Trip to Morecambe - Days 1 and 2

Lee and I were lucky enough to go on holiday at the beginning of October for a week. I know this is a privilege in Covid times, although we probably had less contact with people than we would have done at home. We went to the Parkdean Resort in Heysham, near Morecambe. We went to a Parkdean Resort in Cornwall a few years ago and liked it, so we thought it would be good to book again. We booked a three bedroomed static caravan which cost £300 for a week, which I think is a bargain. We could check in from 3pm so on the Saturday after we had run a few errands and taken the cats to the cattery, we set off around 1pm. 

We unpacked and then went swimming. There was a bit of confusion about booking swimming, but I'd booked three sessions and we were told we could go mostly any other time. With it being term time there weren't many people around so we had the swimming pool to ourselves most of the time. Anyway, we had a nice swim and then got showered and into pyjamas for the evening. We had buffet bits for tea. We were impressed that the kitchen had a full oven and so on. We watched Hidden Figures because it was on one of the freeview channels and we both really like it. 

On Sunday we got up and went into Morecambe. I've been before, a few years ago with Sam, but Lee hadn't been. We went into some of the amusements and had chips overlooking the sea. It was mostly clear while we were outside, but it rained a lot that day and overnight. I love the sound of rain on the tin roof of a caravan though! We went to the Old Pier Bookshop which is crammed full of books. Sam and I went too, I have almost exactly the same photo of myself from 2016 but I can't find it, I don't think I blogged it on here! 

We went back on the park for 2pm because I had booked an activity, but it turned out to not be on, so that was a shame. We drove up the coast then, going up as far as Carnforth. We saw the Heritage Centre there and decided to visit later in the week when it was open. We stopped in Heysham village for ice cream in a very cute little cafe. 

We got back to the park quite early but decided to not go swimming. Lee cooked enchiladas for tea - I had halloumi in mine and he had chicken. We watched TV and then played Trivial Pursuit which I won. I love that game! I was glad I took it with us.

The caravan - it slept six and was wide, so nice and spacious. We pulled the table over to the lounging area

Me in the bookshop on Sunday morning - there are SO many books

This might not be easy to see but it's a relief sculpture of the hills you can see from Morecambe over in the Lake District, it's cool

Lee and I on the prom in shadow and the beach beyond. I warned Lee that the sea goes out really far in Morecambe Bay, but he was still surprised just how far it goes. It was nearly high tide at this point though

It was very blustery! This is what I looked like when I got back in the car

Chips on the prom (from the car cos it kept raining on and off)

The cafe we went into in Heysham

My ice creams were salted caramel and cookies and cream, both very good. I wish we'd had time to go back to the cafe because it had some good vegetarian choices

On our holiday park looking out to the sea

We were on a salt marsh apparently!

Up the coast. Honestly these photos make the weather look so good but it was very changeable

I do love the seaside though

Enchiladas! They were so yummy

I made some boxes in my bullet journal so I could document the week

And finally here we are playing the game

Lunch Out on 30th September

At the very end of September I met up with my friend Pippa for lunch. She had recently been to the Blue Moon Cafe in Sheffield with a mutual friend of ours and I was reminded that I haven't been there in absolutely years so said we should meet up there. I got confused though and thought we were meeting at 12, so I arrived just before that, but I was over an hour early! Whoops. I had a hot chocolate though and finished my book, so it wasn't time wasted. My hot chocolate was made with oat milk and was completely vegan!

Blue Moon is a vegetarian cafe with plenty of vegan options and their salads are amazing. I often get homity pie when I go there, which is a potato, onion, leek and cheese pie, but I decided to go for tempura mushrooms instead. But I did get a slice of homity pie to take home for tea the next day. I really recommend the cafe for delicious lunch in Sheffield. It's right by the cathedral so ideally placed. 

On the way out I bought a slice of pie and two brownies, as I was popping to see my friend Sarah on the way home. Her baby was then nearly 6 months old and she is SO CUTE! The cutest baby ever. We had a cuddle and bopped her nose and played on the floor. 

I really will have to go back to the Blue Moon soonish, not leaving it so long again! 

Delicious oat milk hot chocolate with vegan marshmallows and squirty cream

Tempura mushrooms and salad

With sweet potato fries and vegan garlic mayo - I think my whole meal was vegan! 

Baby R who is very good at rolling over!

What I Wore 29th September

On 29th September Lee and I headed out for tea to meet Bettie and Jen in Sheffield. We haven't seen them since March when we met up at Rivelin Valley Park, so it was beyond time to see them and catch up. Bettie suggested Mount Lebanon on West Street so we met there after work. They have tons of vegetarian starters but not many veggie main dishes, so I went for feta salad to start with and then the vegetarian mezze platter for mains, even though it's really a starter. Bettie did the same thing, the waiter was amenable to it!

The food was delicious - I loved the sharp salad and feta, and the falafel on the main was so good. I would go back there again.

I was wearing this New Look dress - it used to be black and white but ended up in the wash with something that made it not white anymore. I dyed it black but you can still see the stripes. I quite like the effect though so I wear the dress anyway. I pulled out my red cardigan from George at Asda to put on top. I think it's a good outfit!

Please excuse the mop and computer next to me in the photo - I know we need to get rid of both but we haven't got to the tip yet! So glamourous! 

Still wearing my Converse everywhere

Delicious feta salad

And the mezze platter - hummus, baba ganoush, falafel (heart shaped!), spicy potatoes, tabouleh, stuffed vine leaves. All so good!

What I Wore 27th September

I kept getting adverts for Clash t-shirts for a tenner and eventually I clicked over, but of course they didn't have any in my size. But by then I kind of wanted a Clash t-shirt so I googled for a bigger size one and found one on EMP for under £20 including postage. I ordered it and it arrived about a week later. It is big - it's perhaps a little bit big on me but it's very soft and comfortable a bit oversized so I kept it. But I could have sized down for a more fitted look.

As you'll know, I like to wear my t-shirts tucked into skirts, so when I was heading to work I put the t shirt on and tucked it into my purple Scarlett & Jo skirt. It was a good look I felt! I took the same outfit to wear on holiday the following week.

Of course I now want band t-shirts of all my favourite bands! I chose this one because I love the song Death or Glory so much.

What I Wore 25th September

On 25th September my auntie Chris (not my real auntie, she worked with my mum at the woollen mill Sirdar in the late 70s and they've been in touch ever since) and her husband Jon had a party to celebrate their 65th birthdays. The party was planned for April 2020 but has been cancelled and postponed a number of times, obviously thanks to Covid. But finally it could go ahead, so Lee and I and my mum and stepdad were excited to go.

Only then my mum ended up in A&E with my grandma, who was feeling dizzy and thanks to her pacemaker 111 told her to go to A&E. So my mum took her, but messaged me, saying she was hoping to make the party for the last hour. It was about 6pm on the Saturday and I told her she had no chance of leqaving A&E before midnight at least because just of how it is at the moment. So we decided Lee would go to the hospital to stay with my grandma, and my mum and stepdad would come to the party. Lee dropped me off at the party and I talked to Chrissy's eldest daughter Charlotte, and then one of Jon's cousins who had come up from Bristol. She was lovely, it was nice to make a new friend! I knew someone else there too - someone else who used to work at Sirdar - so I sat with her until my mum and stepdad arrived around 8pm. There was food and wine and we all had a good time.

Meanwhile my grandma started feeling better, and there were 11 people in front of her in A&E, and there was nothing wrong with her pacemaker, so Lee decided to take her home. We all met there around 11pm and made sure my grandma was okay before coming home. I'm so glad my mum got to go to the party - it meant a lot to both her and Chrissy!

I wore this Yours clothing dress that I like for a fancy occasion and I love the green of it too. I pulled out these bottle green brogues that I've had for ages to wear too. I can't wear them for long as they start to pinch, but they're ideal for a party and match this dress really well!

Trip to Oswaldtwistle - Day 5

We really didn't do much on the Wednesday of our trip! It was Dani's birthday so we just relaxed. We had pancakes for breakfast which was lovely, then leftovers for lunch. Sam and Jac and I went in the hot tub again and then I had another lovely bath. We were supposed to be going to the pub in the village but it turned out to be shut, so we went to a local Italian instead. It was lovely food! We didn't stay up late after we got back because we had to be up early the next day! I again slept upstairs in case the phantom phone started ringing again. There was a lovely mirror in there.

The next morning we just got packed up and set off home at 9am. I got home around 10.30 and went to bed for an hour as I was so tired! The kittens were so happy to see me, though! 

Sam had won a bath bomb off me at the Body Shop party the night before, so she used it in her bath after the hot tub

Alllll the pancake toppings

The sky just as we set out for tea

All of us in the restaurant

I had deep fried Brie to start with which was lovely

Then I had baked gnocchi which was lovely but seemed to never end! I didn't eat it all

Then I had tiramisu which was lovely

I had INNOCENTLY MENTIONED that it was Dani's birthday and when the waiter brought her dessert it had a candle and he sang happy birthday! It was very cute

I was wearing my Scarlett & Jo 'party frock' which I love, I wear it a lot for a nice night out

And here's the fancy mirror in the little bedroom!

It was a lovely few days away with friends

Trip to Oswaldtwistle - Day 4

The Tuesday of our trip away was a relaxing day, just in the house. I didn't get up super early, and when I did I made scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast which was lovely. We had some lunch all together and then afterwards I taught everyone how to make a single page zine. Jacqui and I are writing a zine about fandoms together so she needed to be taught how to make pages, too. Making a single page zine ends up with a tiny booklet though, and it's really satisfying when it's finished! I made mine about holidays. 

For tea, Sam made three amazing curries - it had taken her most of the morning to cook them. She made a mild chicken korma, a hotter chicken curry, and a vegetable curry mostly all for meeee. It was cauliflower, sweet potato, and chickpea. She had brought her mum's spice mix and it was SO GOOD, so delicious. Other people had some too but there was still enough for me to bring enough home to eat for TWO MEALS. I was spoilt, it was so good. With that we had rice and poppadums.

After tea we had a slumber party! Which mostly meant we could all sit around in our pyjamas. But I had also taken my Body Shop stuff and led us all through a mini facial and a demonstration of some other products. Some of the best are the camomile butter which can remove Sharpie from your skin but is mostly best at removing make up, and one of our peels which take off the top layer of dead skin in a really gross fashion but they leave you feeling much cleaner! This took longer than I thought but everyone had fun I think.

After that we played Trivial Pursuit, which was from 1983 so had answers like 'Nikita Kruschev' and so on. It was so funny, but took forever - it was midnight by the time we finished. Then I went to sleep upstairs - all day there had been a weird phone line ringing next to my room. I spoke to the owner about it and he said he would come and mend it on Wednesday, which was fine, but I knew it would terrify me if it went off in the night so I slept in the spare room upstairs well away from the bell! And indeed it did ring at 6.50 the next morning. I actually slept so much better in that room - it was small and cosy and I could lie next to the wall! I'm not good with the dark. 

We went in the hot tub again, determined to make the most of it!

Zine making workshop - I took tons of paper and stickers and stuff for everyone to use

My zine when it was finished!

Curry! 

Oh gosh I can smell it just now. Sam had never made a veggie curry before so was worried but it was SO GOOD

All my lovely stuff set out ready to be used and shown off. We sat in the blue living room on this night, it is clearly the Christmas living room in the house

Jacqui "multimasking" - Himalayan Charcoal on her t-zone and hemp nourishing overnight mask everywhere else

And finally Trivial Pursuit underway!