Conversations through the middle

Life from a (slightly) more mature perspective

Winter ambiance – fragranced candles

It’s soooo cold outside and I do not want to leave the house again today. (I have to though, I have to go buy food for the rabbit otherwise she will leave home). I spent a couple of hours walking the dog this morning, which lifted my mood and, looking around at the autumn countryside, I totally appreciated living in a village. I love it here – the trees, hedges and even the ploughed fields are alive with colours that paint a beautiful picture.

I love being in the house at night, when it’s dark outside and I can hear the wind blowing, or the rain tapping against the windows. I have an arrangement of tall twigs in a tall vase that are dressed in fairy lights and when illuminated they cast a cosy glow around the room (as well as making me think of Christmas, which just in case you don’t know, is five weeks today).

For the past few weeks I have also been lighting candles, loving their fragrance and the dancing flames that add to the comfy atmosphere in my living room. I’m a late convert to the power of candles – until recently I’ve thought them overrated, and then when Dotty was little I was worried about accidents. Now she’s 11 I don’t have to worry so much and as for being overrated, I’ve totally changed my mind about that. I don’t think I could bring myself to light candles all over the house, it would make me anxious thinking about all the possible mishaps waiting to happen, but I have come round to thinking that one or two on the go is a good thing.

I love my Christmas candle from Wax Lyrical. It’s a cheery red colour and the fragrance is rather festive. I don’t think it will last until Christmas though as I’ve had it lit in the evening for a few weeks now and there’s not a lot left.

Another current favourite is the Christmas candle from Neom, with cinnamon, mandarin and tonka bean. It smells divine. That’s the one I have lit at the moment, I don’t know why but it makes me feel content and secure. 

The final candle I want to tell you about is another Christmassy one – it’s the Hot Toddy from celebrity facialist Marie Reynolds. When I was at the press event launching this goodie I was invited to have a hand massage using the wax from the candle. I hadn’t heard of this before, but apparently the wax in this candle is so pure it can be used as a skincare treatment! The therapist just scooped out a little of the melted wax from the candle and massaged it into my hands. the fragrance is lovely and there’s a slight sparkle to it, which adds an extra festive touch.

I haven’t yet lit this one, or even opened it. I’m trying to save it for as long as possible., but I’ll let you know what it’s like when I do. Are there any other candle lovers out there?

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Beauty – Hammam in Marrakech

While I was in Marrakech I took up the offer of a Hammam at the spa attached to the hotel. Now I had heard about this bathing ritual before, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure what it involved. Ladies, if you’re at all shy or prudish about nakedness it might be best to stop reading now. As I soon found out, there’s no point in being shy if you’re going to experience a hammam.

I entered the warm bathing room (not sure if it has a name) in my swimsuit and sat down on a stone bench. The swimsuit had to come off as far as my waist, then Imane, the hammam attendant, began the ritual.

First of all she poured comfortably hot water over me, from a stone dish, which she dipped repeatedly into a bucket of water. This was kept constantly overflowing by a shower attachment that was always on. After the initial rinsing, Imane then washed me with black soap, made from olives. This is very gel like. I then spent five or so minutes sitting in a steam room (bliss), after which I was back in the first room, almost as hot as the second, ready to be rinsed.

Following the rinse Imane covered me in a fragrant, I suppose you  could call it shower gel, though I’m sure that’s not the name. It smelled lovely; she called it mountain blossom. 

Then the exfoliation began. I should point out at this point I had opted for the exfoliation rather than the clay cleansing option, but I didn’t realise quite how skin scrubbing it would be. Imane donned an exfoliating glove and got to work on me as I lay down. Boy, she really put her back into it and by the time she’d finished I felt like I must have shed at least a couple of layers of skin.

After another rinse and a hair wash, I was ushered into a plunge pool – fearing the worst, ie freezing cold, I was a little nervous about getting in, but it was soooo hot! Not unbearably so, but just hot enough to feel luxurious. And the pool was big enough to move around in, like a mini swimming pool.

A few minutes later I was back in front of Imane for my final rinse (I sound like a washing machine), then it was time to dry off, get dressed and head back to the hotel.

So why did I say if you’re shy about nakedness stop reading? Well that has to do with the complete abandon with which she picked up my breasts and moved them out the way when she was washing, the way she washed them as if they were just any part of my body, and the way she included them in the exfoliation treatment. I wanted to laugh, it was so comical. I’m not taking the mickey, what I mean is it was comical in that they were treated as any other part of the body, a hand, a foot, without the connotations they carry in the West.

It was an enlightening moment. I had been worried about what to expect beforehand, yet when it came to it, I adopted her attitude, which came across as no big deal. 

What is it with the image of breasts in western society and the obsession some people have with them? They are just a part of the body after all, they’re there to feed our babies (and in my case they did an excellent job there), so why the hang-ups? Why my nervousness at the beginning? I don’t know. What I do know is that I believe I came back from Morocco a more enlightened person. And I enjoyed my hammam ritual. 

  

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Weight loss going in the right direction!

I am amazed, but after five days in Morocco I still managed to lost two pounds! I weighed myself when I got back home on Wednesday, in time for my Jenny Craig weigh-in, and yes, I’d lost two pounds.

Just to update you re the Jenny Craig diet. After completing my two week blogger trial I was invited to continue with the weight-loss programme for another month, how lucky is that?

So I‘m happily munching my way through my Jenny Craig meals and snacks – though Dotty seems to have eaten most of the cereal bars – grrrrh.

Just to get back to Morocco, the food was so healthy – lots of luscious fresh fruit every morning and masses of gorgeous salad at lunchtime, then in the evening vegetables cooked Moroccan style, couscous, fish – that really it shouldn’t be a surprise that I managed to shed a little weight. There were no crisps, no chocolate, no biscuits – in short, no rubbish to stick to my hips.

 

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