So, there I was, sat at the kitchen table, sunbeams bouncing around the room, trawling the Daily Trash on-line (don’t judge reader) for titillating gossip when Steve told me that it was about time I wrote a blog for it has been over a month since I last posted something. “Alright” I moaned while begrudgingly moving my cursor away from an article about Cheryl Tweedie’s tattoo.
Anyway, Happy - albeit belated- New Year to you all. It all seems an age away now doesn’t it – that Crimbo. Which leads nicely to this little topic:
Yes, it was Blue Monday last Monday. It is an officially recognised date in January with its own formula and everything. If you don’t believe me check it out on Google! Doubleyou doubleyou doubleyou dot Google dot co dot you kay, forward slash, slash my wrists and down pills and cheap vodka.
But seriously, the formula takes into account the worst of the weather, debt level, time since Christmas, time most likely to have failed already on New Year’s resolutions, time you last saw yourself naked with a tan (OK so I made that one up!), low motivation levels and so on – get the picture?
How did yours truly fare on this year’s Blue Monday date of 21st January? Blue, reader. Blue. Blue skies, blue sea. We took our breakfast on the terrace in the sunshine, we took a stroll along the seafront – pretty uneventful really. In fact, on our Blue Monday walk, Steve took a photo of the beach which I’ve posted below and if you look carefully, you’ll see naked people venturing into the sea! Yes, middle of January. Not bad eh?
Anyway, as an antidote to Blue Monday, we’ve just made available our new Vera Playa e-brochure for 2019/20. So, if you fancy a pick-me-up to bring some sunshine in your minds, drop us a line and we’ll happily send you a copy.
Many years ago, I found the temptation too much and surrendered to buying a new pair of sofas interest-free for twenty English pounds a month for the rest of my life. Ironically, when I paid off my mortgage at the tender age of 39, I realised that I still owed money on a pair of old sofas that had long gone! Well, it seems that the Vera town council have been to the same school of economics as moi, because this month the town hall have decided to remove ALL the street lighting around the playa and replace them with state-of-the-art low energy consumption lighting. Oh, it’s great…the monthly energy bills will be slashed to a fraction but just don’t mention the 757,000 euros it cost to install the little darlings. By our reckoning the lamps will have paid for themselves by Blue Monday 2099.
Economics aside, at least it proves that the council value the importance of keeping the naturist zone well-tended and secure. We had the grand switch on and I have to say, they do produce a lovely glow and light up the streets and pathways nicely without polluting the night skies above. Also, Steve has noticed that already, birds of prey are using these as their new perching posts while stalking their quarry.
We have another truly international guest list for 2019. Fortunately, most guests of other nationalities speak English, but we’ve had two separate French bookings where they speak neither English or Spanish.
“That’s okay…I’ll speak to them in French” I proudly declared to Steve.
“I wasn’t in the top set for French at school for nothing, you know” I boastfully continued
“and as you know, my grandmother worked as a translator in an American-funded hospital in Uganda – she spoke English, French and Swahili.”
So Steve gave me a test, which I passed…well, sort of…well I didn’t but anyway, we shall both use mime, dance and song to get the point across when our French cousins arrive come summertime.
Oh, and I’m signing off this post with a public health warning. Steve has decided to take up driving again. He is legal to drive and we both swapped our driving licences for Spanish ones a few years back but living and working in central London for his entire adult life, he’s never needed to do the driving thing.
“What if we were out somewhere and I broke my leg?” I asked him
“Better not learn to drive when under that kind of pressure” I reasoned.
He’s had a few lessons now that haven’t resulted in too much bickering, but he did say that today he wants to drive to our nearest A&E at Huercal Overa in case of emergency.
“Why there? Are you planning on putting me in hospital?” I asked.
So on that note I’m signing off … and going to check my life insurance policy.
See you soon!
Steve and Chris offer two beautiful apartments to rent for the discerning naturist traveller. One is directly on the Vera Playa naturist beach, the other just a few footsteps away. See more. here