Photo blog!!

Welcome to my most peacefull place!!!
These are photos from my hot tub garden room where I commune with the Elements every night sometime after 9pm!!
Sorry for the poor quality but the only light I will allow in my tub room is candle light so I have had to tweek each photo in Corel X to try and make them more viewable.
Ok then...now for some explanation!
Being a Freemason aside for a moment I am basically a very spiritual creature! and I find great beauty, peace and tranquillity in all things of a spiritual nature. The backpacking around Asia in 95'-96' brought this side of my personallity to the fore as I learned about Hinduism, Buddahism, Jainism and many more of the rich religions of this area of the world. Derek would often loose me on days out, but he knew exactly where to find me!! In a temple or in deep conversation with a Sadu (Hindu Holy man) or visiting a Shrine and even just chatting with the local folks. There is a very deep ingrained desire in me to study all that is spiritual (and not just faiths!)l and it is not something I have much control over! This, some would call, strange obsession is only matched by my love of Tudor history which I have adored since childhood...As for my own religion, I am supposed to be a Methodist but I have rarely been to Chaple and I am ashamed to say the last time was my beloved Dads funeral in 2001 as he was indeed a Welsh Methodist which is why I was Baptised in the same faith. However I find certain degees of great knowledge, teaching and beauty in nearly all faiths and spirituallity! and I love this!!
My hot tub garden room represents this side to my nature!!
Here the Elements, of Earth (my birth sign is Virgo which is Earth) Air, Fire and Water converge in harmony with my Spirit and just for a short peacefull time each day, I get to contemplate...........Sorry there are no pictures of me or my hot tub (part of it is visable in one photo, I believe) and this is simply because when its running there is a heck of a lot of steam and my Blackberry is not waterproof!! hehehehe!!! Hope you enjoy them though!!
love and h.g.w Vix

A very special day in June this year was my wedding day!!

At least that is the only way I can descibe my thoughts and feeling and indeed chaos rippling though my very soul in the week leading up to my Raising...by the time the morning came around I was in what I can only describe as a "Masonic tizzy!" as I prepaed myself. The night before I tried some deep transendentle meditation and spent quiet time in my hot tub trying to relax, but it was to no avail...I couldent!! But fortunatly for me, mum had given me some valarien to help me sleep and they worked a treat, I am pleased to say...but as dawn shone over my morning eyes my heart began to pound again in expectation of the specal Lodge that was awaiting me!
It did indeed feel just like wedding neves!!
Having arranged all my things and studying my Ritual book, I made ready with a long bath and took great care in my appearence as I so wanted to look my best, and smartest...I had my good luck chams too!! A small crystal skull fashioned of rose quartz and my Om symbol necklace which I wore throughout my travels around the world. It was silly really because both items did not make it inot the Lodge with me, but it was just for slight comfort on my part.
My fellow betherin were as excited as me, which calmed my nerves a little when I arrived at our Lodge and when the time came in Open Lodge I was asked by my R.W.M to leave and make ready. With shaking hands and a very nervous smile I saulted and exited. My hands were all over the place as I tried to get into what I call my pyjama garb (much like I wore for my Initiation and my F.C.) and Brother Gwen helped me with rolling up of sleves and straightening the material. I do hope she dident think I was odd, but the usual chatty me had vanished and I found myself unable to speak for some reason as we made ready. When I was bid to enter the Lodge for the second time I was quite taken aback because it was in compleate darkness! I could not even make out the faces of my betherin, and the only light was coming from a tiny book torch that was held by my R.W.M and this was indeed my guide.
I was about to recieve much more beautiful light!!!
The very air arround me was sizziling with electricity!!! I could almost smell the charge!!! much like the metallic smell you get just before a huge thunderstorm. There was somekind of etheric beauty about it...it held me in its gentle bubble and I was much transfixed. As I took my O. I tried my very hardest to keep my voice strong and true but during seveal places my words were broken with emotion and I was momentarily terrified that I was going to cry...fortunatly I could feel the confort of the V.S.L. benith my hands which were far too warm to feel normal.
Drama followed....and then the most beautiful peace overcame me. Never in my whole life have I actually felt so relaxed!! and I suddenly remembered another brn telling me "you might fall asleep!" and he was right!! I was indeed so happily relaxed I could have fallen asleep very easily, but I took time to enjoy the moment which was truely awesome!! Then when the time came I was Raised by my R.W.M And quite suddenly I felt like an entirely new person!! The old Vicky Short was left behind like some ghost of a bad dream gets left behind when we wake. I felt truely renewed and as Bro John recited the Charge from compleat memory, which in itself is an awesome feat. In fact I just wanted to throw my arms around everyone to share the botherly love I was feeling at that moment. I can honestly say never before in my life have I felt like that and it was so very wonderfull!!
Now I have a problem though....our Lodge does not sit again untill October and I can't wait to get back!!! Fortunatly the lovely Bro Sally has come to my rescue and invited me to London for...guess what??? A Raising!! in September!! I only hope with all my heart that the bro being Raised has the same beautifull feelings I had!!
Guess what again???
I have aleady booked my coach ticket!! *winks*

A NEW brother Vicky!!...

....now the work begins.............

Please do some reasearch if you are considering buying these!
In the research I have tried to do I have come across a dead end as regards to any GENUINE customer reviews. Simply put, there are very few genuine customer reviews on the net, which leads me to think that there is somthing a bit suspicious about the marketing of this product. Try it for yourself!! Type Meratol into Google and you will see hundereds of results that all say "reviews" and "real customer comments" but scratch the surface of these results and all you will get is adverts for the pills and links leading back to the Meratol website. I think after scrolling through several thousand of these results I only found ONE PAGE of what appeared to be genuine customer reviews. Somehow I believe these web comments are being tightly controlled by the makers of this diet pill. (also the makers of Capsiplex)
Now onto the product itself!
I ordered mine a week ago and have followed all the instructions to the letter, and the only pounds I have lost are money ones! In short they have not worked for me, and have proved to be a huge waste of time and cash! Now I may have somthing wrong with me that is stopping these amazing pills from working? Maybe I am stuffing my face? or taking no excersise?? Answers to these is NO! I have been following a strict fruit and veg diet and walk my dog for excersise (I also have a stationary bike I use an hour a day too!) and if I take these company claims of "3-5lbs per week" I should have indeed lost at least 3lbs, but I have not...not an ounce!! But that is not saying that these pills will not work for anyone. They may indeed work for some people but unfortunatly not for me. But at £30 a bottle (a weeks shopping for me!) they are far too expensive to deliver zero results! In fact I think their claims are so outlandish and OTT considering there is not one bit of scientific evidence to back them up, are just stupid! If these tablets are anything at all they are a FOOD SUPPLIMENT!! Now I may be silly but thats a lot of money to pay for a food suppliment!
Basically there is only one way to loose weight. Diet and excersise!! Your calorie intake must be less than the calories your using!
And if you are considering trying these pills do your own research, and see for yourself!
I would love to say this product helped me lose 30 lbs!! But I can't, as I have not!
The only pounds I have lost are from my purse!!
Hope this has been helpfull!

Earlier this year my tent loving husband said something very surprizing to me!!

"I think we maybe getting a little to old for tents!!"

This had really taken me aback!! Was I hearing right??? was this the man who took me trekking and camping on possible the world highest camp site?? Everest base camp!! Was this the man who dragged me around China by the scruff of my backpack, camping??? (even though camping is very frownd upon by the PSB or Chinese police)...well I coulden't believe my ears!! My Derek was finally admitting old age is ever creeping on, and its time to ditch the 4 dome and tunnel tents we have (of varying sizes!) ??? I must admit I do like my creature comforts these days, but I actually like camping and to be put in view of the end of the lane, camping wise, by my tent obsessed beloved, was very surprizing indeed!! My eyebrows were, indeed raised!!
Over the 18 years we have been together, if we could make camp in it?? WE DID!! in all sizes of tents, from the tiny storm expedition tent (that cost the most of all!!) we used in Nepal, China, Tibet and various other places...to a huge 6 man Outwell tent, which is our latest and even has the luxury of its very own carpet!! But this practially blew down in gales we had about 3 years ago. Steadily I was realising our camping style had gone from the very basic to "GLAMping!" with the big tent including tv and dvd, a fully equipt kitchen and masses of storage space!! In retrospect, this was a sign of the getting old bit that I was reluctant to admit too, but dont we all like a wee bit of luxury as the years pass upon us?? I think we do...but for me its still hard to accept that perhaps our camping days maybe over!!
Now Derek is somthing of a "camping snob!!"
He absolutly despises caravans! (well execpt the Gypsy one we have booked for next year)
I had first noticed this when we made camp next to a pub in Rowsely, Derbyshire on our training hike in '93...After 10 miles that day I was begging to stop and a pub we came upon had, what looked like, a delightful camp site. As we found a suitable spot I began to arrange our pitch as Derek popped into the pub to pay the manager for our tent for the night. As I was feeding the flexi-poles into the inner tent I heard a woman, screech!!!!
"You can't pitch that "thing" here!!! This area is caravans only!! you will have to move or I will inform the manager!!"
How indigantly rude was this woman?
I watched her sat on the steps of her immaculate white, spotlessly clean caravan and glared at me!!! I glared back and said nothing...I simply gave this nasty bitch a filthy look and lit a ciggie, while deliberatly blowing smoke in the direction of her pristine van. I had figured that with an attitude like hers she must be part of the intolerent anti-smoker brigade!! To my relife I saw Derek striding across the field to me! only to see another short fat bloke following him waving his arms. It was the red faced, obese manager saying the same thing as the woman had but much more politly!!
We had to move our partly pitched tent to a noisey spot near the road!! Neither of us were happy!!
Derek was furious!! and since that evening I have noticed that he really does have a wrathfull hate for caravaners!!!
If we ever get stuck behind one on the road, my usual polite husband becomes an aged yob, compleate with a string of 4 letter expleaives!! He has some kind of inherent, absolute hatred of caravaners!! I find it quite amusing really....hehehehe....readers of my bolg will remember a couple of years ago I tried to persuade him to hire a motorhome for our holiday. But Derek even managed to weedle his way out of this one by booking the remote stone cottage in Snowdonia!! Behind my back!! Initially I was angry but when it came to the holiday, I was pleasently surprized by the cottage! It was cosey, warm and VERY remote, perched on the very side of Moel Sibod mountain!! However, I have spent far too many childhood holidays in that area of Wales to find it even remotely interesting!! I spent almost all week giving Derek directions on my well trodden roads of my youth! I had revenge though by spending an absolute fortune in Bets-y-coed on 2 pairs of Ugg hiking boots and an Ugg bag!!
Well this morning my travel Muse (wonders if, of the 9 Muses was there one for travel?) was certainly sat, comfortably on my shoulders and inbetween bouts of house work I surfed the net and came upon "folding trailer tents" and watched a couple of videos of them and their set-up on YouTube! I was amazingly surprized how superb they are!! and may give the answer to our age'd camping woe's!! They are easy to set up and the intierior can be very luxurious even! For a moment I thought, what a perfect solution. Derek still has a beloved tent!! but its on wheels and folds out into a delightful camper!! Now if he goes for the idea, all well and good! But if he dosen't, Im stuffed as this is probablly the last idea, tent wise!! My only concern is will Derek be able to tow a trailer??
When I was still only about 10 years of age, my parents bought a small 4 berth caravan and my dad, who was a truck driver, even had problems getting used to towing somthing, even though it was not that big! As I remember it took about a year for him to get used to it and feel confident towing the thing. Now Derek has never towed anything in his life, so I am unsure how he will take to this........
Anyway this idea is for the far distant future as our next holiday plans are set, as my readers will know...this is for perhaps a couple of years down the line when we really are getting to the "doddering old git" stage of our lives!! lol!!! I would love to do tours of whiltshire and the stone circles and ley lines of the south of England! Avebury jumps to mind here!! But I would also love to tour Scotland where I am ashamed to admit I have not visited much, and it always looks so awesomly beautifull in the Highlands!! Crikey that would be a heck of a drive from here, so perhpas I should consider passing my driving test!! *shudders" But at least if I could drive, I could give Derek a break!! That certainly happened when we went boating on the Norfolk Broards! Derek found, to his horror, that he was useless at stearing so I had to drive the boat all week, much to his delight as he could drink at lunchtime!!...He has suggested doing boating again...mmmmmm...maybe we will, if he dosn't like the folding trailer tent idea!!
I shall see what persuasion techniques I can endevor to use on him!!
:)

my Masonic Raising blog is still to come so please watch this space!! Love Vix :)

For tomorrow..............................

Our supper last night came care of my new, pyramid, chiminea and gorgeous fluffy jacket potatos!! I have no idea what it is about jackets cooked in a real fire but they certainly do taste exceptionaly good!! Even Derek was impressed!! So much so he joked "We must take the chiminea with us when we do our gypsy caravan hoiday!" Now I had found this little gem last week while searching for ever more interesting "dog friendly" holidays!!
Years ago, when I was about 10, there was a childrens drama on TV that had me compleatly hooked! It was called "Kizzy!" and followed the story of an orphaned Gypsy girl who was left alone and helpless by the sad death of her grandmother. In the story, when the grandmother died she was given a traditional gypsy service where her beloved caravan was burnt to the ground. Now poor Kizzy who is bullied by the local school kids, really is having a hard time trying to fit in, and when she is made homless she is sent to live in a proper house. But all Kizzy wants is to be able to live a "traditional" life in her very own Gypsy caravan. As she is pennyless and helpless she realises this is only a dream. In the final episode all her school friends ( who have stopped bullying her when the teacher gave them a fascinating lesson about Gypsy life!!) have clubbed together to raise funds so that Kizzy can have her own caravan!! In the final scene Kizzy is lead out into a garden where there is the most beautifull, brightly painted caravan all of her own, compleate with a gorgeous chubby white pony!! I cried when I watched this last episode as Kizzy realises her dream, and since then I have always wanted to stay in a traditional caravan....but to date I have not!!!...This, however is about to change! As I woke this morning at about 7:30am and Derek called me into his office. Bleary eyed and pulling my dressing gown on, I asked what he wanted, but he just grinned and pointed to his computer moniter. And there it was in black and white!! Our confirmation for our Gypsy caravan holiday, next year!!! I was extatic!!!!!!



And as an added bonus its not too far from Bath so I will be able to go back to the Thermae Spa for more of that pampering I so loved on our last holiday!! As well as showing Derek around Cardiff, where my dad was born!! The half Welsh side of me is never far from the surface!! But when I found this awesome holiday I was very dismayed that it was almost completly booked solid untill December this year, so when I first showed it to Derek I had said "if you do decided to book it do it quick as its all booked up and looks amazingly popular!!" Derek had given me a look that said "I know your travel agent selling waffle!" so I just said "by the way this is Vicky talking and NOT the travel agent!!" Sometimes Dereke never forgets the close bond with my job! Anyway its all booked and done now so for several months at least I have lots to look forward too!!!
Love and happy travels!! x

On a chilly, October evening in 1993, I met the man of my dreams, leaning over the bar at the Melbourne arms in Duston, just a short way from the pub I was running at the time, the Rifle Butt (now called The Hart of Duston)...I had, had 3 or 4 pints of Holstien and was more tired than tipsey and was on the very verge of going home, until I spotted one of my regulars, Brain, grinning at the bar and beconing me over. To be polite more than anything I took my pint and joined him at the bar, but still preparing myself to order that taxi back to my pub... About 15 feet down the bar from me was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen in my life!!!! Drinking and laughing with friends. He was over 6 feet tall with gentle brown curly hair and silver rimmed glasses framing intelligent blue eyes...without thinking I abruptly said to Brain "Good grief that is such a gorgeous guy!!!"
"Who!" Brian asked, and I pointed down the bar only o be rewarded wih peels of giggly laughter from Brian!
"whas so funny!" I asked, indignantly.
"Thats my cousin Derek!! and if you can hook him girl, you have got the richest guy in Duston!!"
"Sod the cash!!" I answered, dreamily...."He is amazing looking!!"
Brain was making to shuffle on his feet and announced...
"I will introduce you!!"
Horror struck I grabbed his arm and held him firmly. "Nooooooo!!!" I realised I was shaking "Dont!! I dont know him!!" and without another word I darted to the ladies and sat on the loo, lighting a cigarette with shaky hands. I was right!! I should have gone home. Perhaps the strong lager was having its effect on my brain. Vicky your making a fool of yourself!!! I berated myself. Several minuits later I left the toilet only to come face to face with Brian happily chatting to my Mr Gorgeous!! It was one of these "ground, open and swallow me now" moments and I felt my cheeks flushing furiously.
"Vicky!! this is my cousin!!" Brain beamed
"Derek!" mr gorgeous said in a very gentlemany voice. He extended his hand and I shook it, causiously "can I get you a drink?" he grinned a wonkey toothed smile a me. I dident feel like anoher pint so I opted for a bottle of lager instead, which he ordered while I took stock of this new handsome man. He was wearing a T shirt over a sweatshirt. It was as if he was showing off his t shirt which said "Singha Beer, Bankok!"....as we chatted it turned out to me that he was somekind of obsessive adventurer! At first I was delighted as he told me about the amazing adventures he had been on....cycling across the full length of Canada, cycling on the Great Wall of China and various hiking trips in China and Tibet. I was absolutly fascinated as I had never met anyone who had done anything as exciting as this before and I found myself asking many questions...but then the bombshell dropped.........
" Next year I am planning a two year trip around south east asia!" He announced quite suddenly. My heart sank a million fathoms..........Typical!! I was thinking...just my freaking luck...I had only just got over falling for my very closetted friend who I ran the pub with and now I meet a lovely bloke who is a obsessive traveller!! Time had been called and I slid of my bar stool to go and phone for my cab. Quite tiddled, I gave this new man a small kiss goodbye and said goodbye to Brain, and sulkily I made my way outside to wait for the taxi. Oh well! I thought, back to realtiy.
Only a couple of days later though, and much to my unexpected delight, that new, but now familier face suddenly appeared at my bar!! I asked Tracey, one of my barmaids, if she could finish my lunchtime shift for me, for which I was greatfull she said yes, and Derek and I drove back to the now very quiet Melbourne arms for a drink. A week or so passed before I realised that we were actually courting, after two trips to the pictures and a couple more drinking sessions. Things in my professional life, however were moving at top pace and so was I...moving that is...I moved from the Rifle Butt to the White Horse at Kingsthorpe, about 10 minuits drive away and this was to be my very first "relife" managers job I was to do. Derek was on hand to help me move my things to the new pub, but as it was on a main road and parked at the curb, he almost got a parking ticket while trying to unload my things from his brand new, red Vuxhaul Belmont...the new pub was a doddle to mangage as it was so very quiet. There was no lunctime menu and no kitchen apart from my little kitchen upstairs and I was lucky if I was to sell 3 pints of a lunchime. I had been for-warned that it was quiet, by Andy, my area manager. But with my blossoming new relationship, I was greatfull. I had arranged to have an evening off one Thursday as I had some staff cover, and I had asked Derek over so he could sample my cooking and to have a night in. I was downstairs in the bar when he arrived, brandishing a carrier bag. For our dinner I cooked us seak, jacket potato and a tossed salad to share as well as a bottle of wine, of which I drank most because Derek was driving. While I cooked dinner Derek began to lay out somthing on the table that he had, had in he carrier bag. It appeared to be lots of ivory white tiles with Chinese leters on them.
"Its Mahjong!!" He explained "I thought I would teach you how to play!"
Well this was certinly an amusing slant on the evening, and an enjoyable one too as he taught me how to collect as many "winds and dragons" to get big point scores and I even managed to beat him on a couple of occasions. But this first evening was to set a presedent for a years worth of evenings off, which, if we were saying in, we would play mahjong and he would bring his photo albums of his travels so I could have a look at them. We dident always stay in though. On the final week of my relife Derek and are were due to go back to the Melbourne for drinkies. As my pup dident even have a car park, he had to park in he carpark of the pub oppesite mine, across the road. It was on one pertiucular evening that he was carrying a large brown envelope that looked rather bulkey. As I trotted after him, across the busy road I asked him what it was and he just turned back and smiled at me saying I would find out when we get to the car. I got in and he passed the thick brown envelope to me...I must have looked at him baffled as he just said "well open it then!!" like it was a present. His smile was mischievous to say the least. Carefully I pulled out the wad of A4 paper the envelope contained and found it to be page after page (about 30 in all) of a very detailed itinarary for a 2 year trip around asia. I looked at him....was he teasing me??.....this was the trip he had talked about the night we had met...
"Will you come with me???" he said
Without a seconds thought on my part I squeeked "YES!!!" and flung my arms around him.
But I really should have though about it!! We opted to go for a drink at a pub in Kingsthorpe village so I could study this more carefully, and we could talk about this, but I was far too excited to be thinking rationally. Two days later I was brought back down to earth with a heavy bang, thanks to my mum. During a quiet period during lunchttime I scuttled off upstairs to phone her and tell her what had happened......
"Your GOING TO DO WHHHHAATT!!!!" my mother screamed down the phone! "I have never heard of anything so stupid!!!" she carried on with a heavy smattering of 4 letter expleatives! "you hardly know the bloke" she continued saying that for all I knew Derek was the mad axe murderer of Northampton!! I have never heard hre shout so much since I was little and it was so loud I had to hold the reciever away from my ears by about a foot. When mum did eventually meet Derek some months later her opinion of him had altered dramatically. She adored him!! His mother, however, a strict tiny red headed Irish Catholic, instantly took a dislike to me, mostly to the fact that I am not a Catholic, but a baptised Methodist. Somehow she would always show her disaporval of me during sunday lunches when I was invited around there. Dereks auntie Kitty was much more welcoming and we got along splendidly. His mothers opinion of me never changed though, sadly. To her I was a gold digging tart who ran a bar (which may as well have been a brother for all the way she carred on!!) and the distaste was always heavy in her eyes and manner. She was to die while we were in Kerala, India in 2000.....
And so the preparations for our trip began in earnest, a year in advance! Our departure date was set for the 3rd of January 1995!!
London Heathrow to Bombay (Mumbai as i is known now)
First off Derek leant me a ton of books on travelling. Mostly Lonely Planet guides. and he asked me to study them carefully. By spring 1994 I was to find myself in White and Bishop out door shop trying on my very first backpack! A green a lilic "Lady Equador 60 litre" Back at my new pub, The Wheatsheaf at Dallington I had tried it on in front of my bathroom mirror and tried my hardest to look like a backpacker. I just looked daft, I concluded. My boots were got for me by a regular, from a factory shop at cut price. Brasher size 4 hiking boots, which I wore while I was working, everyday, to wear them in. Most of the regulars thought it was hyserically funny that I was going off to exotic climes!! For this I earned the nick-name "Yakkie!!" a micky take of cross between my name, Vicky and the animal of Tibet, the Yak! I took it all in good fun. I had too!! They were the ones puting money in my tills!!! By summer I had a week off booked as Derek has suggested going hiking in Derbyshire as a kind of training trek in preparation for doing the Everest base camp trek. I eagerly agreed but I really had no idea what Dereks type of hiking was...bloody hard work!!...I had convinced myself it was just going to be a "walk in the park" so to speek. But it was nothing of the sort. On the very first day of our trip I hauled on my brand new backpack at Buxton train station and to my horror I almost toppled over backwards with the weight of it. How the hell was I going to carry this around Derbyshire??? let alone the Himalayas!! I was begining to get my first incling of what I HAD let myself in for. After a couple of miles walking just outside Buxton I began to feel quite pleased with myself only to have my confidence suddenly shattered as the ground benith my feet vanished, only to become a very steep, almost vertiacally sided dale!! I scrambled about clumsily grasping anything I could ballance myself with and this was perhaps the first time Derek had ever heard me swear!! He was to hear me swear much more on our trip. However, after scrabbling about for about an hour I reached the bottom, where bumble bees were buzzing around the wild flowers in the sunshine. My legs wer burning with pain and it was nearly 6pm!! we had been walking for 5 hours!! and I was exshausted!!! Derek on the other hand looked so glum when I sat on a large rock and announced that I was "knackered!" while rummaging around in my backpack for a quater of a bottle of vodka I had smuggled on our trip. I greedily gulped it down, in the early evening sunshine, and lit a fag as I lazily watched a hurd of cows following our path through Deep dale (that was actually the name of the dale) Derek was miffed as he had planned to go on for another 4 miles. Heck!! was he kidding!???? he may have been used to it but I wasent, and the walking that week was to get much worse. We agreed to disagree and made our way to the nearest village, Chelmorten and a little pub there. Derek had found a spot not far from the pub, in a small thicket, where we could pitch his tiny, Vango tent. Unhappily I helped if only to appear usefull, but I just wanted to get back to the small village pub and have an evening meal as the walk and indeed the inpromptu swig of vodka, had indeed made me very hungry!! I got back first and ordered us a pint each and Derek appeared soon after and together we persued the menu. When we got back to the tent that night I stupidly realised I had never slept in a tent in my whole life and I suddenly felt vulnerable. But Derek helped me to snuggle down and as I settled down to sleep in this tiny cramped tent I heard a snuffling and a sniffing sound outside and breifly became nervous. By morning I realised the noises were coming from a lone cow and a donkey in the same field!! The rest of the week was bloody hard work, I can tell you!! My legs and hips ached in places I dident even know I had "places" and my feet burned. By day 3 Derek was pushing me hard at 12 miles a day, hiking and several times I was nearly in tears but was determained to hide this from him. My abillity to do this trip was the only thing between me and his trip of a lifetime, and if I showed him I was incapable of doing it, I was terrified he would withdraw his offer....so I trundled on after him, stairing at his ever padding boots, farm after farm and mile after mile. My theme for the week was "Things can only get better!" by D-ream!!
The final day we conqured Lose Hill and Mam torr, but coming down from Mam tor I felt a crack in my knee and almost collapsed. My knee had packed up and I had to limp the rest of the way to Speedwell cavern and the bus stop. Derek dident offer much sympathy as he had planned to camp that night, but I was desperate for a knee bandage and a real bed!! We got the bus to Bakewel and booked into a small b and b there! Relife at last. On this first trip Derek and I had seen each other in the raw light of day!! I saw his passion for hiking and in me he saw a lazy mare who moaned at the slightest incline...but we were learning from each other...and the next week I was back at work...thankfully!
My birthday came and went and very soon the nights were drawing in and it was November. I was rubbing my hands to keep them warm while I took the pub shutters off every morning and just wishing the 5th of January would come faster, and I could feel sunshine on my skin.
Derek and I went back to Warrington at Christmas to spend it at my mums. However Derek was to go back to Northampton and sell his new car shortly before new year so we had arranged to meet at Northampton station on the 2nd of January as his friend was giving us a lift to Heathrow on the morning of the 5th. We spent our last ngiht at his friends house, cramped together in a single bed. Just before we settled I got out and had a ciggie, blowing smoke out of the window. Adventure lay in the future and there was no turning back.....
As we hurried through check in that fatefull morning, and then hurried even faster to the gate I caught a glimps of our gleaming while Singapore Airlines 747 sitting on the tarmac waiting for us....something inside me snapped as Derek ushered me along.
Hot tears began to sting my eyes as the full thought of what I was about to do, suddenly dawned on me. ANYTHING could happen to us out there!!! and by the time we were edging nearer to our seats at the back of the aircraft I was crying like a baby...I have no idea if it was fear, but it certainly felt as if somthing was ending...What I failed to realise as we sored over the white cliffs of England, was after an ending, there is always a new begining...what worried me was, would I like this next chapter of my life???

My new conservatory is FINSHED!!! And the long wait for my very first spa in said conservatory is TONIGHT!!!
a lovely chap called Barry came on saturday evening and finished things off and by monday I was putting the finishing touches to my new spa area!! This includes various Moroccan lanterns, Chinese "lucky" wall hangings and even a couple of Nepalese torans, mainly for decoration but doubling for some extra privacy so I can still use the jacuzzi in the nude!! Also my woven bamboo curtains are back up too and the whole thing has a weird 5 star hotel feel to it...with a very confused intierior designer (me) using furnishings from all around the world. Quite simply I wanted it to reflect mine and Dereks global wanderings, over the years, and in a bit of a slap dash way, I have achieved it!!! Yesterday, mum and I went town and I got some last minuite bits and peices to finish off the final look I wanted! We got a cab to TK Max and we had a mooch about in there for a while but mum began to feel ill so we got a cab home, early...then at 4pm the half moon table I had ordered 2 weeks ago arrived, so I have set it next to the jacuzzi draped in Balinese batik cloth, and it fits in wonderfully!! Today I have been landscaping the garden and patio area (with much back ache!) and I have ordered a chiminea for the patio and sorted out my tomato and strawberry plants, and I must say I am very happy with the way its turned out. Hopefully sometime soon Derek and I can enjoy jacket spuds for supper from the chiminea and have a long bubble session in my hot-tub-uzzi!! Yipppeeeeeeeeee!!! I joked yeserday to mum and said all I need now is a hunky waiter to bring me my wine while I bask in the tub!!
hehehehehe.......wishfull thinking!!! :)

more to follow.................

So today Kate McCann, mother of missing toddler, Madeline, has had her book (the same name as the child) published!!
What next eh??....a film, McCann designer childrens clothing??...I am very sorry to say that Kate McCann has turned the disapearence of her daughter into a BRAND!!! and in the worst possible, shameless taste!! I just can't get my head around what it "is" with this woman!!?? She claims that all the proceedes from the book will go to the fund to find Madeline!!...Errr YEAH RIGHT!! Both WHSmiths and Waterstones have slashed the price by half in a bid to shift it from their shelves! To be honest here, I would not buy it if it were 10p!! let alone £10!!! I don't wish to sound nasty, but what the hell is she thinking?? Does being parents of a missing toddler warrent celebrity status now?? Apparently so!! But personally I think this pathetic self promotion is sick!! and this is "supposed" to raise awareness of abducted children...sheesh!!! give me a break!! Mrs McCann has said she will not be doing celebrity "style" signings of her book, fearing she will be attacked, which seems to scream "guilty" to me as in she is free to write about it and have it published, but she wont show her nose to promote it...perhaps she thinks she dosen't need too? But more likley its because she is a very smart woman and does realise the public's feelings about her daughters mysterious vanishing....and now she writes to our PM to ask that the "Maddie files" be reopened to which Mr Cameron has agreed!!! Errrrrrrr 'scuse me Mr Cameron, but haven't you got more important things to be doing than wasting time backing an investigation that has remained unsolved for 4 years!!
Its a sad fact of life in the 21st century, that the parents of a missing child see themselves as celebrities, and the British people are being bottle fed by the media, such rubbish!! If Kate McCann has any decency about her she would withdraw this book from sale, and walk the earth from end to end, search every needle in a haystack and untill she was barefoot, broke and bleeding to find that child...Because if I had a child that had vanished, I would do just that!!! and I certainly wouldn't show my scrawny, self pitting mug, on tv, in newspapers and glossey mags...if it was me I would do one thing!! SEARCH!!! not engage in blatently ugly self promotion!! Self promotion should be left to admirable people who have actually got talent or have done somthing note-worthy!! Can someone please tell Kate McCann this???
Ego is a very ugly disease!! and I am sorry to say this woman is suffering from it, badly!! Just do a google image search wih her name and watch as countless, carefully posed, pity loaded pictures of her pop up!!
I would not wish what the McCanns have gone through, on my worst enemy...but there is somthing about this story that has never added up. I just wish poor Madeline had appeared safe and well 4 years ago...and not see her mother on my tv anymore!!

Sorry...I am just a moaning old git!! *winks*

The weather is amazing at the moment ( slightly cooler today) for this time of year, so I have been hurridly getting my gardening done! Last weekend I put some plants in and used some of last years compost, only to discover,to my horror, about 70 vine beetle lavae squirming around in the soil!! Arrrgh!!! Beasties!!...these guys absolutly love climbing plants, of which I have planted a veritablet ton of! So I had to carefully scoop them out and Iam not so sorry to say they ended their short lives as birdy snacks on my bird-table. Not cruel!!Just giving nature a helping hand and the birds are feeding young at the moment and will be greatfull for the extra protien in the lavae!!
On a lighter note my tomato plant seedings have just broke the surface and sprouted, to my delight. But I am still waiting for the billion other seedlings I have propagated in trays in the garden,they should only be a few days behind. They are nearly all hardy climbers including sweetpeas, black eyed Suzans, and Morning Glory (blue/purple trumpet) as I intend to get them to climb over the consevtory as a kind of floral camoflage and for added privacy. I have already added a bamboo curtain for privacy, but I think it will look nicer with the plants.....And its not all gardening either!! Today I am sorting out my black slate pyramid garden fountian (water feature, but I hate that term!) and it will spend the summer on my patio next to the open doors of the conservatory. My collection of garden birds which briefly departed during the construction of said conservatory, have now returned in abundance and are enjoying feeding, drinking and bathing at the back of my garden. The blackbirds and a couple of the Wood Pidgeons have been hopping up to the conservatory to have a closer look out of curiosity I think.
When the weather is nice during the summer(and I do say "when") Derek and I eat alfresco in the garden either on my garden dinning set or picnic syle on a blanket on the grass. However, I have to be carefull though as I have a nasty allergic reaction to garden grass! But for the Royal wedding ( a week tomorrow) mum is coming for lunch and if the weather allows, we shall eat outside. Why not BB-Q I hear you ask???? Well thats simple!!I FREAKING HATE BARBEQUES!!!!!!!! They stink, fumes give me asthma, and under cooked food causes food poisoning!! and yet much to my annoyence as soon as blue skies appear we get the stink of barbeque fumes wafting down our avenue!! and unfortunatly my immiedate neighbours are huge fans of said smelly, offensive outdoor cooking!! ...I just dont get it!!! Its far easier (and less smelly for others) to cook your food indoors and then eat outside!! Makes perfect sense to me!! and besides, who in their right mind wants hot food in hot summer weather anyway??? Salad is the thing for summer, methinks!! and Derek makes a wonderfull mixed salad!! and I make my own homemade potato salad and bingo!! The perfect summer lunch!! mmmm...... smoked salmon tureens with cream cheese are bouncing to mind here, as is warm, crusty French bread and a crisp white wine!!
*is making self hungery*
If you are planning a barbeque, please be considerate!!
Not everyone is a fan of barbeques and if my neighbours "spark up" while I have fresh washing on my line I will end up with a full load of washing stinking to high heaven of bbq fumes and will have to do the whole lot again!!! I would love it if my neighbours would just pop around and warn me of impending bbq session so I could bring my washing in and close my patio doors...but sadly the only warning I get is loud voices, squarking kids and the inevitable drifting of fumes and smoke into my garden.
*calmly sips tea as moan over with*
Really looking forward to my hot tub tonight!! *grinns* x

Heck!!!
Has i really been a week since we came back from Dorset???
Dosen't time fly??
Well the week in question was not very eventfull...it saw me back at the dentist have a check up and x-rays (I have had so much radiation recently I am glowing!!) only to be told to stop smoking (Yeah right!!!) and I need 7 fillings, a root canal and a possible extraction of one of my back molars! Lovely!!! and all this is to be done in a space of 3 months of 3 appointments. Emmm somtimes I wish I had false teeth!!....and I was back at the dentist yesterday but this time with mum who was having a new plate fitted for her dentures. Also it saw me and mum doing a drug swap with my left over ulcer tablets and some buscopan for half a box of zopiclone!! Hehehehehe!! not many folks can say they do drug deals with their 77 year old parents!! ...anyway, later we had a brief trip into the Weston Favell centre and then got the bus back to her house where Derek was waiting for us in the car.
In other news, I am getting very impatient for my conservatory to get tiled so I can fianlly set up my garden spa room!! Sadly, I must wait another 3 weeks for the consevatory to "settle" but I dont see any harm in taking a trip to the tile showroom today and pick out the ones I want and ask if they can recommend a local tiler...Now as I have a spacific look in mind for my spa room, I wanted lots of plants, but unfortunatly chlorine fumes kill plants so I am looking now at getting some flase folieage. I was not prepared, however, for the huge cost of false folieage!!! for some reason I was thinking it would be rather cheep but how wrong I was. Just for a med sized false tree type plant I was looking at £50!!!!!!! so I may well have to re-plan. I have begun to used jasmine spa oil in the tub and it zapps the chlorine smell wonderfully but I suppose real plants would still not like the fumes. I managed (stupidly) to kill a Bamboo plant I had when I placed it next to my spa!! Oh well, lessons learned and all that.........
back soon! x

Finally time came around to the holiday. Our holiday to be precise, which I have been whittering on about for at leat a year, both on here and on facebook....I had chosen our cottage about a year previous, from a website called "Classic Cottages" with the main attraction being the fact this one had a whirlpool bath and its very own private, heated swimming pool. Coupled with these things and the fact that I spent 2 days at the Thermae Spa in Bath, brought me to the conclusion of what I should call this entry, as I have never in my whole life spent a holiday emerced in so much H2O at any one time!!! Ok so we have stayed in some pretty awesome places with pretty awesome swimming pools (Bali, Indoniesia, bounces to mind here!) but frankly the places we visited were far more interesting than lounging about in some hotel pool all day! This holiday, however, was certainly a break from the norm, and I love every second of it!!
We took a lazy drive west on that Friday morning and dident reach our cottage untill about 5pm. Situated between the sleepy villages of Chetnow and Lewis, this place was idyllic! I kept telling myself that I would take lots of photos and video of the place, but sadly, I forgot, as it was so lovely!! It was a split level barn conversion with a very spacious lounge and open plan kitchen upstairs and the bathrooms and bedrooms down stairs...we were met by a jolly, weathered looking lady called Carol, who kindly showed us around and explained that she owned the 3 surrounding fields so Sirius was practially free to walk anywhere!! The upstiars living area also boasted its own wooded balcony which afforded lovely views across the countryside. It was gorgeous and I felt instantly at home! When she left us, Derek took Sirius for his long awaited walk while I sorted out our stuff and put the kettle on as I was gasping for a cuppa....Our drive had taken us through some of the lovelyist countryside I have seen since Derbyshire, and Derek had also took the route which brought us to the majestic Cheddar gorge. A place I have not visited since childhood.
This is a short, if albeit rather boring video of our drive through Cheddar gorge. I must appologise for the sound quality of the annoying car stero! My old phone picked out sounds better than my new Blackberry! Also ignore me singing at the start, but I was in a very good mood.
Also....lets play spot the Dalek!!!



Did you see my little black Dalek???

We had a cuppa when Derek and Sirius got back, and we continued to settle in. That evening I slipped into the whirpool bath, but was quite surprized at how gentle it was. The jets barely rippeled the surface of the water, but it was soothing and relaxing all the same and I added some fresh jasmine bath salts for a bit of aromothearpy touch to it. Lets face it though, I am very spoiled with my home hot tub (spa) and I had to keep it firmly in mind that this was indeed a whirlpool bath and not my home hot tub, with its hot, power bubbles for the massage. While in the whirlpool, Derek brought me a large glass of red wine and finally I was in Heaven!! I savoured it slowly, while I soaked and it was exquisite!! When I got out, which must have been nearly an hour later, I sat on the bed and phoned mum to let her know we had arrived safely, and we had a good chat...
The nex day after breakfast we headed to Sherbourne. A Pretty town with an Abbey and a small open air market. Derek went with Sirius to take some pictures and I browsed at the shops, finally meeting up together and had a slow wander back to the car. Our drive then took us to Glastonbury and again Derek and I split up as he went off to take piccies and I had a browes around the awesome shops in this town. My credit card was parted from me more times than I wanted it to be, but the things on sale we absolutly delightful. I got a Wiccan wrought iron Pentagram tea lightholder for the conservatory, several rocks and minerals to add to my already huge collection, and a gorgeous Kaftan (I wear these alot at home) with Egyptian gods and godesses on, with Hyrogliphics (need them translated) which came in very handy for my nightly trips to the heated pool back at the cottage....Now I wont go into massive detail of the week in great detail as it involved a huge ammount of driving and we took in Bournmouth, Southampton, Stonehenge, Portsmouth, Cerne Abbas (practially on our doorstep!) and ofcourse Bath....I had read up on the new Thermae spa baths in the city centre and they looked wonderfull, so I had very much anticipated this visit, and I was not dissapointed. My first session was just the basic two hour session, just to try it so to speak and on entering the changing rooms I very quickly realised how humid it was in there. Background music was coming from somewhere, which sounded like Nero plucking his harp!! But I got changed and locked my stuff in a locker with my electronic wrist band. However the changing rooms were rather like a rabbit warren, and when I finally managed to get out I could not find the lift up to the roof top spa pool, so I shrugged and took the steps...all 8 flights of them!! By the time I got to the top I was huffing and puffing like a good 'en (very unfit) and peeled off my large Ed Hardy towel, as well as slipping out of my flip flops, I turned and gazed in mild awe at this beautiful spa pool, glittering brightly in the afternoon sunshine. Gingerly, I slipped in down the steps and the water was delightfully warm and step by step I got further into this warm water. I stopped breifly and sat halfway down the steps, taking in the sun, and then just floated off into the pool in earnest. Its not a place to go diving as the pool is only just over 4 foot deep, and I could easily stand up in it. But dident want to, I floated over to the jacuzzi area and staked a claim nearby so I too could have a hot, mineral bubble session. As I looked about me I noticed a lot of people had these long blue tubes wrapped around their bodie's and floating about. At first I thought I would have to pay extra for one, but people were just exiting the rooftop pool and leaving them lying about only to be picked up by a new bather. So I spotted an unused one at the side of the steps and beant around my upper body and WOW!!!!!!!!!! What a brillaint boyancy aid this was. I now found that I dident need to swim to get about!! I just kicked my legs and floated on this simple tube. This, coupled with magnificent vews over the roof tops of historic Bath, well I thought it was paradise!!! I just bobbed about on the gentle bubbles, hot in the sun, with not a care in the world. Very soon the 2 hours was up though and I reluctantly made my way out and back down to the changing rooms, with a firm thought in my mind!! "I MUST come back tomorrow!!" Outside I hung about waiting for Derek and he appeared shortly after, and we began the drive back at about 4pm. Derek had taken a hundered photo's while I was doing my cork bobbing on the ocean impression, but my skin felt very smooth and I was positivly glowing! That night though I realised just how glowing I was! I had got sunburn on my arms knees and chest, and it was very painfull....the next morning I dident feel at all well, having hardly slept and my skin was creeping, hot and cold. For a time I was actually thinking of giving the spa a miss for this, our last full day in Dorset! But no!!! NOW WAY!!! I headed back there for a 4 hour session which included massage, steamroom, foot spa and hot stone thearapy, where you get your back massaged with hot stones. Sound painfull??!! No! its wonderfully relaxing. Also I got to take a dip in the indoor "Minerva" pool too, which was warm and the same depth as the roof top one, but thankfully less busy, so I just floated away in compleate bliss. At 4pm however it was a very reluctant yours truely, who hauled herself from the rooftop pool, to take the lift back to the changing rooms. I was so glad I had gone back to have the full spa expierence and when I walked out, rummaging in my bag for my ciggies, I fel like a million dollars!!
All in all a superb holiday (only blighted by the sunburn) and I am sorry this one has not been as detailed as my previous holiday blogs, but I have tonns to do today, and have not completly finished unpacking...perhaps, deep in my heart I dont want to unpack!! I just want to pack up and go back to Dorset, and my tranquill barn cottage in the countryside!!
Me waiting for Derek in the car at Bath!!!

This bloomin' tooth achey thingy has cost me dear!!!

Finally had it removed last week, where my tiny 6 stone lady dentist wrenched it out with all of her might, wrestling the horrid thing from my top jaw which remianed badly bruised for two days after...But all this has meant one thing I am very down about...Because of the toothach I had before it was extracted I was very hacked off that I missed my Lodge, due to the pain and the effect the painkillers were having on me, in that I was "out of it" on the bloomin' things so I could "just" function...Even after having a dose of morphine for my ulcer, at my last hospital stay that would (as my nurse put it) "knock out a bull elephant!!" I could still feel the pain. In retrospect though I should have had it done earlier as that tooth had been broken for about 2 years previous, but only started paining me about a month ago. But whats done is done and this has cost me my Raising which *was* schedualed for the 9th of April. Now although at the last Lodge my bretherin were to practice in the 3rd, because I am a Fellow Craft I would not have been admitted anyway, but this is hardly the point!! I should have been there and feel that I have let both myself down and my bretherin. Well there is nothing I can do about it now, but thinking about the day in question (when I was due to attend Lodge) I was all packed up and ready to go, when my tooth pain got to the "please tear my head off now!!!" level and I had to phone W.M Terry to let him know that I would not be able to attend and to offer my sincere apologies!!
Sometimes though things happen for a reason and I should not be too dispondent about my Raising being put back. Maybe now my Ceremony will be put back untill after the summer resess but I will now use the extra time I have left as a F.C, for more study and contemplation on my taking the Sublime degree!!!!
But for now I remain in the Middle Chamber...

In other news, the conservatory is now finished and looks absolutly gorgeous, but still has weeks to go untill it is tiled and usable as my garden spa room. The only thing that concernes me is the large gap around the base, as I am not sure it should have been left like that. I could just fill it with pepples, between the bricks on the foundations and the garden, but I am going to check with Anglian on the phone tomorrow...and thats not the only phone call I will be making as I have to bring forward my prescription at the chemist for next month due to our holiday, which I am really looking forward too!...Ahh the holiday!! well its all very well to go globetrotting all over the planet, like Derek and I have done. But what we should remember is that we have a lovely country under our noses, and holidaying here in the UK means Sirius can come with us...no jet lag...no faffing with travellers cheques...ect...But hey!! who am I kidding??? I DO miss globetrotting, and the hassle that goes with it. but I wont be parted from my dog!! :)

Trawlling through some old ELO videos this evening, I came across one of their songs that not only signified the sad demise of the awesome band, ELO but also at the same time, my first marriage to Adrian Goulding...a marriage that was never meant to be in the first place...
Looking back it was terribly sad as Adi had just lost his mum to breast cancer the same year he met me (1984) and one afternoon his dad was showing us some old family slides of his mum and I was really taken aback at just how much she had looked just like me. To be honest when I first saw those grainy pictures I got an icey shivver down my back, and realised with some dergee of horror that the only thing Adrian was looking for in me was a substitute for his mum!!!!!!!...Even now over 25 years later I am so sorry to say I was right!!!
It had been a evening when he had been on a night shift at the met office at Manchester airport, and I was alone in our cold, heartless house in New Mills in Derbyshire. The house was a tip!!! and I was basically living upstairs with Adi's ever growing computer bits and bobs and all I had for my comfort was my tv, video and my hi fi!!!....I would never sleep on those lonely night shift, nights...and just stay up all night untill he came home at 9am. One night it was late and I was listening to ELO's Ballance of Power Album and "Getting to the point" came on, and I got that same forboading shivver down my back as I slowly began to realise, I was living through, and watching my 15 month marriage crumble to nothing...

The Lyrics to this song say "exactly" what I was thinking and feeling a the time, which was sometime in early 1988
Here they are in full:

It's out of control (out of control)
And there's nothing I can do now
Out of control (out of control)
Spinning softly through the blue now
And look beyond these walls
As the meaning starts to dawn
It's getting to the point
Getting to the point.

It's out of control (nothing I can do)
Like a fire that keeps on burning
And nobody knows (what I'm going through)
And the thoughts just keep returning
And all you had to say
Was that you were gonna stay
It's getting to the point
Getting to the point.

CHORUS:
It's getting to the point
Where nobody can stop it now
It's getting to the point
Of no return
And all that I can do
Is stand and watch it now
Watch it burn, burn, burn
It's getting to the point
Where reasons are forgotten
It's getting to the point
Where no one knows
And all that I can do
Is say I'm sorry
But that's the way it goes...

Getting to the point.

Forever
Is a long, long way
Forever
Takes your breath away
I'd like to talk about it, try to understand
It's getting to the point
Getting to the point.

REPEAT CHORUS

It's getting to the point (getting to the point)
Getting to the point (getting to the point)
It's getting to the point (getting to the point)
Getting to the point.

****This is my ONLY remiaing photo of my first wedding day!! (thank goodness!!) I was just 18 years old and Adi was 21*****



(I divorced him on the grounds of his adultery in October 1988)

Later (and when I am in the right frame of mind for re-running these events) I will write them here in the hope that some young ladies might read and learn from my mistakes...and I have made many.......



**Music and lyrics are copyright of Jeff Lynne

Had my test (tummy biopsy) at the hospital yesterday and it was so very painfull I came home, took a heap of painkillers and was in bed by 9pm!! This morning I am ok though, and I am just glad its all done with, and hope I dont have to go back to hospital again.
The building on the conservatory has started in earnest now and my lovely garden resembles a builders yard at he moment!! Today the builders have had a break as the concrete foundations need to set, but it should be finished earlier next week (I hope)...and even then we have to wait six weeks before we get the floor tiled!! I have decided on a black and white chess board pattern!! Partly because it will be less costly than my original mosaic idea, and partly because I would like a Masonic feel to it. Derek has agreed, but we still have to find a decent tiler to do it for us, but at least we have 6 weeks to find someone!
Spent this morning cleaning out the spa and refilling it...but Derek recons I should leave it empty for 6 weeks as it will be difficult to empty and refill once the conservatory is up. Like HELL!!!! I am certainly not going to go six whole weeks without my evening hot bubble session!! *digs in heels defiantly* So I have refilled it, cleaned the filter and now its heating again (will add chlorine later too) but will take over a day to come up to 40 degrees. When the time comes I can compleatly drain it and with the help of some neighbours, haul it about 15 feet into the conservatory. I am still hoping to get a waterproof tv for in there too, but Derek sees this as a costly enterprise so I will just have to order one over the net and sneak it onto my credit card!! I can deal with Derek's wrath with my special leek, bacon and potato bake with roast cheese topping! (his favorite) or I will never hear the last of it! It was his birthday yesterday (54) so I cooked us an early evening dinner to celebrate, but was really not feeling too good because of the dull ach in my tummy where the Doctor took my biopsy from. Anyway its our holiday soon, and fingers crossed my ulcer wont bother me! I have planned lots of "seeing and doing" while we are in Dorset and being bothered by this bloody ulcer is certainly not on my list!!
That about it for now!
Sirius needs a good brushing and I must get dinner ready for his lordship!!! Tonight (and because the spa wont yet be hot enough) I am going to have a long soak in the bath and have a jacket potato and sour cream and chives for supper (ulcer friendly) watch Corrie and have another early night!!

back soon x

Just been watching the local news and there was an investigation on there about an elderly lady who, while in the James Paget hospital, had fallen out of her chair twice!! breaking her hip on both occasions and was later to die due to lack of care!! The ladies daughter had even recieved a letter from the hospial saying that her mother was doing well and would soon be allowed home!!! - AFTER she had been dead a month!!
This is beyond disgracefull!!!!!!
It should not be happening in 2010 in our UK hospitals...but horrifically it IS, and I have seen it too!!!

This week I have to go back for tests for my ulcer and I am dreading it because of the horrible memories I have got from my two recent stays in Northampton general. For those who don't know, I have a lower gastrestinal cyst/ ulcer that made an appearence at Christmas last year in the form of my vomiting blood and having blood stool. I was rushed in as an emergency on the first occasion as it was suspected that I had a life threatening internal bleed, but fortunatly this was not the case....However my treatment while in hospital was absolutly awful!! and my second stay a month later was worse!! During the first stay I was moved to 3 different wards in less than 24 hours and all I was given for pain relife was paracetamol, while I was in agony!! I was not seen by a Doctor for over a day, and the only time I saw a nurse was to take my obs (observations of blood pressure ect) or to change my drip. If I wanted the loo or anything thing else I had to ring the bell which I felt really guilty about, and woo betide me asking for a cup of tea!! as I would be told "I am a nurse its not my job! ask the tea lady on her rounds!" with a really evil look!! Also because I was taken in as an emergency in an ambulance I did not have my medication on me, on the first night so I did not have my zopiclone sleeping pills!! So on my first night I asked a nurse if I could have some but she abruptly told me I would have to present a "current" prescription to *prove* I was prescribed them by a Doctor!!! Shit!!! she made me feel like a drug addict!!!!!!!!! It was horrible!! and to make matters worse I diden't have my mobile so I could not phone Derek to ask him to bring me some!! As it is I am on a repete prescrition (monthly) so I dont actually have a "paper" prescription!!.......and a month later I was back again but on a different ward!! The second stay was far worse as regards care and not just for me, but for my fellow patiencts too!! Again the only time I saw a nurse was to do the hourly obs (unless I called) I had made sure this time they had been informed of my prescription but they dident have the right dose for me either!!!...Then there were two fellow patients who suffered along with me. The first was a young girl with suspected appendicitius who was crying out very loudly in obvious pain, but non of the nursing staff took any notice of her!!! The second and across the ward from me was an elderly lady with a fractured hip, and twice she was not given the food she had ordered for lunch, and told to choose somthing else! Whats the point of filling out the menu cards!!!!??.. The second time the lady had ordered sausage and she was told they had non so she was offered some alternatives all of which she wearily declined, and I dident blame her!! The food was absolutly vile!!!!! One morning breakfast was not served untill nearly 10am and the coffee was stone cold and liken to gravey!! Now the ward I was on which was called "Knightly ward" is a million miles from anywhere in the huge spralling rabbit warren that is Northampton hospital, but this coffee was so dreadfull I took it on myself to haul my carcas out of my tiny rock hard hospital bed, and take the 45 minute round walk to the coffee shop in the entrance!!! It was painfull but worth it!!! I got the equivelant of a pint of American hot coffee, sweet and gorgeous!! But because of the distance of the walk back I had nearly drank it all by the time I got back to my ward!!!
"Where have you been? The Doctor has just been to see you!!! your not supposed to leave the ward!!" Sister Zeig heil squarked at me!!!
" Well if we were served brakfast on time, and the coffee was drinkable, I would not have left the ward, would I?!" I retorted, angrily!!!
But later that day she had revenge.......
At 3pm I was due to go down for a gastroscopy (camera down the throte) and so I sat patiently waiting to be collected with my tummy rumbling loudly as I was not allowed lunch, because I was having this proceadure. By 4 pm I was still waiting but I had asked the nurse if I could have my dinner on my return as I was starving bloodly hungry!! She said yes and I filled out the menu card, like a good little girl. Eventually I was wheeled down to have my camera about 20 minutes later, but I was still kept waiting another 2 hours before I was wheeled in and seen too!!! Then I had to wait another hour before a porter could be located, to wheel me back up to my ward. It was nearly 6pm by the time I got back, and my long awaited dinner was nowhere to be seen........I asked an orderly where my dinner was and the young lad just looked vacant (as young lads do!) and said he would find out. An older man came over and explained to me that he was not given any intructions for my food and said all he could offer was cottage pie!! I greatfully accepted but what I was given was some non-discript dollop of brown and yellow that I would have been ashamed to have given to Sirius, my dog!!! AND it was stone cold!!!!!!! Well by now I was fuming!!! and to top it all I found out that the old lady had not had any food all day!! I blew my top and called for the ward sister and I really laid into her as politly as possible!
"I know its not your fault but I have had no palatabel hot food all day, and the lady over there has had nothing either!! This just is not acceptable!!" I explained, making a point that I was going to make a formal complaint!!
Later that evening I was reprived when my mum and Derek brought me sandwiches and crisps...hardly healthy for someone with an ulcer, but marginaly better than the pig-swill I had been insulted with!! I was later to stomp down in the lift to have a much needed ciggie outside reception, feeling I had been treated like a piece of meat and not an ill human being a all!!!
Now dont write me off as just an old moaning grump! But I thought nurses were suppose to "nurse" their patients, and care for their needs and help them get better!! Not ignore them!! and surely part of a patients recovery is down to being served half decent food, so they may build up strength!! Instead, myself and the old lady were left neglected and hungry...I was discharged the day after (bet they were glad to see the back of me) but I dread to think how the old dear was treated after I left, to say nothing of the young girl who was writhing in agony without pain relif!!! I have no idea what has happend to hospital care in this country but I have recieved better care when I have been ill in 3rd world countries!! and I really do mean BETTER CARE!!!....there should simply be NO PLACE for neglect and complacency in the nursing profession in the UK today!!!!!!
We are certainly in a sorry state if our nurses stop caring.........and the sad thing is, I think they already have........

Got up fairly late this morning as Sirius had kept me awake most of the night trying his best to sit/sleep on top of my head, so at 8:30am and after he had pniched one of my slippers, I made it down stairs, lead by thoughts of a steaming cup of coffee....
Last night there was absolutly "jack s*" on tv so I ended up watching one of the music channels (vh1) after my spa as I couldn't be bothered with a video, and too my annoyance vh1 came back on when I turned the tv on, with the song I have been driven bonkers with recently in tv advertising!!!....yes...its Katy Perry with her "Firework!"...I had not seen the video before and was struck dumb by what I was watching!!

What were the writers/producers/director ect thinking of????



At best this looks like a badly done charity commertial...at worst its an insult to teenagers, who have problems or hang-ups and may well have the reverse effect of making them worse!! In short I think this video is dangerous!!!
I exaggerate NOT!!!
Firstly we have Miss Perry, a self boob obsessed, talentless bimbo, shooting fireworks from her tits, while simultainiously playing at mother Teresa...then we have teenager attacking his dad because his parents are arguing. Next we have fat girl at a pool party too embarraced to get undressed in front of her skinny friends, untill she gets her "firework" and strips...and then we have a child with cancer wandering around barefoot, while watching a teen mum give birth!!!!!!!
Im am sorry, but this is just SICK!!!!!!!!!...and thats before I start on the gay boy teen kiss!!!
This video is supposed to be inspirational but what we have here is a mish mash of gooey teen tripe, coupled with a "celeb" who can't sing a note, taking on a Micheal Jackson roll of "heal the world" in what turns out to be the most tummy churning tripe I have seen in a long time. But what really got my goat up was the teen mum birth scene! No attempt was made, whatsoever, to make the "mum" look older, and I can imagin teenage girls watching this and thinking "I will get pregnant and then I can have my firework!"...the girl in the video looks about 15 and her young looks are even accentuated by a pony tail too!!!



What kind of a mother would let her daughter star in this roll, well I shudder to think...as well as the effect this could have on teenage girls who want their firework!! ...Do the people who make this rubbish stop to think about what effect a pop video has on a young person??
I did some research into what teenagers really think about this by reading comments left on teen websites and it appears that todays teenagers are pretty savvy and dont swollow this crap, with most of them saying "great song...crap vid" I admit it is a catchy tune but the video is a disgrace in my opinion. Simply slung together by money grabbing media types who have nothing better or more important to do. Ironically the "Glee" tv show version is far better, and the young lady who sings it can actually sing!! Unlike Miss Perry who appears to screech just a moderatly high note. I could sing better, fast asleep and absolutly pissed off my box!!!!.........
..watch this space and I will prove it!! LOL!!!

Ok, rant over with....but sometimes I thank God I am 43 with a ton of life lessons behind me!! *sighs*

On the 9th of April 2011, I will be Raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason!!!
...and I can hardly wait as I am now crossing off the days on my calander...since I was about 5 this has been a life long ambition of mine, and I am about to live it too!! I can't really put into words just how excited I am about my Raising, and Brother Sally from Hexagon House, has promised she will attend my ceremony, which is wonderfull news!! So soon I will be able to take Office and vote in open Lodge and one day (many years from now) I maybe elected to the Chair, T.G.A.O.T.U willing!! :)
Because of this major period of my life I am desperatly trying to loose weight too!! I made a good start when I was in hospital with my ulcer as I lost over a stone!! But its leveled off now, so I have bought an excersise bike to shift those stubborn pounds!! At the moment I am a size 14 but would love to get back to a size 10 before my specail day...Sadly though, now I am older its much more difficult to loose weight, and I do still love my red wine of an evening so the going will be slow! I suppose I will be happy if I make it to a size 12!!...The bike is great, but exhausting, as I have not done any serious excersise since I did my training for the Everest trek in '95. The training involved hiking trips in Derbyshire and Yorkshire, covering about 20kms per day, and I was the fittest I have ever been!! But I was only 26 then!! *coughs* I am 43 now!!!...worryingly the first time I used the bike, 2 weeks ago, I finished a half hour "spinning" session and slipped straight into my 40 degree spa straight after and suddenly got huge pins and needles in my hands!! I normally have a ciggie or two in a half hour spa session, but these pins and needles were so bad I couldn't hold one!! So I did some internet research and apparently its very dangerous to spa straight after excersie as the body has to "cool down" first before you have a spa, so now I stop bike spinning at about 8pm and have my spa at 9pm, and the pins and needles havn't come back, thank goodness!! the only problam with the bike is the fact thas its giving me nice legs but I still have "Bingo arms"...not that I play bingo, you understand!! Bingo arms are tha horrid flabby bit under the arms!! I hate the weird "trendy" words like bingo arms, camel toe, and the dreaded pantie line!!...eeeemm...."thinks" I might take up weights!!
In other news I have a final meeting with the conservatory surveyer a week on Friday, just to make sure everything is as it should be and all the little bits and bobs I have chosen for colour and syle of handles ect is correct. Waterproofing is paramount as its my new spa room, and this is down on the surveyers report, but I also need ultra safe power points for the spa RCD plug and bathroom grade lighting as well as ventillation. When I started out on this project I haden't even considered all this stuff, but its certainly put my planning brain in gear!! As soon as the building starts I will be looking at non slip tilling for the floor! I want mosaic tilling but I have not looked into this yet and my choice may be limited for saftey purposes. Untill now (touch wood) I have not slipped getting into or out of the spa, but mum almost fell when she got out once! (I caught her) but she said she was dizzy, rather than slipping! Personally I thought my mum was very brave to try my spa, as she is nearly 80!!! But she loved it!! and wants to go in it again when the conservatory is built!
Well going to hopp off now, like a good little bunny, and have another go on the bike for a bit, before I get Dereks tea ready!!
Corrie tonight, folks!! :)
love Vix x

My long awaited first lodge of the New year is tomorrow and I am already, ready and sorted, but I must spend sometime today in study of my book, and my F.C. questions in preparatioin for my Raising to Master Mason soon!! Can't wait!! :)
Derek, however will have a very quiet afternoon a home!!

When I am made a Master Mason I would like to spend as much time as possible travelling to other Lodges, and seeing as many differing ritual as possible, as I find it very enlightening!! When I visited Hexagon House at the back end of last year I expierenced my first Scottish lodge, and the Lauderdale ritual which is very different from my own Verulam workings. It was a wonderfull couple of days and I learned many things, as well as meeting lovely bretherin from all over the world!! Our Order is truely an International Order, which I love with all my heart as this embraces my love of travel also!!...I have already missed a trip to Vienna due to illness, but hope to do lots of visiting very soon!! ...I have a deep love for Africa forged from travels in the east and west, and even safari in Kenya! My dream would be to visit lodges in South Africa, and see first hand the hard work the very excellent Bretherin are doing there in their communities!!
There is no much else to tell in other news, except for my burning ambition for the conservatory to get started!!
I just hope I can still used the jacuzzi spa while its being built, but I am not intirely sure that will be ok, as I expect lots of brick dust flying around and this would possible wreck in air inlet on the spa, so I may just have to empty it and keep it covered while it is being bulit...
For Valentines day I have got Derek a bottle of his favorite Malt and I am making him some of his favorite home-made shortbread!!

opps...gotta go...important call!!!...

I has been a while hasn't it??

Oh dear!! I do get behind with things and rather a lot has been keeping me busy a the moment, including two stays in hospital to have a gastric ulcer invesigated! This started on Chrismas day last year, of all days, in the morning and had to be rushed to hospital because I was vomiting blood...I had just about every test under the sun, x-rays and all kinds of stuff, and so many needles I felt like a pin cushion. But it all came down to an ulcer blocking my gastric tract (what ever that is) and several weeks ago I was back with the same thing. Now years ago my mum had exactly the same problam, so I am kind of half betting I have inherited it from her!! Cheers mum!! UGH!! Anyway I have to go back in a fortnight to have my colon investigated too...crikey!! that will be fun!! NOT!!
Derek has finally sorted the plans for our conservatory, and work will begin next month. We had several quotes but choose a local, but well recommeneded company. The conservatory itself will house my spa- jacuzzi and excercise bike as well as my 8 inch reflecting telescope and some furniture, and at the moment I am trying to talk Derek into geting a waterproof TV (Yes they do exist!!) so I wont miss Coronation street while I am bubbling and steaming away in my spa! The conservaory we have chosen is a Victorian design, that opens out onto our garden, and talking of the spa I am well looking forward to it tonight, and just waiting for it to heat to a lovely 40 degrees!!...We also have our holiday in Devon soon!! Not quite as exotic as our past travels, but as I have mentioned before I wont put Sirius into kennals so we have to choose dog friendly holidays. I coulden't bare to be parted from Sirius-pud!! soft arse as I am!!
As I am now rushing head-long at the hill that says 44 years old, I thought it would be a good idea to write down some memories, that make stories and so far I have wrote quite a bit.(its very private for now) A very good friend of mine said they should be published, but I would have to change the names to protect the innocent!! LOL!! and have a bloody good editor to sort out my hopeless grammer and spelling!! hehehe!!! I am trying to put together a huge piece about our travels around the world, as well as backpacking in Asia and trekking on the Everest trek, but I have figured it would read like some kind of odd disaster novel!!! With bus crashes, hotel fires, ameobic dysentry, rats in a dormatry in Kula Lumpur where I ran off and booked myself into a 5 star hotel being sick and tired of the hovels we were saying in, as well as geting stuck in a snow storm 15,000 feet up on a pass in the Solu Khumb region of Nepal....Fortunatly for the past 16 years or so I have managed to keep a fairly accurate travel diary (s) about 4 in all covering everywhere from Costa Rica to Vietnam with a huge chunk dedicated to my all time favortie place, Bali in Indoniesia...Well if I do decided to write it, it will possibly take years, so I may just do a bit at a time....and while I am on the subject of time, I do not have much time left as a Second degree Fellow craft Freemason, as I am due to be Raised this spring and I have so much study to do to prepare myself! We have our first lodge of the new year this Saturday and our new Right Worshipfull Master will be installed which I am looking forward to, and indeed seeing my excellent Bretherin again!! It will be a very specail Lodge indeed and I have been wondering what to take for our Festive Board...one of my Bretherin asked if it would be another "wonky" cake!! hehehe...its a long story!
Well thats about it for now, and I shall be slipping into my spa in about an hour, and then watch a film and have a bottle of wine. I am off the Port for the moment as I am trying to diet so I have switched back to dry white wine for now!

see you soon! luv Vix x

My indoors hot spa has not come without hassle!!
But now all is well and I am ready to rumble once again, but several things are niggling me!!
First and foremost is the fact the the plug will get damp with condensation!! But I have built a cover for it so I am hoping it wont. Its an RCD plug so it should trip if it does get damp, as it did yesterday, but I dont want to take any chances!
Also the spa is over chlorinated at the moment due to my chlorine shock yesterday, and the level has not dropped. I have even had the cover off to help it to drop but that hasn't helped so tonights test spa might be a little stinky!!...because the spa is now set in my dining room I have had to cover up the light switch and wont be able to use it when the spa is running. But I have set up to 15 candles around the spa so there should be ample light, and it should equally make it very relaxing! Oh and my towelling gown is now drying in the dryer so that will be nice and warm too!!
In other news:
Absolutly freezing today, and there was also a dusting of snow during the night, but that soon melted...we are about the only place in the whole of the UK thats has missed the snow this week, thankfully!!
Derek and I have also been on a bit of an Opera fix with the Magic Flute and Wagners Das Rhinegold! He got the dvds from Amazon and this come as a nice surprize midweek!! Derek has also booked our spring gettaway at a delightful cotage in Dorset! It a gorgeous converted barn with its own heated swimming pool and jaccuzi bath. Now I have never has a jaccuzi bath before so this will be new! It should be like the spa only less powerfull, with gentle bubbles insted of my spa's "massage" power bubbles! However, I am really looking forward to it, and the cottage is in an area close to Cheddar gorge which I loved visiting as a child!! No dought we will have many walks with Sirius that week! *grinns*
Ok thats it for now...will be back soon!
love Vix x

http://sagesnest.forumotion.co.uk/forum.htm

come and join me!!! :)

Well I am glad I gave this a jolly good rest, but now is the time I shall re-open my blog, however commenting will remain disabled and stuff posted here will be carefully maintained so as not to reveal "personal" thoughts or feelings. Those posts will be on my *private* blog which is active but can only be accessed by invitation only. In other words I must know you personally!! If I dont, access wont be granted, sorry!
So whats been happening?
Well Derek and I had a fantastic time in the Snowdonia national park, and my masonic convention in London went very well indeed!! It was a very long weekend and I was absolutly shattered when I got home late on Saturday. It was also the first time I have attended a Scottish Lodge which I felt was a special privledge...I have also been delving much deeper into Masonic study, which has included Sacred Geometry and is a subject of amazing fascination that it just blows me away!!! Anyway I have no idea at the moment when my Raising will be, but I want to be fully prepared in mind and spirit to be able to take my Sublime Degree. I still need to work on my F.C. Obligation and the questions though, but I am getting there!!!
Anyway, thats it for now!
If you do wish to comment here I will need to approve it, personally, otherwise all comments are blocked!
If you wish to drop me an email I am still on vixtravels2@hotmail.com

Nothing will be posted here that I deem *private*

Lastly, this is MY BLOG!!!
If you dont like anything I post here my advice is: Dont visit and don't read it!!!...simple!!

Due to unforseen problems caused by public access to this page, it is my displeasure to announce that I will no longer be blogging here. I have set up a brand new blog that can only be viewed by approved guests, in other words you will have to email me if you want to read it!...all ip's will be logged!
vixtravels2@hotmail.com
My new blog will also be closer to a diary, that this one has been, and will be much more personell. Proxy servers will NOT be able to gain access......sorry!!
Its been fun folks, but all good things must come to an end. I apologies to my genuine friends for the inconvienience!

*transmission ends*.............*blog terminated*...................

Pudding hasn't been well following our day out in Birmingham.....
He started nibbling at his back leg and he has obviously got something in there, but I have looked carefully and I can't find anything. He has licked it so badly though he has made a bald patch on one of his toes though, so Derek and I have been bathing it with salty water and disinfectant, and wrapping his leg in socks so he can't nibble it! Yesterday evening we considered taking him to the vets, but decided to give it one more day to see how it goes...fortunatly this morning he seems much more perkier, and in a better mood and he has just shared breakfast with me...he is now sat in the window waiting for "Nanny!"........
Last night on the phone mum asked if she could use the spa today as he back has been bad. I said ofcourse!! But the house is a tip at the moment so I had better get some housework done before she arrives at 12pm!! My spa is great for all kinds of aches and pains (including Derek!!) but this is the first time mum has actually asked to use it, so I think she must be bad. However, mum is a notorious hypercondriact and infact she is fitter than me!! But my spa does need a bit of work this morning before mum uses it at lunchtime. Last night, just before I got out of the spa I noticed some foaming and this usually indicates my water is not right, so I will have to do a water ph test and see what the problem is. Also I must top up the chlorine level and give it a run through, and all this while keeping an eye on my Pud to make sure he dosn't nibble that sock off!! All in all this will be a busy morning, but hopefully will be worth it. Our lunch is poached cod with chive mash and to cheer her up a bit more I have her favorite comiedian, Dave Allen on DVD!! Crikey!! I must sort some fresh towels also.........*zips off to do work*

Over the weekend we went to the British Briard Club fun day, at Bickenhill near Birmingham!!

We arrived shortly after 4pm and it was raining so we had to wait in the car for the rain to stop before we could set the tent up, in the far corner of the field which was "Briard Central!" There was loads of gorgeous champion Briards, mostly twice the size of Sirius, and as soon as we set to work putting up our medium sized tent, a delightful lady came over to invited us to do some fun agillity!! Fortunatly I had managed to explain to some via a forum that Sirius is a cross breed and not a proper Briard, but there were still many questions to be answered as to what he is crossed with!! We still don't know, but most were saying some kind of spaniel, then another lady came over quiet in awe at my Pud and she was a breeder who said he was possibly a very rare breed of European sheep-dog! Many said "does he heard?" Oh yes!! I had said as Sirius does indeed hurd me and Derek together and its worse if Mum is about...if Derek and I are not together he sulks and sits grumbling too himself...Anyway here is a short video I took on my pod of my baby's attempt at the fun agillity!! Sorry for the quality! It was raining and Derek got in the way too!!



After this we carried on organising the tent and our stuff and later we were invited to a quiz, and the evening had a delightful "doggie rave" air!! I nearly fell off my chair in shock though when one lady announced over a megga-phone that the winner of the fun agillity for the non Briard was........SIRIUS!!! Derek and my pud went to collect his prize which was a an excellent "dog walkers companion" featuring water carrier, travel bowl, treats pouch and play bone all in one delightful package!! I had not expected that!! There were other non Briard dogs at the event who were much better behaved that my hell-raiser pudding!! Anyway we joined in the quiz but it was getting late and pudding was restless so I took him back to our tent, and left Derek drinking with his new quiz team mates. When Derek didn't come back for half an hour, Sirius was certainly getting irritated, but much to my relife he appeared shortly after slightly tiddled!! We soon settled down into a comfy and very cosey nights sleep!!
The next day at the event was strictly "Briard champions only" and a proper dog show, where a lot more people appeared and indeed more dogs. We took a short drive for breakfast and then came back to see the rest of the show!! The Briards were truly magnificent!! But as it was hot, Sirius was becoming restless again, and I think he was getting quite spooked as he had never seen so many people and dogs before!!! Indeed when we got back and got to bed last night, he was certainly not himself and kept us awake for a while panting and grumbling. I think he was just a bit overwhelmed by it all, and if we go to another doggie day out I feel he would be better off at a smaller event. It was, however, a superb day and will be long remembered!!

What would I put in "Room 101"?....mmmmm.....thinks........

4x4's and people carriers

my mother's hypocondria!

intolerant anti-smokers!

over-sized baby buggies!

crap daytime TV!

reality TV shows!

someone's got talent, shows!

charity adverts!

Trendy over-priced sports drinks!

The England football team!

Katie Price!

..........ok....really do need some retail therapy now!!! *blinks*

Just looking back over my blog and I have only just realised I have made much of the hard work involved in having a spa....and absolutly nothing about how nice it is!!
As we come to the time of the year when the darker nights are coming in, I have been adding lights and candles to my spa's gazebo and the ambience the lights create is stunning!! I got some Chinese lantern type "string" lights from ebay that are solar powered and they are delightful, along with a small camping lamp and tea candles set in free standing lanterns....even on a trip to TK Maxx recently I found a gorgeous, Veniceian Jester mask, very ornate and beautifully decorated, and I have set that in the gazebo with a light behind it to shine through the eyes!!! (I always like the macarbe!) Also privacy is paramount with my camping curtians covering the windows of the gazebo...
Now because of my very "time aware" dog, my evening spa has turned into something of a routine, as Sirius gets more and more restless as 9pm approaches!! Even from 8pm he will sit under my chair in he living room, and if I dont show signes of making ready he will begin grumbling and pawing, untill I move...so it goes as follows:

4pm....switch on spa to begin heating for the evening! The lid holds a lot of the heat in but I need the extra time to get it up to 39 degrees!!

8pm....water garden if we have had no rain. I have two massive tomato plants and some 6 foot high sunflowers as well as others!

8:30pm....change into swimwear and gown, fill Sirius water bowl, and bring treats into the gazebo

8:45pm.....prepare supper, open port, and prepare mp3 with waterproof headphones!!

9pm......Sink into hot steamy bubbles, give Sirius his snacks and chill out listening to fav tunez!!

Very regimented isen't it? muhahahahahaha!!! ...and needless to say I will be late tonight as I am writing this!!....But its not the same every night and some nights I dont have a spa at all. Perhaps the weather is too cold or I have just done a water change when it will need a full 10 hours to re-heat!! or even if I can't be bothered at all or Derek will use it, or both of us! but Sirius will still want his snacks!! But saying that though, Sirius seems to like the spa as when I get in he likes to lay next to it and watch the garden!!
Ok...gotta go.....his lordship, Sirius is waiting!! :)