Because I worked late on Thursday night (again!), I allowed myself to start late on Friday morning. Or, put another way, I didn’t beat myself up when I didn’t make it to my desk quite on time.
I had a lot of planning to do, as our house renovations have come to a temporary standstill until at least the end of November, apart from the internal doors, which might be done in September but shouldn’t be so intrusive as everything else we’ve had done so far.
The poet was poorly all week, but that didn’t interfere too much. While the decorator was finishing the bedroom, the poet couldn’t go and lie down on the bed whenever he liked, which might have helped speed his recovery along a bit. But by Friday he was feeling much better in himself, apart from a bit of pain.
We booked a holiday. We were going to book a whole week but with it being the end of August, beginning of September, prices are still a bit high at the moment, so we shortened it to a 4-night 5-day break instead. But we’re going back to Dent, on the edge of the Lake District, where there’s no bus service to speak of and the village shop shuts at midday…if the village shop is indeed still open. It’s been a few years since we were last in Dent.
The idea is to just have a few chilled days of doing nothing. Just relaxing, maybe going for a stroll with the dog rather than a full-blown hike, and recharging. My next live writing workshop does start the same week, but so long as we can find a mobile signal, I will still be able to watch the videos, and we’ll be back home on the Saturday, which will give me all day Sunday to get my first assignment done and in.
The poet asked me to choose three places I’d like to go, as he chose the last one. I got as far as the first one on the list, Dent, and he was hooked. The other two were Morecambe Bay, in Lancashire (ovver t’hill), and Rhyll, in North Wales. Mind you, Dent is also a bit ovver t’hill (‘over the hill’, or ‘on the other side of the Pennines’), but only just. But it’s in Cumbria now, when once it was part of the West Ridings of Yorkshire, so it still counts to a Yorkshireman as Yorkshire!
Although we’re only going for 5 days, I’ve still blocked off the entire week, and that meant moving things along by a week too. So it wasn’t just the work on the house that meant I had mid-month planning to do.
That took longer than anticipated (doesn’t it always?), but I was still able to visit the two proofreading jobs before the end of the day. Once I’d finished, we took the dog to the vet to be weighed for his monthly worm and flea pills. While I took the dog there, the poet nipped in to the pet shop to get some birthday treats for the puppy. On our way home we stopped off at Dunelm Mill where I bought some new bedding to go with the new bedroom.
Saturday was Alfie’s first birthday. He had a new toy, a new bed, and some wuffday cake. I did the shopping while the poet stayed home. I only had the weekly shop to get as we’d done the pet shop and the home store the day before after the vet.
Sunday was the day of a family hen party afternoon tea ahead of the daughter’s wedding next week. I hadn’t been looking forward to it at all and even left shopping for a suitable outfit to last week. It was all right, though. Way out of my comfort zone, things like that. In a posh hotel too. But it was all right. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, and it was nice to see them all.
This week, then, I’m hoping for some normality. The poet is supposed to be going to Ireland for a few days, but we’re not sure he’s well enough. This morning he’s calling the doctor to get a new prescription and we’ll take it from there.
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I hope he feels better soon! Happy puppy birthday!
I will live vicariously through your vacation!