Hello you! How are you?
We’re enjoying an unexpected hot spell here, so obviously we’ve all gone to pieces and complaining it’s too hot, it’s just too hot. ;)
I’m loving it, it feels very Mediterranean. And as we can’t get to the Mediterranean right now it’s nice to at least have the weather of it.
We’ve been busy, getting back to the old normal. Gone are the shackles of staying home on government orders, now we can get out and live again, we definitely are!
I get it if people don’t want to, or worse still, clinically unable to, as always, you do you. Don’t let anyone dull your sparkle or tell you how to live your life. If you want to stay home and be cautious, so be it. If that’s what you feel comfortable doing, absolutely do that. But whatever you choose to do, enjoy it, make the most of it, squeeze the pips out it, That’s what life is for.
We’re cautiously expanding our world. From the moment the stay at home order was lifted we have enjoyed some time out and about.
We mask up, we bathe in anti bac hand gel and we stay a good distance away from others.
*Just on the note of infection control. If you go to a bar and jump about and hug, and kiss with every goal scored, whilst watching the football, then bugs are very likely to get in your system. My baby boy can verify this as that’s what he and all his friends did during the European cup Final, and guess what, yep, they all caught covid. So did a vast majority of the bar’s other customers, which then had to close, so the staff who caught it too could recover and the staff that had been near the ones that caught it, could isolate.
I have a feeling we’ve created out very own local variant. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so predictably tragic.
My boy has been quite rough with it, so have his friends. Ben is grateful that he was at least single jabbed, I have a feeling he was glad of the ‘milder’ version he got because that has been bad enough.
Just to be clear, Chris and I are loving being free of the shackles of just being in the confines of our property, but we have no intention of catching covid…or any other bug come to that. :)
Proceed with care. :)
I did a shift volunteering at the vaccine centre last week, I’ve got another one this week, and I’ve booked myself in once or twice a week until…well, forever really. I really enjoy it.
And I’m all official now as I am registered on The Good Sam app. I am a volunteer for The Royal Voluntary Service.
I even have my own high viz!
I’m high viz official! :)
There’re all sorts of things on the app that you can help with. Worth a look if you have spare time. Very good for the soul, very healing, very uplifting.
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We headed off on Thursday for a little mini holiday. We can’t get to Portofino but we can go to Portmerion in Wales, and that is close enough!
What a treat! What fantastic weather too. We’ve been to Wales 3 times in the last year and it’s been glorious every single time.
Dress from Zara, Shoes from Gucci.
I bought this dress the other day from Zara, it’s the perfect travelling dress. I prefer dresses to travel long distances because I like the freedom of flow for my bag.
The journey was a bit long and sweaty though, so by the time we arrived at the hotel, my HRT patch on my hip was no longer on my hip, it unfortunately couldn’t cope with my very sweaty body (they are meant to). Anyway, I began to panic, I didn’t bring any spares because I was going to be home before it needed changing again.
I got changed for the swimming pool, when we arrived it was still boilingly hot. I attempted to re-apply my HRT patch with the pressure of the swimming costume. This failed miserably.
Plus being in the water made it even worse.
What to do, what to do?! And then I had a bright idea! Sticking plasters! I needed sticking plasters (band aids).
Well we were by this time checked into Portmerion hotel, which is like a little village, on a peninsula in Wales. The only shops it has are ice cream parlours and cafes.
So then I said to Chris that maybe the hotel reception might have some!! And very luckily for me, they did!
So if you ever sweat so much you sweat your HRT patch off, do not fear, do not panic. Sticking plasters over the top work a treat! But also, it might be an idea to pack spare patches! ;)
Every day’s a school day!
(I have a damaged womb and lost my ovaries due to the damage from radiotherapy).
My fun at the pool was not ruined by the sweat drama. Thankfully very few things ruin my day. I’m alive! I’ve spent the last 11 years living in happiness and gratitude. I left sweating the small stuff behind 11 years ago. :)
Swimsuit from M&S Outlet
Can you swim with a colostomy bag? Well I think the other swimmers would rather I did!! Hahahahaha
But yes, the answer to ‘can I swim with a colostomy bag?’ is a definite yes!
You can even swim with a very unattached HRT patch too, although this is less than ideal.
A lot of people have asked what Portmerion is about. Well I can’t really verbalise it to do it justice, so it’s best to Google it. But what it feels like is an Italian coastal village. Somewhere beautiful, like Portofino.
It’s a scale model of an Italian coastal village. So cleverly created by some eccentric architect back in the 1920s.
But what does it mean to us? Chris and I? It’s magical. It’s really really magical. We fell in love with it on a day trip last year. Then booked into stay the following month (all the buildings are hotel suites, so you can actually stay in them).
Everything is beautiful here.
It is spectacularly, gloriously beautiful, and in the sun it comes alive.
We had the best holiday. Food, fun, swimming, beautiful scenery. What more could we have wanted.
Dress from Ralph Lauren, Shoes from Gucci.
We dined in both of the available restaurants in the resort.
I packed high shoes last time but I really learned my lesson. You need all terrain sandals here rather than a Manolo. :)
Day 2 was just as glorious, even hotter actually.
Shirt from Gap, Shorts from Ralph Lauren, Sliders below from Christian Dior
With the sun sun shining, it was time to see if I had the guts to wear my new bikini…
…Of course I bloody did!! Hahahahaha
Bikini from M&S Outlet
How to get a bikini body? Get a bikini! xx
…you’re welcome. xx
It’s hot and sunny and this gal needs a tan!!
No one really pays any attention to anyone else really and truly.
They notice, but most normal people don’t stare. We’re a bit nosy us humans, so we might have a sneaky peek, but I don’t see that as a negative thing.
One lady did come up to me and ask me about what having a bag is like because she has colitis, and was told a bag was a possibility in the future. We chatted for a bit, she seemed to be reassured that it’s a doable option. She had been very hesitant before she saw me with mine.
I told you last week I wear it well! And it’s apparently true. :)
Happy to be of assistance, I was sporting and supporting bag positivity, body positivity and I inadvertently joined that hairy positivity movement too, because I forgot to prep for wearing a bikini! Hahahahaha
If anyone was close enough to notice that, they really were way to close for my liking anyway! :)
After our time at the pool, we headed back to the room for a while, and then when it was a bit cooler we went for a walk around the grounds. It’s a pretty large area to explore. Might I suggest though, that Christian Dior sliders are less than optimal for rugged terrain.
I slipped and slid all over the place, maybe that’s why they call them sliders? ;)
Back in the safety of the room I set myself up the perfect place to read. This would be my dream. An apartment overlooking the sea. With greenery all around. Heaven, absolute heaven.
We got ready for another meal out. You don’t have to dress up fancy at all. In fact one man was in sports shorts and all terrain trainers ( he clearly got the memo about the ruggedness of the area). Hahahahaha
Anyway, you don’t have to dress up, but I like to dress up. So I do dress up. It’s really very simple. Just make your own dress code.
Dress from Roman Originals, Shoes from Chloe, Bag from Gucci.
Heaven on earth. Him, me, sun, scenery and sea. Every day with him is a good day. Actually added to that, every day you wake up is a good day. :)
It was such a chilled out time. We enjoyed it so much. While we were there we booked to go back again next July, the weekends in July next year are now fully booked. We got the last suite. I had no idea you have to book so far in advance, we were so lucky we thought of it while we were there.
We’re bringing Kaitlyn and Ben with us next time. I thought it was a good idea to cheer them up and give them something to look forward to while they are home ill, and poor Kaitlyn stuck with Ben, isolating. She hasn’t gone down with the lurgy as yet. She’s made of tough stuff clearly!!
The view of the estuary from the back of our suite.
And the view of the village from the front…
Then, just like that it was time to head home…
To prepare Sunday lunch for 10 people…
What you’ll get from me; warmth and hospitality. A beautifully scaped table and ready meals! Hahahahaha
I can’t cook, but I can reheat like a pro!
Thank god for M&S, we served a very tasty chicken in red wine jus with bacon and mushrooms, goose fat roast potatoes and mixed veg.
No one would have known it was a reheat in the oven job.
Fake it to make it baby! ;)
I remember watching an interview with Joan Rivers, she said she never saves anything ‘for best’. She said “you don’t know, you could be dead tomorrow and never have used the good stuff”
It really resonated with me, and I was only about 18 at the time. I follow this rule, have done ever since.
So yes, the garden is a wonderfully suitable place to use the good set. And if it was dishwasher friendly I’d use it even more that I do already.
I don’t save it for best, I save it for when I can be bothered to wash up.
If you scape for the big people you have to scape for the little ones too.
I left bringing dessert to Kim, forgetting that Kim needs supervision…So her choice of dessert in 30 degree heat…’steamed Jam roly poly pudding and custard’.
Kim has form…in Spain on holiday a couple of years ago, she ordered a lasagne! It was 37 degrees, the air temp, rather than the food.
We watched in admiration and some horror, as she melted whilst she tucked in. ;)
Gatherings are best held outside, in the garden. I love my friends, but I still don’t want their potential germs. Hahahahaha.
If it’s 30 degrees out, it’s for the best, and government…(and common sense) advised to do as little as possible. And that’s exactly what we did.
We had such a lovely, relaxing day. Let’s hope the sunshine and good times last :)
My table scape was inspired by one I saw on Helen Turkington’s Instagram a little while back. I thought it was spectacular and wanted to try and recreate it. Well mine was inspired by, rather than a carbon copy of.
I bought the parrots at the gift shop in Portmerion the day before. They were exactly what I wanted, and there they were, sitting there waiting for me. :)
I always say I’m lucky, blessed and grateful, and it’s true. :)
I felt the parrots really added to my design.
I had to send everyone home with loads of apples as I don’t really like green ones, and I didn’t want them going to waste. I prefer Pink Lady, but they wouldn’t have made such an impactful display.
See you in a week, if I haven’t melted into a big puddle by then…