Girls Weekend Day 1

In the middle of September I went to Liverpool with Sam, Jac, and Jodie. We had decided to do this to celebrate all their birthdays, we thought it was easier than faffing about with presents. Jac booked an Airbnb and did most of the planning. I wanted to go to Guac n Roll which is an all vegan DIY cafe thing that belongs to some people Lee knows. He's played there a couple of times and recommended the food, so I wanted to go. Then Sam chose a couple of restaurants too. It was a busy couple of nights! 

I picked Sam up from Penistone station and we set off to Liverpool. The drive across Woodhead Pass and then the M60 and M62 was fine and we made it to Crosby beach in good time, except I went the wrong way in Liverpool a couple of times. We made it to meet Jac and Jodie at about 11.30, right on the beach. We wanted to see the Anthony Gormley statues so we walked on the beach. The tide was going out and in the time we were there we saw a few reveal themselves as the water left them, which was cool. There are a few that are probably always visible. It's a nice beach so we enjoyed a little walk and a sit. It wasn't raining which was good as it was forecast.

We then drove around the edge of Liverpool to get to our Airbnb which was in Cressington on Aigburth Road. It was one of the nicer Airbnbs I've been in. It was above a shop and on the first floor there were three bedrooms, one with an ensuite bathroom, one with twin beds, and one with a balcony leading off from it. Jac wanted the balcony one, and Sam and Jodie said they would share, so I lucked out and got the ensuite bedroom to myself! Then on the second floor there was a big living room slash kitchen. The only problem was the water was a bit weird and made a lot of noise. 

Anyway we checked in and then we were hungry and hadn't planned lunch so we went across the road to a Toby Carvery. I had a mac and cheese Yorkshire pudding wrap which was delicious, if very carb-y! We went back over to the Airbnb and had birthday cake (it was Jac's actual birthday) and sat on the balcony outside for a bit enjoying some fresh air. Then we went inside and sat for a bit watching Red Dwarf as we had a bit of a theme going on. Jodie had never seen it before so we were able to introduce her to it and watched a few favourite episodes. 

We got ready and got a taxi about 7 to go to the Light of Bengal which is unsurprisingly an Indian restaurant. It was the brightest Indian restaurant I think I've ever been in in my life and the staff were all really friendly. We were still pretty full so we had poppadums and pickles to start with, and then I had paneer dopiaza with a paratha. I'm really into paratha at the moment, they're so delicious. Sam and Jac and I shared a bottle of prosecco and we got a taxi back. We sat upstairs drinking Hooch, for goodness sake, and watching Red Dwarf again. 

I was wearing an old Scarlett and Jo dress which is lush for an evening out, I'm so happy to have it unpacked again. 

The beach, looking gorgeous

You can just see some of the statues peeking out of the water

Here's one from the back

And one half buried

We trudged through quite a lot of quicksand and water which was fun

Looking up the other way, how pretty

I liked the moody lighting of this one

The Aigburth Arms! Which is where Dave Lister was found under a pool table. Watch the show

Jacqui's birthday cake! It was very cute

Enjoying the party outside in my pyjamas, which I had put on to relax in for a while

Jac brought me these lucky dip Sanrio things from America and I love them both!

And here's my dress just before I got back into my pyjamas!

Weekend with My Aunt

In the middle of September my aunt Caroline came to stay with us for the weekend so she could see the new house. We are getting there so much with it, doing lots of unpacking and sorting things out. We've got a spare room with a bed in, so space for her to stay over. We had plans for Saturday but they fell through but we ended up having a really lovely day anyway! 

Sarah had been over on the Friday morning and then I was very tired so I got into my pyjamas and rested for the rest of the day. I had warned my aunt of this, so she wasn't too shocked when she turned up at about 7.30! We showed her round the house and then we cooked curry for tea for all of us. We then sat in the living room watching TV and doing some quiz questions. 

On Saturday morning I slept quite late - again, still knackered and in need of sleep - and once Lee and I were both up and ready we set out to Barnsley in Caroline's car. Ours was broken but that was a whole other problem that I won't bore you with. Caroline and I had been going to go to Meadowhall with Lolly but she wasn't well, so we decided to go into town instead. We parked and walked through the Glassworks to begin with. I bought myself some bath bombs in the independent shop that sells bath bombs and wax melts. I'm loving having a bath in the new house and so far I've had at least one a week! It's a nice chance to relax. 

We went into the Alhambra which has gone downhill in recent years which is a shame, but Caroline bought a jacket that she liked in the plus size shop in there. We then walked on to the street with all the charity shops on it and went in each of them, but I'm not sure any of us bought anything. As we then went back on to the precinct Lee wanted to go to the record shop and Caroline wanted to pop in somewhere else, so I walked through the market and had a look at the second hand stall. We all met up at Urban Burgers, so decided to eat there. I really have to be in the mood because their veggie burger is more like a veggie hash brown, but I decided it would be nice. We all enjoyed them.

We then went into TK Maxx; Lee and I had vouchers to spend so we wanted to get some things for the kitchen. We ended up getting two new pans, a teal clock, salt and pepper grinders, and new pots for tea, coffee, and sugar. They didn't have any sets for the last three so we ended up just buying three we liked, but they have a similar vintage vibe to them so we were happy. 

After that we walked back to the car and came home. We had walked miles! We came back home and before I put my pyjamas on I got a picture of my dress, which was my Mary Poppins dress. I haven't worn it in forever! This cardigan came from TK Maxx about six years ago and I love the colour and thought it was cute with this dress. 

We relaxed for the rest of the night, we watched a film and other things, and we had some snacks to eat at about 9pm because we weren't hungry before. On the Sunday, Caroline didn't want to be too late before she set off home, so we made fried eggs and smashed avocado on sourdough toast for all of us, which was nice. 

I am loving having so much space in the new house for people to stay! 

Everything we got from TK Maxx, the clock has gone on the wall in the kitchen 

And in my Mary Poppins dress before I got changed

Spa Day with Gemma

On the 9th of September I went to Yorkshire Spa Retreat with my friend Gemma. We had both seen this advertised and liked the idea of it, especially because it has a wild swimming pond, and we had booked to go way back in April or something. Gemma works in Kyiv but she comes home every six weeks or so. So we had booked it for one of her breaks. But then just the day before we got an email saying that the hot tub was broken. We decided that this was one of the big draws for the place, so we postponed the trip. We booked again for the 9th of September and made plans just before. Gemma had hired a car so offered to pick me up, and we made a booking for afternoon tea in Helmsley after the spa. Gemma arrived at mine at about 9.45 and we set off to North Yorkshire!

Lee and I had gone past the sign for the Yorkshire Spa Retreat when we went to the Verbena Spa in Helmsley in June, so I was expecting to go that way, but Gemma's sat nav took us a different way which had us drive through the Castle Howard grounds, which were beautiful. We arrived at the retreat at bang on 11.30, which was when our booking started. The retreat has the spa and then all lodges around it, that you can stay in, and it's in a really tranquil setting. We walked through to the spa and were briefly shown round before being shown the changing rooms to get changed. They were gender neutral and our lockers had our names on, with a robe, flip flops, and a water bottle inside. There were four changing cubicles, each with a shower in. Four didn't really seem like enough but we didn't have to wait or anything. I got changed and was pleased to find that the robe actually fitted me!

We headed outside and found two loungers together in the sunshine. They were lovely curved loungers and I would love one of them for home, to be honest! We sat chatting and soaked up some sun. There were QR codes on each coffee table where you could order food and drinks, so we ordered some nibbles and drinks. And now here's the first problem. I ordered all of it, for both of us, to say thank you to Gemma for driving us. I didn't put anything in the special instructions for the drinks, so when it all came, Gemma's drink wasn't exactly what she wanted. She said so, and the staff member really should have said 'Oh, not a problem, I'll just redo it'. Instead she had a proper attitude with us and said 'You should have written thaton the order!'. I said 'Oh that's my fault because I didn't know, I'm sorry' and she carried on having an attitude and even when she brought the drink back she was STILL on it. Gemma stood her ground and called out the attitude but it was a bit of a dampener on the situation. 

We ate and drank and then got into the wild pool. This is the main draw of this spa but believe me when I say it is COLD. It was nineteen degrees which isn't many at all! Gemma went in first and sat on the edge which divides the swimming area from the truly wild area, and I followed her. The sun was shining so our top halves were warm but our bottom halves were NOT. We tried to acclimatise but it was too cold for me. We decided to brave it and walk to the other steps. The bottom of the pool is pretty slippery as it has lots of algae on it (which I get, because it's wild) so I basically skated to the other steps and got out. If you like wild swimming this could be much more up your street but it was a bit too cold for me. 

We got out and went straight into the hot tub, which felt SO warm after the cold pool. It has seats and also loungers in it, so we stayed in there a good long while. Gemma then went into a couple of the hot rooms but I stayed in the hot tub a bit longer. Eventually I went into the steam room, which was malfunctioning a bit, and into the saunas, which weren't too hot for me. It was nice to keep wandering about between the rooms. 

Eventually Gemma and I met up again and sat in the sunshine for a little bit longer. By this time it was 2.30 so our spa time was over, so we went back into the changing rooms. I had a shower and got dressed and we headed out to go into Helmsley. 

Before I get to that I would say that the spa isn't really worth the money. Quite apart from the staff attitude, there just isn't a lot to do and you don't get very long there without spending a fortune. The wild pool was lovely and I'm glad I got to try it but I found it just too cold - colder than the sea I've been in recently - and the other stuff didn't make up for it. It was a bit generic? And the attitude of the staff member really didn't help. I could complain but I really can't be bothered. 

Anyway! We went, we tried, we had a nice day. Then we went into Helmsley to go to the Faversham Arms. As a reminder, this is where Lee and I went to the spa on our anniversary in June, and it's a gorgeous spa and we really enjoyed it. I said to Gemma we'll have to go there one time. We booked the afternoon tea and got there about 3.30. We were taken into a room by the pool which was empty except for us, which didn't bother us too much. The afternoon tea was lovely! 

I had ordered vegetarian sandwiches for me so I got four curried egg ones and two cheese and pickle ones, which were lovely. Then there were cheese scones too, and then fruit scones with clotted cream and jam. Then there was a massive selection of cakes, which we couldn't eat so we ended up bringing most of them home! I had decaf coffee in a lovely cafetiere. We finished eating about 4.30 so paid and set off home. Traffic actually wasn't too bad; Gemma dropped me off in Wakefield and then Lee came to pick me up! It was a good day together

First of all I was really happy because the robe fitted me fully, and was nice and cosy too

Here's Gemma and I as we walked through the spa area. There were a few people there but not loads - I think they keep numbers down so it feels exclusive

Here's the nibbles and drinks we ordered; if we had known this was possible we may not have booked the afternoon tea, but no matter

The wild pond as we walked round

It is beautiful

Here you can see the mark between the swimming bit and the proper wild bit

This is the relaxation room where Gemma spent some time but I didn't, but it was very tranquil and had cosy beds and blankets

The hot tub and you can just see the amazing loungers

Next here's the pretty china in the Faversham Arms 

The afternoon tea - how does it fill you up so much?!

And my sandwiches

And finally here's my oufit, taken in the mirror in the bathroom. This yellow skirt has been in storage all year so I am really glad to see it again!