Aug 20, 20202 min read

A picnic in the park

Rations day 5 (Year 2)

So here we are, the end of another rations week and, just like last year, I am sad to be stopping - not because I have developed a sudden love of cookery, but because rationing seems to have made our pace of life slow right down. We have found fascination and contentment in the everyday and we have also made time to do many things we wouldn’t usually do.

Today we went for a picnic. A real picnic with crocheted blankets and a wicker basket and homemade food. We sat beneath a shady tree and chatted and ate food together. The children played on rope swings and appeared much more free and independent than usual. There were no arguments or fights, they just played nicely.

Bryn also had his friend over, and they too were perfectly happy in the field, even though there was no Xbox!

Rationing, to me, always feels like a little holiday. A break from the norm. A little bit of self-care and a time to stop, reflect and refresh. Mentally I feel much calmer. I’ve stopped grinding my teeth at night, hooray! And I have slept more soundly, when my littlest one has allowed me to and physically I feel healthier, with the added bonus that I’ve lost 1lb this week, even though I’ve felt full up most of the time.

Bryn’s thoughts:

I will miss rations a little bit, I think that the war time bread is much better than shop bread and we should definitely bake some more to have with real butter!

My favourite thing about this week was going to the war time tea rooms and I would like to go there again, they make nice cake! I liked our picnic in the park and I liked that my sandwiches were wrapped in paper and string. We had fun playing on the swings.

Breakfast: Porridge with stewed apple, dried fruit and honey: (2/10) I had toast instead!