Instalment one (of two) of our long overdue blog (and hopefully long awaited ?? ) so here goes ……..
Remember us… We are finally back on the blog ….. again, it’s going to take two blogs this week to catch up.
We have had a hiatus caused by medical treatment.
This time it was as a result of Nic’s mammogram, which instigated a 7 month process which included surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, then a couple of months of procrastinating on the blog…
We are pleased to confirm this is now over, and we have got back to some travelling, all be it, not any long haul travel yet.
As you’ll remember last September we bought a flat in our home town of Pocklington, the timing of this was a ‘godsend’, as it meant we had our own permanent base whilst dealing with the medical treatment.
Nic was fortunate to have relatively few side effects of treatment. Still keeping most of her hair by using a cold cap. The worst issue was the effect on her tastebuds, making some things less palatable, but given the effects suffered by some, she counts herself lucky! There is some residual tiredness too, but that just means pacing some days. The NHS staff were all great, and it goes without saying how grateful we are to have them, plus the opportunity to take part in screening programmes which really support good outcomes!
We have had on our first trip away, so here goes for the headlines.
Tuesday (30 June 2026) We drove across the country to our friends in Widnes, before heading back to Manchester to the Eithiad stadium to see Take That’s Circus tour, we saw the original Circus tour in 2009. It has stood the test of time well, it was a really good night, starting with Belinda Carlisle, then The Script (who were the support act in 2009), and finally Take That including a mechanical elephant, tight rope walker and uni-cycles.
Leaving the stadium carpark took ages!
Friday (3 July) We headed down to South Wales, but not before our friend thankfully spotted a nail in one of our car tyres! (Yes , bugger!). So we drove to two national brand tyre garages, neither could do anything that day, one told me they had 57 vehicles booked in that day, so following a recommendation we headed to the local tyre shop, unfortunately they confirmed the tyre could not be repaired, and we would need a new tyre (another bugger). Obviously the tyres on the Volvo are not standard, they are 19inch all weather tyres! They surprised themselves by having a 19 inch tyre in stock, not an all weather tyre, but it was better than nothing, so we agreed to put it on, and hoped the ‘All Wheel Drive’ system was not intelligent enough to know it was the wrong tyre, thankfully it wasn’t, and we have not yet had a problem with the non-all weather tyre.
Then we had a long drive down to South Wales, we decided not to use the Motorways, a more scenic route, later we also heard that the M6 was closed, so another lucky decision not to use the motorways. We stopped at Powis Castle, to eat our lunch and use the facilities, we didn’t have the time, or the energy, to go around the castle and gardens, we had a dinner reservation to get to at a vineyard just north west of Cardiff, yes a vineyard in Wales, who knew!
Lovely to catch up with friends, wonderful food and great wine.
We stayed at an AirBnB just down the road from the hotel( a third of the price).
Saturday, back to the vineyard to attend the wedding of Nic’s goddaughter. A lovely couple, a wonderful day.
Sunday, We were surprisingly chipper considering all the lovely food and drink at the Wedding. As we had another night in the Airbnb, it gave us time to fit in a visit to the Royal Mint at Llantrisant, only a few minutes drive away. Not too busy on a Sunday morning, we enjoyed a guided tour, followed by a wander round the exhibition, plus a chance to press a button to stamp your own £2 coin, ( for an extra fee! ) it had to be done !
As a birthday treat, Nic’s god daughter and her mum, had kindly booked us onto a wine tasting at the vineyard on the Sunday afternoon. So we headed back towards the vineyard, via a pub for Sunday lunch, Roast turkey and all the trimmings to soak up the wine. We thoroughly enjoyed the wine tasting experience, learning the history of the place, while wandering with our glasses between the vines. When we discovered there were more wines produced than the 3 we had tasted, we repaired to the bar to ensure we had not missed out. After buying a couple of bottles to take away, we wandered back to our accommodation, early enough to ensure a good nights sleep, although Nic had to dig out the antihistamine tablets as something crawled up her trouser leg and left several bites while we were in the vineyard!
Monday (6 July), Up and organised to leave Airbnb by 10 to head towards Liverpool for the evening boat to the Isle of Man. As we had plenty of time we fitted in a visit to Hereford Cathedral to see the Mappa Mundi (ancient medieval world map!), followed by lunch at an Italian restaurant, before continuing our journey to Liverpool.
After a quick pit stop at Cheshire Oaks, mainly to use the loo! We were in Liverpool in plenty of time to check in.
After a smooth crossing we arrived with friends and headed straight for bed.
Tuesday, As we had lots of people to catch up with, we made a relatively early start to meet friends from Colby for a yummy brunch in Castletown. A lovely couple of hours of catching up, followed by a stroll round the town to see familiar places, and comment on any new developments. Back to our Isle of Man home from home, then an impromptu plan to have a meal out to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and a chance for more catching up with the Port Erin gang.
Wednesday, Off to Douglas today, meeting with our financial advisor first, then splitting up to meet different sets of pals for lunch. Nic with the girls at their usual ‘Special Meeting’ venue of the Wine Down Wine bar, never disappointing! And Rog to meet a work colleague for a catch up, then to chauffeur the girls back to the South of the Island. Taking into account road closures due to the Southern 100 motor cycle races, happening around Castletown, and dropping off our friend in Peel, so a lovely scenic drive via the Sloc road.
Thursday, Some low lying clouds around this morning, settling in the valley down to the beach close by. Ponies still need looking after, so Nic had a wander down to pat a pony nose, and avoid the Pooh picking !
After that we set off to see the seals at the Calf sound, they were more audible than visible to start with, due to the clouds, but eventually we could glimpse them lying on the rocks between the mainland and the Calf.
Plus one or two in the water.
Rog headed off to Douglas today meet more work colleagues in the evening, Nic then drove in to scoop him up, and bring him back!
Friday, Another lovely lunch, with a friend from Douglas, Nic’s second visit of the week to Wine Down, definitely no complaints on that score! Then in the evening a meal out with more of our Colby Pals, plus a visit to the property they are renovating, great to see the plans starting to take shape and looking forward to seeing it when it’s all done !
Saturday, Plans had been hatched for a barbecue, so supplies were sourced, and a smashing time was had, no need to cook for Sunday as loads of yummy leftovers!
Sunday, Lazy day with a bit of packing done, ready for an earlystart on Monday morning.
Monday (13 July), Off to the early boat, smooth crossing again into Liverpool. Back in Pock to enjoy a buttie for lunch with Nic’s Dad while her mum was out and about.
Tuesday and Wednesday, Days for doing washing and repacking!
Thursday, Off to Tonbridge to stay with Nic’s brother and family. Long drive down, an hour queue on the M25, then enjoyed a relaxing evening and family dinner.
Friday, We took Nic’s Parents off to see her Maternal Uncle at RHS Wisley. Another steaming hot day, so after a coffee and short walk we found a shady spot for a pic nic, made it easy for ourselves with M&S butties, plus lovely baked goods from Nic’s Mum and Auntie.
In the evening, we left Nic’s Mum and Dad in Peace, and the rest of us headed off to Tunbridge Wells, for a delicious Italian meal. Yum!
Saturday, Chance for another barbecue with all the family, then relaxing in the garden, plus a dip in the hot tub! What’s not to like!?
Sunday, Repacked the car, and headed back to Yorkshire. a reasonable drive this time, with our usual stops. Cambridge Services and Downtown Boundary Mill at Grantham if anyone’s interested!
Second instalment of the catch up will be issued in a couple of days.
Travurple 