Christmas 2014

There is no other evening quite as magical as Christmas Eve.  It's a lovely time for family traditions.



Chloe left a mince pie, a glass of whiskey for Santa and a carrot for  Rudolph.  She also sprinkled "reindeer food" outside her bedroom window for the other reindeer waiting outside (oatmeal and glitter).

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful"
Norman Vincent Peale.

On Christmas Day in the morning:-

Caroline cooked the perfect Christmas lunch. Producing a cracking Christmas lunch is really about good organisation and a lot of hard work.   It was excellent.  Thank you.

Then we all got together for a fun day at The Beach House on the Sunday.

The celebrations continued at Tina's on the Tuesday.  Frozen is a pretty hot theme for Emmeline and Chloe this year and Stuart and Tina's decorations really made them smile.

Thank you Stuart and Tina.  The food was, as usual, superb.

As the prophet says in Ecclesiastes, life is all vanity, tomorrow we may turn to dust, therefore
we should eat and drink and be merry.  Cheers.

Escaping the pre-Christmas chaos in Antigua

Phil and I became swallows, flying south to the sun in Antigua to escape the pre-Christmas chaos. 
We stayed at the St. James's Club.  A resort located in a beautiful setting with the Atlantic Ocean on the one side and the calm Marmora Bay on the other.  As the chorus of tree frogs pipes up and the sun slides down through the horizon a rum punch on the balcony is near perfection.

We stayed on the top floor of the Royal Suite Villas (Room 230) with a spectacular view over Marmora.  Our room was superb, very upscale furnishings, roomy and comfortable.  One thing I will mention that impressed me (apart from the Champagne in our mini fridge and Rum on arrival)
was the shower in our room.  It had a normal height shower head at one end and at the other a lower one if you wanted to shower without getting your hair wet.

 

 

We were also very close to the two main restaurants, the Rainbow and the Dockside, which is useful because it can rain quite hard in the Caribbean at times.  Christmas tree at the Dockside.

And to remind you Christmas will soon be here.  A lovely nativity scene outside reception:-

One evening Phil treated me to meal at The Piccolo Mondo Restaurant which cost $35 extra but we did eat a delicious lobster with a wonderful view from the hillside setting and there was a lovely romantic ambience.

The beaches were not crowded, although it is a large resort, and there are plenty of sunbeds.  No need to get up early to put your towel on a bed, which I hate.

Phil enjoyed the beverage buggy on the beach.  Alfred the buggy driver was always smiling.

Memora Bay Grill Bar is the best for lunch.  Thanks Natasha - great fish sandwich.

 

The staff working at the resort are extremely friendly and I had a lot of fun doing Aqua Aerobics and the Stretch Class each day.  Phil loved sailing the Hobie Cats in Mamora Bay, when there was enough wind.

 

 

He even won the weekly Hobie Cat Race.  Well done.

 

 

He also enjoyed the Diving which was so convenient to our room.  I could watch him leave at 8.30 a.m.

 

 

 

 

 

The resort has two beaches, one at the Atlantic side and one at a bay with calm waters, ideal for families with small children.  It was quite windy on the Atlantic beach, which I enjoy, but unfortunately the wind also brought tons of seaweed.  The staff made every effort to remove it, but it constantly came back.

 

 

 

This visitor has also decided to make a trip to see Antigua's beautiful beaches and indeed much of the Caribbean, even Richard's private island!  Sargassum seaweed has been creeping up on to the St. James's beaches.  So what exactly is Sargassum seaweed and why is it visiting?  The seaweed originates in the Sargasso Sea which is actually a body of water within a body of water.  The Sargasso Sea is the only body of water without land bordering it, and is found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  The seaweed can be found as a floating mat in the Sargasso Sea and is the ecological home to many organisms.  The seaweed is usually held in place by strong currents with a few bits slipping through occasionally ending up on the shores of Caribbean beaches during summer.  This year, due to unusual storm patterns, a large mass of seaweed has found it's way on to the shores of many Caribbean islands.  Hopefully, as the storms lessen so will the weeds.  On the positive side the seaweed can be used as an excellent fertilizer, after washing out the salt, if you can stand the smell!!

 

Another unwelcome pest are mosquitoes carrying the Chikungunya virus but the St. James's Club does a good job of fogging at 5.30 a.m.!!  Apparently the mosquitoes carrying chikungunya commonly bite during the day, so it is advisable to take precautions with a Deet insect repellent at all times.  We did this and were OK.  The common symptons of chikungunya virus infection are fever and joint pain.

 

We managed to avoid chikungunya but one day we did go down with the Noro Virus!!!

 

Would you go back I hear you say - You Bet.

 

 

A Chic Halloween Celebration

Gemma and Alun went all out this Halloween with delicious creepy food and frighteningly festive Halloween decorations.

                                                          Treats and Creepy Cakecakes

                                                             Adorable Halloween Costumes

                                          Show Stopping Carved Pumpkins (sorry no close ups).

We all really enjoyed the spookiest day of the year.

It was a Spook-tacular Halloween party that the guests won't forget.

It's a Cinderella party and we're going to have a Ball.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little girl named Chloe who dreamed of becoming a princess.  Her 3rd birthday was a magical celebration for Chloe and her friends.  The little princesses and pirates were joined by a special guest, Cinderella, who told them that they were true princesses.

Get ready to be taken on a journey to a fantasy land far, far away where pretty Princesses and swashbuckling Pirates came together for one big exciting birthday party.

We were whisked away to fairytale land with princess outfits, tiaras and pretty little slippers.

Chloe and her friends were thrilled to have Cinderella join her birthday party.

Cinderella was so sweet and attentive to the princesses and pirates but  where did she disappear to when the clock struck 12?

A darling party for a darling little princess!

The party carried on later at Chloe's home where on the 1st November the princesses were able to play in the garden, the weather was so beautiful.

Scaffolding at Milford on Sea

Work needing to be done to the rendering resulted in a lot of scaffolding:-

Lovely view of the Isle of Wight from the top though.

Aha ! Oho !

We ventured into the deep dark wood on a lovely sunny morning on Friday, 31st October, 2014 to follow the Gruffalo trail at Moors Valley Countrypark.  Chloe loved the freedom of taking her time and picking up sticks and jumping in muddy puddles (one of which was quite deep!).  The Gruffalo is beautifully carved but I felt it was a shame they didn't add fox, owl and snake en route.

A Gruffalo trail map can be bought at the shop for £2 but it is not essential as the trail is well marked with Axel Scheffler's classic artwork. 
 

The trail is quite long - I think it is more than a mile - quite a way for small toddlers but Chloe didn't moan.  The trail gives you the chance to walk through some lovely "gruffalo-esque" woodland.

What do you think a Gruffalo might eat?

How about some twig spaghetti, cone broccoli and grassy sprinkles

                                                      Is this the log pile?

                                                      Making Gruffalo tracks.....

                                                    Chloe and Jamie did the Gruffalo trail....

All in all though a great opportunity to explore a local woodland.

Just remember "there's no such thing as a Gruffalo.......Shhhhh!