A Bit of a Spree

It has been a little hard financially during the past few months because of the difference in the Exchange Rate so we haven´t had much by way of a treat. (I´m not counting my new computer as that was my lifesaver.)

Anyway, Brian´s first pay turned up in the bank today so we decided to blow a little of it. Clio got a couple of bits from the pet shop, Brian had new trainers and we had a Chinese takeaway for dinner. I´m booked into the hairdresser´s for a bit of pampering on Monday. Long overdue I must admit.

My most wicked moment was handing over three euros fifty for a Take a Break...............naughty me!!

Bits and Bats

It wasn´t a bank holiday here today so bowling went on as normal. Ros and I keep having to play the big boys and we aren´t doing to well at the moment. Still it was just us with six blokes today which was a good laugh.

Locker fees are now due and I´ve been debating whether to give it up or not. Brian doesn´t play now and I´m down to once a fortnight so it seems a bit extravagant to keep it. I am quite attached to it though and it does save dragging a ten pound ball and shoes around with me every other Monday. The answer came to me earlier................I have subs due shortly which will go a long way towards it. Locker thirteen and I are mates for another year!

Shona is coming to stay in June. Her William commented on the fact that I haven´t been blogging very much lately. There hasn´t been much to say to be honest as I´m spending loads of time at home. Cleaning and cooking is boring enough without writing about it! Clio is struggling too as she is being super good at the moment. I´m sure it won´t last!

A Nice Weekend

Brian had the weekend off after working solidly for the past seven days. We decided to keep it to ourselves and have a quiet one. A bit of shopping on Saturday followed by an early dinner and a spot of television. I didn´t catch the whole of Eurovision but saw enough to reckon that it´s totally unfair but as long as you can relate to Terry Wogan and take the lighter view it isn´t that bad!

We pootled around the apartment this morning and then had a nice Sunday roast whilst watching the racing. Well done Mr Hamilton!

A walk around the village with Clio, a couple of beers and home again. Just the way I wanted it.

Signal

Happen I should say ´lack of it´!!

Brian elected to watch the football down at the bar tonight whilst I tuned into ´The Apprentice´. On and off all the way through and I must admit that had I been able to pick the flaming thing up it would have been thrown over the balcony. If Brian had been trying to watch the match...........well, I dread to think!

Different Chemicals

My tum has been playing up a little lately and so I decided to ditch the Dorada and try a little white wine. Brian was eager to watch the Manchester United match so I sat outside the bar, in the sunshine, and read my book.

It´s a little like going from proper coffee to that red label stuff. I really get the shakes if I have caffeine these days but I never thought that I´d see the day when half a lager wouldn´t suit.

The wine was ok but I did get a severe attack of the giggles after two glasses. Happen I´ll try the red next time!

Internet Friends

I´ve been chattering to Ruth on the internet for around four years now. We have a shared interest in Family History. She finally came out for a week´s holiday and we met up on Wednesday afternoon.

I did feel a little nervous but as soon as we got chatting we hardly stopped! Her sister, Sandra, left, turned up last year along with their Mum so we spent some time together then.

They are now back in Glasgow but we have a lovely afternoon to remember.

Flippin´ Forms Again!

We were feeling really happy with ourselves having faced the Spanish Bureaucracy and received the form for Brian´s work contract. Smugness doesn´t last long as he now needs another one.

This time it´s a visit to the Social in Los Cristianos and yet another early start. I´ve bailed out as I´m sure that he can deal with it himself. Happen this elusive contract will appear at some point.

It has been a week for it really as a mate turned up this morning asking for help with her State Pension Form. Would you believe that it was sixteen pages long? That done and whilst I was still on the website I asked when I could claim mine. It appears that I have to wait until I´m sixty two.

Will I still be able to complete a form at that age?

Gran Canaria

Not too much to report because Charlotte´s ear infection took the excitement out of the day. She slept for most of it! I should have taken advantage of the peace but I was a little worried.

The ferry was awful. You couldn´t get out and were advised to remain seated at all times. I´ve never seen so many folk being sick at the same time and they had a ´special chap´ dressed in his Fred Olsen uniform, just for collecting and refreshing sick bags. I wonder what he did wrong?

We toured several churches, visited a museum and came home again. Not very exciting for a couple of hundred youngsters as it was purely educational. To say that they never had chance to let off any steam they were so well behaved.

I spotted these dogs outside a cathedral. One day I might work out why they were there!!

My Poorly Mate

I´m still buzzing from my day and although I´m well wrecked I know sleep isn´t an option at the moment. Charlotte went down with an ear infection quite early in our journey. Lots of decisions to make and I´m still not sure that I made the right one. Thankfully, Mum and Dad felt that she was safe enough in my hands and left it to me.

We enjoyed our day as best we could and the full report will turn up soon.

Off on a Mission

I´m packing my bag in readiness for our journey to Gran Canaria tomorrow. I don´t ´do´ excited but I am really looking forward to it.

As it´s an educational trip for the children we are looking at a couple of cathedrals...........Vegueta and Arucus, information for anyone who feels inspired enough to look them up.............and some old villages which are typical of the island.

We have to be at Charlotte´s school before six o´clock but won´t reach the island until ten thirty. Hopefully there will be a play room on the ferry or I´ll be hearing ´are we nearly there yet?´ for hours!

Back to the bag...........butties, sausage rolls, crisps, juice, and water. My camera, sick bags and a loo roll, just in case Charlotte has a problem. It struck me to take my E111...........I hope it´s not a premonition!

Anyway, here´s to a happy day and prepare for loads of pics soon.

Hot or What?

I love nothing more than living
here with the sunny weather but today was painful.

Frequent gusts of hot wind which took your breath away and covered you in the sand blown from Africa.

Poor Clio only managed half of her walk as she was gasping for breath. It was reported that the temperature at eight this morning was 34 degrees and rose to 41 degrees by the late afternoon. No sun in sight, just wind and heat.

Fires are becoming a problem in La Gomera. The Spanish news was showing villas blazing earlier and also extra firefighters being ferried in from other islands. The picture above shows the problems that they had in July, last year.

Nothing here as yet apart from a fire in the wood yard down the road. I could smell it from my house and sat here pondering on what I would rescue first. Passports, bank stuff and important papers followed by my jewellery box, if I had the time...............fire engines sorted it before my imagination ran riot!

It´s quiet now, although hot enough to be July, the wind has dropped and happen it will all be back to normal tomorrow.

Sorry!

A good mate of mine pointed out that I didn´t explain why we needed a form so urgently and thought that we had done something illegal. A good time to put matters right!

Actually, it´s good news. Brian has a new job and needed the paperwork for his official contract. All perfectly normal should you want to work here.

He´s doing maintenance at a local hotel which is nice and steady and he seems to have enjoyed his first day. Sound asleep now though!

The only drawback is that I´m in charge of cooking. No such thing as a perfect world!

What a Morning!

We had to go to the Police Station in Las Americas this morning which meant an early start. I didn´t realise that so many people were about at six in the morning. Not my favourite time of day.

Anyway, we got there at around seven to find around sixty people in the queue. Everyone stood there on the pavement waiting for the doors to open at nine o´clock. Nowhere to sit and nothing of interest to watch.

By the time two police officers came out to see us the queue had grown to about two hundred. We were then divided into two groups........Spanish on one side and the extranjeros (foreigners) on the other. It appears that the first fifty in each line get a ticket for the next queue. The rest had to go away and try again another day.

Just when we were beginning to get excited the police officer told us that we needed to pay nine euros before we could apply for the form we wanted. He sent us to information where we were supplied with a bank payment form and then sent on our way. No magic ticket for us.

All in all it took us over four hours to accomplish nothing and we have to do it all over again another day. Flaming Spanish red tape!!

As Promised

A couple of pics showing the new style beach in Playa San Juan. Boardwalks, showers and toilets, what more could one want? They all looked well happy and it was a pleasant walk.

Our next stop was to call into Bar San Juan to watch the Blackburn Rovers match. I was their only supporter as usual and had beer mats thrown at me when they got their goal. All in good fun and I was so happy to see them get a draw. Well done Rovers!!

Finished

I haven´t been down to the beach for three weeks or so and rumour has it that it´s all done and dusted.

They opted for natural black sand which I feel is in keeping with the environment............we don´t want it turning into Blackpool do we? Nowt wrong with Blackpool but each to it´s own.

I feel sure that Clio will fancy a stroll down there tomorrow whilst I take the opportunity to photograph the finished product.

Sleep!

Or should I say the lack of it?

I had a busy enough day yesterday, what with bowling and such so I was sure I´d have a good night´s sleep. I was all settled and went sound...........for half an hour! I tossed and turned for an hour or so before resorting to my book. I´m reading ´London´by Edward Rutherford, which is mighty enough to make anyone doze off. Anyone else but me that is.

Two hundred pages later I was still wide awake. That was half five. Next stop computer where I stayed for another three hours. All the neighbours set off for work and I heard the kiddies going into school.

By nine I was sound asleep! I´ve been feeling grotty all day and I´m sure that come bedtime it will all start again. Pretty scary really.

The Phoenix Project

Hyndburn Council have been systematically demolishing the old mill houses during the last few years. Now it´s the turn of our old family home.

I´m not sure why this upsets me unless it´s all the memories which have been flooding back in recent weeks. My brother and I used to run riot around the local area, each promising each other that we´d never stop playing out! Hopscotch on the pavement outside with twenty or so other kids. A rope tied to the lamp post at the top of the street for skipping. Statues and hide and seek. It all went on and didn´t we have fun?!

My poor Mum was buried from there when I was just fifteen and four years later I walked out of the door wearing my wedding dress. I never went back. So sad.

Thanks to Mick from Accyweb for the photo xx

Bits and Bats

Charlotte and I are off to Gran Canaria this year for "our" school trip. At this rate I will have seen all of the seven islands by the time she moves on to senior school! It´s a long day by all accounts as we have to travel to Santa Cruz to pick up the ferry, followed by a tour of Gran Canaria and home again. Lots of walking too.

It´s the bowling dinner tomorrow night but no trophies for Jeff and Brian this year. I´m looking forward to garlic mushrooms, pepper steak and profiteroles......................that´s if I have enough room!

Village news isn´t good at the moment. Little Lottie´s grandad died on Saturday and some of the locals hired a minibus to attend the funeral today, which was up in the north of the island. June, a friend of mine, is in intensive care with liver problems and Sue was admitted on Friday with pneumonia. Our sympathies to Bill´s family and best wishes for a speedy recovery to June and Sue x

Vista Ultimate

That´s posh for you!

After around six weeks without a home computer I now have a complete new system which I´m trying to find my way around. We did try to resurrect the old one as I was reluctant to lose the stuff I had on there. It just seemed like we were throwing good money after bad and had to make the choice.

I´m now on the hunt for my old favourite sites which could take some time. Nice to be back blogging and expect more soon!

Woe is Me!!

I´m a bit lost at the moment because my computer gave up the ghost a few weeks ago. Internet shops are fine but it isn´t quite the same as nattering to your mates at midnight!

Not to worry as we are searching for a good deal for a new one and hopefully, normal service will be resumed soon.