A month on from my last post and now the question I am hearing often has changed to 'so what's it like to be back?' We've been back in the UK and back in our old house in Penicuik for a week and a half now, and to tell you the truth it's a little bit surreal. I'm not completely convinced that we ever went to France. All the evidence suggests that we probably went on a long-ish holiday somewhere, but since everything in the house looks the same, all our old belongings are in the same places they used to be, and our lovely neighbours are still there - I suspect it might have all been a dream. There is just the small but noisy object that is Alec to remind us that a few things have changed in the last 2 years.
I have to say though, it is good to be back. I say that with a slight sense of hesitation, because I am worried that people will think we didn't enjoy our time in France or - worse - that we don't miss the people we left behind. We did and we do. But coming back to Penicuik has been like slipping on a comfortable pair of slippers - a pair that you had almost forgotten you still had, hidden down the back of the wardrobe somewhere, and now you're wondering why you ever thought about throwing them out.
While our tenants didn't exactly leave our house in a wonderful state ('cleaning' doesn't seem to have been a familiar word to them), and there has been a lot of stuff to sort out since we came back (clearing the garden of bags of dog s**t for example...), getting the house back in order has been mercifully quick and coming back to it after a 2 year break has spurred us on to do all those things we never got round to before - repainting the dining room, fixing that bit of broken gutter, chopping down a few trees in the garden. We have a renewed hatred for letting agents and their weasel-word contracts, which promise nothing but charge you 15% for the pleasure. And we have vowed never again to let our house out to someone with 'a dog' - or rather, as it transpired, 'three dogs, three cats and two rabbits'.
Happily, we have also swapped the sound of French motorbikers racing down the road past our house day and night for the gently rippling sound of the river at the bottom of the garden. And we have been reunited with our wood burner! Even in July, the Scottish weather is kind enough to let us use it.
Armed with an energetic toddler who demands entertainment every waking hour of the day, I've also started to see the area through new eyes. The woodland walks and rambles around our local woodland and the Pentland Hills that I used to enjoy so much on my own have been transformed into exciting nature discovery adventures that will keep Alec happy for hours. I've also found a new community centre 5 minutes up the road that has cheap coffee (tick), free wifi (tick) an indoor play area (tick) and a playground (tick) for slightly less adventurous days. Another 10 minutes in the car takes us to The Kabin in Loanhead, a great soft play centre (also with cafe and free wifi) that Alec thought was amazing, and 10 minutes more takes us to the Toots play cafe - an ingenious idea started by a fellow mum looking for a way to drink her cappuccino in peace (yes, there's wifi there too). I've discovered the children's area at the National Museum of Scotland, which Andy and I previously bypassed on our regular trips to the museum, and I haven't even got started on the Museum of Rural Life (animals - tick), Dynamic Earth (science and buttons to press - tick) or Andy's favourite, the Falkirk Wheel (big machinery - tick).
Of course, I'm back to work 3 days a week now, so all this activity has to be sandwiched into my 2 days with Alec during the week, but that is also a good thing. Instead of getting up each morning and thinking, 'Right, how can I entertain Alec today?' I'm now happy to be getting time to myself on work days, thinking about more than snacks and naps and nappy changes, while on my days off I get up thinking 'Lovely, a day off and some time with Alec!' There is still time, of course, to be worn down by the monotony and rigour of daily life, but for now it's Bienvenue en Ecosse and Och aye the noo. Scotland, thanks for having us back.
