Big, Fat, Happy Fish!

This lot won't go to sleep hungry tonight after the bread Charlotte and I fed them today. It was well funny watching them scrabble and fight amongst each other for every piece.

Thankfully, Bar Antonio donated a bag of stale stuff especially for our day out.
















After all that hard work it was time for a little light relief. Ice-cream for Charlotte and a cold beer for me. Our game of I Spy was well interesting, a cross between English and Spanish. Charlotte won! Ten minutes in the swing park, five minutes in the shop and it was time to meet her Mum for a lift home.

What will we do next time?

A Proper Cake

Sue had a 'baking day' yesterday, using the baking tins which I brought back from England for her. She emailed this pic and gave us a piece to try. It looked very nice and tasted like a real one. Well done, Sue.

I also brought a Tesco Internet Phone back with me. It was half price......seven pounds something......with five pounds credit. I've installed it today and it works! I phoned Sam earlier and it cost eleven pence for around six minutes. Totally free if I call someone with the same device. Cool!!

Maz, Vi, Margaret and I had an away day to Los Christianos yesterday. We were 'ladies who lunch' according to Maz. I was in charge of directions and didn't get us lost once. A wander around the shops, lunch, afternoon tea and home by seven. Not a bad day with loads of laughs.

Tomorrow is Charlotte Day. The first we've had since we went off to La Gomera. Our plan is to catch the bus into Los Gigantes to feed the fish. A full report to follow.

Smiling for Grandad

I was so sad to leave these three happy children yesterday. Not to forget fluffy doggy of course!

I'm sort of between places in my head at the moment. My holiday was really great and I enjoyed every minute but it was good to come back to Tenerife again. The weather in England couldn't have been better and I've returned home even more brown than when I left!

Not too sure about the Man U hat, Martin x

Nessie or Not?

Things livened up a little after my lonely Friday. Sam came home from work on Saturday morning and drove us into Plymouth for a shopping day. We had a real 'girlie' day, buying bits of tat, and trying on different outfits. Saturday night in Liskeard was good too.

Unfortunately, we couldn't find a place to watch the Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea match. We settled on a few drinks at the Inn on the Shore whilst 'im indoors sent texts when goals were scored. Poor Blackburn, but I was told that they played really well.

I met up with some old mates on Monday, John and Barbie, and after a couple of hours in the Smugglers' Inn (pictured) we went off to their house for dinner.




I decided that a bit of a rest was in order today and spent most of it sitting in the garden. You wouldn't believe how the sea changed during the day and I really enjoyed watching it. Nessie hasn't moved south, honest, it's Neil fishing!

Best Laid Plans.........

I should be with Hazel tonight but she had a mishap and had to postpone our night out until next week. I must say that I was really disappointed and have been a bit lost tonight. Sam is at work and the children are staying with their father for the weekend. I do have two mad cats for company though!!

This is Max who seems to like doing his ablutions on my bed (Maisie's really but she has let me use it for a couple of weeks.........thanks Maisie). I think he's more in love with the electric blanket than me! Tiggy won't be far behind!

News from Tenerife isn't too good. Poor Brian has had a bad week. It seems that our Melvyn has gone too far to be mended this time and is off to the scrap yard in the sky. He served us well, bless him x

Today's Fun

We ventured down to the beach today taking Jamie, Martin, Maisie and Jamie's friend Anna, for a poke about the rock pools. Sam was really energetic and joined in whilst I sat reading in the sunshine. They had a bucket full of crabs to show for it but did put them back before we went home.







We drove out to Cargreen this evening for a bar snack at the Crooked Spaniards Inn. Very nice!







I'm looking forward to the weekend as I'm spending the night at Hazel's house tomorrow, sampling the night life of Liskeard on Saturday and watching the Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea match on Sunday. Not much time for blogging!

Poor Juanita

I had a call from 'im indoors earlier to tell me that poor Juanita had died during the night. I feel really sad.

Peep!

I think Cornwall is one of the most beautiful places on earth, especially when the sun is shining. We had a nice day sitting in the garden. Jamie is spending a couple of days with her friend and Martin went down to the beach. Here's Maisie hiding amongst her 'babies'.

Our lazy feeling continued throughout the day so cooking was out. Sam drove us to a little place called Minions at the edge of Bodmin Moor for dinner in the local pub. I did feel slightly guilty choosing lamb cutlets when I'd been saying how cute the newborn lambs were just moments before!

Easter

Martin and Maisie went off with their Dad to watch the banger racing on Sunday afternoon whilst we went over to the Halfway for carvery. Baz, his mum, Sam, Jamie and me. It was such a lovely day and although we ate indoors we sat outside afterwards enjoying a beer and watching the world go by.

Monday was a bit more hectic as Sam and I took all three of the children into Plymouth for the day. We started of with KFC........scrummy, wandered around the shops for a while and then went bowling. Martin won, well done him! Fish and chips for tea.

When I worked in Plymouth I very often walked over to Marks and Spencers after work on a Friday and you could always rely on 'im indoors ringing me the moment I stepped inside the door. Would you believe that the same thing happened today?!!!

Uneventful

I must be getting used to jet setting as I was well calm on the flight on Friday. We would have left early but for two dippy people who didn't hear the boarding call!

The weather is really lovely. We had a lazy day because we didn't get much sleep last night. A little like being at home as I sat in the garden doing my embroidery and listening to the children nattering. They have grown so much since I saw them last year. Jamie is quite the young lady, Martin is more mature and Maisie prattles on all the time.

Lots of pictures to follow soon.

One of Those Days

MaundyThursday is a strange sort of day, here in Spain. Some people take it as a public holiday and others don't so it's a little hit and miss as to which shops or businesses might be open. This is the first year since I moved here that I got it right.

The first cloud on the horizon was that my Internet connection went belly up. Save that problem for later.

Off I went, bright and early, well it was about half ten, early for me! I took Topsie for his morning walk, popped up to Duranza for essential supplies, followed by the Movistar shop to ask if my mobile phone would work in England, it won't! The nice, unhelpful lady said that it was far too expensive and refused to help me. I had a bit of a bee in my bonnet by this time as I can't imagine not having my phone. After searching for my contract and anything else that looked like it related to Movistar, I rang the freephone number. Finding that wasn't easy either. Thankfully, I was connected to a helpful person, who sorted it. Phew!

Next stop was the big supermarket for stuff to make a curry. Home again and it wasn't even one o'clock!

Internet connection...........I rang Telefonica who checked my line. No problem with that they said but it's very strange that it has worked perfectly since!

I made the curry, packed my suitcase, filled a couple of bags of old clothes for Katie Kennedy's charity, swept, mopped and dusted and then had a quiet half hour to myself before collecting Charlotte from nursery.

We had a little bit of a leaving do at five o'clock club as Vic is off to England tomorrow too. A few beers sitting in the sun, home for curry and Coronation Street. I'm well wrecked!

Preparations and Pie

I've been out and about so much lately, what with La Gomera, bowling and meeting up with people that I decided to have a stay at home type day today. A bit of sweeping and mopping, followed by an hour or so sitting on the balcony, a wander round the block with Topsie and then a quick visit to the supermarket for essential supplies.

I bought deodorant, toothpaste, a new toothbrush and half a kilo of minced beef! Such a selection! The minced beef turned into a plate meat pie and was quite a success. The rest of it is for my holiday.

Tomorrow's plan is to book my seat on the airport bus and to buy the suitcase I've had my eye on for a couple of weeks. Packing will start in earnest.

We have a new member of the five o'clock club. He's called Mick, is single and owns his own fabrications firm. He has been sitting with us for a week or two now but finally made his mark today by wandering into the ladies loo. He's as daft as us!

Not Long to Go

I've been bowling today and had some really good scores, the highest of which was a mighty 177! Best I've had in ages. I won't be playing again until the end of the month as Sunday League finishes whilst I'm away and Pip is standing in for me for the next Monday League game. A rest might do me good!

I'm so excited about my visit to England. Hayley did my hair for me last week and it's looking really nice. I'm also on the lookout for a new suitcase.

Lists are being created at the moment. Stuff not to forget, like phone charger, camera charger etc. Stuff to bring back. Sue wants baking tins, Vic wants baking apples and Joan has asked me to get some face cream. The things we miss!

I hadn't realised that April had turned up until I logged onto my tv download site on Sunday. A big red notice declared that we had to provide our uk tv license number before entering. It took a moment...........flippin' April Fool!

The pic, in case you are wondering, is of Brian's latest masterpiece.

Memories to Treasure

Such an early start!! We were at Charlotte's school by seven fifteen, waiting for the coaches and peering at each other in the dark! Thankfully, Caron introduced me to the Maestro, Charlotte's teacher, so I did have someone to 'follow' all day. Not knowing where I was going and not fully understanding the language was a bit scary. I'm sure that poor woman has nightmares of this strange English person being behind her every time she looked around!

The Spanish are renowned for poor organisation but I was so impressed with the way the whole thing was handled. Four coaches full of children, Mums, Dads, Grans, Grandads, Tia June and not a hitch.

First stop, Los Cristianos and the ferry. It took us around an hour to get to San Sebastian de La Gomera. Charlotte found the play area and I found coffee. It would have been better had I found my sea legs first as I lost half of it!

Our first stop was to this park..........look, real grass.......... where we spent half an hour or so eating our breakfast. The children were so impressed with ladybirds.

Off we went through the main streets of the town and I'd understood enough to realise that we were about to visit the Church. Such well behaved youngsters as they all sat quietly and prayed. Charlotte was peeping!

Back on the coaches to tour the island. It was

breathtaking. We stopped for a loo break and to stretch our legs for half an hour and then off again towards the top of the island. It was flippin' freezing. Knees knocking and hankering for a nice hot coffee, I ate my lunch and drank water. Thank goodness I didn't wear shorts! Charlotte and her mates enjoyed the swing park though and I had a bit of a natter with a couple of mums. Glad to be back on the coach!

On the first leg of our journey we had been treated with the sight of the island of La Palma but as we headed back towards San Sebastian, we had our first sighting of Tenerife. It was so beautiful. Sadly, I couldn't take a pic. Mount Teide seemed suspended above the clouds. Wonderful. One of the best sights I've ever seen. Charlotte had fallen asleep and missed it. Silly sausage!

All in all, a really wonderful day which I wouldn't have missed for the world. Caron found two well wrecked travellers when she collected us from school. Happy though!

So Sleepy!

Charlotte and I had our outing to La Gomera today but, I'm far too tired to blog it properly!

Tomorrow!

New Works

This is such a major job for our local council as

they are planning to spend over three million euros to give us a new beach with white sand.

It involves making a breakwater and importing 45,000 cubic metres of sand as well as removing the pebbles and rock which were already there.

This is the progress so far, three months on and it's planned that the whole thing will be finished in around nine months from now.

I'll update in due course.

Poor Ken!

I really can't believe this. I've spent almost three weeks being so excited over Juanita's egg, but on our return home from bowling today..........there is no sign of him!

Disappointed isn't the word. We've searched for him but no trace. Happen it's a budgie thing but I'm really gutted. Sorry Ken xx

A Measly Four Percent

Thanks Katie, I thought I'd give it a go too. Well boring compared to your maps!!

Quite a good one from Brian, though. Join the Royal Navy and see the World!

Two Weeks To Go!

I booked my flights today and I'm so excited. Horrid times but as it's the only flight that day, beggars can't be choosers. Tenerife to Exeter only happens twice a week.

It's a year since I was last there and I can't wait to see my family and friends again. Look out Cornwall!!

Scary Caves

Charlotte and I had a change of route today and walked down to the other side of the village. She was 'so excited'. Goodness knows what she will be like next Thursday when we go off to La Gomera!

We had a bit of a vote and decided that neither of us really wanted to walk into that black hole and went off in search of a cool drink. She was sweating!

I'm Boring!

Apart from Monday bowling, I've been a home bird this week. I have a nice clean, shiny apartment to show for it though. Lots of little jobs which I've been meaning to do for ages have been done and a couple more planned before I jet off to England at Easter. One of them is to clean out the kitchen cupboards but being so short, and shrinking fast, it's hard to reach the top shelves. I'm on the look out for a beer crate so if anyone knows of any lying around give me a shout!

Juanita is still sitting on her egg, or Ken as he's been named. Only a few days left before he's due to hatch.

Five o'clock club has been short of members for a couple of weeks. Dave and Caron are being good kids and go home straight from work, Don and Sue don't appear as much as they used to do and are threatening to change their venue which just leaves us and Vic most afternoons. We did have, well almost, a full house tonight though. Joan and Kevin turned up. They are from Lancashire and we share a similar sense of humour. I won't go into detail, but, Pendle witches were mentioned..........Joan made me laugh until my sides ached!

Our Weekend

Apart from being St Patrick's Day, Saturday was Caron's birthday. The 'lads' went off to watch the Manchester United match whilst 'us girls' as in Caron, Charlotte and myself, met up at Antonio's, had a couple there and then wandered down to the park. It was a nice lazy day..........a bit wet and chilly, but you can't have everything! Ayoze won the cleaning up job!

Mothers' Day was ok........a quick chat with Sam (she was at work), and Donna finally managed to catch me at home after bowling. Not that I should mention that as Doreen and I were slaughtered, yet again. Jeff and Brian had two matches to play and won both 6 - 2. They are still up there at the top of the league. Another flippin' cup to dust!

I've been checking out the price of flights to England at Easter. I can only travel with First Choice into Exeter and it isn't too bad at the moment. 290 Euros return but I'm risking hanging on for another week to see if it drops a little. Knowing my luck, it will go up instead of down!

Driving?

For some reason I have been thinking about taking up driving again. I passed my driving test on the 23rd of July, 1979 and remember it so well! We had a mini at the time and my husband turned up to collect me afterwards with Mark and Sam in the car.........they were all so happy to see that I'd passed!!
I've had so many cars, normally Toyotas and they have all been given names.........I can remember, Alice, Daisy, Blossom, Pearl, Olivia and then Jennifer who was a similar model to the one pictured. She was a year younger and had a T bar, the love of my life! Next was Millie, I hated her, then Elizabeth, shortly followed by Arthur Astra. Somewhere in between was Bertie Rumble who was a complete pain but served me well at the time.
Peter was next, a Fiesta Si, he is on my list of favourites but the last car I owned in England was a Mazda MX3..........nice to drive but horrible to park........Polly!!
I keep looking at Melvyn and wondering if I might manage the wrong side of the road driving. I've made a little map to get me to the shop, very scary, but I think I might give it a go, Tuesday sounds good! Wish me luck!

Winter Turned Up

Everyone has been remarking on the wonderful weather which we have been enjoying this winter. Ummm, nice while it lasted but, according to the latest report, it will be Sunday before the sun shines again.

I had to visit the Town Hall this morning to collect a Certificate of Residence. I queued for an hour, nothing ever changes, and by the time I left, the rain was streaming down the road. Lovely!

I must have looked a pretty sight. Shorts, flip-flops and Brian's golfing waterproof coat! No wonder everyone laughed when I took refuge in Keith's bar. I managed to paddle home, half an hour later and it looks like I'll be staying put tomorrow as thunderstorms are on the way. Snow on Mount Teide too!!

A Football Overdose!

I had a good day at the bowling today scoring 149, 165 and 144 which put me into second place in the high handicap series. It wasn't enough to get a win for Doreen and I though as we only managed two points.

Thankfully, it didn't drag on today as I was eager to get back to the 'football bar' to watch the Rovers match. I had a bit of a shock, though, as the whole pub was involved in the rugby, grrrr!

Keith came up trumps though and put the footie on the big screen, just for us, whilst the rugby lot were left with the small screen. I don't think we were flavour of the month, somehow!

Rovers are through to the next round but poor Argyle couldn't get the ball into the back of the net no matter how they tried. After two matches, I was so glad to come home!

Happy Day

Our Melvyn's first introduction to the internet! He's been back to the garage for the last week with internal problems. He's fine again now, and I don't think he looks too bad for a fifteen year old!

Brian was well embarrassed when he went to collect him as someone had washed him. I could even see out of the windows!

My happy day consisted of, a well Melvyn, Juanita's egg, a lovely text message from Sam, our mate, David, sold his first car and I'm off to Cornwall for Easter........yippee!!!

News Flash!!

Juanita had her first egg today!

Brian managed to get this pic whilst she was away from her nesting box. For some reason I thought it would be bigger.

School Trip

The Canary Islands have been part of my life for almost ten years now and, although we have settled in Tenerife, it's my mission to visit all the other islands at some point.

I'm not doing too well so far as the only other island I've set foot on is Gran Canaria!

It turns out that Charlotte is going to La Gomera with her school towards the end of this month. Mum and Dad are working and can't go with her but she seems happy enough for me to tag along.

I can see the island from my house and have taken numerous photos of it. It's famous for it's wonderful walks (more of interest to John than me), the cloud which often covers the island and a strange whistling language that the locals use.

I'm really excited!! Even the thought of having to be at Charlotte's school before half seven in the morning isn't putting me off!

Adeje

We caught the bus to Adeje today as Brian needed to price up some wood and stuff and I fancied a change of scenery. I'm also checking out the prices of small freezers as it would benefit us to buy our food in bulk. More on that later.

Adeje is a fast growing town situated above the holiday regions of Las Americas and Los Christianos. I took this pic of the old Adeje, just a couple of hundred yards away from a busy superstore. Should we have wandered further we would have come across schools, colleges, health centres and sports facilities.

Such a wonderful mix and worth exploring further.

Sunday Bowling

Not a bad day as Doreen and I managed to take two points off the lads from The Sun Inn. I had my best score in ages on the middle game...............168! Today's clever clogs was 'im indoors as he had a clean game with a score of 210.

We play Bingo on Sunday. If you score a strike on the first, fifth, sixth, seventh and the last one on ten, you win 500 Euros. Brian was so close..............he left a pin up on the seventh but got the rest. Such a blow!

Why Can't I Sleep?

I've tried going to bed but sleep seems to be evading me tonight. Liz left me the latest Danielle Steel book, but even reading isn't going to send me off. I'm really wrecked as I had quite a busy day.

Jeff picked me up at lunchtime as Doreen and I had a make-up match to play. It was a waste of time, really, as neither of us could play for toffee. Bowling is such a stupid game. We had a giggle though. Jeff amused himself by shouting 'helpful' comments throughout. Little tinker!!

I don't seem to see much of 'im indoors these days as he's working so much. He finished job number two today but still has another three waiting in the wings. Another estimate to do too. All good stuff!

There has been a knock on effect as it means I have all the shopping and cooking to do. I'm sort of getting in to it. Don't mock! My roast chicken earned me ten points yesterday. That's a first.
It's curry tomorrow and although I have all the thingies, I bet I make a mess of it........a bit too adventurous for me!

Flippin' Brilliant!!

I really wanted to watch the FA Cup replay, Blackburn Rovers against Arsenal, so I had a walk around the village this morning to check out the football bars. Rachel at the Fisherman Bar assured me that they would have it on the big screen......seats booked!!

To be perfectly honest, I expected a 2 - 0 win for Arsenal and was almost biting my nails until the last few minutes when Blackburn scored. Did I make some noise?!! I had a lovely evening and well done Rovers!

If they can beat Arsenal, they have a good chance against Man City. I'm looking forward to it.

Many thanks to my friend, Sue, she also spotted the daffs in the supermarket and bought me some. It's like Kew Gardens in here xx

Look What I Found!!

Anyone who knows me will remember how much I miss daffodils in the spring. I've tried my best to grow them here but I reckon that it can't be done without frost. I have the bulbs but they only seem capable of growing leaves.

I decided to make a steak and mushroom pie for dinner and wandered over to the supermarket at about three this afternoon. First stop, butcher's counter. I'm sure he dreads me turning up! He is giving me lessons now though. It appears that if I need minced beef, it's carne molida, and for stewing beef, it's carne picada. You learn something new every day!!

Back to the daffs. I always take a peek at the garden section and I spotted some hyacinths. I don't care for them as they make me sneeze and I was wishing that they could have been daffodils when I spotted them, hiding at the back. Spring has sprung!!

So Boring!

I usually really enjoy bowling but it just went on and on today. We had two teenage girls on our lanes and, although they were playing a match, they kept wandering off, keeping us all waiting. So annoying. It didn't help matters that there was a birthday party on lanes one and two. Ten horrid kids that ran riot for two hours. I was so glad to get out of there.

We had a wander around Torviscas before we came home. I've been looking for a case for my new camera and managed to find one which I liked. A bit pricey but it has solid sides, just in case I was fool enough to drop it, and it's blue and silver. Nice!!

I know I'm sad but I heard this joke today which really amused me..........'Did Noah do any fishing whilst he was on the Ark?'. No, he only had two worms. Sorry!

Chocolate

I'm not a great lover of chocolate and I've never had a sweet tooth but I had a hankering for an Aero Bar last night. Unfortunately, they don't seem to sell them here but I did spot a huge Dairy Milk 'Bubbly' Bar which looked like it might be similar. I really wish I hadn't gone there as it is the best chocolate I've ever eaten!

I did promise the vet that I wouldn't feed Topsie chocolate ever again but as I told him, high cholesterol or no, you only live once!

No Turkey!

It was 'Charlotte Day' today and as she had a birthday last week, I decided to treat her to a trip to the bowling alley.

We caught the bus, which was well late, and I was bombarded with the usual question, 'are we nearly there now!'. She was good though and appeared to enjoy the whole thing. Her main problem was that she could only have a green ball. The pink one was far too heavy.

She does well out of the 'Aunties' here. Her Nan lives in England and can't spend as much time with her as she would like, so those of us who are missing our grandkids enjoy spoiling her.

I don't envy Auntie Sue tomorrow as her birthday treat is taking Charlotte to have her ears pierced!!
She doesn't do pain!

Krishna's

Liz and Lyndsay are flying back to Scotland on Friday so we decided to spend Wednesday evening in Los Gigantes.

Our first port of call was the Bamboo Bar as it was 'happy hour'. Dorada Especial at one euro twenty is pretty cheap for an English bar.

We wandered up the road to the Indian Restaurant, Krishna's, for dinner. It was absolutely superb.

I'm really going to miss Liz and Lyndsay though. I wish they would move back here!

Ready Steady Blow...........

Charlotte's birthday rolled around again last Friday and we were invited to her party on Saturday. Her Nana sent her a lovely Princess dress and she was as proud as Punch wearing it!
Watch out Kate Moss!!

It was quite a busy weekend as we had bowling followed by a couple of hours with Liz and Lyndsay. Melvyn had been poorly sick and bad and needed retrieving from the mending man. Nothing too serious thank goodness. Brian finished one job just to start another! I did end up rushing at one point.........I don't do rush!

I'm looking after Sue's canaries for a couple of weeks whilst they are in England caring for Don's mum. Not a problem as I pop into the apartment, every two days or so, to feed and water them. All well and good until today when I couldn't find the keys! Massive panic. I'm always so careful. The stress levels were rising and it wasn't helping that Brian was running around shouting 'they'll die'!! After ten minutes of chaos.........there they were in my other bag!! Sheesh!

Monday bowling was well good. Ros and I had another win. We were playing two blokes who are near to the top of the league. We lost the first and then I got my dander up and we slaughtered them on the last two games. Out of five matches, we've won three, lost one and the jury is still out on the other. Good for us!

Dismal

My plan for Friday was to catch the bus to Puerto Santiago and walk my way backalong to Playa Arena taking pics as I went. I didn't bargain for such a miserable day. I did bear with it for a couple of hours but as you can see the light was impossible to work with. Home again.

Actually, I'm on a learning curve as I've discovered that, once my photos are loaded onto Picasa, it goes straight to my blog. Cool!!

St Valentine

I'm doing the cooking this week as 'im indoors is working. I got off to a good start yesterday as my Shepherds' Pie earned ten points!! Quite a record for me.

I played at Ready Steady Cook today and went off to the supermarket with a budget of five euros. I bought two huge pork chops and a packet of mushrooms.........total... five euros four centimos. I also received a gift of a large cake for St Valentine so that was pudding taken care of!

My chops were covered with red and green peppers and some sliced onion, seasoned, wrapped in foil, and ready to cook in the oven whilst I went over to five o'clock club. (I was allowed to use the store cupboard and the fridge).

I was feeling pretty clever by this time and planned to do potato slices and grilled mushrooms....perfect!

There was just one thing wrong. I arrived home to discover that the oven was on but my chops were still on the worktop! I haven't laughed so much in ages!

Mr Grumps saw the funny side too and awarded me nine points. Maybe I'll have a rest tomorrow.

La Gomera

I managed to capture this wonderful sunset over the island of La Gomera earlier.

It took your breath away.

Home Alone

I pulled a muscle in my side earlier in the week and so I decided that lifting a ten pound bowling ball might be a bad idea. Doreen's daughter, Julie, stood in for me which left me with an afternoon to myself.

It was really nice. I spent a little while on the PS2, followed by some computer time and then the glorious weather drew me outside where I sat on the balcony for a couple of hours. It is well hot for February and I made the most of it!

Sue passed over some of those daft magazines the other day and I alternated between reading those and doing my embroidery. A bit of people watching in between!

Feeling the need for a bit of a change around four, I wandered down to Bar Rincon de Cristina and sat reading my book until Brian came back. He really wished he hadn't bothered as the Rack 'ems lost 8 - 0!

I've just checked Tully's blog and was glad to see she had a nice birthday. I would have loved a bit of that cake!

Two Junes

We caught the bus into Playa Paraiso this afternoon to meet up with John and June. It must be at least ten years since we all got together and we really enjoyed it.

Strangely enough, Liz contacted me this morning to say that they were in the area and so we ended up with a group of six! A very pleasant afternoon.

I really wanted more photos but we spent so much time gossiping that I didn't get the chance. Not to worry as we have a couple of weeks yet.

Old Friends

We are off to meet up with our old mates tomorrow, John and June, who are here for a month's holiday. We were near neighbours whilst we lived in Cornwall and it will be so good to see them again. I did have a chance meeting with them last Easter at Par Market but we didn't get the time to catch up on families etc. We are meeting up at the bar in Playa Pariaso, Shona and William's favourite place. I'm looking forward to it. Look out for a full report later!

Liz and Lyndsay flew in today too. They are spending their first week up in the north of the island. Pretty chilly there I expect but their second week will more than make up for it as it's well warm down here!

What a Week!!

I woke on Sunday to find that I had major computer problems. It would stay running for ten minutes or so before crashing and as I've had hard drive trouble lately, I was sure it was fatal.

The plan was to take it to the computer shop on Tuesday but Topsie ended up needing the vet. He was so sick on Monday night that we tried ringing the 24 hour emergency number. No answer was the stern reply!! We rang continuously until two in the morning before deciding to hope for the best. I stayed up with him all night and at four o'clock I was sure I was about to lose him.

By around nine, he was still groggy and was sick again so Brian took him to the vet. I sat here for over an hour dreading him coming home without my little man. What would I do without him?! After all that, he trotted in tail wagging and the vet couldn't find a thing wrong with him!!She gave him a couple of injections, just in case and took blood samples. We had the results from those today which were 'nearly perfect'. She now plans to do heart x rays. Oh well, as long as he's ok I don't care what she does.

My computer went to the mending man this morning and he diagnosed a broken fan. Nice one! Three hours and thirty euros later..............perfect!

We've also been busy doing three estimates for carpentry jobs. Two have been accepted and we are waiting for the result of the third. Just like buses, all quiet for ages and then they all turn up at once!

Bird Strike!

A flippin' dove flew into the apartment this morning and scared me half to death. It almost knocked my head off and then managed to land on top of the kitchen cupboard. My coffee went everywhere!

Brian found the step ladders and a towel and was in the process of rescuing it when it took flight and zoomed back out again. It didn't even stop for a photo! It did leave a white feather on my desk though.........could that be lucky?

We had one of those sort of days. The kitchen tap broke apart on Thursday and as Friday was a Bank Holiday we weren' t able to buy a replacement until today. Lots of mucky pots built up in the meantime as I drew the line at fetching hot water from the bathroom.

My job was to fetch the spanners whilst Brian did the technical bit and now I have an nice shiny tap and a sparkling cupboard under the sink!

Christmas Came!

I had a pretty poor Xmas as far as post from England was concerned. I didn't get a single card, which upset me quite a bit. The worst thing was the letters that are normally included. It appears that the Post Office have included a magic number into my address........thanks for telling me!

Mark and Katie sent me a parcel via an express delivery service but, unfortunately, I was out and it ended up back in Manchester! Thankfully, Katie sent it back and it arrived on Thursday.

There I was slobbing on the sofa, still in my nightie and playing Playstation, when the intercom buzzed. The delivery man explained that he had a parcel for me and I had to go downstairs to receive it. I've never moved so quickly. I threw some clothes on and rushed out, still with my giant fluffy slippers and unbrushed scary hair.

Such a wonderful present. A Sony digital camera!! I can't thank them enough, especially as my ancient brick (as Mark calls it) gave up the ghost on New Year's Day.

This is the first photo I took after I'd patiently waited for the battery to charge. It's from my balcony but isn't too good as I was still shaking with excitement! Expect lots more!

Thanks again, Mark, Katie and Tully xxx

Well I Never!!

For the first time in history, well, at least in our house, a couple of light bulbs have been changed on the same day they blew!! The one in the kitchen went belly up, closely followed by the bathroom bulb. I'd settled myself to showering in the dark for the next few weeks but 'im indoors found the ladder and sorted it! He must have been in the mood as he moved on to the kitchen.

To be really honest, I don't know why we have such trouble. Wherever we live, light bulbs go within weeks, kettles and irons constantly need replacing.......we're electric!

We went down to the park earlier for five o'clock club. It was very well attended today. Dave, Caron, Charlotte, Maz, Bernard, Joan, Kevin and us. The usual stupid conversations and sad jokes. Oh, well, that's excitement for you!

There has been such a rush of birthdays lately. Sam was first, followed by my brother, Ray, Maisie is four today, Katie next and Tully a few days later.

Happy Birthday all xx

Rain is Better

We have done really well this winter as far as weather is concerned. Apart from a few windy days earlier in the month, it has been nice and hot during the day. It is a little chilly during the evening though!

It appears that January has replaced November as the 'wet month', it's tipping down but much nicer than that scary wind! The weather report states that it has set in for the next few days. I'm a home bird tomorrow. I don't mind watching it but I'm not going out unless I have to.

Not a bad result for us girls at the bowling today. We played a make-up game against Brian and Jeff, postponed from Sunday. I've been aiming at the centre arrow on the lane for months now and, although I found I had fairly good scores, I've gone off the boil lately. Our first two games weren't too good and so I decided to change my style. I moved over to the left and curled my ball slightly, towards the head pin. It worked wonders! Doreen had a good game too and we completely thrashed them. Too late for a win but at least we had two points.

I'm looking forward to Sunday so that I can check out the new tactics. Hopefully it isn't a fluke!

Catching Up and Such

Firstly, the state of play in Budgie World. There is still such a lot of activity as far as the nesting box is concerned as Juanita spends most of her day in there. I can´t work out what she is doing but José isn´t included. Happen it could be time to practise my Spanish at the pet shop!

Secondly, believe this if you will. Gosh, I´m sounding a little like ´im indoors!! I had a word with Carol at the bowling today concerning matie who alleged he could hypnotise chickens. It appears that the chicken wouldn´t play, his frog was off sick and the lizard had done a runner. I must confess that she almost fooled me but then again, folk will do anything to get a job in Tenerife!

Apologies to Shona, I did get a text to say she wished she could have been with us yesterday. The weather is awful in Scotland at the moment.

Not a lot to say about Monday bowling as we were thrashed.

Finally, I changed my blog to the new one and I don´t like it!

Should I Have Gone Bowling?

It was my choice to postpone bowling until Friday as I had a fancy for a Sunday off. I planned to have a nice stroll around the village but ´im indoors had other ideas.

He did lull me into a false sense of security by proposing a trip to Playa Paraiso, where we looked around a couple of shops and stopped for a cool drink. Ok, it was a beer!! In fact, it was the bar where we used to meet Shona and William whilst they were here last year and I was cheeky enough to send her a ´thinking of you´ text. Needless to say, she never replied!!

As Brian fancied a couple more beers we took Melvyn home and ended up at the Fisherman´s Bar. Strangely enough, we were just in time to watch the Arsenal v Man United match. How things pan out!

It was good fun though and I really enjoyed the match and the banter. Out of around twenty of us there was one bloke supporting Arsenal. He got some stick and gave some back but we did applause when the last goal went in.

Nice, good natured fun, good to see and he bought a round!

A Quiet Day

Really lazy. We played Playstation mostly and argued through it. They do say that the older you get the more childlike you become. Happen we have reached that point!

I made the decision to switch the flippin´ thing off at about six and we had a wander around the village for an hour or two before tea. We got as far as the Church Square and noticed that the English bar had the Blackburn match on and stopped to watch the last twenty minutes or so. Well done to them, a three nil victory over Manchester City. My brother will be well pleased.

Our Sunday bowling has been postponed until Friday and I´m really looking forward to yet another lazy day. I get worse!!

Vernon and Vicky

Surprise, surprise!! A lovely one too!!

When I first moved to Cornwall I met up with Vernon´s Mum, Shirley, and she became one of my greatest friends. Unfortunately, I haven´t seen her for some years (she lives in Cyprus) but I do meet up with her four boys from time to time.

Robert, the eldest, always makes me chuckle. Vernon is next in line, followed by Jeff. Young Greg is the baby or was as he´s clocking on to forty now!

Anyway, back to my tale. Vernon turned up today along with his girlfriend, Vicky. The four of us spent a couple of hours going down memory lane together. It was really lovely. I had a little bit of Cornish village scandal to tell him too! I expect he´ll make great use of that!

Thankfully, I had told Brian about the mad weekend Sam and I had last Easter so he couldn´t dob me in!

José and Juanita

I haven´t mentioned my babies for a while, mainly because they have been pretty boring of late.

Their nesting box has been attached to the side of the cage for at least twelve months and neither of them have been in it..........until TODAY!!

Juanita, the blue one, decided to investigate and keeps scratching around in there. Poor José gets pecked if he tries to enter. They will be a couple of years old come the summer and maybe it´s time to start breeding. We shall see!

How Can He Do That?

I was about to throw my bowling ball on Sunday when I half heard Carol telling Doreen about a man and some chickens. Thankfully, I managed to concentrate and got a strike. Happen she should talk chicken more often!!

To be serious. Carol runs a bar with entertainment and was presented with a business card earlier in the week. This chap has an act where he hypnotises chickens and has asked for a spot in her show. The mind runs riot. How does he do it and what do they do when he does? Five o´clock club lost the plot a little tonight as our imaginations overtook us. Carol did promise that she would check it out. I can´t wait to hear!

Another thing that is amusing me at the moment is an article in one of those crappy magazines I have become addicted to since I took early retirement. A bloke who never found his ideal woman decided to buy a plastic girlfriend. She cost him over five thousand pounds and looks a little like an overgrown Barbie. He now has three of them and they were pictured sharing Christmas dinner! Each with a glass of wine!

His comments were ´they see to my physical needs and take turns in my bed´. He spends most of his spare cash on their clothes and wonders why his friends don´t understand him.

Each to his own.

Saturday Kitchen

Brian´s favourite programme at the moment is Saturday Kitchen. As his father would have said ´there´s bits aboot it´, but I get really disappointed with the amount of cheese that they all throw on.

Then eggs turn up! Some chappie made a nice soup this week and then he chucked a poached egg on top. I know it´s a done thing in Madeira but really it´s quite yucky.

I don´t cook, hate cheese and I´m off eggs and I do wish that these million dollar chefs could come up with something different now and again.

On a high note, Doreen and I won at bowling..............yippee!!!

´Meet You Under the Clock´!!

I found this wonderful photo during my internet wanderings and although Accy buses were wonderful in their own right, I was more interested in the clock that you see in the background. That thing with black legs top left!

I don´t think it is still there now, but during the sixties it was the place to meet for teenagers hoping for a new romance. There you were, skirts showing your knickers, trying to feel confident and praying that matie would turn up!

After all, you only met him last night for a quick snog at Burnley Mecca! Could you even remember what he looked like!!

I was only ´stood up´ once and I ended up marrying him. It would be nice to know how many folk got hitched because of that clock.

Big Sneezes!

Barry gave me a lift to bowling yesterday and confessed to having the worst cold ever. As he had the aircon on, I´m sure the germs have spread. I can´t stop sneezing and my throat is so sore. Hopefully, it´s just the dust from the building site next door, I´m ever hopeful xx

We did catch up with Deal or No Deal tonight and watched the first winner of the quarter of a million. I know I´m sad but it did bring tears to my eyes. It was so nice to see a youngster win it.

That bad Tracy in Corrie has a lot to answer for. Poor Charlie is doomed!

Time for bed. I hope I feel better tomorrow.

Two Poorly Arms

My left arm has been poorly, sick and bad for a couple of months. A trapped nerve at shoulder level, I think, but as long as I don´t reach upwards or backwards, I can cope. Brave little soldier that I am!!

After a few weeks of no bowling, followed by playing two days together, my right arm is aching like fury tonight. I admit to having a bit of a problem today as my locker happens to be at the top and my ten pound ball was hard for me to reach one handed. Thankfully, Michael, lovely lad, was around to fetch it out for me and Kirk played the gentleman and replaced it. Yes, Kirk, wow!!!

None of us seem to have been able to get it together since the Xmas break. I´ve never seen Jeff play so badly. He had a score of 98 on the first game and things didn´t improve much. Ros and I did our best and as our opponents rang in with a sickie, we aren´t sure how we did. We shall see.

A lazy dressing gown day tomorrow. I have some transcribing to catch up with and a PS2 game to play. I´m looking forward to it.

Sunday Bowling

It was really nice to be back there today. Lots of New Year wishes from all the folk we haven´t seen for a couple of weeks. All good stuff.

Not that any of it helped as far as scores were concerned. Brian and Doreen were both pretty useless. Jeff had five strikes in a row but Brian let him down with a 117........well bad for him!! They lost 6 - 2 and so did we! I was above my average in all three games but my mate couldn´t get it together. Oh well, you win some and you............get thrashed.

I´m back there again tomorrow for Monday League. Hopefully, Ros and I might win!

Bloggers´ Block!

I´m not sure why but it´s the first time it has happened to me!

Normally, I can wander on for a page or two, but for some reason I appear to be more boring than normal.

Oh, well, happen things might be better tomorrow..........night all xxx

Happy New Year!!

Five O´Clock Club decided to celebrate the New Year by going on a pub crawl. We started of at Bar Antonio and this is us at our second port of call, San Juan Bar.

From left, Maz, Bernard (trying to hide), Caron, Brian, Dave and me.





Next stop, The Fishermen..............I´m not quite sure what Caron is doing! We moved on to Vitamen bar but the landlord waited until we all got comfy to tell us that he was closing. Not to worry as we managed a quick one at Bar Carla before he closed for the day. (No pictures).





We finished up at Chrissy´s. The only one left open I think.

Brian and Maz putting the world to rights!








Finally, a pic of our photographer, Charlotte, on those dreaded skates. Caron and I took her to the swing park to practice. To be honest, by that time, I´m not sure who was supporting who!

It was a fun day but I must admit to feeling more than a little ´cakey´ today.