I was very excited for this week, as it was going to be different from the usual. We were going away for a week and LB was coming with us. For this holiday, we decided to stay in the UK, what with all the hooha over aviation fuel and flight cancellations, not knowing when OH's brother's funeral was going to be and the fact that OH was going to Europe for 10 days cycling the following month. LB and I were happy to have a UK holiday, on the condition that we at least had a hot tub to relax in, so we set about looking for a comfortable place in a countryside setting with a hot tub.
I was quite surprised at how expensive it is to rent accommodation for holidays in the UK now. It has doubled in price since before Lockdown. Sadly, the days of renting a lovely cottage for £500 for a week are long gone, in most places in the UK.
Anyway, after a bit of tooing and frooing over whether to go to the South West or Suffolk/Norfolk, we eventually decided on South Lincolnshire, near The Wash, mainly for it's proximity to Yorkshire, in case the funeral was going to be that week, although it wasn't. We hadn't really visited this area much and it is close to the Lincolnshire Wolds and there are lots of other interesting things to do in the area. We rented a converted Windmill with a hot tub, near the coast on the edge of The Wash.
LB and I don't like super hot weather, so we were quite relieved to find that the week we were going, things would be cooling down a bit and we'd even have some rain. (Which was good for the garden/allotment whilst we were away!)
We were staying Monday to Monday, so on Monday lunchtime, we packed up the car and headed north. It was probably a 2-3 hour drive from London, although it took us more like 4-5 hours, as we stopped for lunch in one of the oldest pubs in the UK, which was also purported to be haunted by a ghost from the 11th century. We also stopped off in the largely Georgian town of Wisbech, Cambs. for cake and a cup of tea in a lovely cafe, before finally getting to the windmill. Here's a picture of it:
It was lovely inside and out, but did have very steep stairs to each floor, which were much easier to negotiate coming down backwards. We spent the first evening settling in and I slept really well, which was good.
On Tuesday, we headed into Boston, Lincs. mid morning and had a wander around. We explored the town, which we enjoyed, picked up a few bits of food shopping, had some lunch in a cafe and then drove as near to the Wash as we could and went for a walk along the newly named King Charles III coastal path. We did a bit of bird watching and then got completely drenched walking back to the car, as there was a heavy rainfall, so we then retreated back to the Mill for the remainder of the evening to dry off and chill.
Wednesday, OH went off on a bike ride, so LB and I headed to Skegness 12 miles up the coast. I remember having childhood holidays here with my sisters and parents. Unfortunately, it started to rain heavily when we got there. We dived in and out of a few shops and then drove up to meet OH at a cafe a few miles away. After lunch, we drove up to Mablethorpe, which has a lovely sandy beach and took a little walk on the beach and had a 99 ice cream. Got to be done at the seaside. On the way home, we picked up fish and chips in a beautiful little village called Wainfleet St Mary, and took them home to enjoy, followed by a soak in the hot tub which was lovely. (Finally!)
On Thursday, we drove over to Lincoln and visited the norman castle there, which houses one of only four remaining original copies of the infamous Magna Carta. It was something that OH has wanted to do for ages, so he was very happy to go.
We visited the victorian prison that was subsequently built in the castle grounds and also walked part of the castle walls, as part of our admission ticket, which gave great views of the historic part of the city which you can see in the photo above, with it's cobbled streets and small independent shops. OH also took a look in the Cathedral, but a service was just starting, so he couldn't stay for long. We had lunch in a pub and then, as we were only 1 hour away from OH's mum's house, we decided to pay her a visit for a few hours. We also visited his brother's partner too, before returning to Linconlshire and our rental.
Friday, OH was heading out cycling again, so LB and I headed to the town of Spalding this time, to do some thrifting. There were lots of charity shops in the town centre and they were so reasonably priced. We had a lot of fun visiting them. I spent £15, but bought three tops, a dress and three new, uncut sewing patterns, two of which cost just 10p each, plus a few other sewing bits, as some of the charity shops had great crafting sections. I'm hoping they'll help get me back into making some of my own clothes. The clothes I bought will be included in my monthly clothing purchase post at the end of the month. We were both thrifted out by the end of the day. We met up with OH later and had lunch before returning to the mill.
On Saturday, I had been looking forward to visiting a local car boot sale, but unfortunately the weather was awful with high winds and rain. I figured there'd be very few sellers braving it, so I looked online for something else to do and found a National Trust property that sounded interesting. LB was happy to stay at the mill and OH had booked himself on a Brewery tour, which I wasn't really interested in. I dropped him off and then made my way to Gunby Hall and Estate. Here's a picture of the house:
It was £12 entry to the house and gardens, and as I particularly wanted to visit the walled garden, I opted for this. The house was interesting, or should I say, the family who lived there were super interesting. The volunteers in each room were very knowledgeable and were very happy to tell you about the history of the house and family. I really enjoyed it. I then had a walk through the walled garden which was a mixture of flowers and fruit/vegetables. I always love visiting walled gardens and this one wasn't a disappointment. It was definitely a good choice of somewhere to visit. Here are some pictures of the walled garden:
In the evening, we all went out to a local bowling alley and booked a lane for an hour. We managed to squeeze in 3 games, which was fun. On the way home, we picked up an indian takeaway from a shop in the village. The food was amazing and it was a rare treat for us.
We finally got to a car boot sale on Sunday in Adderthorpe. OH cycled there and met LB and I once we'd finished browsing. I didn't buy a lot, but I did get 4 plants for £5 in total. One thing I loved about Lincolnshire, was that there were lots of houses selling plants outside and you just popped the money in a tin. I bought two more plants from such a stall, but could happily have bought more if we'd had room in the car. Here's a picture of the ones I bought:
They included two dahlias, a rosemary cutting, spearmint, a purple verbena and a purple sedum, the latter two were bought from the stall on the side of the road.
After leaving the car boot, we drove to Skegness again, for OH to visit this time. Luckily it was a lovely hot day. We had a game of crazy golf, (which is a family tradition at the seaside) walked the beach and pier and had an ice cream, before returning for our last night at the mill.
We had a lovely stay, despite very changeable weather, and it was very restful. A wonderful change from the hustle and bustle of London life.
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