So I returned from the intense heat of Spain (a country prepared for intense heat), to England (a country desperately unprepared for any temperature fluctuations at all). It’s bad here.
Being in Spain for a few days was absolute heaven.
We had a fantastic time. Chris worked from home there for a few days, and then had two days booked as leave. It’s the perfect balance really. It means that we can use the house more, especially this year when we had so many trips from 20 and 21 rolled over into this one.
Reasons I love my Spain house? It has air con. Hahaha
Actually there’re more than that; It’s a tiny house, it feels safe, it has metal bars on the windows (pretty ones), it’s so easy to clean (although I can’t claim to do that as I have a fantastic cleaning service out there that I’d be lost without. Busy Bees on Camposol are so good), it has a large roof terrace for sunbathing, it’s 15 minutes drive from the beach and about 16 minutes to really good restaurants and my favourite ice cream shop in the world - Helados Artesanos Venecia - it’s where Chris “proposed” to me on our last trip in April, so many happy memories, but mainly incredible ice cream.
We made the most of this short stay by eating as much food as possible!
It’s not an area to get all dolled up particularly. It’s no Marbella. But as I always say - set your own dress code. Do as you please. Just a reminder that life isn’t a dress rehearsal, we don’t get to do it all over again, live this one exactly how you want.
I leave some clothes over there, it’s always a nice surprise to see what I’ve got there. I was delighted to find some shoes I had forgotten about. I took a pair of Jimmy Choo flats over a few years ago. I’d had them 12 years and had stopped wearing them here, in favour of newer shoes in the collection.
I remembered half way through our after dinner stroll that they give me blisters. :o
Dress from TK Maxx, Shoes from Jimmy Choo
So we’re out on our post paella promenade, when we saw the most intensely beautiful sunset.
The beach was still full of families, hundreds of them actually, at 10.30 at night. I thought it was odd.
Anyway, we stop and take a seat on the wall and watch said ‘sunset’.
…only something very weird happened, the ‘sun’ started rising, and then it occurred to me we were all staring directly into it without harm.
This is when my brain glitched!!
I looked at Chris and said ‘what the f*** is going on?!?!’
He just nonchalantly replied we’re watching the moon rise…
…the moonrise???
And at the grand old age of 49 I found out that the moon rises, just like the sun.
I appreciate you’ve probably lost all and any respect for me now. In my defence I didn’t promise you I was bright, I just claim to be stoma positive. ;)
I was very confused by this new revelation. I thought the moon was always in the sky, I’ve seen it during the day, many many times before, in the sky!! Where the moon lives!!
In my defence, it doesn’t look that moonish.
Look at her, she was so overwhelmed and excited to be at her first moonrise. :)
It was special type of full moon, called a Buck moon…‘ark at me, sounding like Sir Patrick Moore, after Googling super moons.
It was incredible, honestly, it was stunning. And once I got over being freaked out by the sun rising at night it was wonderful to watch.
Thursday was a great day, Chris was on leave so it meant I have my photographer back (and other less selfish reasons)…
Bikini from Tesco
People often ask how and why I’m so body confident. Well it’s quite simple. When I had my surgery, when I survived cancer my brain re-set. I no longer worried about having the best body (not that I ever did)…I now just fully appreciate the only body I’ve got and the only chance I have to use it.
It’s very freeing. Having nearly had my life snatched away I’m never going to whinge about what I look like again. It is what it is. I have what I have. And I feel very lucky and grateful.
I’m simply not bothered by it’s aesthetics too much. I mean, I poo in a bag attached to my abdomen, so I hardly think that fitting into the fictional beauty standard is on my radar to start with, but who cares if I weigh more than I used to? Who does it affect? The answer is absolutely no one.
I want to dress well with the body I have. And for the most part I’m happy that I do.
With the temperatures in Spain, and now in England we’re eating a lot of salads and fruit. I don’t want to cook at the best of times, but I’m definitely not when it’s 38 degrees and I’m melting into a sun lounger.
Salad and fruit is very helpful, as it pretty much gets all of my 5 a day in. But often that can lead me to get constipated, yep, I like to be different.
Staying hydrated really helps. Remembering to sip rather than gulp fluids is the key.
Dress from Nobody’s Child, Shoes from Jeager (another holiday cupboard find!).
It drives Chris mad to go over to the farm land/ countryside bit near by our house. But it’s a great place for photographs…he’d mention you have to avoid the areas with the dog poo and people’s garden waste, but that’s not the point…if you find the right spot it’s delightful. ;)
It was so hot while we were there. It does rather make life tricky, with getting stoma bags and HRT patches to stay on. Thank God I’m not a smoker trying to give up with those nicotine patches…I’d never be able to cope! Two sticky things are enough.
We do have air conditioning in Spain (we have a mobile unit in the living room in England too. But not terribly handy as I usually dress and bag change in the bedroom).
Air con certainly aids getting bags to stick on. But cold showers and the hair dryer on cold can be great for cooling the skin.
He’s such an old romantic!…well, he is, but I literally had to whinge like an absolute bitch until he bought me the rose!
He didn’t particularly want to, but seriously, it was 2€ what’s the harm. Hahaha.
I accidentally left it in the car, and the next day it was 48 degrees in there, so it disintegrated. So I don’t think he’ll bother again no matter how much whinging I do. :)
Bikini from Sainsbury’s
I bikini because I want to be more all over tanned. But more importantly I bikini because I bloody well want to. It’s very simple. Do more of what makes you happy.
More of what makes me happy…
:)
Dress from Monsoon, shoes from Ugg (found in the Spain cupboard), Bag from Louis Vuitton
I loved this dress when I bought it, trying to wear it in 35 degrees wasn’t easy though, it’s quite thick fabric, long sleeved and unfortunately reminds me of a karate outfit. Not really the look I was going for.
We spent our final evening at the marina eating Salt baked sea bass (my favourite fish and my favourite seasoning). It was out of this world. And surprisingly unsalty. The waiter prepped it better than Chris and I have ever managed when we’ve salt baked cod at home. We tend to burn our mouths on the salt crystal deposits that have gone into the fish itself.
We had a lovely getaway. I did feel a bit guilty that Olya and Danil, who have only been with us a couple of weeks have been thrown in the deep-end being home alone at our house.
In all honesty I feel more comfortable home alone at my Spain house, than at home home.
Our house is a converted Victorian school and it’s old and creaky, the pipes clang a lot, and very often you can hear footsteps upstairs.
Is it haunted? No idea. Does it give every impression of being haunted? Absolutely! :)
Had Olya been able to get here earlier, and not been held back by government red tape she’d have had longer to get accustomed to the house.
Hopefully they’ll feel more comfortable and confident by the time Chris and I go on our next holidays.
We got home late Saturday night, and then I had to pop into work Sunday morning to pick up some bits I’d ordered, and take some photos for upcoming social media posts.
I invited Olya and Danil along as they haven’t been out much.
Neptune in Colchester, One of my favourite places to be.
It’s such a beautiful store. Olya and Danil enjoyed the trip out.
We are staying home for the most part this week. With record breaking UK temperatures, we are hiding in the air con of the living room.
If you don’t have air con (and let’s face it UK homes don’t in general) get yourself to a supermarket or shop with air con. My boss very kindly put out posts on our social media inviting those that are vulnerable to the heat to come in for a rest, and a cold drink.
I made some cooling packs for home;
I bought a pack of cheap flannels on Amazon.
Soaked them in water.
Bagged them up.
And put them in the fridge.
Apply as needed.
Stay cool, keep hydrated, be well. xx
My thoughts are with the people that have lost their homes to the wild fires around Essex and Kent and all over the UK.
Happy to contribute to any donation collections. Xx