Some Cheeky Time Away

This past week, Human and I have been on holiday. We stayed in a cabin at Ribblesdale Park, near Gisburn in Yorkshire. It was absolutely glorious and some much needed time away. While lockdown hasn't been that hard on us, we definitely needed some time with new scenery and a hot tub. That was my single prerequisit: where we stayed needed a hot tub. I wanted to chill in the tub with a book and glass of wine, damnit!

 

Monday

Monday was mostly spent travelling up the M6 and settling into the cabin. Ribblesdale is set in the rolling hills of Gisburn Park, with a whole bunch of wooden cabins, a restaurant, and wild roaming peacocks. Another key criteria for us, was the accommodation being dog friendly so we could bring the foster pup. Thankfully, Ribbles is and was dog friendly! The pup did not know what to make of the peacocks.

The plan with food was to take the week's HelloFresh with us. Slightly awkward, in that our order comes on a Tuesday and we left the following Monday. This genius thought it would be ok if we froze everything and just defrosted on the way to the cabin. Theeeyyy did not defrost in time for dinner that evening. Luckily, the restaurant - Lindelini's - on site had space, so we got to have a lovely meal there. I went for the duck pancakes and then a halloumi burger - all tasty stuff. After dinner, you know damn well we went in the hot tub. A touch too dark to read by that point, still hella relaxing though.

 

Tuesday

We had a lsow start on Tuesday, it was a little drizzly outside and Human had not done is usual brand of extensive research into what was available to do. When we booked, we had our previous foster dog who was much moe active than the timid pup we have right now. It did limit the amount of walking we could do and where we could go. While he did some last minute research, I chilled with some puzzles. One must have a puzzle book when on holiday. Tis the law, no?

For the soggy Tuesday, we decided on exploring a nearby town and castle, Skipton. Our booking for the castle was in the afternoon, so that gave us some time for a light lunch and mooch around the shops. We stopped for some food at Elsworth Kitchen, where the pup charmed all the waitresses and I had the best hummus ever. If you are every in Skipton, I cannot reccommend this place enough! Another nice surprise in Skipton was finding the Shadow and Bone series for really cheap. I may have brought several books with me, but there is no such thing as too many books for hot tub reading.

Skipton Castle was fun to explore. The pup was shy of stairs before traversing the historic site and left an expert! Everyone around us were posing for the standard castle pics or taking pictures of the scenery. We posed the pup in the giant fireplaces and he looked glorious. Castles are always on our list of places to visit when holidaying. I find it baffling that they were built without machine assistance and that people actually used to live in them.

Our evening meal was a little bit scuppered by my aforementioned plan to freeze and defrost the HelloFreshes. The vegetables did not fare well and ended up suuuppppeeerrr squishy. Thankfully, one of the dishes only really had spinach in it as we could make that one, with a mind to resupply on the ruined veggies. Worked pretty well in the end and we got to enjoy some tasty home cooked meals. Followed by a soak in the tub, fo'sho.

 

Wednesday

Golly gosh, the sun came out for Wednesday! We chose to spend the day at Morecambe Bay Beach. A bit of a trek, but completely worth it. Despite being at the seaside, we had a relatively chill day. Lots of stopping to rest the pup, who does not do wel in the heat. I got to finish my book, The Shark Caller by Zillah Bethell, we had chips and ice cream, and caught the rays. (Possibly a little too much in the case of my legs, which went a little pink.)

Naturally, we went down to the water, which was something of a mission. The tide was out and the beach we could take the pup on was rather muddy/clay-y. Apparently one of the most googled things about Morecambe Bay is "quicksand death". After sinking a couple times, I can see why! Definitely worth it though, to get a little bit of vitamin sea.

Another delightful surprise, there was an amazing bookshop. The Old Pier Bookshop was this never-ending TARDIS of bookshelves, filled with everything from vintage Beano to the latest YA releases. I could have quite happily spent a whole week in there, exploring every nook and cranny. This eagle-eyed nerd managed to find a copy of The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce to match the printings I have from the first two of the series. Honestly made me a litte giddy. This is a book series I had to get my dad to source from America because you just can't find them in the UK. I did ask if they had number three, but the store was a little higgly-piggledy after the summer.

Still absolutely buzzing that I found the one, to be honest.

 

Thursday

Not quite as sunny as the Wednesday, but still very warm for September, we chose Bolton Abbey for our Thursday trip. As it was a little cooler, the pup enjoyed this one more. Plus, he discovered ducks and was very interested in those. I did, however, come prepared for plenty of stops - I brought Shadow and Bone, along with Micro Dojo which is a super tiny game. Perfect for playing astride a wall, while the pup gets his bearings.

Along the trail, there were some fu activities which were definitely aimed at those who are a third my age. Did that stop me? Hell no. Did the narrow tubes and proximity to mud? Well, yes. But I did a fair few of them! I was very good at the snake maze. Or I accidentally cheated. Still can't work that one out. The abbey, itself, was very majestic. Again, baffling that people built these without JCBs. 

We got back nice and early from the abbey, so I finally got to soak in the hot tub with a book. I had wine nearby, but was drinking water while actually in the water. The heat made me a little light headed at times. It was amazingly relaxing - escaping to the Grisaverse while jets worked the knots out of my back. That is officially my happy place right now.

 

Friday

Of course, all holidays must end. Friday, we travelled back home. Still, work does not start again until Monday so I am on holiday mode until then. Pizza for lunch, a cheeky glass of wine, and more puzzles. With only minimal checking the answers in the back, I swear.