Project 52 2026 week 31

This week has been busy getting ready to go away, and then fitting in lots while I was away on a solo jaunt. It’s been hotter than I expected but a breather of a week, especially as it feels like I’ve not been away in so long. I might actually get round to writing a few more blog posts other than Project 52 ones. Here’s my week 31.

Sunday – had a bit of a lie in, then town for some bread. My brother was over when I got home as he and N had been clay shooting. After lunch dropped N off to do some gamekeeping stuff. Then back to sort the roast out. Yes, we’ve still been having a roast on Sundays through all the hot weather.

Monday – quite a quiet day, just work. Leftovers from Saturday for dinner as there wasn’t really enough left from the roast chicken for a full meal for all of us.Rattling through the old series of Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders which is good. Nice easy dance viewing.

Tuesday – finally had some rain after work. Only about 5 minutes, and didn’t really clear the air. Was still so humid before dancing. New rotation, so back to whizzing through beginner dances in improvers which is frustrating. I reckon rather than starting week 1 in the summer holidays, she should recap old level dances we’ve not done in ages for the few weeks, then restart week 1 of the block in September when everyone’s starting new activities alongside school.

Wednesday – day in the office again. We had some heavy rain early, which obviously followed me to work. Lasted about 5 minutes at home so nowhere near enough, but at least it was a cooler day. Picked up a Fat Face sale order. It’s so nice to be able to get out of work and turn right again if needed, as all the roadworks in the middle of town are complete and everything’s flowing like previously. It’s ridiculous because other than widening the bus lanes, and narrowing the others, painting some arrows to show where the crossing traffic goes, and changing the pedestrian crossing islands to not have fencing, it’s all just the same layout as previously. 

Thursday – day working trying to get everything done and out of the way for a quiet Friday morning. Finished the day at dancing, which was quiet compared to the previous week. Despite it only being old improvers in the second class, we ended up going back over beginners dances, and only getting to one dance we’ve been learning that’s newer. We did get through a lot of dances though which is good. We just need to recap on the improver ones not beginners which can be picked up faster even if you don’t know them.  

Friday – up early, into town to get some cash out and fill up with petrol. I’m not liking Sainsbury’s petrol station at the moment as their pay at kiosk hasn’t worked the last couple of times, as it won’t read the Nectar cards. Had to get back ahead of my early Tesco delivery. A small delivery given I won’t be at home for a few days, so hopefully stuff does get eaten.

Headed off for my short break to Harrogate after my early half day working, leaving at 11. The traffic wasn’t great – a couple of very slow places on the M1 unsurprisingly. I’d hoped to stop in Sheffield at the cowboy boot store, but the delays meant I’d have arrived later than planned. So headed straight to my hotel instead. 

Went out for food – I think my first dinner eating alone, which was weird being on holiday and not having N with me. He didn’t want to come, and the OH rarely comes on holiday. So it’s an Emma only break. Odd, but liberating being able to do whatever you want!

Saturday – ok breakfast, but nothing special (poor pastries offering compared to other places, and sausages needed more cooking as always). Hot day (so much for travelling north to avoid the heat back home), but headed to Ripley Castle to see the gardens and grounds, and have a castle tour. The guide didn’t turn up so with ended up with Sir Thomas being the guide instead. The tour we had was so good, but disappointing you don’t really see much of the castle compared with somewhere like Blenheim which is also a family home. The gardens and lake are beautiful so a good morning out.

Back to the Royal Pump Room Museum in Harrogate, a wander round Montpellier district, and up past Betty’s. I had a lovely lunch in a cute little tea shop. After wandering around a bit, I ended up stopping for a few hours to read my Kindle in a coffee shop. I couldn’t be bothered to walk back to the hotel before coming out for tea (the less walking the better in the heat). I ended up having Italian for dinner. Food was good, but I think I got wafted in and out by the waiters so fast because I was eating alone.

Things I’ve enjoyed this week:

• exploring a new city
• dancing and chatting about dancing on Facebook with new connections
• a hotel stay – and a good night’s sleep which is better than normal on a first night

Things I’m grateful for this week:

• sorting out a matured ISA, moving a dud savings account into the new ISA (loads more finance stuff still to work out though)
• holiday time off work
• having a child who can reasonably stay at home with his dad while I go away for a few days.