Post-Holiday Catch Up

Apologies that it's been a few weeks since I last posted. We had a bad week a few weeks ago where OH wasn't feeling too well and we had to get tested for Covid.  Luckily, all our results came back very quickly and were all negative, which was a huge relief, as we were busy trying to rebuild sales at the shop and it would have caused problems if the results had been different.  We had to get tested though, as I couldn't risk potentially passing the virus onto some of our volunteers who live with vulnerable people.  It all worked out OK in the end though thankfully and we got to experience the whole process of being tested.

After the stress of all that and the possibility of it interfering with our holiday to Suffolk, we were so grateful to have a short holiday booked and still be able to go, just to get away from London and relax in the countryside. We packed up and left last Wednesday and returned today after four blissful nights in a lovely cottage not far from the Suffolk coast.

It felt so good to breathe fresh country air, potter around local towns and villages and generally just chill and re-boot.  I did the jigsaw that I bought from the charity shop whilst we were away, which was very relaxing.  Here's a picture of the completed puzzle:

Very pretty and interesting to do and a lovely holiday coastal theme. It always works as an activity to help me unwind from work and clear my head.

Getting out of London has been a long time coming, as I haven't left for six months now, save to collect a couple of eBay purchases, i.e. my bike and a piece of furniture that I re-painted before we left. (Post coming, once the project is completely finished) I don't think I realised quite how much I needed a break until we took one.

Now we're back home and I'm back at work on Tuesday, so I've still got another day to settle back into my routine before resuming work. It was lovely to go away, but it's also lovely to get home and sink into the comforts of our own home.

I bought a few things for the house whilst away, mainly from charity shops and from a car boot sale that we visited this morning before leaving Suffolk. It's a rare treat for me to attend a car boot sale, as there are none near where we live and this one was a good one with many stalls, although some were clearing away before I got to them. It was a lovely sunny day for it too which helped.

Anyway, I bought a new ironing board, a pair of trousers and  a couple of plant pots from charity shops during the holiday.  My ironing board started to collapse just before we came away, so when I saw one reduced to £5 I couldn't resist it, as it has saved me looking around for one now we're back in London and has probably saved me a lot of money too.

The plant pots I bought were quite plain and white, but were needed as our indoor plants had outgrown their current pots and desperately need potting on. I also bought this lovely hammered brass bowl at the car boot, which is perfect for this indoor fern that is just getting bigger and bigger.

I have now moved this plant into the living room, where I hope it will continue to thrive.  We will just have to remember to water it.

The only other things I bought at the car boot were a gold picture frame and a couple more ferns for the garden at £5 each, which was a bargain as they were a good size. I could have bought more plants from this stall, but we didn't have any room in the car, which was a pity. I now have four ferns waiting to be planted out and need to get around to it in the next week or so.

Next week will be an eventful one.  Our long time neighbours are moving out in a couple of days, so I assume our new neighbours will be moving in, although this may or may not be the case. LB is returning to college (although only for one day) and returning to her part time job this week so will be very busy and my new job share partner is starting work at the shop, so there will be lots going on.

 I will try to post more now we're back from holiday.  Hope you had a good week.