Mick's 60th - January

It's Mick's 60th birthday in August so I had an idea that we'd have a year-long celebration, doing lots of fun things for the whole of 2026. I'd like to think we could do something each month, but we'll see, I've got a few ideas, I'm keeping everything a secret from Mick.

For January I decided that we'd have a weekend away in St Annes-on-the-Sea. It's a place we know very well, we used to have short breaks there with my parents, my sister and her family and my brother and his family before we had children. Of course, when Daniel and Eleanor came along, they came too. It holds many fond memories for all of us.

We arrived at lunch time last Friday but as we couldn't check-in to the hotel until 2pm, I decided we'd head straight to Lytham Hall. An 18th century Georgian house, it's situated in 78 acres of parkland. The hall itself is closed at the moment but it was a lovely place for a walk.

Admission is free, we just paid a nominal amount for parking. There's plenty of space to stretch your legs, a shop, a cafe, and the animal hub where you can see the resident bunny rabbits, Charles and Camilla, and visit the mischievous goats, Bogie and Toby.

These are the first snowdrops I've seen this year, a welcome sight, surely spring can't be all that far away now.

We arrived at the hotel, which was situated on the promenade overlooking the beach, and found we'd been given a room with a balcony and sea-view. We were just in time to see the sunset.

On Saturday after a lovely cooked breakfast, we ventured out for a walk on the beach. It's a wonderful place for a stroll, so open, the sea always seems to be so far away at St Annes.

The promenade is a nice place for a wander too, there's well tended gardens complete with waterfalls, a playground for children, a pitch n putt and par 3 golf course, and in the summer months, you'll find trampolines and a miniature train, fun for all the family whilst still retaining its Victorian charm.

The beach huts are closed up for the winter but they look so well kept and taken care of.

The Lifeboat Monument commemorates the death of thirteen lifeboatmen from St Annes who were lost during a rescue in 1886.

I definitely chose a good weekend for our little jaunt, the weather on both Friday and Saturday was very mild compared to the freezing temperatures we'd had beforehand.

The comedian, Les Dawson, lived in St Annes. He died in 1993, this statue was unveiled in 2008 and stands in the Peace and Happiness Garden just by the pier.

After a little rest back at the hotel, we decided to spend the afternoon in nearby Lytham. All the years we've been visiting St Annes and yet we'd never once visited this nearby town. Although they're often grouped together as Lytham St Annes, they're actually two separate but adjacent towns. Most of the shops in Lytham are situated on Clifton Street, a bustling thoroughfare with both independent and high street names. I really enjoyed visiting Stringers, an independent, family run, department store. It's good to see a business such as this thriving in today's world.

I came across a yarn shop in an arcade. I could see through the window that Habs & Dash stock a good range of quality yarn, including hand-dyed, but I resisted entering the shop, after all, I've got enough yarn in my stash to open my own small shop.

This pebble mosaic is called Paradise Garden and it was created by Maggy Howarth, it can be found in Clifton Square. At its centre is the red rose of Lancashire, and set around it is features of Lytham, including the windmill. Isn't it a beautiful piece of art. My photo doesn't do it justice.

And speaking of the windmill, here it is. This windmill stands on Lytham Green, it was built in 1805 and now houses a museum. Unfortunately, it's closed during the winter months, opening again at Easter.

We arrived back in St Annes to see another glorious sunset, this time we were on the beach by the Victorian pier. Perfect.

We stayed for two nights and had bed, breakfast and evening meal in the hotel. It was the perfect winter getaway, I'd worried about having a weekend by the coast in January but it was actually lovely. Yes, we were very lucky with the weather, we've had snow in the UK this month but the weekend we were away was mild and though I did have a woolly scarf around my neck, I didn't need a hat or gloves. This was the perfect start to Mick's birthday celebrations, stay tuned to see what's next!

Sherwood Forest

We've had a spell of very cold weather here in the UK, well, cold for us. Storm Goretti wreaked havoc upon parts of the country but we've been very lucky here in our neck of the woods, the only snowfall we had was overnight into Sunday when we woke to a thin covering. That didn't hang around long, the rain washed it away just as quickly as it had arrived.

Although it was cold on Saturday, it was bright and sunny so we decided to have a trip to RSPB Sherwood Forest.

Sherwood Forest is the remnants of a vast royal hunting ground in Nottinghamshire, now a National Nature Reserve. It's known for its connections to the legendary outlaw Robin Hood. 

It was a beautiful day, stunning blue skies without a cloud to be seen and though it was cold, we were wrapped up well so we didn't really feel it.

There are several trails through the forest which cater to different abilities and interests.

It's about a mile and a half to the Major Oak, the tree known as Robin Hood's legendary hideout. It's thought to be about 1100 years old and is now supported by props and bracing in order to preserve it.

The path to the Major Oak is always well populated, people travel for miles to see this iconic landmark, but once past the tree, the forest is much quieter.

It's said that lichen grows where the air quality is clean as many types are highly sensitive to pollutants.

Can you see the face in this tree? I'm not sure the photo captured it as well as we could see it.

It seems there are microclimates within the forest as we happened upon areas covered with frost.

The ground here was rock hard.

Puddles were frozen.

There's no admission fee at Sherwood Forest, car parking costs £6 and you can stay for the whole day. It's free for RSPB members. There's a visitor centre with a shop and cafe and between the car park and the visitor centre is Sherwood Forest Arts and Craft Centre where there's an array of different independent craft shops, everything from candles to fabric crafts. There's handmade soap and jewellery, gemstones and fossils, and a paint a pot studio, as well as many more things to discover. Such a great day out.

Twelve Days Of Christmas 2025

This is a post I regularly write every January, it's a round up of all the gifts I received in my Twelve Days of Christmas swap with my lovely friend, Lisa. This is the twelfth year that we've swapped twelve small gifts, one to be opened on each of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

What a wonderful line up of gifts.

Here's a closer look.

A cosy hot water bottle with a fleece cover, perfect for the cold weather we're experiencing just now. The cutest Winnie the Pooh socks, three pairs which will keep my feet toasty warm. A set of bath bombs, and a fig and pomegranate soap bar, I look forward to using those in my bath.

Two plain white candles and a sheet of transfer stickers to decorate them with, isn't that a fab idea, I haven't come across those before so I look forward to giving that a go. A crepe paper craft kit, something else I shall enjoy having a go with. A puzzle cube, all those flowers, so pretty, and the cutest little bird pot hanger which Lisa sent in the cutest little tin. I like to pretty my pots up with little ornaments so I love this, and the tin will be put to good use too, I can always use a nice tin, haha.

We usually each pop a book in our parcels. This year I received A Christmas Murder by Mary Grand, it looks like it's set on The Isle of Wight, somewhere I'd love to visit, so I shall enjoy reading this. Included with this gift was a page corner bookmark, very handy. A cotton tea towel with a picture of marsh violets on it. We also include a couple of edible gifts. I received some Pistacchio biscuits and some cute Snoopy gummies, I'm not sure I'll be able to eat Snoopy, far too cute.

Thank you, Lisa. You spoil me every single year.

Here's what I sent to Lisa.

Here's a closer look.

A box of Christmas crackers, I just loved the plaid design and the velvet ribbon, if they don't get used this year they'll come in next year. A rhubarb and elderflower candle, I had a sniff of this and really liked it, I hope Lisa likes it too. Shower steamers, it's always nice to have a lovely aroma when taking a shower. A Twelve Days of Christmas nibble tray, how could I resist this when our theme is the Twelve Days of Christmas.

I know that Lisa enjoys doing jigsaws and I thought this Toy Shop Window at Christmas design very festive. A strawberry design cross stitch, it has everything needed in the kit. I usually pop a book in as one of the gifts, this year it's An Unfortunate Christmas Murder by Hannah Hendy, a cosy murder, perfect for snuggling up with over the festive season. A gardener's enamel mug which is printed with hints and tips on how to tend to your garden.

Three Clues, a guessing game which is a perfect table game. Lip balms in a variety of flavours, perfect to use in the cold weather, I always tend to get chapped lips at this time of year. The edible gifts I included in the swap this year were Bailey's Creams, and Caramelised Biscuit Fudge.

It's been another wonderful swap, so fun sourcing the gifts throughout the year, and of course opening a gift each day right into the new year, it extends the magic of Christmas. Thank you, Lisa, it's been another enjoyable swap.

Twelve Day Advent

I had such a lovely surprise at the back end of November when a parcel was delivered to my address. I hadn't ordered anything and I had no idea what it could be. When I opened it, I found a sack full of presents.

My lovely friend, Maggie, who blogs at BlackCountry Wench had put together a twelve day advent for me. What a kind and generous thing to do.

I had a wonderful time opening up each of the gifts through December in the run up to Christmas, and I saved the yarn to open on Christmas Day. Such lovely presents, a book I've had on my wish list since it was released earlier this year, a yummy Lindt reindeer, the cutest Moomin calendar which I'm thrilled to have as the Moomin year planner I usually use was out of stock when I went to order it, a gorgeous bookmark, in fact, take a look at the photo, you can see for yourself all the fabulous things I unwrapped. The West Green Loft yarn is the prettiest shade. Something extra special though, Maggie gifted me the beautiful pillow ornament she'd stitched which I was admiring on her blog back in November, something I'll treasure.

Thank you so much, Maggie, I feel so lucky to have such a special friend, someone who goes out of their way to gift me something so magical at Christmas. Thank you for your friendship.