Home Sweet Home

The phrase ‘home is where the heart is’ might be a sickening cliché but I have never felt this is more true than when I came home from France for the first time in six weeks. Everything, from my own bed and working internet, to the view of the countryside and my animals, is something I always try not to take advantage of, but is something I wholeheartedly appreciated after being away for a while.

The transformation since I’ve left is really quite dramatic. No more are the full green trees, the luscious grass, and the colourful flower beds; in fact it seems like the magic has gone a bit (NB: this has nothing to do with your beautiful gardening mum, I blame the weather entirely!). That is until I get inside, curl up next to the fire in a blanket on a real sofa as the nights draw in. And then suddenly I see everything with this warm glow as I appreciate just how lucky I am.

A rare moment of nice weather to see the sunset from my room

There was an abundance of home-cooked meals which were incredible, particularly the apple crumbles (with our own apples I might add), so thanks mum! And I was greeted with a gorgeous Victoria sponge that mum had baked for me as a welcome home munch. Needless to say, I’m eating less now I’m back in France to compensate for all of those goodies!

Obviously being at home again meant I basically jumped on Toffee, who was barely able to give me the ‘who are you?’ look this time. I feel so bad, I’m not a horse and I’m under no impression that he thinks like that really. But I do know that being away like this is not doing my bond with him any good, and he is a pony who really does benefit from a horse-rider bond. Worse still, as soon as he gets remotely used to me again, I’ll be jetting off back to Paris. Heartbreaking. But I took him out for a hack by myself in the second week, and I have never felt so happy galloping across the fields on him. It was utterly fantastic and he is a super pony.

Welcome Home!

I managed to get up north to see my grandparents as well. They haven’t seen me for quite a long time, and I haven’t been able to get their calls in France so I haven’t spoken to them either. We have written several letters but it is still difficult because I do miss them a lot. Living so far away from them really sucks too. I would love to be that granddaughter who could just pop over to their house for a cup of tea, I wouldn’t even mind if it was an hour away; but it’s three and that’s rubbish. I am so grateful that we were able to see them before I returned to France.

This post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that I also met up with my lovely friends. It was as if we had never been apart and after we had a brief catch up about work and our placements, we proceeded to catch up on all of the gossip and drama in our lives. It was over too quickly, and I miss them all already.

There really is nothing like home, and nothing like the things you know, the life you know. But I suppose what I have to remember is that things which are unknown to me now, could actually be some of the best things in my life one day. So whilst I don’t want to go back to France, and I don’t want to leave home, I must remember the opportunities and experiences which present themselves and for which I will probably be as thankful for in the future as I am thankful for the life I already have. 

Puss in Boots eyes as I have never seen them before- she saw me packing