So while it would of course have been lovely if our anniversary had a) been celebrated at Macchu Picchu in Peru as planned, or b) have fallen on the right side of the 18th May 'you can stay in hotels and eat indoors now' line, we did manage to make the absolute most of it anyway!
Mr H planned a cracking 2 nights away in a treehouse at Chewton Glen in Dorset, as those count as self-contained accommodation so are 'allowed'. Started off with a v nice bunch of flowers for wifey before we packed up, with the dog, and headed down for a walk before our pub lunch on the first day. With the sun out, there was one very happy man sucking up a few rays with the sea in front of him..
And my – what a JOY to finally be somewhere very lovely, for a treaty couple of days. The treehouse was massive and came with a huge terrace, hot tub, vast amounts of freebie foods – smoked trout, charcuterie, a very stinky cheese, posh crisps, nuts, sliced fruit, dried fruit, waters, juices and a lovely looking plate of 3 mini cakes with 3 huge choc chip cookies – sadly entirely demolished (along with the glass dome they were underneath) by the bloody dog while we were in the spa.
And the spa – OMG, to finally be back in a swimming pool! And a jacuzzi, and the full hydrotherapy pool with jets and rollers and giant head massaging taps, and and and…. only 2-3 other couples, as with none of the hotel rooms being in use, it was dead quiet and all ours! I even had an hour's facial – which felt a little shorter as I managed to fall asleep half way through. That's be having the dog in our room at night – who therefore wakes up Mummy at 5.15am just because she can..
Nice little buggies to whisk us around the property and staff who were bracing themselves for the big reopening on Monday next week. And a very clever 'double delivery cupboard' in the room where they could slot in a huge hamper of breakfast goodies from outside the room and we could access it from inside…. smoked salmon, smashed avocado, pastries, fruit, 2 bread loaves, butters, jams, cheeses etc etc - plenty to take home for lunch on the second day!
And we managed a trip down to Lulworth Cove for a bit of wedding weekend remembering (and a swim for the Scrump dog – look behind my head!), as well of course as popping by Lulworth Castle again, the scene of it all becoming official ten whole years ago.
All in all, it genuinely felt SO good to be somewhere else. We got a bit of sunshine and then sat enjoying our room, looking back at some of our photo albums (very old school!) and the things that we've done.
Back to reality today with a trip to Parkside for a PET CT scan and cover test before my 6 monthly bone marrow biopsy on Monday, so it was really nice to get away from all that crud for a couple of precious days. Fab x