A break from the norm ...

It's been a busy few weeks with work for us both, and this week has been booked for months now. We've been sooooo looking forward to having some time off and spending some quality time together without talking about work!! Plus with me experiencing shin splints the last few weeks, I couldn't wait to have some R&R and chill out.

We started our week off by sending our cats to the local cattery. I hate sending them away on holiday, but I know that they're looked after so well and as we asdopted 3 of them through the cattery, they really look forward to seeing them and treating them too. They all knew something was happening as the cat door was locked (which never happens) and then the carry cases appeared ... Garfield went and hid in a box that Molly-Mai normally sleeps in ... Molly-Mai was curled up onto of the wardrobe ... Misty and Luna went and hid in one of the bedrooms ... and Amber walked straight into one of the cat baskets and curled up!!! I wish they all did this, but for a change it didn't take us too long to get them all in their baskets and loaded into the car for the 3 minute drive to the cattery. They are all together in a big family pen which I'm really pleased about as I hate having to split them up. They always settled better when they can be together. When we had got them settled and left them, Misty was already in one of the beds, Garfield refused to come out of his basket (he'll come out within a couple of hours), Molly-Mai was having a nosy round the pen, and Amber and Luna were watching us walk away looking like little meercats the way they were standing there!!

Once the cats were safely settled, we drove to my Mum and Dad's and spent the weekend with them catching up and hearing about their travels over the Summer (USA, Route 66 and China). We hadn't seen Mum and Dad for almost 3 months (we've spoken loads though), so we had loads to catch up on. We had lots of laughter whilst hearing many stories of their travels ... Meals were eaten out and a glass or 3 of wine were drunk ... What a lovely weekend and what a wonderful way to start our holiday.

We came home and spent the Monday running errands during the day, but managed to settle down and relax late afternoon with a nice cold glass of wine. The only thing was the house was soooooo quiet!!! Now I know the cats don't always spend tIme with us and aren't always in the same room as us, but there is a prescence in the house!!! I really hate being at home when the cats aren't!! We both kept expecting to hear or see one of them walking into the lounge at some point. Teatime on Monday and Breakfast on Tuesday were the worst, as it's normally like Piccadilly Circus with the cats wandering around the kitchen waiting to be fed, but instead it was so quiet ... I can't wait to go away now!!!

Tuesday saw us leave at lunchtime and travel to Lowestoft. I'd never been before and Matt hadn't been for years, so we managed to find a lovely little guesthouse overlooking the sea and stayed for the night. We stopped for a late lunch on the way at a lovely coutry pub, and when we arrived we had a stroll along the beach front stopping off at a bar for a drink and took the opportunity to sit outside. It wasn't too windy and certainly wasn't cold. It was so refreshing to be outside ... until it started to rain!!! Then we moved indoors rather quickly!! We spent th next couple of hours talking, catching up with each other and reading the local papers. Once the rain stopped, we decided to walk along the rest of the beach front to the most easterly point of England. We then returned and had dinner ... fish and chips by the seaside ... By the end of the day we were feeling more relaxed and could both feel the tension in our shoulders disappearing. We put a ban on talking about work this week so that we could spend time on "US". We often find that the days go by so quickly that we forget about what's important. We forget to reconnect and take time to talk about things that really matter. This week has definitely seen us reconnect by spending quality "US" time together.

It was lovely to wake on Wednesday morning knowing that we only had an 11 mile drive to our final destination ... Southwold. We left the guesthouse with full bellys (the cooked breakfast was lovely) and made our way to Southwold. We'll be spending 3 nights here, and we really don't care what the weather is like. We know that this is one place we can both come to and relax. There isn't really very much to do in Southwold, as it's a lovely old market town right by the sea with lots of lovely walks, and for those of you who don't know, it's famous for it's brewery ... Adnams Ales. Almost every pub in Southwold is an Adnams pub and 2 of the hotels are Owned by Adnams too. Matt is a big fan of the ales, and I love their wines so it's a win win for both of us!!!

We arrived on the Wednesday morning around 11am which was too early to check in to the hotel (we're staying in The Swan Hotel which is lovely), so we sat in the lounge and spent time reading as the weather was a bit naff and we didn't fancy walking out anywhere to start with. By lunchtime we ventured out onto the high street and found a little tea room and spent time people watching over lunch, from there we went to do the tour of the lighthouse which was far more interesting than I imagined. We found it was thirsty work walking up and down all of those steps in the lighthouse (as we went right up to the top where the light actually is), and there just happened to be an Adnams pub over the road from the
Iighthouse ... It would have been rude to walk past it ... so in we went and we had such fun in here talking and laughing together over a drink and a snack. From here we decided to have a wander down to the beach and wiled away the time sitting on a bench that a family had donated in the memory of a loved one whilst watching the sea ... The waves were crashing and people were walking their dogs ... the dogs were going crazy running towards the ocean and then being chased back up the sand by the waves ... it was so relaxing to watch the motion of the waves. Thankfully it wasn't too cold (which is surprising for England in October) and we must have sat there for almost 1 hour ... we lost track of time with laughing and talking, so much so that our stomachs made us realise we needed to make tracks to get dinner. We've been here before so we knew The Lord Nelson pub does wonderful fish and chips, so we ventured in and found a table (it's a very cosy pub and you have to share tables with strangers otherwise you just won't eat!!), ordered dinner and got chatting with those around us. Our fish and chips were delicious (as always), and were washed down well with Matt's ale and my wine. We were both feeling so chilled out that we headed back to the hotel for a nigthcap and an early night.

We woke on Thursday feeling refreshed and it was a gorgeous sunny day .. perfect for going for a nice walk. We headed down to breakfast and have a hearty breakfast (I have to say) then we headed out and walked to the next village, Walberswick. We headed out of the town, passed the old and newer Water Tower, walked around the harbour, over a bridge and continued to Walberswick. By the time we got there it was lunchtime and as the sun had been lovely and warm we decided to head to the pub for a drink to quench our thirst. We got our drinks, headed out into the beer garden and sat in the October sun in tee-shirts overlooking the sea. It was pure heaven!!!! We left sometime later and headed back to Southwold via the harbour, and walked back a different route that took us across sand dunes and the beach. It was so lovely to be walking on the beach hand in hand without a care in the world watching people flying kites, fishing and dogs playing in the sea. It truely was idyllic!! We went and had a well deserved celebratory snack since we'd not eaten anything since breakfast but we'd been walking for over 4 hours and have covered about 6 miles. We had a lovely relaxing late afternoon back at the hotel, and again headed out to The Lorn Nelson pub for dinner ... This time Matt had scampi and chips and I had the rump burger ...OMG the size of the burger!!! I managed to eat most of it but I have to admit that it beat me in the end!! Lol!! We headed back to the hotel for a nightcap and ended up chatting to the barman for almost an hour until he finished his shift, then we called it a night as tomorrow is due to be just as good for the weather as today!!

The bed in the hotel is so comfy that you can't help but have a good nights sleep. We woke on Friday again feeling refreshed from a good nights sleep, and the sun was already streaming in through the slits in the curtains. After breakfast, we sat in the lounge and read ... I read my book and Matt read the paper, we had morning tea and just enjoyed the ambiance of the hotel with the sun streaming in through the windows. As the weather was soooo lovely we threw caution to the wind and left our jackets at the hotel!!! We couldn't believe that we were walking in tee-shirts in October by the coast!!! We had a lovely slow walk down to the beach and along the sand stopping occasionally to sit snd watch the sea, and the dogs playing on the beach. We eventually made it to the pier and because it was so warm, we decided to sit at the pier cafe with a cloudy lemonade and I don't know how it happened but a glass of pinot grigio appeared for us both!!! We had to drink it ... it would have been rude not to!! We must have sat there watching the sea and talking for over an hour. It was so peaceful and relaxing, but also so hot as there wasn't a breath of air on the pier! We later walked the length of the pier and only when we got to the end did we feel the breeze but even then it wasn't cold. We then had another slow walk back along the beach and were absolutely gobsmacked to see an elderly couple actually going for a swim in the sea!!! Now this normally wouldn't surprise us, but we're talking of swimming in October in a very cold ocean!! We stood there in disbelief for what felt like an eternity, and it must have been a good couple of minutes as 2 other couples saw our disbelief and started talking to us about the weather, swimming and Southwold in general.

It's funny really, because wherever we go, we always get talking to people and make new friends far and wide. The people of Southwold are really friendly though and this was true of our last stop of the day before our evening meal, as we ventured into The Lord Nelson pub for a late afternoon tipple. We sat at the bar and got talking to the barmaid for so long that before we knew it, the pub was getting busier and the time was getting closer to 6pm. We had to leave and get back to our hotel, as we needed to get changed ready for our special evening meal ... As this trip to Southwold was my birthday present from Matt, we were booked into the restaurant for a 3 course meal to celebrate. The meal was devine and well worth waiting for ... Leek and potato soup to start ... Pan fried chicken for main ... and I had the cheese board and Matt had a cherry bakewell tart for dessert ... Mmmmmmmmm it was all so yummy that we washed it down with an Adnams Selection pinot grigio. A really lovely evening was had by us both and we sat there for almost 2 hours enjoying the food, the wine and each others company. What a lovely way to finish our short break in Southwold.

We woke on Saturday morning knowing we were going home today. The weather had been so nice for us these last couple of days that this morning the skies are grey and there is a threat of rain ... I'm sure the weather must know we are going, but we have had such a wonderfully relaxed time in Southwold that we will return next year.

I may have had a week off from my running and exercise classes, but it has been lovely to go out for walks with my husband and instead of running by things, i've actually noticed more from our slow walks. Sometimes you need to slow down and smell the roses in order to appreciate life. I have certainly had an amazing holiday and have loved every minute. We have spent some much needed quality time together and there has been so much laughter too. We've made some lasting memories here and have vowed to make this our little haven of sanity at least once a year from now on.

Southwold, we love your peacfulness, tranquility and can't wait to come back next year.

For now it is time to go home and collect our little family from the cattery ... I wonder what they have been up to ... We'll get to hear their stories later when they purr them to us ...

x x x