A Lovely Weekend.

I have struggled to make myself write a post this week because of a few what I call BMHDs (bad mental health days - we all have these days when we don't feel quite ourselves, maybe a bit tired or low, and I think they are a perfectly good excuse for not being able to do things!)

But as I am trying to keep this blog a place of positivity I want to talk about my weekend because it was pretty awesome and nothing brings you out of a slump than thinking about the good times you've had. I actually thought it was going to be a really chilled few days as for the past couple of months I seem to have always had things to do at the weekends and this time I had zero plans
On Friday evening me, my mum and my sister watched Disneys Hercules together because that's how we roll.
Saturday I had my make up test done for my friends wedding because I'm going to be bridesmaid! It'll be my first ever experience of being a bridesmaid so expect another post about that!!

I never really wear much make up at all, a little bit of eyeliner and mascara and that's it so it was very strange to have a full face on! I actually found the process kind of relaxing, I did look a bit like a doll at the end though!
The bride to be and one of the other bridesmaids came with me which was lovely as we all got to discuss what we thought of the look and all the plans for the big day.

My family then had a BBQ that evening as my parents ended up not being able to go away in their caravan as the car gave up the ghost, leaving them with a load of left over bbq food! Of course we couldn't let it go to waste!

We then as a family watched The Incredibles which once again is because we are all very grown up.

Sunday was unplanned but we decided to take the dog for a walk somewhere a bit different and get a pub lunch. Whilst choosing where to venture we thought it would be nice to bring along my Grandma as well.
We went and picked her up and drove to an adorable little town where we had an INCREDIBLE meal!

It was called The Waterwitch and I had a vegetarian fish and chips... what in the hell is one of those I hear you ask?
Well it's chips (duh) and instead of fish it's battered and fried haloumi cheese and honestly I can't describe how tasty it was. Extremely unhealthy granted but I like to think that what's not good for the weight is good for the soul. I don't have a photo of the food as I may have got a little carried away and ate the whole thing before thinking!

Everyone enjoyed their food and after eating we headed down to the canal and strolled along there for a bit - making friends with some cows on the way .... my dog did not enjoy this part so much as he is utterly terrified of them.

We got home at about 5pm and chilled for the rest of the evening and it was just over all a really amazing weekend full of sunshine, pimms, good food and family.

Hope your weekend is just as good as mine was!

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Awesome Of The Week | Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

So my schedule has already failed! Without warning our internet decided to stop working over the weekend and as I had very little spare time I couldn't get anywhere with wifi to edit and post this. Alas I am doing it now so I'm hoping you can forgive me this once. I have had to spend 4 days without internet so deserve a certain level of sympathy.

On to my AOTW which was our family day out to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for my mums birthday. All four of us (Mum, Dad and sister) have annual passes to the docks but for me and my sister it was our first visit and we loved it!

There are ancient war ships that you can walk all around, we didn't get any of the books or audio guides as our parents had already been a couple of times but I definitely advise you do this on your first go round as there isn't a whole lot of info on the actual ships. You can however just wonder around pretending you're in Pirates of The Caribbean .... which I definitely didn't do.

The Victory and Warrior are fully intact ships and they are brilliant as they really let you appreciate what it would have been like to travel on them, but my personal favourite was The Mary Rose Museum. Although an entire half of her is missing there are thousands of objects that were preserved perfectly that can be marveled at, all with their own fascinating back story and the half that's left is still pretty damn impressive.
The legend of the Mary Rose is truly astonishing and the museum goes into beautiful detail so you can re-live the history. Plus I've always had a bit of a crush on the Tudor period so to experience just a taste of King Henry's pride and joy is worth every penny (on that note entry is super cheap and lasts for a year so you can go back and won't feel in anyway rushed!).

The weather was gorgeous, the company was amazing and over all we had brilliant day celebrating my Mum and everything she does for us!

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Torquay - It's a Three Generation Kinda Thing.

So this Friday I went on a trip to Torquay.

I packed quickly on Thursday night after my pole lesson shoving a few bits in a bag for our weekend away. Mum and I left the house at about 9 am and sadly I didn't leave myself enough time to have my morning coffee, a travesty right?! Don’t panic too much though as we thankfully needed to stop to get some petrol on the way to pick up our other travelers so I was able to buy a latte. Considering my option at home would have been instant coffee it all turned out better than I planned so we were off to a grand start.

Arriving in Alton half an hour later we collected the rest of our party which consisted of my amazing Grandma and her lovely friend Grace (who is in her 80’s but won’t show it!). From where I live it’s roughly 180 miles to Torquay so generally it would take 2-3 hours..... it took us 5. To be fair to us we did stop twice, once for tea which is always necessary on a long journey and then for a quick bite to eat, also essential. We managed to find a really traditional road side cafe for lunch, it was small, dated, right on the motorway and the food was incredible. I may have only had a ham and cheese toasty but my god was it all kinds of tasty.

The rest of the weekend was equally moreish as on arrival at the hotel (The Grand) at around 3 pm we enjoyed a cream tea which is one of my all time favourite things... coming second to afternoon tea obviously! The hotel itself was beautiful with the interior being just what you would expect of an old fashioned seaside hotel - lots of red and gold colourings and ornate trinkets dispersed all over the place. The rooms were HUGE, no word of a lie and the beds were like sleeping in a giant marshmallow. Heaven.

The first afternoon was spent exploring the coast that was right outside our front door. We actually came across a rather unexpected bird of prey, I’m not sure whether it was supposed to be there, had had a shock or was an escapee but it was sat on the fence and let me get really darned close before having enough of me shoving a camera in it’s face and flying to a safer, higher perch.

That evening we were served a two course meal, the taste and presentation were just insane and I couldn't help but get a picture of the desserts which were more like works of art and I am definitely not used to that sort of finery. The evening was all finished off with a glass of wine and being serenaded by a talented pianist in the hotel lounge.

The second day began with a breakfast buffet which as expected I over indulged on, but who can say no to hash browns? After a quick freshen up we headed out on a half hour boat ride over to another coastal town called Brixham, full of colour, pirates and fresh salt air. We couldn't leave without a quick trip on The Golden Hind, a bit of lunch and buying a few gifts for the Dad and sister who didn't come.

The afternoon shot past with us making use of the hotels pool and Jacuzzi until it was time for yet more food, this time three courses of deliciousness. A bit more wine and music blasting from the wedding party room and we headed to bed for one more sleep.

The last morning spent in Torquay meant another excessive meal for breakfast and then it was time to begin the journey home. This time around the drive only took 3 hours as stops were reduced to a single one for lunch. Pulling off the motorway to find a pub rather than a service station was the best decision we made that day, the staff were friendly and catered to us even if we were super awkward by not wanting to have a main meal! Compliments to the chef.

In the end the weekend was perfect, I got to spend time with some incredible women and explore somewhere new! If anyone has debated going to Torquay I highly recommend it.

If you wish to see more of my photos Click Here

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