Provisions

The weather has taken another turn for the worse, after the brief summery spell we had last week. The driving showers are particularly unwelcome given the imminent approach of the holiday, seeing that any level-headed person would prefer, if given the choice, a bit of warmth and sunshine if at all possible, rather than be confined indoors by howling gales and torrential storms. There is only so much Monopoly you can play. But perhaps the weather will improve by the weekend. Despite all the current forecasts.

I ought to do more packing. I've started creating little piles of clothes in various bedrooms to pack into a bag at some undefined point in the future. The little piles aren't actually that little, and are maybe more accurately described as ridiculously large, representing all the items I would like to take with me if I were going on holiday for at least 4 months and intended to visit diverse climates ranging from tropical rain forest to polar ice cap. So there will need to be a stage of filtering in the next few days, to reduce the pile to an essential minimum. And given we are going to a self-catering establishment, I tend towards taking a few essential items of kitchen equipment and food items that are unlikely to be obtainable in rural Wales. Again, it is easy to get carried away with this and cram the car with more food than you could realistically eat within a week even if you were unable to leave the house because of interminable howling gales and torrential storms, so that you end up taking it all back home with you, or consider leaving it as a gift for the next occupant of the holiday house. It is all too much stress. Holidays should be carefree and relaxing, but they come at such a hefty price.