Wicked weekends

I am so thrilled the U.K. has bank holidays, it’s an opportunity for those of us who work full time to take a few days holiday without having to dip into our precious holiday funds from work. Here are my tips on making the most of these times and what you can get up to on our next long weekend!

What did I do?

Friday / Saturday

Over the first of our May bank holidays I literally did not stop. I had my lovely friend Lauren to stay (I met Lauren at University, when we went to watch Downton Abbey in the common room and hit it off!) Friday night which was wonderful. I got to show her our new flat, chill out, have a catch up and then end the night by watching hilarious YouTube videos.

The next day we went exploring the area and ended up in the most adorable, chocolate box / postcard village you have ever imagined in your life! Minster Lovell. We had previously searched places to visit close by and Minster Lovell came up as a suggestion due to its beautiful 15th century ruined Manor House and church.

We loved the little village so much! It reminded us of Cranford / Lark Rise to Candleford (books / BBC drama). When we were there we went to the local pub for a yummy cool drink which was much deserved!

On the way back we went on to Oxford where I accidentally (on purpose) introduced Lauren to the most adorable range of purses. These purses are in the design of bookshelves / books / shops and all sorts! They’re sold in a cute independent store where she treated herself to the cutest purse (I will be returning next payday to get myself one)!

Sunday

On Sunday Jon and I headed off early to Lyme Regis as I had never been and desperately wanted to go fossil hunting! This was a pretty long day as the drive down was a little over two and a half hours (same back), so it is quite a commitment to do, but totally worth it when we live in such a beautiful country.

Due to the hot weather the beach was completely packed, so we ended up clambering across rocks bare foot, squelching through the clay and sand looking for fossils on the way to a secluded section of beach. Totally worth it! We pitched up, had a dip, read some of our books and ate the picnic Jon had made. It was wonderful!

We had a good few hours at the beach before having a little mooch round the town, where Jon of course found a bookshop, then we headed off home and slept soundly till morning when it was (thankfully) BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY!

Monday

This was a great day, as it is usually a day we have to work, so we spent it together exploring Oxfordshire and its nature reserves! We decided to stay closer to home because it isn’t often you find yourself in a situation where you can do anything you want and more often than not people tend to go further afield in search, whereas I love to explore my doorstep!

We went to a nature reserve about 40 minutes drive from us called Foxholes.

Foxholes is a beautiful forest / woodland with fields, a river and little pathways running through it owned by BBOWT.

We did admittedly get lost, but with a compass, maps and Jon we got back to our little blue beetle in no time and went for a lovely late lunch in Burford at the Priory.

Rounding up

When it comes to it I think that it’s vital to make the most of our free time together. People, me included, spend so much time on our phones, computers and watching tv now that we just don’t switch off enough, leading us to feel tired, down and stressed. For this very reason it’s so important that we clock off even if for a day or so and spend it exploring our magical world, reading its books and enjoying its natural beauty!