Home – The Changing Seasons for February 2018

On By Widow BadassIn Good Times, Mindfulness, See the Beauty

I flew back to Canada on Friday evening, my 2 weeks in Barbados having come to an end.

I have to say that 2 weeks was the perfect amount of time to be away. Last year I felt that 1 week was just too short but I wondered if 2 weeks on the beach would be too much.

It wasn’t. It was perfect.

Boardwalk, South Coast Barbados
Sunrise skies as seen from the Boardwalk

I was and still am so grateful to be able to take a winter vacation to somewhere warm. Even though this was my 3rd year to head south to Barbados, I still pinched myself daily during my sunrise strolls, at my good fortune to be outside in sandals, tank top and skort…at 6 am, in February.

Barbados sunrise on the south coast
The beginning of another beautiful Bajan day on the south coast.

By week 2 my friend and I were ready to get our relaxed butts off of our beach loungers and do some island exploring. We booked a half day tour of Hunte’s Gardens and St. Nicholas Abbey (with a stop at Bathsheba and the Morgan Lewis windmill).

towering palms Hunte's Gardens
Veranda view of the towering palms of Hunte’s Gardens
gorgeous foliage Hunte's Gardens
Gorgeous foliage – Hunte’s Gardens
flowers Hunte's Gardens
Hanging flowers – Hunte’s Gardens
Giant foliage – Hunte’s Gardens

St. Nicholas Abbey is not an abbey at all, but a beautiful and historic English house surrounded by a working mahogany and sugar cane plantation.

Seashell Chandelier at St. Nicholas Abbey
An actual Thomas Crapper…er…crapper. At St. Nicholas Abbey. Yep, I go to a historic home and take a picture of the toilet. 🙂
View from Bathsheba – on the rugged east coast of Barbados. Not safe to swim here, but the surfers love it, apparently.
The Morgan Lewis windmill. Still used to crush sugar cane.

Our half day tour ended up being closer to a full day, thanks to traffic and being on island time. We kinda figured that might happen so we had packed snacks, figuring we might be an hour or so late getting back. Instead of returning at 12:30pm, we didn’t get dropped back to the hotel until after 4 pm. Next time we are packing a full lunch! Just in case.

sunset dining at Champers
Sunsets and Sangria at Champers, while the sea turtles frolic in the waves below. We ate at this nearby ocean-front fine dining establishment 3 times during this trip. Worth making and eating ham and cheese sandwiches for our beach-side lunches so we can splurge here in the evenings. Always a treat.

At the end of the trip, on the flight home I reflected on how happy I actually was to be returning to my home, and how for so many years this wasn’t the case for me. Home used to be a place I dreaded entering. Towards the end of my first marriage, coming home meant returning to my verbally abusive, controlling husband and his often-drunk, miserable mother. In my last marriage, coming home meant returning to Crazytown – a place filled with clutter, dirt and disorder – and all the other OCD-related shit I felt I had no choice but to put up with, from my last husband.

I don’t know if I can express in words how grateful I am now, to be able to say that returning home is pure joy. Home is my refuge, my sanctuary, my little corner of the world that is safe, warm, clean and welcoming. That is finally and truly mine.

And I came home to mild weather! Sunny skies and 9 degrees Celsius! Amazing!

Can this be really be the view from my rooftop patio in February? Where is the snow and ice?

This is my Changing Seasons post for this month.

Rock on,

The WB

 

14 thoughts on “Home – The Changing Seasons for February 2018”

  1. Your holiday looks amazing, and I’m so glad you had a great time. It’s also really good to read those words “returning home is pure joy.” Thanks for being part of The Changing Seasons. 🙂

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  2. Pingback: The Changing Seasons, February 2018 | Zimmerbitch

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