Oh, this mini heatwave is lovely. A last little taste of summer before we put away our shorts for another year.
By the time you read this it will probably have ended but I’m enjoying topping up on my vitamin D while I can.
I experienced the good-old British holiday resort this week as I had to go to Blackpool with singer and Love Island star Wes Nelson. He was singing in an event for MTV before Shirley Ballas switched on the Blackpool Illuminations.
This was my first ever visit to Blackpool and I don’t think I will be rushing back.
Maybe I just like a slightly more sedate way of life now, or maybe I’m just boring, who knows!
Along the coast in Lytham St Anne’s it was much more appealing to me with little coffee shops and not a “kiss me quick hat” or a stick of rock in sight.
Don’t get me wrong, if you have young children or are off to a hen or stag weekend, I’m sure Blackpool is a great destination, but for me it was just far too much excitement on one very long never-ending road!
I did, however, go to the top of the Blackpool Tower, which was wonderful, with its views of the sea. Its glass floor meant you could look down to the whole length of the promenade below if you didn’t get too dizzy.
Inside, the Tower Ballroom is a wonderful reminder of a bygone era. The decor is stunningly ornate and in perfect order and not something we see so often now.
You can imagine it as the magnificent venue it was in its heyday, and it still hasn’t lost that magical feel about it. I now understand just how special it must be for the Strictly contestants and dancers to get to perform there.
It would be a bit like me going back to sing at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, which I haven’t done for a very long time.
Now you may ask what Gordon was doing while I was down the pier in Blackpool. Well don’t feel too sorry for him, as he wasn’t home alone, he was off on holiday.
Our friends have put their lovely villa in Mallorca on the market so Gordon decided to have one last little trip there.
I would have gone too, but after over a year of barely working I’m not exactly going to turn down jobs now and I had a busy week planned, so off he went on his own.
I think he has loved it. Sitting by a cafe watching the sea and the world go by and having a swim in the warm waters of the Mediterranean has been pretty special. After what he has been through health-wise over the last couple of years, I think it’s been lovely just to take stock and appreciate where he is now compared to last year.
Gordon and I both enjoy time on our own, as well as time together. I think we are both quite independent people, and although we prefer to be together, we can appreciate our own company.
Some of my friends just can’t cope if their husbands or wives are away, but I suppose with our jobs it’s just something that we have got very used to.
I must say though, I really have missed him, and I’m busy planning to cook a nice dinner for him to eat alfresco on his return, if the heatwave can please last a few more days.
So of course, this week, we have all been saddened by the untimely death of Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding.
Her death is by no means worse than all the other deaths of women of any age to breast cancer this week, but it really highlights how it can happen to anyone.
Sarah was a beautiful, vibrant girl and so full of life, which somehow makes it seem more shocking.
How on earth can something as small as a tiny lump in your breast kill such a healthy young woman in less than a year?
If the shock of her death makes anyone ring the doctor this week who was putting it off, then at least hopefully one family won’t go through this.
Her mum wants her to be remembered as the ray of sunshine she was and not because of her tragic death, so let’s remember that wonderful smile that lit up a room.
Have a good week everyone,
Yvie x
