Weekend in the Cotswolds Day 3

On the Saturday of our trip to the Cotswolds, we got up and had pastries and orange juice and coffee for breakfast which was perfect, then we set off to Cotswold Wildlife Park. When we arrived though Neil realised he had left his camera back at the cottage so he went off back to get it. The rest of us headed into the park and we were just in time to see the penguins being fed! It was a member of the public feeding them who had got like an experience thing - I want to do that! The penguins were all so cute and they ate all their fish and then they swum about and it was very lovely to see.

We headed into the greenhouses after that where Neil caught up with us not long after. We looked round all the garden area and then it was about 12.30 so we found a picnic bench and ate our packed lunch. We had sandwiches and crisps and apples, nothing too exciting. Then we walked through the rest of the park.

It's pretty big so it was a lot of walking for me. We went past the rhinos and the giant tortoises which were really cool. The rhinos were so big! They were cool to see. They were plenty of benches so I took rests. We went past the zebras which were cute and we saw the lions who were just hiding under trees in the heat so that wasn't very exciting. You can walk up a walkway to the giraffes which are SO tall, I really never realised how tall they are! 

The last part is like a petting zoo and some rare breeds and stuff and I was majorly flagging by this point so Lee and I didn't spend much time in there. We thought about going on the train but the queue was longer than I could stand so we didn't bother. We went back to the beginning and waited for the others, and had ice creams which were nice. It was a hot day!

We went back to the cottage and Neil and Caroline were pottering around getting things ready for the food that evening. Neil was sitting outside in the sunshine chopping up vegetables! Lee went in the shower and Peter was sitting with me. I pulled a blanket over myself and had quite a long nap! I was so tired after walking a long way that I slept for around 90 mins. When I woke up Lee, Caroline and Peter were all sitting on the floor doing the jigsaw. Lee said, "It's her condition, she needs to nap" which was very sweet of him. 

I felt quite a bit better and was hungry by this time so was looking forward to tea. Neil has a grill thing called a raclette where you can cook meat and fish and veggies on top and do like mini omelettes underneath. They had brought salmon, prawns, mushrooms, peppers, and some other bits. I am currently eating fish because I'm anaemic again and the nurse suggested I eat fish to try and get my iron levels up. So the salmon and prawns were delicious! It was really fun to do, too. We had salad bits alongside and we sat there for a long time eating and chatting. What a pleasure!

Then Caroline had made an apple and blackberry crumble for pudding, using some of t  he fruit that Neil had foraged the day before! It was delicious, I love crumble. 

Caroline, Peter, and Lee had finished the jigsaw so that had been worth taking for them to do. It's a bit of a family tradition of mine - we like to sit and dso jigsaws on holiday and there's something very communal about it as no one can resist picking up a few pieces. We played some quizzes in the evening but we weren't late to bed!

Penguins! They were Humbolt penguins so not very tall

Doing swimming

I wanted to steal this one and keep it in the bath

Cactuses in the garden area!

Prairie dogs maybe?

Giant tortoise! You don't get the scale here but it was huge

Rhinos! They're so big too, so lovely. They were playing in the mud

Camels!

Giraffes! They're way bigger than I thought they were

Zebras, they were lovely to see too

And finally capybaras, which are Lee's favourite

Lovely ice cream while we waited for the others

And finally the sky as the sun was setting, so pretty

Weekend in the Cotswolds Days 1 and 2

On the first weekend of September Lee and I headed off to the Cotswolds to spend the weekend with my aunt, uncle and cousin. We had booked a cottage from Thursday to Monday, so Lee and I set off about lunchtime, maybe a bit earlier but not much. We stopped at a service station for lunch and then stopped off in Warwick.

We went to Warwick in 2020 when just a few things were opening up after lockdown; we stayed in a cottage nearby and had a nice week. A few things in Warwick were open, including a sweet shop. So we parked and wandered into some shops, including the sweet shop. We went into a bunch of charity shops and the bookshop. We stopped and had a drink and a piece of cake in a greasy spoon type of place. Then we got back in the car and carried on to Bourton on the Water.

We were stuck in traffic in Stow on the Wold round school kicking out time, but then we got to the cottage about 4pm. It was in Little Rissington, only a couple of miles from Bourton. It was honestly one of the nicest holiday cottages we've ever stayed in! There was a decent sized and well equipped kitchen, a living and dining room, a conservatory, then upstairs there were three decent sized bedrooms, one with ensuite, and the main bathroom. It was lovely!

Everyone else was arriving on Friday so Lee and I just chilled out for the night. We watched a film. I did some cross stitch and Lee started on a jigsaw that we had brought. It was nice!

On Friday morning we got up but we were a bit later than we thought, so we didn't have any breakfast, we just went into Bourton. Parking there is INSANE. We managed to get in but there were a lot of people around! We had been there six years ago as well, but obviously there weren't the same numbers of tourists around. 

We went into a cafe called The Chestnut Tree which had the most amazing cake selection. I had a piece of caramel shortbread which was so good, the chocolate was so thick. Lee had a cookie brownie thing, it was huge. We walked around a bunch of shops and then we got phone calls from Caroline and Neil and then Peter as they had each arrived and were looking for parking. Lee and I sat under the Bourton on the Water sign and waited for the others. They had brought a picnic lunch so Lee went to get us a sandwich each and we sat on the bench by the sign and shared crisps etc. It wasn't boiling but it wasn't cold either, which was good.

After we had eaten Neil and Peter decided to go to the cottage to unpack and stuff, so Caroline stayed with us and we went round the rest of the shops. I got a tiny vial of perfume in the Perfumery as it was expensive - smells great though!

We went back to the cottage about 3.30pm I think, and then we chilled out for the rest of the day. Lee made pan haggerty for tea as the others hadn't had it before, and then we had all brought snacks to share and so on. Neil had been for a walk and foraged some apples and blackberries! We played quizzes in the evening and Caroline and Peter both did join in with the jigsaw Lee had brought. It was a nice chilled out time!

This monstera was on the stairs in the cottage and it was so perfect, I loved it so much!

My friend Jane had recommended this book to me when she visited in Augst, so I got it through the library. I really liked it!

My immense caramel shortbread in The Chestnut Tree for elevenses. Peter went in and bought a piece of the same thing Lee had, which he then spread over a few days because it really was immense too

The lovely river in Bourton

Pretty sure I took these exact same photos back in 2020

I love the weeping willows alongside, too

It really is so pretty, just so touristy too!

Last one I promise

I finished my first book and I had brought this one along to start. I ended up really not liking this and it was a slog to get through it, but you can't win them all! 

Spa Weekend With Lee

At the end of August Lee and I went away for a spa weekend. We had had to change the date from earlier in the month so it meant we had a run of really busy weekends, but it was fine. We had been talking earlier in the summer about doing a spa weekend so Lee had looked online. I think he found it on spabreaks.com eventually. We paid just over £350 for the weekend which was good value!

We  went to Shrigley Hall near Macclesfield. I have been there before, with my friend Sarah, way back in like 2017 or 2018. It was a bit hilarious actually because we were quite drunk by the time we got int othe spa as our room wasn't ready and they kept giving us free prosecco to mollify us. We didn't have long in the spa and while we enjoyed the food, we kept on drinking and it got ridiculous. We stopped in Glossop on the way back on the Sunday for breakfast and got stuck in a Remembrance Day parade which was just so funny. So I have been but maybe don't have the best memories of the place. But I was willing to try again! They have extended the spa since I went, too, and there's an outdoor hot pool and more to do. 

We headed off on the Friday afternoon. I think we went to Holme Coffee House in Penistone for brunch before we left. It is only just over an hour from our house and we got there about 1pm. We couldn't check into the hotel so we left the luggage in the foyer and walked round to the spa. We were a bit early for that, too, as the spa access starts at 1.30pm. We got a drink in the cafe attached to the spa. 

At 1.30 we went and got changed in the locker rooms and then went out to the indoor spa area. It's set in what was the chapel of the old hall and it's absolutely beautiful. The pool in there is nice to swim in and it gets pretty deep too. One of the hot tubs and one of the hot rooms were out of commission, but it was fine. There's another hot tub in the chapel area and some loungers. We swam for a bit before we headed outside.

The outside pool is SO hot and has jets in different areas, so that was really good. We had a drink and at 4pm we each went for a treatment as the weekend included treatments. I went for a hot stone massage which I LOVE, I would get them a lot if I could. The masseuse was really good, I really liked her. I can't remember what treatment Lee had but he liked the massaging on his back. He often suffers from sciatica so this really helped.

The spa access finished at 5.30 so we went back into the hotel foyer and got checked in. The room was small but fine, and the bathroom was pretty big. We ate some snacks and got showered and then headed down to the restaurant for 7.30. We had a £30 food allowance each and the food we had fitted into that. I had mushroom soup and then vegetarian lasagne, which were both delicious. I had a tequila sunrise which wasn't too expensive especially for a hotel. We decided to not get pudding, so we walked into the bar and sat there for an hour or two. I had another drink and we just watched the world go by. 

The hotel has a lot of weddings so there were people around, but it wasn't too noisy. In our room we could hear one of the weddings but it finished at midnight so that wasn't too bad. Hilariously they finished off with The Killers and then I've Had the Time of My Life, I was laughing!

We got up in the morning and went down for breakfast. There was a lot of choice but not tons of veggie choice. But I had enough to eat anyway and it was good. Then we had a few hours spare and we had considered going into Macclesfield or something, but we decided to just stay in the hotel. We sat in the bar area again. I was cross stitching and reading and Lee was playing on his Steamdeck thing. It was nice to just relax!

We went back to the spa at 1.30 again and did basically the same things again. We had treatments again; this time I had a facial with the same therapist and she was again excellent. We went into the cafe and had a drink and cake. The staff were all really lovely which really added to the nice time. 

We left the spa again at 5.30 and went back to the room for showers etc. Then we had booked a table at an Indian restaurant in a village nearby. We got there a bit early and it was quite a strange set up. We sat in the foyer and were given menus, and then we had to order our food before we were shown to a table. It was odd! We had poppadums and they were a bit odd too. The food was nice enough but not amazing. It was really busy though! 

We were done early so we went back to the hotel and sat in the bar again until bedtime. In the morning we had breakfast again before setting off back home. We got home before midday so had the rest of the time to relax! It was definitely a good value weekend and very relaxing and enjoyable. 

In the old chapel area on Friday afternoon - this is a cold water pool and nice to swim in

The outdoor pool which was SO warm and had a bunch of seats and jets, it was so lovely

Inside my treatment room before my hot stones massage

Looking from the other side of the inside pool. This little area was cool but fun to sit in. The hot tub was at the far end here and was lovely

Lee and I in the restaurant later in the evening, proving that we do go away together occasionally

Mushroom soup, which we both had

Me and my tequila sunrise 

Veggie lasagne which was really nice

I was wearing this dress which I got off Chloe recently

I started this book which I had had recommended and which I'd been waiting for from the library. It was really good, I would recommend it

In the bar of the hotel on Saturday morning when we were just sitting and chilling

The picture does not accurately portray just how gold the lift walls were

The view would have been better in better weather, but we could see Old Trafford

The peacock was trying to get into the cafe on Saturday, and eventually it did and was ushered out

Cake on Saturday afternoon

Selfie as we were sitting outside

And then Lee and I in the outdoor hot tub

Lee took this photo of me as we were eating cake. I like the halo I appear to have!

And finally the outdoor pool as we left it at 5.30pm!

Lee's Birthday

It was Lee's birthday on the 21st of August and he, as usual, had the day off. We decided to go to Barnsley Metrodome for a fun swim, and we asked along my friend Roslyn and her kids too. We all met at about 10am and headed down. Unfortunately the wave machine wasn't working, but we did otherwise have a lot of fun. The eldest kid went on a bunch of big slides, I was impressed!

We said goodbye at about midday and then Lee and I headed off to Meadowhall. Lee decided he wanted to eat at Pizza Express so we went there. I had goat's cheese and caramelised onion and it was such a good pizza! Then we went to Hotel Chocolat where Lee had a sundae and I had a mint milkshake I think.

We wandered round Meadowhall a bit. I got a Kenny Rogers vinyl in the music shop in The Lanes. I'm not sure if Lee got anything or not. We headed home and relaxed for the rest of the day, which Lee was happy to do. We watched a couple of films and just chilled out.

On Saturday we had a party! I had been wanting to throw a housewarming type party so I combined it with Lee's birthday and we invited a few people. We had a barbecue which meant that we had a BUY a barbecue but it's really cool and will last a while. I went to Costco with Lolly on the Thursday evening to get supplies for it and I was wandering around aimlessly as I don't eat meat so wasn't sure what to buy! I got some good stuff though. People started arriving about twelve I guess and we got the barbecue going. Lee's mam and stepdad were staying at Cubley Hall which is only like four minutes away from us so they went to get checked in. 

We had vegetarian stuff cooking first so that was good. Then my cousin K did the meat. Everyone enjoyed themselves I think! My mum and I were on the prosecco. My aunt, cousin, and baby T came (he's three, he's not a baby... but also, he is...) and my friend Stacey with her youngest, so they were keeping us amused. Our friends Ceri and Martin came which was lovely - they live in Penistone and Ceri takes credit for us living in Penistone now as I'm in her book club which meets here. Ceri took this lovely photo of me and Lee before they left.

Everyone had gone by about 8pm except my mum and stepdad, Lee's mam and stepdad, and my cousin K, so we decided to go up to Cubley Hall for a couple of drinks there. We left Lee's mam and stepdad there about 11pm I guess, as the rest of us were staying here!

On Sunday Lee headed off to band practice and my mum and stepdad went home eventually, but my cousin K stayed all day as we had plans to watch some films and do some lino cutting together. Lee came home with this ridiculous guitar that his bass player had found in a charity shop but said Lee could have for the same price. They don't think it's ever been used. It's gross but Lee likes it! 

My cousin stayed over again and came to craft club with me the next day where Catherine taught her how to crochet. I'm glad we had the party though, it was a lot of fun! 

Pizza on Lee's birthday

Birthday boy with his chocolate sundae

I recently got this Libertines t shirt off their website and I love it, I've been wearing it loads. It's very soft and I of course love the pink colour! I also wear this skirt a lot, it's good to wear for work

Kenny Rogers vinyl that I got for a few quid

The dining table all set up for the party. We got the dining table recently off Facebook marketplace - it hadn't been used previously. It's way more comfortable that the old one - which we gave away free - although I'm hoping to get some chairs for each end of it

And the kitchen island set up too. One of the upgrades our vendor paid for when she bought the house - before it was even built - was the kitchen island, and I'm so glad, as we absolutely love it and use it a lot. It's so useful when you have a lot of people around!

Lovely photo that Ceri took of us. The weather was better than it looks in this photo, which I was glad about. This dress was from Simply Be I think originally, but I got it off Vinted

And finally Lee's very wanky new guitar!