Financial Roundup - September 2026

It's been a mixed month this month, what with having holiday spending money to find from the budget, although this wasn't too difficult.  I tried to keep within budget for groceries and other items, but most areas have gone over budget slightly.

After an expensive August, on account of wedding/birthday gifts, September was relatively easy and inexpensive by comparison. I have, however, now started putting my mind to thinking about Xmas shopping and buying the odd small gift here and there, utilising money that I have been setting aside each month since last Xmas. This is the only way that I can afford to buy gifts, when I'm on such a low income and not working, but the budgeting has worked well and I already have enough to cover Xmas gifts this year.

The main financial priority this month, has been applying for a couple of workplace pensions, that I will  reach the age to receive next month. This hasn't been a particularly easy process, but I'm looking forward to the time when they start to be paid out. I don't think I'll receive either of them in October, but hopefully I should receive something by November.

I have also applied for a 60+ Oyster card this month, which will allow me free off peak (i.e. after 9am) travel all over London. It costs £36 initially and then £18 per year thereafter, but it should be very useful to me going forward and will make having days out and about much less expensive, particularly in combination with my new National Trust membership. 

It's definitely been a month of financial applications and paperwork. In all honesty, I have found all the paperwork quite complex and frustrating, but it is necessary and I guess it kind of represents a transition to a different phase of my life.

As a consequence of the above, and the fact that the savings I was using to pay myself each month have now run low, I will have a slightly lower income in October, but thanks to some dividends that came in, this won't be too much lower. I'm sure I'll manage. Once my pensions come through, I'll no longer need to use savings as income, unless I choose to, which will be a good thing.

I cashed in a small private pension in August and I'm going to use this to pay myself a little extra each month from October onwards. It should last until I receive my state pension in 7 years time. It will make a small, but positive difference to my finances going forward. 

Talking of my state pension, I did find a statement that I forgot I had the other day and which projected a slightly higher state pension than I thought I was going to get, which was good news. I'm not going to have a huge income in retirement, but hopefully I'll get by okay.

As October is the month of my 60th Birthday, I'm going to try to cut down on non-essential purchases (particularly clothing) for the month and will probably continue with this until after Xmas. I know this will be quite difficult for me, as I've developed quite a charity shop habit when I do the weekly shop, but I think I have quite enough clothing for the moment. Besides, any money saved can go towards LB's birthday gift in January.

The only things I may invest in over the next few months are a new pair of trainers for the gym  and some new bras, as my current ones are getting a bit scruffy.  I may ask for these as Xmas or birthday gifts. I haven't got any large expenses on the horizon next month, which is a good thing, save for the allotment fees, which will be due and are usually about £35.

Instead of spending money, I'm going to try to focus on tidying up the garden and the allotment, (including painting and putting up the new greenhouse) as the season has almost come to an end, do a wardrobe changeover, so that I feel like I've got lots of different new options of things to wear and maybe do some more clothing alterations on some items I'm not quite happy with, before I put them away until next summer. This will mean that they are ready to go when I get them out again next spring. I may also try to do some dressmaking, but I've said this before and not actually managed to do any, so we'll just have to see how this goes.

Just A Regular Week Here - W/E 27th September 2026

This week got off to a slow start. After a busy day out, I was happy to have a long lie in reading my current book, The Salt Path. I've just got a couple of chapters left to read, but have enjoyed it thus far. I then got up and showered and ready for the day.

It was grocery shopping day as usual and I accordingly I headed out of town to do this. It was quite an expensive week this week, as a couple of expensive things needed replenishing and I also decided to stock up the pantry a little and buy some meat to put in the freezer. I didn't have any vouchers to use this week, but I did receive one in Sainsbury's for next week's shop, namely another £4.50 off a £30 spend, so I'll be doing some of my shopping there.

In the evening, OH and LB were out, so I had a search for something to watch on TV and came across a series called The Chelsea Detective, which was actually quite good and I watched a couple of episodes. When OH came in, we resumed watching a US hospital series called The Pitt, which is pretty good. It's set in an Emergency Room in a Pittsburgh hospital and stars Noah Wyle, who also starred in the series ER years ago along with George Clooney.

Our canine companion returned home late on Monday evening. He was very excited to see his family again, bless him. He'd settled quite well with us.

On Tuesday, my usual Zumba class was running as normal, so that was good. It was quite energetic and I needed it, but it's been a while since I've done the teacher's class, so it came as a bit of a shock to the system.

I was pretty tired in the afternoon and not very motivated. I did a couple of household chores, but not much else. Some days, I'm just happy to do very little with my time. Who says we need to be productive every day?

Wednesday, I was up and out to the Green Gym again. It's a 30 minute walk to the railway station to catch the train. Last week, I walked along the main road, but this week, I took a cross country route which was a bit more pleasant and didn't take any longer.

Today, it was all about planting daffodil and narcissus bulbs. It was quite a sunny day and all the digging to plant them was quite tiring. We then covered them over with extra soil. After lunch, I was given some lettuce seedlings to plant out in some raised beds and we were harvesting sunflower heads for the seeds in order to create bird feeders. I must do the same thing with my sunflowers at home and at the allotment, as I've grown quite a few of them this year. It will save some money on bird seed.

I was shattered by the time I got home and could hardly move for the rest of the day. OH was out cycling in the evening, so I watched another episode of The Chelsea Detective and then we resumed The Pitt when he got in.

On Thursday morning, I was up and out to the gym for a class, which was good. When I got back I was really tired again and took a nap after lunch. I've been waking at around 5am for a few mornings now, so I'm not really getting enough sleep. It takes it's toll later in the day.

OH booked us some accommodation for a weekend away next month to celebrate my 60th birthday. We're heading to to Brighton, which should be fun. He also placed an order for a new wooden greenhouse for the garden. It's to go along one side of the decking, where we have our current greenhouse, but this one is slightly longer and deeper. We're hoping it will help make the decking look a lot tidier. We will have to paint it, but we've got paint left over from the shed and will probably do it the same colour, so that it all co-ordinates. It will keep us occupied over the next few months. I can't wait for it to arrive, as it's the final big thing we need for the garden really. I'll feel like a proper gardener when we have a more substantial greenhouse.

Later in the afternoon, I ventured to the allotment to harvest and water. I watered a fellow plot holder's plot as they were away and had put a request out on the Whats App Chat. I also needed to put the garden waste bins out for collection the next day. I had wanted to harvest the sunflower heads for the seeds, but was disappointed to see that the squirrels had beaten me to every single one, which had had their heads bitten off and taken. I was so annoyed. I've just got 3 in the garden at home now to dry for bird seed. At least the wildlife made good use of it.

On Friday, I had a free day to do as I pleased. The morning was spent doing very little. I started a new book whilst having a lie in, but it was otherwise a very non eventful morning.

In the afternoon, I did a bit of banking online and tried to fill in a bit more of my pension application. I did get an email to say that my first one had been received and had been sent for processing, which is good. It's hard to believe that we are now almost at the end of yet another month. I can hardly believe how quickly this month has passed. 

I managed to finish completing my second small pension application, and took it to the post office to send it off. I just need to wait and see that everything is okay with it. The truth will be in my starting to receive the monthly payments. I've got a real aversion to paperwork at the moment and have been procrastinating for a couple of weeks, so I'm just relieved to finally get them done.

Saturday, I had a lie in again reading a little bit more of my current book. I then decided that I was going to do some sewing, as it had been an age since I'd done any. I had a laundry basket in the sewing room that was full of potential projects that I'd hidden away out of sight. I decided to start with some simple enough alterations just to get me back in the mood for sewing. After a late start, it took me most of the day to complete a couple of alterations. I've posted separately about how I got on with them.

OH went to the allotment in the afternoon and planted out the last of the lettuce seedlings. He also harvested a few bits whilst there.  Our current total weight in produce this year has now gone up to 70 kg, which is a good amount. I don't think it will go up much more from here, as there's only a few tomatoes, beetroot and some lettuce left to harvest, but we've had a good year, so I can't complain.

In the evening, OH decided to treat us to a fish and chip supper. I didn't have fish, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Sunday was super quiet here. A long lie in, a bit of pottering, a bit of gardening. I do love a lazy day at home. We finished the first series of The Pitt tonight. It's definitely worth a watch if you like hospital dramas.

A Canine Visitor, Form Filling, An Early Birthday Present and a Day Out - W/E 20th September 2026

On Thursday this week, I did my first class at the gym for a couple of weeks. It felt good to get back to it, but tiring too. I'm not feeling that fit at the moment. When I got home, I ended up having a nap for an hour in the afternoon. I just needed it. I then forced myself to complete the application forms for one of my pensions. I should have done it before we went on holiday, but what with the wedding and getting ready to go away again, I couldn't get my head around it.

I had to dig out some old documents to be able to answer some of the questions and then peruse my tax records online to answer others, so it wasn't a quick job. I think I got it completed correctly. I just hope they don't send it back for any reason and that they start paying it as near to my 60th birthday as possible. I've now got another pension application to complete, so I need to do that one in the next couple of days.

On Thursday evening, we got a canine visitor for a few days. Our neighbours were going away for a long weekend and couldn't take their dog, so we agreed to have him over the weekend. He's a sweetie and no trouble at all.

Friday, was thankfully a day where I didn't need to do anything much or go anywhere. I did need to post a couple of bits of mail, one being a pension application that I'd finally completed. I had a leisurely morning getting a shower and working on a second pension application, which isn't quite finished yet. LB headed off for a weekend away in Manchester today, to celebrate a friend's birthday. I'm sure she'll have a great time.

I myself got a lovely surprise when the postman came, as I received a membership for the National Trust. I was a bit perplexed, as I hadn't bought one. Turns out it was an early 60th birthday present from my sister. I was very excited to receive it and instantly messaged my thanks. (She's away on holiday around my actual birthday, hence why it was early). Turns out OH knew about it, as she'd messaged him for ideas for a gift. This was perfect and I can't wait to start using it, especially as I get my free 60+ London travel card when I reach 60 and I can travel around to National Trust places that aren't too far away using this. I've already earmarked a few I want to visit.

Later, after lunch, I walked into our local town centre to get a few bits of shopping and also drop into the Post Office. I ended up spending £35 on postage, some food bits and some probiotics from the health food shop. I hadn't bought any for a while and they were on offer, so I bought 6 months supply, which took care of half of the expenditure. Hopefully my gut will thank me.

When I got back, I took the dog around the block and over to the allotment to harvest and water a little. We hadn't been all week and there were lots of tomatoes, some of which were splitting. Most things are slowing down in terms of producing food, although there's still lots of lettuce growing.

In the evening, I managed to catch up on blog reading and commenting. I was seriously behind due to the wedding/holiday, etc. It felt good to catch up with what everyone's been doing over the last month or so.

On Saturday morning, OH was out cycling, so it fell to me to walk the dog. I got up early and took him for a long hour and half walk across various green spaces in our area. I don't get to go to these so often now, so I quite enjoyed it. I was surprised how many people were out and about, mostly on bikes or with dogs. Saturday mornings are usually pretty quiet.

I tackled the ironing basket in the afternoon, mainly because I needed clean towels and none were ironed.  I found a few items of clothing in there that hadn't seen the light of day for a while. There's still a big pile of towels left to iron, but I've got a good few to keep us going a while.

Sunday, we had planned a big day out. OH was cycling in a race over in East Sussex, so we made a day of it and stopped off at a car boot for me on the way. It wasn't the best car boot that I've been to, but I did find quite a few terracotta pots for the garden at good prices. It's coming up to bulb planting season and these come very useful for this purpose.  I also found three items of clothing, but in total I spent just £9, so I was quite restrained.

We then stopped off for some lunch before continuing to where OH was racing. I stayed in the car with the dog until later in the race, reading my book and just chilling, as we'd got up very early to go out and I was pretty tired. Then we joined him on the finish line before we all headed home. It was nice to get out of London again for the day, but we were glad to get home and just relax.

Home Again and Something New - W/E 20th September 2026 - Part One

Coming home to London was a bit of a downer after having a lovely holiday in Cornwall. It was, however, good to get home to my own bed and also to see how the garden and allotment had fared in our absence. We got home on Saturday afternoon and after putting all my washing on, OH and I headed to the allotment to check on everything there.  All was well and we harvested some tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, raspberries and a few strawberries. We didn't water, as rain was forecast the next day.

The garden had fared okay too. There must have been a bit of rain whilst we were away, as all the plants looked fine and some I'd left in trays were sat in water.

I didn't really unpack fully until Sunday morning, after I'd had a good night's sleep, as the journey back from Cornwall was long and tiring. After getting unpacked, I did some financial reckoning after the holiday. I did spend quite a bit on holiday, but nothing excessive. 

I then put a grocery shopping list together and headed off to our local Lidl to do the main part of the weekly shop, as there wasn't a great deal in the house to eat. I was able to use a £5 off voucher which helped. It was very busy in the store and once again, there was an incident where some people were arguing loudly. Hence why I don't normally shop here. It was, however, good to get the shopping done.

OH was out cycling most of the day and it rained on and off all day. It was a pity, because it was our local Jumble Trail (table top sale). I thought about going to take a look, but we'd done so much car booting and thrifting on holiday, that I couldn't really justify it and if I'm honest, the rain did put me off. Instead, I stayed home and did some blogging and more financial stuff. By the end of the day, it felt like life was back to normal, more or less.

It feels like we're now on the run in to Xmas. I've started buying a few small gifts here and there, but I don't have lists from LB and OH yet. There's just my 60th birthday on the calendar between then and now. I'm not planning on doing anything special for it though, maybe a family weekend away.

On Monday, I still headed out of town to do the remainder of the weekly shop. There were quite a few bits that I couldn't get locally and I like to get out of town at least once per week.  I was lucky to get a few things I was looking for on offer, which saved me a bit of money. I also filled the car up with petrol, as there wasn't much in the tank after our journey home. It's been going up again quite a bit lately. We noticed this on our travels. Where I shop it is always a lot cheaper than anywhere nearer home.

I did also drop into the charity shop and bought a couple of things, one of which I needed for something I was doing later in the week. I also got a couple of books for £1, one of which was The Salt Path by Raynor Winn, which is the story of the author and her husband walking the South West Coastal Path when they became homeless.  I went to see the film of the book, which I enjoyed and subsequently there was a lot of controversy over the book and it's author, but I still wanted to read it, as we are thinking of walking the path at some point and it will remind me of and prolong thoughts of our lovely holiday. I am now about half way through the book and it is a very enjoyable read.

Whilst out shopping, I also managed to return an item of clothing that I bought in Cornwall, that I decided was not for me, at a local branch of the store, which I was happy about.

Tuesday, I was back to the gym for my usual Zumba class. Unfortunately, when I got there, I found out that the class had been cancelled, which was annoying. I decided to do some walking on the treadmill and cycling on the exercise bike instead, before heading home. Any kind of movement is a plus at the moment.

When I got home, I decided to do a bit of pruning and tidying in the garden. I just clipped back my hazel bushes and tidied up the hanging basket and a few other plants. I also brushed the cobwebs off the garden chairs and table and swept the paved area of the garden. Small things, but they helped to make the garden look a bit tidier. There's still more to do, but it felt good to get out in the garden now that the weather is a bit cooler and just potter.

On Wednesday, I did something new. I went along to a Green Gym at a community garden a train ride away. I enjoyed the session, the people seemed very friendly and I made a drinking water station for a hedgehog or other wild animal. They had me sawing wood and using an electric drill to screw it together. I've never done either before really, so it was a learning curve. The water station works well and replenishes the water as it gets drunk, without it spilling over. Some sort of magic really, who knew. Anyway, here's a picture: 

Very simple and rustic and it could do with being painted, but I'm all for learning new skills. I came home with some rather large radish, that I'm hoping to pickle and some scotch bonnets for OH.

In the afternoon, I caught up on the final of the Sewing Bee on iPlayer, which was good, then later OH and I watched the first episode of the final series of Slow Horses. We missed out on tickets to watch it and the second episode live at the Barbican, as it was sold out. It would have been a good night out.

Talking of the Barbican, we've also missed out on tickets to go and see the Conservatory this month before they renovate it. I believe that they are giving away free cuttungs of some of the plants on the day. I've added myself to the waiting list in case any more tickets become available. OH is apparently also on the waiting list and believes there might be another opening later in the year, so fingers crossed.

Monthly Clothing Purchases - August 2026

A bit late, but here's last month's Monthly Clothing Purchases post.  After months of buying numerous items of clothing, I decided to try to reduce purchases this month, after all, I was trying to declutter by having a Car Boot sale, so it seemed pointless to keep bringing more into the house.

However, I failed at the first hurdle, after visiting a car boot sale with OH the first Sunday of the month. I came home with three clothing items. The first was this 100% linen navy tunic top, which I bought for £1. It's from Phase Eight, which is a quality brand. Trouble is, I didn't like the long lagen look length, so I have now shortened it to make it more wearable for me. The excess linen will always come in handy for patchwork or some other small sewing projects. I wore this to the cricket, and it was very comfortable on a hot day and looks quite smart too.

The second item I bought was this sweater with pouffy short sleeves for £1. I thought the sleeves were cute on this one. It's a little snug, but hopefully I will wear it when the weather gets colder, a good layering piece.

I also bought this pair of 100% cotton elasticated cuff trousers at the car boot, with nice big patch pockets. It was a bit of a gamble as to whether they would fit, but for £2, I thought it was worth the risk and happily it was. I've already worn them several times and they are very comfortable. I can see me wearing these a lot, as they are one of my favourite style of trousers at the moment.

A visit to the charity shop resulted in three more clothing items being bought.  The first was this jersey jumpsuit that cost £5. It's probably not everyone's bag, but I do like a jumpsuit, even if I just wear it around the house and garden. I've worn it once already and it is very comfortable to wear.

The next item I bought was this brand new with tags 100% linen shirt from M&S, which cost me £3. It's a very bright green colour, but I have some shoes this colour which I can wear it with, possibly layered under a sweater vest. A bargain, as it is a quality item.

The final item from this visit to the charity shop was a black shirred broiderie anglaise dress for £5, which I subsequently cut down to a skirt. I'm afraid I didn't take a picture of it as a dress, so here's the new skirt version which I've mentioned in another post.

On a second visit to my favourite London charity shop a couple of weeks later, I bought this cotton top, which I thought was really pretty for £3. I really like the paisley type print on it and the frilled neckline and sleeves.

I bought one more clothing item whilst we were away in Yorkshire, from a charity shop.  This top cost £4 and is made of cotton broiderie anglais. I liked the bright colour of it and the loose fit, although it is slightly itchy and I may need to wear a vest underneath it.

I did also buy a couple of fascinators with a view to wearing them for the wedding, but I didn't in the end, so I'll be re-donating them.  I probably paid £5 for the two, which was a bit of a waste of money really. I just came to the conclusion that they're just not my style.

In total then, in August, I spent £29 on second hand clothing/accessories, which was a little more than I spent last month, but less than previous months. I've been very happy with most of the items I bought though and some of them will be worn a lot.

Monthly Makes - August 2026

Rather than being a month of making, August, was a month of making alterations to items of clothing  that were in my wardrobe and that I wasn't quite happy with. The first item I altered was this 100% linen tunic top that I bought at the car boot for £1. Whilst I really liked the neckline, sleeves and looseness of it, it was just way too long and lagenlook for me, so I decided to cut some fabric off the bottom, re-hem it and make it shorter and more me. Here's a before:

(Please excuse the creases)

It didn't take long to just re-hem it and I have to say, I'm very happy with the result and I can now see me reaching for this a lot, as it is very comfortable to wear in hot weather. 

Here's an after picture:

The second item I altered, was one that I had altered previously. This top was originally a short dress. I think it is 100% cotton, although I can't read the label, but it feels like cotton lawn, which is great for summer. The problem was, that every time I reached for it, I just didn't like it on. I then had a bit of a lightbulb moment, that altering the sleeves might help. They were originally 3/4 length and elasticated and it's not my favourite length of sleeve, so I shoved the elastic up to the top of my arm to give an idea of how it would look with short sleeves and I much prefered it. 

It was a simple enough job to shorten and re-hem the sleeves. I didn't re-insert elastic, as the less tightness around any part of the body when it's hot the better. I'm very happy with the results. I can see me wearing this top a lot more now. Here's what it looks like now:

I liked it that much, that I decided to wear it for the rest of the day.

Another item that I altered involved hand sewing some new straps to a jumpsuit. It didn't change the look of the item at all, but just made it fit better, so I haven't posted a picture here. It was good to get this small job done though, as it meant that I could wear said jumpsuit, which I bought a month ago.

I also did a bit more work on my second Suffolk puff project, making a few more puffs. I'm pinning them to the lampshade as I make them. Here's where I'm at currently:

A long way to go, but I'm hoping that I've got enough fabric to complete it.

I did a couple more alterations this month. The first was to my favourite sweatshirt, that I've had for years, and which is really useful for taking on holiday for cool nights/days. It had a ring mark stain on the front and despite my efforts, I've not been able to shift it. I didn't want to throw it away as I like it, and I had some patches in my stash, so I ironed them on over the stain, so that I can continue to wear it. Here's a picture of what it now looks like:

A much better solution than recycling it for rags. I'm just hoping the patches stay on when it's washed and worn, otherwise it will be a bigger job to stitch them into place.

The final small alteration job I did this month was to cut a dress down to a skirt. I bought the dress from the charity shop for £5. I'm afraid I didn't take a before photo of it, but it had a sheered top with puff sleeves. The only problem was that it was way too low cut at the front and back for my liking, so I cut it down to a skirt. I've already worn this several times and it's very comfortable. It's made of cotton broiderie anglaise, but it did have a polyester lining, which I removed, as I don't want any synthetics against my skin in hot weather. Here's a picture of the resulting skirt:

Just small alteration projects for the main part this month. I didn't get around to making any trousers on account of the wedding and other distractions, but hopefully I'll get around to them another month. I was, however, happy with the results of the things I did alter, as it has made several things much more wearable.

A Cornish Staycation - W/E 13th September 2026 - Part 2

Thursday, on our holiday in Cornwall, was our penultimate day. We decided that we would go to Marazion to walk across the causeway to St Michael's Mount. We have visited Mont St Michel in Brittany, many years ago, which is quite different, as it has many shops and restaurants on the island, but St Michael's Mount has a castle and gardens. It is free to walk the causeway to the island, but to get onto the island and visit the gardens (which were closed) and the castle, it cost £21 each, if you don't book the night before, so we decided to just walk the causeway and enjoy the views. The tide was out from 9.45 am until around 1pm and this allows you to walk all the way to the island. We enjoyed this and then came back across the beach. 

From here, we then drove back to Penzance and this time LB and I got to enjoy a bit of thrift shopping in the town.

Later in the afternoon, OH and I visited Lamorna Gardens, which are situated overlooking Lamorna Cove. They are mainly planted up with tropical plants, hydrangeas, camelias and rhododendrons, which are planted in terraced beds dug into the cliff sides. It is an amazing garden, but quite steep in places and you do have to watch your footing.  There are lots of paths through the gardens and some lovely viewing points, from which you can see Lamorna cove, which is a lovely little rocky cove.

On Friday, our last day in Cornwall was spent in St Ives. OH went for another bike ride and LB and I met him there for the afternoon. Before heading off, I determined to take a swim in our little local rock pool. It would have been such a pity to go home without taking a dip, so at 8am, I ventured down and had a swim. There was one other person there and we got chatting. I was so glad that I did it. It was cold, and a bit slippery under foot, but very rejuvenating. Next time I come to Cornwall, I will definitely bring my beach shoes.

Our last day was another lovely sunny day and it was very busy in the town of St Ives when we got there.. (I had previously visited St Ives as a teenager, when I went on holiday there with a friend and her parents for a week and ended up with severely blistered legs from sunburn. We had to travel home by train and I remember finding it really difficult to sit on the train seat all the way home. I was a mess)  Thankfully, there was no repeat on this visit.

St Ives is a beautiful, Cornish town/resort, but is incredibly busy. It has  lovely sandy beaches and lots of beautiful shops and cafes. We wandered around the shopping streets and then stopped in a cafe for lunch. The harbour is beautiful at low tide and many people sat around this area on deck chairs.

We then walked up to the Tate St Ives, where we went up to the cafe for a Cornish Cream Tea, which was very nice and had great views of Porthmeor beach. We didn't go into the gallery, but we did sea a couple of beautiful artworks on the way up to the cafe. Of particular interest, was this beautiful glass piece by Patrick Heron, a famous Cornish abstract artist, whose daughter taught OH at university.

There followed a wander around some more streets in the town and a visit to a local bakery, where I bought a Hevva (Heavy) cake, a traditional cornish cake, which was traditionally baked by fishermen's wives to welcome them home from sea. It tastes very nice, similar to a Rock Cake, but denser. It is very nice with clotted cream and jam. By the time we got back to London, there was only one third of the cake left.

We had a fabulous holiday in Cornwall. We managed to pack quite a lot in, but it still felt like we'd only scratched the surface. The drive home seemed a little longer, probably because we didn't have our holiday to look forward to. I would definitely go again and would recommend it to anyone. There is so much to do and see and the scenery is breathtaking. We would also like to attempt more of the South West Coastal Path at some point. Who needs to get on a plane and fly when we have such beauty here at home.