Water, Water Everywhere!

The UK is experiencing the wettest winter in over 250 years. Since the autumn, these isles have been swamped by unprecedented amounts of rain, and successive storms off the Atlantic have pounded the coastline with tidal waves and hurricane force winds.

My sympathies lie with all those living along the Cornwall, Devon and Dorset coasts, Wales, Somerset and the Thames Valley. Forced to flee from the rising waters.... their homes, farms and businesses flooded, their lives turned upside down. And there is no end in sight. More storms are on their way, more rain, more destruction.

So far, we've been OK here in Bedfordshire, although flood warnings are in place and the River Great Ouse that snakes through the centre of Bedford town is getting worrying high, as these photos from last weekend show....

There's definitely enough water for water sports!

The swans and ducks don't mind too much!

Photos taken with my phone camera

Beach Therapy

If there is a heaven for me, I'm sure it has a beach attached to it 
Jimmy Buffett

Thailand - My Most Momentous, Memorable Moments

The whole trip was fabulous - I seriously did not want to leave! But if I could pick a few of the most memorable things, these would be.....


Stepping off the speedboat from Krabi, straight onto Phra-Ae (Long) Beach and being greeted by the lovely staff of the Layana Resort and Spa, Koh Lanta Yai, almost as soon as our feet hit the sand....

Gorgeous, gorgeous sunsets.... and sun-downers!...almost every evening.....

The snake dropping by for a visit... quite literally... falling out of a tree and onto our beach umbrella!

My darling husband surprising me with a romantic, candlelit birthday dinner on the beach on our last night at the resort...

Officially old enough to be a Cougar!

New Year In Thailand

Hey everyone! How are you all doing? Hope you had a fabulous New Year...

I spent mine eating my own body weight in satay chicken and Pad Thai, watching fireworks and Chinese lanterns lighting up the Andaman Sea, and dancing barefoot on the beach... not a bad way to see in 2014!

 Fire dancers

Note to self: this long dress (currently at the dry cleaners) is perhaps not the best attire for dancing barefoot on the beach until the wee hours....

More on my Thailand holiday to follow....

It's Christmas!

Happy holidays everyone!

See you all in 2014....

How To Be Appear Completely Inebriated At Your Office Party...

.... while in fact being stone cold sober, and having not touched a drop of alcohol for close on two years!

Start by having a wonderful, generous boss... who arranges fabulous Christmas parties every year. This year was no exception - an elegant dinner in The Orangery at Blenheim Palace, residence of the dukes of Marlborough and notable for being the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill.

A generous boss means there will be shed loads of bottles of wine on every table... enough wine that even Churchill on a bender would have struggled to get through it all by the end of the evening.

Bessie Braddock: “Sir, you are drunk.” 
Churchill: “Madam, you are ugly. In the morning, I shall be sober.”

A generous boss will also insist that everyone takes a couple of unopened bottles home with them, to share with friends and family over the Christmas festivities. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.... however, as I discovered a couple of minutes later, there is something somewhat undignified about sweeping through the elegant East Gates of Blenheim Palace at the end of the night... accompanied by the loud and distinct clinking of bottles under one's best winter coat.

Very Posh Doorman at Blenheim Palace [in Very Posh Oxford Accent]: "Taking some supplies with us for the trip home, are we Madam?"

Nat [in Very Unposh, Southern African drawl, only made worse by a lingering sinus infection and a day of nonstop talking]: "I don't even drink!"

Very Posh Doorman at Blenheim Palace [in possibly even Posher Very Posh Oxford Accent]: "Never too young to start learning, Madam!"

The first sign of alcoholic addiction? Denial. Damn you Very Posh Doorman at Blenheim Palace!

Goodbye South Africa's Greatest Son...

R.I.P. Nelson 'Madiba' Mandela - 1918 to 2013