Saturday and a new month

 Good morning, one and all.  It's just starting to get light at six-twenty so I peeped outside and it is dry, the sky looks clear as far as one can tell and Beeb tells me that today is expected to be the nicest day in a while with temperatures up to 19C and wall-to-wall sunshine.  And while I am thinking of it - pinch and punch and no returns!!

Well, here I am, back home and enjoying home comforts again.  It took a while for the house to warm up after a week with no heating clicking on (no hot water either) but imagine the savings!!

Yesterday, we set off after loading the car and headed towards a surprisingly cheap petrol station to fill up before going to the Peak Shopping Village at Rowsley.  Suzanne got her trousers and I got my zip up cardigan (I intend to feel warm this winter!) in Cotton Traders.  Then we headed for what we called the smelly shop, really Wild Olive, where we bought bath bombs, melts, reed diffusers, soaps, shampoo bars, etc, etc, etc, some as gifts and some because we just wanted to.  A nice short term way to remember the holiday and definitely something(s) for my Twelve Days of Christmas collection!

Then off we set.
Now, we have been incredibly lucky with the weather all week.  There has been rain but almost always at night and the bit that fell in the day was when we were inside doing something or other.  We had a hard frost one morning but the sun was shining and it was just beautiful.  It was cold but we had layers and Suzanne, who feels the cold very much, had brought her gloves.  The weather didn't stop us doing anything we wanted to do.
Anyway, we set off and it was very cloudy and damp and soon we found ourselves in low cloud which made driving a bit tricky but by the time we had descended to Chesterfield, we were out of the clouds and all was clear.
And it stayed clear and it stayed dry.  There was a bit of a wind but no wet stuff.  We got home, unloaded, popped out to top up with petrol so we could work out how much I owed Suzanne for petrol and, I kid you not, the moment we got back in the house, the heavens opened, the wind blew a mini-gale and it was very unpleasant indeed for a while.

As for the journey itself - all your vibes, etc, must have been powerful because it was totally trouble free, no holdups whatsoever.  The M1 was very busy but no problems.  Phew and thank you.

We stopped off at a MacDonald's service station (I know!! - but it was there and Suzanne needed a break anyway) for lunch and noted that the petrol was a shocking 26p more per litre - TWENTY SIX PENCE - than the station we used on the Peaks.  I was concerned as to how much it would be down here but it was only 1p more.  Phew.  That's a dreadful mark up, isn't it?

I didn't take any photos yesterday but I'm going to put together a few summary posts or photos from last week.
I have had a splendid time.  I always enjoy my holidays and am fine about holidaying alone but it was so nice to have a friend along too.  Suzanne was very happy to drive and I was very happy to cook, meal prep, etc so it all worked out very easily.  Suzanne is setting off on the last part of her journey around the M25 after breakfast and I need to do a food shop before I have a couple of chilled days.

I have to apologise - I haven't been keeping up with many of your blogs this last week.  Once Suzanne has set off for her home, I will devote a few hours to catching up and commenting here and there.  I'll be back up to speed again soon, I am sure.

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my holiday entries.  The Peak District really is a very lovely place to visit and so varied with plenty to see and do.  If you're lucky enough to be able to go out of term time (smug smile!), it's not too crowded either, most of the time.
I am definitely going back again next year.  I just have to decide when and get myself a cottage.  I like catering for myself and there's the Chatsworth Farm Shop - lovely place - to treat myself to a few specials.

Have a good day, everyone.  Doing anything different or exciting on this first day of October?

And finally - can anyone tell me what a dongle is and how it works, please?  xx