A girls' weekend away-ish

Time for an interlude amongst my Amsterdam posts me thinks. A couple of weeks ago me and my friend D went to stay with our friend A at her house in Essex for the weekend. We (mostly) lucked out with the weather, and had such a great time. I reckon middle aged sleepovers should be more of a thing, haha! We arrived on Friday evening, and early on Saturday morning we went for breakfast at the local farm café, and got supplies (i.e. cakes and dinner ingredients) from the farm shop next door.

A then drove us to Leigh-on Sea, and pretty it was too.

We made our way down towards the beach, and as we were doing so, three ladies half our age decided to run down this stretch which made us feel old, as when you get to a certain age you worry about twisting your ankle, falling over and then having a painful limp for a good few months afterwards. When you’re in your 20’s you don’t have to worry about that sort of thing, because you tend to be able to run and stay upright.

Down by the beach the tide was completely out, but we could still smell the sea.

We walked eastwards towards Westcliff-on-Sea, and I realise now how different the walk would’ve been had the tide been in, but it was still enjoyable. To the left, behind the fence were railway tracks

and on the other side of those these houses caught my eye, and this spacey one the most.

The cute view from the bench we rested our middle aged legs on.

This view made me think of Leon Spilliaerts’ sea side paintings.

Lunch was a bag of chips, and A recommended that we put more salt on than we normally would, and make sure we got some on the bottom of the bag. D mentioned hers being too salty, and seeing how much she poured in, in this picture, I AM NOT SURPRISED.

After lunch we ducked into the Leigh Heritage Centre where we had a nosey in the replicated fisherman’s cottage from 1850. I wonder if people in the future will fawn over our household items like we did here, or will most of it have disintegrated as they’re mainly mass-produced crap made of plastic, with planned obsolescence?

Back on the street we heard these guys way before we saw them, wondering “Is that people singing or someone playing it really loud?”, before we saw where the singing came from. Turns out it was these guys, singing sea shanties, while swigging ale. How very very English.

Driving back to A’s I thoroughly enjoyed being the passenger.

Joey was waiting for us when we got back, A’s sweet old fella. As a gentleman aged 14 he’s not up for long walks or days out anymore. A said I wouldn’t manage to get a shot of him as he always turns his head just as your about to, but he’s obviously never met anyone with a trigger finger like mine.

Time for the cakes we bought in the morning. And yes, I will never become a food stylist, unless you find this look appetising and if so - I’m your gal.

At one point A got out this giant jar of matches that her parents had collected from their travels decades ago.

We decided that we would all pull a random box out, and that we would have to travel to those places one day. Mine came from a hotel in Bandung, Indonesia, D got one from Hawaii, and I think A’s was also from Indonesia. Does already having been to Bali count as having gone? I don’t know about you, but I feel funny about flying long haul in the future. I reckon I’ll only allow myself about two more in my life time. It just doesn’t feel right.

In the mean time I appreciated how much “my” box matched my and D’s jumpers.

Ever wondered what would a matchbox from a Playboy Club in the 70’s looks like?

Well, ahem, a bit like this.

D, crashing from the cakes and the day out. Time to watch some telly.

We started watching Couples Therapy, and binged through six episodes in one sitting. We kept cursing at Mau, the husband in this couple. The show films couples as they have therapy in real life, and why you would want to air your problems is beyond me, but of course it makes for compelling telly, just like Esther Perel’s podcast “Where should we begin?” has been a fascinating listen for the past few years.

Halfway through our marathon CT session A made some fresh pesto and bloody delicious it was too. It even qualified for a picture which, if you have been reading the blog for the past decade and a bit, realise is quite something. I can’t say that I still see people take pictures of their food with the same dedication as they did pre-Covid, but I did watch a girl posing for a selfie in her car for a few minutes outside my window yesterday, taking a pic, checking it, rearranging her hair/pout and re-taking the picture on a loop. I was hoping that we’d moved on from that, considering where we are in the world right now, but hey, if it makes you happy, keep doing it (but does it though, DOES IT?!!). I'm not judging (but I am, I AM).

Hey Joey! Caught you again - hehe. Sunday morning, and time for coffee

and breakfast. Mmmm, white toast. What a treat.

We had planned to go out for a walk before it was time for me and D to head back home, but the weather took a turn, so we played Sussed which I’d brought with me instead, which was, as always, really good fun. Have you ever played it? The premise is this; you read out a question with three possible answers, and the other players have to guess which one you’d answer. Like “Do I think strangers should chat more to each other on public transport? A. Yes, a lot more/ B. Yes, in some cases/ C. No, it should stay as it is now. As it happened we three knew each other really well, and scored accordingly, but the best thing about the game are the conversations you end up having. I’ve played it with kids who are usually quiet in adult company, and seen them actively take part in the conversation, and the arguing that can ensue when you disagree with what someone says about themselves is very entertaining. A nice way to round of a perfect weekend! If you haven’t done a grown up sleepover in a while and you can, put one in the diary sooner than soon (and kid-free is obviously better). We were all buzzing from having been able to spend so much unhurried time together, and it showed that you really don’t have to go somewhere far for some quality time with your best people, you just need longer than a brunch/lunch/dinner/day.