We've been on our holibobs for a couple of weeks and boy, did we need it. Amanda was utterly exhausted and burnt out. Poor babe, she works so hard and we haven't had a holiday for three years, since Megan was born.

We rented a lovely little cottage near Nibthwaite village on the edge of Coniston Water and not far from Lake Windermere. It was very cosy, well furnished, had everything we needed and best of all, had a veeeerrrry nice hot tub which we made sure was well used throughout our stay <grin>. Hot tub: Bottle of wine in ice bucket: Two glasses. Bliss.

Meg didn't like the long drive north and got quite grumpy on the way up there but once we arrived she loved it. We went to the lakes, explored the countryside and the hills and had a few days out to various places. But mostly, we rested. Amanda needed that more than anything else.

Megan even had a little admirer in the village. When we went to the pub on the second night we sat outside in the evening cool, enjoying the sunset and a local couple were there too with their little boy. He rather took a shine to Megan and they played together very nicely. When we went into the village we saw him a couple of times and played together while Amanda and I did our bit of shopping or had a drink outside the pub. Our daughter's first holiday romance..!! Awwww.... bless.

We made a rule on day one: No internet. We didn't take the laptop but did have our mobile phones so we could pick up emails and texts but that was all we did. We deliberately switched off from the wider world for two weeks and ignored the EU referendum hysteria, England getting knocked out of the Euros by Iceland and all the other madness going on in the world. We did watch the TV sometimes, but only for movies and non-heavy stuff.

Babe is fully refreshed and restored now and ready to start all over again. We're back at home and Meg is happily playing with all the toys she wasn't able to take with her and she's missed.

Oh well, back to normal. Lots to do tomorrow. Life goes on. But it really was a lovely holiday.