Hugo's first holiday - the Northumberland Coast

A fortnight ago we packed up a rather overflowing car and headed off to Northumberland to join mum and dad in their caravan for a week. It was our first proper trip with Hugo so packing was horrible and we'll definitely be able to pack lighter in future. I guess we won't have much choice for our next trip to Bermuda!

On the journey there I was thinking I could never ever have my own caravan because of the fear of towing it. Following a caravan in horrendously windy conditions was horrible enough, I had my heart in my mouth the whole time, but the idea of being in control of that would be worse. But as soon as we arrived I started thinking about how much freedom it would give to be able to have cheap, comfortable enough holidays and explore the UK and even into Europe, so caravanning and campervanning is definitely something I'd like to explore, if I could get over the transportation issue.

Our home for the week was just outside of Seahouses, north of Alnwick on the coast. We could see both the sea and Bamburgh castle from the campsite in the distance - the campsite itself wasn't much to shout about, but the location was great.

The week was very chilled, going at our own pace. It was great for mum and dad to have time with Hugo and Adi and I managed a bit of us time too. It will probably be the last time the five of us can fit in the caravan, but we'll definitely join them again even if it means pitching a tent. Some of the highlights:

- Seeing Adi's face on the first night as he realised that he'd left all of his tops at home - one of those priceless, had to be there moments

- Relaxing evenings in a cosy caravan playing card games - my new favourite is hearts, I think it's safe to say Dad's not quite as keen as the rest of us thanks to some absolute thrashings
- Windy walks on the beach
- Pretty castles - Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh, Alnwick, Lindisfarne
- Fab fry-ups cooked by mum each morning - who needs a hotel?
- Getting active, back on the bike and a game of tennis - I definitely need practice
- A roadtrip to Scotland to see Rach and a lovely walk across the bay in Dunbar with her family
- Trying a new fish - Lemon Sole - this may not sound at all adventurous, but for someone who has only just branched from (heavily disguised) Tuna to Cod, its saying something. I'm determined to find new flavours I enjoy
- Discovering secluded bays - Low Newton beach to be specific - mum has a way of going off-piste and it turning out great
- A wonderful, relaxing massage to ease away seven nights on a rock solid caravan bed, and a nights stay at Doxford Hall to celebrate our anniversary (albeit feeling more shattered and full of cold after)
- Dressing up in a pretty dress to go out for our anniversary, ending up in a near-empty curry house, collecting desert from Morrison's and putting wellies on for a beach walk - I guess stuffy restaurants and hotels isn't really our thing
- Elan's pizzeria in Seahouses - absolutely fantastic pizza, so good we went twice
- Crazy Golf - although this may have got slightly competitive! I ended up getting worse as I went along, but I love it and wish there were more courses nearby
- Popping into the country's biggest book store - Barter Books. I'm not a big bookworm but even I was taken aback at the old station turned into a store, complete with toy train going around the ceiling
- Bamburgh - a lovely little village right on our doorstep. Top tip would be to avoid the Copper Kettle tea rooms - its a typical tourist trap that don't need to work hard for custom, so the cakes aren't freshly baked, instead head to the Castle Inn, a lovely pub that we went to on the first night to celebrate mum's birthday

life lately - a silent month

I didn't mean for the last month to be such a quiet one. I put the blog on hiatus while I was concentrating on a job application and three interviews to follow. After that Hugo's been poorly and I haven't had much time or brain capacity!

Blogging is a funny thing. I'm generally an all or nothing kind of person, doing things half arsed doesn't work for me. But to blog properly takes time, and a real investment. Not just time when you think about it, but time while you're thinking about other things, in order to be able to document it.

It's a fine balance between living life and writing about it or capturing it in film or photo. 

I'm struggling to find that balance. I see and read other beautifully crafted blogs (notably my friend Freya's who inspired me to start blogging) and I really dream of having an online space like that. But it's such a commitment! 

So for now, this will have to do! Here's a dozen highlights from the last month (and I'll try not to leave it so long next time):

1. Vegan baking! I made a second attempt at vegan choc-chip banana bread and it was definitely better than my first. I considerably reduced the quantity of cinnamon, but it was still a little powerful. I then made my mums recipe chocolate chip cookies and managed to adapt them for a vegan batch. To me the vegan ones tasted awful, but they were eaten, so can't have been too bad to someone only able to eat vegan!

2. Hugo's first girly sleepover down in St Albans with the Brooke girls. It was also his first stay somewhere other than our house or his second home at my parents. Considering he was in a house full of (not the quietest) girls he was so good! Although he was amazing, I could tell he wasn't his normal self and I think the car journey was a bit too long with not enough breaks. I've realised that while I can continue to enjoy the things I enjoyed before, I do need to consider Hugo a little more and adapt for him. If only I lived closer to the girls...

3. Typically while down south I wanted to fit in as much as possible, so I headed to a friends on the Saturday to see her new house. In hindsight, turning up slightly hungover with a baby in tow wasn't the kindest to my friend, but it was great to stop by and laze about all the same!

4. Film nights with Adi. My favourites have been In Time and Wolf of Wall Street. One of Adi's favourite things to do is plan our future lottery win. I usually refrain, but I'd make damn sure I was more wise than Jordan Belfort.

5. A walk to our friends local and a leisurely Sunday lunch by the river. I think this is pretty much my ideal Sunday - light exercise, chat, good food and drink in a pretty setting. Next Sunday anyone?

6. Late night chats with Adi. We always talk the most in bed, but quite often we'll leave it too late to go to bed to have a proper chat. While he enjoyed a few days off there was less pressure for me to get a good nights sleep, so we've enjoyed chatting about all sorts. 

7. Mid-week BBQ with some of our friends, apparently a very middle class thing to do. Our farm shop does a family BBQ deal so I ended up cooking things I wouldn't have normally. I definitely need to try some fish next time.

8. Job application and interviews. Okay, this wouldn't have fit in to the good bits of the last month if it was for securing the role and getting a really good vibe from my soon to be colleagues, more of that in another post.

9. Catching up with a friend from college, although sadly not seeing her little man as it was his nap time!

10. Introducing Hugo to my friends mum and sister. Living in different countries means it isn't very often I see her, so I thought I'd at least introduce Hugo to her family. He was on good behaviour right up until we were leaving when he peed everywhere, which made us all squeal, in turn making him cry! It sort of put an abrupt end to the afternoon!

11. Hugo having naked time on his great-grandfather. I'd so have loved for it to end up the way we feared, but miraculously he was naked for about an hour and didn't pee!

12. Hugo taking a handful of my chilli while having Sunday lunch with mum, Joe and Sophie. I decided to save my white top rather than capture the moment, but it was impressive all the same.

This takes us up to the day before Hugo got ill, which should really lead to another post.