Simple pleasures
From sandy sandwiches to slip-on sandals, Jackie Clune sings the praises of holidays at home
When your kids are young, the start of the school holidays sparks dread among most parents – what are we going to do with the little blighters for six whole weeks?
The relief at not having to get them out of bed and into freshly ironed uniforms every day is quickly replaced by the existential dread of the unstructured days yawning ahead of us.
Now that my kids are older – an 18-year-old and 17-year-old triplets – they mostly lie on the sofa moaning or become nocturnal, emerging at night to fill the sink with dirty cereal and pasta bowls. Still, I no longer have the constant whine of ‘I’m bored’.
Last year, having been forced into staycations due to COVID-19, many of us found a renewed love for the great British summer. Here are my top 10 things to love about British Summer Time.
1 The nights get longer
It’s that glorious thing all Brits do at around 5pm on a random Wednesday from mid-March, exclaiming, ‘Ooh look!
It’s five o’clock and it’s STILL LIGHT!’
Getting some daylight after work always feels like such an unexpected bonus, even though it happens every year. We feel so smug with our extra daylight, and personally it always makes me giddy. Sitting out in the garden with a large glass of chilled wine and looking up at the stars.
Staying at the seaside until 8pm! Like a European!
Then going home at dusk sunburnt and sore, and saying, ‘It’s STILL LIGHT!’
2 Cricket
Not the game. I can’t stand that – loads of men in cream trousers covered in grass stains waiting for something to happen for 12 hours.
I don’t like cricket, but my husband does, and from April to October he’s out every Sunday from midday until about 9pm, when he staggers in and tries to tell me all about it. I’ve taken to interrupting him with ‘I’m sorry, none of this means anything to me and I’m bored’, but it doesn’t deter him. What it does mean is I have all day Sunday to watch reality TV and eat biscuits without anyone moaning.
3 Crabbing
Last summer I visited my brother in Devon and I was entranced by all the kids keeping vigil with their crabbing nets at the quayside. Most of them had several large crabs in a bucket. It was so retro and innocent – these kids who probably spent all winter chained to their computer games were learning the art of patience. I can’t wait to do it this summer. It’s about as exciting as the British seaside gets – hoarding crustaceans in a bucket of tepid brown water.
4 Rain
I am Irish and have never had a suntan (unless you count the year my freckles reached a critical mass). Beach holidays abroad for me involve carting huge umbrell
