Project 365 2021 Week 33 Day 227 – 233 The week where we should have flown to Spain and didn’t.

Sunday 15th August – Day 227

A chilled out day all round.  I wasn’t feeling great so we decided not to go for the walk we’d planned and the menfolk played trains in the garage instead, whilst I crashed out on the sofa.

Monday 16th August – Day 228

Thankfully the kittens have kept my son occupied whilst I’ve been working.

Tuesday 17th August – Day 229

Our rose bush has another flower and I spotted someone else admiring the petals.

My last working day for a couple of weeks and I really need the break, but it’s bittersweet as we aren’t spending this evening in a last-minute packing frenzy.

Wednesday 18th August – Day 230

A strange day, for the second year running we weren’t on our way to Spain but we will try to find a positive each day anyway.

I needed to pay a couple of cheques into my Auntie’s bank account and could finally get there within their opening hours.  We had a few back to school things to buy and we decided a cake treat was in order for the first day of our ‘not in Spain holiday’ so I bought some cakes for the local bakery shop – delicious.

In the afternoon my son’s best friend came over with his Mum for a catch-up.  It was lovely to see them both and hear all their news.  We then had a practice walk to school and the boys decided on a place to meet at the end of their first day so they could walk home together.  Thanks to Covid testing they aren’t starting at the same time on their first day which has messed up all of the plans they’d originally put in place.

Thursday 19th August – Day 231

We headed down to London for the day for the first time since 2019.  Something that we used to do regularly and without really thinking about as being special.  The first change, the cafe at our station has closed down.

I was a little apprehensive of how the day would go, but the underground was so quiet that it soon became obvious we weren’t going to be surrounded by huge crowds.  In fact, our visit to Birmingham a while ago felt much busier.

Our first stop was the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Somewhere I’m sure I must have visited as a child with my Auntie but couldn’t really remember.  My son has been watching Secrets of the Museum and wanted to see if he could find any of them.  We didn’t realise we had to pay extra for the Alice exhibition and tickets were sold out, but we still enjoyed our visit.  The building itself is stunning.

We travelled back across London to see the Monument to the Fire of London.  We’d only ever seen it from a distance and when I’d looked earlier in the week it said it was closed, but when we got there it was open.  But my son isn’t great with spontaneity and nothing could persuade him to climb to the top.

A short walk found us at London Mithraeum, we were early for our timed entry but were still allowed in.  There are a number of Roman artefacts on display and the remains of the Temple of Mithras to view.  It’s free to visit and something else to tick off our list.

From there we headed on to Trafalgar Square, which was the quietest I’d ever seen it.  The same could not be said for the queue outside the Lego store by Leicester Square.  We didn’t bother joining the queue, but when we walked past the shop itself it didn’t look as if more than 5 people were inside.

A quick stop at Paddington station for a bit of train spotting before we headed home.  A tiring but enjoyable day.

Friday 20th August – Day 232

We headed over to Banbury for the first time this year, which again seems mad but that’s thanks to Coronavirus again.  I wanted to get my son’s feet measured at Clarks and to sort out his Secondary School shoes.  There’s isn’t always much choice in larger sizes at their local outlet store so we paid more and got what was needed.

We’d been sent a Treasure Map Trail map months ago to try out and finally got to spot the little details in a town I used to live in many years ago.  This horse wasn’t part of the trail but I quite liked it.

We also got to catch up with my ex-MIL on a doorstep visit. The weather wasn’t really good enough for a garden visit and she’s not in the best of health so we didn’t want to put her at any risk.

In the afternoon we headed over to Milton Keynes so my son could visit the Lego store there.  He’s wanted to go to one for ages and I’d promised him he could spend his pennies on the Pick a Brick wall which is now finally open again in their shops.  He came away with a big smile on his face and got straight down to planning a new build as soon as we got home.

Saturday 21st August – Day 233

A quiet day today to recharge our batteries as we have lots of adventures coming up in the week ahead.  And it’s raining, again. It looks like I’ve missed two periods in a row now, but still had all the emotions and aches that you normally associate with ‘the time of the month’. I’m still shattered all the time and can’t see that the Vitamin D supplement has made any difference on that score either.  A blood test to check levels has been booked for next month for that now.

My son has gone out with his Dad on deliveries for a bit, I’ve finished the housework and am going to have a bit of downtime with a cuppa and a good book.