Chris and I headed off to Spain the week before last, four days after getting back from NYC and Iceland.
We hadn’t recovered from the jet lag from that trip at that point.
And that’s when you realise what a wonderfully blessed life we get to live.
What a year we are having. Bulgaria, skiing in January. Then Iceland and NYC, then Spain, plus plenty more trips in the pipeline.
We are very lucky.
I thank my lucky stars everyday that I’m still here to get to do all this fun stuff.
I have plenty of friends that didn’t get so lucky. It makes it even more important to jump at every opportunity that opens up. To really live life.
So off we headed to Spain, for the first time in two and a half years. I used to go to our villa every 6-8 weeks or so.
We have had the villa since 2000. We went for a few years and then I couldn’t go anymore. Anxiety and fear of flying kicked in and we didn’t go for about 8 years. We were literally grounded.
It’s weird how life works out really. Sam’s cancer diagnosis, followed six months later by my cancer diagnosis cured my fear of flying instantly.
It’s one of the very few benefits to come from such a horrendous time. That and finding out who your true friends are;
We lost some along the way, but the ones that stayed and the ones we gained have truly made up for any deadwood that cut itself free ~ those choosing to protect themselves over helping us out in a time of need have never been missed.
It happens, if it’s happened to you please don’t dwell on it. Know that it’s not your issue but theirs. If you can, although their behaviour is hurtful & unpleasant, find the positives in it. xx
Anyway our visit to Spain this time was short and sweet. We just wanted to check the property for other visitors that are going out over the year.
We have a fantastic cleaning/care taking service there (Thank you Busy Bees, Camposol).
But we wanted to do a bit of a walk through.
always pack way more stoma supplies than you think you’ll ever need. I’ve made that mistake on more than one occasion.
Dress from Sainsbury’s, Boots from Ralph Lauren, Bag from LV.
So off we went to our little dolls house in the sun. It’s such a funny thing, but sometimes here (UK) I get a bit bogged down with the mundanity of the daily chores. But stick me in that little house and I’m sweeping, cleaning and pottering around merrily, like Snow White, I probably even do whistle while I work too! :)
It’s a tiny house. Maybe that’s why it feels easier, maybe it’s not as daunting. Who knows?
We had to get a few things replaced. And the walls needed a refresh on the roof terrace. But actually it survived its 2 and a half years being shut up very well.
Back there, back to the simple things in life. Fresh bread, thick slabs of salty batter, tuna in a glass jar, salads and the supermarket full of so many different varieties of non alcoholic beers it’d make your head spin ~ only it doesn’t because of the whole non alcohol thing hahaha
Dress from Matalan, Boots from Ralph Lauren.
Our first meal out back in Spain was at the Indian restaurant near our house. Yes, I suppose that is a bit weird. But then the first night we were in Iceland we went for a curry too. I think it’s fair to say we have a favourite food.
We do love the food in Spain. We have a particular favourite restaurant in the port/marina near our home. But we do have a thing for curry.
The second night was also a curry. I know. It’s like an addiction. When Chris and I were first dating we spent 5 nights a week at our local Indian restaurant. I remember those days very fondly. We’re still in touch with the manager, Zia some 28 years later.
Dress from Nobody’s Child, Shoes from Gucci, Bag from LV
Chris was working from home (it is after all our home. And as it happens it has faster internet than our actual home).
Returning to somewhere you love is an amazing feeling. It felt good to be back in Spain. It felt good to be back in our house and it definitely felt good to be back at the ice cream shop (Helados Artesanos Venecia in Puerto de Mazarrón).
We were in there getting my usual order. Most of the girls there know what I have, they start getting it ready as soon as they see me.
Chris picked up my pot of ice cream from the counter (which I thought was very weird, almost dangerous to be honest. Stepping in between me and my ice cream? I wouldn’t! )
Anyway, I was very confused. And then even more confused when he then bent down to the floor and proceeded to get on one knee!?!?
Then it dawned!!…
Hahahahahahahhahah
Of course this was the perfect place for a re proposal!!
In the last 2 weeks we have been to some of the most iconic locations the world. But hands down the best place for a romantic moment is my favourite ice cream shop in the world.
I laughed a lot. I thought it was perfect. He knows me so well…well apart from keeping me from my ice cream.
Heaven. Everything was perfect. I now have a romantic proposal story. I think it’s just a tad nicer than my head in the sick bucket one. :)
The area our house is in has been having some freak weather, with the wettest coldest winter for at least 75 years.
I’ve never seen snow on the mountains that we can see from our roof garden before.
The weather wasn’t scorching for us. But any bit of sunshine and I’m bikini ready.
I probably needed bed socks on as there was a nip in the air but who cares when the sun’s shining.
Everything just feels different on holiday. I don’t think I’d have even gone outside in the UK at that temperature. But I was determined to make the most of the sunshine.
We headed to Viggos, our favourite restaurant in Puerto de Mazarrón.
I could have cried with joy at having our favourite foods again.
Fried baby squid (although I only eat the tails, which is mostly batter, so basically I love batter - big surprise there!). Hahah
Garlic butter prawns,
…and paella. Oh Spain how I’ve missed you. xx
I could have eaten the whole 2 person portion. Merrily. :)
By the next day the sun was heating up nicely. Which could mean only one thing. Sun’s out, bikini’s on.
I was laying on the roof going through the photos of me in my bikini for this blog post when it occurred to me that next month I will be in a bikini (ok, nothing unusual in that), in front of a group of 12 of our friends (that is unusual, very very much so).
I started to panic. I don’t look like I looked 25 years ago. I don’t even look like I looked 12 years ago.
How am I going to be near naked in front of people I know.
I have literally zero trouble being in a bikini in front of strangers. I was happily splashing about in the Blue Lagoon not a fortnight ago. I was a tad daunted by it in the lead up, but perfectly fine once there. But the prospect of being undressed in front of my friends? That’s truly terrifying.
“ooohhh, ooh noooo, I shouldn’t of had the squids, prawns, paella and ice cream, not to mention the curries and breads!! What was I thinking!!??”
Then I stopped the spiralling in its tracks.
*For Gods sake woman!! Do you remember what you’ve been through!?
Do you remember the trauma of not knowing if you were going to make it.
Do you remember the terror?
Do you also remember the joy of survival. The sheer and utter bliss of being able to still be here to enjoy life…and all the wonderful foods - that you once couldn’t partake in because your cancery bowel used to just shit everything that went in straight out!
Do you also remember that you have 2 hernias, a stoma and a hormone imbalance?
I’m not making excuses for what I look like now, for very good reasons. Why the f*** should I!? And who the f*** would I need to make these ‘excuses’ to anyway?!?
My body is of no concern or interest to anyone else on the planet.
So next month I shall be bikini ready, the same as I was in Spain, the same as I was in Iceland. The same as I was in Bulgaria and Rhodes, the same as I am now.
Because mainly, no one is going to give two hoots about what I’ve got going on. And if they’re human, they’ve probably also been conditioned to think our worth is in our outward appearance too, when in fact the vessel carrying our organs and bones is the least important thing about us - as long as it works and is healthy.
I can almost guarantee you that your friends are not sitting there fixated by the size of your thighs or the bulge of your belly thinking - if only they’d lose some weight they’d be a nicer friend!
And if they are, you need to lose them not body fat.
I totally get wanting to look the best you can on the beach. But I also know there are things that are far more important. Like simply being on the beach with friends in the first place. Do you know how many people would swap with you? Millions I imagine. Having friends isn’t a given. It’s a privilege. I am very grateful for mine.
Sun’s out, bikini’s on. Life is good.
Beach dress and bikini from Sainsbury’s.
Below - Dress from M&S, Shoes from Gina
It was a flying visit like I said. We set the beds up, bought a buggy, bed guards and some toys for our little visitor going soon.
Chris painted the walls of the roof terrace.
We had one final night out to the Port. One final visit to the ice cream shop where we ate copious amounts of ice cream…I seem to have become an unofficial tester too…and then it was time to come home.
We both had been very snotty nosed, sneezey and sore throats in Spain. We put it down to hayfever, due to the fact that it was so lush and green there from all the rainfall.
Neither of us had high temperatures. And my sore throat only happened in the night a few times.
We got home and tested straight away. Both negative. Happy days.
On the plane homeward I was sat next to a lovely young lady. We got chatting (I’ve met lots of new friends on planes. I love meeting new people). Anyway, I was chatting to my seat companion for ages before take off. Discussing the area she had just been to. How much she had enjoyed her first time to the area. Chatting away merrily.
Then Chris and I watched a few programs on the laptop.
As we were coming into land at Stanstead my new seat companion and I got chatting again and she then said “I know this is a weird question but I thought I’d ask it anyway. Do you know Kaitlyn *****?
I was a bit taken a back, but said that - yes I did, she’s my daughter in law.
Then the young lady said “ohhhh I realised I recognised you from somewhere, I’ve seen you on Kaitlyn’s Instagram loads!!”
It turns out my new plane friend is Kaitlyn’s childhood best friend from infant and junior school!
Such a small world!
We said we’d take her home from the airport, save her brother the job, seeing as it turns out she lives about 7 minutes from our house! :)
***
I decided to get a start on my third and final Easter table display. We had planned to have lunch guests for Good Friday.
I was so pleased with it. It looked exactly what I was hoping to achieve.
I had this table design in my head for an entire year.
The jug is from Klimchi, the very matching candle sticks are from a car boot sale last year.
Chris came home from work Monday evening and we tested again. As we do for a few days after every holiday…
He was positive. So Sunday night’s negative test must have been a false negative because he’s been positive ever since Monday’s test result.
He basically ruined Easter! Hahaha hahaha
Kidding, I’m not evil. He’s not unwell with it, thankfully. He’s no more snotty than when we were in Spain. If anything he’s actually less so, he doesn’t feel unwell, mildly coldy at the most.
But it did mean he’d have to stay indoors away from others.
I’ve never had covid. (I won’t boast too much yet. I’m bound to get it once I start getting cocky).
I had things I had planned to do all week. So I checked with everyone involved to see if it was okay for me to come still. It’s no longer the law to isolate now if someone in the house has covid. But I think it’s polite to ask if your friends are okay for you to still meet up.
Most people I know have had it at least once and some a few times anyway. One friend is on her fourth time!! Fourth!!
Above - Dress from Oliver Bonas, Shoes from Hermes, Bag from Goyard.
Below - Dress from M&S & Ghost, Shoes from Louis Vuitton.
While I was on holiday I had a dream. It was me and my best friend’s daughter, in a forest and a field, we had a book on photography skills and we were referencing it, taking photos of flora and fauna.
I knew it must have been a dream as I can’t follow written down instructions so I can’t see we’d have much use for the photography book.
Anyway. I’d been thinking about the dream for a bit and then it occurred to me that why don’t we just do what we did in the dream…but without the instruction manual!
Why just dream it? So we did!
We had a lovely time walking round her garden, finding things to take photos of. Luckily they have an incredible garden, with its own little wooded area, we had plenty of choice.
We’re going to do it again next month too, and next time we’re going interactive. Elle has dug out her flower press. I had to buy a new one as I lost mine at some stage over the years.
So we’ll take the photos of the flowers and press some too. Elle makes beautiful cards, so she can add them on.
Easter with the family was cancelled. I’m not going to risk any harm to my parents.
We used our time wisely. Filling a skip. Yep. We’re living the dream we are! Hahaha
Obviously it was disappointing not to spend Easter with the family. But I can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend the four day weekend with than Chris.
He had a dream (we’re a right pair of dreamers! Not quite in the same league as MLK, but close enough).
In his dream he made a lighting display in our garden on our pergola.
….we have a pergola, we had some lights left over from the marquee, and he has electrical skills. So he brought his dream to life too. :)
He might have ruined Easter but he does make a lovely light display so I’m going to let him off. :)
I did help put some stuff in the skip, but if I’m being totally honest, this is a more representative photo of the bank holiday weekend.
