Where would you go?

When life gets a little too much, when it's too busy or stressful, too chaotic and full-on, do you have somewhere you wish you could retreat to? When you just want to pull the blankets up over your head and stay in bed all day, do you wish you had a teleporter that could zap you somewhere peaceful, serene, quiet?

Where would that place be? What would you do with that one precious day away from the world. A day just for you, no one else. A day that when you returned to the real world would have re energised you and ironed out all the stress. A tropical resort? A mountain retreat? A read of a good book in your favourite armchair?

For me, I would go to my Grandma's house in the country. I would wake up to the sound of her and her husband shuffling around in the kitchen, clanging tea cups and cereal bowls. The ABC news in the background behind exclamations of "You silly old fool". I would look around the pink bedroom I always slept in, the rose door handles which were the height of chic to me. I would see the bright blue background of the photo of my late great aunt on the wall.

After breakfast, we'd potter around the garden, feed the fish in the pond, sit in the morning sun and chat as the bees buzzed from flower to flower, with a whiff of rosemary coming from the bush below the clothes line. The cross word would be completed after much pondering and queries called out.

The grandfather clock would strike midday and we'd sit down to lunch (or dinner as they called it). A big hearty meal, baked custard and apples for dessert. Dishes cleared and washed and it was time for a kip. Sleep comes quickly and easily in this house, whether it's the air or the rhythmic tick-tock of the clocks, I'm not sure.

We'd wake and take a dip in the pool. After drying off it's time for afternoon tea and a game of Scrabble or Boggle. A lot of laughter and accusations of cheating ensues and before long it's time to pull the heavy curtains closed and get the tea ready.

Dinner (or tea) of lunch leftovers and then settling back to watch the ABC news and other programs for the evening before retiring for the night. Waking up the next morning in the real world, I would feel like I'd had a month's holiday.