The final week of freedom (sort of) and autumn is settling in

Andy had some time off work after we were back from Scotland, so we had some relaxing days, although the weather didn’t really play ball for some of it. We got a takeaway from the Waffle House and ended up sitting in my car in the rain and eating it!

We also played this National Parks game which was fun (easier to play than the Disney Villains game) and had the most gorgeous pieces; carved wooden animals and amazing artwork for all of the USA National Parks.

Of course there were some runs (this one was a few hours after lunch and reminded me how much I prefer morning runs, but they are soon to be for weekends only), and then of course afternoon Disney movies. Big Hero 6 seemed like a great option- couldn’t we all do with a healthcare companion right now?

We had a bit of time in Brighton- often we go down for the final weekend of the holidays, but I didn’t fancy a weekend as I thought it would be super busy (and then we cut it short because it rained and then was super windy before and after…). Anyway, we fit in some things- mainly takeaway iced drinks from Bird&Blend, takeaway cake from Cloud9, takeaway acai bowl from Wolfox cafe (takeaway is the theme here).

The waves were crazily high on the beach and we watched the poor life guard traipse backwards and forwards telling people again and again to get back or get out of the water …

On Saturdays I’ve been going over to my parents and running a 5k with my dad and brother, and then doing a longer run on Sunday (above are some pics from a run through Brocket Hall, plus the most delicious vegan chocolate almond coconut croissant from the Flowerpot Bakery in Brighton).

I’ve been getting into the back to work vibe, sorting out my new diary (and getting this cute diary clip to save the right page from Enchanted Cozy Co), and sorting out my desk. Also, my cheese plant got it’s first leaf with holes!

We did have some good weather for iced drinks in the garden.

I actually went to eat at a restaurant with a couple of friends (my best work pals)- we booked an outside table and thankfully it didn’t rain. I also got a few more waffles- another lot for lunch (collected on my way home from when I went into work) and another time meeting a friend so we sat in the park and ate them. The Trussell Trust did quite well out of us, because we donated the money we had saved each time.

On a side note, the eating out did worry me with regards to the quarantine- eg we couldn’t go to France because we would have to self isolate for 14 days, but if you go out to eat and then are contacted by track and trace, you have to have a test but even if that’s negative you still have to isolate for 14 days because symptoms can take that long to appear. I am not sure going out to eat is worth it, but there doesn’t seem to be that much made of it.

Also got this cute coconut print from Seashells and Magic on Etsy for our hallway.

I’ve been watching a few older Disney films- after listening to a recent Judge John Hodgman podcast where Peter Pan was discussed, I decided to give it a go. I didn’t remember much from watching it as a child- I loved the mermaids and Tiger Lily- but it was really inappropriate (eg all the songs etc around the natives) and Tinkerbell was just horrible. Why is the queue for that ride so long???

As I didn’t run in Scotland (well, on Skye) my August miles were a bit slack, and I fancied a run around Ellenbrook, so once day ran there, did the parkrun course and ran home to make it a half marathon. I had joined a challenge on Strava but didn’t get a badge because they now have to be visible to all whereas I keep my runs only viewable to followers. Ah well.  I think I watched Pocahontas that afternoon- it was OK but Disney needed to up their catchy song game!

Instead of going to Brighton for the Bank Holiday weekend, we got a skip, so after a breakfast of french toast, we loaded the skip up in the rain. A hot chocolate was needed after that, and some evenings I’ve even got out the blanket!

After some less than successful Disney films, I treated myself to Frozen 2 last weekend (if Andy is watching the Grand Prix it means I can watch a Disney movie in the afternoon).

I keep seeing so many mushrooms and fairy circles on my runs now too, and some of the trees have a hint of change about them. I’ve been busy in the garden too and there are lots of autumnal colours appearing there too.

Cinnamon bun with cream cheese and marmalade to imitate a Starbucks one! Plus I harvested our pumpkins.

On the final day of the holidays I’d booked a massage, so walked into town. The weather was beautiful and I was there a bit early (I had to pick up a prescription too, and they were ready straight away whereas sometimes you have to wait or some back later, so I’d left lots of time) so I sat in the park.

A lovely end to a different but still mostly relaxing summer.

Are you worried about having to potentially isolate if you go out to eat or somewhere?

Favourite and least favourite Disney films? I am definitely never watching Pinocchio because it absolutely terrified me when I was little.

Is it feeling autumnal where you are? 

A little longer in Edinburgh and finishing the Disney castle

I had to google “peely-wally”- it means pale and sickly in appearance, and if you say a hot chocolate will help then I guess I’ll get one. Also, how cute is my new cup cozy? You could choose the colours and even have your initials on it….. from the fab Enchanted Coy co on Etsy.

Ah, Scotland is so lovely. After out trip to DLP had to be cancelled (again….) we decided to add another night in Edinburgh- Andy had the week off anyway as we were due to get the train to Paris on the Wednesday, and it was a lot of driving, so it made sense to have Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday in Edinburgh and drive home on Monday.

There is a Hotel Chocolat cafe there and we managed a visit on both days. After being very cautious at home (the shop I went to before we drove up was the first shop I’d been in since March) and then things were all very wide open and empty in Skye, it felt weird being in a busy city centre. I am sure it doesn’t compare to a usual August in Edinburgh as there was no festival or anything like that. I didn’t fancy eating in a restaurant, so we got with the times and got Deliveroo (we are not really ones for getting a takeaway)- the hotel even had an area for the delivery people to wait, so one night we got a Wagamama’s, and then the other night a burger.

Andy had found Hula Juice Bar via the magic of the internet- they did beautiful acai bowls and it was actually fairly warm, so we got a takeaway for breakfast from there and sat outside. We had booked to go to the botanical gardens as we had been there before and knew they would be good for a walk. I much preferred walking around there to the busier city centre.

I also got rather excited when I found a few VR postboxes and also a gold one for the Olympics. Hooray for visiting old cities.

Before we left on the Monday I went out for a run. I’d packed a set of running gear but where we stayed on Skye wasn’t suitable- twisty one track roads with passing place and no pavements- it just didn’t seem worth it, but before the long drive I quite like to stretch my legs. I was going to run to Holyrood, and that was fine although some of the paths were closed due to rock fall,  but I managed to get a bit lost on the way back.

While I was out running Andy had sorted us lunch (ah how I have missed Pret) and then we headed back- driving through torrential rain, thankfully having no rain (and getting our time slot this time) at Fountain’s Abbey for a good 3 mile walk to stretch the legs, and even seeing some double rainbows as we neared home.

Andy had originally said that we should finish our Disney castle before we went away, but we didn’t have time and had one more stage to get through, so once home we added the finishing touches. It’s been quite fun working through it together, although it is massive and at the moment just living on our dining room table- not quite sure where it’s going to go…

Do you get takeaways very often? I was watching a TV show where a family spent £200 per month on takeaways, that much again on eating out and that much again on groceries….

A week (and a bit) in Scotland (holidays week 4)

On the Friday we drove up to Edinburgh, and had booked a slot at Fountain’s Abbey for a walk, but we got stuck in a lot of traffic due to a road closure, so that didn’t happen, stopping once at the services and once to stretch our legs, and finally getting to our hotel at around 8.30pm. I wasn’t sure how it would feel in the hotel but it felt very safe- you had to wear a mask in the lobby and communal areas, there were hand sanitiser stations everywhere (although I use my own- especially if they are pump ones I always wonder about how many people have touched the pump…) and it was all super clean.

We had brought breakfast with us so we were up early for our drive over to Skye. We chose to take the longer route through the park as it was more scenic.

We had booked an Air BnB (which was wonderful) as we liked the idea of self catering- we took a lot of food with us and only had to stop in a Co-op for a few fresh bits (thankfully small but also very organised with one in, one out and one way policies). The cottage (it was newer build but that’s what I am calling it) sat on the hillside with views across a loch, with sheep wandering past and birds flying by.

We had prepared for rain (we packed rain gear, books and games), but in fact were so lucky with the weather that we were either out for the whole day, or would come back for lunch and then head out again in the afternoon.

On the Sunday we drove down to Plockton and met up with my friend who lived in Inverness- we ended up spending the day there, having a walk along the coast to a castle, finding a place by the sea for a picnic and then heading back in the evening.

Holiday essentials of bug spray, hand sanitiser and wind balm.

On the Monday we headed to the fairy pools and had a walk up alongside the river and all the waterfalls (those stepping stones were big steps for someone with little legs!), and then in the afternoon went to Talisker Bay, which has black sand and black rocks and reminded me of a sunnier version of Vik in Iceland (I mean, we did go to Iceland in October but then we had snow and sideways rain…).

Talisker Bay

Tuesday was the only time we had rain (hence the mermaid t-shirt), but by the time we headed out it had cleared up. As we were taking most of our food with us I’d mixed up some oats and seeds so we could soak them overnight- are you even in Scotland if you don’t have oats for breakfast?

We drove over to Neist Point Lighthouse- a rather steep path up and down to the end. Once at the lighthouse and looking out to sea we could see movement in the water and realised we could see some whales, so we wandered closer to the shore. We also saw dolphins later on. We heard that other people had seen seals and ferrets (?) but we didn’t see those.

We could walk down to the village (Carbost) close to where we stayed and there was a very cute little coffee shop that sold rather nice baked goods, so we shared a few goodies from there (that is half the caramel shortbread as we shared and it was an enormous slice).

Yes we packed a jar of peanut butter.

I was keen to see some otters, so on Wednesday we drove over to an otter hide at Kylerhea (along around a 6 mile road of narrow single track with infrequent passing places- I was glad Andy was driving!). The actual hide was closed but you could still do the walk by the coast and up to the building, and we spotted lots of seals along the shore.

There was a walk fairly close by that ended up in Armadale Castle, so we parked there and paid to go into the grounds and then did the walk from there.

It was really hot so we were glad to walk in the shade of the woods for most of the walk, and the grounds of the castle had really pretty gardens with so many tropical looking flowers.

As we got home in the afternoon we decided to give one of our games a go- this one was a Disney villains game and it seemed rather complicated (it did have cool playing pieces). I chose Ursula from The Little Mermaid, but that turned out to be a mistake because her challenge in the game was harder than the other villains. I think if we play it a few times we will get the hang of it.

On Thursday we drove over to the Old Man of Storr to see the rock formations. The car park was being expanded and the path was being worked on too, so it was closed in places. It was very windy and felt very dramatic as the clouds swirled around the rocks, so you could see them for a moment and then they would disappear. Some of the walk was very steep, and although we could have walked further (the main path was closed but people were scrambling up the side and it seemed to be allowed) I didn’t fancy it, plus I wanted to try and see some otters so we headed down to the coast.

At An Corran Beach we looked for (and found) some dinosaur footprints, but sadly no otters.

On Friday we drove over to a causeway (well we parked on the island and then walked across to the causeway) via the Tattie Bogle (a sort of friendly scarecrow to welcome people into the village).

The walk was very boggy and there were midgies everywhere. I’d put my lovely Wideye spray on and by the end my legs were covered in bugs that had stuck to the spray (it’s a bit oily).  We saw plenty of sheep, and a rabbit, but no otters. Ah well.

I had read about a coral beach and we were not too far (Claigan), so I persuaded Andy to go there before heading back. It was another single track road to get there, and then the car park was totally full and also full of gigantic pot holes. While we were waiting someone was leaving, but I was worried the car would get stuck in one of the holes and the car was making all sorts of banging sounds as it drove into the holes.

Once parked we had a good walk along the path, first next to beaches with black pebbles and finally to the “coral” one (actually made up of fossilised sun-bleached skeletons of seaweed).

Once back we wandered down to the village, because Andy wanted to look in the distillery shop and it had been closed all week, but the queue was so long he couldn’t go in.

As we were checking out on the Saturday we had the usual packing and sorting to do. We also had to cancel our Disneyland Paris trip, as they announced a 14 day quarantine (and I would only have 10 days when we got back before starting work), so we decided to add another day in Edinburgh on our way home.

On Saturday morning it was so misty that we could not even see the other side of the loch! It did burn off as we were driving back to the mainland. We stopped at Manuela`s Wee Bakery because they had amazing looking pastries but also the buildings looked like a fairy village! They did a marzipan croissant which was as delicious as it sounds.

The drive to Edinburgh was around 5 hours, so we stopped part of the way to have the croissant. I shall save Edinburgh for a separate post as this is quite long already!

Have you been to Scotland or Skye? 

Holidays week 3- the heatwave (if you can think back that far)

Well, maybe not quite a heatwave but more summer weather than this week of intermittent sunshine and showers.

With regards to my Strava log (which helps me to remember what I actually did), it went like this:

Monday: 10k in the sunshine

Tuesday: 8 miles

Wednesday: lots of walking

Thursday: Yoga and then a 6 mile run but it was very humid

Friday: not parkrun and then a hot walk/run home

We were then off to Scotland for a week so I’ll put that in a separate post.

Walking in the woods, hibiscus flower, tomatoes and Pudding Stop goodies

This is the best time in the holidays in my opinion, as you are far enough in them to have a good routine, but also the end is far enough away that the back to work thoughts don’t crowd the mind too much. The lovely weather meant lots of pottering in the garden and catching up on podcasts. Plus I actually get to enjoy our hibiscus flowers- they don’t seem to flower for that long and so often there will be loads of buds, we’ll go on holiday and when we get back they’ve finished flowering. Silver linings and all that.

I was also feeling a bit braver (or maybe more realistic?) and did a few covid firsts (I don’t want to say post lockdown, because although it’s all eased we are still not at the end). My neck and back bother me a lot and for the last several years I’ve been going to see a lovely woman for a deep tissue massage around once a month or every 6 weeks. The last time I went was in February and of course they have been shut for ages, but recently they reopened so I booked an appointment. I was pretty nervous but I felt very comfortable- they would obviously always wash things between clients anyway, but they had extra precautions, and I had to keep my mask on the whole time. I felt so much better after though (eg I can now look over my left shoulder properly when reversing my car). Afterwards I walked around to The Pudding Stop and picked us up some goodies- last time I did a click and collect to minimise time in there, but in fact it’s all glass so you can see in and they only let one customer in at a time so again it all felt fine.

I was glad to have done a couple of things like that because I had to have my car MOT and service that week (well technically I could have waited until October but I would rather have my car checked sooner rather than later just in case) and although I had booked online you still have to go into the office to go over the paperwork and hand over the keys etc. Again, masks on, although at one point another guy (customer) was in there and he didn’t have a mask and kept wandering about and getting too close. Anyway, after dropping my car off I walked the long way home (I think about 6 miles?) via Caffe Nero to get a croissant, through the golf course and woods.  I did a fair bit of work while waiting for the garage to call, and then walked back (the short way) to collect it.

Ordered myself a diary clip from Enchanted Cozy Co (on Etsy) and they now do personalised cozies so I got one with my initials as you do. Plus a croissant and also a delivery from Food Circle Supermarket who sell lots of bits when they are close to their sell-by date to reduce supermarket waste. I got some Clif bars and Kind bars to take to Scotland with us. 

On Friday we were going to head to Edinburgh, planning to stop in a NT place to have some lunch, so Andy had suggested that on my run I stop in at Waitrose and get us some lunch. Having not been in a supermarket since March it was very strange going inside. It was early in the morning and thankfully quiet, although there was a lady with a trolley who kept going into the box that I was in (the boxes marked out on the floor). I was also very disappointed with the options- I’ve really gone off cheese and can’t remember the last time I had dairy cheese (I have some dairy free stuff which is good if I make a pizza), and there were only a few veggie options and all of them had cheese, even a hummus and falafel thing which would usually be a good bet. Anyway, I ended up with carrots and hummus… not such the treat lunch I was hoping for!

What is your favourite treat lunch? We don’t have a Pret here but their hummus and crunchy veg wrap is sooooooo tasty. I also like a toasted panini but that doesn’t last well for a packed lunch!

Two things that are driving me crazy!

First up, the term staycation isn’t a new one. But somehow people (and I suspect holiday companies desperate to make some sales) have started using it in a different (and incorrect) way. A staycation is when you stay at home for your “vacation”. (Stayliday doesn’t  have quite the same ring to it so I’ll go with the Americanism. Although holi-stay could work?). It does not mean a holiday in the same country that you live in. It just doesn’t. Someone who lives in Maine isn’t having a staycation if they go to Florida for 2 weeks. People from London aren’t have staycations if they go to Cornwall or Wales or anywhere else in that UK. That’s still a holiday!!! We just got back from a holiday (yes, holiday) mainly in Skye and a bit of Edinburgh. That was not a staycation. It’s a holiday. If you camp in your garden then it’s a staycation. Or have a day trip from your home.

Secondly, I keep seeing these nonsense posts on facebook. I can’t work out what the point it (usually these chain posts are linked to data mining and things like that). It goes something like this. “2020. Australia had record bush fires. We had a worldwide pandemic. We had to queue to get in shops. Schools were shut. Blah blah“. More awful stuff. Then “I am going to add this to my timeline so that each year it pops up in my memories so I won’t forget“. Now, say what you will, but I don’t think I am ever likely to forget this year. Are you?  In all honesty, do you think that in a few years time you will be sat scrolling through your phone and the memory will pop up, and you will say “oh look, I’ve just been reminded about Covid-19. I’d forgotten all about it”? No. That won’t happen. No-one is going to forget this year in a hurry. Or ever. And what is the point? I can’t see the original post- it seems that people copy and paste it into their own timelines. So can the original poster see who shares it? Or who copies it? Do they earn cash for getting the  post shared? Anyway, a lot of stuff on facebook annoys me but I refrain from commenting because if you don’t have anything nice to say…… But I feel I can rant here freely!

Please tell me you are with me on the staycation term? 

Do you think you will need help remembering this year?