Larger and Smaller

For LL in the UK

It occurred to me that your small family has been further reduced in the past few years whereas mine has expanded, adding another grandchild this year. I am also sad at your losses, not so much for you, but for them. I liked them both, a lot.

Why am I not saddened for you. Well, I think that must be pretty obvious. I will put it into words though. I have no sympathy with the losses to you because of your callous unfeeling nature, the coldness you displayed at the time of our parting and the gloating afterward. I guess you knew all that, anyway. You know how you treated me and you have to live with that, if you have any feelings in you.

You also have to live with the fact that you made a major mistake. You know it, and admitted it, and I know it, also.

Fact is that if he 'goes' - and let's face it, he's not the healthiest creature on the planet - what are you left with in terms of family? The answer is, not a lot. All of your own making one way and another. I felt for you when we were together. I thought you had experienced a rough deal and wanted something much better for you, including a much wider 'family'. Your impulses, impulsive nature and impatience got in the way of all of that, largely to your detriment.

You could say that you might have had it all, but you decided you knew what was best for you...except, you didn't.

I am, as you probably know, back in Florida enjoying the winter warmth. No coats, no gloves, no scarves, no snow. A friend who lives near Perth Scotland tells me they have snow and ice and power cuts. She's OK though.

Lovely family Christmas with friends and family all lined up here. I may spend your Boxing Day on Sanibel and Captiva, or go sailing, not sure which yet. Denver was snowy but beautiful. Stopped off there for two days to see a friend after leaving San Diego and my home there. Hawaii was great too, but it always is ...with the right company😉. Managed to visit two other islands apart from Oahu. Nice relaxing break.

In the New Year I have a reunion dinner in London so will be over to enjoy (?) your cold and wet.

No idea what your Christmas will be like but it sure as hell won't be as warm as mine!

Ciao

Contrasts

For LL in the UK

Relaxing here in Hawaii before Christmas takes over, has allowed me time once more to reflect on my life compared with yours LL. I don't want you to forget what you have missed and what an enormous mistake, or should I say mistakes plural, you made.

You:

- Modest housing

- No place abroad despite the 'promise'

- Repeat vacations to similar places, with a few exceptions (four in 13 years)

- Modest older car (s)

- Large vertically challenged 'partner'

- Poor judgement

- Allowed yourself to 'go', physically

- One adult grandchild

Me:

- Various luxury homes around the globe, nearly all with pools etc

- A veritable stable of new cars/vehicles, plus a classic car collection

- Several boats/yacht

- Vacations wherever, and whenever, I want

- A Gulfstream 650 jet and a helicopter

- Substantial wealth - that goes without saying, really

- Choice of lovely younger partners in various locations

- Still around the same weight as 13 years ago, maybe  a little more gray and lacking in hair on top

- Excellent judgement and very astute

- Seven grandchildren, -six under seven years old

- A business empire, plus my own personal interests in photography, art, cooking, horses and of course my writing

~~~~~~~~~~~~

When it is set out like that, don't you think you definitely made the wrong decision. I do and I know you do. Look what I have achieved in thirteen years and compare it with your life over that period. All I have I worked for, and the exponential growth in my wealth since you went your way, is solely down to me and my own decision making.

When I reflect on things with the perspective of time, it seems you chose a supposed short term gain over your long term interests, security and dare I say happiness ...and that of your small family.

Not only have we obviously grown apart, but I have grown away from you and your world; inhabiting as I do an entirely different one with all the joy and satisfaction that has brought me.

Between mine and Ash's family I have seven wonderful grandchildren. I doubt whether you will have any more.

I don't need to apologise for drawing your attention to the differences. You made your bed (literally) and chose who to lay in it with, again literally. You made the wrong choice, as you admitted yourself.

I'll leave you to ponder the above. We are off for a walk along the shore.

Ciao

Some Background

For LL in the UK

I never really told you that much about myself and my background, did I, LL. For good reason, I can't tell you all, as much is covered by the OS Act, but I will relate what I can.

The rest is an insight into my life well before you entered the scene.

As you have long since surmised, I have always been interested in the fairer sex, even when I was studying hard to achieve my 'O' and 'A' levels. I was seventeen in 1965 (you were eleven!), right in the middle of the Swinging Sixties. Within a year I would be in the Royal Navy, but that year didn't stop me enjoying the companionship first of all of girls from my school and then others I met.  Thankfully, the pill had arrived along with a far more open attitude to sex, and so I enjoyed the girls as much as I could. So did the girls! That also explains the old photos I have posted elsewhere.

With friends, I spent many weekends in London, mainly in the West End, but not entirely, often ending up sleeping at some girl's place. They were heady days. We drank of course, but there were no drugs in the circles I moved in.

As you know LL, my father was a Commander in the RN, Later, before retiring, he ended up as Commodore at a Naval Weapons School. He tried to dissuade me joining the Navy as his father had when he joined up. Like father like son, I guess. I went ahead anyway. My mother was in the RAF part of WW2. Prior to being seconded there, and in the late 1930's, she was working with her first husband in gathering intelligence in Germany and the Low Countries, under the guise of being a young couple. This was before hostilities broke out. From that, you can see where my career came from.

After two gruelling interviews and a flying aptitude test at RAF Biggin Hill (I was applying for a commission in the Fleet Air Arm - FAA). I was accepted. One of two, out of forty two, that were up for selection at that time. I started my training at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth. Demanding as you might imagine. Practical training came in the form of two minesweeper training ships permanently attached to the college.

They were great days and leave, when it came, was often spent in south Devon, with my colleagues and with girls of course. After training, which was arduous both physically and in the classroom, I was posted as a 'subbie', Sub Lieutenant to RNAS Yeovilton, not too far. Having a car (an Austin A40) I was able to see the girls I'd known in Devon and some new ones in Somerset and Wiltshire and eventually Hampshire. I qualified as a helicopter pilot at Yeovilton and in due course was posted to Portsmouth and my first ship. Over the years, until I left the Navy, I was on various ships, including two carriers, in a variety of places around the world.

In the last few years,by now a lieutenant commander and, two years before I left, a full commander, I was transferred to land based duties, first in Bath then in Whitehall, the latter being a position in Naval Intelligence. As I said, I can't talk about all of this for obvious reasons. I will say that I was posted to the USN twice on exchange programs. Probably why you first thought I was an American. I am now of course.

By the time I left the Navy I was married and had my first child, a son. with another on the way...my daughter. That was when I turned my hand to finance and banking. I had the happiest of marriages, until my wife passed away at far too young an age.

I won't bore you with the banking career, except to say that apart from the UK it took me to most of the major centers in Europe and over here in the USA. Mainly New York and Chicago.

You were right in saying I was shrewd. I put funds away at a very early stage in my life, I invested in shares and I set up various mutual funds. It was these that matured, or I converted, over several years from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that I had already invested in quite a few properties, the first few dating back to the eighties. One of the tricks was to buy when the economy was in recession, times like Black Friday when the UK left the ERM, or '94 when there was another property downturn.

Through various companies I had set up, I rolled over these properties, paying my taxes and taking a profit, which I then invested elsewhere. That is how I bought the first apartment in London and the one in Denia, amongst others. I also invested abroad - you knew about here in Florida, partly, but not the other locations. I held back on those, firstly because I thought it might be too much for you, and then later, when I couldn't trust you...that started in 2004 of course.

You were never a very good liar, you know. I saw through it all.

You have a fair idea of what I have been up to since 2005 (I've been making sure of that), making $m's, marrying again, acquiring more and more businesses, more $m's and homes, and .... of course getting my G650 jet and the helicopter.

Most of all I'm enjoying life to the full in a secure, very secure place surrounded by two great families mine and Ash's and seven lovely grandchildren. Not bad for someone you once thought was boring, is it?

Sadly, as you know, Ash passed away nearly a year ago, but the years we had together were among the very best.

You could say I've made it, but in fact I 'had it made' long before I met you LL. You never made it and never will, but you might have shared it, once.

As to other aspects of my life. I've been a guest at one of the Queens garden parties (since you went your way) in recognition my philanthropy. Bet that's a surprise for you. Ash came with me, and she couldn't believe she was there! I have many friends around the world and I mean friends, not acquaintances, not business contacts - real friends. That includes at least three in and around the city where you still live. Two are mutual ....and I have known them since 2005.

I could bore you further with all the things I have done since we parted -if you only knew, and I'm not referring to the ladies. I definitely haven't been doing 'boring'. In fact my diary is perpetually full with plans, destinations and a good deal of pleasure. Am I happy? You bet I am.

You were the one and only mistake in my life when it came to people, and I know why that was ... bereavement clouded my judgement. That and falling for you, although that feeling has faded ... almost out of sight. You could say like a candle in the wind

Enjoy, as they say over here.

Ciao

Update from East FL

For LL in the UK

To Whom it Did Concern:


Thought it might be time for a wee update and a few reflective thoughts. First of all why you have been yet another repeat break to the same old place. I have been over here on the east coast of Florida, taking in a little golf in Boca Raton and staying at my home in West Palm Beach.

Do you know that in all the time I have been living here I have never gone back to Orlando. Tampa, yes, but not Orlando. It doesn't hold any attraction for me. Maybe, when the younger grandchildren are a little older, I will go again. The last time was with you and your 'boys'.

Weather wise it is pretty darn good here. Around 27-28C during the day and 20C at night. No need for overcoats or mufflers (scarves to you) in the Sunshine State. Pool is heated of course so I don't have to give up my daily swimming. The week before last I had family visit in Naples including Brad and Tom and their children. They are Ash's sons of course. They can't make it for Thanksgiving due to the demands of in-laws, but I will have a crowd down here anyway.

There's another Navy re-union in the New Year, and I will be over there in the UK for a week or so after the New Year has passed.

It amuses me greatly that you and he keep returning to the same old places for your breaks/vacations - that would drive me crazy. You sure did trap yourself through your admitted wrong decision, didn't you. I still hold a spark for you, somewhere but these days it's a mere flicker of it's former self. It would take more than a brief puff of air to rekindle it.

Back then I think you didn't know yourself, and you certainly didn't wait to get to know me - the real me that is, clear of bereavement. I knew exactly what I was doing when I pressed you to commit. I think you are, as I believe you have been for a lot of your life, a mixed up person, who never really discovered her true self, or way in life.  You may think you had, but you hadn't.

You told me you wanted to be free. Strange as it may seem to you now, that is exactly what I was offering you - real freedom, free to do do and enjoy whatever you desired (within reason😉). I have, and had the means to make that happen - you didn't.

Without trying to sound immodest, I was the best choice you never made. All those past relationships of yours - you know that I was different to each and every one of the others, including your current man. I was and am, the stable one, the secure one, the one who was and is into loving long term relationships. Married over thirty years and then a second time for ten years - parted only by death in each case.

Forget the cars, the plane, the helicopter, the boats and the homes. You would have had a loving, attentive relationship and ...great sex! By your own admission, you made the wrong decision and, given the passage of time, you have lost more than you will ever know. What you have never had etc may be a thought that passes through your mind, but you and I both know that's rubbish.

Has he lived up to your expectations? Where is the 'small place' in Spain? Physically, how the hell were you attracted to that fine figure of a man. That remark is loaded with irony, incidentally, bearing in mind you 'like a man with a bit of flesh on his bones'.

I'll leave you to recover from your vacation, do the washing and ironing etc and live your less than satisfactory and mundane life. The one you chose through poor decision making. The one you chose because your mind can't encompass the bigger picture, the possibilities, the excitement, the affection and the security that was once on offer.

I'll leave you to decipher the language below, but I'll give you a clue. My father taught me to speak the tongue ...

A chionn' s gu bheil thu an-còmhnaidh a 'dèanamh nan co-dhùnaidhean ceàrr

 ____________________

Soraidh

and

Ciao 

Associations

For LL

Intimidated, inadequate, inexperienced and naive. The latter in some respects.

These are all attributes (?) that apply to you LL.

You were intimidated by my relative wealth, but you would have gotten used to it. I remember you visiting the Norfolk home and being more surprised than you had imagined. Then there was WLC. where you were surprised it was fully equipped right down to the cutlery...of course it was. Your apologies about taking holidays on a bus and not having flown for years. They were all indicators to me at the time that you felt a little out of your depth with me.

Following on from that, I think you felt inadequate, especially given your family history. It was far from perfect of course and in many respects quite dysfunctional. Not a raving success, but at the time I was prepared to take it all on.

Inexperienced, not only in the bedroom. That came to light quite early on, but also in your wider knowledge of the world and for want of another word 'streetwise'. I think you believed you were, but you were not. That inexperience extended to a lack of sophistication, also. I followed your 'lead' on choosing wines, fashion etc but hid my own knowledge because I knew it might intimidate you. My knowledge of wine for instance is extensive. It was when I knew you. My father was an excellent teacher.

Fashion, which you purported to know, boiled down to your following high street trends so that you 'conformed'. I always thought you lacked a sense of belonging and by following those fashion trends you felt part of the crowd/ pack whatever. You didn't follow fashion though. I knew you had no real idea when I spoke to you of 'your colors'. You weren't sure what I was talking about.

Music for you was pretty much all the pop stuff. I knew you knew little of the classics, of the joy of a Mahler or Tchaikovsky symphony etc. I could go on about levels of conversation etc etc, but will leave it there.

Then we come to naive and your naivety, LL. It presented itself in many ways. Attempts to impress without knowing, really knowing, who you were trying to impress. At least I was gentleman enough not to highlight your shortcomings. The pathetic cover ups of your extra curricular sexual activities. It is so easy to know when a person is lying, when you have interviewed and interrogated as many people as I have. Planting a computer program, spyware if you like, was a bonus.

Naive enough to use my laptop on occasions. Did you really think I wouldn't interrogate that, too? Then we move on to your performances in bed. For a woman of your years then, you had little idea, which is probably why you were so impressed with my skills...and I didn't employ them all!

Overall you were 'out of your depth' with me. As I said many times before you would have to'get up early in the morning' to get anywhere near hoodwinking me. You failed of course. Sad really, but in some ways inevitable given you reluctance to change. Yes, I was in love with you back then, and I don't think you ever recognised it. I put that down to your past experience with men where your choices were disastrous. As to your current man, well...what can I say that is positive. Maybe that he is 'a man with meat on his bones', to quote you, LL.

Ciao

( Some people make the right decisions and...some don't)

Update from West Florida

For LL in the UK

I'm back in Naples from the Atlantic coast of Florida and you are back from Espana. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and you... Who knows. Do you have much to look forward to these days, I wonder.

No outside caterers for our celebrations this week. I'm doing pretty much all of the cooking with a little help from a sous chef I know. I have friends here already and family will be joining us. This is really the bigger event over here although Christmas day is also a full on affair. I'll just make it back from Oz and NZ in time.

All this you might have once shared, but as you said yourself, you made the wrong decision. I agree. however that is all in the past now. You chose your path through your own actions. I reckon you took the left fork. When we parted it was a like a fork in the road of life and you chose the wrong way.

My path took me on a wonderful journey and I'm still enjoying it, thankful that I remain fit and well to do so. I won't bore you with the details. I've imparted enough of them over the intervening years. I always remember what you said about boredom (or boredum as you spelt it). these days I laugh about that. I was never boring, bereaved perhaps. Once I recovered from the latter I was back to pretty much my old self.

You were impulsive, probably still are and probably always were. Your downfall in a way. That and a fairly shallow approach to the men in your life. I chose you, not you me. All the other men in your life you chose. That must tell you something. I was a whole different ball game wasn't I, and that had you feeling a little on the inferior side. A different social class, a professional man and, then, someone who truly loved you. I never regarded you as inferior, that was all in your own mind.

Quite sad really.

From what I write in these blogs, you can probably tell that I won't forget you. It's just a shame you never made the right decision. Your life would be so different if you had.

Better get back to my guests.

Ciao

A Letter of Parrots and People

For LL in the UK

Dear Xxx

Sick as a parrot is a good saying. I think it describes how you felt LL when you made the decision you did, to part ... and also to stay with the man you are with now. You questioned your own decision, after the event, and went so far as to admit you had made the wrong choice. Then you made the remark about not being able to leave him because you 'couldn't do that to him', having already done exactly that to me. That told me an awful lot about your standards, or lack of them. Six months with him, two years plus with me. I think you were afraid of his reaction if you had left him. Not the basis for a good relationship. He still holds sway over your life, I'm told.

I am sure over the years that have intervened between then and now, that you have had time to reflect on how poor your decision was. On where you now find yourself, who you have ended up with, and the life style that you have been landed with, as a result. The latter would drive me mad. There is no way I could live as you do. A wasted life, although you may not think so. One where you are 'on your own', in a manner of speaking, for a high proportion of your time. Reflect on my travels, homes etc and tell me you don't have many regrets.

I wonder also how you fill those days in between seeing him. I have had no trouble at all in filling mine with the many interests I have. You, on the other hand, never had any hobbies to speak of, not that many friends either, considering you have spent your whole life in one city.

I recall you once said I had few friends. How little you knew. I wasn't about to introduce you to any of them, either over there in Europe and the UK, or indeed here in the US, until you committed. You never did.

The reasons I looked elsewhere were simple. Your infidelity and lack of commitment.Not much of what you did and said was right, but you were right about one thing. There were/are plenty of other women out there - thank goodness.

Having been with women of various nationalities over the years that have passed since 2004, I can tell you that they certainly differ in their approaches to life and sex. There's the Brits of course. they vary as you no doubt know being one yourself  LL. Generally, I guess I would say that the middle to upper classes are are more about living the sort of life I like and, as you might not expect, far easier with their sexual favors. The lower I went down that social ladder on the odd occasion, the more reserved most were, apart from near the very bottom. My experience there is very limited, thankfully.

I put this down to a general philosophy that life is for living and nowhere was it more obvious than in the upper echelons of the class structure over there. I have only been with what I would term a working class woman once and that woman was you. On the life experience front and how to live it, your horizons were extremely limited - even though I was prepared to widen them for you. Sexually, if it were a scoring matter (pun intended!) then you would be on five out of ten.

Your desires were pretty mundane in bed, no variation and that withdrawal thing was very frustrating. If you had been prepared, and you never signalled that you were, I think I might have got you up to eight out of ten. Compare that with other women around your time e.g. Carole an 8, Denise 9. and Kim 9 (the Norfolk one - not the Californian Kim). There is one exception my general observations on the UK and that was the ethnic Indian women I had relationships with. They were all at least nines and some tens! You were quite 'inexperienced' when I think about it.

So, that's the Brits. Over here it is even more diverse. The Anglo Saxons are pretty much the same as the Brits. The wealthy are far more open (pun intended again👌👈) sexually than some lower down the class hierarchy. The former certainly know how to live life, as do most of the middle class women here, as well There were and are exceptions, of course. Hispanics here are very much more passionate as  one might expect from a Latin race - no exceptions there.

Then to two of my favorite countries France and Italy. The Italian ladies know how to party, that's for sure. Dining, drinking and watching the world go buy and their company and conversation has been a real pleasure. Speaking the language, now, had a lot of advantages and I have many friends there apart from the women I met. As to the bedroom, LL, few if any inhibitions were, or indeed are, evident. - so different to the Anglo Saxon women of here in the US and also the UK.

France...ahh the French women. they really have things 'sorted' and hence I have spent a lot of time there. My places in Nice, Carcassone and Paris lend themselves admirably to that purpose. The French ladies, and I know and have known many, have no hang ups about affairs, married or not. It is almost a given there. Neither are they backward in coming forward and saying what they want. naturally too, they know how to enjoy the good things in life. A perfect combination, for which I will be eternally grateful!!

Scandinavia offers it's own combination of a love of free and easy sex, combined with a strong sense of taking the rest of life quite seriously. There are some beautiful women in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, though and I do speak from fairly extensive experience!

The Dutch and the German ladies are similar, but can certainly let their hair down (and most other things!) when they want to. Beyond that, as you might well imagine they are fairly serious and hardworking. There are exceptions to those generalisations in each and every country.

I will finish on two other points One that you made in a remark to me after we parted and the other a remark you made about yourself.

You said of me that I would be OK after we parted because I am strong. I know you meant the grit or inner strength that people possess. On that matter, it was one of the few things you had right, you were correct. As fond and loving as I was with you, there was no way I was going to let you get to me and drag me down. To make you feel worse, of course I played up to what you expected, rather than how things really were with me. No, you weren't going to make me feel awful because we had parted. I decided you were never worth that and ...I was right. As to the strength, that comes from my character LL and maybe because Highland blood courses through my veins. I, my father and my forebears were and are made of very tough stuff.

You said of yourself, when you told me you didn't want to commit, that you wanted to be free, to be you. That was never achieved then and has not been achieved now. You come from a relatively small town/city and a small family and, as far as I could perceive, you had a small mind and imagination. Your horizons were limited by that background and environment. What I offered you apart from my love and affection was the exact opposite. To travel, to enjoy life and to do what ever you wanted to do. You declined it all.

I made it over here, emigrating as I did, within a year of your demise from our relationship. Marriage would have given you what I now have and all that goes with it. I know for certain you had and have great regrets. Not only your own remark to me about making all the wrong decisions, but things I have heard since. You were 'free' with me, but with him I know you are trapped. Physically, he was never your type and, to top it all, after what you did to me behind my back, he did exactly the same to you some years back. Ironic isn't. What goes round comes round.

I gave you almost limitless opportunities to commit and then to come back, but in each and every case you lacked the courage.

Yours

Xxxxx

𝄞

Scenes and Scenery

For LL in the UK

I am sure you would like a change from descriptions of my photographic and other encounters with women, so I thought I would show you a mixed bag of some of my other areas of interest.

Ben

On the Ranch - New Hampshire - Fall 2018

On the Ranch - New Hampshire - Fall 2018

Norway 2008

Ostersund, Sweden 2007

Suffolk, England 2018

New England 2009

New England 2009

Queensland, Australia 2017

Greece 2009

Wyoming, USA 2006

France 2018

Italy 2018

Milan Italy - Photo Shoot - 2018

Lot, France 2018

Italy 2017

England 2016 ...of course! It was raining!

Paris France 2006

Italy 2008

France 2018

France 2018

Spain 2016

Italy - 2018

Ben, Florida - Someone who is faithful!

On my way home for dinner, in case you are wondering about the location.

Ciao

 All photos are copyright. ©

New England Notes

For LL in the UK

Hello LL. I thought it was time for one of my intermittent updates.

For the past few weeks I have been here in New Hampshire on the ranch in the main enjoying Fall and the horses and dogs. A little shooting also. Had a few house guests  stay over too, but not all at the same time.

Last weekend I used the helicopter to pick up a lady friend from Vermont and we spent it alone at my place in Nantucket, Mass. Lots of lovely seafood and a very relaxing time just enjoying each other's company. Come the weekend I am flying down to West Palm Beach, Florida in the jet partly to see BJ's new place (he's retired recently from the Government, US that is) and to stay over a couple of days in my place there before going home to Naples, Fl.

It's hovering around 44F/8C here. Cooling off rapidly. However it's 82F/28C down in Florida so a no brainer really. I'm looking forward to that gorgeous warmth.

I guess it's cooling off over there too. All wrapped up for winter? Perhaps another brief visit to the Costas calls. No comparison to where I will be is it. You were the world's biggest fool when you parted with me. I would have forgiven you (for what are now obvious reasons on my part) and never have left you high and dry.

Time, however, has moved on and our lives are miles apart. You have added weight (and years), although I don't have the former. Up until I married Ash, who sadly passed away very early this year, I would have had you back at almost any time. The grass wasn't that green on the other side of the hill was it. Just mundane, very mundane when compared to the life you could have shared with me.

To quote you ...

'Why do I always make the wrong decisions'

French Meanderings

For LL in the UK

Audentes Fortuna Juvat

Well LL, I thought it was time for a further update as I relax here in Bergerac, France and you grab a short stay in Espana. More of the usual for you of course.

I am amazed how much both of you drink, evidenced not only by your posts, but from sources close to your social habits and hangouts. No wonder both of you are obese...all of those calories. I recall you used to count them at one time. Since joining your overweight companion it seems you have lost count!

I am not averse to a drink either but generally that is quality over quantity. Fine wine, as I am enjoying here, good single malts and fine bourbons. My preference is red wine, but I have savoured some excellent whites during this stay in France.

After a stay in Cannes, I have meandered up to Lot and now travelled slowly west into the Dordogne. You would love it. I certainly do. Great food and wine. Naturally, I have called in on a few female 'friends' and received excellent 'service', as they have. I am here for a short while yet before returning home to the States. Come December, I'm off to Australia as I normally do at this time, albeit a little later this year.

I'll be thinking of your small mundane life, of repetitive weekends and vacations offering little variety. I was looking at some old photos of you from 2003 thru 2005. No comparison to what you look like now. Me, I've hardly changed apart from some added facial lines and very short hair now.

That's all for now. Think on what you missed...

Here's some recent photos of my meanderings:

The Dordogne

Ciao

Observations

For LL in the UK

Audentes Fortuna Juvat

Cannes is lovely at this time of the year LL. I am sure you would adore it, but you would probably need a fashion makeover.

I have some spare moments, not many, but a gap in my engagements here and 'around'. As I have I thought I would record a few observations. 

As you know I was married for thirty three very happy years to my late first wife. Sadly, an equally if different marriage to Ash my second wife ended a little under a year ago due to her passing away. I count myself very blessed to have had two such wonderful women in my life. Perhaps it was down to choices or maybe fate.

In reflecting on my good fortune and my choices, I thought about how you life unfolded as you told it to me. You made choices in marrying your men, but it is obvious that your decision making and judgement is flawed. Your first was a disaster and then in time so was your second choice. Skipping me, to whom you were never committed, you moved onto what can only be described as a physical disaster. When you told me he was a 'journalist' and an 'indispensable' company director, that was more about justifying your decision to yourself than trying to impress me.

If it was the latter, then you failed miserably rather like most of your life. Company directors and directorships are two a penny, LL. In no way is he a journalist and neither is he a competent author. I have read extracts of his books - I had no interest in the subject matter - and his English is shot full of grammatical errors and poor sentence construction.

But these observations are not about him, they are about you. In a nutshell I guess it boils down to the fact that you make and made poor decisions. I will always remember your remark after your actions messed 'us' up. "Why do I always make the wrong decisions P?" That has stuck in my mind ever since.

Of course you made it after the event, so to speak, and your actions couldn't be undone. Even then I was prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt and also not to leave you high and dry as you supposed I might. Even then it was apparent to me that you hadn't met many men who said what they meant and did what they said. I am one of those, but because you are who you are, at heart an insecure woman, you couldn't recognize it.

By dint of your own inaction at that time, your lack of courage and lack of commitment, you missed out big time. To think that some thirteen years have elapsed this very month since then. I have an inkling as to what your life has been like. I still am in contact with two of your friends, both ladies. It doesn't compare with what you might have enjoyed in any way, shape or form.

Happy thirteenth anniversary!! I'm happy very happy, I'm not so sure about you and the rut of a lifestyle that you lead though. As they say here in Cannes ....C'est la vie!

Fall in Florida

For LL in the UK

Audentes Fortuna Juvat

Time for another small update, LL.

The Gulfstream (jet) is in Savannah, Georgia for annual maintenance but should be back here in Naples next week. So here I am enjoying Fall in Florida in glorious sunshine, shorts and a tee shirt each and every day. The pool is of course in full use by me and some others. Not a bad life all told.

I am sure you recall waking in Florida walking out onto that patio over at Fort Myers into the warmth that just encases you and makes you fell good. That is how it is every day here. Admittedly, there is the odd afternoon shower, but that's a small price to pay.

I will miss some of the Fall in New England as I'm off to France in the next couple of weeks.

Have been looking up a few friends since I got back here from Skyros and also looking down on a couple ...if you follow. BJ my buddy from DC is moving down here as he has just retired and is buying a place in West Palm Beach. Cas won't move from Boston as he has too many family connections there and in Chicago and Jim is settled in Pennsylvania. There are others like Rick Logan who I count among my close friends  and some that prefer to remain semi anonymous on here, under the banner of 'Band of Brothers'.

We are all ex Navy (USN and RN) and/or intelligence with a capital 'I'. You were quite dumb really in that regard, or perhaps naive would be a better word.

I was in Miami over the weekend making one of my occasional appearances on TV in the culinary area, then up to my place here in West Palm Springs and meeting up with BJ and his wife. Most of my five cars/SUV's down here have been changed. I have a new Lincoln and Mercedes and a Lexus. I'm into hybrids now and two are in that category. The Lincoln and the Lexus. I thought about  tesla but am still thinking on that.

The businesses continue, largely without me now, LL. I do have a hand in some deals and a roving commission to look out for opportunities. Money? Too much wealth to have to worry, one way or the other. I am still writing. It's a sedentary occupation I enjoy. Novel twenty is on the blocks right now and I had another movie made from one of my earlier efforts - all under my nom de plume. I still cook, paint and of course take photographs.

As my Aussie friends would say - of my life - 'No worries mate'. Talking of which I will be in Oz again probably December this time.

I am fully aware of your various trips almost as soon as you are. Apart from the odd trip out of Europe, you and he are in a real rut aren't you. Sad really. The world was your oyster, you didn't realize it and in doing so threw it all away...along with a very satisfying lover!

Ciao

Shoot 5

For LL in the UK

Audentes Fortuna Juvat

Last ones for now LL, but I'm sure it gives you an idea of things. Great client isn't she ... also a great friend. One of the many you never thought I had!

I'm enjoying a well earned break here on Skyros and having a fun time with my boat...and a friend or two ....

The above was written while I was away in Europe.

Here's the shots.

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Swimwear ...

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The remainder are studio shots taken in London and California ....

Ciao

Photographs in this blog have been edited to preserve anonymity. All photos are copyright. ©

Sometimes men have the last laugh

Shoot 4

For LL in the UK

Audentes Fortuna Juvat

The fourth of five LL. Hope you appreciate that the success of the photography business is fully shown here.

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Swimwear various locations, USA ...

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Relaxing at a certain home in New England ....

and on the shore ....

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London Studio ....

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Beach days, various locations ...

Ciao

Photographs in this blog have been edited to preserve anonymity. All photos are copyright. ©

Sometimes men have the last laugh