We studied weather apps, we mapped out places to go, and weighed up pros and cons of each place, and settled on Barmouth!! To the beach it is…

So alarm clock set, we are off on a road trip. Packed enough stuff for breakfast, dinner and hope to eat tea out, you have to eat fish and chips at the beach!!

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I had #Wytchwood beer, a new beach shelter and a lovely book to keep me occupied while Mr Moon went paddle boarding.

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We managed to get fish and chips for us both, and sneak back to the beach to watch the sun go down and leave us with a dramatic colourful sky. It felt so glorious to bask, and relax in the sunshine, to watch people, dogs and children all enjoy the simplest pleasures in life. Shattered we find a place to sleep, and I fell asleep so quickly. More adventures for another day to come.

Last Sunny Day

To celebrate Lammas, or Lughnasdh. This is a pagan sabbat, the first harvest of three. We decided to get out and feel the sun, cleanse our energies with the sea, and touch some earth, ie sand.

We decided on a beach day, to soak up the last day of sunshine, as rain and thunder is forecast for the next week now.

The drive was glorious, seeing all the fields of cut hay, and super tall corn ready for Autumn. Makes me excited for Mabon the autumn equinox and of course Samhain Halloween to everyone else.

We had sandwiches to keep us going along the way, Crisps and Beer once we had arrived. Lovely to have ice cold beer on a hot beach.

New location for us Aberdfyi, the beach was nicely quiet, and perfect to spend the day at.

We swam in the super warm and totally clear waters, it was actually really nice on my sore back. It was nice to get back into water again. The local teens were jumping off the harbour, having so much fun!! Loved watching.

Really small seaside town, only one chippie!! And the queue was so long, so we ended our day with pot noodles as the sun went down.

What an epic day, I never expected to be able to squeeze in one more beachy day, so I am very grateful for it.

Bloods next day, so I’m sure we will be exhausted but oh so worth it.

Magpie Mine

Famously the last mine to shut in Derbyshire, it’s a gorgeous place to visit, and worth the drive.

Parking is pretty close and you can walk around 3-5mins to get there.

There is a lot of stories as you can imagine, from rival mines and sadly some lost there lives due to this, causing the widows from the rival mine to cast a curse on Magpie, and to be honest it worked, it never was successful after that event, and the workers had accidents and misfortune, until it finally closed.

The Horse Gin is a replica, but the rest of the buildings and machines are genuine.

Shining torches and dropping stones you soon see how deep these go, it must of been hell for the miners.

The views around are glorious, all the better in this sunshine!!

Gunpowder Store still in tact as well.

The steel cable is thinner than I ever expected to be honest. It must of been crazy to trust this with lowering you down a few miles.

You can stand inside the small lift in which the men would descend into the mine in. Really gives a perspective of the conditions they had to deal with.

Only a quick visit and I was grateful we parked close. Seems a popular spot for dog walkers, I wonder if they feel the history here, or is it just the nearest field to them, and they don’t think of it at all?

I hear you can actually stay here in the agents cottage, I think it’s part of National Trust. And I’m sure some schools must have a school trip here now and then too.

Padley Gorge Peak District

Padley Gorge we are finally back now we can travel a bit more, I’ve missed this place so much.

A beautiful warm day, meant it was T-shirts and dipping our hot achy feet in the stream (man it was painfully cold) But worth it

Beer and Sarnies in the sunshine is exactly what we needed.

We never wanted it to end if we are honest. But bodies need rest and all good days come to an end.

So beautiful to see such lush green grass and colourful flowers coming back. Shame it’s going cold again.

This is the one place I really treasure, it’s a wonderful place to escape and ground yourself. Its my happy place xx

Before the weather turned

We finally managed a little garden party, and saw our granddaughter Delilah. And got together for good food and reconnecting.

Just what we’ve needed. To be together and enjoying the sunshine.

We’ve had picnics and glorious walks, enjoyed the scenery and nature at its best.

Though missed another daughters birthday, which plays heavy on my heart. It’s so hard being separate from everyone on special days.

And now it’s my wedding anniversary this weekend. And I’ve bought a couple of nice drinks.

I have bought the top one, to try and replace my discounted #hapsburg liquorice absinthe. And an extra special prosecco for our 19th Wedding Anniversary. Just need to find some nice food to eat and a good movie to watch.

Especially now as the weather has turned, we will have to snuggle up and make the most of it.

Fourth Week #SelfIsolation

It’s been lovely outside, and I’m immensely lucky to have a garden. So good playlists on Spotify and a garden chair, I could literally be anywhere I can imagine. Everything is better in the Sun.

Listening to #Grimes residency on Radio One and #Aurora Albums. With Dark Rum, Pineapple Juice and Lemonade, my Summer Punch. (Very addictive)

Topped with a great Sunday dinner and movie. I even had a heart shaped Yorkshire pudding. Been loving the husbands home made Yorkshires, they are like clouds. I swear he should make this his new business.

We chose #Onward which was a cute movie, a movie for the weekend.

It’s an epic journey of realization for the characters. Made us laugh, shed a tear, and just forget the world for a few hours too.
Teenage elf brothers Ian and Barley embark on a magical quest to spend one more day with their late father. Like any good adventure, their journey is filled with cryptic maps, impossible obstacles and unimaginable discoveries. But when dear Mom finds out her sons are missing, she teams up with the legendary manticore to bring her beloved boys back home.

My weeks are going faster than I thought they would, having a routine is really helping with that.

Week 28 post #HipReplacement

What a week! Previously I had said that the weekend was going to be busy, see here

And I wasn’t wrong, blinked and the whole weekend was gone just like that. The Saturday I saw my mum for her birthday, and Sunday was the planned day for Baby.

So at 11.30am I got there, ready to be a birthing partner, and at 4.50pm little Logan arrived.

Didn’t get home until 10pm. And I was shattered. I slept well that night that’s for sure. Monday I woke up in agony, though not entirely sure why. I was on standby for lifts home from the hospital, so never managed any physio that day.

Packed them up to come home, and collect her older son Leonardo and show him his baby bro. All went as smoothly as it could.

So Tuesday after 3 days off, I embarked on week 2 of my physio routine, find it here but doing the sets x 2 instead. So definitely attempting to challenge the hip more this week.

And OH MY GOD it was soooooo hard. Harder than I ever imagined if I’m honest. But I survived. Managed to do Tuesday, Wednesday, but today is actual physio appointment day. And in that appointment we did.

• Stationary bike level 2 x 5mins
• Leg press 60kgs x 20 reps
• Ball squeeze hip bridges x 20 reps
• Clam side drop outs, red resistance band x 20 reps
• Heel to butt, ankle weighted x 20 reps
• Prone knee raise ankle weighted x 20 reps
• Kettle bell glute squeeze stand ups x 20 reps
• Walking lunges with dumbbells x 20 reps
• Ducking walking green resistance band x 20 reps

It’s also been lovely and hot, this week, at times I was melting. So physio had to be done before the temperature of the day got too much. As I have found in high heat I can’t exercise properly, all motivation disappears. The gym at the hospital was 35 degrees!! That was a sweat fest.

I will make you pay by Caroline Bale #Blogbooktour

#AD GIFTED I received this book in return for a review, however all opinions are my own.

New author which is always an exciting time for me, I found Nora Roberts merely going to a library and grabbing a book who’s cover drew me in, and that pulled me down a rabbit hole of all her series’s.

I WILL MAKE YOU PAY by Caroline Bale

DISCOVER THE MOST ADDICTIVE NEW CRIME FICTION WRITER THIS YEAR

Meet Detective Ellen McClure as she takes on a vicious killer who loves playing games.
He is watching Connie Taylor in the café. He has befriended the waitress over the previous months and gained her confidence. Her coarseness disgusts him and he muses to himself about pouring acid on her face. He is going to torture Connie that evening to get the final information he needs and then he will kill her.
Connie Taylor’s head is found on the doorstep of a house in upmarket Heworth Green in York.
DI Ellen McClure finds herself embroiled in a complicated murder investigation that pits her against colleagues and family. Her boss thinks that ex-prostitute Connie was killed by one of her former clients, but Ellen thinks there is more to it.
Vicky is on the run with her five-year-old daughter, Kallie. Her life is in danger.
ELLEN MUST FIND HER BEFORE HE DOES.Desperate to save Vicky, Ellen drags her own young daughter Zoe into the path of a deadly psychopath who will stop at nothing on his murderous rampage.
A RACE AGAINST TIME TO STOP A PSYCHOPATH ON A MISSION
An absolutely gripping mystery with a massive twist. Perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers, Damien Boyd, Rachel Abbott, Patricia Gibney or Mark Billingham.
THE DETECTIVE
DI Ellen McClure is a 38-year-old detective with an outstanding record who will stop at nothing to protect the innocent. She has recently left her cheating husband, Anthony, and is making a new start for her and her 13 year old daughter Zoe in York, the city she grew up in. She is arriving at her new posting on the North Yorkshire Serious Crimes Team under a cloud having given evidence against a superior in her previous posting. Her tenacious approach and confrontational style often work against her, pitting her against colleagues and family. In contrast, her DC, Sarika Kaur is an empathic, thoughtful officer, who tries, often without success, to be the voice of reason.
THE SETTING
York has been occupied by everyone from the Romans to the Vikings which shows in the city’s cobblestone streets, half timbered houses and 18th-century flat-fronted townhouses. Diagon Alley where Harry Potter buys his wand was inspired by the Shambles, a medieval butcher’s street visited by the film’s set designers and which is now thronged with tourists. Six hundred years ago, bloody hunks of meat hung on shopfronts, dripping into the gutter that still runs along the middle of the lane. Then, of course, there is the magnificent York Minster, Europe’s largest gothic cathedral which looms over a warren of streets running down to the River Ouse with its many colourful barges and tour boats. The river cuts the city in two and flows eastwards into majestic countryside and onwards towards the North Sea.
Desperate to save Vicky, Ellen drags her own young daughter Zoe into the path of a deadly psychopath who will stop at nothing on his murderous rampage.
A RACE AGAINST TIME TO STOP A PSYCHOPATH ON A MISSION
An absolutely gripping mystery with a massive twist. Perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers, Damien Boyd, Rachel Abbott, Patricia Gibney or Mark Billingham.
THE DETECTIVE
DI Ellen McClure is a 38-year-old detective with an outstanding record who will stop at nothing to protect the innocent. She has recently left her cheating husband, Anthony, and is making a new start for her and her 13 year old daughter Zoe in York, the city she grew up in. She is arriving at her new posting on the North Yorkshire Serious Crimes Team under a cloud having given evidence against a superior in her previous posting. Her tenacious approach and confrontational style often work against her, pitting her against colleagues and family. In contrast, her DC, Sarika Kaur is an empathic, thoughtful officer, who tries, often without success, to be the voice of reason.
THE SETTING
York has been occupied by everyone from the Romans to the Vikings which shows in the city’s cobblestone streets, half timbered houses and 18th-century flat-fronted townhouses. Diagon Alley where Harry Potter buys his wand was inspired by the Shambles, a medieval butcher’s street visited by the film’s set designers and which is now thronged with tourists. Six hundred years ago, bloody hunks of meat hung on shopfronts, dripping into the gutter that still runs along the middle of the lane. Then, of course, there is the magnificent York Minster, Europe’s largest gothic cathedral which looms over a warren of streets running down to the River Ouse with its many colourful barges and tour boats. The river cuts the city in two and flows eastwards into majestic countryside and onwards towards the North Sea.

Caroline Bale Author Bio

Caroline Bale is a practicing psychotherapist who draws on her work to create believable plots and complex characters. She believes the draw in books like hers is that they allow us to address our worst fears from the safety of our own bedrooms. The heart-pounding terror of walking down a deserted street alone at night or the inability to go to sleep until a beloved teenager has finally arrived home. She is interested in what motivates a person to torture, rape or kill another human being, what psychotherapists call the shadow side of human nature. Her books are full of complex, often charming characters with personality disorders and disturbed histories. The psychopaths amongst us with the killer smiles.

My Review
I’ll be honest, I did not think I would be this hooked immediately. It’s a little gruesome in places, in description of crimes but I like that.

I connected to Ellen McClure and Zoe, I could identify with their struggling relationship and burdening chores, and trying to do the right thing by everyone.

I love Yorkshire so anything set there is a winner, makes it easy to connect with the books story when I easily visualise where it is.

Sat in the sunshine, I have dove into this book and devoured it in one sitting. I can’t often say that about a book. This pulled m in so many ways I couldn’t stop turning just one more page!! Side note I did guess the murderer, but only as a sixth sense to these things. Didn’t ruin it though I wanted to know how and why?

More of these please…..

Day 102 Easter Weekend

Well this weekend has been eventful and hugely victorious in the recovery period of the hip replacement.

I’ve done things I’ve not done for a decade (walk down stairs normally) standing to put trousers on, and finally going out clubbing with NO groin pain!!

We’ve celebrated this glorious weather and the celebration of ‘normie’ me returning to myself with Gin in the park.

Walking around the Victorian Park and River.

Even eating ice creams, because why not.

Loving the new lease of life this hip has given me. Yes I have niggles, and twinges, but absolutely nothing like before. Hoping it just keeps improving, and that the other hip doesn’t fail me.

Warm weather has meant minimum pain and stiffness for my hands, so that’s been a bonus. Though I did partially dislocate my elbow going to the toilet. That wasn’t so pleasant.

Day 80 weekend has landed

With no particular plans today set, and feeling better (ish) I have decided to do movements, and exercises to keep the hip going.

Just a few exercises but ones that give maximum impact. Thanks to Bee for reaffirming the more appropriate exercises for our age, and stage of recovery.

• Hip Bridge 20 reps
• Side leg raise 20 reps (still struggling to lie on opposite leg)
• Traditional Calm raise 20 reps (my hardest one to raise, I really really struggle with this)
• Supine Marching 20 reps
• Step ups 20 reps
• Mini squat (operated leg slightly behind other leg) 20 reps
• Prone lying Knee bent, Knee raise (lie on front, knee bends and lift) 20 reps

All unbanded, as it’s too early to use resistance bands while I feel so weak. But it’s nice to be moving and doing things, than just resting.

I’ve loved the walking we’ve done as well, blessed to have such stunning scenery around us and so close too.

Watching the lochs open, I wonder if I’ve have the strength for them now?

Canal side walking is easy and flat, so doesn’t upset the muscle half as much as woodland walking, as that’s so uneven with various different gradients too.

I think I really could get into bird watching, heard the maddest of bird calls, I swear it sounded like a digital electronic beep!!

The canal gets wide in this area, due to Lord Litchfield wanting it to look like a lake from his windows at Shrugborough Hall. I’m glad it was, it’s stunning to walk around. And lots of birds to watch while you sit.