Birthday week

Took a few days off for my birthday back in August. For the day itself (a Wednesday), booked myself in for a Spa Day at Aqua Sana Woburn Forest, Center Parcs' newest 'village', opened in 2014. Had been quite impressed by my visit to the spa at Longleat Forest back in 2009; also had heard a number of glowing reviews of the Woburn Forest spa from people at the OU, especially my colleague Jill, who actually spent Christmas at Center Parcs a couple of years ago and recently spent a Luxury Spa Break there with her husband to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. The LSBs are rather expensive but I've tried hinting to Ruth that one might be nice for some special occasion, but have so far got rather a lukewarm reaction.

Have set up an Aqua Sana account, just in case I may want to go again. According to the copy of Spa Escape I picked up, the revamped AS website offers 'a fast track to spa bliss'.

Spa Escape also noted that, although spas are attracting more men than they used to, the UK still lags far behind the rest of Europe when it comes to spa-going. I saw a few men there, most with their wives or girlfriends though I did see a group of three chaps together making their way to the restaurant. My boss Judith recently told me a story of a work trip to Germany she once went on, where it was quite the done thing for work colleagues to go to the spa together after work, presumably in much the same way as Brits might go to the pub. Clothes were apparently not worn. Both our minds boggled somewhat at the thought of sitting around naked with your workmates/superiors, but I suppose it’s normal in context … Tricky to give someone a stern talking-to about their work progress the following day though if you’ve been nude in front of them the evening before??

Found my way to the Center Parcs site relatively easily but managed to become confused once inside and drove several times around a massive featureless car park, before retracing my steps to the entrance lodge in hangdog fashion, to be given directions by the friendly girl on duty. On arrival, discovered I was entitled to a complimentary coffee and pastry, which I didn't need to eat having in fact had coffee and pastries before leaving the flat, but did anyway. Changed and spent a pleasant few hours mooching about the various different areas within the spa, including a brief swim in the little pool. I had booked an Elemis Intensely Cleansing Salt Scrub (frangipani-fragranced), which was pleasant though more modest than the two previous all-over body scrubs I've had at spas, in that the therapist kept you partially covered by a towel the whole time (despite the paper pants) and confined the scrub to legs and the upper part of the back, leaving me - as I am, to Ruth's surprise, relatively unself-conscious in a spa environment - with a vague feeling that I hadn't quite got my money's worth. The spa itself is very nice with an impressive number of different rooms.

My first visit to Center Parcs was with a group of other young(ish) people in 1991. Can't seem to find a photo of myself, but here's a photo of two of the other women in the group, neither of whom I am still in touch with. The chalets have been poshed up a good bit since this. That visit was to Elveden Forest in Suffolk, at the time one of only two CP sites in the country, the other being CP's first village at Sherwood Forest in Notts. Sherwood's spa has evidently recently had a refurb and looks jolly nice. Already pondering how I might justify a visit.

On the Thursday, did some domestic stuff including arranging things in my lovely new Joseph cutlery organiser. Pic nicked from John Lewis, but I'm sure they won't mind as I've spent plenty of money there over the years. Drawer was certainly in need of a clean out.

Then went for a 7-mile walk via the new housing development at Oakridge Park, via Great Linford, where I stopped for a cup of tea at the Costa at the little shopping centre, and then into Central MK.

Grand Union Canal near Oakridge Park

Went down to Abergavenny for the weekend and baked myself some birthday fairy cakes to accompany a tub of gin and tonic-flavour icing I'd bought from Lakeland. Also baked a batch of regular fairy cakes, which Nia and Alys helped to ice and decorate - I'd purchase the tub of jelly diamonds imagining one per cake, but after Nia had arranged about eight on her first cake I abandoned the idea of there being any left over.

On the Saturday Mum, Ruth and I walked over to Abergavenny Castle to see a quite interesting exhibition in the museum on significant local women.

Castle grounds with Blorenge behind

Goon Squad; spa; marmalade

Met at Helen’s house on Thursday to discuss Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Helen and I had liked it; the two Claires didn’t seem to have managed to read it; Alison, Sarah and Lesley seemed to have found it altogether too confusing, although Lesley had heroically finished it nonetheless. The Wikipedia entry reckons it’s being adapted into a television series, which sounds a bit puzzling. Helen had cooked a chicken curry, which we followed up with the usual array of cakes.

Horsey in situ

Had a day at Nirvana Spa on Friday to finally make use of the generous voucher Ruth had bought me for last year’s birthday present. My Day Spa Experience package was supposed to include an hour’s Floatation treatment in the Dead Sea Celestial Pool, but I scored ‘nul points’ on that as I couldn’t get the hang of the sensation. Should have known better really as I’ve never particularly enjoyed floating on the back – swimming, yes, but one is in control then … Did what anyone would do and went for an early lunch instead, followed by an hour or so’s reclining on the heated ceramic loungers, before having a shoulder and back massage from an earnest young man who rather overdid the crunching my shoulders, before having the cheek to tell me at the end that I was tense in that area and trying to sell me an expensive soothing gel.

Art wall

Marmalade

A quiet weekend but we re-installed Ruth's horse picture on the newly-plastered and painted chimney breast in bedroom 1, and I made a start on my planned wall of artwork in the attic by installing a small canvas I painted a year or so ago, henceforth 'A Study in Yellow'. What with all these magazines reckoning you can paint your own canvases, I thought I'd have a go. Ruth, surprisingly, decided to finally use the can of Ma Made that's been lurking in the understairs cupboard for a year or so and produced half a dozen or so jars of marmalade, one of which I bore proudly back to MK on Monday. Verdict: nice, though could probably get by with less sugar. I think she is undecided whether to go the whole hog and try making it with actual oranges, muslin etc.