It was a glorious day in Saturday.  It truly felt like Summer had finally arrived in our neck of the woods and everyone who wasn’t at the Newcastle United football ground was on the roads, in queues of traffic, trying to escape the towns and cities.  Trying to get out of the noise and the bustle and soak up the rays whilst they were still there.

I went out to Corbridge in the morning, capturing a couple of photos of the rushing, peaty-brown Tyne river and the surrounding countryside.  The day was certainly the brightest and warmest of the year and it was a pleasure to have a day to myself to meander through the Northumbrian countryside.  In Corbridge my first top is always to the cookshop, which houses hugely useful and much-hunted kitchen and household items and is a pleasure to visit just for visiting’s sake.  Once I’ve been there I walk along the main street and, if I haven’t stopped at Truffles tearooms with Mr. VP or Mum, I head on to the church.

The church at Corbridge is a lovely, old church and is very similar to the one I grew up with in Wales.  On a notice by the door it states that (I paraphrase), “whatever your religion or none, you are welcome and will be welcomed here”, a sentiment that I really love.  I love churches and whilst I don’t follow their ideas, I do find them places of calm and tranquility – a rareity nowadays.  Inside the church I was completely alone, with sun beaming through stained-glass windows I lit a candle (an act I observe in every church I come across) and had a good think, enjoying the smell of the wooden pews and cool stone.

I pottered around Corbridge, bought a haggis (oh I do crave those sometimes) from the Corbridge Larder (beloved of everyone within a 30-mile radius and beyond) and then idled around the lovely RE, I set off to find (with no Sat-nav, this was a real adventure!) the new shop of a much-beloved blogger-friend of mine.

Katie and I had not met before, and so when I sauntered into her shop I could’ve been anyone – but I got up the nerve to introduce myself and it was such a joy to talk to the lady behind the blog and peruse her lovely wares.  In truth I could’ve spent the day at this lovely spot, but knowing I had a pile of un-ironed laundry and housework that needed attention, I had to eventually leave.  It was however, the loveliest visit into the depths of Northumberland and one I will be certain to make again before I leave Northumberland.  And should you be anywhere near Allendale, I really do suggest a visit.  You can get some hearty grub from the bakery next door and then peruse Katie’s lovely shop.

Today I went into Newcastle with a mission: a dress for either a) The Big Leaving Party this Friday or b) a dress for our impending holiday a mere 2 weeks away.  I came away with the latter and am still working on the former.  I bought myself a copy of Wuthering Heights (it has been on the Books To Read Before You Die list for a long time, I finally found the impetus to buy it today as I have finished the amazing Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins) and also Stephenie Meyer’s The Host.  I took my books and started reading Wuthering Heights by the side of the lake in Leazes Park.  I really could have been anywhere else, as distant as I was from the hustle and bustle.

The weeks are zooming by.  I can’t believe in such little time I will be leaving work, becoming among the ranks of “the great unwashed unemployed” and leaving it all behind.  Things still aren’t progressing here, I find I can’t bring myself to pack things yet – because it feels too soon and we’re told to leave some things in the house to make it feel occupied – but at the same time I feel like we’re in hiatus and that we should be packing.  Or rather I should be packing as Mr. VP isn’t around to help.  Nothing yet, but fingers crossed we find a buyer soon.

In other (good) news, I am still plodding on with the writing.  It has often been a salve to the soul to blog, and what I lack in confidence I hope to make up for with perseverence.