Our day out

We went out for the day yesterday.

Earlier last year, this would have been a perfectly normal thing for us to do – in fact, the most unusual thing about it would have been that we’d managed to snag a day off for my husband who, like most self-employed people, works far too hard!

Now, thanks to the fact that we’ve all been restricted in what we can do for the last year or so, it was with HUGE excitement that we loaded the four of us and the dog into the car and set off for a day out in Wales.

We certainly weren’t the only ones and did think for a while that our day out would extend to sitting on the M56 for the entire time, but soon we were able to lose the worst of the traffic and oh my life, it was so good to be going somewhere just for the fun of it!  Fun!  Ha – after my Monthly Musing last month, here we were on a day out Just for Fun – and it felt AmAzInG!

A view of fishing boats beached on the sand as the tide has gone out

This is where we ended up after what had become a bit of a road trip – just because we could! – to see some of the places we had missed.  This is Rhos-on-Sea and we like it here because the dog can go onto the beach and there’s a really good kiosk cafe on the prom 🙂

The tide was right out but it was after 4pm when we arrived so we knew that it would coming back in again soon enough.

A view across a sand and pebble beach to the sea. The tide has gone out.

A view across a sand and pebble beach to the shore. The tide has gone out.

I have never appreciated an ice cream by the sea quite so much!  These are the things we have missed, and I want to try hard to remember what it was like without them – not just ice cream with seagulls calling overhead, but being outside in different places, meeting friends, all those things that we couldn’t do but will fall back into being “normal” and taken for granted soon enough if we’re not careful.  That’s not to say that I want to keep thinking about Covid-restricted times, but I do want to try to make sure that I fully appreciate what we’ve got when we get it back.

A vanilla Cornetto ice cream with chocolate and nuts behind held up with the sea as the background

Oh, he was such a happy boy!  He danced in the waves, snorkelled in the water and shook himself all over us.  He dug holes in the sand and bounced like a puppy, and we were so glad we had been able to take him.

Two girls standing in the sea watching a black dog

I’d wanted to try out my new “find” as well – I’d been watching the TV programme “Dragon’s Den” where entrepreneurs take their businesses to try to win funding from business experts.  This stuff, Beach Powder (not an affiliate link), had been created by a Mum from the Isle of Man who had got fed up of trying to get the sand off her children at the end of the day at the beach – and I could immediately relate to that!  I really dislike putting shoes on sandy feet, feeling it stuck between my toes and rolling around in my shoes and apparently the Beach Powder could solve the problem.  In the time that it took for the Dragons to give the Beach Powder Mum a hard time and eventually make her a business offer, I had a carton of it in my shopping cart and was keen to try it out!

A blue tube of Beach Powder held close up to the camera, with a foot in the background

Well, what can I say, other than that it works?!  It says on the tube to towel dry then rub the powder onto your skin and it would take the sand off.  We didn’t have a towel with us, but we’d only been paddling so we just had sandy feet.  The powder – it’s not talc which has been linked with health issues – smells lovely, a bit like old-fashioned baby powder, and it just swept the sand away as you rubbed it into your feet.

If you’ve got little ones, or even if you’re like us and a bit older and don’t like sandy toes, I can highly recommend this stuff!  I don’t know how long a tube would last if you were on holiday with small children and on the beach every day, but for us visiting the seaside every now and again, it’s great.  It’s such a good idea, I hope it really works out for the Beach Powder Mum!

And that’s me for today.  I’ve just had my second Covid jab so I’ve decided not to rush around doing a hundred things today but instead, I’m going to sit in the sunshine (and the shade after about ten minutes when I get too hot) and read a book instead.  I’ve bought myself a copy of the The Thursday Murder Club to read after hearing good things about it during this year’s Winter Haven KAL, so that’s my afternoon sorted.

I hope you have a good one, whatever you’re doing! xx

You may also like...

30 Responses

  1. Hazel says:

    Thank you for this weeks news. You will love the book. It’s going to be made into a film.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Is it? That's usually a good sign – although I'm glad I'm reading it first as sometimes what the director sees in their head isn't the same as what I see in mine! 🙂 xx

  2. Kath says:

    My brother lives in Rhos-on-Sea, haven’t seen him for a while as hubby doesn’t drive much now. Lovely place

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Ah, that's a shame. Could you travel by train, perhaps, when it feels a bit safer to do so? It's a lovely journey along that coast! xx

  3. Julie Preddy says:

    I listened to the book on Audible. Loved it so much I listened to it again. Enjoy!

  4. Maggieann says:

    Hi Christine, sounds like you had a really good day out, like the sound of the ice cream on the beach, remeber those sandy feet glad your powder worked.
    Hope you enjoy Richard Osmans book 📕 I found it rather puzzling to read ???? Took me awhile to get into reading and understanding so I think I need to read again just was strange to me the angle it was written from.
    Be interested to hear what you think of it.
    MArgaret 😚

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I was very happy not to have sandy toes in my shoes! 🙂 Now that I've realised that the book is written from more than one point of view, it's easier to follow the story so perhaps if you read it again it will flow more easily xx

  5. Sandy Gilmore says:

    Love your blog! Thank you for sharing your life with us! And thank you for saying the book you plan to read! I went to Audible and bought it. Sounds very entertaining. I'll start it tomorrow, after I finish "W Is For Wasted" by Sue Grafton. I've been working my way through her "alphabet mysteries" since Covid isolation, in March 2020… savoring each book. I'd read one of her books, then read a couple of other authors, then read another one of her books. Anyway, thank you for your delightful bog posts!

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I don't know if I've ever read any Sue Grafton books, although the name rings a bell. I'm glad you're enjoying them! The Thursday Murder Club is quite a gentle story in comparison to what you're reading, I think! xx

  6. MaryAnn says:

    This reminds me of beaches in Maine. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing these great pictures. Now I want an ice cream cone! I am on the other side of this ocean but in southern New Jersey for the summer.

  7. Susan Rayner says:

    What a lovely outing!!
    We have just come back from a visit to my mother in Cornwall and it felt the same – ice cream by the sea and people and sand and dogs everywhere!! Bliss.
    I loved the Thursday Afternoon Murder Club – you can "hear" Richard Osman speaking the words!
    I hope you have enjoyed your day of being sensibly relaxed and that the second jab had no side effects!!
    Happy weekend!

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I am really enjoying the way the book has been written, it's very easy to picture the characters, isn't it? I'm glad you've been able to get to see your mother and I hope she's keeping well. So far so good with the 2nd jab …! xx

  8. happyneedles says:

    So happy for you and your family to enjoy such a wonderful day!!!

  9. Unknown says:

    My parents live in Llandudno and we always drive through Rhos on the way back. Glad you had a good afternoon x

  10. Betsy says:

    The beaches we go to when visiting family in the UK are pebbles with little sand (Brighton, Rottingdean) but I will see about getting some Beach Sand to bring back to Florida. Neither my husband nor I had a reaction to the 2nd Covid shot but we know several folks who did so glad you are taking care of yourself. Working on travels plans to the UK in November, hope hope hope!

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Ooh, definitely fingers crossed that you can get over to see your family, it must feel like such a long time since you've seen them! xx

  11. RhianPennant says:

    You were just down the road from me Christine. Glad you had a lovely day. Rhian

  12. Gillian says:

    Loved reading about your day out at the seaside. I love to see dogs playing on the beach, chasing the waves. Love to see a happy dog, full stop. Someone bought me The Thursday Murder Club. I've not read it yet as couldn't get into reading during lockdown. Just wanted to crochet, knit socks and cross stitch. Think the comments about it may have jolted me to read it. Keep safe and much love everyone x

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Dogs always have such a lovely time on the beach, don't they? Ours is a happy boy generally but he REALLY loves the sea! It's funny how lockdown affected people, I hope you can get back into reading now that the restrictions are lifting xx

  13. happy hooker says:

    It's been a long time since we went to Rhos. Put it this way, my son was a toddler then and he's now 38! Fond memories though. Isn't it wonderful to be doing "normal" again? I just hope it continues.🤞 Thanks for the recommendation of the beach powder. I saw it on Dragon's Den and wondered if it REALLY worked! We had no reaction to our 2nd jab, not even a sore arm. Hope you're as lucky. xx

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Oh that's a really long time! I wonder how much the place has changed since you last visited?! Ha ha, I know exactly what you mean about the beach powder, I was the same but I was convinced by the Mum on the TV! xx

  14. irune says:

    What a lovely day you had! I'm really looking forward to normal life.

    Hope you don't have any side effects after the jab. Tomorrow I'm getting my second one,too 🙂

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I felt a bit achy overnight but not too bad – certainly not as bad as I felt with the first jab so I hope you are OK too! xx

  15. crochetncross_stitch says:

    What a fabulous looking place! Glad you (and the dog) enjoyed your time there! An ice-cream on the beach in fantastic weather is one of life's highlights, I think! Have read The Thursday Murder Club and thoroughly enjoyed it. Apparently, Steven Speilberg has bought the film rights so when I finished the book, I laid in bed (where I do all my reading before nodding off) and tried to place actors in the roles – Maggie Smith for Elizabeth? Judi Dench or Zoe Wanamaker for Joyce? What do you think?

  16. jconnolly12345 says:

    What a lovely beach! I saw that lady on Dragon's Den too. We've been using talcum powder as beach powder for at least 20 years!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

error: Content is protected !!