Rich and I are on holiday at the moment in Liguria, North West Italy.  We are staying in Carpasio as usual but we are here on our own for the first time.  It is bliss.  Despite some dismal weather forecasts, so far the weather has held out and we have managed to get out and about as well as lounge about the house, reading and surfing.

We arrived to a rainy Nice on Saturday which was most strange but the bad weather stayed in France as we took the coast road along to Arma di Taggia.  After a supermarket run, we headed up the mountain to Carpasio which stands 775 metres above sea level.

Yesterday we took a drive out to Imperia and generally took things easy.  In the evening, we ate some antipasti followed by mushroom risotto (mushrooms are a regional ingredient).  We played some Scrabble (I lost) and then watched a couple episodes of the first season of The Wire which we brought with us – loving it already!

Today, we had a lazy morning.  I read in bed for a while with the windows open and the sun pouring in.  Once we got ourselves together, we went north and higher up into the mountains to Monesi.  This is a ski-resort so was dead at this time of year but we had heard of some interesting military installations which you could get to from there so we thought we would investigate.  The road which we were told to take to get to the fort was clearly not suitable for normal cars – 4x4s only – and having made that mistake previously, we decided not to risk it.  We parked up and walked up and up for a couple of hours.  Realising we were still no where near the fort, and seeing some ominous clouds coming over, we decided to walk back down to the car and then took the ‘scenic’ route back to Carpasio.

Tonight, we have Genovese Ravioli on the menu and probably more reading / bath / The Wire.  So far we are having the best time.  Ciao for now!

Joan lived with her sister her whole life up until a couple of years ago when Lilian, 10 years her senior, had to move into a care home.  A year later, Lilian passed away, leaving Joan alone for the first time ever.  Joan has coped with this adjustment surprisingly well but it is still not always easy and my parents and my cousin do a lot for her. I felt it was definitely my turn.

After a bit of deliberation about destination (Joan’s choice of Holland was a little ambitious), we settled on North Wales since it is a place Joan spent many happy holidays with Lilian and it is also just a short drive from Manchester.  Joan loves the seaside so we picked a hotel on the water and I was delighted by its views and the general luxury.  If you ever need somewhere to stay in North Wales, I cannot recommend The Quay Hotel in Deganwy enough.  They looked after us without an ounce of condescension and both of our rooms were lovely.

The day we arrived we settled into our hotel rooms and had a rest after the journey. We then had a delicious meal in the sensational Vue Restaurant at the hotel which had impeccable service and breathtaking views of Conwy with its castle and walls one way and Conwy estuary the other way.

We spent the first day in Angelsey, exploring the island and then meeting up with an old family friend of Joan’s.  Di is the daughter of Peggy, an old work friend of Lilian and they have spent many holidays in Beaumaris, staying at Di and Peggy’s house. I was able to go for a swim / sauna / steam room when we got back to the hotel.

The second day we visited Conwy in the morning – borrowing a wheelchair from the hotel was a genius move as we were able to get about a lot easier (giving me some much needed exercise!).  The weather was much more unsettled and fearing a downpour with Auntie Joan stuck in a chair, I got us back in the car and driving through Snowdonia across the beautiful mountains to the west coast and Portmeirion village.  The weather only deteriorated and the rain set in.  We braved the rain (Joan wrapped up in my rain coat and me in my t-shirt!) and pushed our way through the village.  It was quite a relief to get back in the car and returning to the warmth and comfort of the hotel.

Joan shared some fantastic stories about her time in the WAAF (she was so desperate to join during the war that she phoned them to remind them she was old enough).   It was there she learned how to be a telephone operator.  When we returned to her flat after the holiday, she showed me some of her pictures.

She went on to work for ICI for 40 years and then for a shorter time at DITB as a telephone operator, a profession which is now obsolete but she worked in that golden age when people needed someone to connect their call.  I love this poem written in her farewell card when she left her last job at DITB:

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to knit at work?!  It was really nice to get to know Auntie Joan better and learn about her active life which was full of laughs, friends and experiences.

• Surprised Rich with a weekend in Madrid with our very good friends, Caroline and Lee. Had a blast.
• Met my brother in London for lunch on Monday – it was his birthday.
• Had the girls from Sew Make Believe, Caroline, Lauren and Helen, over for movie night.  We watched Australia, drank rosé wine, ate yummy cupcakes and cried our eyes out. And swooned. Did we swoon…
• Went out for a very fancy dinner at Mallory Court for my birthday on Tuesday with rich. Ate a lot of cheese.
• Baked a birthday cake using Caroline’s recipe.  It was a success!!!!
• Toured Villa Park on Wednesday – another birthday surprise for Rich who is not 30 (hee hee).

Have you noticed all the birthdays? Yowza I am tired!

Be a mum
It is something I just know I am meant to do. It may sound naff but there it is. I hope this is sooner rather than later!

Visit all of the six main continents
Whilst I do not see myself making it to Antartica, I do love to travel and visit new places. I have already managed to hit three of the six with Asia, Australia and South America to go.

Master a new language
I initially put ‘learn a new language’ but decided that I would be happy to master one that I have already started to learn, like Italian or Spanish or even perfect my French which is adequate but by no means advanced.

Read War and Peace
It is one of those books that taunts me from the shelf. It seems insurmoutable. I will tackle it one day.

Make a difference
When my number is up, I would like to think that my time on this funny old planet was worthwhile.

• Holidaying in Tenerife with my brother
• Visiting for a weekend in Southend where we managed to visit five different households of friends! God, I miss those guys.
• Writing a proposal for my end-of-course assignment – a screenplay about a house that makes you forget
• Joining a gym! I am determined that I will make 2009 the year that I shift those excess pounds (stones)
• Partying with friends to celebrate our good friend’s 30th birthday – my husband and nearly all his (our) friends turn 30 this year making me feel ancient.
• Having my hair cut and dyed – love the brunette look!
• Being checked over by a doctor as part of a BUPA healthcheck.  So far so good (still waiting for blood tests).

And this week is not really slowing down:

Tonight: Seeing Dirty Dancing in the West End with my good friend from where I used to work, Zoe.
Tomorrow night: Going to a Chocolate and Alcohol an Easter Special cookery demonstration by Jill Brand.
Thursday night: Seeing Death of a Salesman at the Bridge House Theatre in Warwick.
Saturday night: Going to another 30th birthday party

So I might not be around all that much.  Remember you can always catch up with my daily musings at Twitter.

Goodbye Shea Stadium.

I wonder what the new digs are like.  Maybe a little trip to New York is in order?!  A girl can dream…

While I am sunning myself in Tenerife, my husband is freezing his bits off snowboarding in Andorra, which I am sure is lots of fun if you aren´t a complete loser like me – I just knew I would hate it and my lack of co-prdination and my propensity to hurt myself made it a pretty easy decision to forego the trip with our friends and instead I opted for a much more civilised, relaxing week. 

I have just been to El Corte Ingles which is a department store and bought myself a temporary ring to wear on my wedding finger since just before my holiday, I had to take a trip to casualty to have my wedding and engagement rings cut off due to an unfortunate finger-swelling incident.  I was totally gutted to have to do it but it was better than causing my finger any permanent damage.  I have a feeling the swelling may have been Guitar Hero related but that can´t be proved.

Anyway, I will sign off now until I return home which will be Saturday or Sunday (I am staying with friends after getting back from the airport and am not sure when I will go home).

Hasta Luego!

Taken during our trip to the Liguria region of Italy in September/October 2008.

I made the ‘Chocolate Chip’ ones and the ‘Chocolate Bean’ (ie Smarties) ones – I am not sure if they are really good enough to justify the washing up involved (the packs are about as expensive as buying them fresh made from the supermarket) but it was quite fun to make them, even if it was super easy.

I also got together some stuff for the stalls – games, books, ornaments – it feels good to have a clear out of things that are perfectly good but not wanted.  I am quite looking forward to all the Christmas build up.

Rich and I are going to Mildenhall for the weekend so that we can visit the Bury St. Edmunds Christmas Fayre which will get me in the Chrimbo mood.  Rich proposed to me in front of the Abbey Gate there at Christmas time so it will be nice to go back at this time of year.   We are even staying in the same hotel in Mildenhall although we couldn’t get the same suite (the Mallard Suite!) which is a pity since all those years ago, we had our own full size Christmas tree in our room.  I am sure the room we have instead will be equally lovely, though.  The hotel is not ultra-fancy but is has the nicest staff and beautiful surroundings.

Also, Mum and I have booked a day at Blenhiem Palace – we are missing the Living Crafts show but it will still be very festive.  I haven’t been to Blenheim since I was a child, even though I lived about 15 miles from it for 2 years and now work quite closely to it.  Well, I did go and see James Blunt there but that was in the gardens and I didn’t get to see anything of the house.  The home of Winston Churchill, it is beyond handsome.  It is a real English jewel.