AND now for some guilty pleasure

Regardless of where we are in our Canbace/childless journey we all need a guilty pleasure or five. They help us through the really bad wobbles and at other times are gentle reminders that we can enjoy the life that we have been given. A guilty pleasure doesn’t have to big and brash, full of bling, to lift are spirits and keep us sane. The simply guilty pleasure of a soak in luxury bubble bath, an extra half hour in bed on a Sunday, a TV dinner whilst watching a favourite film or sipping a glass of something chilled on a hot summer’s evening can all recharge our batteries and help us weather the storm as we strive to accept the unacceptable.

Here are five of my favourite guilty pleasures. It was quite a hard list to come up with as I could have easily have chosen 50 more: however, I wanted to steer away from everything being food related to show that guilty pleasures can come in all “shapes and sizes”.

Guilty Pleasure #1

Aslan Paws: although this guilty pleasure is food related so show that I am only human like the rest of us! It’s listed as my #1 not because it really IS my number one, simply because Andrew nipped down to our local bakery to buy a couple of Aslan Paws before they sold out. Even at 8:30 there were only two left. Now that he’s delivered them safely home we need to photograph them BEFORE they get eaten and they need to be eaten quickly so they don’t escape and start hunting any of yesterday’s elephants that could still be wandering around the garden. So, what is an Aslan Paw? Their official name is “Patte d’or” and they are a speciality patisserie that our artisanal boulanger makes: the flaky, buttery pastry “paw” melts on your tongue to reveal a creamy apple filling. The result is big, baked to a golden brown, looks like a paw (hence the name) and completely DELICIOUS!

Guilty Pleasure #2

Death in Paradise: yes, Andrew and I are fans! We love the scenery as it reminds us of our future home in The Bahamas. We adore the double act created by JP and Dwayne. As for the main detective inspector, we frequently giggle that each one (and there have now been three) have all been Colombo fans. Every episode they lull the murderer into a false sense of security by the slightly bumbling detective style before the big, and often theatrically staged, “reveal”. All very Columbo-esk. Added to all of this is the relief that the murder rate on Exuma is far less than on Saint-Marie. It’s a very tangible relief knowing how risky it was living so close to Midsomer for years and we were very lucky never to be caught up in their yearly spikes in the murder rate!

Guilty Pleasure #3

Fire Pit: I adore this guilty pleasure. Whether it is a warm summer’s night or a chilly evening in the spring or winter sitting by our fire pit is pure indulgence. On hot evenings the smoke keeps the biting bugs away, so we can sip our chilled rose in peace. At other times of the year it keeps our knees toasty warm whilst we sip our hot chocolate, a “dunk” for marshmallows that are slowly going gooey in the warm liquid. What more could you ask for in terms of a guilty pleasure?

Guilty Pleasure #4

Lightning Map: We’ve had huge thunderstorms this summer, far more than normal. In previous years we’d probably have about a week, or maybe even ten days, between storms. When they arrived, they would be HUGE and rumbled around for hours: we’re on the edge of the river valley and the storms seem to get “stuck” in the valley so rumble up and down stream before finally exhausting their power. This year has been different. The storms have been HUGE: however, they have happening every couple of days, sometimes, joy of joys, we even get two in one day. Fortunately, our pups don’t mind the storms too much so, from that point of view, our thunderstorm experience has improved. Mischief was completely terrified. She needed to sit ON TOP of my head for the 2hours before the storm arrived, during the course of the storm and then for the 3 hours once the storm had passed. Cattier doesn’t DO high winds and Duval doesn’t DO fireworks: however, thunder and lightening is fine. Not much of this sounds enjoyable so why is this a guilty pleasure? Well we’ve discovered a “real-time” lightening map and it is riveting! You find your location, watch the claps of thunder appear on the map and then the soundwave  spread out until it reaches you roughly the same time as the thunder fills your ears. Note to self: if this is a riveting guilty pleasure I really MUST get out more!

Here’s the link so the next time you have a thunderstorm you can monitor itt. Be warned though: I think it’s like Pringles: once you “pop” you just can’t stop! Lightning Maps

Guilty Pleasure #5

Isotherm bags: now this is a major guilty pleasure. It would seem that Andrew and I CANNOT walk past an isotherm bag without being tempted to buy it. In fact, last week we bought six, yes SIX bags, during one visit to a shop. There is method in our madness. We then went to visit Mr Lidl and there, lurking amongst the treasure of the central isle, was an isotherm bag, which we picked up! We’d bought SIX bags less than 30 minutes beforehand! The reason for the six bags in one shopping trip? We’ve been sorting out our chest freezer and decided that a great way of organising the food into “eating order” was to have everything in a colour-coded isotherm bag. Also, getting things out of the freezer is easier as they have handles. The added advantage is when it’s time to defrost the freezer everything is already in a bag so won’t defrost. I LOVE being so logically creative!

What guilty pleasures do you have that help make life a little more bearable?

In CANBACE friendship!

If anything I have written resonates I’d love to hear from you in the comments. I appreciate that this can be a difficult subject to speak openly about so if you don’t want me to publish your comment on the website please let me know and I will keep your words private.