Happy Monday!

It’s an unwritten rule that the last week of work before a holiday is always busier than you want or expect it to be, last week was no exception.

I did a day in the Southampton Office, a day in the London office and three mad days at home. I knew it would be busy, I’ve recently stepped up the support I give to two more members of staff to make it more formal and less ad hoc and the work is fine (I’ve been saying that I need more to do!) but it’s the change in headspace that supporting more people requires that has been an adjustment. I also still want to do all the other stuff I do and so it’s been a journey. I’m getting there and I’ll have it nailed in a month or two. But September and October (so far) have been a stretch and I was ready for a break!

But first I needed to get there! By midnight on Friday, I was mostly packed and had a mostly empty fridge, so on Saturday morning I was as ready as I was going to be (and I remembered my walking boots – which is more than I can say for Mother!) and we were off.

We’ve had a walk or two around the harbour and a visit to Spurrelis and The Old Boat House. The plan for the week, is Alnwick today for Barter Books (and Warkworth on the way back), Newcastle and the Baltic on Tuesday, Hauxley Nature Reserve and Woodhorn Museum on Wednesday. Depending on the weather we’re thinking about Holy Island and on Friday, we’ll do the walk from Craster to Dunstanburgh Castle.

It’s just the kind of time away that I need!