Brief Worsthorne Visit

So I was back in the UK just three weeks ago to celebrate my birthday with my family and to catch up with some friends, so I never imagined that I’d be back over again so soon after returning to Madrid to celebrate San Isidro. I wound up booking a flight back to the motherland for a rather somber reason, as my neighbour Audrey sadly passed away a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to be at her funeral as she’d been present throughout my life, from my childhood spent playing in her garden to gossipy chats as an adult.

Despite this, the weather was very optimistic as I landed in Manchester, with more sun and better temperatures than I’d left behind in Madrid. My parents graciously came to pick me up and we headed back home, but not before stopping for an ice cream along the way to make the most of the British summer weather!

Once at their house, we spent the afternoon in the garden, playing game after game of Uno and chatting away as the sun shone down on us. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

For tea (what we call an evening meal), we were struggling for ideas until I had a brainwave. I said we should grab some bits from the local village shop and head up to the Singing Ringing Tree to eat them. This oddly-named local landmark is a sculpture in the shape of a tree and formed by a series of metal pipes which ‘sing’ and ‘ring’ in the wind on the top of one of the hills overlooking Burnley. I’d say they sound more like a demonic groan!

We reached the summit just as the sun was beginning its lengthy sunset. We’d brought a picnic blanket in order to throw ourselves down on the ground, but there was just one little table waiting for us which had three working seats – perfect! We set up shop, laid out the delicious food we’d brought, and watched the sunset from the mercifully silent Singing Ringing Tree.

The next day I was back to working from home, but I was motivated by the evening’s plans with Danni which involved her coming up to my parents’ house for a Chinese takeaway and a spot of organising our plans to travel together later this year… exciting!

We absolutely devoured the salt-n-pepper chips and chicken box that Danni had picked up, whereupon I rediscovered the joys of a good curry sauce. We then excitedly organised our trip, had a proper catch up, and ran over some stuff we’re working on together in Figma.

On my last evening in England – it was just a quick three-day visit – it was still sunny and so I dragged my parents out for one last evening walk. This took us through the fields behind our house and back into the village, where we met some adorable cats and bought some of the best crisps going. They’re made in Lancashire, of course!

This needy but gorgeous cat loved posing for the camera.

The next morning I was up at the ungodly hour of 3am in order to get off to catch my 6am flight which would have be back in Spain and at my desk for 10am ready for a day of work. It was a horrifically tiring day, but I have to send many thanks to my parents who both woke up at the crack of dawn with me in order to drop me off at Manchester Airport!

I’m now back at home in Madrid and will hopefully not have to catch any more terribly timed flights again anytime soon…