A Few Days Away

This week, I had Monday off work, so I had three consecutive days off to enjoy. We had booked a luxury apartment in Yorkshire to stay for a couple of nights, so we packed up on Sunday morning and headed off in the car.  I was really looking forward to the break after a really intense period at work.

We dropped in at OH's mum's on the way to the apartment and caught up on all the family news, then went on to get settled into the apartment for the night.

Unfortunately, when we got there, we realised that no-one had sent us the key code to get into the apartment, and as it was Sunday night, we couldn't get hold of the owners to provide it. We tried contacting the rental platform that we use regularly, and they couldn't provide it either, so after a drink in a nearby pub, we ended up booking another room for the night, sadly in far less luxurious accommodation, as it was the only place available that would take a dog. We then struggled to find anywhere still serving food, that would allow our dog into the restaurant/bar, despite being in quite a large market town, so settled for some takeaway food eaten in.

It was a very disappointing start to our break and we almost felt like packing up and going home the next day. Anyway, after sleeping on it (or not in my case, as I had a terrible night's sleep) and having breakfast, we arranged with the apartment owners to return to the apartment. 

It was a beautiful apartment and the disappointment fell away. We could resume our relaxing break and put the disaster of the previous night behind us. We were grateful how things turned out, as things could always have been a lot worse, we could have had trouble finding anywhere at all in the vicinity to stay.

Once settled in, OH took the dog out for a lovely walk at a local beauty spot. LB messaged us, to let us know that she was heading to Manchester to stay with some friends for a couple of days, so we chatted online for a while about various things.

After OH had walked the dog, I dropped him off at his parent's house to help them with a few tasks, whilst I headed to my favourite Yorkshire store Boyes, to shop for a few bits that I needed. I browsed a couple of charity shops too, as I was looking for some fabric to complete the current quilt I'm working on.

I had a lovely mooch around the Boyes store and picked up a remnant that will hopefully be big enough to complete my quilt. It's a thickish denim chambray shirting material, that is 100% cotton. It cost £9. It is not what I originally intended to use, but I'm hoping it will work well with all the different blue fabrics that the blocks I've made so far are made from.  Here's a picture:

I have to admit that I did also pick up half a metre of this lovely deco print cotton fabric too, which cost me £2.50.  I don't need it for anything specific, but I just liked it and couldn't resist. There were only 1.5 metres left, but I resisted the urge to buy it all and just bought 1/2 metre for small projects.  I love it.

The only thing I picked up in the charity shops was this Liberty Fat Quarter bundle, which was a steal at £2. I just couldn't not buy it. I paid a little bit more, as I made an additional donation.  It is made up of some very pretty yellow and blue Liberty floral cotton fabrics.

The only other things I bought whilst out and about, were household, toiletry and make up items that I/we needed, so I felt I was quite careful and considered in my spending on the whole.

Once I'd finished shopping, I went back to OH's parent's house. Strangely, whilst there, I received a call from a volunteer who used to work in the charity shop where I previously worked. I hadn't heard from him literally since just after I left back in June last year, so it was a surprise to receive the call.  It was nice to talk to him and catch up with his news. There had been quite a few events in his life since I left, some of them good, some not.  It was good to hear he was doing okay though and had found a new job. 

Later in the evening, we went to OH's sister's house for supper, which was nice, as we hadn't seen them since last summer. We had a pleasant evening catching up with family news and events. There is a family wedding coming up later this year, so we should all meet up again for that.

We then finally returned to the apartment and spent a couple of hours chilling on our first and last night there. We'd had a nice day, but it was good to have some time to ourselves at the end of it, before we headed back to London.

The next morning, we had a lovely relaxing morning chilling in the apartment. It was nice to use the facilities properly before we left and just enjoy the last little bit of our stay.

We packed up and headed off to walk the dog and make a last visit to OH's parents. While OH was walking the dog, I did a little bit of charity shopping. I managed to find a dress for the family wedding and a fascinator. The dress is new and cost £15. It's quite a formal wedding, so I needed something new, as I don't have anything suitable. Hopefully this will look okay. I'm not really someone who enjoys dressing up for occasions. It's not really my thing, but you have to make an effort for other people on these occasions.

We're now back in London.  When I read this back, it sounds like I spent the entire time shopping, but I don't really shop much when I'm in London, except for groceries. I do feel like I've had a longer break than just one day off work. I think getting out of London was good for us.