When we unpacked the car yesterday we were quite astounded to find that our original 12 bottles of alcohol had somehow increased to 17! Now how did that happen we mused? Of course we had to bring our two ‘special’ bottles of Canyero salted caramel rum with us which is probably the best alcoholic drink you can buy. It’s so gorgeous you need to go out and purchase a bottle right now! To be honest I’m surprised there’s any left what with Maice adding it to the apple cake she’d made for Christmas. I can well imagine the scene in her kitchen….’a capful for the cake, a glass for me, a capful for the cake a glass for me’! Oh well, it’s there to be drunk I suppose!
We woke early, 5am to be exact, for two reasons….a) the smell of Brie emanating throughout the bungalow seemed to enter our nostrils despite it being double wrapped and placed in a firm plastic container yet it was still giving off this extremely strong aroma and b) the anticipation of our 7:45am ashtanga yoga class with Saleem from work. He’d posted at work that anyone could join his yoga classes on Zoom so I texted Maice to see if she was up for it and of course she was, no surprise there then! If the truth be known I was slightly apprehensive about it due to the session being an hour and a quarter long! Maice, who does yoga every day would be fine….I on the other hand hadn’t done yoga for at least six months, preferring instead to do a couple of little five minute exercise routines a day. Ah well, just go with the flow Angela, just go with the flow, I mean, how hard can it be!
Omg, I could hardly move my body off the floor at the end of the session. I ached from head to toe, the saving grace was that at least we didn’t have the screen switched on so nobody could see us. Of course Maice fared much better than I did, her being more bendy and supple than me although there were a few moves that she’d not done before. We felt so energised after the session that we’ve decided to challenge ourselves for 2025 and do Salem’s yoga session every Sunday morning. I can’t wait!!!
After our yoga session we needed sustenance and headed off into the kitchen for breakfast. Today we were eating Greek style, you know, cold hard-boiled eggs, toast, tomatoes and cheese all washed down with tomato juice and a berocca to give us back our energy!
The plan for today is to walk into the Mumbles for a) a much needed cappuccino and b )we needed to purchase a few extra provisions. With only one roll of toilet paper provided we didn’t think we could be economical and make it last for a week so that was on the list. Shower gel/soap was also on the list as I’d forgotten to pack some. It’s all well and done using the ‘hand soap’ provided but not on a daily basis and certainly not for the week and microwave popcorn was also on the list (as if we haven’t got enough to eat!). Maice was supposed to bring her popcorn maker pan and popcorn but forgot so microwave popcorn it is then, if we can find any in the shops.
We consulted the map-app to determine which way to go and set off. We were going up and over the hill and hopefully we’d end up somewhere along the promenade. It was a lovely morning. The weather forecasters had predicted gusty winds and temperatures of 7 degrees, which to some may not be too cold but when the wind is blowing in from the arctic, it was freezing. Never mind, the sky was blue and there was no chance of rain so that’s a bonus.
A couple of years ago we visited the Mumbles for the day and found a really nice coffee place where we sat outside in the sun. Today said venue was packed so unfortunately there was no room at the inn, however, this was to our advantage as we just so happened upon the Gin & Juice roof bar. Well, what an amazing place. By the time we’d walked up the four flights of stairs to the roof bar we were amazed at what lay before us. It was like stepping into another world, the decor was beautiful. The bar was stocked with over 200 gins, they did cocktails galore, so we took out seats on the terrace and ordered our two cappuccinos. We’ll come back another day and sample one of their Christmas cocktails. After spending at least an hour enjoying our surroundings we headed down to the co-op, purchased our provisions minus the microwave popcorn and walked along the promenade back along the headland, up Plunch lane and home. So, not only have we done an hour and a quarter of yoga we’ve walked in excess of 10, 581 steps. That definitely deserves a treat. So, Maices home made apple cake it was then, made with the apples from Janes garden, brandy cream and a large shot of Canyero salted caramel rum. OMG it was heaven!
We’d brought with us a number of card games, some we knew how to play others we didn’t. We had attempted to follow the instructions but sometimes the instructions don’t provide you with the full instructions and miss vital bits out. Even resorting to watching YouTube videos hadn’t helped so today we’ve made up our own rules and learnt how to play Giant Beaver, Tiny Ass. We thought it was great fun, although Winston was so bored he fell asleep at the kitchen table! Having sussed this game out we then turned our attention to ‘Who let the dogs out’. Well, after half an hour of working diligintely through the instructions we gave up and decided it’s not for us. You need to pay attention and concentrate and having consumed a couple of glasses of the old vino, we decided we’d donate this game to the charity shop.
We finally retired to the lounge where there is a) a large sofa b) a small chair and c) a Smart TV. Unlike the bed situation, and to be fair, we’re taking it in turns to sit on each piece of soft furnishing. So today it was Maices turn to sit on the sofa and it’s my turn on the chair! Now all we needed to do was sort out the TV. Our track record of trying to operate the TV in our holiday establishments has not been great and today was no different. All we wanted to do was watch Michael McIntyre’s 25th Anniversary Stand-Up show on catch-up but could we get it to work. Absolutely not. It kept saying it wasn’t connected to the internet but we knew it was, honestly, we were going round in circles when all of a sudden Maice pressed a button and voila, it worked. Of course she doesn’t know which button she pressed or what happened but we were good to go. Well, MM was hilarious and we laughed our way through the entire programme, honestly, we’d definitely recommend everyone to watch this for a good dose of merriment and belly laughter. As we’d laughed ourselves hungry for supper we felt the need to let the cheese out and created ourselves a cheese board. The Brie wafted its aroma from the fridge, into the kitchen, through the lobby, into the bedrooms and finally into the lounge where we’d set up the small table. Honestly, the Brie may have stunk and was super soft and squidgy but it was absolutely delicious as was the truffle cheddar, oak aged cheddar and the Stilton. Yum, is all we can say! Now that the TV was working we watched Paddington 1, such a lovely film where more laughter ensued before we shared the sofa and FaceTime’d Myrna, Maices mum for their weekly Sunday evening chat. Unfortunately we had technical issues so spent most of the chat staring at a fuzzy outline of Myrna, then it would disconnect, then we’d have to reconnect and then we’d go through the whole saga again.
To conclude our evening of sitting in front of the TV and to continue our dog themed dash we watched our final film called Dog! Enough said. Talking of which, we don’t know what’s going on in Winstons head but he keeps barking at imaginary things which is most unlike him. Although to be fair he does seem to find his reflection quite alarming and will spend some time growling in front of the TV and the fire where he can see a reflection of himself. He does the same when he stays with Jane and Mike where it gets so bad they have to cover the fireplace with a blanket!!!
It was 10:30pm when we took ourselves off to our individual bedrooms, Maice in the double-bedded room, me in the twin-bedded room with Sir Winston in tow. Now who said he could sleep on my bed! Honestly, there’s only room for me let alone a small dog that likes to spread himself out……!
On that note it’s Nos da from all of us…..
M&A and Sir Winston xxx
💙