When Life Gives You Rain…

There are staycations and there are staycations.

Struggling to think of a decent Christmas present for my difficult-to-buy-for husband, I hit on the brilliant idea of a three-day walking holiday in the Lake District and we could take the dog too. My brother’s rental holiday home was available the first weekend of Spring half term so I booked it.

Then Storm Eunice hit. Before we’d even set off! The met office was telling everyone not to travel unnecessarily, the road we were due to take, over the top of the Pennines, was the same road in which I’d once been stuck in a snowdrift overnight many years earlier and is notorious for blizzards and drifts. The stupidity of planning a hill-walking holiday in the north of England for February struck me forcefully in the face!!!

So we stayed at home for a day. I sulked and my husband listened to music.

The next day we had to decide whether we were going to make the 80 mile journey west, to The Lakes for the remaining two days, or stay home. The area of England we live in appeared to be the only place in the whole British Isles that wasn’t being battered by Eunice. The weather forecast for The Lakes was 100% rain. Nothing against my husband, but if I’m going to be trapped indoors, there’s only so much TV, book reading and chatting I can do. I’d rather be stuck in my own house with all my belongings where everything I want is to hand.

Now I had to make a head decision: I couldn’t spend another two days sulking. We decided, although we were home, we were still going to treat the last two days as a holiday. The location of the holiday just happened to be our home town that’s all.

What a different view you get of your home town when you treat it as a holiday destination – I thoroughly recommend everyone to try it. We started with a relaxed, pre-breakfast walk into the High Street with our dog and stopped off to have coffee and a slice of something nice at a newly opened coffee shop, sitting outside continental-style.

Next we had a walk around the river admiring the stunning view and the ducks, swans (and seagulls).

Once home, we enjoyed a lovely lunch cooked by my talented husband then I chilled out reading a book and he listened to some music.

In the evening we went to the newest micropub in town, which I’d never been in, followed by The ELO Tribute Band at the local (and very posh) theatre.

Sunday was the last day of our staycation. It was finally raining (pouring) here, so in the morning, instead of being trapped in a holiday home, I was able to turn to my writing and editing and hubby was able to grab his guitar to practice some songs for an up-coming gig.

We treated ourselves to another fabulous lunch (very cost effective as we’re strides from Aldi), then in the afternoon we travelled our longest journey (10 miles) through the torrential rain to watch “Dog” at the pictures. (Brilliant by the way.) Then for tea, we pushed the boat out and devoured an Indian takeaway.

A student at school frequently asks me “how can you be so happy all the time?” The answer, to quote Oscar Wilde, is “When it rains, look for rainbows.”

I truly believe connecting with nature helps you feel grounded and is good for mental health. All the children’s books I write help children to connect with nature. You can buy my books here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rachel-Coverdale/e/B074K5R3XJ