Shopping with My Mum

I went shopping with my mum on the 9th of January, but before I write about that I'll mention just a couple of days before that. On the 5th of January Philippa came to Penistone for lunch with me and to see my new house. We met at Holme Coffee House - of course, because I love it - and I had poached egg and avocado on toast, which was really good, and then millionaire's shortbread, I think! Philippa then came to the house to look around and we chatted for a bit before she went.

On the Wednesday I went to see Georgina's new house. She is the blogger you may know as She May Be Loved, Georgina Grogan. She and her family moved back in November and I wanted to go nosy. My satnav took me some weird and wonderful ways across to near Mexborough where they are now. Their house is lovely and they have a lot of work planned to make it even better for the family. It was nice to see Georgina and Alfie and meet her mum, Marie, who I've heard a lot about but have never met before! 

After that I went to Cortonwood retail park because Lee and I had been discussing for ages that we needed a ton of new bedding like fitted sheets and pillowcases, so I decided to go to Asda. My budget was around £100. I went into the Asda cafe for lunch but it was absolutely crap, they didn't have half of the things on the menu and I ended up just having a cheese pasty and a drink. Never mind, it didn't really matter. I'm sure there used to be a Caffe Nero at Cortonwood though, I would have gone in there. 

I got a bunch of bedding including cute strawberry duvet sets for our bed and the spare bed. I got a new bath mat and some towels, too. The book was payment for me going and braving the entirety of the Asda Living. I do love Lisa Jewell so I will have to read this soon! I also bought some tongs because ours got lost in the move. 

I put everything in the car and then I went into Boots and Next. I had Christmas money to spend so I bought myself some treats - a candle, some nail polish, and a ton of sale perfume. I really like the little bottles from both Yardley and Ted Baker - they are interesting scents and the little bottles last long enough for me. I also tried a small bottle of a Next scent I haven't had before. I really like it and may buy a bigger bottle at some point! 

Then, Friday! It snowed the day before - it snows a lot up in Penistone - so I wasn't that sure we would even get to Meadowhall but it looked quite clear so my mum and I set off separately and decided where we would meet. I even went the back way to the M1 and it was fine - I think the snow plough might have been through because it wasn't that bad. I had painted my nails with one of my new polishes from Next. It's exactly the type of baby pink I wanted. I think all our mothers had this colour when we were little! It lasted and lasted so I was impressed.

My mother and I met at Costa and had a drink and then went shopping. She wanted to get me a birthday present and ended up getting me a silver coloured and diamante wishbone ring from Pandora. I have a rose gold one the same and really like them. They're very easy to wear but look cute. I also wanted a new handbag. Last year I switched to a small backpack which is way better on my shoulders and much less painful for me. It was getting a bit tatty though so I ended up getting a new one with some Christmas money. 

I also had a gift voucher for Waterstones from Jac for Christmas so I went in there to spend that and got all these gorgeous books (I did pay £10 myself). I am looking forward to reading them! My mum and I then went into Yo Sushi for lunch. It would be my choice and she agreed. I had pumpkin katsu and some other bits. We did some more shopping and then we went to Hotel Chocolat for pudding. That was my mum's suggestion. I had a mint milkshake and a brownie chocolate thing. It was nice but I was very full! At the end you can see my new bag. I love the reddish purple colour. And I had to get these Scream earrings from Lovisa (or is it Louisa?). They were in the sale, too! 

Delicious food in Holme Coffee House as usual

And my pudding

Everything I got in the sale - oh I got a Miffy bath bomb too, I will have to use that too. This wasn't a bad haul for about £40!

All the bedding and towels and stuff I got, including very cute napkins (I am turning into my mother)

Friday, my nail polish

The books I got with my voucher

Pumpkin katsu for lunch

Deliciousness for pudding

My new bag - it's smaller than my old one so even better to carry, but I can fit less rubbish in it

And finally my very cute acrylic Scream earrings which as you can see were a whole four quid! 

New Year's Day 2026

We slept in laaaate on New Year's Day, and Peter slept in even later than that! We must have all needed it. We got up and had lunch, and then Peter and I did some resin crafts which I'd been meaning to do again for ages. Not everything worked out great but I think I learnt some lessons about resin, which is good! 

At 3pm I declared that we should go out for a walk. I needed some fresh air and to stretch my muscles again. We went back to Cannon Hall, where we had been on Tuesday, but we went up to the top by the house and parked there. We walked around the house and through some of the gardens, which were stunning. The sun was setting and I got some really lovely photos around the little lake. 

About 4pm we went into the cafe and had a huge hot chocolate each, which was lovely. There were a few people about, but not loads. We went through the farm shop and I bought some mince pies which were delicious. We went back home and chilled out. I got this t shirt off Vinted - I love the tattoo print of it and it was only a few quid. 

In the evening we ate basically everything that was leftovers from the week. We just put it all on the table and everyone had what they wanted. It was nice! We watched more films - we were educating Peter on some of our favourites, although I think some were more of a success than others. He liked both Wayne's World films!

In the morning Lee had to work at 9.30 as it was the 2nd, so Peter was up early and put the bed away and left around 9am. He got home in good time, all the way back to Southampton! It was nice to spend such a long time with him though. 

The rest of the phots are just a round up of Christmas things. Lee got this Nuka Cola rug for his office room, which he likes. I got several bottles of wine and a bottle of pineau as gifts. Pineau is a sweet wine from the Charentes region of France. I had some when I was there in 2024 and really liked it. You can buy it here, but it's rare. Anyway, my aunt and uncle bought me this bottle in France while on holiday and brought it back, which was very sweet of them. Then there's my resin when they were all set. I still need to do things with them! And finally, there's all the books I was given for Christmas, I can't wait to get to them! 

Pouring resin with Peter

His was the glittery blue stuff

From the terrace at the front of Cannon Hall main house, looking left

And right, towards the setting sun

Here we are! As you can see, I was wearing my new coat

A mermaid in the gardens

And a folly lake with some ducks

And a seahorse

And some chapel ruins, which aren't original at all apparently, but were moved there 

I loved this one with the sky behind it

And this

Huge and delicious hot chocolate!

Peter and his 

And Lee

Here's my outfit when we got home, I love how bright this t shirt is

Lee's new rug. He's working hard on getting his office how he wants it to be

Three bottles of prosecco, the pineau, and a bottle of champagne - not a bad haul!

My resin when it was cured, which took a while, I'm not sure why. My coasters aren't level and I'm not sure why that happened, either, because they set on the kitchen island, which presumably is level?

And finally here's the books I got as presents!

New Year's Eve 2025

New Year's Eve! As you know, we had Peter staying with us, but didn't have much planned. A quiet one! 

We all didn't get up until quite late but when we were finally ready we headed to the hospital so that I could pick up my tamoxifen. It didn't take too long actually so we then went to Elsecar Heritage Centre. Our plans were to wander around there, have a quick bite to eat, and then head to Meadowhall to do some shopping and eat a full meal there later before heading home for the evening. We started off by looking round the antiques centre and then went into the heritage centre. They've refurbished that recently, so that was good to see, and it now includes a bunch of stuff about the Miners Strike and so on. It's very cool! 

We went in a few of the shops and then into both cafes, but neither of them had something small to eat. We were beginning to get hangry by this point, so we decided to just head off to Meadowhall. We got there about 2pm I guess and went to Las Iguanas to eat. They had run out of a bunch of their stuff, but it was fine. We had food. I had a weird cheese curry that I wouldn't eat again, and Lee and I shared the nachos. 

We went into a few shops and I got a new winter coat. My old one was rubbish and I had been meaning to go to Meadowhall to Yours to buy another, but hadn't got round to it before Christmas. So I went in and found one. It was in the sale so was only £49 instead of £65. I don't love the khaki green colour, but I also don't really care that much about a coat. It's warm and cosy and that's the main thing. 

It then turned out that Meadowhall was closing at 4pm as it was New Year's Eve. We needed a new microwave so Lee went off to get that and Peter went off to get doughnuts, and the whole place just felt like chaos. They were ushering us to the door! I have no problem with people getting the evening off to celebrate, of course, we just hadn't realised before we got there that it was closing so early!

A bit later in the evening I had a bath with a bath bomb and we watched a film or two. Gillian had bought me a s'mores kit for Christmas so Peter and I had some fun with that (Lee doesn't like marshmallow). When the clock struck midnight we were watching the fireworks on the BBC, nothing else. We have a Juliet balcony in our first floor living room so we shut all the cats out so we could open the doors and see if we could see any fireworks. Not sure I could though! My mum called us from Somerset to say Happy New Year, and I took the final photo of all three of us just before bed!

This Women Against Pit Closures poster in the heritage centre and it's really cool!

And we all quite liked the festive duck 

Nachos, which were nice

And my weird curry - it was nice but the rice and bread weren't great

Tamoxifen. I didn't know they used it as a cancer preventative, and they have some side effects like hot flushes and so on, but I'm happy to be on them

Modelling my new coat on the landing

Having a bath with a lovely green bath bomb

Time for s'mores! 

They did melt and go really squidgy

And here we are, happy new year!

December 30th 2025

On Tuesday the 30th of December Lee, Peter and I headed off to Cannon Hall. The night before, I texted my friend Gillian to see if she wanted to meet us there. They recently moved only about fifteen minutes away from us so Cannon Hall is really close for all of us. She was happy to say yes, so we made plans to meet. We met about eleven and walked over the river. It was a bit muddy in the field but not too bad. Peter climbed a tree or two and Gillian's little girls looked for fairy doors. 

You can cross back over the river so we did that, I've never done it before and it's quite a way but it was manageable for me which I was pleased about. We walked back along the path. Peter was playing with Gillian's little girls and racing them and stuff, it was fun. 

When we got back to the car park we went into the playground for a bit. Gillian and I could sit and chat which was lovely, we kind of let everyone else get on with their things. We said goodbye to each other at maybe 12.30, as we had to get home.

My friend Helen had been visiting Leeds with her wife and child, and had mentioned popping in for lunch on their way home. They arrived not long after 1pm, and had brought some supplies with them to go alongside ours. I haven't ever met Debs or Zara before so that was really nice. We had a good chat!

I had to take a phone call from the hospital at 2pm, from the breast clinic. As my mum has had breast cancer twice now, I'm considered at quite a risk, so they want me to take tamoxifen as a preventative for the next five years. This had been going on since July, and what with one thing and another and other meds that I'm on, it was a bit of a faff. I had to swap my antidepressant and then the doctor wanted to take to the gynaecologist because of my uterus problems, and my IUD. I was frustrated because I felt like no one was talking to anyone else! But the Dr on this day feels like the benefits outweight the risks for me so she prescribed the medicine for me, and told me I could pick it up the next day. It wasn't a long conversation, but I was glad to get it done. 

When Helen and co left the rest of us just chilled out for the rest of the day. I was really glad I had got out for a walk as I felt all my muscles had needed stretching! For tea we wanted Chinese takeaway so we tried calling a place in Stocksbridge but it seemed like a busy tone, so we drove through to order. But when we got there it was closed, oops. There was another Chinese takeaway nearby so we went there instead. I had to go in in my pyjamas to order, sorry people of Stocksbridge! It was really delicious food, though - Peter said it was among the best Chinese food he'd ever had! 

Standing on the little stone bridge just crossing the river

Peter climbing a tree, as he does

Me and Gillian

Looking across the parkland

And another weird just after we had crossed back over the river

Family Christmas Time - December 29th

On Monday the 29th of December we had the whole family round to celebrate Christmas! Lee and I are so thrilled that we can all fit into our new house, I don't think we'll be taking that for granted for a while! We had invited my mum and stepdad, aunt and uncle, both my cousins, Rob's wife Beth, and their toddler, T, for the day. Peter and Lee and I were already at the house, of course, so we tidied up for a bit before everyone arrived at about 11.30. 

For lunch we decided to do hot sandwiches, roast potatoes, and a bunch of other delicious things. We had that pretty early, when everyone had settled in a bit. We managed to get everyone a seat which was actually impressive - four people in dining chairs, three on the sofa, and three on the bar stool chairs tugged into the middle of the kitchen so that we could all see each other. Lovely when we're all together! 

We opened some presents. T liked his Buzz Lightyear a lot, which Lee and I had bought him. He was also allowed to play Lee's ukulele which he was thrilled about. I got a table for lacemaking from my aunt and uncle, a Bruce Springsteen record from Peter, and placemats and coasters from Rob and Beth (they have bees on!). Rob and T and Neil went out for a walk to try to get T to sleep, and then Beth and Peter went for a little walk too. 

We had tea about 6pm which was basically all the leftover things in the fridge chucked on the table with a free for all. I had bought Neil and Peter these flying fan ball things, they were incredibly fun to play with so we played with them outside a little bit. They were fun! They made a weird noise though. T made Peter doing some drawing for him which started off like triangles and boxes and then he wanted a shark. So funny! 

Everyone left about 7.30 I guess. Can't remember! But it had been a good day to spend all together. I was wearing a Simply Be top that I got from Levy Masked Fat Swap last April and hadn't had chance to wear yet. It is very festive though! My skirt is a Scarlett and Jo one and I do love it, but it isn't very easy to wear so I don't wear it often. I had tights on too of course. 

Once everyone had gone and there was just me, Lee and Peter left we got into our pyjamas again to relax. As you can see, Poppy was tired too! 

Obligatory team photo in our living room. I really hate those curtains, we will have to replace them in 2026

Baby T playing the ukulele

And playing with his Buzz Lightyear!

It was hard to take photos of the weird flying things, but they were fun to play with. Lee managed to get it into next door's garden so we had to go ask for it back! 

Peter drawing T's requests after tea

Obligatory Christmas selfies of me and Peter. They used to be on the sofa at my grandma's, but now we're at mine

My outfit as we said goodbye - I love the blue green of the top. My hall table has seasonal decorations on too, you can see the little tree and the gingerbread house

And finally here's Poppy, all tired out