Social Me!

Busy day here as the new car park for the new buildings can be used and we are moving the containers into the yard...then I have hair trim this afternoon ... (writing this at 8am I am not sure how my Social Me will manifest itself...)

I can show you though a huge crane brought in to move our storage containers into the yard .. It will mean my view is blocked to the field until the stored stuff is moved into the new buildings..A big Reveal!

...just browsing my pictures and the most Social Me! is on holiday with our kids these days. I love a trip away however short .. In fact I prefer a splash and dash to a long trip. .easier on the logistics and the stomach!

Here's a fave selfie or two from our Tenerife trip .. on the volcano!

...and one last week when we had a mini works 'do' and I was sending Kate pictures of me and our young design guy Jowan. .who incidentally is the nephew of one of my childhood friends. ..!

Entrances..

Oh my goodness, what a disaster my blogging was on holiday! I had even set the prompt so it would suit the places and thing I may have seen but the WiFi connection was a bit sad and I just didn't get there.

Also I see that the words keep getting lost off the prompt after a moments viewing, hoping that will remedy for next week.. 

So, I am back home. A week of lovely days in Tenerife with the three youngest of my brood.. mind you they are all pretty grown up in their own right.. 17-21, so lots of evenings we two were in bed before the young ones had their last mojito!   The weather was a bit cooler than when we went in November but we all managed to enjoy the sun and did lots of things.. Segways (not me!), jetskis (me on the back.. and my back is not so happy about the after effects!) and a trip sailing.. (well on a sailing boat with a motor and no sails up.. but that seems to be the way of things out there.)

So here are a few pictures of some entrances which may just fit the bill:

• A Front Door... this is actually a door which is a window at my FIL's barn conversion next door.. he uses it like a Front Door as he often opens it to say hello as his living place is 'upstairs'.. at Christmas it was a welcoming sight when you came home in the dark!

•  A Grand Entrance.. for us at our hotel.. and a fabulous aroma fills the air, like an oriental blossom..

• an 'Unhappy' or 'Distressed' Entrance.. I pass this on the way home from Lisa's house and one day stopped to take this picture.. someday I guess it may be restored.. or replaced with UPVC God forbid!

• Entrance to a Special Place..Jordan, Kate and Zac peering out of our kitchen window back in 1999 or so, the paving slabs were from the original floors in the house and have been used as patio and now as a wall topping.. x
  
  
  

•  Steps to an Entrance.. The Liver Building from our visit last November.. hoping we may go back in warmer weather..and some steps over at the Minack where we had this picture taken with Col's folks way back in 1992 when we married.

•  A Modern Entrance... our double glazed door, with windows both sides.. perfect for babies safely considering 'Joey the Cat'

• A Surprise Entrance ..this is a gate / doorway in the wall just about a mile from us. I like the name.. 

 Phew.. hope this catches me up.. pics of the hols to follow soon.. watch this space for pilot whales and jetskis smiles!

Serendipity..?

Just in case you have just fallen upon my blog, I am part of the LuckySnappingin2013 challenge which is happening over here and this week Anne has asked up to keep an eye or ear open for ...Serendipitous moments!  (and by the way, the challenge is great so far, expanding on our chat and exploring our lives, or homes and our ..heads!)

So.. to Serendipity..
I think the first time I really heard this word was in Sri Lanka in 1982 when I spent almost 4 weeks there travelling about. I went with a boyfriend (later to be my first husband, Ross & Lisa's Dad); I had just finished Uni and had worked the season in a hotel to save up.  Funny really, it must have been a bit like when kids go travelling now, but it wasn't quite backpacking. We travelled cheap on minibuses and third class trains but wanted to stay in nicer accomodation than you would expect students to stay in....he was working so he didn't really get the student thing (he never did really, even when I was studying... I think it is how offshore workers regarded tax dodging 'students' (in the voice of the Hardware cast..if you ever saw that series!) ) and really it was just an extended holiday.

Well the word was used to descibe the whole island, like a jewel dropped into the ocean just off India, the gorgeous sun and the blue blue seas and that lush vegetation... you can imagine it was an amazing unexpected discovery for many as the found the island for the first time...

..this is what I found on Wikipaedia ...  
The name stems from Serendip, an old name for Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon),  Serendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it. The word has been voted one of the ten English words hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company.^[1] However, due to its sociological use, the word has been exported into many other languages.

  Many years later in 2004 I had a similar but stronger feeling when we visited Kuramathi for the first time.  Life with five children, grandparents to think about and a business to run had been quite hectic and at last we had taken a holiday away, just us and the kids. Now two of them were teens and not home too much, not very chatty and plenty of fetching and carrying..... one of them even came home about an hour before we left for the airport!

So there we were, heading for a remote island, no teen taxi calls, no cooking, no driving, no work demands to juggle with the school run or teatime... we walked off the boat onto a baking hot wooden jetty and all we had imagined disappeared with the reality of it being there, right in front of us, stepping into the postcard paradise for real!!!

The overwhelming heat, the intense bright sunshine and oh that crystal water and fish you had only seen in miniature in a fishtank shop.....all naturally ocurring and ours for two whole weeks.

I was speechless, almost tearful at the relief of the change in routine, the escape from the stresses we had built up over about five years of hard slog... and an hour later as I stood in the shade of the palm trees and subconsciously counted each of my children, ticking off the virtual boxes in my mind as I must have done daily for many years (and for sure I still do.. just logging in my head where every one of them is.. this week it is when I have missed our Zac, noting as I come downstairs each morning that he is not in his room, that the door is open again all night..)
.. that moment seeing all my children together swimming, in one place, no demands, nothing to make us leave the moment.. that was and is still is a serendipity moment for me.

But, back to the reality of mizzley Cornish January (to be fair there have been pockets of blue sky, but not pockets you could store many handfuls of pebbles in mind you)...how has today given me some (not quite so momentous ) but still nicely warming moments?... I shall list them..

• ..the Tremeloes singing 'Silence is Golden' as I drove to collect Kate.
• ..buying a meal for two for ten pounds at M&S, adding veg and ice cream and stretching it to feed three, almost four and feeling like we were having a real treat!
• .. spending the evening with the kids, JB making jewelry (will her creativity just sit still for one!), Kate exercising and showing me snippets of a nice routine combining the pole exercise with old gym and acrobatics, Ross just hanging out.. and doing the dishes (ohh the pleasure that gave me!)
• ..watching a part of David Attenborough's Africa where an elephant mother refused to leave her dying calf, being glad we were human and that someone invented penicillin
• ..and last night watching the opening episodes of Gavin & Stacey with two kids who like it too and no husband who is only watching it because he knows I just love it! (sweet guy x)
• ...oh and having a lovely comment about my ramblings from my pal Yvonne... thank you hun x

Here are the Tremeloes for those who may love that memory too.. it was probably one of the first songs I loved, my brother being eleven years older was well into pop and I was only six.. 

We used to have to put his radio on the pelmet to get a decent reception .. and if his favourites came on I would bang on the wall under his bedroom to let him know.. sad, but true.. wonder if he remembers.. always the kid sister huh! xx

365/46 Bloom.

I was hoping that my orchid, which has been looking pretty forlorn since just after Christmas, no leaves to speak of and no flowers, would let the new buds open, but they are a law unto themselves and it will probably be March if current progress is anything to go by.

Then I wondered if I could use a less than obvious 'bloom' but to be honest today hasn't been very blooming marvellous at all, inspiration wise... I have had too many people emailing and calling me too many times, finished work late and as we are playing taxi to the teen who is working I declined an offer to eat out..

(anyway, pizza last night and far too many easy meals the past week made me feel guilty) so I set to and did salmon and veg, went down well, though Col and I are a bit tense, both ranting about almost unimportant stuff, rambling as much as ranting, but hardly relaxed.  (We have big customer visit tomorrow and lots on so hopefully the approaching weekend will help, not least of all for me as it is my scrapbook monthly meet on Saturday)

So what else.. Ross is settling in well, seems to be enjoying working a real week instead of a catering week where he leaves for work as we finish. He has been doing lots of manual stuff, partly as we like to tidy well before customers visit, a bit like painting before the Queen comes.. but also so he can get to grips with all the jobs which need doing around here. Next week he gets to be tidy himself and is out on some training and sales calls so that will be interesting and tiring in a completely different way for him! 

Just browsing my library and this is probably my best pic of a 'bloom', it is a delicate yet prolific flower we see on our holidays nd I just love the colour and the effect that real hot sun has on the quality of the pictures.

.. but wanted to remind myself also of a lovely layout I did of lots of the blooms a few years ago.. have to get my scrap head on again for Saturday or I'll spend the morning just vegging out and achieving nothing!

Day 15: Last day : 21 December

Last breakfast, last lunch, last dinner....last snorkel, but even Kate came along. Great venue, just off the jetty and across to the bar.. my , how Jordan's grip tightens when she sees a Moray Eel.. they are only breathing as their mouth opens so wide, but they do look kinda menacing! A pod of dolphins passed by as we started out and Kate pulled out a final trump card and spotted a solitary eagle ray minutes before we swam in..majestic. 

Last dunk in the pool.. for Col & Kate, Jb and I headed for the shower..



Still got it!



After lunch we treated ourselves to ice creams at Palm Court and good timing meant we could say bye to two of our best bar guys..

..further debate was had during the evening about the possibility of a trip to Sri Lanka..maybe a week's tour there and then a week in our faithful Kuramathi.

Col cracked us up today, Kate had a craving for a pack of Quavers and listed it as the first thing she'd do when we got home. Colin found an empty packet of one he'd eaten on the way out and left it lying out, told her he'd just eaten it.. she was loving even the smell!! (hey, but one pack down at Gatwick and she was sated)  OUr last meal sadly wan't TexMex as last wednesday but dates in the choc fountain and baklava made the European buffet another winner for me.



Ode to Jb



And this was pretty much how it ended, under an umbrella in a tropical rainshower, with Kate taking yet another picture at arms length.. we set off early the next day at 7am (2am UK time) and a boat and two plane journeys later at 10pm UK time we arrived home..weary, holidayed and ready for Christmas!    I do have quite a few favourite pics I haven't included, but will add these on dreary winter days when memories of all those 'S' words needs a little wake-up!

Day 14 : 20 December

There's a tattoo artist in there somewhere..

Me and the girls lay out and Jb henna tattoos my wrist while Col headed off for a two hour snorkel off the jetty. Just what he needs, it's so good for him to step off the world like this.

Christmas has arrived here, a whole bunch of imitation holly wreaths and so much 1980's tinsel, the guys have had so much fun. There is a little competitive streak too as up at the Palm Court bar there was a really unusual tree, made of felt and we would have chosen their decoarations as the winners if there had been prizes to give!

We're not sure what to make of it all, apparently everyone at home is 'well Christmassy' and it was great to hera the girls looking forward to being home, but mainly to be with the family and snuggle up in front the TV.

Funnily I was reading my Psycholgies mag today and loved David Baddiel's thoughts on being an atheist Jew at this time of year.. he is quite funny and at best thought provoking, as for sure many of us in the UK think pretty much the same, on the surface at least.

On a side point the girls and I got chatting about the proposed party at home on N Y Eve... Kate would obviously rather be somewhere else, that being in St Ives, regardless of weather (and non-drinking) warnings etc.  I wondered (and noted on my phone note blog) .. when is a family party not a family party... ahah , when one of the family wants to opt out.

Ahhh, the return home beckons and the familiar ache of a mother's stomach, wanting to please all of the people all of the time returns.... how come 25 years later the old worries are the best ones and as a mother (or a guilt ridden one at least) the old stomach stillisn't used to that churning and is unable to welcome it like the unreliable friend it must by now be!!!

And true to form, the rollercoaster that is teen parenting pulls you up again, Kate in jester mode is wondering what it would be like to only have one arm (and is hiding one arm inside a very tight tee-shirt, at the dining table I might add)... then she suggests she may need to open a jar, or cut her food and a special little hand appears from under said tee-shirt (apologies to those who may be arm-less and reading this, but hey, she was being funny, this mum is grateful for every small mercy!)   JB on the other hand was less easily amused, seems the negotiations on living with the clothing pile which now Kate occupies in the forementioned 'Gaza Strip' in Villa No 14 is less easy to forget for her!  Almost done, the return home approaches..

Day 13: 19 December

(Okay so it was a 14 day holiday but somehow I have gained some days.. I may or may not find them when I look back over this, but I think it's all to do with hours travelled.. pity I didn't do Geography huh?!(I did.. that's the joke there, in case you didn't get it) )

Today was still grey and quite windy, nice way to get a few rays without the burn factor! Kate even put a cardi on, bless here, and had plans for a hoodie evening too!

A little slack on things to talk about whilst laying out (after almost two weeks that IS allowed isn't it?).. so I embarked on a game... 'I spy with my little eye something beginning with.......'S'

Well when you start it is so funny .. I just kept finding them...sun / sea/ sand / sky / sailing boat / surf / sandcrabs /snorkeller (then it started to get really funny...well I thought so..) sarong /  sexiest swimsuit  etc etc.  Col on the other hand was alittle less amused, not being one for wordy games in any case... 'Simpleton' was his offering!

But the grey skies returned and we decided we'd best go back to our villas.. as it was ... 'spitting' (for Peter Kay fans everywhere).  So we settled down for an hour and Col and I watc

hed one of his early Christmas presents, Jeremy Clarkson's DVD about the Raid on St Lazaire... an epic tale, not quite tropical island-ish but heroism at its best.

Jordan dragged Col out to do some long exposure photo shots with her tripod, She came back with some nice shots while he came back with some mossi bites!  As for me I noted the silence, a DVD stopped in mid comment, no air conditioning on, a moment in time, all alone, not many moments like this on our holiday as we are together 24 / 7. What should I do with the time.. head in book, a chapter down.. and the door opens, the moment is gone!

Day 12 : 18 December



Oily post-spa head!



Started the day with a nice snorkel 'out back' with JB, those crayfish really do think they can't be seen don't they... someone needs to tell them that their antenna stand out so clear amongst the fish. Mind you I guess they'd be hard to prise out of the holes they have backed into, that's some fine parking!

In the afternoon Kate had a manicure and I got a back, neack and head massage ... interesting ... Lying on my front I felt the lady put pressure on the backs of my calves, then on my knees and then on my thighs.. equal pressures on each leg... hang on a minute, she has pressure on both calves, knees and legs at the same time. she's actually on me, her knees and hands doing the work.. Such a good job Col or Kate didn't come with me, I'd probably have thrown the poor girl off with my laughing! 

Today I started reading Eat, Pray, Love...I didn't realise it was going to be quite such a biographical tale, thought it would be more like a novel. Will be interested to see how it goes and then see the film.



Ahhh, Chamila.

Chatting in the evening to our fave bar guy Chamila, talking to him and others about the rise of the tourist resorts in all parts of their home island of Sri Lanka. These guys should go back home and show what they know, they could be heads of tourism!  I always love to tell them about my few weeks there, way back when in ..err..1982 or was it 1983.. either way the troubles came 'after me'(mmm..?!) but I remember lots about their special places like Kandy's Temple of the Tooth and Dambula / Sigiria and it is nice to see their faces when I know where they lived and stuff., it's kind of like giving something back to them.  We talk quite a lot of visiting Sri Lanka, maybe take the girls at least, they could be ready for something a little less lazy and little more cultural?

Now where was I? Day 11: 17 December

Bit of a squall coming..

Quiet day by all accounts, or at least that's how it seems two weeks later and referring to my phone blog notes!  A windy grey day, but as warm as ever. Kate amused us with some of ther musings, Jordan asked me where Kate gets those random thoughts from and thinking back I do reckon she is more like me as a teen than I care to admit... just in another era.

Tonight there was another film on the beach, though sadly even a tropical setting, the warm wind and russle of the palm trees can make up for a rubbish film!

Day 10 : 16 December

..interesting thought for the day.. from my straw poll survey of the reading material viewed on our beach, it seems it is the practical goal-led men who have plumped for the Kindle, whilst the ladies, perhaps the more touchy feely emotional of the two sexes, have stayed with the real books.  Maybe we girls like to feel that a book has been 'read' and looks like ti too when we put it back on the shelf, recalling the moments we had when reading it?

I wasn't too impressed with One Day and kind of said so to Col & JB at breakfast.  Two hours later I hit the last two chapters and the book redeemed itself..not the cliche ending I had expected, but enough of that in case you sometimes fall on it yourself..


Almost a hoodie!



We had our first full 4-man snorkel today, though Kate kind of uses the time in the water to practice her acro moves in the almost weightless conditions!  Legs and arms everywhere, just glad she has a good eye for the sharks, moray eels, lion fish and finally the antennae of the crayfish near the end of the snorkel.  A thundery shower came as we swam to the beach, swimming then in the pool in a downpour, great fun... though walking back in the rain had Kate wishing for hot chocolate and a hoodie.. ahh, the warmth of a hoodie and comfort food.

This evening we gave the bar a miss and cosied up, 4 in a huge bed, watched TV, ate the choc and crisps we bought at inflated prices in the souvenir shop, and talked of Christmas. (I wouldn't give it a second thought, but the kids get the vibe from the short time they spend catching up with the UK on Facebook!)  I was heartened though to hear the girls talk about the best bits of Christmas, the sitting room being smaller and cosier as the tree takes up space, the chocoaltes, big meals with everyone around the tableand sharing the presents and the surprises with each other.... awwhhhh xx

Day 9 : 15 December

We are really getting settled in, Jordan has attracted the attention of one of our waiters.. how things change in a year or so.. she wishes now she could feel invisible again.. yeah, right!  Some of the guys make origami creatures for us, though I'm not sure if they have just made them or if there is a stash somewhere they can use when a pretty girl comes by!

The guys are so kind, say hello to everyone and there are just so many people on holiday there who don't even acknowledge that... so I make sure to always have a smile and a chat. One of the waiters in our restaurant, they call him 'Don' has a whole range of East End slang and chat,, wanna buy a motor / good afterrrrnoooon / How's my old mucker / apples and pairs etc etc. He is priceless..it turns out he learnt a lot of it when he worked on another (posher) island and met Ross Kemp, years ago, when he was on East Enders and he was with Rebecca Brookes.. oh, a lot of water under those bridges since then eh?

We chat a lot when we eat and sometimes when the conversation gets a little heated, in depth or laborious Kate has this funny little squeal noise she makes; it's so funny, just part of her and I think it will be one of the trademark comedy moments of the holiday!

We took a sabbatical from the All Inclusive tonight and treated ourselves to a sunset and then pizza at the Palm Court, but although it was very nice, and particularly to eat out properly, waiting between servings etc, our hearts remain with Dominos!  The ice creams were fab though, I loved the passion fruit one... mmmm xx

Day 8 : 14 December



View from our dining table

.. NMD today Colin announced to Jordan at breakfast.. No Moaning Day..funny how easy it is in the real world and then on holiday to bemoan almost everything that happens.. well Kate stayed in bed and JB was very quiet, but it was worth saying and I think the second week will be easier, wth us all settling into spending so much more time together.. it isn't a natural thing and does take some getting used to I guess. 

As for me and Col, it's pretty easy as we work all day together, just now he is on relax mode and it's nice to see him without a frown in front of a computer... mind you I am sure he's planning some gismo or some revamp of a workshop or something while he is enjoying the peace from me and JB with heads in books!



Thundery squall.



 Had a few thundery showers today, sometimes there are drops of rain without a cloud, in any case the sun is just around the corner. 

Main entertainment for sure was watching a snorkel teaching session. One German tutor lady, a dozen people including some Japanese guests. The Japanese tourists on the island are amazing, they wear full body UV suits, always wear footwear near water and life jackets when snorkelling.  Always dressed as if for a big event, or wearing Beatles / Mickey Mouse tee-shirts.. oh, or matching his / hers coloured co-ordinated outfits.. a veritable people-watching prize winner!

Kate alerted us at one point to a Japanese woman who was floating away, facemask steamed up, no fins, lifejacket fully inflated..and eventually the tutor swam out to rescue her.. in all of 4 foot of water. 

The Carrie Bradshaw type voice in my head runs a narration of the moment, bit by bit...and at one point there was me, a friendly German couple and some crazy young Japanese who seem to have never visited a beach before..not quite how it was when the three countries were 'involved' with each other 60 years ago eh!



Laid out in reception!

Looks like lots of people are reading 'One Day' with me, there's even a copy up for grabs in the reception library...incidentally reception has had a very nice revamp, very posh, though not sure if cream cushions are quite that practical??


Day 7 : 13 December

Trying to avoid being lagged in Factor 50 for a snorkel out on the reef at lunch time, we gave ourselves and early alarm and Col and I had a great hour out there even before the girls had woken up...great way to start a day!  I'm always a little apprehensive about getting in the water but after a minute or two I relax, breathe properly and just 'love it'..

Time to lay out for a bit, start my next book, a pressie from Lisa in anticpation of the holiday.. 'One Day'..the book of the film.. jury is out as I know film didn't get great reviews and also I read the author's Starter for Ten which I though was better in the film than the book..Oh and Jordan thinks she left her glasses on the plane.. good one.. but hey, what can you do? Lucky she bought a month's worth of lenses with her, at least those morays won't be tapping her on the shoulder unbeknown to her!

Titan Trigger Fish..vandals!

Few drinky-poos at lunchtime and then a snooze, followed by a snorkel off the beach.. and as for those who say the humans are wrecking the coral.. have they ever seen the antics of a titan trigger fish on the hunt for food, they turn corals and stones over like a pig searching for truffles! 

Plenty of reef sharks too, they seem to be larger than last year and pretty tame too, they come very close and are so well camouflaged against the fans of corals it takes you all your time to notice them before they are beneath you.. and beneath you in ten feet of water is close!

The girls are kind of relaxing, I think they both needed to get off the world of school / friends / routines of work / Facebook etc. They are so different to each other, it must be hard to share the same space for 14 nights, but spare a thought for us too.. Col likened the experience to being a peace envoy trying to settle the dispute over the Gaza strip!

On the sixth day of..

.. the holiday Jordan & Colin went snorkelling and they saw......(imagine the tune now.. I hope you're keeping up.. I started to get into the note writing at this point and began writing the way I was thinking....Christamas songs with a holiday twist)

• six little Dori's,
• five angel fish,
• four moray eels (eekkk said Jordan!),
• three dozen parrot fish (in a feeding frenzy),
• two sweetlips ...
• and... about 14 sharks close up!!!!!!!!

Kate for her part is finding the holiday quite stressful... moving chairs, reaching for drinks and remembering to take a towel / sun oil and room keys to the beach... the girl needs staff.. or muscles!

Day 5 : 11 December.. I think! hic!

Ooops, turns out it was today I discovered the B52's .. see, three days in and I've lost track.. and this is 'after' the event, with notes to help!!

More sunning, eating and just general lazing about in between, though Colin manages to relax best of with a daily snorkel or two...

I got settled into my first book and have finished it today... Anita Shrive's 'Change of Altitude' It wasn't bad but I left it there in the 'library' as not a book I'm too desperate to keep, it was based in Kenya and just didn't grip me like some of her others.

Jordan for her part got busy with her henna tattoos...this is how they look 'before' they have set and leave a lovely pattern for about a week. Some Asian women on honeymoon have the most intricate hand or foot tattoos, I love them.. (as you can see by the pic at top of the blog..)

...

Day 4: 10 December

It's been a while since I woke when I was ready and not by an alarm. Sunshine sure adds to the reasons to get out of bed. The first of 3 or maybe 4 meals a day all provided is another!

Good for us it was a little cloudy and we acclimatised well to the heat and sunshine and I for one actually like a sky with the pockets of cloud passing by.  As the sea was a little rough on the serious snorkeling side of the island we messed about snorkeling on the lagoon side.

Had a wander around later and took some pictures. Passed a sign explaining that all the island's salads are grown in a hydroponics centre, using water and added nutrients, almost 450Kg a year, that's 300 leaves a day they harvest.

And last fact for today : the huge Banyan trees are fig trees which begin life when seeds are dropped on another sapling by a bird which has eaten the fruit. The fig tree grows on the established plant but puts down runners and roots until it takes over the original tree and is established.

Some of them are so impressive and up to 300 years old... they also make great light centres at night as JB discovered on her projects for college..

Late afternoon we went to the Spa Pool, but as ever late afternoon and huge boughs of bougainvillea are a bit of a mossi trap, so we didn't stay too long... long enough though for Kate to get wet and have Colin trying to copy her aquarobic exercises.. 

It was Saturday and that's movie night..n the beach. The film was a little crazy but sitting on the beach with a few drinks and an unexpected viewing of a lunar eclipse made us feel like we were for sure in another place..  after the film we had some more drinks (yes, this is the point where I needed something smaller than the usual cocktails and was introuduced to the B52... exquisite kahlua / baleys and cointreau..and if the guys get their way they set it on fire first!

We chatted with Sagaru again about his plans for the future and how he Skypes with his toddler daughter from their home in Sri Lanka... who can knock technology when it brings such joy xx

Day 2/3 : 8-9 Dec

Well we lost about 5 hours there somewhere and arrived at Male airport, it almost feels like home  now, after six visits before, though it is expanding all the time.  Whilst waiting for our boat transfer to Kuramathi Kate and I realised we were in the background of some people's photos, so, true to form, couldn't just let it go, I waved!

Soon enough we were in conversation with a great lady from Male who was there to see her sister leaving for a month in Bangalore, India where she was going to have IVF treatment. We chatted about that, life in Male and the Uk and the common world of Facebook.  By the time Kate looked at her Fbk in two days she had been added to their profiles....awhhh.

Settled in and enjoyed seeing the changes the island have instigated, all for the betterment of the island itself and for their economy and their patrons.  The girls shared a Graden Villa for a few days and we had a Beach Villa three doors away and they moved next door 3 days later.

In the evening we met up with some of the bar guys who had returned after being at home for a year or so, getting married, having children..and we joked that the Fung Bar is as close to a 'local' as we have.. the guys know our names and what we like to drink, and we go there on a 'semi-regular basis'... well more than the three times in 14 years we have been to the village pub!

Not a bad view from our 'local'



14 days of... our holiday.

Day One..7 December.. travelled by car to Gatwick and got the evening flight with BA.

And here we have evidence of a tired Col and one of many Gatwick Xmas trees in the background, and then a little reminder of how hard it is for a teenager to put one of the make-up bags in the hold luggage... how long can a girl go without her foundation?

We were amused that all the upgrade seats were full but back in World Traveller (economy / cattle class on any other airline.. don't you just love the class of BA!) we each got 3 seats to sleep in en route. 

Funny though, Colin just put a teeshirt over his head and he was gone, whilst Jordan laid out in an organised fashion complete with hoodie, earphones for iPod and set up the film channel.

Brought to mind the words of Micky Flanagan (and he features a lot in our holiday humour, so apologies now if you've never heard of him... but saying that, if you haven't, look him up., classic comedy)...'kids these days don't know how to chill..' 

And so it began, my holiday spent with blogging going on in the back of my mind, a quiet little voice which I succombed to eventually and put the notes on my phone..