Life is busy at present, I’m trying to make up for things I missed whilst recovering from my operation and preparing for Christmas. I always find that its before Christmas when the diary is full of events and Christmas day and the following few days are the quiet and relaxing days of the month. This week saw the 1st of December and the return of Tommy our elf. He is such a part of our household that our son’s old TA from primary school emailed me this week to check he had got back safely! Tommy returned this week on a parachute fashioned from a used disposable mask (I do prefer and try to use fabric masks but had to wear a disposable one in a meeting so I could use the nose clip and wear my glasses without them steaming up) Tommy also had a vaccination certificate and a negative LFT test too, so 2021! On his first day he brings the children’s advent calendars and this year I’m delighted to have been gifted a tea advent calendar by my parents, I love it and have already tasted and really liked a flavour which I would not normally have considered.

Its been a Christmas themed week. On my trip to the spa on Thursday I was also able to pop into a local garden centre which is famed for its Christmas department. It was quite simply the most magical shopping experience, beautiful themed trees and every accessory you can imagine. It was also our town’s Christmas market on Saturday and the school where I work had a stall selling goods from our students eco business. I was helping on the stall and my son also joined me. He turned out to be such a natural salesman, he had the banter and the charm and secured lots of sales, he loved every minute. The market itself was delightful, it was just so good to be back at a community event. I caught up with many people whom I haven’t seen for so long and the atmosphere was just lovely. I also did a few bits of Christmas shopping as the market is great for different presents and I am loving my handmade bespoke robin cushion.

This is the weekend, the first of the month, when we traditionally put up our decorations. We have managed this but its been very spread out over the weekend as there’s not really been a time when we’ve been in the house together for more than a hour or two with work, the Christmas market, volunteering at the farm and cricket practice, its been a very full on weekend. I will write my post about decorations later this month as I have a few new ones and have created some different tableaux for 2021.

The highlight this week was another mum and daughter day, last week I was the mum, this week, the daughter. When I was recovering from my operation, my mum had her 70th birthday. She celebrated by going on holiday with my dad so I was able to delay my birthday treat to her until I was fit enough to drive and share the day with her too. My treat was a visit to a spa and I found one convenient for us both. The Monart spa was stunning, it really was so luxurious and relaxing. There were lots of different areas to try, a pool, experience showers, salt rock room, sauna, steam, a mix of the two, ice fountain and an infrared seat designed to help the spine. There was also a relaxation room with your own beds and refreshments. We also had a treatment as part of the package and I had a full body Swedish massage which was incredible. I was cautious of how a spa would work with Covid regulations, but it meant we had every room to ourselves and it felt even more exclusive. The only drawback was because of Covid the sessions were restricted to 3 hours (ish, getting changed / showering / dressing aren’t counted) and I could have easily spent the full day at the spa, it was so amazing. Without a doubt, we’ll be back again, our favourite until now has been the Bath spa but this had similar facilities and was much quieter and exclusive. Its also more convenient for us both to get too. My dad drove my mum over and then pottered around the town before meeting us for a late lunch so I got to share parts of the day with both of them on my own. This is so rare as I normally have the children with me when I see my parents and it was nice to have the special time with the two of them.

With my walking commutes to work and the drive to the spa, I was able to listen to the audiobook, Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason. This is a stunning book about mental health and the effect on family and friends. Its one of my best reads of the year and one I’ve already started to recommend to friends.

I did my first run today since my operation and it went well, I was intending to do a 5k but ended up on nearly 5 miles. This has given me the confidence to return to parkrun next week, no PBs but a nice pace and another to add on my 50 quest. Its my only opportunity this month to do a parkrun, December is busy!