“But when fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed.”
Stephen King
Once again old friends, I am going to have to apologise for being MIA from June. All the best intentions I had to post throughout summer disappeared due to illness. I won’t go into all the gory details but while on holiday in Portugal I caught some sort of gastrointestinal virus which prevented me flying back to the UK. I managed to get a flight the next day, so all was well. Anyway, since then I have had one or two days a week where I would be vomiting in the early hours of the morning, feeling nauseous most of the time and really, really exhausted. Me being me, tried to shake it off, ignore it and carry on as normal. In August, my body decided enough was enough and I ended up in A&E. Thankfully, I was not kept in but now we need to investigate what the issue is. I am taking things as easy as I can. Sadly I was ill the weekend I was supposed to go to Liverpool, so that was cancelled which was disappointing.
Despite being ill however, I did do some pretty great things between June and August.
I went to London with my daughter for the weekend. We saw two musicals, Hercules and Wicked. Both of which I recommend, Hercules was amazing. The Muses and Hades stole the show. It is not exactly like the Disney Classic, it is different, as it has to work on the stage. Despite the changes it was still excellent. Wicked was just as amazing. I am so glad I have had the opportunity to see the whole musical on stage before the second part of the movie is released.
London is always amazing to visit. I love it, and we had amazing weather. On Sunday we did a Thames River Cruise and had fun with the hop on and off bus. We also did some shopping, of course we visited the Disney Store and yes, I did buy a lot of stuff. We also went in Hamleys, which was very overwhelming but what a store. We had a meal in The Hard Rock Café, which was delicious but as I was not 100% I could not eat a lot. I had the fajitas. Delicious.
In July, we also had my parents anniversary. We had a meal out at The Quicken Tree. I had a Chicken Caesar salad which was amazing. We also had our meal in a Perspex Dome, as a private dinning experience. The service was very good and we had the unexpected pleasure of a little train which my nephews loved. I did not go on the train but everyone else in our party did. I love the theming of The Quicken Tree and the food is also really good.
In August, I attended a book signing at Waterstones, Birmingham. The author was none other than the incredibly talented Steve Cavanagh. Steve Cavanagh did a Q&A with another author, Mark Edwards. Honestly, had never heard of Mark Edwards before that event, however both authors were very interesting and I could have spent all night listening to them. I now have a signed copy of Steve Cavanagh’s latest book, Two Kinds of Stranger. I have read it and it is one of the best books I have read this year. I have also read Mark Edwards new book too, The Wasp Trap which I really enjoyed. It took me a little longer to read it than I expected, due to being very, very ill but I’m so glad I read it. I will be completing Book Reviews for both of them, at some point this month.
As I was feeling better, I took my daughter to Alton Towers. It had been booked for a couple of months, so at least I got to complete one of my August trips. We stayed at the Alton Towers Hotel for two nights in a Moon Voyage room which was fun. The staff were lovely, really friendly and helpful, especially Mick. We had a meal in The Secret Garden restaurant, and despite the number of bad reviews I had read on Trip Advisor it was a really lovely experience and the food was also very tasty. Due to me not being a 100%, we did not do any of the big rides in the park but we went on some of the gentler ones, and the rapids which was fun.
ON Thursday 28 August 2025 I fulfilled a dream, I saw Bryan Adams perform live at Warwick Castle. I have always wanted to see Bryan Adams live, I have been a fan for many, many years and I was so worried I was going to be too ill to go. Anyway, he sang all my favourites which was great including 18 till I Die, Everything I do (I do it for you), All for Love & Summer of 69, to name a few. What made it even more special was that Mel C (Sporty Spice) was supporting him, and she came back on stage to sing, When You’re Gone. They also sang a Spice Girl song together, Say You’ll Be There. Honestly, it was one of the best nights.
September plans
WOW… I cannot believe September is here already. Time is moving at a pace. I have many, many plans.
As you may or may not be aware, I love a list. I still have a 101 Things in 1001 Days in progress. I am aiming to complete 50 of the 101 Things. I will post an update on this soon. I also have a 50 Before 50 List which I have mostly forgotten about and need to revisit with an update soon. Anyway I realised I had not put on a new item for 2025, I should have done this in December 2024… oops. Anyway, starting September 2025, I’m going to get a Lego Passport and see how many stamps I can get on it in 12 months. If you are not aware, of Lego Passports. You can ask a member of staff in a Lego store for one and then every Lego Store you visit they will stamp it for you. There will soon be 24 Lego Stores & Discovery Centres in the UK and there are also quite a few worldwide. Who knows where I will end up getting it stamped.
TIKTOK… I have set up a TikTok account specifically for LuluByPlace called lulubyplace (imaginative… I know) so if you want to follow me on there that would be great. I am trying to take videos of places I have been and post them on there. I have another account for LuC4crafts and I am planning to do so more creative video’s on there starting in September. Your support on either or both of those accounts would be appreciated.
At the moment as far as travels and day trips for September are concerned, there are no fixed plans as yet, apart from Miniatura. Miniatura is a Dollshouse and Miniatures show held in Stoneleigh at the NAC. I love it, the show is held twice a year and it is always different.
So, watch this space, and hopefully it will be filled with blog posts. I hope you have all had a good summer, and an even better September.
Toodles x
Lulu-By Place 
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