Cheery's path to fulfilment - finishing the DIY, looking after myself, appreciating the garden 🌻

Cheery_Daff

I imagine it depends where you stay @Greying_Pilgrim - the place i was looking at was just multiplying them and not giving any discount for a longer stay. Other places were just listing a price for the fortnight (in which case it probably was cheaper for a longer stay). Either way, they're all very expensive! 

And yes, we struggle with the same issue with smaller places! 

Anyway, we are now investigating caravan holiday parks, much like both of us went on as children 😁 Some of those are pretty darn expensive too mind you, but it does seem to be possible to find something cheaper if you're prepared to go basic (which we would be if it was actually cheap).

But thoughts of holiday will have to wait - it's the end of the year and there are things to do first! The first one being to get outside in my dressing gown and take a picture of the glorious sunrise that seems to be streaming through the curtains 😁

Jellytotts

We do the holiday park 4 night stays out of season that are around £50/70 for the duration.  We can cope with that for a break away. The vans are normally spotlessly clean if a little tired but comfy beds and a clean kitchen is all I’m looking for, the rest of the time we are out exploring.

 As for Orkney, we’ve been costing it up as we have family there but my goodness the ferry is expensive as it is before you get into the accommodation side of things.   

Cheery_Daff

Out of season sounds like a good plan if possible! 

The last few times we went to Orkney we went on the catamaran - it's a shorter crossing, not quite so picturesque (and lands you in St Margaret's Hope rather than Stromness) but I remember it being cheaper than the ferry. Catamaran was £93 each way (for us 2 plus car) when I looked the other day, I didn't check ferry cost though.

themadvix

Another vote for off season caravan holidays being very cheap indeed. And we've been lucky to get a brand new caravan (going the first week they open in March - maybe not for Orkney - and effectively you're their guinea pigs!). Am desperate to get something in the diary, but with Mr MV starting a new job with more travel involved and we've got to finish the teardrop trailer, we're holding off for now.

Cheery_Daff

Sounds sensible to wait for now @themadvix

Happy New Year MSE chums! 🥳 I hope you all had a suitable evening yesterday, and a restful/energetic day today, as is your preference 😁

We had a relatively uneventful trip to Mr C Snr yesterday, then went to our friends' housewarming, which was very lovely indeed 😊 They're on a hill, in a city, so a lovely view of fireworks from the garden. I'd taken booze but ended up not drinking it - made it to bed about 1.45, considerably earlier than everyone else 😂 

Also got up before everyone else 😂 did my yoga in their living room 😊 and then had a cuppa and sat with my notebook til the others got up, and we had a long leisurely brunch and a nice chat. Mr C and I got in our first cafe trip of 2026 on the way home.

A pottering evening for me. Sorted out my seed box - all flower seeds are going to be mixed together and scattered around, out of date salads have been mixed together for microgreens, and everything else more than 3 months old [EDIT - more than 3 months OUT OF DATE] has gone in the compost. Feels like a waste, but it would be literally impossible to plant everything (i still have plenty!) and all the gardeners I know are in a similar predicament, and nobody needs unreliable out of date seeds, least of all me - the flakiest of gardeners at the best of times. So there we are. 

Made another batch of shortbread for my dad. Wrapped some presents, and found the missing three, which had fallen down the back of a drawer 🙄 need to wrap them now too! Decanted the final lot of damson gin - it's been infusing for over 2 years so is quite potent! 😱 One jar has gone down the sink - must have got air in as it's not the same colour as the rest and just smells off. The rest is a lovely burgundy though and has been bottled for gifts (and for me 🤭)

Heading towards bed now. I might have gone up earlier than everyone else, but they were singing vigorously until about 3am so I didn't get much sleep 😂 Off to do my second family visit tomorrow, weather permitting... 😬

Baileys_Babe

Happy New Year, I hope plans for 2026 come to fruition @Cheery_Daff

peb

We stayed Sunday to Saturday, but I suspect it worked out cheaper as we had several people in each apartment.  

We flew, one friend is a school teacher and we had no time to drive (I'm West Yorkshire).  

It wasn't a cheap holiday but we all really enjoyed it.

Cheery_Daff

Thanks @peb - yes more people would definitely make it cheaper.  Not for us in this occasion though.  Caravan it probably is,  and Orkney will have to remain a happy memory for now, and something to plan for in the future 😊

It occurred to me that actually we used to have a lot more disposable income back then,  so even though it was cheaper, it would have *felt* way cheaper too. We still lived in our old house, and the mortgage was paid off 😬 I think I was still working full time at that point. Yes my wages have gone up since then, but I now don't work full time so the difference isn't as dramatic, and of course the mortgage is now over £1k a month, as well as all the other increased expenses of living here, which is obviously going to make a considerable dent in the holiday budget! 

So I will stop complaining, as we could have had plenty of holidays if we'd just stayed in our old house 😬😂 But we made a choice to move! 

Anyway. A dusting of snow here. Doesn't look too bad out of the window, or on the local webcams, but it will affect the route we'll take to see my family later as we'll try to avoid the very high roads. Need to nip into town first though. And before that, candlelit yoga. I wonder at what point in the year it'll switch to outdoor yoga? (Although that would mean getting dressed first so maybe it won't!) 😂

joedenise

Happy New Year @Cheery_Daff and hope it brings everything I want.

themadvix

Cheery_Daff said:

And before that, candlelit yoga. I wonder at what point in the year it'll switch to outdoor yoga? (Although that would mean getting dressed first so maybe it won't!) 😂

Surely once it's warm enough to do in your PJs/underwear, it's fine to switch to outdoor yoga - can't imagine you're too overlooked (especially in your now private back garden)?!