I am feeling rather behind at the moment with blogging – It’s a lot to do with taking on extra hours at work, and mostly to do with my laptop systems or something needing updating recently. It has all meant that I have been more tired than usual (if that’s even possible ha!) and also took about 10 days or so to finally fix the issue. But here I am – back in action and mostly raring to go in sharing snippets of life with you all again – especially after 2 great weekends!
I am thankful to have had some fun weekends recently, and one of these was last weekend when I had the opportunity to have 2 nights away in North (and west) Yorkshire with my 6 sisters in law and mother in law. We have had it planned for a while and it was great to finally do it! We ditched left the kids with their dads on the Friday night and made our way to the beautiful ‘White Willow Lodge’ in the Washburn Valley, where 2 of my sister in laws had made a delicious Vegan Cauliflower Curry. We chatted, ate delicious food, stayed up far too late and generally chilled together.
The next day some went in the hot tub and then we had brunch made by myself and my mother in law. Around noon we headed up to Harrogate (where we had so much fun), followed by another late night, chat, chocolate and bananagrams (party life!).
Sunday was another brunch made by another sister in law, followed by church with the fam, a family dinner and home! The whole weekend was really lovely, enriching and a lot of fun to hang out together – a really great start to the year!
Washburn Valley Lodges
For our girls weekend, we stayed in White Willow lodge which is part of Washburn Valley lodges (second one soon to be completed) located in the heart of the beautiful Washburn Valley – which isn’t far from the lovely market town of Otley in West Yorkshire. It is within easy access to the city of Leeds and beautiful Harrogate and, has ample country walks surrounding it. The lodge is part owned by one my sister in laws and her husband and so we were truly grateful for their generosity in inviting us all to stay for the weekend (as well as for the dads who had fun with all the kids and gave us a much needed break)!
White Willow Lodge is so lovely and stylish; it has 3 bedrooms – 2 of which are on the ground floor (a twin and a double) with bathroom and, the third is upstairs with super king bed (where I stayed with 2 sisters!) and another lovely bathroom. It has everything you would need for a self catering stay, as well as stunning views, a hot tub and, open plan kitchen/eating/living space with a TV and wood-burner in. The decor is so lovely and it is ideal for a relaxing break as a group or family. I loved everything about it, including the cute lights around the balcony at night, and the areas to eat and chill outside in warmer weather.
A day in Harrogate
As mentioned, on the Saturday we drove up to Harrogate where we had fun sale shopping, eating and, relaxing at the Turkish Baths. I haven’t been to Harrogate for a few years (since I live in Leeds) and so it was really lovely to return on the Saturday part of our trip. Our first stop was of course the famous Betty’s, where we perused the novel little treats available in the take out bakery, and then headed into town – trying things on and looking at lovely things. We must have spent a good hour or more in the M&S sale which saw the 7 of us girls trying on numerous outfits on the shop floor and laughing our heads off! We then raided the kids sale section, where gifts for this Christmas were bought in advance for the many grandkids!
We took lunch with us (yummy falafel wraps), but made sure to stop in the afternoon at Costa for a lovely hot chocolate. Early evening, we headed to Harrogate Spa and had so much fun at the Turkish Baths. I have never been to the Harrogate Spa before, but it was so beautiful. The decor is rich in history and the whole vibe was casual and relaxing. It has varying degrees of hot rooms, a steam room and plunge pool which was butt freezing (I may have screamed a little too loud on that part!). It was wonderful to go though and super relaxing. We had plenty to talk about whilst we laid out and chilled for 2 hours – bliss!
Following our Spa sesh we had a lovely dinner at Wagamama’s just up the road (most of our decisions are around where we will eat!). I had the squid to start and a lovely chicken and prawn Pad Thai – it has been ages since I went to Wagamama’s and was such a delicious treat. I thoroughly enjoyed being with my sister in laws and mother in law for the weekend, they are all fantastic women and each one my dear friend and sister. I love that we all have so much fun together, share so many stories and memories, and can agree one minute and have completely different ideas another. It is always a pleasure to be with them and is refreshing to talk about all of the things we do so openly (nothing like family!). I also love that often my thinking is challenged which helps me personally to learn and grow from each one of them and their views and experiences.
How lovely to spend quality time with such fantastic women!
*Thank you again to my Brother and sister in law for an awesome weekend!
If you are interested in visiting Washburn Valley lodges, check out their FB page that is linked in the post. If you are interested in Turkish Baths, then please note that you can get some good deals during the week, but we paid £32 each for a 2 hour weekend session.
