A Saturday Duty

This lorry comes around every week selling drinking water.

It's less than a euro for an eight litre bottle so well worth it. It saves dragging it from the shops too! The tap water is very hard here and although it is fine when boiled it's safer to buy bottled stuff for drinking. Brian is there getting our supplies........what a good lad!

Early Morning........

Tony left at eight fifteen this morning and although I struggled, I did manage to get up to see him off! Actually, Brian insisted I checked his luggage before he went.................joke Tone x

Getting up at that time made it such a long day. I had to go to the bank, then I met up with John and Sally for coffee. Bless him, it was his treat!

George and Carol, along with their giant poodles, Captain and Colonel, turned up and we had a good natter. I wasn't ready to go home so I bought yet another cactus, collected some pebbles from the beach for weight.................they look lovely now!

A Pressie!!

I'm really struggling with gardening here because we have the sun on our balcony most of the day. None of my plants seem to survive the heat, no matter how often I water them. I've been concentrating on my cacti as nothing seems to kill them off! Brian came home with this little specimen today to add to my collection.

My daffodil bulbs are planted and I'm hoping I will have more than lots of healthy leaves this winter. I hate the cold in England but I do really miss the drive through Cornwall when the daffodils are in flower. Hopefully, I will be able to post a lovely flowering pic come spring!!

I'm also experimenting with a poinsettia from last Christmas. I read that the plant must be cut back to a twig and kept in a dark place until October. I've done all that and now it's time to water it again. It's living in the 'intensive care' area in the kitchen at the moment so fingers crossed.

I almost forgot to mention that Jeffery, as in Doreen and Jeffery, bowling partners, rang tonight to invite us to breakfast on Sunday. It seems we are eating at Jack's Bar in Las Americas and it's a freebie! Doreen still has her ear infection..............Jeff said something about 'throat would be better'..........what on earth did he mean???

Bestest Friend in all The World!

I spoke to my mate Hazel today for the first time in ages. I was determined not to loose touch with her when I moved here but, as the time has passed, I seem to contact her less and less.
We've known each other for almost twenty years and have a similar sense of humour, so you can imagine the fun we had when we worked together.

I'm in 'down memory lane' mode today as it is four years since we boarded the Plymouth to Roscoff Ferry at the start of our journey to Tenerife.

My diary for 4th October, 2001 read 'took Top for his final health check and spent some time with the family. Said goodbye to some of our friends before boarding the ferry. Rather a rough crossing'.

I can picture it all very clearly, in my mind............scary!!

Sunday and Monday Bowling Leagues

Not a great deal to say about either league really. Doreen and I didn't do too well yesterday and lost 6 - 2. I did play loads better today but Martin and I were outclassed!!

Roll on next season as I feel it is time for a fresh start!

Happy Birthday Dean!!

Dean is my eldest nephew and is eleven today. His Dad, my brother Ray, told me that he had some good pressies so I expect he'll have a good day.

Julian took this photo last October when we all went bowling together.

Dean's main interest is football and he is an avid Blackburn Rovers supporter. He also plays for Oswaldtwistle Rovers every week.

Maybe one day he'll earn enough to keep his Auntie in comfort!!!

Have a good birthday and see you soon, lots love xxxxxxxx

Photo: Julian

Village News

Bye Juan x

We haven't found out the gory details yet but Juan has left Bar Marejada. It has split the 5 o'clock club straight down the middle as some are staying there and others have moved back to Bar Antonio. We shall see what happens next.

Brian and I walked round to Bar Rincon de Cristina at tea-time and spent an hour with John and Sally. He was having his normal moan...........coffee was horrid and the bar was too noisy! Sally was fine as Michael brought her some doggy treats!

I had a good clear out on the balcony today. Several plants that couldn't be revived got whizzed along with the digital tv dish which we no longer use. I got Brian and Tony to muck in and it didn't take too long. I have nice new chairs too.

We dumped the old chairs and tv dish next to the bins. I was well amused to see a couple of blokes wander past with the chairs and a couple of hours later someone took the dish home!!

The Rain in Spain................

Falls mainly on Tenerife!!

It didn't seem to bother 5 o'clock club though as we all sheltered under the little wooden awning and watched it team down.

It was quite a novelty really.

Los Gigantes

Tony and I had a day trip to Los Gigantes today. I had to visit the hairdresser's whilst Tony wandered around with my camera for an hour or so. I really liked all of his pics but I think these two are the best. Lovely shots of the harbour and village



You can see why it was named 'The Giants', looking at the height of those cliffs.

It was far too hot to do anything energetic and so we had a lazy lunch at one of the local English bars. We met the 'house cat' Calypso and were told that a neutered cat has the top of it's ear cut off!! Well, you learn something new every day!

Not sure I like my hair short, though.

Photos: Tony

Our Melvyn Came Home!

I was sure he was destined for the scrap heap but it seems we were very lucky. I'm not too good with car problems but it appears that it was something to do with timing and a belt. Pistons could have gone through something else or so I gather but, luckily, that didn't happen and 130 Euros later............home he came!

A big thank you to St. Jude as another hopeless case came home x.

I booked my fights today. I'm off to England for a week in October and can't wait to see my family. I don't normally do 'excited' but I'm getting there!!

Churchill's Funeral

One of i'm indoor's finest moments was being part of the team pulling the gun carriage for Sir Winston's funeral (he was third row, second in, from the right). It seems that they trained for weeks before the poor chap died. Tony brought dvd's showing the whole of the funeral, which is something I've never watched, so we had a really cheery evening viewing it.

It was impressive and I doubt that another state funeral could surpass it.

We have now moved on to 'The World at War'. I reckon I'm in for a gruelling couple of weeks!!

Sunday Bowling League

Nothing exciting to report. Doreen and I lost 6 - 2 whilst the boys won 6 - 2. We never even worked out where the weekly medal had to be this week. It has been a long season this year and I think we are all ready for a bit of a break.

Talking of breaks........our car, Melvyn, didn't make it home from the shops yesterday and ended up on top of a lorry! They don't seem to have road side repair companies here and most motor insurances include a 'grua', which delivers the vehicle to your local garage. Brian tells me that there was a lot of head scratching going on and we have to wait until later today for the diagnosis.

Poor chap had to carry all the shopping home!! Where was I? Sitting, reading on the balcony!!

Such A Fun Evening

Liz and Lyndsay suggested that we all went to this barbie up in the hills. All you could eat for nine euros and drinks for a euro each. Off we went, me, 'im indoors, Liz, Lyndsay and Tony. Donna and Miguel had arranged to meet us there.

What a disaster!! I won't go into all the details but we ended up getting our money back and bailing out. The next place we tried was closed..............flippin' heck!! We ended up at this really brilliant restaurant and had such a lovely time. The food was great! I had prawns in garlic with lamb chops to follow! Lovely grub.

The lightweights went home but Donna, Miguel and I had a late drink at Ayose's bar behind the swingpark and had a lock in, hee, hee!!

Tony did wait up for me, as I knew he would, but guess what..........Brian was snoring his head off!! Sin problema!

Up Early.......Me?

Liz and Lyndsay are picking me up in the morning for the trip to the airport to find Tony. I don't really do 'early' so it will be a bit of a shock to the system!! I'm on dog walking duty too, as Brian is working.

Tony is expecting 'im indoors to collect him, after his flight from Gatwick, so I'm hoping that I may be a pleasant suprise. At least he'll get more than a couple of 'Scottish grunts' by way of conversation on the way to San Juan! Knowing Lyndsay, he'll probably end up in the airport bar with a glass of nice red wine in his hand.

I'm having such a problem with books at the moment because I find it so hard to let them go after I've read them. We tend to use the second bedroom as a book deposit, so I had a real nightmare day trying to find a place for them all. We both read two or three books a week so you can imagine how many we have collected after living here for four years. If I can bear to part with them we may do a car boot..........happen!

Still, Tony has an almost book free bedroom!

Village News

We had a really large crowd of folks at Juan's Bar tonight and lots of chuckles!! I had a really bad moment though! We have a nice Indian chap out at the moment who was a docter in Harley Street during his professional life. We were saying what a clever chap he was and David happened to mention that he was on Mastermind once. Lying tinker!!

Having one of my blonde moments, I happened to ask what his specialist subject was...........doh!

I'm not sure that I should repeat the answer but it caused so much hilarity, and my face was very red!

Liz and Lyndsay were there, unfortunately, they are off back to Scotland next Tuesday. I'm going to miss them. We are all out for dinner on Saturday night.

I've been trying to be 'arty' with my pics again.........hope you like it!!

Do I Really Have To Mum?

I never mention the word 'vet' in his hearing but he always seems to know where we are going.

I took him for his normal walk and then tried to sneak him down the back streets in the hope he would trot on regardless. No way.........he's not as daft as he looks! Brakes came on and I had to half drag him in the door. Poor chap! His legs were shaking and he had me in a dither too!!

I can't really blame him, things pushed where they shouldn't really go and two injections in the neck! 'Mum' didn't watch but held on to him for grim death!

He was a good boy, all in all and she gave him a clean bill of health. Seventy euros and ten minutes later he ran for it!

He did have a little treat though as she gave him a manicure, ummmmm!!

Monday Bowling League

A bit of a big boys' league this one so Martin and I did really well getting two points. We both had a really good last game. It's a good fun day too because most of the league members are entertainers in some form or another.

One lad is a DJ on Power FM Radio, some are dancers and a few bar owners turn up. Monday is normally their day off so this league was designed for them in mind.

Avril and Tommy are a double act, goodness knows what they do or where they perform but they have us in fits at the bowling!

My favourite lady is Katie Kennedy. A gradely lass, who does so much for charity on the island. She also does a live act, which we went to see last year. Unfortunately, she spotted us watching.........did we get some stick!!

She also does a column for one of the local papers, link below, Doreen's Charity Fun Bowl gets a mention this week.

I gave her hell last year when she printed a photo of me after a serious mossie bite which caused my face to blow up to twice it's size. It seems I emailed her the pic, must have had too many beers that night!!

http://www.thepaper.net/

Sunday Bowling League

I don't really need to say another word, do I? The medal remains at 'im indoors side so Doreen and I didn't do too well!

This Sunday League is getting a little bit out of order at the minute as it seems that anyone can bring a 'sub' in at short notice. We knew we had to play Les and Jackie, not easy at the best of times but Les did a 'sickie' and Adam turned up. He's the best player in the bowling alley, often scoring over 250! Poor us!!

We did manage to get two points on the last game and, but for two pins, as the saying goes, we could have had a draw.

Jeff and Brian had a problem too, as one of their opponents cheated. They weren't happy puppies!

Martin

We had a little chat on the phone earlier and he sounded really happy with his presents. I didn't find out much apart from the fact that he had two new playstation games! It's amazing how he can stay still long enough to play them!

He had his mates round and they were up to mischief, so he said 'bye' and went off to have some fun!

I didn't even get chance to tell him about Top's big charge this morning, never mind, I'll catch up with him soon.

La Gomera

In the distance it is just possible to see the island of La Gomera. It rarely gets any clearer and the locals say that if it can be seen clearly there will be bad weather in Tenerife. About twice a year, doh!

It takes me about two minutes to walk to this spot from my apartment and I often wander around there with Topsie. Very peaceful.

www.gomera.info/gomera_info.htm

Happy Birthday Plug xxxx

Happy Birthday, number one grandson!

Another candle on the cake this year, mate.

I wish I could be there for one of your special hugs as they mean so much. I would like a big piece of your cake too!!

Lots and lots of love, Martin, we hope you have a great day.

I reckon that Top might do a 'charge' in the morning just for you!!

Nana, Grandad and Top xxxxxxxxx

Photo: Julian

Jamie

I rang her after school to wish her 'Happy Birthday' and we had a lovely chat. Grandad was so sorry that he couldn't speak to her, but, he was out working. Her pressies included a Playstation and television for her bedroom and she was well pleased with them. Her mates were over for the evening and they were planning to watch a couple of 'girlie' dvd's.

Mum, my daughter Sam, has to repeat the whole birthday thing on Sunday because Martin will be nine!! Working nights I'm sure she will be well wrecked by Monday!

I'm having a bit of a late spring clean because my mate, Tony, arrives next Friday. We tend to shove loads of stuff in the spare room and then panic when folk are coming to stay! I will find the bed before then...........and iron his sheets!

I must admit that we don't see much of him. He loves the sun and usually wanders off to the beach early afternoon. We do have some really good natters on the balcony late at night, much to the annoyance of a certain neighbour..........well funny!!

Happy Birthday Flowerpot xxxx

How lovely you look!!

I can't believe that it was eleven years ago when I first held you and promised you the world!

Although I don't see you as much as I would like, never forget that Nana loves you to bits, and always will xx

Have a really lovely day, Jamie, loads of love and kisses from Nana, Grandad and Top xxxxxxx

Photo: Julian

Grandad.............

Jamie, Martin, Maisie, Sophie and Tully,



Grandad can't seem to pass a sticky bun shop without buying one and pigging out!! He hadn't eaten all his dinner first, either!

I'd forgotten about the big cake shop in Alcala when we visited yesterday but 'im indoors hadn't. We sat on a bench in the Plaza and scoffed cakes, much to the amusement of an old Canarian chap, sitting close by.

I'm glad I was in charge of the camera, because I had chocolate everywhere! What diet?

Banana World

I've been a bit down in the dumps lately so 'im indoors suggested a walkabout today to buck me up.

We walked to the nearby village of Fonsalia and from there wandered through the banana plantations towards Alcala.

Bananas are, after tourism, one of the major sources of income for the Canarians here. The plant bears a flower which in turn produces the bananas. After harvesting that 'branch' then dies off leaving another one to do the work next season. Alledgedly, after around seven years it is discarded, new babies planted and off we go again! You won't find these particular ones in Tesco though, because it seems they aren't straight enough to be sent to England!

On reaching Alcala, we had a mooch around for an hour or two, stopped for a drink and then caught the bus back home.

Quite a nice day, really.

SIL.........

Hello number one son-in-law!!

This is Julian who provides me with lots of pics for my blog.

He's an architect, lives in Cornwall, is married to my daughter, Sam, and is Daddy to Jamie, Martin and Maisie.

His Mum, Barbara, is in hospital at the moment...........so lots of love to her xxx

Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks Ju, big hugs!

Lots love MIL x

Photo: Sam

Family History - My Nana

My Nana, Sarah, was born somewhere around here in March, 1899 and this is the first photo I've seen of the area, taken at that time. I think it's quite wonderful! I wonder who was alert enough and also clever enough to capture this image on the nineteenth of October, 1908? Steiner's was a calico factory from what I can gather, so far, but more research to do!

As my Nana was born at Steiner's View, I'm presuming that it could have been the buildings top left, just showing in the pic. I just wish that I had listened to her more when she was still with us.

She died in November, 1981, her only child, Millicent, my mother, having died some fifteen years before her. Her husband, Albert, was also taken from her when she was in her forties. Not a good life but she did have me and 'our kid'!!

Many thanks to Stag and Accyweb for the photo xx

Well Done England!!

I know nothing about cricket apart from the fact that they call for the light, but I was pleased to hear that England had won the Ashes.

I spoke to my daughter, Sam, last night and she says that Top looks like a pig in his photo! He's going to bite her next time he sees her!

Check out Tully's blog...................she now has two teeth!

Sunday Bowling League

Flippin' thing moved over........... We lost 6 - 2 and also lost the weekly medal! It's now at 'im indoors' side of the cupboard, but never mind, there is always next week!

Brian and Jeff are now in second position in the league having won today, leaving another ten weeks to go before the end of the season. Could be anyone's really!

Lazy Saturday

Yet another lazy Saturday!!

We are fighting for the pc at the moment because we are both hooked on WebSudoku which is an irritating numbers game, very popular, I believe, but we have only just come across it. That's Tenerife for you!

The only bit of excitement is that my broadband speed has doubled! I'm having to move a little quicker now.................heck!

I came across an interesting question earlier, relating to the new passport photo changes.

Which two people are allowed to wear their sunglasses on their pics?

Answers on a postcard please...................

Sad Blog

Not much to say about this really. The whole island is shocked by the cruelty. Anyway, have a look and see what you think................

http://www.thewesternsun.com/Issue-194/index.htm

Flora and Fauna

I was a little bored today and decided to play around with light and shade, camera wise that is! It isn't quite the same as spending a few hours in the dark room but for digital stuff, I thought it was ok.

We have these palm trees every few feet here. Most of them are fine but some do bite!!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie!!!

To be honest, this one isn't really asleep, he's topping up his tan, if you pardon the pun!

I decided to give our Top a mention tonight seeing that he is being such a good boy.

I have news of Alison, ex-employee of the bowling alley. She survived her journey and is now back home with her Mum. Good for her!

We are having one of 'im indoor's curries for dinner and I can't wait, it smells lovely!

Flippin' Mosquitos

We really enjoyed Donna's barbecue tonight. Liz and Lyndsay were there, along with a few folk we didn't know. The food was brilliant and her finca looks down over Las Americas, such stunning views. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera!! I'm getting worse!

It was cooler there and very pleasant sitting in the garden, chatting, until dusk when the mosquitos decided to join us. I've been bitten quite badly, especially my feet. As I'm allergic, they now look like giant pasties.

We had to leave earlier than we would have liked for some much needed cream.

I almost forgot to mention that Top came with us. He deserves a bit of praise as he mingled, quite happily, without biting anyone. He seems to have turned over a new leaf!! I must admit to being a little offended when I was asked if he was a mongrel!! Our Top is a pure Jack Russell, a true North Devon lad!!

Monday Bowling League

Not a very successful day really. Our opponents didn't turn up and hadn't contacted anyone to tell us why. Really annoying!! We decided to play our game and put a paper score in, good eggs us. We could have claimed the game!

The afternoon just dragged on though because one of our lanes 'died'!! It couldn't be revived and after waiting for an hour or so, we were moved elsewhere acquiring two more players along the way. I must admit that by the last game I had lost interest and my best score of the day was 159. I don't think Martin (my nice Danish partner) was too pleased with me but there you go. He didn't play too well either!

I did say that I would come down to earth with a bump!

Doreen and I had some good news because we picked up eight points for an outstanding 'paper' game from four weeks ago. Watch out Brian and Jeff, we are creeping up behind you!

It is rather hot at the moment for September. Some areas are hitting 40C and most people are becoming tired and grumpy, including me, strangely enough, as it's usually the hotter the better!

We are off up into the hills tomorrow evening for Donna's barbecue. I'm looking forward to it and should have some good pics.

Sunday Bowling League

What a brilliant day!! Doreen and I played the top of the league and came away with a draw!! We were certain of getting an eight- nil defeat so it was such a good result for us.

Doreen's scores.........125, 136 and 160
Mine...........168, 133 and 144

Our opponents were really bad sports though and spent ages trying to 'cook the books'. They didn't even shake our hands after and thank us for the game! Sandbaggers!!

We had everyone behind us though. I had to pick up one pin on the tenth end to secure the points which was a bit nerve racking. Everyone went well quiet and I could feel the eyes on me................but I got it!!

There is a weekly contest between Doreen and I, and Jeff and Brian. Whichever team gets most points takes home the medals. We beat them by over forty pins this week! Mine is proudly displayed at my end of the cupboard whilst my mate went home with hers around her neck!!

I'll probably come back down to earth with a bump tomorrow at Monday Bowling League.............

A Happy Surprise!

Liz and Lyndsay, really good friends of our's from Aberdeen, came looking for us this evening. As you may imagine, they knew where to find us!!

We spent a happy hour, catching up, at Juan's bar.

They are spending a month in Tenerife and are staying with my step-daughter, Donna, just for this week before moving on to the North of the island.

Donna, in the middle of the pic, is hosting a barbecue at her finca on Tuesday and even Top is invited!! More photos to follow I expect! I think that may be my beer in the foreground, ummmm!

Hot Day!

It has been around 38C here today and the hottest day of the year so far. We walked through the village around five o'clock this afternoon and wondered why the streets were so quiet.

Then we found them all!! It was packed with folk around the harbour and beach. I've just noticed that there seems to be a naked person, dare I say?..........bottom right!

My grand-daughter, Jamie, hates the black sand!

Charity Fun Bowl

We are just home after attending Doreen's Fun Bowl in aid of her charity, Music and the Deaf.

It was a lovely evening. In the first game you had to hit the bumper before scoring and if you missed it you lost ten points. I'm quite good at that and may ask if I can have the bumpers up on Sunday! We had supper then..........meat pie, mushy peas and gravy, lovely!

We had a normal game to finish. We didn't win anything in the raffle but then, we never do. Doreen raised 2,200 euros for the charity. Brilliant stuff!!

We popped into Juan's bar for a nightcap on the way home which was good Spanish practice.

Tully, why isn't my ticker ticking?

I'm Speechless!!

It took me a while and was a bit of trial and error...................and I don't really believe that I did it, but I now have Tully's blog on mine! Who is a clever Nana then?!!

A Learning Curve.....

I've spent hours trying to get that ticker thing up there!! I was having a last go at it before I asked Tully how she did hers..............and I did it! I'm well proud. My next task is to work out how to include Tully's blog with mine. Watch this space.

I managed to drink more than one and a half litres of water today. I'm bowling on Friday and Sunday this week and I plan to do quite a bit of walking too.

I hate boiled spuds and I'm missing my chips already!

No More Chips...........

I've become such a podgy person lately that I've decided to try some sort of diet. Not that I eat a lot, something about metabolism I've been told. Seems I have to eat something first thing and drink a large bottle of water every day.

From tomorrow I'm having a funny sort of biscuit with my first coffee and then I'm going to drink a litre and a half of water during the day, yuck!!

I have seven weeks to go before my week in England so no more chips, lots of walks and, hopefully, my family will recognise me!!

Funny Monday!

Chain-saw Charlie woke me at such an early hour this morning. I crawled out of bed, looked out of the window and couldn't believe my eyes!!

All the lovely trees in the school yard were being
massacred! Not one left!

We went off to Los Gigantes, as planned and I took this pic. A bit of a cloudy day and a crane in the way which was a shame

It was 'snap' day at five o'clock club and we all had to take turns trying to beat Charlotte. I was last and before I could get into the swing of it, she accused me of cheating and took the cards away!

Her expressions, whilst telling me off, were wonderful................not really my day!

Sunday Bowling League

Doreen had a nightmare!! I don't think I have ever seen her play so badly. She never got a strike or a spare in the first game and the second wasn't much better! She improved a little on the third but was well below her average. I didn't do too bad but could have done better.

We finished a lot earlier than the men and decided to have a practice game.........guess what? She went and got 159! We were in fits!

I'm off out tomorrow with 'im indoors. First stop, solicitors to pick up the car papers and then a wander around Los Gigantes.............some photos to follow, hopefully, if ancient digital camera is in the mood!

A little note for a very special friend............please get in touch!!

Barney.........A Home!!

We went to a 60th Birthday Party last night and came across Barney. He now 'belongs' to an English bloke. He had been scrubbed and was sporting a blue bandana around his neck!! Alledgedly, he has settled down well and it was lovely to see him with his new family. It sure beats sheltering under cars!

I've been doing a little Family Research this week and managed to track down Nancy Haworth. I have learned that her parents were Edward Haworth and Jane Barlow. Edward was born in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire in October, 1821 and married Jane in January, 1844.

Nancy eventually married William Bentley, the brother of my Great Grandmother on my Mother's side and they had one child, also called William. Unfortunately, there is no trace of Nancy after the birth of her son, so I assume she died in childbirth. She was 34 years old at the time. Complicated stuff but well interesting!!

North of Tenerife

Puerto de la Cruz is a lovely town situated at the north of Tenerife. It was a favourite holiday destination before we came to live on the island.

We spent the day there a few weeks ago, hence the pic. We caught the bus which takes around an hour and a half and is a treat in itself!! Lots of local Spanish folk get on, such lovely people and great fun. The driver stops, on occasion, to buy his lottery tickets or just for a quick natter with a mate.........................

It gets a bit scary going up the mountain, looking down from 9,000 feet tends to make your tummy heave, take a pill!

A bit cooler than the south, cheaper too!!

My Babies

Jose and Juanita. They do love each other, kisses and cuddles all the time. Happen we will have eggs soon!!

Not a very good pic.......ancient digital camera doesn't do dark, inside or budgies!

A bit of a boring blog tonight.........I went out for coffee with Anne this morning which was followed by a couple of hours of transcribing for a Family History site.

We went for our usual evening stroll, dinner and another day gone!!

Remembering.......

Thinking of the trip that Alison has to face I dredged through a few of our pics from the 'big trip of 2001'!! My diary entry for the 16th of October, 2001 read......... 'moved on again and decided to just look for a site without referring to the dumb AA book. Found one at Juvea, which is definitely a refugee camp. Awaiting a parachute drop! Had a few beers at the bar!'

The following day's entry said 'still awaiting the parachute drop!!' We did fall on our feet a bit that day though, because we found a pile of English books left on a doorstep. As we both read for England it was such a miracle. We were so grateful that we left some dosh, hidden under a stone

We were about two weeks from England at that stage..............you can tell by 'im indoors' skinny white legs!!

Bye...........Alison

Alison has packed in her job, packed up her car and set off back to Bonnie Scotland! I shall miss her as I always looked forward to seeing her at the Bowling Alley.

Having done the journey, by car, I don't envy her the trip. She will spend two days on the Tenerife to Cadiz ferry followed by the long drive, through Spain and France. She has taken her dog with her for company!!

She has promised to email once she arrives so more to follow......

Flora and Fauna

I'm starting my new subject with a photo of this lizard who decided to sit next to me for a little while. He was very well behaved and posed, briefly, before disappearing. Tenerife is full of these creatures but, luckily, we don't have the giant ones which live on El Hierro!

Especially for Ryan, Steven and Alex..........................have a look at
http://www.hull.ac.uk/geogmods/html/biogeog.html

Monday Bowling League

Hardly worth a mention really!! Martin and I managed to loose 8 - 0!! I'm not saying much more, but our opponents were Doreen, my Sunday partner, and our Barry! He's a good egg, picks me up and brings me home. It takes him well out of his way, but he does look after me.

I would have been well depressed but five o'clock club was really funny today. Charlotte was at her best, inventing this game of 'find the rope'. We all joined in, as usual, only to find that Harry Potter was involved. Caron, Charlotte's mum, asked her for the magic word, we waited for abracadabra.............and we got PLEASE!! At least she knows her manners!

Littlest Hobo

Meet Barney.

This little chap has been wandering about the village for months. He is such a lovely dog and has the blondest eyelashes!!

I would love to take him home, but Top, although he will play with him, wouldn't let him in the door.

He lives, mainly, under cars to give him shelter from the sun and knows which bars to visit for an odd snack and a drink of water.

He wasn't too keen on having his photo taken, take note of the glare!!

Sunday Bowling League

The Rack 'Ems

A photo call at the bowling, 'im indoors and his partner Jeff just after winning 6 - 2! They fought hard for it too! Jeff had five strikes in a row during the first game. Apologies for the poor quality pic, but ancient digital camera doesn't do dark or indoors!!

It was also a good day for Doreen and I. No spectacular scores but we managed to get six points.

Doreen is arranging a 'fun-bowl' which is on 2nd September and is in aid of her charity 'Music and the Deaf'. It's an annual thing which she works very hard on and always results in quite a tidy sum. Well done, Doreen!!!

'Livewire'!!

After mentioning Charlotte on my last entry I decided to post a pic.

She was all dressed up for St Patrick's Day and looked really pretty.

She won't be five until next February but is fluent in both English and Spanish! She is getting a bit bored with nursery and can't wait until she can go back to 'big' school next month.

Photo: Caron

A Lovely Day!!

I met my friend, Anne, for coffee at around lunchtime, to catch up on stuff. We were joined, a little later, by Robin and Brian who seemed to feel that they were missing out!!

Later in the afternoon we took Top for a long walk down to the beach. He was so funny!! Every time he saw a bar he ran under a table for some shade and then developed a really bad limp! We stopped at Casa Chrissy for eats and some much needed water for Top! He was such a good boy, being a Jack Russell, he hates most folk, but he didn't bite anyone and managed to play with at least three dogs, quite a record for him!

This evening, we walked down to Juan's place for our usual couple of beers, normally called the five o'clock club. Young Charlotte was there, just four years old and such a livewire. She has so many aunties and uncles because we have all known her since she was just a baby.

Today, Daddy had bought her some plastacine. Uncle Brian, Auntie Maz and Auntie Sue spent more time playing with it than her! We had doggies, a strange sort of duck, lots of imprints from bottle tops and a sort of Morph person!! Meanwhile, Charlotte decided to 'do my hair'. It's a good job I'm not headsore! I ended up looking like Loobie Lou!

The lagerlouts, me, Brian, Maz and Bernard couldn't pass the last bar before home and sat outside Bar Rincon de Cristina for another hour or so, chatting to all and sundry, in English and Spanish before managing to get home around midnight.

Would you believe it's actually raining, pouring down! August in Tenerife, never been known!

Our Tully

Our littlest grandchild, Tully Elizabeth. Mark and Katie's daughter.

Unfortunately, we haven't met yet, but I'm looking forward to having six months worth of cuddles in October when I get to Manchester on my bargain break.

Tully has her own blog www.tullyevans.blogspot.com and has kept me up to date with her progress. She has even included mine with hers!! A lot more clever than me!!

Photo Katie

Sophie Anne

Simon and Karen's little one.

Isn't she a cutie? Doesn't look like her grandad though! Thank goodness for that!!

She looks full of mischief to me and not eighteen months old yet.

Very good on the computer though, sends me loads of pics.

Photo Simon

A little Village News and Gloomy Tenerife!!

What a miserable afternoon! Where has the blue sky gone? Pretty horrid for August.

The building on the right is the local junior school.

We popped into Juan's bar earlier, and it was packed!! We think he may be onto a winner. I hope so.

Last night's fireworks in Alcala were brilliant!! Top and I watched them from the balcony and the finale was spectacular.

Note: Special for Tony. Hope the weather improves by September, mate xxx

Bank Holiday

We are having a bank holiday to celebrate the Black Madonna of Candalaria. The nearby village of Alcala, which is holding it's fiesta this week, is celebrating with fireworks at around midnight tonight.
There's a link below showing the history of the Black Madonna.

www.teneriferesorts.com/Black-Madonna.htm

Maisie Moppet

More Grandchildren. This is Maisie.

Sam and Julian's youngest child. I believe that it's the terrible two stage for her!

She has lovely fashion sense though!!

She starts play group next month and I hope she has fun!

Photo Julian

Sunday Bowling League

It was so close!!!! I had 115 at the sixth end and knew I had a good chance of getting the coveted 200 shirt. I was well focussed and then some person who will remain nameless said................

'You best look out, you're in danger of getting a new shirt'.

I don't know what it is but something in your head goes haywire once the subject is mentioned. Everyone was silently egging me on but although I continued to pick up the spares I didn't get another strike until the tenth. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough and I finished on 176.

Our opponents were in England so we just bowled and put our score in so the result my have to wait for a week or two! Doreen bowled well on the first two games but went to rats a bit on the third. There's always next week..............

Martin.....

Martin, number one Grandson!! He normally doesn't stay still long enough for a photo!! I spent ages trawling through stuff to find this one.

His favourite hobby is watching banger racing and goes as often as he can. I hear he does well getting bargains on Ebay too!!

Photo Julian

Lazy Saturday

I haven't moved out of the apartment today, not even for my tea-time beer!! It must be a first!

We did decide on a walk but we both got involved in the computer and PS2 and the day just flew by! I wish.................

I did check 'jobspot' and it seems that this week I can sell time-share, do a bit of lap-dancing or try my hand as a cook in a nearby bar. I'm still giving it some thought.

Have a click on the link to read the village moans on the fiesta. It seems I wasn' t the only one to suffer!! http://www.thewesternsun.com/Issue-192/page2.htm

Flowerpot

Jamie, our eldest grand daughter. Isn't she such a sweetie? I miss her so much and can't wait until October when we can have lots of cuddles.

Photo Julian

We Went Walkabout

We had a lovely day, starting with a walk around the village.

After walking around the coastline and looking into a couple of shops we stopped for a late lunch at Chrissy's Bar. Him 'indoors pigged out on Shepherds Pie, Mash and Gravy, yuck. I had a quaint Lancashire dish, Steak pud all in!!! It was really hard walking up the road in the full sun having eaten all that!

The last port of call was at Juan's new bar.......I even took a photo!! I had a couple of beers to celebrate number one son's birthday!

This is Jordan, son of Paula. He couldn't quite make it up the stairs, bless him!!

A nice spot for lunch. Him 'indoors is hiding in the shadows though!!

A scenic view during our walkabout today.

Some of My Family................

Sunday lunch in the pub, the last time I was in England. From left to right, Sam, Katie, Mark, me, looking a bit grim, my brother, Ray, his wife, Alison and our Maisie in the highchair.
Photo julian

The other children, Jamie, Martin, Dean and Bradley were all in the play room and our Tully wasn't born yet. More about them in future blogs...............

Hopefully, we will have a repeat performance when I visit later in the year. It was a good crack!!

Village News

Our favourite barman, Juan, has opened his own bar!! He opened on Sunday and provided free beer and food, unfortunately, we missed it! Story of my life. We did pop in to see him during our tea-time walk yesterday and were made welcome. Such a nice bloke! Good practice for my Spanish too as he always talks to us in that language.

It is located at the end of our road which is nice and handy and although it's quite small I'm sure his personality will bring in the people, Spanish and English alike. We all wish him well and hope he gets lots of support.

Our friend, John, an ex RAF pilot, returned from his three week holiday in England. Glad to be back, I think, but as normal his first words were 'it's hot'! His golden labrador, Sally, was happy to see him home.

The Demise of La Fiesta

It's almost over!! The music is still blaring and someone seems to have found a set of drums. Thank goodness they didn't find them earlier!!

Not to worry. They all move off to the village of Alcala tomorrow to plague other complaining folk like me!!

Monday Bowling League

Not good for me, not really my week for bowling but my Monday partner, Martin, had a wonderful last game, scoring 189!! He managed to get us two points with minimal help from me!!

Sunday Bowling League

We won 6 - 2!!!

It's good that my partner, Doreen, was able to bowl well, because after my late night, and the fiesta not finishing until eight in the morning, keeping me awake, I was pretty useless!

Doreen's scores were 142, 152 and 148 - pretty consistant - and I'm not mentioning mine!!

More bowling news later, I have a different partner in the Monday League, Martin, a really nice Danish lad.

La Fiesta........Saturday

I really enjoyed the fiesta this evening. Just before midnight we followed the procession. Hundreds of people walked, silently, behind the statue of the Virgin Mary which was carried slowly towards the harbour.

The firework display started shortly afterwards and was brilliant. Unfortunately, my ancient digital camera was unable to capture the images......................

We met up with some friends and eventually arrived home around half three!!

If you can't beat 'em join 'em

All dressed up and ready to party!!! As I was kept awake most of last night I thought I may as well join in.............more photos of the fiesta tomorrow!!

La Fiesta

Today is the first 'official day' of the fiesta in Playa de San Juan. I was awakened at seven this morning by fireworks informing everyone that the day had begun...........I'm not quite sure that I needed to know quite that early!!! It is now almost midnight and the night's celebrations are just about to begin!! The dodgems are at full pelt, laser lighting pulsing, an odd firework blasting into the night sky and more people than I've ever seen before walking down our road. The music is mega loud even though the band is yet to start.

It appears that tonight's celebrations concern the choosing of the 'Reina de la Fiesta' or Carnival Queen so I do hope she had an afternoon nap!! I'm beginning to wish that I had too!!!

On the up side, I really hope they have fun but on the down side there are no toilet facilities for up to three thousand people, no parking facilities either, as 'im indoors says 'God help us all'!!!

My Corner

My corner where I seem to spend most of the day, and most of the night, too, normally!!! I just wish some of those 'creatures' would give me more room!

Family research was the order of the day as you can see by the amount of paper floating around.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a very successful session but more on that subject at a later date.............

Sunday Bowling League

Well..............In case you may not know, Sunday is ten-pin bowling day! My partner, Doreen, and I had a hard match to face against two of the top bowlers in the league. We went for it though and won the first game quite easily, receiving many congratulations along the way!!
Unfortunately, the second game was a different story as Ron scored a massive 217 with his partner not far behind. We were gutted but..........happen we could still get the third and final game? You guessed it, no way. Was quite close though and we did feel that we did well coming away with two points. There's always next week!!