My 2019 in photos: July to December

Well as promised here’s the second half of my 2019 in photos - you can catch up with the first half of the year in the post from last week.

Looking back, despite it being a little quieter here than usual there was still plenty to choose from, and remembering the high points is always worthwhile.

What a difference a month makes

* This post contains an item gifted by Tesalate

As I blew home earlier this evening along with, or rather what felt like against, the remnants of Storm Brendan I couldn’t help but think how different things were a month ago. And how much warmer.

A month ago we were in Barbados, where the temperatures didn’t drop much below 25 degrees, even in the evening. We were just starting to establish our routine for the next week or so; breakfast on the balcony, sun loungers by the smaller whirlpool-pools, which offered a bit more shade and respite from the sun as we read books and counted the number of planes landing on the island. A soak in the whirlpool when it got a bit toasty, lunch in the restaurant and back on the sun loungers.

You get my drift.

But it’s not our usual sort of holiday. Though it was much needed. We last went to Barbados in 2013 for a friend’s wedding, and after a pretty full on and less than ideal time at work. As it turned out when I went back to work at the start of 2014, redundancy was on the cards and it was very much welcomed. This time our trip was preceded by a stressful period at work for MOH, and of course, as these things do, he promptly caught a cold.

I love a bit of sun. Him not so much. So while a cold in the sun isn’t any fun (for anyone) it did mean we spent more time than perhaps I was anticipating. Which in turn meant my new Tesalate beach towel got plenty of use. Sadly not actually on the beach, as the sea was too fierce and was lapping up against the hotel’s boundaries, but it definitely brightened up my day, and my sunbed.

Tesalate beach towel.

I do like a bit of colour, and here was plenty of colour - I loved it.

But it wasn’t just the colour I loved. It’s compact, and really does fold down to a size that’s about the same size as one of those A5 size paperbacks that you can buy in the airport shops before you leave the UK. And despite my misgivings about getting it back into its pouch, it was easier than I thought.

Now this seems obvious, but I’m going to say it all the same. It worked as a towel too, clearly not one of those white, fluffy, luxurious types, but as a drying yourself after a dunk in the pool. The fabric was absorbent, and given it’s lightweight - and the heat of the sun - dried quickly.

me and my tesalate towel

My only misgiving?

That’s not having an Instagram husband, and despite having lots of attempts, there’s few photos that are shareable. In fact there’s few that aren’t blurred or have some random person walking past in the background. And there’s none where my hair is pristine - that’s sunbathing hair for you right there.

I’m pretty sure though that my Tesalate towel drew admiration from other hotel guests, including MOH. He had a magic towel, which was chunkier in its pouch, and about a third of the size of mine. And no, I didn’t swap!

But I am buying one for our holiday in June.

I don’t think I can give the Tesalate towels a better endorsement than that. We’re not heading back to the sun - unless the weather in the UK plays ball - but we are heading to a cottage in the Lake District with its own hot tub. The ‘instructions’ say to bring your own towel, and to be perfectly frank, there will be little room in the car for two more traditional beach towels. These are proper sized towels that take up little room, work as normal towels, and so will be perfect.

MOH thinks he’s getting free reign on the design, but there’s so many lovely ones to choose from, that I’m less sure about that. But don’t tell him just yet!

* With thanks to Tesalate for providing a compact and lightweight beach towel for the purposes of this review.

My 2019 in photos: January to June

Following on from my top posts from 2019, today I’m sharing the first half of my 2019 in photos. As ever choice is often my enemy, so there may well be more than a couple of photos, and posts for each month.

So there’s a quick sprint through my memories of 2019, some of which had you asked me I wouldn’t have placed in the year that’s just gone. Our memory is a funny old thing, isn’t it?

I’m working my way through the second half of the year now, and will share that next week.