Luxury accommodation

Camp

Tomorrow I'm off to camp (proper camp in tents) for 2 weeks. Yeah!

100 generally very excited ten to thirteen year olds each week.

The theme is God's Big Picture.

What a privilege to be involved in camps.

Check us out www.weccamps.org

1500 miles in a week

London to Liverpool, Blackpool for the day, another day in Manchester, over to Sheffield, from there to Cornwall and back and then finally back to London all in a week! A bit crazy but good fun.

I spent a few nights at home in Liverpool and realised just how much I like that place, which is a good job as I am going back to live there. Some things that I like:

I like the fact that my neighbours all know me and talk to me outside the house.
I like that shop assistants and people on the bus talk to you.
I like that I don't have to travel on the M25 to get anywhere.
I like that a traffic jam in Liverpool consists of about 10 cars in front of you.
I like that people understand me and I don't have to keep repeating myself.
I like that there is no misunderstanding over meals, everyone has breakfast, dinner and tea there.
I like that I've still got mates who live in the area.
I like that my parents live there. They are turning into one of those cute little old couples who potter about together and have their own little routines, although I don't like that I have to eat tea at 5.30 pm. They make me smile.

And I get to live there for the next few years at least :-) How good is that.

The trip to Cornwall was for a friend's wedding. Cornwall is far. I think every caravan in the country was heading down there. I didn't have to drive and we went in convoy with some other mates and tried to make the journey as fun as possible, although I wasn't up for the changing car game, I had visions of being left on the A30. They said they wouldn't leave me but I didn't want to risk it!

Pippa (the bride) looked lovely. The service was nice, formal in the appropriate parts and then relaxed in others. They had their reception in a hotel in Penzance which again was lovely. All in all a very pleasant day.

Would like to post some photos on here but my universal card reader, which the man in Jessops assured me worked in any computer, does not seem to want to work, very frustrating!

More holiday snaps...

Fig trees

This is a fig tree! The reason I know this is because Bex told me when we were away on holiday. In fact, she points out and names most plants and flowers for me. I have got the 'I look like I'm listening but in fact I'm not really paying any attention to you' look almost to perfection!!! However, being on holiday I felt like I should pay more attention to the beautiful surroundings so I did. The exciting thing is whenever I've read about Jesus cursing the fig tree I've always wondered what a fig tree looks like. Now I know. Cheers Bex (that doesn't mean that plants are now the most interesting thing in my life and I want to watch gardening programmes with you, or worst still go accompany you on your trips to the garden centres. At what age do you start going to garden centres? I'm coming up to 30, does that mean I will have to start going soon?)

Holiday Album...

Take two girls and put them on a plane to Alcudia.

One is generally late for things. The other arrives places with plenty of time to spare.
One likes cultural stuff, pottering about old towns and buildings fascinated by the architecture. The other girl not so much.
One likes to sunbathe on the beach. The other by the pool.
One doesn't really like getting wet. The other is in and out of the pool and sea all day.
One likes to sleep in and prefers quiet mornings without endless chatter. The other gets up early and chatters away from the moment she gets up to pretty much the moment she goes to bed.
One is completely uninterested by sporting events i.e. Wimbledon and the World Cup. The other was hoping to watch some sport, at least the finals.

Would this turn out to be a holiday disaster?

Absolutely not! We had a fantastic holiday, despite our different personalities and interests we do get on great.

We left Bex's house at 11:30 am. The flight wasn't till 3:30 pm and it was only a 20 minute drive to Birmingham airport but you must take into account unexpected delays and leave plenty of time for check in!!! Bex knew this was not an argument she was going to win so despite mocking me still got in the car under duress. We arrived in the airport at 11:55 am happy. It meant we got to play 'Guess where they're going on holiday' and 'Are they married? Dating? Mates? etc' games. You never get to find out the answers and I've never been brave enough yet to go up and ask someone but it keeps me amused for ages.

The flight to Palma was only 2 hours. We were surrounded on the plane by several groups of rowdy lads and praying that they weren't going to the same resort as us. As it happens they were off to Magaluf and by the end of the flight we had grown quite fond of the 'Malaguf boys' and several times throughout the holiday we found ourselves thinking about them and hoping and praying that they would be okay. (It was quite a relief to see some of them a week later in Palma airport!)

We stayed in a nice apartment, this was the view from our balcony.












And of course every night before you go out you have to take your photo on the balcony. I don't know why but it's some sort of holiday rule!
We spent several days lying by the pool or on the beach. I think my main reason for disliking the beach is that as soon as you step onto the beach you get covered in sand. It's in your hair, in your bag, all over your towel. Bex reckons it's coz I fidget too much and am in and out of the sea all the time but still! (Does anyone else find this a problem?)

I read lots of fiction books, something I haven't done for ages and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it. How nice to read a book without thinking, 'Is there a suitable quote in here for my essay?'

We spent the evenings eating out, paddling in the sea and pottering around little towns. Porto Pollensa was our favourite place.

It took us ages to make that sandcastle!

We arrived back in Birmingham to rain, typical! But at least we looked brown even if we were soaking wet and rather cold.

A great holiday!

I'm back!

Holiday in Alcudia was great...photos to follow soon (once I've worked out how to upload them!)