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!

Spa Day with Sarah

On the 6th of May I went to Aqua Sana at Centre Parcs near Worksop with my friend Sarah. We have been meaning to go there for ages and finally got round to it. She's been before and really recommends it, and everyone I know who's been to a Centre Parcs spa says it's brilliant. So I was excited to go! I got to Sarah's just as she was back from the school run and we set off. 

We had to park a little way away and I stupidly didn't have my stick with me, but it was okay. I really could have used it inside the spa, though. Next time! We got checked in and Sarah booked herself a facial for 2.30pm. We went and got changed and then we went into the cafe as we had breakfast included in our spa day. I had a cappucino and avocado and tomatoes on toast. 

After we had eaten we went into the pool. It's in the middle of the spa, outdoor, in a courtyard kind of thing. It is a really warm pool and has plenty of jets to stand under too. We floated and chatted for ages which was lush. Then we went in some of the other rooms like saunas and the showers, and then we went up to the treetop sauna which is so lovely, I really liked it. Accessbility across the site was pretty good and there was a lift upstairs which was good.

We decided to have some lunch as we were both pretty hungry. I had burrata and pesto on toast I think, I'm not entirely sure now. It was nice anyway! After lunch we swam a bit more and then Sarah went off for her facial. 

I went upstairs to sit and read my book for a while, and then I went to a sound bath! They had a few sessions on that were free, and were displayed on a board just on the entrance to the spa, so I decided to go to this session. I've never done a sound bath before but I've been meaning to for ages, so I went. There was me and two other women, none of whom had done a sound bath before, so the woman doing the session did it really intensely. We had some calming oil but also some oil with arnica in, so it felt hot, and we had to imagine ourselves on a beach. I felt very meditative and relaxed, and really enjoyed the half hour session! I'm glad I bothered to go!

Sarah enjoyed her facial too and was really relaxed by it. We decided to go for a final drink and some cake before we headed off back to Sarah's and I came home!

I really rated Aqua Sana as a spa and I'll definitely head back there at some point - maybe with Lee because I think he would like it too! 

Cappucino - decaffeinated of course!

My breakfast

The pool first thing in the morning - there was some sun on it later on which was good

The treetop sauna, which does have steps up to it

Treetops! I've never been to Centre Parcs but I think I would like to try

My lunch! Delish! 

One of the relaxation rooms

Looking down on the pool when I was sitting reading

The ceiling in the room where I had my sound bath

Cake! And another coffee of course

And a final photo of the entrance to the spa as we left

Tidying My Mum's Attics and a Spa Day

Towards the end of March we went to my mum's house two days in a row to tidy out her attics. She had been threatening this for years but then waited until we moved house so that we have a loft of our own to put our stuff in rather than hers. My uncle Neil then offered to come and help us, as neither me nor my stepdad can climb the ladders into the attics. It was nice of him to help and he was so useful! He arrived at my mum's on the Tuesday afternoon, and we went over there on Wednesday morning. Lee took three days off work, so we had the time to do it. 

There are two attics in the house because it's extended. One is the ordinary common or garden attic, kind of boarded out and all dark and shadowy. The other one is in the extension and it was my 'chill out' space when I was a teenager. It's pretty small and set in the eaves, but it's properly boarded with a nice floor (that I painted purple) and a window. I LOVED it up there when I lived there - it was a cool space and I had cool furnishings and stuff. Since my stepdad moved in fifteen years ago he and my mum have used it just to store stuff. It was definitely in need of sorting, as was the other one!

It was actually snowing in the morning; Kiki and I were not impressed with this! Penistone really is its own micro climate. We got stuck into sorting things out at my mum's - where it wasn't snowing - and did well. I sat on the landing looking at a load of old stuff that was mine, and a load of stuff that was my dad's. We broke for lunch and then went again, and got stuff sorted into lots of piles, including lots of stuff to take to charity and lots of stuff to take to the tip. Lee and my uncle did a tip run late on and then we gave up, and had a nice night instead. 

My mum made sausage casserole (veggie for me and Lee) and she had got puddings from where I work, so I had apple crumble which was lovely. We had a few drinks and chatted for a bit, then Lee and I headed home to see the cats and go to bed!

Thursday was very much the same, only there was less of my stuff now because they were in the extension loft and that wasn't as much my stuff. I did go through a lot of my dad's stuff, including all of his school exercise books. Funnily, one of them was filled with football scores of a local team that he was friends with. I found loads of funny things and loads of touching things, too. My mum and uncle had taken a load of stuff to the charity shop first thing, and then Lee and Neil did another tip run just before it closed. There were still boxes of my stepdad's stuff for him to go through - a lot belonging to my stepsister, who doesn't speak to us anymore - but nothing for me or Lee to do. 

We had fajitas for tea and more pudding - jam sponge this time for me! - and played games and had some more drinks. We got  home late again so we weren't that early getting up the next morning. I was given a voucher by a friend which was for use of the spa facilities and afternoon tea at the Mercure Hotel in Sheffield City Centre. I had heard that the spa isn't great but we headed off anyway, of course. We got there about 11.30 and into the spa. 

There's a swimming pool and a sauna and a steam room, but no hot tub, and as it's all in the basement it's pretty dark and a bit dingy. But we had a nice swim and sat for a bit, and then swam some more. We went up to the hotel lobby for afternoon tea which was right next to the Winter Gardens. It was actually lovely food and we both enjoyed it! We headed back downstairs and I went into the steam room, which was lovely, for a bit, and then went for another swim. We didn't stay way long into the afternoon but we had enjoyed ourselves.

We went into Caffe Nero for a drink and took it up to Lee's office so he could show it to me. He works near the car park that looks like a cheese grater, if you know Sheffield. His office is on the top floor so we went up and he showed me his desk and the board rooms and stuff like that. There was only one person in! We went out on to the roof terrace which has a lovely view over the station and Park Hill. 

Then we came home! It had been a busy week! 

Kiki looking disbelievingly at the snow falling from the sky

This was given to me on my first Christmas, when I was nearly one, and was signed by my dad - adorable 

Bottom right is the first record I ever bought, when I was about eight years old. The others were definitely mine, haha

A wedding photo of my parents! My mum made her own dress, isn't it gorgeous? 

This was a folder I decorated in Year 10. All my folders looked like this

And the back of it, lol

Neil said he needed counselling over the number of baby dolls he found in both attics, haha. This one was my grandma's, so she's almost a hundred years old, and she's very fancy. Her head has been loose ever since I was a little girl, and it's now come off entirely. We did have it, though, so I am going to look into getting her mended and getting her clothes back in good condition too! She did look a bit terrifying sitting here with no head, though

Here we are playing Skyjo and having a drink

The afternoon tea in the hotel, which was lovely, the scone especially

I finished this cross stitch on Friday night I think!

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!