Friends and an escaped horse! What has made me happy.

We had a weekend away with friends which was absolutely blissful! We stay in an AirBnB near York called Tadpole Cottage. This was our third stay in the bungalow and it was by far the best. I couldn't even put my finger on what it was that made the weekend so good, but it was such a relaxing break. Our children are all the same ages, which usually ends up with some tussles, but they all got on brilliantly. It was just such a wonderful time.

running through the woods

On Saturday as we went for a walk in the woods we met a man on a horse going for a ride through the woods. Literally ten minutes later, we saw his horse galloping through the woods without him. We spent the next ten minutes trying to find him, hoping that he was ok. Thankfully he was fine, and his horse was most likely on his way back home after having been spooked. I was so happy they were both ok as it could have been a totally different story.

skelf island castle howard

On Sunday, we'd planned to go into York for a mooch about, but ended up at Castle Howard, which was a far better way for the children to get rid of some energy. We enjoyed being outside in the glorious weather and the children all thought Skelf Island, the adventure playground was amazing. Whilst we sat outside eating our picnic, we chatted about what a lovely break we'd all had and how it was definitely what we needed!

Jojo Moyes Giver of Stars

I also had a lot of time to read at the weekend and managed to finish my book, The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. It is the 4th book I have read so far this year and I have really enjoyed reading it. It's set in Depression-era America in Kentucky and is the story of five strong women and their remarkable journey through the mountains. The characters are likeable and I found there was just the right level of drama in the book. I also really enjoyed that it was very different to previous Jojo Moyes books I have read. This historical fiction was a win for me!

So this is what has made me happy this week, ooh along with some funny videos I found on TikTok!