Back To Normal?

The honeymoon is over, Malia's birthday is done, and life is getting back to 'the old routine' for Carl and Malia.

Well, a sort of 'normal'.  Winter was firmly settled in over Hidden Springs and as lovely as it looked it did mean that Malia's garden wasn't getting much attention.

They couldn't afford a greenhouse so she made sure all her plants were well protected by a good deep layer of compost mulch and grit.  All being well, her small and increasingly profitable vegetable plot would make it through to Spring.

So, while waiting for the weather to improve, Malia keep up-to-date with all the latest news, ideas, and tips from the award-winning "Garden Masterclass" programmes on their local TV station.

There was also her favourite monthly magazine, "Oh My! Garden!".  The last Thursday each month when it arrived in the post-box was always a 'red letter' day in the Slade household.

Not that Malia was entirely housebound, she also enjoyed trips into town, in particular her occasional  visits to Silver Zephyr Health Spa for a relaxing massage. On these cold winter days, the warmth of the Spa was especially welcome.

If not the Spa, she loved to while away an hour or so at her favourite coffee shop.

For Carl, however, there were not the same opportunities to relax or idly while away his days.

A week after Malia's birthday a memo was sent out from the lab's HR department.  There were to be no bonuses this year!


After the expense of the wedding and the honeymoon they had been planning on having the usual bonus to bring their finances back to a more respectable state.


With no bonus, Carl had to take every opportunity to earn overtime on the latest projects.

 It often felt as if he saw more of his car-share colleague than he did his wife!

What free time Carl had was often spent maintaining their home and repairing the inexpensive, but equally unreliable, appliances.

-- * --

It had been a few weeks now and Malia was starting to recognise a variety of symptoms ... her breasts seemed  a little more sensitive than usual, the increased tiredness and headaches, the nausea ... she was pretty certain she knew what they meant

A quick trip to the chemist to get a test kit and she would soon know, one way or the other.

Malia looked at the little display panel ... there it was, one simple word that meant so much was about to change ... "Pregnant".

As anxious as she was at the thought of raising a child, Malia was also delighted at the prospect and knew that Carl would be too.  He hadn't made a big deal out of it, not ever pressured her at all, but it was always clear that family meant a lot to Carl and he would love to start one of his own ... their own.

That evening, Carl returned from the lab as usual, changed out of his work clothes, noticing as he did so that Malia seemed particularly excited about something ...

"Carl, honey, I've some news for you ... I'm, I'm pregnant!  We're going to have a baby!"

"What?  Oh, what, pregnant?  Amazing!  Oh Malia, that is wonderful!  Are you sure?  Oh my!"

He pulled Malia close, into a tight hug, "this is the best news, I love you babe, we're going to have the most perfect and beautiful baby ever!"

His face alight with joy, Carl gently caressed Malia's stomach...

A Special Present

Shortly after returning from their honeymoon trip to Al Simhara it was Malia's birthday. Not one of the big 'x0' birthdays so they didn't feel obliged to have a big party, just the two of them celebrating together.

As was tradition, Carl encouraged Malia to make a wish as she blew out the candles on the rather larger than they needed cake that Carl had bought.  Not that he thought it especially large for two people, as far as he was concerned you could never have too much cake! 

Malia had to think, what could she possibly want that she didn't already have?  Now that they were settled in their home, now they were married? As she looked down at the flickering candles it came to her, it was obvious and actually not that difficult a decision to make.

"So, are you going to tell me what you wished for?"

"Ha, you know I can't; if I tell anyone it won't come true.  And you wouldn't want that, you really wouldn't!"

"Hmm, OK.  Well I suppose I should give you your special birthday present anyway!"

"A special birthday present, I like the sound of that, though you know that you are all the 'present' I want."

"I know, and as it happens ... your 'present' is in the bedroom ..."

Not at all surprisingly Malia's 'special present' was indeed Carl!  And on this night Malia couldn't have been happier.

-- * --

 Some weeks later Malia woke feeling unusually nauseous.

As she struggled to contain the unsettling sensations she wondered if her wish was about to be fulfilled; if she was to give her own very special present to Carl ...

The Honeymoon (part 2)

The last day of Carl and Malia's honeymoon in Al Simhara was going to be packed with visits to several of the most important sites so they decided to forego the standard camp-site breakfast and cook something special themselves.

Unfortunately, although Malia was a sound cook at home, fire-pit cookery was not her forte!

-- * --

The first visit of the day was to the Great Sphinx.



A massive monument guarding the passing of one of Al Simhara's greatest rulers into the afterlife, it dwarfs all those that approach it.



As they walked between the outstretched limbs of the great beast the honeymooning couple felt as if they really were approaching the entrance to the underworld.




A local guide explained that the ancient glyphs around the doorway describe how more than two thousand years ago the great Djedefre and Khafra ordered the construction of this great monument to guard the tomb of their father Khufu but that within a couple of generations it had started to disappear under the the sand.

-- * --

From the imposing scale of the Great Sphinx Carl and Malia headed to one of the remains of one of the most opulent ancient buildings still standing; the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.

 Set against the side of a mountain, even after hundreds of years the temple still glistened such that you had to avert your eyes as you approached it - surely not an accidental feature of the construction.

Climbing the wide stairway to the first floor the reason for the location of the temple was clear.  From it's mountain-side vantage point the temple looked down directly into the centre of the town below.  Or, perhaps more importantly, the town looked up through the swirling sands and heat-haze to the temple dominating the skyline.

After a simple picnic lunch Carl and Malia made their way down from the temple to another famous viewpoint, the Great Pyramid.

Higher than either the Sphinx or the temple, from the Great Pyramid the views across the desert landscape were quite breath-taking.  Carl had thought they would explore the tomb at the heart of the pyramid but Malia was so taken with the quiet and beauty of the vista they simply sat to contemplate the nature of the people who had lived in this unforgiving environment and yet created such incredible monuments.

-- * --

Eventually the heat of the day, not to mention all the climbing they had had to do, took it's toll of their stamina and the pair made their way back down towards the town.

En-route they caught frequent glimpses of the crystal clear river slowly snaking it's way across the bottom of the valley.  At one particularly good vantage point the urge to feel the cool water on their hot and tired bodies took over and, abandoning their scooters by the roadside, they leapt into the refreshing cold water.

Having enjoyed the spectacular views across the valley from it's high points, the low down perspective from the river as the sun sank behind the mountains was every bit as awe-inspiring.

-- * --

Refreshed from their swim Carl and Malia returned to the camp-site for their last night before flying back home.

Here in the desert, with next to no light pollution and no clouds to obscure the view, Al Simhara was an ideal spot to sit back and watch the stars move serenely across the night sky.

On this night there were no shooting stars just the magic of the twinkling heavens to round off perfectly the first few days of their life together as husband and wife.

-- * --

As much as they loved the magic Al Simhara both Carl and Malia were glad to be home; the lush beauty of Hidden Spring, their friends, and the reality of real seasonal weather.

On the short taxi ride from the airport it was clear that the snowfall they had left behind a few days earlier had settled in and winter had fully arrived in Hidden Springs!

Finally they were home, the reassuringly familiar comfort of their own home awaited. This cozy little cabin was going to be where a whole new, more personal, adventure would begin for Carl and Malia.

The Honeymoon (part 1)

It had been a beautiful wedding.  The Basilica was gorgeous and all their closest friends had been there.  Carl was sad that none of his family were able to make it but he knew that his sister, Cleo, was coping with the sudden loss of her husband, Pascal, and couldn't face the long journey.

But their special day was nearly over.  Leaving the church they discovered that what had begun as a crisp early winters day had turned into a fully fledged snow storm!



They had clearly chosen their honeymoon destination wisely; farewell to the cold of a Hidden Springs winter, hello to enjoy some glorious sunshine!



Most of all though, they were together, sharing another adventure; this time as husband and wife. 



They had never managed to make it to North Africa on their previous trips, so this visit to Al Simhara was going to be especially memorable.


The guidebook recommended that their first visit should be to the market to pick up essential supplies for any excursions into the desert and tombs around the small town.

He was quite an experienced traveller but Carl had no knack for languages and Malia loved to watch him play the "little boy lost", the "innocent abroad" as he struggled to describe what he wanted to the various shop-keepers.  He was just so darned cute!

Not only acquiring some useful local necessities Carl also managed to get an excellent deal on two rental scooters that would make getting around so much easier, and fun!



For their first visit, however, they didn't actually need to travel very far.

The "Tomb of Discovery" was close to the camp site and promised an easy introduction to tomb exploration - they hoped to be able to visit at least one of the historic pyramids during their stay.



Carl was really pleased to see how keen Malia was to start exploring the sites; she was normally quite a timid person.  Perhaps it was that they were somewhere so completely different.



It was quite a simple tomb, it didn't have much in the way of decoration but there were still plenty of unusual and exotic art to enjoy.



Though Carl could have done without some of the strange creatures to which the tomb was home. Ground crawling creepies he could cope with, but seeing some weird little beasties scuttling across the ceilings did make him a little nervous!



Some of the treasures in the tombs were quite fragile so would be housed in special caskets. In one of the caskets Malia found a strangely shaped key with a card attached: "The Treasures of History trail starts here ..."

"Ah-ha," Carl observed, "the guide book said that some of the museums and tombs have a sort of interactive trail; so you're like exploring the history of Al Simhara for real.  Cool."

In this case it wasn't an especially exciting trail, just a key into a room with some more of the large blocky statues they had seen near the entrance, but it was a start.

Beside which, time was drawing on, it was getting late and they were tired from the flight anyway so the couple returned to the camp site for the night.



A simple meal of chilled local vegetables mixed in a fresh yoghurt was enough for them and was remarkably refreshing in the warmth of the African evening.

And, so, fed and showered, they retired to the comfort of their small tent, exhausted but full of excitement for the rest of their honeymoon trip.

The Wedding Reception

Photos from from the wedding reception at the Basilica di San Stefano. Carl and Malia would like to thank everyone who attended and made their day so very special.