Visit to Woodland Spa

Before I start, I have to note that the next posts in my list of posts to write are actually Films of the Month posts for September and October. But I'm quite far behind with blogging - not so much on here, but definitely on my book blog - and I think I will just skip over those posts. I just don't have it in me to write them right now. I've had a rough few weeks. My health has been very up and down and I am getting more tests and will hopefully have some diagnoses soon. I've been working more which I find difficult, and I've given up one client because my health has been hard. I've been watching far fewer films partly because I've started watching Emmerdale again and it takes forever to keep up with it. My writing has also suffered because of working and ill health and so on. It's been rough around here. So those posts can just disappear, they don't really matter right now. I am going to think hard about whether I carry on doing those posts in 2026. We'll see... 

Anyway! I do have a few proper posts to write and I really want to get the ones on this blog done and then I can get the book reviews all done (I have eleven to do as of today, and of course as I keep reading books, there are always more to be done) before Christmas, which of course brings about more blogging too. Life, man! Keeps happening!

I can't believe we're nearly into 2026. Life goes fast. 

For my birthday Lee bought me a voucher to Woodland Spa in Burnley. We have been before, we went on Lee's birthday in 2024. It is the best spa I have ever been to and I am looking forward to going again at some point. It was a surprise present and I was absolutely thrilled. The spa isn't cheap so it was nice of him to get it. We talked all year about when to use the voucher and finally decided to go at the beginning of November. There are outdoor parts to the spa but we reckoned they would be warm enough in November. And they were! 

One of the great things about this spa is that you can arrive from about 10am and you don't have to leave until the spa shuts at 9.30pm! So it's good value for money! I don't like it when you've spent a lot but only get a few hours. The package we had bought included dining, which was a main course and pudding, and a glass of wine, and it's all lovely food and worth the money. But there are also two other bars where there are plenty of drinks to choose from and some small nibble type dishes, so you won't go hungry at all. As we had so much time and as we live over an hour away, we waited until after rush hour and arrived at the spa at around 10.30am. We went and got changed and went into the old spa bit, which is really lovely also. There's a big warm pool in the middle with loads of different jets and so on. It is surrounded by heated loungers, and there are the steps which lead into the pool that goes outside. 

I was keen to get into the water so immediately got into this pool. It was so warm and lovely. Lee was on the edge but he did join me. We then went into the outside bar and had a hot drink each and sat by the firepit keeping ourselves warm. By the time we had done that, we weren't far away from being dry, so we decided to not go back in the water because we had lunch booked at 12.30 I think. So we went into the relaxation area which is on the mezzanine of the new main spa area. I laid in a pod seat thing all by myself and read my book for a bit. 

When we went before, the restaurant was up on the rooftop but they were working on the restaurant on the first floor, and now it's open. Anyone can use it, not just from the spa, but the spa guests are sort of at one side I guess because they might be wet. I had a goats cheese sandwich and Lee had fish and chips. Then I had brownie with Baileys ice cream and honeycomb crunch and other delicious things. 

We went upstairs to the rooftop hot tub and then we went into the main huge spa area, and then we went into the quiet pool which is salty so you can float in it, and then we went in to the siwmming pool which was actually warm enough to swim in, and then we went into the outdoor hot tubs, and then we had another hot drink, and then we went back in the main one, and so on and so on, we just kept moving around. We were relaxing lots and each doing what we wanted for certain bits. I read quite a lot of my book. 

Again due to traffic we waited until a bit later to leave. I washed my hair with really lovely supplies in the shower. I think it was about 6.30 when we set off home. We stopped off at the Tesco in Hyde on the way home. We will be back! 

Blogger does this annoying thing where it uploads my photos in reverse number order, and usually I sort them first to last, but I can't be bothered doing that today. So these photos will somewhat speak for themselves... 

Lee and I towards the end when I was in a hot tub and Lee was just sitting on the side

Me in the hot tub, that pool is just so warm and gorgeous

Looking at the setting sun over the outside bar area

Me in one of the outdoor hot tubs

The main inside spa area - this is what was new in the refurbishment and it is so new and so amazing 

In the old bit, which is no less lovely and warm and inviting

Outside, I was relaxing on a lounger and it wasn't too cold to do that

Outdoor hot tub

Looking at the pool and the new restaurant area

The quiet area and pool

The loungers on the rooftop part

The rooftop hot tub

Pudding

Lee in the restaurant

Looking down on the main pool area 

The mezzanine area relaxation space

The outdoor pool

Coffee first thing

And finally the old hydrotherapy pool area, just before I got in in the morning when it really looks like no one else was there!

Tea Out with Roslyn

Towards the end of October I met up with my friend Ros for tea. She works in a school so half term is the best time to catch her, so we had made plans for the Tuesday evening. I drove to her house and she drove us into Sheffield. She has a blue badge which meant we could park right near City Hall. We had decided to go to Pho because we both like it. So we got there and it wasn't too busy, but it wasn't too empty either, which was nice. 

I had the veggie summer rolls with peanut sauce, and I had the spicy tofu curry for a change instead of the ordinary one. I've had it before and it's sometimes too spicy for me, but this time it was lovely and I really enjoyed it. 

When we had finished it still wasn't very late so I said to Ros that we should go somewhere else for coffee or something, because her kids would still be awake at home and if she went home she would just end up putting them to bed and she was supposed to be having a break. She suggested we went to the Chocolate Bar which is near to Cambridge Street Collective. I've been past it but haven't been in, but I've heard it's great. So we walked over there. It's very cute inside, although it doesn't have a lot of seats. You choose the percentage of chocolate that you want. I think I had 60% and I ordered a humongous slice of chocolate cake too. I only ate half the cake and took the rest of it home for Lee and I to share later. 

We had a good chat and it was nice to spend some time with one of my oldest friends. We went back to hers but by the time we got there it was about 8.50 so I just came home. When I got home Lee was about to get in the bath so I made him take my photo before I got changed. I was wearing my galaxy print dress from Topsy Curvy, with red marl tights that are excellent winter tights, and my purple and green checked cardigan. I pulled out some of my favourite boots for the first time in the season. They're from Pavers or something I think, and they're very comfy. I love the patent black of them and the detailing on the front. 

Summer rolls and peanut sauce, as is tradition. I had some kind of dragonfruit drink, which was delicious

Spicy tofu curry

My slab of chocolate cake, I only ate the bottom third

Ros and I outside the Chocolate Bar 

My galazy print dress and cardigan

And my boots and tights!

Night Away at Thorpe Park Hotel

For my birthday in January Sam, Jacqui and Jodie bought me a spabreaks.com voucher, which was a great present as I love going to a spa. I decided to leave it until after we had moved house, and then I booked myself a night at Thorpe Park Hotel near Leeds. I went once for a meal for a friend's hen party back in 2012, but I had never been to the spa or stayed over. A lot of people rave about it, so I was looking forward to trying it. I booked a night with a food allowance, plus access to the spa, by myself. Lee wanted me to take him but no, I wanted to be by myself! 

I had high expectations and sadly the hotel didn't meet them. There were a few reasons why. I was in touch with them before my arrival and was told my spa access was only from 3pm when it was check in, which was a bit disappointing because I would have liked to go earlier for a longer time. I ordered some chocolates for myself for the room in the emails, too. I set off about 2.15pm after I'd had brunch with Lee and Sam, and got there about 3pm. 

There was the first problem - there were tons of people checking in at that time and the queue was really long and there was one member of staff. I had to stand in a queue for ages, which is very painful for me. I finally got up to the room at about 3.25. This of course cut into my spa time even more, which was annoying. 

The room was lovely - the bathroom had a lovely shower and lovely products in it, and the room had a huge bed and a sofa area. The wardrobes had a dressing gown and a sleep kit in which were both nice touches. There was a fridge and a coffee machine and a kettle for tea. I couldn't work the coffee machine which was annoying, but they did have decaf coffee. But they didn't have my chocolates! So I phoned down for them and someone brought them straight away which was good, but I was a bit annoyed that they weren't there when I checked in.

I put my swimming costume on and went down to the spa in the dressing gown (which was nice and big!) about 3.35 and went in. There's a pool which isn't huge but is nice and warm, and it's big enough to swim in. At one edge there's a big quiet room, which looked lovely but I didn't go in it. At another edge there is a sauna and a steam room and a shower. On the third edge is another relaxation area and a hot tub. The hot tub is quite big but I didn't feel it was big enough for the number of people in the spa. There were people in the hotel in there of course, but it's also a place you can belong to to use, so there were a lot of people around even for a Sunday evening. It took me a while to actually get into the hot tub because it was so busy. 

I swapped between the pool, the hot tub, and the steam room, and it was nice. I sat and read my book for a bit too. But it maybe wasn't the amazingly relaxed time I had envisioned. There was a bit of a fracas between a man and a woman and her children. They didn't know each other and I'm not entirely sure what the man thought the woman and her children were doing but he was quite rude to her, it was weird. 

I got out of the spa at about 6.30 and went back up to my room. I couldn't work the TV which was annoying - it turned out there were two remote controls - so I had a shower before I went down to the restaurant. I had booked my table for 7.30 so got down just before then. I knew I would be sitting by myself and it was fine - I had gone prepared with my book. The restaurant is nice but the service was sloooow. I had French onion soup and halloumi curry which was bizarre, I should have gone for something else. Alongside I had a lovely glass of red wine. I might have ordered some pudding but no one came to ask me, and I got fed up, so I just excused myself to the staff and went back up to my room. I had some biscuits in there anyway. But again, it's just something else I was bothered by. 

I got the TV working and watched some rubbish TV while I got into bed and relaxed. I ended up going to sleep really late because I was finishing my book! 

In the morning I got up and got packed up and everything and headed down to breakfast at about 9.30 I think. I wasn't that impressed with the breakfast. It was a buffet and there wasn't a lot of veggie options and there were no pastries left. There was also no decaf coffee which is extremely annoying in such a hotel! I ordered some veggie sausages which took ages to come, and I got some bits from the buffet and took a seat. Someone brought some more pastries out so I grabbed a couple. It was fine, but again just not as good as I was expecting.

I went and packed all my things up and checked out early because I wanted to go to craft club for the last hour or something, so I left about 10am even though check out wasn't until eleven. I then ran into the final problem. As I said, I had a meal allowance of £30 included in the booking I had made, and I had spent about that, plus my glass of wine, so I knew I had to pay for the wine. However the girl on reception said the bill was about £40 and I was just like ....nope. I pulled up my email and she did try to argue with me about it. But I paid for the wine and left!

I really think that as it's a four star hotel it should just be better than it is! The service just wasn't what I would expect! But hey, I did have a good time and enjoyed my little trip by myself. 

In a rose print dress on my way out to the hotel

My room which was really lovely and well equipped

There were lots of nice touches to the room

The pool in the spa, I didn't take many photos because there were a lot of people and kids around

The chocolates when I finally got them

French onion soup, it was delicious 

The curry wasn't quite as good, though. It was very sweet

But I did enjoy the glass of decent red!

Weekend with Sam

On the 25th of October Sam came to see our new house as she hadn't seen it yet. We had got the time planned with Jacqui, but she wasn't well so had to not come, which was a shame. But Sam and I had a good time anyway! 

First of all we met in Barnsley to see the Bruce Springsteen film Deliver Me from Nowhere. We had already decided to do this when my mum asked if I wanted to see the film so I said she should come with Sam and I. So we all met at the cinema at 11.15 and went in. 

I thought the film was pretty good. I would have liked to see more of the E Street Band but I tohught Jeremy Allen White was good and it sounded good. I'm glad we saw it in the cinema. Afterwards my mum went straight home because there was rugby on that she wanted to watch, otherwise she might have joined me and Sam. We went next door to The Botanist for a bottomless brunch. 

I haven't been there for bottomless brunch before and was impressed with it. The drinks were plentiful and there was a good choice of food. I went for a vegan burger which was nice. When our bottomless brunch time was done we had a drink or two more each, I can't remember. We were waiting for Lee to pick us up. 

When he did, we had to go back to the old house for something so Sam and I stayed outside in the car and by the time we had done I think I had totally sobered up. We popped into the Co op (which was weird but we used to go there all the time but not since we moved to Penistone, of course - we have new local shops!) and got some snacks and stuff and then headed back to the new house. We showed Sam round. She was the third person to stay on the new sofa bed because my mum and stepdad had stayed there just a couple of nights before and said it was comfortable. 

I was wearing tights and boots - it's tights and boots season, bitches! - and also a new dress that I got off Vinted. It's a Carolina Dress Room one and it was new with tags for about fifteen quid. I love the pattern of it and think I will wear it a lot over the winter with different tights and cardigans. My boots are a pair of Dr Marten Chelsea boots that I got off Vinted as a present a few years ago. The black wears off revealing the red underneath as you wear them. They're so comfy! 

Sam and Lee and I all got into comfy clothes pretty soon and sat on the sofa to watch films for the rest of the night. As it was close to Halloween we watched Return of the Living Dead and An American Werewolf in London. Sam and I shared some wine and this ridiculous strawberry cider she brought. 

On the Sunday morning we went to Holme Coffee House for brunch. Sam hadn't been before so it was nice. Lee and I love it - I've been so many times since we moved here! It's my go to place to take people! I had a Halloween hot chocolate which was overly sweet so I wouldn't bother getting it again. Then I had sausage, cheese, and avocado ciabatta, with fried eggs too. The food is always great. 

When we had eaten Sam headed down to the train station to go home and Lee and I went home for a bit before I went out again... 

In the cinema just as the film started. There were less than ten of us watching it

My vegan burger in The Botanist. I think we shared some halloumi fries too. I apparently didn't get any photos of my drinks but they were really nice

Boots and tights when we got home. These are footless tights actually which are my preferred type 

My new to me dress, it has pockets and I just love the pattern and colours!

This ridiculous drink Sam brought

Kiki was sitting on me looking oh so cute

My brunch, it was nice and just enough for me

And here's my very ridiculous hot chocolate

Pudsey Lace Fair 2025

On the Saturday after we got back from holiday we went to Pudsey Lace Fair for a trip out. Pudsey is near Leeds so not too far from our house at all. I drove us there and Lee drove us back I think. When we got there, we didn't have enough cash for both of us so I went in and Lee went to get more cash and some petrol and then joined me later. He might not have needed to come in, really, but I wanted a couple of things for presents for me for Christmas or my birthday so I needed him to agree to them. 

I can't remember if I blogged it before but I used to make bobbin lace as a child and teenager but then gave it up when I got a Saturday job. I kept all my supplies, though, and in about 2012 I pulled them out again and made some little bits of lace, but nothing too exciting. Then earlier this year a friend at craft club inherited the bobbin lace supplies from her mother in law, and expressed an interest in learning to make lace. So I said I could help and pulled all my supplies out again. I have made a few pieces and really need to get my supplies in some sort of order as I have bought some bits off eBay. I still know how to make the stitches themselves, but the starting off of each piece needs some work. I've got plenty of books, though, so I need to choose one of those and start off at the beginning I think and learn my fundamentals. 

But in the meantime, beautiful supplies! I have heard of the lace fair for years and am so glad I went! I will go next year, too! There were people selling bobbins, tools, spangles (those are the beaded decorations on the bottom of the wooden bobbins), patterns, threads, kits, lace pillows, and every other piece of equipment you could hope for. There were people from different lace guilds and groups, including one which meets in Wakefield so I really ought to try to go along to one of their days. There were also some other crafts on display like quilts, crochet, cross stitch and so on. 

I bought a couple of small things to start off with and a tool for Catherine that she wanted. Lee joined me and we got some lunch in the hall's bar. They had a vegan sausage roll which was exciting for me! Then Lee and I went back around and I picked up some things that he and my mum had agreed to buy for me. So in my photo there are some things that I don't have yet, but will look forward to getting!

We got home and just relaxed for the rest of the day, but I did get a picture of my dress, which was an apothecary print dress from Carolina Dress Room I think, although I bought it second hand from a friend. I got a couple of compliments on it at the fair! 

This was a lovely display of crafts in the hall including lace making, of course, but a lot of other stuff too

Here's what I got. I bought the spangles and the ballet dancer dress kit for myself, but the rest is all presents for me so I have to be patient. The pouch top right is a bobbin holder, it has little section inside to hold bobbins that have threads wound on to them. I love the pattern! 

And here I am when we got home

Trip to Crete - Day 7

And so, to the last full day oh our holiday and a bit about travelling home. We were down by the pool sunbathing by 11am so I'm not sure if we had breakfast or not. Probably not. Hmm, but we must have gone up for lunch. No photos, anyway. My next photo is at 4pm when one of the adult cats we had been seeing around came to sit on Lee's sunbed, which was cute. I do know that during the day we finally got properly into the main pool. I said we had to just to say that we had. There were two slides into it so we went down one each which plunged us straight into the water. It was COLD. We did NOT stay in there for very long. But at least we did get in! 

We didn't leave the pool until nearly 6pm, and I took a photo of the view for the last time, with the sun just starting to set over the peninsula. Then we walked to look at the cats for one last time. I don't think we saw them all but we did see the little grey mama cat and I looked at all the flowers in the gardens and took a picture of this orange one. 

We got showered and went down to the bar first of all, where I had some kind of cocktail or another which was nice, and then we went down for something to eat. We then went across to the amphitheatre because the entertainment that night was Greek dancing and I wanted to see it. There were quite a lot of people watching it, so there was a nice atmosphere. There were three men playing traditional music, which sounded really good. There were four dancers and first of all they did Cretan dancing and then they had a little break and came back to do some Greek dancing. They were all really good and I enjoyed seeing them. Lee wasn't as bothered but he came with me anyway.

As we walked back to the main hotel we met yet another cat, who miaowed a lot at us, it was very sweet. We had a last drink in the bar before heading back to the room to pack. 

In the morning, though, we didn't have to rush. We were told our pick up would be between ten and 10.30 so we knew we had plenty of time. I got up about 8 I think and took my final view pictures which is one of the pleasures of having a balcony, and then we headed down to breakfast. We knew we wouldn't be eating for a while so we had plenty to eat. Then we went and got all our stuff and checked out, and then went outside. We actually got picked up at about ten to ten, so it was just as well we were already waiting. We were in the minibus with two other people and then picked up three others I think, so not many of us. We got to the airport in very quick time and a Jet2 employee got us to the front of the queue and told us how to bypass other queues, which was great for my accessibility. We got through security and spent our last few euros on some Pringles in the airport. 

The flight was fine. There was no one sitting next to Lee so we could spread out and have a seat between us for extra room. He was mostly asleep but I read my book and listened to a bunch  of things I had downloaded. We landed, got our suitcases, and finally found the car. It was rush hour by this time which was annoying, but we stopped and Tesco halfway home to get some supplies, which helped. We were so glad to get home to the cats, though.

A bit of a different holiday for us because we just didn't do much at all. It was what we needed, though.

Sunbathing in the morning

The little cat that joined us on the sunbed. That's Lee's phone with a sticker of Kiki in the back by the way!

Final photo of the view. As you can see the sun was beginning to set

The little grey cat for the last time

Pretty flower

The musicians as we settled down in the amphitheatre

The dancing

The men especially were really good

This was the second half, when they had swapped costumes

Stars again in a break in the dancing

I liked the fancy footsteps. They got a lot of people up dancing at the end although I stayed sitting

The last cat we met on the way back into the hotel

The final view photo on the Tuesday morning

And the other side

The aeroplane as we got on it - I was really impressed with Jet2

And finally here's the sweets I brought home