The Swan at Southrop

With ivy-clad walls and a chocolate box village location, this pub already has a lot going for it. Give it a superb menu and great staff and it becomes the place for me and Liz to go for dinner tonight. It's a place I've wanted to go to for a while so my expectations were pretty high. The website looked great and the menu had sounded wonderful so I booked a table, picked Liz up from work and away we went. Liz started with bread & balsamic, pieces of which had been cut from the most enormous freshly baked loaf the size of an enormous breeze block. I ordered the prosciutto with peaches, rocket and parmesan whilst Liz had the bruschetta with roasted garlic and chopped tomatoes. Next came the duck breast on couscous and I had the lamb with wilted spinach and aubergine parmigiana - absolutely yummy! Both meals were delicious and I would have taken photos but Liz already calls me the food stalker! Next time hey.. I'll be back with my camera :)

The Highlights...

I may be bias but I think that Mallorca has some of the most gorgeous coastline and scenery in the world. I knew I'd enjoy visiting this beautiful island and it has certainly lived up to my expectations. The choice of villa was of course a triumph. Sitting high up on the hillside amongst the olive groves, it was wonderful. Plenty of space both inside and out with stunning views across the valley over Soller, Fornalutx and behind us, the Tramuntana mountains. This area of Mallorca is peaceful, very traditional and the scenery is amazing. With temperatures in the mid 20s to early 30s, it was the perfect time to visit to chill... more pics coming soon :) x

Special moments come in many different guises..

Some scare me out of my wits & others fill me with deep joy. Yes, it sounds like a cliche, bit it's true. A happy life us about the people in it - nothing else. Mallorca rocks!! From a v scary Senna-style drive to the coast to a brilliant evening at Petit Hotel, Fornalutx, sitting on the terrace having a lovely meal. Andre, our Belgium host, refused other diners because he said it made him happy that we were alone. He's a kindred spirit and don't get me wrong.. his wife is lovely too! He told me I was very beautiful & I could tell by the twinkle in his eye that he meant it. Life is about those special people who make footprints on our hearts in such a way that we will always think fondly of them - no matter what x

Holiday surprises...

Best bits of the day...? The gorgeous old train ride from Soller to Palma, the stunning Cathedral there & Deiu. Palma is quite unmemorable as a city but the cathedral in a marvel. The powers that be in yhe UK would never be brave enough to allow a contemporary artist to redesign a chapel in an already beautiful cathedral. Only the Spanish with their rich culture & heritage would accept & embrace a new design by Miguel Barcelo as new ad 2007. Gaudi restored the interior from 1904 to 1914 creating a very unusual piece over the high alter which stands out today as being a piece of great architecture. It was refreshing & quirky & great. Then we dashed to catch the train back.
Parts of Mallorca are so Italian that you could be forgiven for imagining that you weren't in Tuscany. Deiu is such a place. Just 20 minutes drive along the coast, the car hugging the sides of the mountain as you pass yet another breath-taking bit of scenery. Thank me for taking the time to log onto Times Online before we arrived! Okay, I know that sounds OTT but hey, it has paid off & withouty trusty Sawdays, I needed someone by my aide to play Geeves! TO said there were two great places to eat in Deiu. One you'd need to take out a 2nd mortgage to pay the bill... The other was perfect. Pretty terrace decorated with grapevines & tapas to die for! If like me, you rate a good experience by the fact that you'd like to to back for more then this was a Great experience! I'm back at the villa now. The gekkos ate climbing the walls, my glass is full of chilled white & Mr Buble is serenading me...bliss... until tomorrow x    

Time flies...

When I'm at work so coming away is the perfect opportunity to slow down. Without all those deadlines, time is meaningless. We can get up when we want, eat when we want & just free fall through each wonderful day. Today's already been a pretty lazy day. I overheard a conversation yesterday about some steps leading down the side of the valley so we decided to wander up the hill to find them. Success! They scutally lead down along the path of the very dry riverbed alongside other properties into the village. The views here are superb & nothing like I expected. Were surrounded by mountains with properties clinging onto the hillside inbetween the lines of trees. It's quite Tuscanesque with a Canadian Rockies feel. We booked dinner for this evening, had coffee at Petit Hotel & booked dinner there for Sunday evening - that will be a real treat. Andre, the owner, has suggested Gazpacho followed be Cappaccio & a surprise dessert. I like that man already!
We've wandered back up the hill, had light lunch & am just relaxing on the terrace with a good book. Hurrah for holibobs!

Porta Pollenca

Ice-creams, coffees & sunshine in Porta Pollenca, lovely jubbly x

"A"-mazing!

I'm sitting on the terrace overlooking lush green conifers growing on the mountain side & work suddenly feels a trillion miles away. The sky is clear with just a few whispy clouds & it's hot! Not too hot that I can't breathe but like a midsummers day.
The spiral staircase to reach the lounge & mezzanine bedroom was a surprise. We'd already found the kitchen/sitting room & large bedroom & bathroom downstairs. It's like a cosy house within a bigger house & a barbQ on the terrace is a must.
Just less than an hour from Palma, Fornalutz is going to be a totally new experience for me for lots of reasons.I'll let you know more when Noddy wakes up & we've done some exploring. Yeah :) !!

Pilots porkies!!

It appears the computer says..."NO!" 40 flight plans have been refused & the pilot has just informed us that they've "slapped" his words, nor mine, another 1hours delay on us. We were just about to start & it's seat belts off again & back to blogging! Frustratingly, the oldies at the front (who read very slowly) have only got to page 6!

The latest from seats 22D&E

Hurrah, we're off!! :)) love to all xx

Glad I've got my jellytots!

Blooming French...! Someone sitting next to me just piped up "It looks like a nice day" ha ha, not sitting on this plane it doesn't! The French decide to strike because the government want to increase the pension age from 60 to 62 & what happens, the whole world stops! Air traffic control won't let any planes through their airspace unless they say so which means we've been told it could be a 1hr 50min delay - unless the situation deteriates! They've sold out of newspapers though I'm sure after an hour & all the old fogies at the front have read theirs, they could recycle them, we'd pay half price here at the back of the plane!

Pass the popcorn!

Woof, can I have a look?

Lovely ear ring.. :)

Great hiding place.. phew, a bit of peace :)

I wish I could remember where I hid that bone from last night's dinner..!

Let's play a game of hide and seek.. !

Can I have a piggyback please.. !

Girls on tour..

Home sweet home :)

Oink, oink!

"I haven't eaten any!".. there were only 9 plums in the box when I arrived.. honest.. !

It's a bit chilly in here.. brrrrrr

Good job I packed my wooly jumper in my trunk... !

Ha, ha, ha.. !

They suit me better than you anyway!

All I need are 4 pairs of gloves..

Cat on a cold smoothie carton!

Suits me better than you anyway.!

Can someone knit me 4 pairs of gloves please?

Who wants cream anyway.. !

Hey, that's my hat.. !

More bunny tales and innocent smoothie adventures... !

ha ha.. does my bum look big in this..?!

Yesterday was a 'Going out' day.. and today is one for 'Staying in'...

Who shrunk the night then?! Mine only lasted just over 5 hours so either someone changed the clocks or I went to bed really, really late - 3am rings a bell! Opened the curtains to horrible weather outside today so decided it was the perfect day to stay in and craft. Ginger had cards to make and I still had some work to do. How much more... !! I do think I'm being tested. I just get to a point when I think I've almost finished - just like a champion jockey reaching the final hurdle - when someone changes the course and all of a sudden you have to go around the course one more time! After a few hours untangling some sewing patterns, I got onto the serious bit of the day - making a thank you card using some oddments of card I've had sitting here for a while. Two hours later and one card made - it was time for lunch - more salad! We finally decided to go and get milk around 5pm before settling down to some carbonara, my fav food for quick-eats. It was yummy and I was kinda hoping that I'd made enough for tomorrow too. I didn't bank on someone scoffing the lot - it must be all the stepping she's been doing. Ginger's nearly worn a hole in my floor with her stepping on the spot! She makes cards about as fast as she can eat pasta! In my defence, she does make cards almost every day of her life. My cardmaking is currently a bit like my book reading - very slow and repetitive. It takes me as long to get back into it as the time it takes me to complete a card or page of my book. I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey though and although I've worked more than I'd have liked to have done this weekend, it's still been a great weekend. Ginger ROCKS!

Ginger is not so innocent.. !

You know when you get that feeling that everyone else thinks you're completely NUTS... but you really don't care! We took Mom's Innocent Smoothie Hat Creatures on their first photoshoot at Ruskin Mill. Of course, there's always one that doesn't want to conform.. Ellie! It was definitely a bonkers moment but it made us smile and was so much fun.

Ginger, Ginger everywhere.. !

Ginger cheesecake; Butternut squash, sweet potato, coconut and ginger soup; and my Ginger Claire! The girl behind the counter says "Try something that you don't like 13 times and you'll like it!" That's 13 pieces of cheesecake for me then - ha ha! Whenever I go to Ruskin Mill for lunch I always feel kinda wholesome. It's veggie, tasty and eating alfresco always makes food taste better.