Wrong! Very wrong indeed!

I dropped by Cala Carbo beach yesterday to pick up my friend Emily. It's a cute little beach, off the beaten track, popular with families, a couple of family-run restaurants and that's about it.

As we were leaving, I looked over towards the sea and saw a sight that just made me go "wrong!". There was a man standing at the water's edge with a little girl next to him, maybe 8 years old. The girl was wearing a thong - it looked so wrong, so very wrong indeed. If the poor child wants to get an all-over tan, better run around stark naked as many of the kids do here. But wearing a thong seemed like the sexualisation of a child. I found it strange, I'm not sure what others on the beach thought, maybe across Europe it's considered normal but I actually found it a bit disturbing!

Looking for a sign.....

I've just realised that it's been about three weeks since I last posted so about time I wrote something otherwise people who read might think something's happened to me. I'm fine, it's very hot now and the last thing I want to do is sit in internet places in the heat of the day. I need to be a bit more Spanish and use the cool hours in the morning and evening but not like the farmer last week who decided to start ploughing the fields behind the house at around 4am! I was not happy when the whirring of his tractor woke me up. I do enjoy the evenings - I've started doing a "sunset walk" with the cats and kittens and it's great fun. We go into one of the fields that have been recently ploughed and the cats run around like crazy, jumping on the bales of hay, climbing up trees, chasing each other. Quite a surprise to see such activity from our geriatric feline friends as they usually spend all day lying around, doing not very much at all.

Anyway, the title of this post "Looking for a sign...." refers to me and how I've been feeling the last week or so. Every day I look for a sign, a big sign that this move to Ibiza was the right move to make. It doesn't feel like I've made the wrong move but I've not had a big sign that convinces me that this was the right move. I know it was, I'd just like a sign to confirm it. Plus, it would make me feel quite excited! So, what are the signs I refer to? Well, there are only two, they're fairly straightforward (I'm easily pleased....) and here they are. The first would be a really good work lead that turns into a great project. The other would be to meet someone special who makes me go "wow!" You see, such simple things. I don't ask for much.

But, at the same time, I'm grateful for the things that have happened already. I have two gorgeous kittens Simba and Tyke who entertain me endlessly. They're far too naughty to be the sorts of kittens that engulf you in love and always want to sit on your lap (they never do) but watching them play will always put a smile on my face. The work I've been doing for Alberto and his wife Yvonne continues and they are quite possibly one of the most amazing creative teams on the island. Their most recent project "Can Tomas" is breathtakingly beautiful and I'll do a separate post about the villa, complete with pictures! There is stacks I can learn from them and it's good to be around such inspiring people. 

I've also started writing a monthly interiors article for "Ibiza Now", the main foreign-language newspaper on the island. The article should hopefully act like a "shop front" for me, in the absence of having an interiors shop on the island. But I was pretty dismayed to see that in my first article, the photos I used weren't credited. When I raised it with them, I got a "oh don't worry, it doesn't matter" but actually yes, it does. The person who arranged the photos for me did so on the understanding that he would be credited and he wasn't, even though I wrote out the credit and sent them with the photos. I felt awful, particularly as the person has already gone out of his way to help me - from now on, I will be insisting on seeing my articles before they go to print. Makes me feel like a control freak but better that than things not being done properly. 

Anyway, in the grand scheme of things, everything is moving in the right direction but it fees like I've nailed all the periphery stuff but have yet to see some success with actually getting any client work. Maybe it's a seasonal thing - people won't be thinking of the interiors of their homes until the summer's over and they find themselves spending more time indoors. I've decided that once I come back from London in the beginning of August, I'm going to talk to all my property contacts here and see if they can think of any past clients who might want some interiors advice. Leaving my cards in estate agents offices hasn't led to anything yet, probably because the property market here is pretty stagnant, as it is the world over.  

I'm constantly reviewing my tactics because nothing so far has worked. My cards are all over the place but haven't led to any enquiries. Exhibiting at Habitat was a good way to launch the business here but didn't lead to anything (or hasn't so far). So, you can see why I'm reviewing tactics and looking for a sign! I need something pretty big to tell me that this massive move I made, leaving my life, my family and friends to move to a beautiful place where I wanted to live was the right thing to do. Work-wise my last year in London was absolutely amazing but that came after ten years of graft. I know I'm looking to find a similar feeling in a much shorter space of time, in a matter of months actually. Sometimes when I think about it, it was completely bonkers. I came here alone with not one close friend on the island. I've done it before, I lived in three different continents in my twenties but I think it's different when you're younger - people's lives are less established, there's more time and space to let others in. Lives are more established when you hit your thirties, it's different then. But actually, that's not so much of an issue for me, the signs I'm looking for aren't to do with finding a new best friend. I don't feel lonely but I do feel alone. And being the person that I am, I constantly question what I've done and why I've done it and wonder if I've done the right thing. That sign is all I need to stop the constant questioning.....

And now I sit here with a smile on my face, wondering if a day will come when I stop worrying?  

Good-bye Fluffy and Lady....

Two of our kittens, Fluffy and Lady went to a new home yesterday. Here you can see them at play a few hours before they left for their new life.

A Spanish man had called after seeing our "kitten" poster, saying that his 4-year old daughter kept asking him for a kitten and he liked the look of ours. We arranged to meet at the bar in Santa Agnes for him to choose a kitten. I took three with me, Fluffy, Lady and Splodge. We don't have a proper cat carrier so I ended up putting them in a cardboard box which of course they all scrambled out of. In the end, I just put them in the back of the van and drove with the windows wound shut, hoping they wouldn't be too distressed. I'd already transported Little Red in that van that day (she's just had her op to stop any further babies) and she managed to get out of the cardboard box, even though she was still wobbly from the anaesthetic. She climbed all over the van, came and sat on my lap, peed next to me and then hung out in the back of the van until I got home.

Anyway, I drove to the bar and waited for the man. The kittens played in the back of the van but after a while climbed back into the cardboard box and hid. When he turned up, I showed him the kittens and did my best to encourage him to take two kittens, not the one he was planning on. Having watched the kittens at play over the last few weeks, the thought of one kitten going off on its own to a new home just didn't seem right. I managed to make him see the sense of taking two kittens (they play together and won't get lonely and he has a big garden) and put forward Fluffy and Lady. They are both confident little characters and play well together so I thought they should go to a new home together. I'd be worried about Splodge going anywhere at the moment as she has a persistent eye infection and just seems to be more needy than the other kittens. 

We put Fluffy and Lady into the back of his car (in the cardboard box) and I said good-bye to them. I got very emotional at this point with their two little faces looking up at me. It was hard. And then we went our separate ways, me with Splodge back to the house, crying as I drove back again and Fluffy and Lady off to their new home where a 4-year old girl would be awaiting their arrival!

I felt quite emotional the rest of the evening. Now when I walk round to the back of the house where the kittens live (they were moved out into the garden last week after the rat incident), there are only three little rascals who scamper round on hearing my voice, not the previous five. There was something so wonderful about turning the corner and seeing five little kittens come pelting my way, squeaking to welcome me! I know Fluffy and Lady have gone to a good home but it was very hard saying good-bye to them! 

A cure for feeling homesick....

In one of my posts last week, I think I mentioned that I'd been feeling homesick, I was really missing my friends. At times I found myself thinking "what were you thinking leaving everyone behind?" In London I had a very strong network of people around me who knew me, had shared experiences with me and loved and cared about me. I'd left that to come and live on a beautiful island where I didn't really know anyone. There is something about that warmth from friendship that you bask in when it surrounds you. And I was noticing the lack of it. 

It's not as if I haven't met people here, I have. But apart from Bea, I wouldn't count anyone as a friend, more lovely acquaintances who could become friends. Here I'm another one of the hordes who turns up on the island, charmed by it's beauty and wanting to live here.....

Anyway, I went out last night to Pacha as Basement Jaxx were playing. I've known Felix and Simon for about ten years, being a regular fixture at their unforgettable parties in Brixton over the last decade. I was with Ruby and Rachel who also went to their London parties and although I don't know them that well, we have the immediate connection of mutual friends and shared parties. A little dose of my life from London coupled with an ace selection of tunes from the Jaxx meant I jumped around loads, recreating a little bit of Brixton in Pacha. Although this time I was wearing wedge heels and at their parties, I'd always be in trainers for maximum dancing potential. A few hours out seeing friends from home knocked out the homesickness and I woke this morning feeling very chipper, although I'd only had about four hours sleep. It also felt really good to dance again! It's been over five months since I was last spotted on a dance floor and I have missed having a good old groove!  

Well done Simone!

My lovely friend Simone has just landed a fantastic job in Abu Dhabi so well done chica! 

It all happened very quickly - she went to see her parents in Dubai in March, decided she'd like to live in the UAE, applied for a job and the next thing she knows, she's being flown out for a one-day selection process and gets the job.

I was absolutely ecstatic when I heard the news yesterday and we had a long chat this morning. I spoke to her before she left for the interview and told her to get in there and shine! And she obviously did - it was a tough selection process with a very high calibre of candidates but she did it! I'm immensely proud of my friend who has always been a constant source of love and support to me.

Once again, well done Simone - I told you you could do it! 

The mystery of the mice and lizards....

The kittens are now over seven weeks old, all eating well, all house-trained (by me) and we're looking for homes for three of them. I'm going to keep two for myself and fingers crossed we find some nice homes for the others - we haven't had any interest yet - this is high-season for kittens on the island unfortunately....

Over the last few weeks, I noticed a growing collection of dead mice and lizards in their room. I think the tally so far was five mice and six lizards. I was baffled as to how our little kittens were catching all these, particularly as I didn't think we had mice in the house. I thought they were just leaving little gifts for me as a thank-you for looking after them.

When I went to feed the kittens this morning, Uncle Baggy was nowhere to be seen. This in itself is unusual as he's often right there at feeding times, seeing what he can steal from the kittens or Little Red. And then I saw him coming in from the fields, dead mouse in his mouth. He brought this in and deposited it in the kittens' room. Mystery solved - the kittens haven't been catching things, it's been Baggy who catches them and brings them for the kittens. There was something quite endearing in the realisation that he's been busy catching things for the babies. Maybe that's why he feels justified in eating with them (or trying to). I found it all very sweet, he looks after them as if they were his own and at times you'll find all five nestled into him as he cleans them in a very thorough fashion. He gets excited that he's got five playmates but doesn't realise that they're much smaller than him. If the playing gets a bit rough, you'll hear a sharp squeak from the kitten who's being tumbled around. I worried at first that he might hurt them but after seeing the way he looks after them and hunts for them, I don't think I need to worry about him at all!

I don't know who caught the rat today though. It was huge and I can't bear mice so seeing a big dead rat lying in the kittens room made me feel quite awful! But I wanted to get it out into the garden so I covered it with some kitchen towel and tried to move it out with the broom. In the middle of this drama, just as I'd got the rat outside, Little Red came along, grabbed the rat, ran off with it and then brought it back into the room! I had to start all over again.....

Working and writing in Ibiza

I realised that in my last post I mentioned that I had some work and was going to be writing but didn't go into any details so here they are.

I have some work, well at least a month's worth to start with. And that's a start! I'm currently busy doing research into boutique and luxury hotels in Bali. I have to find out who the main agents booking luxury boutique hotels in ten countries are (both online and those with a physical presence) and I also have to put together a list of all the travel press in the ten countries. Now you're thinking "you've moved to Ibiza and you work in interiors (apart from when you have an international relations project to do) - how have you ended up doing research on luxury boutique hotels in Bali?" Well, my past has come back to haunt me as it seems to do.

I had a meeting a couple of months ago with one of the main independent estate agents on the island to talk about work. He told me to go and talk to his friend A who has an interiors shop on the island, has lots of work and may be able to pass work my way. I thought the shop was for bathrooms as the shop flyer in my hand showed bathrooms. A was away for a couple of weeks and was going to come back while I was meditating in Barcelona. I planned to get in touch as soon as I was back from Barcelona but met him by accident and had an impromptu meeting/introduction on the pavement. 

I went to see him at the shop a little while later to discuss how we might be able to work together. The shop is absolutely gorgeous - I've been to a lot of the interiors shops on the island and this one has to be my favourite, along with Sluiz. A travels frequently to Morocco and Indonesia and scours both places for the most beautiful things he can find. As a former fashion designer (based in New Delhi for 11 years), he has impeccable taste and this reflects in the collections in his shop. We ran through my CV verbally and when I mentioned that my first degree was in International Hospitality Management, he asked if I could help with the boutique hotel he's opening later in the year in Bali. Of course I said yes! And that's how I find myself doing the research.

There's been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing getting started but I have at least a month's worth of work and that's great! Of course it would be brilliant to know that there's more work after that month but I just have to be patient and deliver on what's been asked of me in the first instance. I know that a part of me wishes to have something a bit more concrete and definite - it's as if you seek some sort of security when you've put your life through such a great upheaval moving it from one country to another. The uncertainty does make me feel uncomfortable but it's better to sit out the discomfort and see it through to the other side than to run and find something that is more comfortable (which would probably mean working in a bar or restaurant!). I know I'd love to work with A (and there are very few people who I would want to work with) so fingers crossed this leads to something good!

I've also got some writing work on the island although this is unpaid. I'm just happy to be finally writing about interiors, after wanting to do it for three years! I'm going to be writing a monthly interiors article for "Ibiza Now", the main foreign-language magazine on the island. The magazine is published in English and German and I'm going to be writing for the English version. Depending on how that goes, the articles may be translated and put into the German edition of the magazine. I had a meeting with the Editor-in-Chief earlier this week to discuss the articles and plan them out for the next few months. It was a great meeting, we ended up talking for a couple of hours and mapped out article ideas that go as far as March of next year. 

So, two bits of good news in one week and both steps in the right direction. But I'm not feeling as ecstatic as perhaps I should be. It's not that I'm feeling homesick but I am really missing having close friends around. My meditation practice has waned as well but it's a catch-22 situation - when I most need to meditate, that's when I'm least likely to do it! So, the aim for this coming week is to get back into a daily meditation practice and continue onwards and upwards!