This week’s holiday was our first week off this year. Most of the UK workforce had been sent home to work to avoid the Covid-19 pandemic.
We were lucky enough not to be furloughed from work where many other families have been affected however earlier on in spring and early summer the weather had been exceptionally good for the UK with long sunny, hot days. Unfortunately, Michele and I were unable to take advantage of this due to having to work 🙁
We had no fixed plans for this week, except to celebrate Michele’s 50th birthday. However due to the restrictions in place due to covid it was all to be within the latest government guidelines and kept to a minimum.
On the Monday, the weather was reasonable, so Michele and I set off to the Yorkshire market town of Skipton for the day. It was only a 40-minute drive from home. We parked up just outside of Skipton and walked into town and started to explore. We walked along the river at the base of the Castle and through into the forest before returning into town looking for somewhere to have lunch. We chose the Castle Inn and sat in the sunshine at the front of the pub. Watching people pass by. The food was good, but unfortunately it was not included within the ‘Eat out to help out’ scheme that the government were asking restaurants and the public to take part in to help with the pub and restaurant industry. None the less it was decent pub grub and well worth the money we paid. We drove back over the moors into Lancashire, stopping off at a vantage Point overlooking Elslack Moor where the Pennine Way crosses the main road. We parked up here and just chilled for an hour before heading off home
Tuesday was Michele’s birthday and unfortunately the weather was horrendous with torrential rain all day. Lewis and I had bought some birthday decorations for Michele, which Lewis and Keenan kindly decorated the dining room. A genuinely nice surprise for Michele when she came down in the morning. After opening her presents and cards she had a couple of video calls including one off the grandchildren all wishing her ‘Happy Birthday’.andnbsp; We got ourselves ready to go out as we had arranged to go out for a meal with Lewis and Keenan at Albert’s in Standish. Josh declined to join us though. Lewis drove us there. We had eaten at Albert’s previously, but due to the restrictions of Covid the menu was a limited. After we had finished the meal it was still raining. The plan was to drive back to Hindley where Lewis would drop us off at Kore, he would then go home, drop the car off and get Joshua to bring him back. Michele didn’t feel in the mood for drinking and said that there was no need to drive home to drop the car off as she’d then drive home after. Kore is one of the better bars in Hindley and we stayed for a couple of hours drinking cocktails (mocktails for Michele) and having a chat. Back home in the evening completely worn out.
Still the weather was bad on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which restricted any of our plans to go out. Saturday though was a little bit drier and we’d arranged at the last minute for a small gathering to come to the house (All within the covid restrictions) to help Michele celebrate her birthday. We knew it wasn’t going to be a large gathering of people as some had already made plans while others didn’t feel comfortable coming due to the covid pandemic, but we understood.
Sunday was a lazy day for us, the weather a little dryer again but cool. We just chilled in front of the television in the afternoon. In the evening we had a call with Cousin Julie in North Carolina and spent over an hour talking. It’s always good to catch up with my cousin Julie in the US as we’ve all got a lot in common.
Monday was our last day off work and a bank holiday. we arranged to go out for another meal with Lewis and Keenan to the local restaurant called ‘Summat to Ate‘. Today was also the last official day that the government scheme ‘Eat out to help out’. I do think that some restaurants will continue the offer, but they will not get the revenue back from the government.
Over the birthday week celebrations Michele was well rewarded with gifts and messages from family and friends.
This week saw the start of the Tour de France which had been put back in the calendar due to Covid. The first two stages all centred around Nice in the South of France. There were notable omissions of the British riders, with only four taking part this year and none of them contenders for the GC.
Back to work tomorrow albeit again working from home. We only have 14 days of work before we take our main holidays but again due to Covid our plans to go to California and Hawaii to further celebrate Michelle’s 50th birthday have all been suspended and we hope to go next year
