As Sunday drew to a close it also meant my holiday was over, yet I was sorting of happy because I’d achieved what I’d set out to do two weeks.
Spend a Staycation, with my family, doing what I wanted to do and I loved it
2026
With the thought of work creeping into my thoughts I just wanted to make something in me shed but ended up adding another shelf under the stairs. Since finishing work two weeks ago I have not felt that I have pushed myself at all to do anything but I have achieved quite a lot and enjoyed doing it which was the main thing!
Lincoln broke his glasses at skating so Jamie took him and Reagan, who turns 16 later this month and with that stops receiving subsidised glasses, to Winsford in the afternoon to get glasses.
While they were there and the house was quiet I decided a bath and a lay down might be a great way to spend the rest of my day….
A few drinks in front of the TV with Jamie watching the end of Masterchef the Professionals made for a very relaxed Saturday night
Walked to Starbucks but Reagan struggled because it was about me not her…it was annoying because I hoped we could get a nice family photo with all four of us which if I think back is all I ever ask for on my birthday? She didn’t talk or smile so I just had a brew and we walked home, Billy loved it though.
It might have been my birthday but I wanted to carry on pottering like I have been so I made a coat rack utilising the hooks from the old ones we have been using. Again using some of my favourite tools and the router table to make the edges a feature too.
While I was doing that Jamie made me a coffee and walnut birthday cake something I’d asked Reagan to do but she showed no interest in doing it. I have to say it was a VERY good cake!!!
Gammon egg and chips was the preferred birthday tea, and once we’d cleared the kitchen and got Lincoln off to skating Jamie and I walked Billy to the King’s Lock for a pint before finishing the night off at home with a glass of wine or three
All in all a good birthday I am a simple creature easily please!
Yes, I’d talked a good game on buying and hanging new doors throughout the house and yes I’d done it before but that was 20+ years ago. The difference today was YouTube and the right tools, that said I did the same thing a long time ago with the tools I had and a tutorial from r-kid and those doors have lasted until now?
A Makita tracksaw is the best tool i own, a Trend self centering drill has been a game changer, the few hours I have spent sharpening all chisels has been worth every minute and the tip from the Internet of using a new Stanley knife blade and a trim router
I need to look online to find a small pot of “lacquer finish” to cover the parts of both doors I have cut to fit them and possibly test it on spine of closet door before finishing the job completely.
It has made me confident that I can do a really great job of buying and installing the rest of the doors which I will now do one a month
Hardly a rampage but Reagan had arranged for a few mates to come round to our house which is not my favourite idea, but secretly I love the fact that as I left to play pool our children were sat entertaining their mates out on the patio around the fire pit under the awning.
I hope our house is the one all their friends talk about and want to come back to because its great…
We drew away at a really good team White Lion in Crewe which made my night great too!
Spent the day hanging two new doors one for the closet and the other for the lounge there has been no rush and after the closet door went really well it was frustrating to struggled with the lounge door so needed to walk away, so tidied up and live to fight another day.
As I was clearing my tools away Reagan came into the kitchen dressed for a prearranged evening out on the town with her friends and she says “Ive got my key Dad, don’t wait up…”
It made me sad that this was the start of the next phase of our lives, and that she is nearly 16 years old and her word is getting bigger. Tonight was spending time wandering the streets with loads of mates something she has not craved before but we had no problem because its about stretching the apron strings.
My daughter is growing up and I am confident we have equipped her in the best way we know how to move into this next stage of her life…but its also sad too!
After yesterday it was always going to be a lazy day even though I went to Uncle Karl’s to help him move a washing machine first thing.
I bought some hinges for the impending doors arriving this week and cut them into the closet door frame while listening to Portsmouth vs Oxford which was a good game and kept me company…
I cleared the the kitchen, I have tried to make it my priority over the last couple of weeks not to allow the kitchen to be come cluttered because cleaning it is easy if things are put away. My family don’t realise how much they leave laying around after using the kitchen even for a minute a spoon here a cup there if allowed to mount up becomes a big job for someone. Over the last couple of days I have let it slip so I got it back in shape this morning as well as doing couple of loads of laundry.
When Jamie finished making fresh pasta for the first time in her life and left to go to the gym I went to my shed and made a French cleat shelf to hold my glues oils was etc something that has been on my mind for a couple of weeks having moved all of them on numerous occasions.
We are mom’s pasta tonight and it was excellent as I knew it would be, and when Reagan offered to take Bill the rest of the evening was me own I could get used to this holiday malarkey!
They say a picture paints a thousand words and this one tells the story of how Jamie is able to get almost everyone together. What it doesn’t show is how much effort time and money she also puts in to make us all happy.
A lamb roast with all the trimmings followed by cakes lovingly baked by Reagan all the rest of us had to do was turn up eat and be merry which was the easy bit.
Are you kidding me I am on Holiday I got two weeks off why now? It came on swiftly on Thursday afternoon and floored me for the rest of the day. A rough night followed and as I described yesterday I am not sure how I managed especially because of how I felt this morning after another rough night.
It was new hob day so I dragged myself out of bed at 8 when the guys rocked up to install it and tried to potter after they left but admitted defeat around lunchtime returning to bed.
Around 3pm I did get up and make an effort running a couple of errands but it all felt like a struggle but once I’d eaten some tea the worst of the symptoms seemed to have subsided and as I lay here listening to Jamie snoring next to me I don’t feel too bad. Hopefully I can get a good night’s sleep and be right for all my family coming over for Easter Sunday dinner tomorrow?
With a rendezvous with Patty and Ian planned we set off for the Silverstone race circuit to visit the Museum which sounded like a great day out add on to that a walk around Oxford and look at the University was a brilliant way to spend the day with our friends.
Unfortunately I went to bed last night FULL of cold and woke this morning not feeling too chipper and as the day wore on things just got worse no matter how hard i fought it.
By the time we had walked around all the exhibits, had a go on the simulator walked over to the actual circuit it self to watch an amateur meeting coming to an end, i was struggling and shouldn’t have driven the 40 minutes to Oxford because I could barely stay awake.
Adrenaline kicked in when we got there and managed Primarni, the Library, Wagamama, Soctopus and the bus ride back to the Park and Ride before crashing. I got into the car and fell asleep only waking when Jamie stopped at a services an hour later.
Glad I dragged myself out because I lo Ed spending time with me family on days like this and its always great to see Patty and Ian obvs!