We normally have a few days away at Pine Lake at this time of year, which my sister usually books. This year she was struggling to get anyone to go as the usual attendees, including me, did not have any annual leave from work left to go. She ended up cancelling the break as only her and my David could go. David and I missed the idea of our break so decided to go for the day as we love the tired and faded holiday resort of Morecambe which is a few miles away from where we stay.
It only takes an hour to get there but because of the continuous ongoing work on the M60 motorway (when will it ever end?!!) the speed limit has been reduced so it took us a little longer to get to Lancaster. What then sped up our journey is a new by pass road which misses the slow crawl through the centre of Lancaster. It came out just next to Lancaster college and we noticed they had an indoor table top sale there. We popped in and I bought a great Bodyshop gift set containing a number of Shea butter items for just £2. This item is selling now at £20 on the on-line body shop My sister loves Shea butter and as it is her birthday in April I will give her this as part of her birthday gift.
We were only in there for a few minutes or so as it was slim pickings so drove on to Morecambe and parked on the front promenade road just outside the Midland Hotel. It is such a beautiful Art Deco style hotel and I love the circular sweeping staircase right at the entrance. We have eaten in the restaurant before now but chose not to this time.
We had a look around the outdoor market and serendipity is such a wonderful thing. We had been planning to go to Colwyn Bay to visit a fire shop to buy a gas fire for a few weeks now. We wanted a living flame fire for our dining room and these style of fires are no longer fashionable so it was going to have to be an hour or so journey to buy one. David had been in contact with the shop and it was £175. We kept putting off going and buying it for some reason. The market has some carboot stalls and there is the fire we want complete with fitting instructions etc and all boxed up for £5. David is looking at it now as I type and will arrange for someone to fit it for us. Now that was a saving in both money and time.
I called into the indoor market to visit the food stall which seems to be expanding over more and more stalls. I bought lots of junk food from them for £8.20. All rubbishy naughty treats which I should not have bought but I could not resist the cheap prices. Who could resist three multi-packs of 6 bags of crisps for £1; two boxes of Cadbury's chocolate biscuits for £1.20; two packs of McVities digestive bites for £1 and 6 bars of Cadbury's Oreo chocolate bars for £1.50
There was also 5 packs of single portion bolognese sauce for £1. Great with some cooked pasta for an office lunch and each lunch will have cost about 25p including the pasta.
There were a lot of American sweets so I bought all the below for £2.50. The strawberry twizzlers are not too naughty but it's still not a piece of fruit.
I had a real trip down my school girl memory lane when I found these original curry flavour pot noodles at a cheap 50p price. I used to love these when I was about 14 or 15 years old. No doubt full of chemicals but I could not resist. Another lunch for a couple of days. I hope they still have those little packets of mango chutney inside them.
We then drove on to Milnthorpe which is lovely village not far from Arnside. We called into the Age Concern charity shop which is always open on a Sunday. David found a new shirt for £5 and I bought some brand new Hotter boots for £10. Prices are not as cheap as they used to be in charity shops thanks to Mary Portas but as these were new and the money does go to charity we paid with a smile on our faces. I also indulged my teenager side for gory films and bought series 3 of the vampire diaries for £2 and the boxed set of the Alien films for £5. For a 52 year old woman I have such a varying taste in films and love some of these teenage type films. I'll watch just about anything apart from Westerns starring John Wayne - they bore me to death.
I also bought a biography about the wonderful John Betjeman for just £1. What a wonderful Poet Laureate he was and I am really looking forward to reading this. It doesn't look like it has been read to be honest.
We called into Booths in Carnforth on the way home and I spent the grand total of just £10.88 saving £13.37 on reduced food. I bought fresh melon, fresh berries, seasonal vegetables, bread, chocolate pots and ready made pancakes. We both got a free latte each and that was after we had grazed our way past the deli counters. Their cheeses are always divine.
Back in time for me to cook a roast Sunday Dinner with the reduced vegetables and a turkey joint and stuffing from my Operation Empty the Freezers. There was no wine left in the house to go with the meal but I found a chilled bottle of champagne in the spare fridge/freezer in the garage. We decided "what the hell" and opened it. Great end to a great day.
It only takes an hour to get there but because of the continuous ongoing work on the M60 motorway (when will it ever end?!!) the speed limit has been reduced so it took us a little longer to get to Lancaster. What then sped up our journey is a new by pass road which misses the slow crawl through the centre of Lancaster. It came out just next to Lancaster college and we noticed they had an indoor table top sale there. We popped in and I bought a great Bodyshop gift set containing a number of Shea butter items for just £2. This item is selling now at £20 on the on-line body shop My sister loves Shea butter and as it is her birthday in April I will give her this as part of her birthday gift.
We were only in there for a few minutes or so as it was slim pickings so drove on to Morecambe and parked on the front promenade road just outside the Midland Hotel. It is such a beautiful Art Deco style hotel and I love the circular sweeping staircase right at the entrance. We have eaten in the restaurant before now but chose not to this time.
We had a look around the outdoor market and serendipity is such a wonderful thing. We had been planning to go to Colwyn Bay to visit a fire shop to buy a gas fire for a few weeks now. We wanted a living flame fire for our dining room and these style of fires are no longer fashionable so it was going to have to be an hour or so journey to buy one. David had been in contact with the shop and it was £175. We kept putting off going and buying it for some reason. The market has some carboot stalls and there is the fire we want complete with fitting instructions etc and all boxed up for £5. David is looking at it now as I type and will arrange for someone to fit it for us. Now that was a saving in both money and time.
I called into the indoor market to visit the food stall which seems to be expanding over more and more stalls. I bought lots of junk food from them for £8.20. All rubbishy naughty treats which I should not have bought but I could not resist the cheap prices. Who could resist three multi-packs of 6 bags of crisps for £1; two boxes of Cadbury's chocolate biscuits for £1.20; two packs of McVities digestive bites for £1 and 6 bars of Cadbury's Oreo chocolate bars for £1.50
There was also 5 packs of single portion bolognese sauce for £1. Great with some cooked pasta for an office lunch and each lunch will have cost about 25p including the pasta.
There were a lot of American sweets so I bought all the below for £2.50. The strawberry twizzlers are not too naughty but it's still not a piece of fruit.
I had a real trip down my school girl memory lane when I found these original curry flavour pot noodles at a cheap 50p price. I used to love these when I was about 14 or 15 years old. No doubt full of chemicals but I could not resist. Another lunch for a couple of days. I hope they still have those little packets of mango chutney inside them.
We then drove on to Milnthorpe which is lovely village not far from Arnside. We called into the Age Concern charity shop which is always open on a Sunday. David found a new shirt for £5 and I bought some brand new Hotter boots for £10. Prices are not as cheap as they used to be in charity shops thanks to Mary Portas but as these were new and the money does go to charity we paid with a smile on our faces. I also indulged my teenager side for gory films and bought series 3 of the vampire diaries for £2 and the boxed set of the Alien films for £5. For a 52 year old woman I have such a varying taste in films and love some of these teenage type films. I'll watch just about anything apart from Westerns starring John Wayne - they bore me to death.
I also bought a biography about the wonderful John Betjeman for just £1. What a wonderful Poet Laureate he was and I am really looking forward to reading this. It doesn't look like it has been read to be honest.
We called into Booths in Carnforth on the way home and I spent the grand total of just £10.88 saving £13.37 on reduced food. I bought fresh melon, fresh berries, seasonal vegetables, bread, chocolate pots and ready made pancakes. We both got a free latte each and that was after we had grazed our way past the deli counters. Their cheeses are always divine.
Back in time for me to cook a roast Sunday Dinner with the reduced vegetables and a turkey joint and stuffing from my Operation Empty the Freezers. There was no wine left in the house to go with the meal but I found a chilled bottle of champagne in the spare fridge/freezer in the garage. We decided "what the hell" and opened it. Great end to a great day.
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