365/355 Something I Want..

Hard call this one as in essence I am a very lucky contented bunny.. yes, there are things I would like ..for Christmas..smelly stuff, a wallet and some jewelry.

.. but if I could have anything it would be an uneventful safe arrival of our new grandchild next month ..

..and then in a few years time the opportunity to take all the family back to our little jewel in the Maldives xx

I just saw a travel bucket list and flying over the islands was one of thirty things to do .. the only other one I have been to is Yala National Park in Sri Lanka but to be fair being with wild polar bears or a cable car over the poorest bits of Brazil are unlikely ever to be on my itinerary!

So .. as I said a happy contented bunny, the babes are asleep and even if they wake us up early it's a weekday and it won't feel too hard to get up ... The bigger girls are getting excited now .. awhhh .. we are all kids at heart xx

Story Telling Sunday: Coming Home

So, a moment this evening for Sian's Story telling Sunday over at ..High in the Sky

Back in 2004 when our five children were aged 7 up to 18 we were long overdue for a family holiday. Col had borne the brunt of working up our business for the previous five years and was in need of a get-off-the-world rest and relax.  Having never had a holiday all of us together with children not in need of fetching and carrying, I looked at ski-ing but resolved it was too much of a sport strenuous option (and expensive to kit out seven of us to boot!), then I looked at beachy places but it was going to be long haul to get hot weather in the depth of a European winter.

Colin had harboured a love for the Maldives from his days out there working (yes, working... good work if you can get it!), so I researched some all Inclusive options which turned out favourable vs skiing for seven and we pushed the proverbial boat out and went to Kuramathi in the Maldives.   We got exactly what we needed : sea, sun, sand, snorkelling and so much food and drink it was just what we all needed.

I couldn't believe the blue seas, the amazing coloured fish and mostly that for once all my kids were in the same place at the same time, no teen taxi calls, no school runs, no friends over for tea, just us ! We became a bit of a talking point having an entourage of five children and even the lady in the spa had heard about us.. I nicknamed myself Mrs Von Trapp!

We travelled home on 21st December and arrived in Gatwick amidst carol singers and crowds flying in from Lapland with holiday reps dressed in thick coats and ear muffs...and there we were in board shorts and flip flops!  Quite surreal with a choir singing Silent Night alongside an airport sized Christmas Tree! 

It wasn't easy settling back down to a Cornish winter either as I still felt I should kick into Christmas mode, but kick in we did.  

Some of the people we met on the holiday had a third week booked and we heard from them when they got back... on Boxing Day that same year the Tsunami in Asia occurred and we found ourselves rooted to the TV all day scouring for news of this tiny vulnerable group of islands which had found such a special place in our hearts just a few days earlier.  

 

Some of the islands had suffered badly but our island had flooded pathways and some strange ebbing and flowing of the seas (which Col observed that he would have found very disturbing, either the earth had fallen off its axis or some great earth movement was occurring would have been his first thought!), and was otherwise fine.  It turns out that because the islands are essentially sunken volcanos the tsunami surge went round them with a swell rather than treating the land as a barrier as in Sri Lanka.. any other way would have been devastating as there are no areas more than a metre above sea level... they sure wouldn't have taken some of our English winter gales!

 

We love that place, so much so we have been back several times since and Lisa went there on honeymoon.. just waiting now on the next wedding in the family to see if we can have a communal honeymoon.. any takers kids???!

365/276-7 Still Life - above & below

 Still life.. well I referred to the folders and this is the nearest I can offer. It features a gorgeous cup and saucer and sunglasses with my book of the week on holiday a couple of years ago.. it was a ten day trip with Col on my own, our kind of honeymoon many years late and my 50th rolled into one!

It's funny how that as the evenings pull in and it gets cooler and damper I am thinking about holidays. For years we never managed holidays but after 2004 when we took all five of the kids on a holiday of a lifetime, a sunny warm fortnight has been one of the highlights of our year.. well, to be fair, the highlight of our 18 months!  It was great to take them all and now that we go with only maybe the girls or a smaller contingent it is slightly sad to leave some behind... but still, not sad enough to say no!

It was good of everyone to 'vote' for a holiday or a kitchen, but I think the kitchen / extension will win, mainly as Lisa is due to have the baby in January so I wouldn't want to be away from early Dec onwards, and that is when we usually flit away, plus the girls have college / school exams and maybe this year I should let sense prevail, when in the past I have been known not to be too bothered about that old moan from schools about holidays in term time (we always feel like they have the kids all term and if they haven't got it by now, two more weeks of herding and threatened detentions etc isn't likely to make another grade..) 

Also we have had a grim old porch which was once a lean-to extension kitchen but was condemned when we moved here 15 years ago, hence it becoming a damp but useful porch....housing over the years everything from dogs, kittens and shoes to Xmas Tesco shops and all those bits and bobs like lightbulbs and Lego that you just may need next week!

The last year or so have seen our family gatherings grow again and we want a bigger space to have our family evenings and JB wants more space to bake.. oh and I want more sunshine in my kitchen.. I currently live with the lights on andin winter feel quite S.A.D.!!

Talking of which (JB baking that is!) she made a fab gingerbread today.. and has started herself a baking blog, which she tells me I have to nidge her to complete weekly at least. She so wants to bake for a living, but we are just not sure how it will or can manifest itself.. time will tell and in the meantime she will carry on woth photography and graphics and see how it all pans out..

.. and so today's prompt.. above and below.. sticking with some holiday snaps... perfect for an October evening!....I think they just about cover it..xxxxx

365/275 Wall.

Quick one tonight.. I have hit that physical and mental wall a few times today and it's only Monday. I had a severe weary on this afternoon so we went to Marazion for a walk after work to blow the cobwebs away, worked too, I even cooked proper tea when I got in!

I browsed my photos and thought about including several wall pictures, one from Arras cemetery in France, with the war Memorials as this is a reflective time of year I think for everyone... then I spotted this card, it is on my scraproom wall and reminds me of a time when we had a houseful of teens.. life is easier now, but it is always good to remember, and to remind them too.. but not so much that I would put this where they saw it all the time, I am too nice!

As I am here writing this whilst my wonderful man is on the late night teen taxi run (there, I schmoosed him for being so kind!) I also found this picture of two of the best wall views we know.. the infinity pool and the breakwaters at Kuramathi.. last December.. awhhh, time for a holiday? I know Col really needs a break... nah, that kitchen is going to get built this year and no mistake!

365/208 Infinity.

So the young guns in our office suggested the 8 on its side like several of the others but i was waiting for revelation to occur... and it did.. quick one tonight.. the infinity pool at Kuramathi where we have spent so many hours recouperating from dreary tiring years..

And then you find a picture of where the sky meets the sea but sees to go on and on and on...only the changing blues give you an idea.. 

Out there, even underwater you get a sense of endless blue...

365/184 Shadow

Monday didn't really offer many opportunities for photographing a shadow.. Col had a customer call in the morning so I hung out at the hotel.. a little dose of Jamie's 30 minute meals, some house makeovers and Loose Women... ahh how the other half live, it's been a while since I saw daytime TV!


We headed southwest and met drizzle and miserable weather, so much so we didn't stop to eat til almost five, the sun came out, but to be honest it would take a major heatwave to make the Little Chef we visited worth trying again.  Who said they had changed? Not this one.. so we left without sitting down and it was a  cheese roll from OnTheRun, which wasn't much better in the facility / tidiness stakes... we were so fed up, the UK we encountered was casting its own shadow over the lovely few days we had experienced in France!


I know that the French people we met said the English are always smiling and the French were miserable, so I think it's not so much about the place or the nationality, it's about being away, being 'en vacance' and generally appreciating a change and noticing the good or bad as it strikes you... ( a loo with loo roll all over the floor and out of order signs you wonder will ever change didn't help the UK cause mind you.. so there's the shadow...


 .. but to cheer me up, here's a nice picture.. sun and shadows on a parrotfish!

365/75 Wild!

 Well when I am short of inspiration or anappropriate photo I can always rely on our Maldives holiday pictures and they sure add a perkiness to the day..


... the bananas were growing wild just outside the girls' room just next to ours, and one night there was a huge fruit bat next to it waiting to feed, Kate was up that path so fast!


And the snails lived there too, at night they were out wandering (do snails wander, I wonder?) around but in the daytime they rested in the water-catching well made by the big plant, everything is just so big and grows so easily while at home you need a hot house to even get a potted plant version to thrive!

365/55 Cloud.

Well there was a blanket of it over Cornwall all day today so I toyed with a blank entry or even a 'day off', but I know we have a lot of lovely sky pictures we have taken over the last few years and so I thought I'd share some.

Jordan took this one whilst on a Sail training week, then she Picassed it, showing promise for photography way back then, must have been two or three years ago..

.. but I guess this is one of my favourite recent pics (and I may have posted before) but how many blues can you paint into one picture, only nature itself has the full pallete..

365/22 Glowing!

I know it's a little predictable, but I love the effect a pair of sunglasses over your camera lens can have...

..Kuramathi March 2010..

..thanks to my girl Jordan for the picture..x

Good find..

.. finally getting sorted out after the holiday was followed so closely by Christmas. The large box of Milk Tray discovered beneath a bunch of stuff in the scrap room has been brought downstairs and eaten... not all by me, it didn't last long on the kitchen table though!



So... who ate all the Quavers?



Then I realised that I had not put the photos from our camera on the house computer and found these little gems.. which can't go un-blogged..ok, I promise, last ones!

Our room.. on arrival..awhhh x



Very shallow, so sunny, fish not perfect but that reflection!!



Snorkel buddies..



Not even 'I feel lucky-ed'... but looks like he's in front of a poster!!

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!