Sun Pods

As Blighty gives out another blissfully cold day with weather warnings the focus on all news channels, I thought I'd share my new invention. 

The sun pod.

No these are not sun beds that aid a glowing tan and skin cancer. These are sun pods for the light we so lack and the vitamin D our bodies crave.

You know those outdoor portable heaters, well this is an enlarged version set up like a street light but they give out the necessary Vitamin D for our healthy bones (and minds).

The pods are so large a cafe can be set up under them and you can sit and enjoy a lovely cup of coffee in pure warmth and light.

Aaahhhhhh to dream.

Meanwhile the latest BBC forecast...5 degrees and steadily falling to about 2 overnight. Snow and flooding on top of it.

Please bring me snow and skip the rain....!

Surviving Winter

If I thought my glorious tan, which I had worked so hard to achieve, could withstand the midst of a really cold winter in Blighty then I was up for a shock.

My once tanned skin is so luminous that when I look in the mirror I have to pinch my cheeks a few times to get the blood circulating. I kind of look like a vampire without the fangs.

Makeup doesn’t help. And I refuse to succumb to the fake tan craze that the poms are renowned for. Yes I’m buggered and will be forever more a luminous whitey. I wish to god I had inherited some of my ancestors dark skin.

I could be quite cheeky and suggest that the lack of sunlight and vitamin D may attribute to the high proportion of red heads over here.... but there may be another reason for that!

Those skinny legs that I worked so hard to get brown are no more. The poor things don’t even get out much except when I’m at home in the comfort of a heated apartment.

Thermals are a standard item to be worn daily and after a while you totally forget what sexy was like.

Heels well what are they? It’s winter boots and trainers at the most and I reckon if I had to wear a proper pair of heels for a day my feet would die of shock.

Then there’s the bleakness of the sky that greets you every morning when you wake. You get a few of those days in Oz but they are soon forgotten when you have beautiful blue skies for the majority of the time. But everyday that I get up the clouds are hugging the trees, mr jack frost has been and if I’m really lucky it will be raining and windy on top of it.

brrrrrrrr

It’s completely unmotivating and I wonder how people get things done when really all you want to do on days like that is curl up and go back to sleep or read a really good book near a roaring fire.

Yes I am painting a pretty grim picture so you’d be surprised that I have only been back in the country since late January and haven’t actually had to survive the whole winter... yet.

I do want to reassure you that there is beauty amongst this bleakness of winter and a whole lot to be thankful for.

I’m now married and live with the love of my life. No more travelling 20 plus hours to visit one another on the other side of the world. Phone bills and travel expenses are definately down.

It’s a good excuse for hot chocolate and marshmallows.... yum!

There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing white fluffy snowflakes falling outside your window. They are yet to settle mind you, but it’s pretty exciting when you see it.

Slow cooker meals that warm up the whole house and smell so good. You definitely can’t do this in the summer.

As I sit here writing this post the latest weather forecast for the weekend is snow.... mmmmm looks like I might be wearing those thermals for a little longer!

ps... Yes I'm finally back writing in my newly designed blog page. I hope you like it, not sure if you've missed me but one things for certain.... writing helps maintain my sanity! Bye !

How to host a Dinner Party for a Russian Model

H and I have had so many busy weekends, whether it’s travelling or work that the last couple of weekends have been bliss to just sleep in, enjoy H’s cooked breakfast (or bought one) and then enjoy whatever the day may bring.

This Saturday we had a friend of H’s coming around for dinner and I’d been given the briefing that his girlfriend is a 6ft red haired Russian model. And both are vegetarian.

My first surprise was that a Russian was vegetarian. I thought that the main staple foods of Russians consisted of meat (goulash) and potatoes. Maybe she’s over goulash like I’m well over sausages! I ate so many of those damn things when I was a kid, that unless it’s the gourmet spinach and pinenut ones I just won’t eat them.

I can’t say that I’ve ever had dinner with a model, let alone a 6ft red haired Russian model, so my first concern was what to cook. After spending time with H’s mum this week and reading through the family Indian cookbooks I decided to cook some Indian curries.

If you’re the slightest bit interested in the menu, here it is;

Entree : Pappadums and Pakora (with some homemade chutneys)

Main : Bhendi (Okra) curry, Aloo Palak (Spinach and Potato), Gobi (Cauliflower) curry, accompanied with raita, chapati and rice

Dessert : Fresh Fruit and melted Toblerone for dipping

On the day in question and after sorting all the food, I went to get myself ready. That was when I opened my cupboard to get out some clothes, and had one of those ‘oh shit’ moments... what the hell do you wear to a dinner party when you’ve got a 6ft red haired Russian model coming?

Perhaps I should have done that extra gym workout this morning... or sat in the sauna for a few hours to at least make myself feel a bit slimmer. But really, what can a 30 something woman do to try and make herself look half decent against a 20 something woman that is a 6ft red haired Russian. No point.

After feeling depressed about my lack of wardrobe (and the fact that Blighty adds on pounds no matter how much you exercise), I finally settled on a safe option of casual jeans and a top. However when she walked through the front door I had omitted to wear any shoes. That was a big no no, as you can imagine being 5ft something, I looked like a dwarf next to her (and she didn’t even have heels on). Thankfully we were seated for most of the night.

You may ask how dinner went?

She ate.

Actually more than me. And here I was brainwashed by those trashy magazines that tell us models starve themselves. I can safely say they, or this one, truly do eat.

The evening went well, although I don’t think she understood all the things I said, the Aussie accent can cause confusion even for the Brits at times.

What did I learn?

That the benefit of being a 20 something model is you can wake up the next morning and look perfect even if you've had a few red wines, unlike my disheveled state.

And that next time I WILL wear high heels!