A lovely day out with Mum

Yesterday started off a bit murky. I could hardly see the bottom of our road!...

It did eventually lift. Mum was getting a lift up to Exeter with my brother, who had meetings in his office here. First of all we nipped out to Cranbrook, so I could show her the house my daughter is buying. She was amazed at the size of the garden, which I have to say is quite large, especially for a new build!

We then went to one of my favourite coffee shops, which is also in Cranbrook. It's a lovely independent cafe with fab bacon rolls and wonderful cakes. Mum tucked into a bacon roll and I treated myself to a Malteser and Minstrel brownie. Very indulgent! We had a wander afterwards, so I could show Mum the shops etc. Cranbrook is one of these ‘new towns’ and is only 7 years old, so it is still growing with regards to amenities.

We then drove back into Exeter, to the city centre. I had a couple of boring things to do, bank etc. before we made our way to the Cathedral. There was a Winter craft fair being held there and I thought Mum would enjoy that. I made two purchases, a handmade tote bag in a dog printed pvc for my daughter for Christmas and these ceramic holly leaves....

They will be hung on my dining room wall during the festive season. I could have bought a lot more from that particular stall, but I reigned myself in! We also had a walk around the Cathedral as I’m not sure Mum had ever been there before. It’s was sad to see that so many people died in their 20s during the 1700s. We had a little time left on the car, so we popped into a few shops of Mum’s choosing. One of which was Lakeland, the kitchen/home shop. They don’t have one in Plymouth, so it’s nice for her to have a mooch around ours when she’s up.

Then it was time to drive back to the park and ride, where Mum caught the Falcon bus back to Plymouth. It was about 15 mins late, but we had a good natter while we were waiting for it and she eventually got on it at 4pm. I got a phone call from Mum at 7.15pm to say she had only just got home! The Falcon had taken a long time to get back to Plymouth due to the volume of traffic and then the normal bus she had to catch to get to her house had broken down! It had overheated. So a couple of passengers and the driver had to wait for it to be sorted. I think Mum got to know the driver quite well by the time they were on their way again! But by the time she got home, she was quite cold and hungry, bless her!

Today, I’ve been to Aqua Fit, done the shopping and taken two bags to the local charity shop. Amazingly, I left the charity shop without buying anything, that is unheard of! I still have to do some baking to take to the Blue Cross tomorrow (probably a vanilla sponge with chocolate or coffee icing), accompany my daughter at DFS when she puts a deposit on a corner sofa (she wants her dear old mum there!) and fit in some ironing somewhere. I’m hoping to just chill this evening and read a few of my magazines which have been piling up. Hubby isn’t home until quite late tonight, so I’ll have peace and quiet, haha.

Hope you all have a lovely evening, cheerio for now, Ann x