Fangirls Of A Father

James' annual leave is nearly over but we've had some good days out.

Monday was class, but we decided to go to the gym before hand, which maybe wasn't the best idea I'd ever had as by the time the end of the morning came, I looked like I'd dipped my head in a bucket of water. Which wasn't the best look as after class we were heading off to Newcastle so James could go to his appointment at the limb centre to check his false leg.

That went well, and a bonus, they've put a liner into his stump cover so he only has to wear one stump sock now, instead of two. Why they didn't do that before I have no idea as it's much cooler for him.

Tuesday, we headed up north to Cragside which is a fantastic National Trust property. It was so beautiful up there and we had a lovely day exploring the house and grounds. I would have loved to check out more of the walks, but sadly, as the name suggests, a lot of the paths were very steep and rocky and no way would James have been able to manage them safely. But, we did walks to the lake and between the buildings and had a picnic in the sunshine before ending with a drive through the one-way Carriage Drive route through the grounds.

Wednesday we took my MiL out for the day. The carvery at Toby was on promotion again, so we went there for dinner before having a drive, ending up at a farm shop/cafe we like. Where there were donkeys to pet and highland cows to look at and very delicious cakes and cold drinks.

Thursday we headed a little south and ended up at Preston Park Museum and Butterfly world. I enjoyed both, and as we got there for opening managed to explore the museum while it was quiet, leading to a long talk to the man in charge of the iron mongers shop. Then a walk through the grounds to the Butterfly building where we spent a lot of time sweating in the heat and admiring loads of butterflies, and especially enjoying the meerkats who had just checked out and were basking in the heat. You can see them in my insta post here. The one in the tube still cracks me up.

Yesterday was a planned cinema day and we went to see F1: The Movie, which I enjoyed loads, even though it was nearly three hours long. Leaving there we called in to see Corey, then went on to Kayleigh's as I said I'd watch Bodhi for a bit as Kayleigh and Lucy first went grocery shopping, then picked up their new kittens, Millie and Mollie.

Today James picked up an overtime community visit shift, which means he's helping run the NE ambulance stall at Sunderland Pride. Last I heard from him he was having a great time, and sent me a picture of him beaming from behind a cut out of a rainbow decked cardboard ambulance front. Meanwhile I've been getting the house in order with Glastonbury as background viewing as I do so. So far, my favourite performance has been Lewis Capaldi, what a return.

I've also been waiting for two parcels, one of which was thrown into the back garden, which baffles me as it would have taken the delivery guy more effort to walk around the house than actually knock on the front door. While the Amazon guy knocked ridiculously hard and then was walking away before I even got to the door. Turned out he'd left the parcel on the front door step so it's good I was actually in being as I have no front garden.

During the week I also heard from Rosie and from the week coming class will be on a Wednesday at 9am, and has changed from one hour to two. She's also going to start running an exercise only evening class from August, which is great, but I must admit, I can't help be a bit intimidated from going from 30 mins exercise to 60, and with another class to come.

It was Kayleigh and Lucy's wedding anniversary on Saturday, so I've been on cat and tortoise watching duty while they've had a weekend away at a fancy spa hotel. They're back today though, so the last cat visit will be this morning.

They've also decided to get two new kittens. I suspected they'd get another cat after losing Aeriel, but not this soon and certainly not two of them. Thankfully, they're not arriving until the end of the month, so my pet sitting duties have been pretty simple.

James starts his annual leave today, so between that and his usual days off he's not back at work for a fortnight. We can't afford to go away this year, but will be having day trips out on some of the days.

Over the weekend, we saw How to Train Your Dragon, which I enjoyed. Went for walks at the country park, the beach, and yesterday, Beamish again. Though, yet again the place was really busy, so once we'd done our walk we just left, going against the tide as many many more people were queuing to get in. Even the staff were surprised how busy it was, but I guess between it being a lovely sunny day and Father's Day, people just wanted to go somewhere nice.

Pauline invited us to tea, so we'll be going there later. First though, it's class this morning, the first one for a fortnight. As it's getting warm already, I suspect I'll be scooping my sweaty self off the floor once it's finished. Then, after class finishes, we both have a check in and weigh on Rosie's fancy scales. It's unofficial as we've both technically graduated the programme, but it'll be nice to see where we're at and have a talk.

I mentioned we had a beach walk, well, it was a cold, foggy day that day, but that meant the dolphins came into Roker bay. I stood watching them for ages, there was such a big pod, and they only left when word must have got out and lots of boats came into the bay. ( a couple of photos )