Back. Refreshed.

If any of you noticed that I’ve been away; well I’m back.

Actually, I’ve been back almost a week now but I needed to catch up on the post holiday washing and putting away(the worst bit; where does it all come from?) and generally get my house and life back in order.

I really needed that holiday. It took a good 3 days to remember how to sit down and do nothing and not be busy, planning to do this that and the other. It didn’t help that the weather in our chosen part of the Canary Islands, Lanzarote, wasn’t great the first three days. We arrived to cloud but optimistically looked forward to the following day when we were promised sun. But it rained. Then it was overcast. Then the sun came out for an hour. And then went in again.

It didn’t help that in the overcast weather our favourite resort, the Old Town of Puerto Del Carmen, a place visited many times in the past, but not for the last 4 years, looked very run down. It had been hit hard by the recession. It seemed that the street cleaning budget had been cut, many businesses premises left to rot, and sales of fresh white paint dramatically reduced.

The bungalow we had rented really wasn’t worth the money we had paid for it. I think we had been spoilt by recent holidays in Turkey and Portugal where our accommodation had far exceeded our expectations. This place, reportedly luxury accommodation with shared pool, did not meet up to its description. Two of the three bedrooms were internally located within the bungalow with no windows. There were saggy stained leather sofas, washed out linen and towels, and locks and windows that wouldn’t open without pulling, pushing, swearing, lifting the lock up, down, left, right to finish with an almighty screech of metal on tile to awaken anyone close by.  Our passports, keys and valuables got stuck in the safe for 2 days so stiff was that lock.

The shared pool was clean but accessed out of the front, down the street and down some steps. We ventured down twice but the lack of pool furniture except for four mis-matching broken sunbeds, no shade and the four white high walls that bounded the area put us off from returning.

The weather, the bungalow and the resort was enough to make me, embarrassed now, weep with disappointment.

And then, on the fourth day ….THE SUN CAME OUT!!!!!

How amazing the transformation to all our moods! With it being a little cool and windy for the beaches we found a welcoming nearby small complex with a pool and bar that served cool drinks and fresh food.

Having spent the first three days driving around the island trying to entertain ourselves in the sporadic weather, we spent the last three laid horizontal by the pool.

This was what it was supposed to be like. I was happy, my daughter was happy and my OH was happy.

I relaxed, I read, I slept (a lot) and knitted a little.

We ate great food in the still fabulous restaurants of Puerto Del Carmen.

We drank wine without getting hangovers (how does that happen?).  The resort looked brighter, kissed by the sun. The bungalow didn’t matter anymore.

I came back relaxed, determined not to let myself become overwhelmed again by work, by the house needing a good sort out and by my never still mind constantly making unfathomably longs lists of things that need doing to achieve the glory of ‘Super Woman!’

Wanting to continue my feeling of wellness (and a clear complexion) due to a diet of copious quantities of fruit and vegetables I went straight out and bought a Philips Juicer, (I’ve been thinking about this for a while), to inject some more nutrients and antioxidants into our day to day diets.

We are all now hooked on breakfast smoothies and vegetable juices.  (I tell a lie, I’m yet to get them to drink the veggie ones.)

I also got back out on my bike to this beautiful scene.

 

They say that a change is as good as a rest.

In my case, I feel as though I’ve had both.

Love, Lucie x