Diamonds, Good Eggs, Sunshine and Chocolate

Living in Britain is great. If you’re ever short of a conversational opener, you can say anything about the weather – and I mean anything – and it will keep you going for at least five minutes. Too hot? We wipe our foreheads and talk wistfully about the thunderstorm that’s forecast tomorrow. Unseasonably chilly? Well, the nights are drawing in, but they say it will be sunnier next week.

Investigating your family tree can uncover some exciting facts. My ancestors have donated a dash of French DNA, possibly some Dutch and Belgian about fifteen generations back, but mostly good old Scottish genes, which have blessed me with extremely fair skin. In winter, I’m blue. In summer, I go white. Then red. I don’t get on terribly well with extreme heat so this week has been a bit of a trial.

Realising that 2020 was the year of our sojourn in Costa del Loudham, my sainted husband got out the pool, blew it up and applied vast amounts of glue to mend the many leaks. Next, he purchased floating hammocks and some drinks holders in the shapes of doughnuts, palm trees and watermelons. On Monday, I was so incredibly hot and grumpy that I betook myself to my chamber, dug out my bathing costume and poured myself into it. Wrapped modestly in a towel, I ventured out into the garden. We live in a semi, not massively overlooked, but if our neighbours had glanced out of their bedroom window that afternoon, they would have been treated to the sight of a Rubenesque middle-aged lady lowering herself into the water while yelping. It was COLD. Good Lord, how cold it was.

After a bit, it became bearable, then blissful. Every day this week, I have galumphed over the lawn and hurled myself in. Yesterday afternoon, I found myself lying on the said hammock, cup of cold water held by the said palm tree having a lovely chat with my daughter. We lay there, gazing up at the intense blue sky and watched as two buzzards circled and swooped and cried out to each other. It was lovely. I was completely happy and relaxed. If life gets better than lying in a large paddling pool from a Spanish hypermarket on a roasting hot day, I’d like to know about it.

Wednesday was a top day all round. I went out and had brunch with four dear friends in the morning, which felt like a real adventure. Going out of the house. Entering a place of entertainment. Seeing people who are not blood-related. I think we all felt rather daring.

Well, it was the most fun ever. We haven’t seen each other all together for I don’t know how long. As with all good friends, it was as if not a moment had gone by. We laughed solidly for about the first half hour. Gales of merriment echoing around, five ladies gulping down cooling iced drinks and snorting with laughter. We certainly made our presence felt.

We covered a huge amount of ground in the two hours we spent together. We caught each other up on our lives, we listened, we encouraged, we learned. We’re all women of faith and it was so good to be able to talk about that. I hadn’t realised how much I had missed socialising, how much I miss my friends and how much I need that human contact. I left the café beaming from ear to ear and drove home in a haze of happiness.

As I drove back up Chapel Lane towards our house, a van came bowling towards me. We both slammed on our brakes, pulled into our respective passing places and waved at each other. The driver was young, with an open, smiling face. As he thanked me, he laughed and it was so infectious that I laughed too. He looked as happy as I felt and that joyous, spontaneous laughter (about what, I couldn’t tell you) lifted my spirits even more.

Let me end this week by sharing some lovely quotes about friends.

“Diamonds aren’t a girl’s best friend – friends are.”

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.”

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.”

Enjoy the rest of the week. I believe that rain is forecast ……………..

Images by Pixabay

Ruth is a freelance writer. She is married with three children, runs a catering company and keeps chickens and quail. She has her first novel in the editing stage, another two on the go, writes for a number of Christian charities and has her own business writing blogs for small Suffolk businesses. She is a recovering over-achiever who is now able to do the school run in her onesie most days. She blogs at @bigwordsandmadeupstories, covering topics as diverse as King Zog of Albania, a Christingle plagued by punch-ups and tummy upsets, and the inevitable decline of elderly parents. She has abnormally narrow sinuses and a morbid fear of raw tomatoes, but has decided not to let this get in the way of a meaningful life.