So the last week has passed in a blur. We’re very lucky to be able to get out and about…and in fairness there’s not much point in staying home. There’s so much around the house that I want to get done, rooms that could do with decorating, things need fixing, etc etc. But with a combination of our joie de vivre, plus unfortunate health issues, my hernia and Chris’s massively herniated disc there’s no chance of anything around here getting done any time soon.
Everyone wants tradesmen all at the same time so booking someone to come and help isn’t happening either.
The best thing to do? Well, we’ll just get out and enjoy life while we can. You just never know what’s round the corner…although a new lockdown is probably looming on the horizon here…so go go go, while you can! :)
Chris has started back at the office for the first time in 16 months, this has been a bit weird for me. Waving him off for him to actually go to work, rather than a shed in the garden.
Lovely for him as it happens, the company he works for has been building a new office for a couple of years and it’s now finished. So not only is he back to the office, it’s a brand new shiny one.
The best bit (in my opinion) is the new cafe they have in house now. Why would this be of interest? Well, they do fantastic food, and the other day they had a “cheesecake station”. With 14 varieties of cheesecake. Errr, I don’t particularly want a proper job, if at all actually, but if I did get a job, there would need to be 14 different types of cheesecake on offer!
It certainly put a spring in his step. Far from being nervous to be back in the office, after 16 months working from home, he has very much enjoyed his return. :)
So with him back at work I’ve been keeping myself busy out in the real world too.
I’ve had a few shifts volunteering at the vaccine centre to keep me out of trouble. It’s so good to be out doing something, but especially something so positive and worthwhile.
I knew a few of the people that came along for a jab so that was nice too.
This Aubin & Wills dress is very old. It had a few rips in it from wear and tear. My rather clever mum patched the tears and sewed it back up good as new. Waste not want not.
Shoes from Christian Dior.
Also it was glorious weather, so while I was standing there I was able to tan the backs of my legs.
I find getting the back half of me tanned is a bit tricky with a colostomy. Somewhat fraught with peril in normal circumstances. Laying on my front is the easiest on a sandy beach, I dig a little hole for my bag, lay down and voila! No leak risk!
Not so easy to do in England in the garden.
So standing for a few hours with my back to the sun was rather fortuitous.
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Also, I went for my free NHS, over 40s health check too. Well, that was fun!
It’s quite good really. A week before the appointment you get your bloods taken.
Then when you see the nurse she goes through the results with you.
Most of mine came back normal, but two were flagged by the blood test people as slightly raised.
For reasons unclear my doctor marked these results as “satisfactory”.
I said to the nurse, it might be satisfactory to him, but it’s certainly not to me.
I will be getting them looked into further. Call me paranoid or a hypochondriac if you wish, but once bitten, twice shy and all that.
Then we got on to my weight. I am officially overweight. My BMI is too high…she handed me a card with a number to phone for a consultation with a weight lose counsellor.
I said to the nurse “I might be fat, but I’m fabulous!”
Hahahahaha
She said “yes you are!…But still call the number”
Oh! Ok then. Hahahah hahahahaha
So that was fun. My bloods show a raise of something, and no one but me cares. And I’m too fat for the government. They’ll be following me round soon, knocking donuts out of my hand and tackling me to the ground in Chutney Mary!! Hahahahaha
But at least the check up was free - Unfortunately, I’ve now had to pay out for a private appointment to check all the things I feel were missed in the free one. :)
Thankfully I am old enough and wise enough to know that being thinner isn’t necessarily going to make me happier. In fact it probably won’t.
I am happy as I am. Maybe I need to shave off a few pounds, but my life is very happy, I think I look fantastic in a bikini. My weight, although higher than the government guidelines suggest, is distributed evenly. And the most important thing is I’m happy.
Like I said last week, don’t let anyone dull yours sparkle. If you are happy. Then that is enough.
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So then we come to Friday. It was a very special day for two reasons. 1, it was the 10th anniversary of our marriage vow renewal/wedding blessing. An occasion I have coined our Blessaversary! :)
Chris is not totally convinced this is a thing. But we thought we’d celebrate it anyway. We didn’t get to go out for our 25th wedding anniversary in February, this felt like another bite of the apple, so we booked an amazing weekend away in the Cotswolds…hahaha, as if, no, we booked two nights in a hotel in London and some amazing meals out.
I bought Chris some beautiful hand made epoxy resin dominoes that he had expressed an interest in when he saw them for sale on Facebook.
(Handmade by Upscreations, you can find them on Facebook).
…And Chris bought me a Porsche 911 Carrera, 4s Hahahahaha
Picking it up Friday, on our Blessaversary was a coincidence. He was getting me a new car anyway. (Just to be clear it’s not a new new one, but it is new to me).
She is a monster of a car. I’ve named her The Beast, she’s also the beauty too. If like me, you love cars, you’ll know she is a dream machine.
My dream car since I was very young is the 1951-1956 Porsche 356 Speedster cabriolet. Seeing as they sell for about a quarter of a million pounds, I really did need to set my sights a little more realistically.
Never in a million years did I think I’d get the 911 Carrera, but here we are.
:)
I am beyond stunned, excited and exceptionally grateful.
Above; My dream car.
My new to me car…
Dress from Ralph Lauren, Shoes from Tory Burch, Bag from Burberry.
So with my dream car in our possession, we headed off to London for our Blessaversary getaway.
We’ve been watching a series about beautiful hotels in England. This particular episode was about Chewton Glen, in Hampshire.
I’m not sure why, although beautiful, it didn’t appeal to us. But during the show they mentioned a brand new hotel they were in the process of creating in London - now, The Mayfair Townhouse looked exactly up our ally.
It’s right by our favourite area to shop and dine. The interior design looked spectacular.
So that’s what we booked, for two nights. And even better we got two nights for the price of one. I love beautiful hotels, but I love bargains too!
We drove up in The Beast and parked her in an underground parking garage. We love to go to London but we still have no interest in travelling by any public transport. Its always been dirty and crowded, and now it’s dirty crowded and germ infested, we’d rather drive up and walk about in town.
The hotel did not disappoint. It’s really very beautiful. It’s so fresh and clean. And had the thickest fluffiest bathrobes I’ve ever felt. The room was smaller than we’ve had in London before. But it was beautifully decorated, it had everything we needed and it felt so cosy and relaxing. Plus the location was the key element of our stay.
The hotel bar is lovely. And yes, even non drinkers like a nice place for a drink.
We booked our Blessaversary meal at Chutney Mary. It was as always heavenly. It was technically within walking distance of the hotel but I had stilettos on, so walking wasn’t an option.
Chris is obsessed with the corn ribs at Chutney Mary. I find this fascinating. Mainly because I’ve never dared to try them. There are very few things I can’t eat. In fact I’d say zero that I can’t. But there are foods I avoid. And sweet corn is top of that list.
I just don’t chew my food well enough for sweet corn to be part of my diet. And as I don’t want to end up with blockages. I just avoid my biggest fears.
Maybe I will just lick one next time I go. :)
We had such a lovely evening. The food was amazing as always. Indian food is my favourite cuisine. And very good Indian food is heaven.
Then it was back to the hotel for drinks and the cosiest sleep I’ve had in a long time.
I think my new HRT regime is helping with my lady parts and bladder. So I’m getting slightly more sleep than I was.
I was peeing 7 times a night, and now it’s a far more manageable 1 or 2. it’s been unbearable for some time. But I think changes are happening, fingers crossed.
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Saturday we had a lazy morning, a really good breakfast and a mooch round London. We found some more of the elephants, an art installation that’s been dotted around in parks and gardens of London for a few months. We’ve seen a few of them around in our travels.
A lady we got chatting to said they were being taken away that day, and that they will just rot down as they are made of cane of some sort.
I thought it seemed a shame, so I went on the website to see about buying one. I love all things India, so a massive elephant in the garden would be the icing on the cake. I could just picture it surrounded by marigolds and the peacock (real) I’d love to buy too.
Twelve grand!!! Yes!! 12 thousand pounds they wanted for one!!
Somewhat disappointing, I could have given it a lovely home, instead it will be made into compost.
Anyway on with the day, a bit of window shopping, a coffee break at Ralph Lauren, and more window shopping.
Busy doing nothing. And it was fantastic.
Knowing my spare colostomy supplies were just a walk back to the hotel away I could relax and really enjoy the day. This is an absolute treat. Carrying supplies round isn’t the worst thing in the world but it is a tad aggravating.
We had such a lovely day.
We bought books, we just enjoyed being out and about, I walked us past some fabulous shops…to no avail. Apparently being bought a car the day before - it’s considered the height bad manners to expect anything else…(not my thoughts on the matter I can assure you. Part magpie, part vulture, part gold digger, I cannot bring myself to agree with this sentiment) hahahaha.
Back to the hotel to get ready for another meal out. You can see why that NHS fat counsellor is going to struggle with me. ;)
Dress from Michael Kors, Shoes from Chloe, Bag from Gucci
Chris rang and asked the concierge a few weeks back to see if they could recommend a really good Thai restaurant. We haven’t had Thai food in over 18 months and we were really missing it.
They said Patara was very good. So we booked in. They weren’t wrong. It was delicious. And very welcome after such a long gap.
It’s hard to cut down on food when food is so enjoyable and comforting.
I gave up alcohol about four and a half years ago. For me personally, alcohol had lost all its shine. It makes me, and especially on my final occasion, fairly unpleasant. If you thought I was awful sober just imagine a drunk version. Hahahahaha.
I really don’t miss alcohol, once you remove it from your life it takes on a very negative vibe, no ‘good’ memories ever begin with “I was so drunk…”.
So it’s easy to go without. Your body doesn’t need it so you can just cut it out completely.
But food? That’s a very different story. You can’t just cut it out, it doesn’t end well if you do. Been there, done that. Didn’t enjoy.
And if I was the sort of person that can enjoy things in moderation, I’d still be able to drink a glass of wine here and there.
Moderation isn’t my forte. But I am trying. :)
Sunday we had the laziest of lazy mornings. This is what the weekends are for. Chris works so hard all week. He needs to completely step back from everything and chill out. I find you can do that far better, away from home, where there is always something that needs your attention.
The weather that had been forecast for the Saturday never arrived. Which was so fortunate for us. Thunderstorms and torrential rain was what was said to be coming, but we had great weather. It was so glorious we walked back to the hotel after dinner.
It saved itself for Sunday.
Thankfully though it was only spitting while we packed up the car and moved it to a different car park. We had planned to park on a side street, as we usually do, but we woke up Sunday to the sound of a tannoy and crowds shouting and cheering. It turned out it was the day of a 14 thousand participant, 10k run round London.
Loads of roads were closed and there wasn’t a parking spot to be found.
Dress from French Connection, Shoes from Chloe, Bag from Goyard.
We headed for Quaglino’s to meet my cousin and her husband for Sunday lunch.
It’s one of our favourites, and luckily, Kerrie’s too.
The food was incredible. I had the best Sunday lunch I’ve had in years. The roast potatoes were amazing. The meal was amazing.
The atmosphere was absolutely buzzing. It was hard to believe it was a Sunday lunch time and not a Friday night.
This was explained later, by the fact that it’s bottomless bubbles on a Sunday lunch time.
Which does rather explain the dancing and singing along to the live band and singer.
She was really really very good. It was such a great feel to the place.
We haven’t seen a live act in 18 months or more. It felt good to be out. And obviously seeing my baby cousin and her husband, was absolutely fantastic.
We’ve been kept apart by the pandemic. But we will definitely now savour and plan more get togethers from now on.
And my strawberry shortbread dessert was delicious.
We had a fantastic time. I would recommend it if you fancy a lively afternoon.
We hugged goodbye and then we all had to run for it.
Quaglino’s is underground. It was only once we had come back up to ground level that we discovered the weather front that was promised for Saturday had arrived with a bang.
It was without doubt the loudest thunder I have ever heard in London, and the promised torrential rain.
Luckily I took my brolly, it’s England, definitely just pack a brolly anyway, no matter what the forecast says.
We ran back to the car through very deep puddles.
It took an extraordinarily long time to get home - nigh on three hours, to do a normally 1 hour journey. We drove past six accidents, and so many roads closed because of the floods.
It was biblical rains. But nothing could dampen the joy I feel for such an incredible weekend.
I have a feeling a few more are on the horizon too.
We have holidays booked to Spain, Greece, Iceland and NYC and I can see them all slowly slipping from our grasp.
Foolishly, possibly arrogantly, I assumed that with everyone that wanted to be vaccinated already done, we’d be back to some semblance of normalcy. But I didn’t take into account the sheer incompetence of the powers that be.
So I have a feeling we won’t be going anywhere. But I have hope, I have faith that I will get to see our little house in the sun some day soon.
I can’t wait, but until then, we’ll always have London…
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Just a quick update on both my boys;
Ben and his entire friendship group have now recovered well from the Rona. He’s pretty much back to feeling normal and was allowed out back into the world from midnight on Saturday.
He was very lucky he had been single jabbed as he felt pretty darn poorly with covid, and that was the mild version because of his jab.
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Sam managed to get seen by the ENT specialist that his oncologist recommended. They asked him if he’d prefer to have a general anaesthetic because they wouldn’t be able to give local anaesthesia because of the size and instability of the blood vessels up his nose. (The damage up there was caused by the radiotherapy to treat his cancer).
Anyway, three times they asked him if he would prefer a general anaesthetic. And three times he said no, let’s just do it.
Well he is a braver man than me - it was horrendous. Absolutely horrific. What they had hoped to be a two minute job, turned out to be nearly 6 minutes of burning his flesh up his nose.
The pain must have been torturous.
He’s had 4 little nose bleeds since. But nothing like what was happening. If you’re having nose bleeds so badly it affects your blood pressure and gives you a temperature of someone with hypothermia you know you’re in a bit of bother.
I think he was very brave to just get it over and done with, without pain relief, although he did regret this decision, unsurprisingly.
So far so good though. Fingers crossed that they’ve actually, finally sorted him out. xx
Keep well, stay safe, be happy xx