Happy October, everyone! At least, I say happy October, but the weather’s taken quite the turn and it’s pretty miserable, isn’t it? It well and truly feels like we’re in autumn now, and I’m definitely not complaining too much. This is my favourite time of year, so I’m ready for cosy nights, blankets and alllll the cups of hot chocolate.
But before I get too ahead of myself with that, let’s look back at September, shall we? It was possibly my favourite month of the year so far for all kinds of reasons, so have a read about what I was grateful for.
Our Gran Canaria trip – as I mentioned in my August 2022 gratitude list, we booked our first hot holiday together. It was a bit of a last minute booking, so we managed to get a fab deal for 5 nights (which ended up turning into 6 nights due to a cancelled flight, but that’s a story for another day). We had the most amazing time soaking up some sun rays, swimming in the sea (Agaete Piscina Natural are a MUST if you want sea swimming without the waves), and exploring. It’s definitely given us an itch that we’re desperate to scratch though, and we already say “when are we booking the next one?” on the regular.
Glamping at Pasturewood Holidays – I booked for us to go to Pasturewood Holidays for Matthew’s birthday and we had the most lovely time. We had one of the pods in the Quiet Pasture, specifically one with a copper roll top bath and a hot tub, so we of course spent a lot of time in those. One of my favourite memories is sitting in the hot tub on a night and seeing the most stars I think I’ve ever seen in my life! We got really lucky with the weather and we had sun during the whole stay. It was a fantastic site and close enough to Carlisle that you don’t feel completely isolated. I can’t recommend it enough!
Sorting my dad’s pension – I very briefly mentioned in my February gratitude list that my dad passed away at the start of this year. And something that came along with that was me having to put on my big girl pants and sort out his estate and any other business. Most was done pretty quickly, but I’d been stuck in a back and forth about his pension for months. But finally, right at the end of September, I finally had the pension company’s decision and it was like a weight had been lifted. It was definitely a learning experience, but one that I’m grateful is done with.
Taking on fun freelance work – I don’t really do a lot of freelance bits because I don’t want to spread myself too thin with my actual job, all of this Northernist stuff (the blog is suffering a bit, I know. I’m trying to get myself back into it) and the videography we do. But towards the end of September, I had an email from the lovely lady behind Saltburn Farmers’ Market asking if I’d help with some Facebook content. It felt like a perfect fit and I was really excited by it! And thankfully, the content I’ve put out was really well received, so we’re going for round two at the end of this month too!
Winning tickets to the Olga Prinku workshop – I really wanted to go to the Olga Prinku workshop at Make & Mend 2022, but unfortunately, it was postponed and rescheduled to be held at Strickie’s Creative Hub in September, so I had a chance to attend! And what’s even better is that a giveaway was held to win one of three pairs of tickets, and little old me won. So I took my mum along and we had the best time. I love to dabble in different crafts and dried flower embroidery was something neither of us had tried, so it was a good day of learning. I’m chuffed with what I made and can’t wait to get it framed!
And there’s just a little snapshot of my September! I hope yours was equally as lovely and that you’ve been enjoying October so far. Let me know what you were grateful for.
