A Week Off

I have just had a week's holiday. "Where did you go?" I hear you say. Well dear reader I didn't go anywhere, I had a week at home doing nothing - no clubs, no swimming, no hospital volunteering, no church cafe, it was wonderful.

I know that being retired means I can do nothing all the time, but having always been an active person I wanted to continue doing things, and as we age I think it's important to be as active as possible. However much as I enjoy all my activities it was getting to the point where every day I would wake up thinking, "What am I doing today?" or "What time do I have to be out by?" I was permanently on the go, and I felt very tired. So now I feel rested with a fully charged battery, ready to resume my activities.

I think I will have a home stay holiday more often 😊

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x

A Good Read

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
     
On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…
   
The Lost Bookshop is a story about three strangers, Opaline, Martha, and Henry. It’s a mixture of historical fiction, mystery, and good old fashioned romance.
   
Martha has escaped an abusive marriage and finds employment working as a housekeeper to the eccentric ex-actress, Madame Bowden.

Henry is a Ph.D. student who is obsessed with an old manuscript, and is ready to do anything to locate it. He is convinced that Charlotte Brontë wrote a second book.

In 1922 Opaline flees her childhood home to escape an arranged marriage to a stranger. She finds refuge in Paris, where her love of rare books earns her an apprenticeship in a bookstore, the perfect training ground for a young woman who is also convinced that Charlotte Brontë wrote a second book, which is waiting to be discovered.

     

It took me a little while to get into the story because of the different timelines but once I did I enjoyed it.

∼ Happy Reading∼ 

Polly x

Rayleigh

Last week my U3a bus pass group had a trip to Rayleigh, a nice market town and civil parish in Essex. The name Rayleigh is Old English in origin deriving from rǣge ('female roe-deer or she-goat') and lēah ('clearing'), meaning "wood or clearing of the wild she-goats or roe-deer". 

First stop was at a pretty little tea room which also sold lots of lovely clothes, jewellery and accessories. I nearly bought a scarf but then decided that I already had more than enough!

The small museum was excellent, documenting the town from Prehistoric and Roman times up to present times

in this little cinema area.

Children's dressing up area

After lunch we visited the church, unfortunately it was closed, we thought it would be open all day.

Then on to the windmill before strolling back to catch the bus home.

∼ Be safe and well∼ 

Polly x