Rob’s first visit to The Shire

I apologize, dear readers for the lack of blogs lately. I have been very much caught up in the world of motherhood. As I have said before, time is a very hard thing to come by when you become a parent. There is never enough time to do everything you set out to do in a day. I wish at times I had a Tardis so I could fly through time and do all that extra little stuff I’ve forgotten to do, like eat that last doughnut before my husband got his paws on it.

Since the birth of Cabbit we have not had the time or the funds to take a trip to my hometown in Devon *insert sad face*. Yet fate smiled upon us and we were able to finally take the much-needed visit to The Shire last week *Yay*.

We packed the ‘bear necessities’ as we were going by train. Public transport with suitcases and a little one is a nightmare. Apart from being on the wrong platform a few minutes before our train was due to leave, the first quarter of the journey went smoothly. It was only when we were on the train to The Shire that Cabbit decided he wanted to have a jolly good scream. It was stressful, but as parents you learn to cope with it and ignore the tuts and stares, we even started tutting back haha. If Cabbit starts crying in public it doesn’t faze me, I do my best as a mother and do all I can to make him happy again. After you have been through labour and you realise you are raising another little human being, you kind of stop worrying about how you are perceived by the outside world, you just get on with it.

We arrived safe and sound thanks to my amazing dad (thanks dad) and breathed in that fresh cow dung air that my nose had forgotten to become accustomed to. We had a beautiful nine days of early evening spring walks feeding the ducks, visiting friends, having a drink or two and spending some much-needed time with the Mason family. Devon is truly a wonderful place and I feel lucky to have grown up there. I do miss the endless stretch of green fields, cows mooing loudly and uncontrollably and the relaxing, slow pace of life. City and even suburban life is fast and busy filled with noise and flashing bright lights. I think it’s healthy to take a break now and then from the city and suburbs, I’m a country girl through and through yet I have quickly adapted to the city/suburban way of life, which sometimes in itself can be scary. My husband finds it amusing as apparently I sound more like I’m from Surrey than Devon, which would explain why new people are taken aback when I say I’m from Devon. Maybe if I do the accent it wouldn’t confuse people so much?

Overall I think Cabbit loved his little trip to Devon visiting the grandparents and friends (thank you mum and dad for letting us stay) We really hope we get to go again soon, I think all three of us have sworn off traveling on the train for a long time right now. Trains should definitely have more space for prams, bicycles and wheelchairs, it’s very limited but I will keep that rant for another time.

I’m off to bake my Easter cake! Nom nom nom!