My baby is 30....

Can't quite believe my baby, my firstborn is 30!!  30 years ago I thought I had 4 more weeks to go before he would be born.  How wrong I was. it was snowing, really heavily, and we only just got to Nether Edge Hospital. When he finally decided to come out, nearly 20 hours after I'd gone into labour, he was heavily affected by the pethidine the midwife had given me less an hour before he was born, was blue, not breathing and only just 5 pounds.  And look at him now :-)


As a birthday treat, we went to London for the day last Saturday. First class travel of course - dead cheap on a Saturday, and coffee and bacon butties on the train.

When we got there we made straight for Baker Street - which has a
very atmospheric tube station. 
Outside the station is a statue of Sherlock Holmes, which is why we were there of course.  Then it was off to find 221B, where the Sherlock Holmes museum is located.

Complete with period policemen outside. I was surprised how busy it was - we had to queue for 30 minutes to get in, and how popular it was with Japanese tourists.

It was a great little museum. All done out to represent the period, and illustrating many of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Dan certainly looked the part, and in fact got mistaken for a guide by tourists asking him questions about the exhibits. Not surprisingly, he knew more about them than the real guides...

And of course, we found the Hound of the Baskervilles, the story of which Dan has adapted into a play due to be performed this October.

After the museum we went to Picadilly Circus, and walked down through Leicester Square to Covent Garden for lunch - a fish finger sandwich! Then walked round the market, and down to the Duchess Theatre to see the matinee of The Play That Goes Wrong.  I've seen it before, and it's one of the funniest plays I've ever seen. An amateur dramatic company putting on a murder mystery, and if anything can go wrong, it does. Sort of a cross between Noises Off and a Farndale play - and if you're involved with AmDram, as we are, it's even funnier.

Then we had to pay a visit to the big Forbidden Planet shop round the corner

and off to a Brazilian BBQ for tea - Cabana. Great food and atmosphere. Then it was back up to St Pancras and the train home. Great day out - really enjoyed it, and I think Dan did too!

Center Parcs

Yay, Center Parcs time again!! I've been going to Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest since just after it opened in 1987. I think we first went in October 1987, when Dan was a toddler and I was pregnant with Luke. Then we started going in January as me, Dan and Luke have our birthdays within 5 days of each other and it seemed a good way to celebrate. Now we go with grown ups - 4 couples in a luxury villa with a steam room, sauna, games room and a wonderful hot tub. And I try and make sure we're there for my birthday. We slightly over-cater on the booze (and there was a wine fridge full of wine and fizz as well as this shelf...)


Monday - met for lunch on the way there at the Rose Cottage Pub, got to the villa, unpacked, a nice walk round the lake and the forest, and back for some singing and playing of pool, after a great meal of venison casserole!



There might have been quite a lot of time spent in the hot tub as well....

Tuesday - hungry squirrel waiting on our patio at breakfast time for us to feed him,


And lots more wildlife it he garden. Any food we put out went very quickly!


Walked to the bird hide just by our villa, and the pond was frozen, but still saw a lot of birds


And then went for a walk....


To Rufford Park. Lovely place - nice old hall, coffee shop


Interesting gardens with lots of sculptures



And a lovely lake to walk round, which was frozen.


Back to the villa for lunch, and of course, straight into the hot tub. Liked this photo of my flowery back tattoo.


The hot tub is a very popular place - at all times of the day or night...

In the evening Stuart was on Strawberry Daquiri duty, his specialty cocktail

And we walked round to the country Club for dinner.

Wednesday. Segway day!  It was snowing but that didn't put anyone off. These were off offroad Segways, very different to the ones you have in cities. Big wheels, and after a quick practice we were off through the forest.

It was very, very cold and wet, and miraculously Stuart didn't fall off!  One of our number did though,
twice ;-) Lunch in the village square, then we went to the Spa, whilst the others went back to the villa.

The Spa is very relaxing - an outdoor swimming pool and jacuzzi, and 16 different spa areas, different saunas, steam rooms, different temperatures, and lots of relaxing places - including water beds, and an outdoor area where you can wrap yourself up n a blanket. My favourite is the Laconium, which is the picture at the side.  Very gently heat, very comfy, very quiet. I fell asleep! We even had a free facial in there.

Back to the villa for another evening in, with an antipasti starter...


More pool more cocktails, more hot tub, more music.

Thursday. Gentle walk to the bird hides, all three of them. Saw lots of birds,


And I loved this cheeky Lesser Redpoll - so cute.



In the afternoon we went bowling - some of us are better than others :-)


And in the evening, in honor of my birthday the next day - a meal in Cafe Rough


Back for more hot tub, and even I played pool...

Friday
Early morning. Yuck! Packed, got out. Walked round lake, which was lovely


sat in the bird hide again


and then we all had brunch - eggs benedict and Prosecco. Made even better because they gave me the Prosecco free as it was my birthday, and that morning the manager had given us some free food vouchers because our hot tub alarm had gone off late at night. Admittedly while we were still in it...

Birthday break at The Fev

A few weeks ago I stayed at a hotel in Helmsley for a work related meeting, and was dead impressed - both with the hotel and Helmsley.  As Stuart's birthday was coming up, I decided to see if we could get in for a couple of days as I thought it would be a good birthday present. And of course one I could enjoy as well :-)  The hotel managed to find a room for us, and last Sunday I drove Stu up there as a birthday surprise.

The hotel was the Feversham Arms, and I'd recommend it for anyone wanting a treat. Customer service is second to none - little things like candles, joss sticks and matches in the bathroom, freshly made coffee and a newspaper delivered to your room every morning, breakfast in the room at no extra charge, and all of the staff remembering your name. When I'd booked it, I'd mentioned that I was looking for particular dates because it was my husband's birthday, and when we arrived there was a chocolate and raspberry cake waiting in the room for him.

We arrived about 4pm, and were able to catch the last rays of the sun in the courtyard by the outside pool which is heated, and had a swim, a session in the hot tub, and a drink. Dinner in the restaurant was preceded by an G and T in one of the comfy lounges -  scottish gin I'd never heard of before which came with apple instead of the more traditional lime or lemon. Dinner was lovely, and the puddings particularly good - a mixture of several small ones on one plate - my idea of heaven!

The next morning we had a session in the spa. We went in the steam rooms, aromatherapy room, sauna - and I managed to rub myself with ice in the ice cave afterwards!  Then I had a facial and a back massage with hot stones while Stu had a deep muscle massage.  I'm a real sceptic when it comes to alternative treatments, but get me in a beauty treatment room with a therapist telling me the stones channel my chakras and I'm hooked!  More hot tub, then we decided perhaps it was time to actually leave the hotel and visit the town.

Helmsley is a lovely small market town - the market square is surrounded by interesting shops - especially food ones - all beautifully adorned with flower displays.

There's a castle to walk round, and a walled garden which has been restored over the last few years.  It has herbaceous borders, wild flower areas, and an amazing collection of apple trees.  Every kind of apple imaginable - red, green, purple - over 60 varieties.  There's also a good selection of pubs in the market square selling an assortment of real ales, many of which we sampled.

Back to the hotel for a late session by the pool and the hot tub, and dinner in the restaurant again.

The next day was Stu's birthday, so we had breakfast in the room, a lovely leisurely morning, opening cards and presents,  and reading the newspaper.  After doing some food shopping, we left at lunchtime, and on the way back called in Kilburn as Stu had decided he wanted to buy a stool to sit on to the practice the banjo, and wanted to see what the Mouseman had. We'd seen signs for the Kilburn White Horse, but neither of us were sure what it was, and half way down a steep hill, we stopped in a car park called the White Horse car park because we thought we might be able to see it from there.  I got out of the car expecting it to be in the distance, but there it was, right in front of me!

There was a better view of it from the Mouseman visitor centre, and Stu got a really nice three legged stool, complete with mouse!

A lovely couple of days, and I'd certainly recommend The Fev for a special break.