Skip to main content

Summer of Love!




I have more to say then I could possibly recount in a simple blog post so this is a tricky one! I shall attempt to keep it brief and to keep my updates more frequent over the winter... I'm not promising anything though!

   Wow- what a year. The summer flew past in a sunny whirlwind of activity. Ben and I both feel like we fell on our feet so many times since moving here. In short we took a massive risk, leaving our beloved boat, our amazing community of friends and family, our beautiful jobs and lives in Hampton for a mad, somewhat out of the blue and decidedly risky plan to move to Corfu, start work on a house that we didn't even own and try to integrate our selves in to new work and social lives.

  All I can say is that the risks all paid off- a million times over. We bought the house of our dreams and many friends old and new stayed with us this summer. We have met people from all over the world and shared our house with artists, T.V presenters, healers, actors, social workers, yoga teachers and even  toy manufacturers! We have gathered here with friends for amazing films, many many yoga sessions and hosted people as they journey through retreats and healed themselves mind, body and spirit.., or just explored the island and beaches.


 We have fallen in to an incredible community and have experienced so much love and support that some people we have only known for a few months now feel like family.
   We have been invited to more parties then we could attend and shared much food and many laughs with interesting and open minded people both from the Greek traditional community in the village to the hippys of Arillas.

  We have begun the transformation on this amazing house and we are excited to reveal more and more of its beauty and its vast limitless potential as a place to have fun, relax and share good times with great people.

   We have adopted our beloved Gaia- the sweetest dog in the world and light of our lives (in addition of course to our beautiful Shanti that we brought from England with us.) And the dogs adopted Donny Hathaway, possibly the happiest creature I have ever known and devout lover of feta cheese and belly rubs.



   It has of course had its tough moments... things do not function here in the same logical and organised way as they did in England (massive understatement!!).  I had to learn to drive a manual car again after many years of never doing it, so all of Corfu is now a little bit more dangerous each time I take the wheel!   At points Ben and I had weeks and weeks of never being alone. It felt like spiritual boot-camp and I observed many patterns, limitations, boundaries and stories unfolding in me, witnessed and triggered by the others around me who showed me time and time again my own mind and ego battling with 'what is' and the bliss that I can always find within me when I stop trying to control everything!!

    We have fallen in love with this island. The natural beauty still catches me off guard, even on simple errands like heading to the supermarket or going for a quick swim in the sea. We are supremely grateful for what life has given us, and are trying everyday to soak it all in and not take any of it for granted. This summer has been a beautiful dream and with deep gratitude in my heart I look forward to all that lies ahead and finding new ways to share this joy with any who cross my path.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Mandala Family is Growing!

The Mandala Family is Growing! Gosh its been a long time since I left a blog post here! We have pretty much upgraded everything at Mandala: the house, the gardens, the bathrooms, the kitchen and the olive press yoga shala have all been renovated and taken to the next level.... In addition to that  We’ve all had a crazy few years haven’t we?!  At Mandala we have been especially grateful to all of you who still found a way to travel and stay with us amidst all the uncertainty of late. Somehow we have stayed strong and we have soo much enjoyed our connection with you and all the other guests who have graced us with their presence since we opened in 2018. This year looks set to be a year like no other for us as we have just welcomed the arrival of gorgeous little  Angelina Ananda Heath  born on January 22nd after a lightning fast 4 1/2 hour labour (phew!!). She was born into a water pool, on Corfu, in a cottage surrounded by loving friends. Rafael has been a dream big brother and we are al

How things work in Corfu... Part One: Mail

There are a million reasons why Ben and I decided to come to Corfu. There are endless beautiful aspects of living here and positive qualities about this place.   Organisation is not one of them!   How things work in Corfu for someone whose friends describe her as OCD -is quirky to say the least.   One of our first questions was the mail- You know that stuff that in civilised countries just gets posted through your door each morning. Well here it doesn't work like that. There is only one postcode for the whole of Corfu and our unique address is composed simply of the name of the first resident of the villa and the village name.     We asked the previous resident of the house where to get mail sent- she has owned the property  for over 15 years but of course she didn't know where the mail gets collected- that would be too easy wouldn't it? We are learning that  Corfiat villagers apparently see the mail a bit like a sport, you can't just have it delivered it mus

Spring is here!

Hello Beautiful People,        Spring is in full flow here on the island and we are busy at Mandala completing everything and getting all the finishing touches in place for a new season.       Ben and I actually started our journey to Corfu this time last year  (4th March) and it is incredible to see the changes both in Villa Mandala and within Ben and I. We arrived here excited... but more then a little scared and now almost a full year on life looks very different.    We have learned a fair amount about how life works here, our business has taken off and we have made soo many incredible friends.  It no longer feels like everything is Shiva energy (endings) and Brahma energy (beginnings).... OK there is still a lot of that!  But there is also a little Vishnu energy (maintenance)  to balance things out now.     We have found stability in our yoga routine, in our lunches in the afternoon sunshine, in our dog walks at the beach, and in the flow we have found here at