Back Home After An Eventful Week

We got back from our holiday in North Wales last night.  Exhausted, but rested if you know what I mean.

It was an eventful week in more ways than one.  We had a good holiday though overall and I have to admit to completely falling in love with Snowdonia National Park.  It was beautiful and we'll definitely be going back at some point.

The week didn't get off to too great a start as the weather was a bit rainy, which did limit our options. It did start to clear up later in the week though.

I received phone call on the first proper day of our holiday from my GP, to tell me that my cholesterol levels were high and that I needed to make some amendments to my lifestyle.  I was quite surprised at how high it was i.e. 7.2, when it should be more like 5.  We had a telephone discussion of ways I could try to bring it down and she reassured me that it was a known side effect of having a hypoactive thyroid.

As I already currently exercise very regularly, don't eat much red meat, eat lots of salad and fruit and try to eat healthily, I was a little concerned that I might not be able to do much to lower it, but she assured me that just by using cholesterol lowering products instead of some dairy products, that I should be able to bring it down within reasonable limits.

I promised to do my best, once I got home from our holiday, as it wasn't really practical to try to start seeking out special products to use when you're shopping in very small shops that don't stock the ranges. She said the best thing I could do was to relax and enjoy the week! I have an appointment with the same lady GP this evening, to discuss what I need to do, so I'll see what she says.

After getting over that blow, we had a minor accident in the camper van, which also put a damper on our holiday.  Nothing serious thankfully, and no one hurt, but as it wasn't our vehicle, it was a worry. Luckily, it didn't prevent us from driving it or affect the inside at all. It was a bit of a shock though and a disappointment, but these things happen when you are driving a large vehicle sometimes.

In addition, I also suffered a few injuries through slipping on various walks, so I was bandaged up where a branch had punctured and scratched my arm.  Thankfully, it has virtually healed and didn't stop me from doing anything.

We continued on, still determined to enjoy our holiday, in spite of the setbacks and we did.  We stayed on some lovely campsites in the National Park, finding that the simpler, more natural sites suited us best. One even had it's own resident ghost, although I didn't see him while we were there. As many of the sites didn't have WiFi connection, I didn't blog, but if I'm honest, it was good to have a digital detox for the larger part of the holiday.

We visited the wonderful Slate Museum at the foot of Mount Snowdon in Llanberis. Entry was free and there was a demonstration of slate splitting and cutting which was interesting. You could also take a look in slate miners' cottages through the centuries, which was also interesting.

I did buy a few souvenirs from the shop, which included a slate key ring and a single reject slate to use as a cheeseboard.  I also bought some Tiger Eye stud earrings, to aid confidence and help me be brave and sensible, which came in very handy towards the end of the week when we made the walk up Mount Snowdon. This was a real adventure and deserves a post of it's own.

We also visited Portmerrion, Swallow Falls waterfall and many of the lovely little villages in Snowdonia National Park.  We had a wonderful, but pretty exhausting week and I am definitely pleased to be back home in order to recover from it.

There is still, however, much more that I'd like to see and experience, so another visit some time is a definite must.

We left LB in Yorkshire at her cousins' house, where she is staying for a week. I will be travelling up by train to collect her on Friday. OH booked the tickets this morning and I'm quite looking forward to the train journey, as he has treated us to first class tickets with all refreshments included.

Today, I've been back to my usual classes at the gym and then did the weekly shop.  Normality resumes, but that's fine with me.  Thankfully, due to eating pretty sensibly on holiday, I haven't put on any weight and I've managed to procure some of the cholesterol lowering products needed today, so it will be interesting to see if they help.

Have you had a good week?