A Little Catch Up On Life Lately | May 2020

 

Another month in lockdown.......

Here are some thoughts and ramblings from the month gone by. I cannot believe it is June tomorrow! 

Queen Elizabeth II Country Park Walk

An easy pushchair and dog-friendly circular walk in Northumberland. 

The Queen Elizabeth II Country Park is located next to Woodhorn Museum  just off the A189 between Blyth and Ashington. There is ample free parking (use postcode NE63 9AT) and the area is a lovely spot for a family walk. 

Finding Joy in your Local Area & Community

As I type this, the UK has been in some kind of lockdown for around 10 weeks. We have not experienced full lockdown like some countries and being able to explore our local area has been an option for those who are not self-isolating/shielding throughout the entire time. 

As somebody who is always out and about, I thought I may struggle with just staying local but actually, the opposite has been true. Lockdown has definitely provided me with a new appreciation of our immediate local area and now that I could go a little further, I am a little hesitant to at the moment and exploring places that are just a short drive/walk for us at quieter times is something we will be taking advantage of for a while yet. 

East Cramlington Nature Reserve Trail

We decided to explore somewhere on our doorstep this week - East Cramlington Nature Reserve. We have visited a few times in the past when the kids were teeny and I used to sometimes visit with my friend when I was younger but it has been a good few years since our last visit. 

There is a small free car park at the entrance along the B1326 from Cramlington to Seaton Delaval. If you are travelling from Cramlington hospital towards Seaton Delaval it is just before you get to the bend in the road. Use postcode NE23 6XF and continue driving along the road past Astor Court Care Home - the car park is on the left just before the bend. 

9 Places You Can Visit Where Public Toilets Are Open

It is a personal choice whether you feel it is appropriate to use a public loo at this time. As always, I advise researching and reading scientific advice rather than what random strangers are saying on social media and making your own properly informed decisions.

It is worth noting that because there are so few places available with open toilets, you may find these areas busier than normal and some places may have to close early when they are at capacity (check their social media for updates).

Our May Half Term Plans (2020)

School is out for the week for us today and with the likelihood that Heidi is returning back to school on a reduced timetable soon, we want to make the most of it.

We usually go away for May Half Term and were due to spend the week at Center Parcs in the Netherlands this year. I am sure that trip will still happen at a later date. Steve still has the week off work so it is nice that we are all going to be together.

Can we stop with the lockdown food shaming?

The UK Government recently eased lockdown restrictions. We can now go outside for unlimited exercise and leisure provided we stick with social distancing rules.

As set out by Government plans, many hospitality businesses may be looking to re-open in July. Some businesses like McDonald's could have made a couple of changes and stayed open this whole time if they had wanted to.