Life's a beach...

I love holidays.

There is a not so secret fact about me. I love planning holidays, booking them and most importantly being on holiday. There is nothing like that feeling of waking up really early to head to the airport ready for your next adventure, the only thing that beats it is Christmas morning. I go to work everyday to be able to afford holidays and I make not secret of that. I am not overly fussy about what sort of holiday it is I am happy lying on a beach, exploring a new city or spending a long weekend by the coast in England.

I am the first to admit that I am extremely lucky and have been on some incredible holidays in my life mostly thanks to my parents but me and the farmer haven't done bad in our 10 years together.

This year we decided we didn't want a big adventure holiday we just wanted to relax. We have had a hectic few years with the house and wedding and our holidays have been busy too. The last few have included Kenya, New York and California so we were ready to just spend the week lying by the pool and that's exactly what we did.

We booked a villa in Polis, a tiny town in Cyprus, with a private pool and only a 5 minute walk to some lovely traditional restaurants. We went just before the May half term and there were hardly any tourists around. It was nice and warm with an average temperature of 28 degrees but not too hot (it is currently in the high 30's) and we had bright blue skies most days.

We spent our time either by the pool reading and listening to music or wandering around the tiny towns and villages stopping to try every ice cream shop we came across. We hired a boat from the local harbour and spent one of our days out at sea, the boys spent the day scuba diving whilst the girls sunbathed on board the boat or snorkelled in some of the clearest waters I have seen.

Officially the best ice cream I have ever tasted!

It really was the most perfect way to spend the week and we could have quite happily spent a few more days doing the same.

Now excuse me while I fantasise about the next holiday!

J x

Curb Appeal

If you follow me on Instagram (if not, why not???) then you will have seen that we have spent the last few weekends working on our front garden. I have had an idea in my head for the front of our house since I first laid eyes on it in January last year but it has taken a while for it to become a reality.

When we first moved in there was nothing really wrong with the front of the house but there was noting really right about it either. I wanted it to have colour and texture and to bring a smile to peoples faces as they walk by (which they do, a lot!).

The first thing we did was put a fence and gate up, we live on quite a busy road so I wanted a little added privacy and security. I also just think little picket fences are adorable and wanted one, we did plan on painting it straight away but weren't sure on what colour and we also plan to change the front door so we will wait until then to choose a colour.

Once that was done we (the husband) dug out a flower bed and a diamond shape in the grass. We added a border to both and some stones to the diamond and then placed our trusty magnolia tree - Murray on top. We have left him in a pot for now as we want to take him with us when we move and then we will plant him in our forever home. We decided to add the tree to give us a little bit more privacy as you can see straight into our lounge from the street and it always feels a bit open so this has really helped.

We added some flowers to the flower bed, starting with tall lupins and hollyhocks at the back to cover the fence a little and then moving down with dahlias and geraniums . In the corner I put a hydrangea that we have had for a while and hopefully that will fill a lot of the space.  

We received the rose in the corner as a wedding present and it has beautiful pale pink roses on it in the summer. Under the window we added two small tubs of lavender and then in the galvanised bucket we have a mixture of seasonal plants.

We also have a hanging basked full of all leftover plants that I couldn't fit into the front bed.

In the autumn I will plant spring bulbs so that we have a constant supply of colour in the garden. I think spring flowers are my favourite and I will be making sure we have lots of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths dotted around.

I think it makes such a difference having a nice garden at the front of the house, we have had so many people stop and comment on it whilst we have been out there pottering.

Our Honeymoon

Even before we were engaged we had spoken in depth about our honeymoon. We knew it was going to be difficult to find something we both loved whist making it something a little more special as I always think honeymoons should be a once in a lifetime experience and a little bit more luxurious than normal. We debated for a while, I wanted the white sandy beaches of Mauritius whereas Chris wanted something a bit more adventurous, suggesting a few weeks travelling around Thailand.

When it finally came time to booking something we decided on a safari with a beach stay at the end. It was the perfect compromise, 4 days sleeping in tents and going on game drives to see some of the most majestic animals in the world and then 10 days of pure relaxation on a beach doing nothing but sunbath, swim and soak up the beautiful surroundings. All that was left to do was decide where we wanted to go this fortnight of paradise!! That is where Imagine Travel came in, I had looked at lots of different travel companies from Kuoni to Hayes and Jarvis but I didn't feel like they were right for us. When I happened to click on to the Imagine Travel website I knew they would be the company we booked through, with their dedicated specialists for all locations we knew we would be in good hands. I got in touch with Pierre, who actually grew up in South Africa, and told him what we were looking for and he was able to put together a tailor made package for us which turned out to be perfect.

We spent 4 days at Kilima Camp in the Maasai Mara, Kenya staying in beautiful tents which looked out over the national park. In the mornings we watched the hot air balloons floating along the horizon as the sun rose and in the evenings we sat around the camp fire with other guests talking about our spots of the day and drinking delicious wine. During the day we would spend hours out in the national park with our guide Martin who knew just where to spot the elusive Rhino and how to creep up on a sleeping Lion (impressive when you are in a jeep!). I have never experienced anything like the feeling I felt when we drove past the first herd of Elephants on our way from the landing strip to the hotel. It really was a magical site and one I will never forget.

A safari is not the most relaxing break though, we were up at 6:30 every morning for our game drives, it was often quite cold and windy during the early mornings and then boiling hot by midday so when it came to move on, although sad that the safari part of our honeymoon was over, I was so excited for a slice of luxury at Diani Beach. When we arrived at the Almanara Beach Resort it actually took my breath away! The hotel only has 5 guest rooms and the entire time we were there, there was only ever a maximum of 4 guests which meant we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.  It was spotless and trust me after almost a week of living in a (luxury) tent all I wanted was bright airy rooms with a big comfy bed to jump in to and a bath to soak in and that is exactly what we got. We arrived to welcome drinks and cold towels to cool off from the flight on the tiniest plane I have ever been on and were then shown to our suite! It was honestly the most beautiful room I have ever stayed in and the view was just incredible. From that moment on we lost all concept of time, the half 6 starts were a thing of the past, we woke up when we wanted, had breakfast made for us by our personal chef when we were ready and then spent the morning by the pool, when lunch was ready we would head to the terrace and have a long lunch and then head to the private beach for the afternoon before returning to our rooms to get ready for the most incredible dinners and lots of wine.

I can honestly say this was the most incredible trip we have ever been on and we were treated like royalty from the moment I contacted Pierre to the minute the hotel chauffeur dropped us off at Mombasa Airport for our flight home. I think any future holidays are going to have a hard time living up to this one!!

J xx