Who knew I’d be celebrating my birthday in lockdown? Yep, we are still currently stuck in this pandemic (after 5 months!) though lockdown restrictions have eased and people are slowly returning to work and shops/restaurants are opening again. I was really looking forward to going out somewhere nice after being cooped up inside for so long! So here’s how I celebrated my birthday in lockdown.
Day One!
A Wander Amongst the Flowers – Spetchley Park Gardens
My husband planned the whole day for me – aren’t I lucky! – so I had no idea where we were going until we arrived. I knew I would like it as soon as we rolled into the car park and I saw the sign to “Spetchley Park Gardens”. What can I say? I love flowers! Not 5 minutes after we stepped out of the car it started to pour it down with rain so we hurried into the gardens to seek shelter under the trees. 5 minutes after the downpour, it was sunny again!
Spetchley Park Gardens was, for lack of better word, beautiful. Imagine a country mansion surrounded by acres of gardens and fields… And even though we weren’t able to go into the mansion itself, I was happy to wander through the flower maze. There were all kinds of flowers, most of which I didn’t know of (not that I pretended to know what they were in any case). It was so tranquil and there was hardly any one in sight.
After an hour or so of walking around it slowly started getting unbearably hot. Luckily we brought a blanket with us, so we sought shelter under the trees by the Gardens Tea Room where we ate delicious homemade sausage rolls. After that we had another little wander around the gardens before heading over to the next surprise…
Spetchley Park Details
Website: https://www.spetchleygardens.co.uk/index.php
Admission Costs: Adult – £8; Children 3-16 yrs – £3.50; Under 3s – Free
Lockdown opening times: Wednesday to Sunday – 10:30am – 5pm
Afternoon Tea at Mallory Court Hotel
It took us a while to get there but soon we arrived at Mallory Court Hotel and oh my gosh the place was beautiful! There were lots of flashy cars outside so I was a bit worried that my dress wasn’t fancy enough, but when we went in (after having our temperatures checked) there was hardly anyone there… In fact, we had the whole room to ourselves! We opted to stay indoors because my hubby wasn’t really coping well in the heat.
There were a selection of sandwiches and cakes including, of course, homemade scones (which were sooooo good!). Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of what was included but luckily I had this portrait shot. One of my favourites was the mini raspberry cake that I ate in one mouthful. Overall, it was a really sweet afternoon tea, and I was so full I wasn’t able to finish it all! I wish I took more photos of this place as it was really beautiful… Well, I guess I’ll have to come back next time!
Mallory Court Hotel Details
Website: https://www.mallory.co.uk/
Lockdown opening hours: Contact them for timings (or it shows when you are booking a table)
Birthday BBQ
In the evening we had a lil’ BBQ with my family, which I don’t really have photos of (sorry!) but we ate lots and lots of food. My sister also baked me the most amazing cake EVER – it was Hello Kitty! It took her about 5 hours to do and she promised never to do it again. It was so delicious and I was sad when it was all gone!
Day Two!
Picnic in the Park
Unfortunately I got an allergic reaction from my Simple Micellar Water when taking off my makeup from the previous day so I wasn’t able to wear makeup on the day that I was celebrating with my friends… So to say that I was feeling a bit poop was an understatement. But it was so lovely to see my friends! We hung out in a park for a socially-distanced picnic, but it was really difficult for me because I wanted to give them a hug so badly! I was just so happy, and I can’t wait to see everyone again.
We stayed in the park for… A very long time! But it didn’t feel long at all! It wasn’t until I was really craving a bubble tea that we realised the time. Sorry I look awful in my photos but my friends looked so cute that I had to include a photo of them! Ignore my outfit for now… I promise I’ll look prettier next time haha!
And that’s how I celebrated my birthday in lockdown!
Thank you so much for reading this post! I would love to do more diary posts like this, like the olden days!
Until next time.
Love,
Lizzie xx