Special Birthday Celebrations

  Before I get around to doing my holiday post, yesterday we had a special birthday to celebrate,

....my Granny's 95th birthday.

Now her actual birthday is the 27th but we were away on holiday, so we planned a little family lunch, to celebrate on our return. I ordered the balloons before we went away, sorted out with my sister who was making what and made a food shopping list for our return.

It did mean I spent the last day of my holiday cooking but it also meant we had plenty of leftovers too. 

Grandchildren

Great Grandchildren

Mum and dad chauffeured Granny up from Cornwall and ended up taking my niece Ella back with them too, for a few days holiday. All this lovely weather we've been enjoying and of course, the one day I wanted it to be sunny, it had to rain. So plan B eat in the kitchen, which was perfectly fine given we have all that lovely space.

I made a pavlova, not made one in years but not lost my touch and my sister made the birthday cake.

I think she had a good day - Happy Birthday Granny x

55 Carrer de Formentor

We have just returned from a fabulous week in Puerto Pollensa, Majorca. A place we have holidayed in twice before but always as part of a Thompson package deal, half board, in this resort. This year, understanding our own family likes and dislikes about holidaying a bit more, we decided to take the plunge and book a private villa, with a pool! We decided to go back to Puerto Pollensa as we knew the resort, so could locate the property with a good idea of what the location would be like. We also knew that if it was awful, the resort and surrounding area had enough going for it and we could escape if needed! Thankfully it wasn't needed and we had a fab holiday, which I will do a proper blog about asap but lots of people asked for the details via my Instagram account of where we stayed, so I thought it would be easier to send them here for a quick review, rather than reply individually.

I found the apartment with Owners Direct, now known as HomeAway but once in contact with the owner, we booked it with them directly via their website Rentals Puerto Pollensa 

If you have trouble with the link, it appears to be a private log in, which we must have been given, you can email them directly for information info@rentalspuertopollensa.com  We paid 1400.00 euros for the week, which was cheap compared to the many villas available, once you start looking!

From the outside it looked nothing......

.......but behind was this hidden gem. 

A shady patio area, grass area and then the real reason why we booked, our own pool. Now it wasn't on the scale of  a hotel pool but it was ours and there was no sunbed dash at 8am. I vowed after our last hotel holiday that I would never do it again - pay good money to literally have to run to bagsy a sunbed at 8am!!!! So that was a big reason for why we were nudged into our search, plus Sam spent the majority of our last holiday up in the air conditioned room, away from us all. He still spent time inside as he's not a fan of the heat but he was still near us all, still part of the holiday and if we did go out for the day, we knew we could come back to the pool, not hunt out a sunbed as before.

Inside there was an open plan sitting room, kitchen, dining area and then to the front a twin bedded room with a bathroom and to the right of this picture a double room with en suite, all air conditioned too. I will say the interior was a little tired and dated but I guess you get what you pay for, it had everything you needed. I always take my own pillow case, pack of wipes, wash everything up before we use it but that's just me!! It was great to have so much space and with 4 adults, much better than a small hotel room.

The pool was great but the only down side and it wasn't the owners fault but the neighbouring property used their back yard as a toilet for their dog, so you can guess what the smell was like midday in the heat of the full sunshine. We bought incense sticks to burn beside the pool to lessen the smell, so when the breeze did blow you got more of the incense smell. Was definitely unnecessary and unpleasant. We did mention it to the owners and they were going to speak to the neighbours but it wasn't resolved during our week but the next person might be luckier. 

So the reason I went for this particular apartment was the location, one street back from the seafront. I took this photo on the corner of the street and......

.....this was the view from the same spot, see how close the seafront was.

The apartment was right in the centre of everything, excellent location to go for swim in the sea, walk along the seafront, go out in the evenings, catch a bus to various places - perfect. There were lots of villas to choose from, with bigger pools, modern interiors but they were new builds on the outskirts of the resort, not in the centre like this apartment. Jeff doesn't like to drive when we go on holiday and my caveat is that I don't have to cook, so it was perfect for us both. 

We had our breakfast and lunch at the apartment - perfect shady spot and then we ate out in the evenings, there are so many place to choose from, you really are spoilt for choice.

The blue dot shows the apartment location, we had previously holidayed in the Puerto Azul Hotel further back but this was in the best spot. I will do another blog post about what we did, where we went etc but there are so many photo's to go through and I have a family lunch to organise tomorrow for 9, so have had a busy day. Check back in, in a couple of days time and I'll hopefully have written some more but it's back to work on Tuesday and the real life realities begin again x

Summer Ball

Friday the 13th of July and night of the Sixth Form Summer Ball.....

 ....and she looked beautiful (Very Mel C in this pic!!)

Her dress was from the very first shop we went in - was meant to be x

Of course we had to have the obligatory family shots in the garden first!

I then dropped her over at her friends house in Wells, more pics in their garden, then chauffeured them up to school, where the Ball was being held in a marquee on the school field.

They looked lovely, so happy and full of self confidence. As with all these type of events, you never know what to expect but it was a proper sit down meal, wine at the table, dancing til 11pm then on to various pubs, clubs etc in Wells. I was designated chauffeur again, home and in bed just after 1am!!! Oh to be young and carefree again. 

Vitamin - Sea

On Sunday evening we escaped to the sea.

A few days in Cornwall staying with my parents, a chance for some to swim in the sea or in my case, just simply breathe in the sea air.

A rare chance for the four of us to spend time together.

Jeff took this one of me on cliff side, trying to take a good pic of the setting sun....

.... I think it was worth it!

We went to Portreath, the beach of my childhood. My Granny lived on the cliff top, middle bungalow of 3, with views out across the Atlantic, for 57 years. I spent every summer there, I guess I never truly appreciated just how lucky and spoilt I was, I didn't know anything different....

....sunsets like these were a regular occurrence.

Wasn't I a lucky girl?

The bungalow is no more, well not as it was, it's been knocked down and something 6 times the size has gone up in it's place but....... 

........ the Pepper Pot remains! Perched on the cliff edge, just down from Granny's old bungalow, where many a Summer's evening was spent.

Monday, with fabulous sunshine forecast, we headed to St Ives for the day.

Straight to Porthgwidden beach, our favourite spot and partly because it's a dog free beach for Sophie. It was slightly odd going out of proper school holiday time, it was still busy but not as busy as it will be in a week or two's time. 

These 3 braved it, I'm waiting for the med in a few weeks time!!

The boys even found a rock to dive in from.

Pasties were on the menu, of course.....

....from the best bakery in town!

And then tea in the Hub....

.......best place to eat, best table, with the best view.

We went back to St Ives on Tuesday - Fore Street busy as usual.

The sea changes so much from one day to the next - big waves and surf. The boys spent ages in the water, whilst Sophie and I had a mooch around the shops.

The day was ended with fish and chips, sat on the harbour wall watching the world go by but always with an eye on the sky.......

....and the ever present menacing seagulls, ready to swoop!

Wednesday and it was time to head home. Mum and dad were probably relieved to see us go, as poor mum had fallen on the Sunday evening we arrived, fractured her arm and was in casualty when we got down there. 6 weeks, arm in a sling now follow. We popped in to see my Granny before we headed home and had a sort of cream tea, pastries type thing. She'll be 95 at the end of the month and due to timings no cake on this visit, we'll get to celebrate a day or two after the big day. 

We got home in time to watch the football. 

Sadly it wasn't to be but the dream lives on now for 2022, or so I'm told!

So a lovely few days in Cornwall, brilliant weather and lots of vitamin-sea! I still have a few more days off work, Sophie has her Summer Ball tomorrow evening. I'm then back at work Monday through to Thursday, before we enjoy a few more days by the sea, a slightly warmer sea, one I might even swim in!! It might seem a little sad but the thing that excites me the most about going on holiday though, is not cooking, not having to think about meals, not thinking about what to have, no cooking or meal planning for a whole week - that to me is the perfect holiday!