Late update - Cardiff sleep over

5 WEEEEEEKS! 

Well four and a half now, until it's Christmas.

So last week ended with a rare night out with Jeff during term time. I got tickets nearly a year ago for G4 performing in Wells Cathedral and booked ASK before to eat. Of course a year ago I hadn't realised it was Carnival, so getting there was a bit of a faff, as Glastonbury roads were closed but we made it in time (just!!) G4 wasn't as good as I was hoping/expecting, was a little too polished and they had this children's choir perform with them, which was great for the parents of said children but not really what I paid to see. Much preferred the choristers candlelit services from past years.

Was nice to spend time with this one though!

I then worked my Sunday and Monday, overtime on Tuesday, Wednesday.....

...which was absolutely exhausting.

Thursday, a complete change of scenery..... Cardiff bound!

I was staying at Sophie's but met up with Sam first and treated him to a supermarket shop to keep him going/eating properly over the next couple of weeks. I popped into his house, met a few more of his housemates and tried to ignore the state of the kitchen!!!!! Then headed over to meet up with Sophie.

She and I headed down to Cardiff  Bay and out to Zizzi's for a meal. Sam was originally going to meet us but the weather was awful, so I told him not to bother, as we were going on to ......

....the theatre!

Wales Millennium Theatre is a beautiful venue.

Sophie had treated us to tickets to see My Fair Lady.

A fabulous performance.

I stayed at Sophie's, got the train into Cardiff Center in the morning and met....

....Sam at Bill's for brunch!

Feeding him up a bit!!

We then did a little shopping. I owed him a pair of Doc Martin's from his birthday in August, so he cashed in his IOU, going for the boots, whilst I met have treated myself to a cherry red pair of DM's too!! He headed back home and Sophie met me after work and we went to see......

....Matilda at the cinema.

F*A*N*T*A*S*T*I*C

A really lovely day spending quality with them both x

I spent the night a Sophie's again, getting a treat Chinese takeaway to share!

Then Saturday morning our plans had to change. We were originally going to head over to Bath, to meet up with my sister and have a mooch around the Christmas markets but there was a train strike which meant she had no way of getting back to Cardiff, so we changed our plans. Instead we put up and decorated her tree and how lovely it looks too. A special moment to share together. It's early, earlier than we would do ours but she's living on her own, working predominantly from home and will be back here in the week or so leading up to Christmas, so she can have a bit of time to enjoy it.

So before I headed for home, we enjoyed a coffee and a cinnamon bun.

A truly lovely few days with them both.

All the festive feels before going back to work.

And only 4 weeks to Christmas!

Birthday girl x

Another busy week but it started off well, with a rare Sunday off!!

Jeff didn't run as per usual but instead came out for a walk with me. 

I love the woods, he prefers open spaces, so we headed down to the River Brue.

Monday was my birthday!

First mince pie of the year for breakfast - it's tradition! 

Well not the breakfast bit but always the first mince pie of the year!!

52!!!!!

Where have all those years gone?

I took myself off to Wells for the morning, was better than forecast....

.....then in the evening caught up with these two xx

Tuesday was wet, the weather hasn't been great during my time off, 

so I got on with prepping the Christmas display for work......

.....and went in on Wednesday to put it up!

I had a Regional meeting via Teams, so had to go in anyway!

Thursday, my friend Lynn was away and Jeff had to do a late duty at work, 

so I headed over to Ham Wall late afternoon to see the murmurations. 

Not gonna lie, they were slightly disappointing. The wind and the rain whipped up and although they were plentiful in number, the starlings flew in and headed straight down to the reed beds to roost, rather than show off and dance in the sky! Managed to get a few reasonable shots.

Had a nothing day yesterday, sometimes you need those sorts of days!

This morning however was beautiful, blue skies, crisp, cold, frost.....

....so I headed up to the top of Wearyall Hill, above the mists.

What a view!

It was cold and frosty but I like it like that.

From the top of the hill, I wandered down to the River Brue, back where I started my week!!

So it's back to work properly for me tomorrow, I've enjoyed my time off. Wish I could be off forever but sadly the funds can't afford that just yet!! I'm in for the next 4 days then off up to Cardiff to stay with Sophie and see Sam whilst I'm there.

The joy of having Sophie in Cardiff, is that we can book tickets and have somewhere to stay. After my 50th birthday disappointment and our chance to see Deacon Blue was cancelled, then the rearranged date was on a work day so we couldn't go, we have tickets!! Something to look forward to.

We also booked a cheeky few days away in Malaga, as soon as Jeff breaks up and before the Christmas madness builds for me! It was super cheap and as Jeff is teaching himself Spanish and hasn't had the chance to visit Spain this year, we decided to go! A Christmas present to ourselves!! Sorry kids and you thought you were coming home to see us, they'll be house sitting instead!! HA!

Home holidays

So I'm lucky in that I have two weeks of holiday booked here at home with nothing big planned. 

I need the time for a bit of a catch up.

I need to get my head in gear towards Christmas for starters.

On Monday I had my pelvis x-ray, the results are already back but I can't get an appointment to discuss them until the 25th, nearly 3 weeks after the x-ray. I'm guessing from that, that nothing has shown up but it seems crazy to have to wait for so long to find out! 

Anyway on Tuesday I headed into Bath. 

The forecast wasn't great, managed to dodge most of the showers.

Managed to get my hands on the last Landrace Bakery Cinnamon bun too!

Then in the evening I met up with my sister to go out for food and....

....see Will Young at the Forum, perform his 20 Year Anniversary tour.

I've mentioned it before, my sister and I don't exchange gifts for birthday or Christmas, instead we make time to do something together and Will Young tickets were timed perfectly xx

I did start the Christmas shopping....

....and did a little more on Wednesday in Clarks Village.

  I got my Covid Booster Jab done whilst there and then on Friday, when I went across to Shepton to get my hair coloured I bought a few bits in Dobbies.

Wednesday evening we had a power cut for over an hour! Had to dig out all my Christmas candles I had hidden away. Thankfully had just boiled the kettle, so could have a hot water bottle.

On Thursday I met up with my friend Lynn and popped over to Stourhead.

We just about managed to catch the autumn colours, should maybe of gone over there a week or so earlier but I was away and it was half term before that. Still it was a bit of colour on a otherwise grey, damp day.

And then today I popped over to my favourite woods for a couple of hours....

...just me and my camera.

Peace, quiet, still, calmness!

Tomorrow, I would normally be going to work but I have a whole week off to look forward to, before the Christmas slog begins. I do have some prep to do towards the Christmas display at work but other than that, I'm going to try and switch off for the week!