Saturday 29 October 2011 – Antonietta’s 50th Birthday Party

Today I was up early to fly out to Italy for a 50th Birthday Party for Antonietta. Antonietta and I have been friends since we were both 16 years old. She is my oldest friend and more like a Sister than just a friend. Her Sister Marilina had organised a 50th party for her at Tre Ciuffi Hotel in Laigueglia and my attendance was to be a surprise. So in order to make sure it remained a surprise I arranged it so that I wouldn’t arrive until early evening on the day of the party (today). Her actual birthday is on 3 November.
I asked Gretchen to come along with me as I really wanted her to see this very special place that is like a second home to me and to meet my “Italian Family”. We flew into Genoa, got a bus to the train station and then a taxi from Alassio station to Laigueglia. When we walked into the Tre Ciuffi Garden it was clear from Antonietta’s joyful and tearful reaction that it had been a genuine surprise...and thankfully a welcome one.
So this evening there were about 40 guests sitting down together to celebrate with Antonietta . Presents were opened and Antonietta and I were both presented with a beautiful TShirt that had a photo of the 2 of us on it on the front and “50 today” on the back. Gretchen and I bought her a Silver broad bangle from The Lanes in Brighton plus a personalised bottle of champagne. It was such a lovely occasion with good company, great food and wine and lots of laughter. Another very special memory to add to the Laigueglia archive!
For the next couple of days Gretchen and I spent quality time with the family, visiting Alassio, spending lazy morning breakfasts at the beach cafe and even venturing into the sea for a swim. The weather for this time of year was absolutely beautiful and the weekend party had naturally coincided with an Italian holiday weekend so Laigueglia was busy and lively. The beach looked so different with all the cabins and deck chairs cleared away from the sand. It meant that the whole beach was open to the public and you could sit and swim wherever you wanted for a change. It was a beautiful few days.

14 October 2011 to 17 October 2011 – BodySurfing in Watergate Bay, Cornwall

Gretchen booked a beautiful apartment at Watergate Bay this weekend. http://www.watergatebay.com/waves.php Watergate Bay is simply stunning - a fantastic long sandy beach which stretches for over two miles at low tide. Your first glimpse of the bay, as you come over the top of the hill, is one of the most memorable views in Cornwall.
Gretchen has spent many wonderful family holidays on this stretch of the Cornish coast and it is particularly well known with surfers as the beach and the breakers along here are fantastic. She has surfed here before but this weekend she was introducing me to the joys of body boarding. The weather was glorious for the time of year and the sea surprisingly warm. I borrowed a short wetsuit from Gretchen to enable me to stay in the water for longer because swimming in the Atlantic can be cold all year round. I rarely swim in the sea around the British coast and if I do venture in it is never for very long but I loved the thrill and excitement of body boarding. When you catch a wave just at breaking point the ride you get is exhilarating and often will carry you all the way in, up onto the beach. I couldn’t believe that I had never done this before – it is great fun. For the first day I used a borrowed board but I enjoyed the experience so much that I bought a new body board (yellow/orange) from the surf shack shop on the beach at Watergate, for the second day.
We didn’t stray very far from the bay for the 3 nights we stayed there. One evening we took a bottle of champagne and a picnic of fish and chips onto the beach to watch the sunset over the bay. Even when the light faded and it became dark there were still surfers out taking on the breakers –either very brave or a little bit crazy. You decide!

29 September 2011 – IRP Awards Evening 2011

This year the Institute of Recruitment Practice (IRP) shortlisted me for the “Best Newcomer Award” and shortlisted FRS (Forces Recruitment Services) for the “Best Small Recruitment Company” Award. Tonight was the Awards Ceremony up a The Lancaster Hotel in Central London and so Myself, Graham Brown (MD and Founder of FRS) and Alan Cawthorne (Director of Finance and Business Development for FRS) all attended the ceremony in the hope that we may win something (see photo)! It was a glamorous occasion and an opportunity to dress up and meet other people from the world of recruitment. I booked a taxi into town (collecting me from Gretchen’s house) as I didn’t want to travel on public transport in my party dress. Bill Turnbull from BBC Breakfast was the compare o the evening. Unfortunately we didn’t win anything but we had a wonderful evening.

5 September 2011 – Move to North Lodge, Aldwick, - A new start

For the last 8 weeks I have been searching for somewhere to live so that I could move out of Bawtree Close and start new life on my own. I have seen many flats and houses up in Sutton but most were pokey or tired and I couldn’t see myself living in any of them. So I switched my sights to Bognor and Chichester. I thought it may be better to be closer to mum and dad now that they need more support and I was hopeful that i would find a nicer home within my price bracket in that area. I can live and work anywhere too.
It has been a tricky few months for me and friends such as Sandy, Ingrid and Sandra have give me so much support, I am not sure what I would have done without them. I have built up a new friendship too during this period with Gretchen Rowles, a friend of Sandi’s that is a neighbour of hers at Winkworth Place. House hunting, golfing, companionship when I have felt lonely, you name it and Gretchen has been there supporting me. I feel very blessed to have met her at this otherwise bleak period of my life and today Gretchen helped me to move into my new (rented) house at North Lodge in Aldwick (just 3 mins walk from Mum and Dad’s house). Dacil Graham was also here too to help me move (another wonderful friend!) and whilst moving is always stressful it can also be liberating and exciting and today I felt all of these emotions.
North Lodge stands at the old entrance to The Grange in Aldwick, which used to be a grand house where royalty came to spend holidays and re co-operate after illness, but which is now converted into apartments and the old grounds have been developed with newer houses. North Lodge dates from the 1880s and is a lovely house with bags of character. The perfect place to set up home for me and just a 4 minute walk from the beach.
Dacil had to leave this afternoon but Gretchen stayed to celebrate with me with a lovely bottle of champagne. Here’s to my new life.

27 July 2011 to 2 August 2011 – Holiday in Laigueglia with Mum and Dad

Dad’s mobility is starting to wane now as his legs are swelling up and he is starting to fall quite regularly so we thought it would be good to take him and Mum of course for another trip to Laigueglia in Italy. It is like a second home for us as many family holidays were spent here in the 70’s and 80’s at the little hotel Tre Ciuffi, still owned by our very good friends the Garassino family. The hotel is now run by Marilina (youngest daughter) and her husband Mario and the real charm of Tre Ciuffi is that it is like a home from home and has hardly changed at all in all the years we have been visiting. I took a wheelchair to ferry Dad around, down to the beach and back, to make sure that we could enjoy the beach and the sunshine but we didn’t venture too far this time. It was frustrating for dad as he is no longer fit enough to swim in the sea and had to sit under an umbrella on the beach in his wheelchair for most of the day. It was a time to reminisce really and remember past holidays and departed friends. We all enjoyed the visit.

July 2012 – The end of an era

At the beginning of July a major change happened in my life, when my relationship with Saboohi came to a sudden end. It was the start of a very difficult period for me, I wanted so much to try and make the relationship work and didn’t want to end it at that moment in our lives but I soon realised that it was the right decision for both of us. We have had a wonderful 5 years together and have some truly wonderful memories that will last for the rest of our lives but as a long term partnership we just had too little in common and were not compatible. My hope now is that in the future we will be able to salvage a good friendship from our time together - I guess time will tell. My fingers are crossed.

26 April 2011 to 29 April 2011 – Surprise 50th Birthday House Party in Devon

For my 50th birthday Saboohi told me that she was taking me away to a cottage in Devon, how lovely...just the 3 of us Saboohi, myself and the gorgeous Lilia. Perfect. When we arrived at the beautiful Beaconsfield House just outside Bideford Saboohi took me in to see our “cottage” and then insisted that we rush over to main house for a tour that started promptly at 4 pm. “Has someone famous lived here?” I enquired “No I don’t think so” Saboohi replied. I thought it a little odd at that point that there would be a formal tour of the house but I just went along with it....I’m on holiday! As we entered through the main door we walked into a huge hallway, it looked beautiful. “There is no-one here!” I observed. “Are you sure there is a tour?” At this point Saboohi was wandering in and out of the rooms as if it was her own home while I felt a little more inhibited about being there with no host around. “say hello” said Saboohi. “Who to? There’s no-one here??” I replied. Now I was starting to worry about Saboohi’s sanity and starting to feel uncomfortable about being in this grand house with Saboohi ferreting around as though she was going to run off with the silver at any moment. “Let’s go out into the Garden, perhaps the tour has started” she suggested. Phew, I was out of there like a shot. As we walked to the back of the house I saw a group of people loitering underneath some trees and thought, a long last we have found the group! It took me some moments to realise that I knew all of these people standing under the trees and that Saboohi had hired the whole house along with the 5 extra cottages and 25 acres of woodland so that she could give me a surprise 50th Birthday Weekend with my friends. The most wonderful surprise and gift anyone has ever given me, it was fabulous.
Everything was planned to perfection by Saboohi. Carly-Ann Wright a former colleague of ours from Carshalton College, came along to do all the cooking for us and boy she did a great job, home cooked lasagne, trifles, cakes etc etc. Cooking for 15 to 20 people would scare me to death but she did a fabulous job. On my Birthday we had a celebration dinner in the evening, 5 courses (poor Carly) and a live Jazz Band followed by a disco. All planned to perfection of course.
We spent 3 days relaxing, eating, drinking, chatting together and waling the dogs around the 25 aces of private land. Everyone who has a dog was invited to bring them along and all together there were about 8 dogs in residence. They all got on so well and of course Lilia was the boss! It was lovely to see her at home in the big house running up to the bedroom to rest when she wanted to and then out into the woods to explore a little. She had a ball.
On our second day at the house we had a team of masseurs arrive to give us all a treatment (massage, facial, reflexology etc), very indulgent and such a treat. The weather was wonderful for the whole 3 days (best of 2011) and so the hot tub and swimming pool in the garden became a gathering place during the day. How lucky were we.
This was a birthday that I will never forget .