

[Funkymonkey]

Sounds like a great weekend to me. My son is now old enough to make his own plans at the weekend (to an extent) and you do have to make the most of having the little ones around when they are young.I love it when we are all doing something together. I've also got the Tesco cake tins....very similar to EB, cheaper and just as cheerful.