How Strange

There is quite a lot of building work going on in our part of the village and this is one of three cranes which I can see from my house. It is really puzzling us, as to why the seagulls only land on this one. I know, we need to get a life!!

We do have proper television at the moment as our mate, Mick, has lent us his digibox for a little while, as it's surplus to requirements at the moment. I've never been addicted to day-time TV before but it could happen!

Bowling was a disaster......................we won't go there.

Bye Ann x

Five o'clock club had a leaving 'do' for Ann on Thursday evening as she went back to rainy Manchester on Friday afternoon.

We've enjoyed around seven weeks of her company and I'm really going to miss her. I'm sure Charlotte will feel a little lonely without her Nan too.

Charlotte lost a tooth on Thursday and the Tooth Fairy came to visit during the night. She left a Euro under Nan's pillow before realising she had the wrong bed!! Two Euros for Charlotte!

Actually, she did ask a question which proves an active mind.......'what does the Tooth Fairy do with all those teeth?'. After a one or two stupid suggestions, I came up with the concept that they are given to little babies. She seemed quite happy with that and Caron owes me one!!

Well Cool, Sophie!

Such a laid back position in which to eat one's lunch!

Many thanks to Karen and Simon for their letter and photos x.

I'm sorry that I didn't receive the emails but my internet connection has been belly up for ages too. An email to follow.

So Flippin' Hot!

We are experiencing a calima at the moment. Horrid dust which is blowing over from Africa and is creating a film over the entire island and trapping the heat in.

I took this pic about an hour before sunset and it's really obvious. In fact, the weather reports are predicting the hottest summer ever with temperatures reaching over 50 c.

I'm worrying about my camera as I'm sure that the x-ray machines at the airport have messed it up...............terrible lines across all my photos. It needs a mending man!

Television

We watched the Bernard Manning thing earlier. I never really rated him as a funny man because I'm not a great lover of stand up comedians but I must admire his guts for arranging his own funeral before he went. Fancy picking your own coffin; I think I will leave that chore to my nearest and dearest! As for picking on the Asians and Blacks..........he did the same with the English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish. Everyone to their own thing. Poor chap didn't look well!!

I've just downloaded a series called 'Lipstick on Your Collar'. We watched it around ten years ago whilst we lived in Cornwall and really enjoyed it. It's a seven episode thingy which I'm looking forward to seeing tomorrow. Lots of fifties music to enjoy.

Apart from that, it's the normal stuff like Corrie and Eastenders, but I do enjoy Saturday Kitchen. Well strange as I can't cook to save my life. I'm well up on the theory though!!

This and That

Nothing very mind boggling, I'm afraid, as it's been fairly quiet around our neck of the woods this week. That isn't always a bad thing!

We had a 'Tenerife Day' yesterday. A nice walk around the village, stopping where you fancy for refreshment and a natter. My friend Maz has had a cancer scare recently and, thankfully, got the all clear a few days ago. We had a beer to celebrate!

Today was our usual Sunday trip to Fanabe for bowling. Doreen and I had to play Jeff and Brian grrrr!! We won the first quite easily but Brian came up with the 'bad back syndrome' on the second and really put me off. He did mutter something about his foot sticking during practice so happen he did have a problem. No need to spoil my game though! Anyway, we managed a draw which is quite a good result for us. I had two high game scores too!

Talking about trips...........we have a new bus service. The Titsa Bus Company finally realised that a more direct route between Los Gigantes and Los Christianos was necessary and the 477 was born. It runs every hour weekdays and takes less than half an hour as opposed to the hour and a half we suffered before. The magic bus!

Finally, the photo competition has resurfaced. The subject.........whatever blows your frock up! Suggestions will be gratefully received.

Better Late Than Never!

Having had a couple of weeks without my internet connection I've been sadly lacking in blog updates of late.

(Apart from a couple of sad ones.)

Shona came to stay for a week towards the end of last month. We had a pleasant time doing the usual stuff and I missed her to bits when she left. She brought this photo of her and her new grandchild, taken the day after she was born. Such a sweetie!

Caron had an appointment in Los Christianos yesterday which we used as an excuse for a day out. She dropped her mum, myself and Charlotte off in Las Americas to give us a change of scenery. Nana and I introduced Charlotte to the delights of window shopping. I'm none to sure that she agreed with the concept!! Not to worry, we all got together, later, for lunch. A nice day!

The Hard Part

You would not believe how much stuff my little man has collected over the past ten years. I made a massive effort to take his food bowls out to the bin today, along with the food he hadn't eaten.

I've just put his bean bag and his toys, along with his lead, in a black bag, ready to take out tomorrow. His collar is tucked away in my 'precious drawer', to be kept forever. His ball is behind my computer desk and I can't bear to move it just yet.

My house feels like the heart has been taken away. Poor, poor, Topsie xx

Sunday Bowling

I didn't really feel up to it today, as I spent most of yesterday sobbing my heart out, but Brian thought we should go to take our minds off poor Top. I must admit that he was right!

Brian and Jeff won 6 - 2 whilst Doreen and I lost yet again! We did have some good scores though. Forty weeks to go until the end of the season so we are going to have to pull our socks up.

I must mention last week's efforts at this point. Doreen played a blinder on the last game having a turkey and then a double. I noticed that she had a score of 104 on the fifth end and, should she keep a steady head, she could win that 200 shirt we both covet so much. Knowing that she never checks the score whilst playing, I kept quiet, but did let Jeff know so that he could witness it.

It was so painful but well on course until the tenth. She went and got a SPLIT after throwing a very good ball. She ended up with 197. Such a disappointment for us all.

Our Little Man

He has been with us for over ten years and has shared our lives. He travelled through France and Spain with us six years ago, happily sitting between us, for almost six thousand miles.

Sadly, tonight, we held him whilst the vet put him to sleep.

We loved him so much and can't bear life without him. There is such a gaping void in our lives.

Topsie, we love you so much xxx

Topsie.......you were a nasty little ankle biting bastard.........I loved you.........from Daddy xxxx

A Long Ten Days

I decided to change my service provider from Telefonica to Direct Telecom, in the hope that the connection would improve. It looked very much like that I'd wasted my time as I've had no internet for ten long days. However, this morning (day eleven), I spoke to the engineer who talked me through the set up. It's a miracle!!

Fingers crossed that it isn't just a blip and Tenerife Tales can continue, as normal, later today.

My Week

Ann and I caught the bus into Puerto Santiago on Tuesday for a lady's day out. We poked about a few shops for an hour or so and then walked down into Los Gigantes. I bought a new pair of shorts whilst Ann invested in some Tuc crackers. She must be missing Tesco!

I do enjoy her company as we always end up laughing. Caron, who joined us later, provided the amusement this week..........I won't go into it but it was well funny!!

It was house sorting day on Thursday as Shona arrives shortly. The usual problem of clearing out the spare room. More boxes of books to move down to the lock up. All sorted and Brian even got around to mending the shutter cord. Nine months of my nagging didn't seem to compare to a black look from his sister!

There is a new freezer shop in the village............smoked mackerel for tea! Unfortunately, they don't have onion rings..........I could kill for them.

My thanks to my friend, John, for his very compassionate email.

Other Matters

I'm taking advantage of a prolonged connection and blogging twice!

It struck me that, although I've been bowling for around five years, that I've never looked at what happens behind the scenes. Shippy, the mechanic, treated us to a visit on Sunday. Thankfully, there were only two lanes occupied as the noise was unbearable. It reminded me of when my Nana took me into the weaving shed when I was a child. Fascinating though. I always thought that the pins came down from the top but they slide in from the back and then tilt forwards. Clever stuff!

Corpus Christi

I've never had the opportunity to watch this before but really enjoyed the experience on Sunday. It kicks off around ten o'clock on Saturday evening when the local folk make pictures (using different coloured sand) in the middle of the roads. Some use flowers and place altars within them. The procession starts off in the church at around seven o'clock on the Sunday evening and I made sure I had a good seat.

They had a band and around ten of the young children who had just been confirmed, walked behind them. Really beautiful dresses. The Priest followed, carrying a gold statue thing, he knelt down and prayed whilst rose petals were thrown over him. I did feel quite emotional until little Lottie turned up. She sort of blew the moment by asking, in her forthright, four year old voice 'Who is getting the trophy?'. Kids!!

Sticky Buns

Ann, Caron's Mum, and I caught the bus to Alcala this morning. Our main mission was to buy some gloss paint as Ann has decided to do a little painting during her holiday. We had a peek into a few shops along the way. I'm still pricing freezers and flat screen monitors but, strangely enough, everything seems to be 250 euros!

With the business out of the way, we headed down to the cake shop. A couple of coffees, a bit of tapas..........more coffees and sticky cream cakes, what a way to live!! We paid the bill, ten euros for all that, and then sat by the sea for a little while talking about this and that, until it was time for the bus home. Well, we thought it was, but it took almost an hour for one to turn up. We could have walked it in a quarter of the time!

Being a little desperate for some refreshment we stopped off for a cool drink. I ordered a beer and Ann fancied a white wine and soda. She was more desperate than me as it turned out and wanted another before I was half way through mine. Panic struck as I thought I wouldn't get another.......'I will speed up'.............well funny and such a good day! Thanks Ann x

A Step Up

I've been quietly creeping forward with my bowling during the last few weeks but, even though I say it myself, I was pretty brilliant on Sunday and Monday. Good, almost consistant scores on Sunday........162, 138 and 163! Monday.........152, 163 and 153.

Ros and I played two German blokes on Monday and although we lost, we put up a terrific fight. At one point I had a 4, 7, 10 split. I've never seen it done before and neither had Ros but I went and did it!! As they say 'the crowd went wild'! Ueli, one of our opponents gave me three kisses and a bar of chocolate and I'm about to get a write-up in the local paper. Clever me, or as Ueli said 'Vunderbar' or something similar! Dare I even think of that 200 shirt?

A Strange Old World

It was 'Charlotte Day' today and as her Nana is here for a little while, all three of us went out for the afternoon.

We were wandering along the coast road in our village when I spotted someone I thought I recognised. You know what it's like. Is it him, or is it not? On drawing level........I was staring, I noticed that he was grinning at me! Our Vernon!

He is on the island for a few days and was just telling his daughter that he had a friend who lived nearby when I turned up! We had a few minutes to chat and it was really good to see him.

I found this old photo later, goodness knows when it was taken but I reckon it was at least fifteen years ago. Vernon, on the left, an old mate Jim, leaning on the bar and Vernon's three brothers, Greg, Jeff and Robert. Those were the days.

Back to Charlotte. We had a lovely walk and then stopped for refreshments. Charlotte had the biggest ice cream I've ever seen!

A Gift For Brian

As cigarettes are so cheap here it's very rare to see anyone rolling their own. In fact, I only know of two people that do......Brian and Terry. Subsequently, the Canarians regard the practice with interest and presume that there is something 'naughty' in the tin!

We were in Antonio's Bar this evening and Louis, the manager, asked me about it. I assured him that it was only tobacco and off he went. Five minutes later he returned with this dried up stuff.

I admit that I've never seen tobacco in it's natural state before and can't wait to see what Brian manages to do with it! A nice thought though and thanks Louis x

Bowling Bingo

I've never been so close! Strikes on 1, 2 and eight, just nine and the last one on ten and I would be 500 euros better off. It looked really good but one miserable pin, wobbled, and then decided to stay where it was! Happen if I hadn't been planning on how to spend the dosh I might have concentrated more!

Doreen and I played well but were outclassed by Jackie and Michael. Well done to them on an eight - nil win.

I normally wait outside the bowling alley until Brian fetches the car out of the underground garage but, for some strange reason, I decided to walk down there with him. Never again. It's like a trip down to hell. You can't see a thing for the first five minutes having gone from bright sunlight to a black hole and it's so flamin' hot. We had to queue for ten minutes as some numpty couldn't work the machine. Stress!!

Pick Up Your Bed!

On the whole, it has been a nice sort of week. Ros and I won at Monday bowling........more her good scores than mine, I must admit, but we are a team at the end of the day, so I can take a little of the credit!!

We had a Bank Holiday on Wednesday for Canaries Day. Five o'clock club started around two!

The children had to wear traditional clothes the day before, for their school celebrations. I took this photo of Charlotte wearing hers.....doesn't she look lovely?

Caron's mum, Ann, is coming over to stay next week and an extra bed was needed for their house. David and Brian elected to carry our foldie up one over this afternoon and knowing that a beer would be involved, I decided to give them chance to off load it and then meet up with them. Off load!! No chance. There they were outside Bar Esmerelda, supping beer, with the bed and mattress propped up against the wall!!

Sunday: Bowling

I tried so hard but Doreen and I lost, 6 - 2 against Jeff and Brian.

Saturday: Nasi Goreng

We were invited next door for dinner on Saturday evening as Mimi was cooking Nasi Goreng.

Brian used to live on it whilst he was in Singapore, back in the sixties, and so it was a trip down memory lane for him. I must admit that it was well tasty and I had seconds!

I promised to take a bottle of red wine and there I was in the supermarket trying to pretend that I knew something about it. Saturday Kitchen came to mind. I finally decided on 'Sangre de Toro'. Mark and Katie seemed to like it when I took it back to England a little while ago. Thankfully, it went down well!

Friday: Little Lottie's Birthday

My mission of the day was to collect Charlotte from nursery and get her rigged out in her posh frock, ready to attend Lottie's party in the park.

It was a lovely evening. Her parents, Gavin and Hayley, are well known in the area and lots of folk turned up. Us adults had a few beers whilst the little ones pigged out on pizza. Maz, Brian and I escaped at around half past eight and had 'one for the road' at bar Rincon. You can only take so much of a good thing!!

Tall Tale?

We really wouldn't believe Brian's tale about this bloke driving down a Spanish motorway in his motorized bed until he found the proof! I flippin' hate it when he's right!!

Other things to catch up on:-

Doreen and I slaughtered Steve and Tomo on Sunday with an eight - nil win. Well done us.

Shona arrives on the 22nd of June to stay for a week.

Charlotte lost the first of her milk teeth today and is so proud of it. She says that she can't stop smiling and can't wait until the tooth fairy turns up.

Congratulations to Sue, the manager at the bowling alley, and her partner, Shaun, on the birth of their son, Keifer Brian. He's lovely, well done both xx

Laurel and Hardy!

It really was like a comedy duo when these two blokes turned up earlier, to sort out my everlasting problem with the internet connection.

They insisted on taking the computer to their workshop for the day just to make sure all was in working order. Such a waste of time because it has been checked so many times this past year that I'm sure it's dizzy. No-one will listen to a mere woman though!

Anyway, it came back home around four o'clock, complete with it's escorts and lots of wires etc. Nothing wrong with it.........I held my tongue and didn't say 'I told you so', even though I thought it.

They decided to tackle the router to see if that was the cause. Lots of head scratching, wires here and there. The pair argued like fury too which would have been well funny had I not been so anxious. To be honest, things started to look quite good at around half past five and I felt quite hopeful. However, five minutes later it went belly up. Time for me to disappear down to the bar as my comments didn't seem to be helping!

It took them four hours to get it sorted and I'm left with wires all over the floor and my furniture scattered around the room but I do seem to be online, however long it lasts. Hopefully, they will be back tomorrow to sort out the mess and I'll reserve my comments until later.

A Respectful Silence

ANDREW PETER EVANS

1949 - 1982

A Belated Blog!

I won't moan about my internet connection, suffice to say that it's the worst in the world!

We had a fun day on Saturday watching the F A Cup final. Terry, centre, even had his hair dyed for the occasion. It's such a shame they lost and even worse that Chelsea won!!

So Many Children!

I had a bit of an arty, crafty time tonight and ended up with this lovely display of pics.

I've been so unhappy with my higgledy piggledy frames that I went off to the Todo shop tonight and bought these black things. They seemed to match the photograph that Sam gave me of Jamie, Martin and Maisie and so I went for it.

From left, Dean with Bradley, bottom corner, Sophie, Maisie, Martin and Jamie, Tully and Charlotte.

Lovely!

Ummm?

I feel so much for the parents of the little girl who has gone missing in Portugal and can only imagine their anguish. None of us know the full facts but I do feel that her parents' station in life should have dictated greater care for all three children. I was rather surprised that they left the twins at the creche today............I'm sure that I would be hanging onto them like grim death.

At the other end of the scale, young Yeremi went missing several weeks ago. He is seven years old and was playing with his cousins, with his grandfather nearby.

The Spanish Police and the Army have searched for him without success.

He is the third child to have gone missing in the Canary Islands during the last few months. None have been found.

My heart goes out to them all.

As One Door Closes

We start all over again! Yes, it was the first match of the new Sunday bowling season today and it doesn't seem two minutes since the end of the last one. Same old faces too. It's far too early to talk about scores and to be honest, I don't really feel like going there!

I've been suffering with a bad back all weekend. The only cause I can think of is that I did help Maz to clean an apartment on Friday morning and as I've done nothing strenuous for ages, I may have pulled a muscle or something. Thankfully, it doesn't really affect movement, it just aches like hell.

Being too lazy to cook this evening, we stopped at Mark's Carvery in Calleo Savaje on our way home from bowling. Nothing like a roast dinner when it's around 29 degrees outside!

Bowling 'Do'

We went off to Las Americas on Tuesday night for the bowling presentation.

It was quite a good evening with a three course meal and a cabaret thrown in but we were absolutely dumbstruck by the price of beer. Would you believe nine euros for two bottles of Heineken? Needless to say, we didn't have many of them!

Jeff is determined to get the winner's trophy next year. We shall see.

Missed Bits

Having had an erratic connection for a few days I missed some stuff which I would have normally blogged.

Firstly, last Tuesday was Sophie's third birthday. We trust that you had a lovely day, Sophie, and our card arrived safely, xxx. Hopefully, Dad will forward some of your birthday pics.

Secondly, my birthday was on Wednesday. Not a lot to report as it was fairly quiet. We had a pleasant afternoon with friends and watched the footie later. Just a normal sort of day really.

Finally, we are off to the Wigan Pier in Las Americas tomorrow night for our bowling 'do'. Brian and Jeff are picking up trophies yet again. It was so close this year as they were two points away from top of the league. More stuff to dust and nothing for me!

Am I Bobbered?

Sam sent me this photo of our Maisie taken just before she went off to her first day at school.

We did a bit of bonding whilst I was in England at Easter. Well, I thought we had until I happened to close the door with her fingers still in it!

She's still a little unsure of me but that's understandable as she doesn't see me very often.

Have fun, Maisie xx

The Internet is a Wonderful Thing............

When it flippin' works!

I know this is one of my regular moans but I have to get it off my chest somehow. We took the computer and the new printer to yet another mending man yesterday. My new printer wouldn't work but that was easily sorted as it was a duff cable. I did suggest that early on but 'im indoors wouldn't believe me! Brownie points earned on that one.

It appears that, three mending men ago, my genuine copy of Windows XP was replaced by an illegal one. According to the latest chap, that has caused all of my problems and so he got it back together again with updates. I was on such a high today. My internet was on all afternoon...........COOL!!

THEN, at teatime, the flaming thing went belly up again. Back to the man who swears that the computer is fine and Telefonica who swear that the line is fine. What can I do?

The Birthday Fairy Turned Up Early!

I got my printer/scanner/copier at long last and it's something else! Not having anywhere to hide it Brian gave it to me tonight. I was so excited!

The software is installed but I'm waiting until tomorrow to work it out properly. He has promised to adjust my desk to accommodate it and sort out the wiring. It's like a snake's wedding behind there!

I keep giving it a cuddle.............wooooshhh. I'm so happy!!!

A Little Girl!

Our Shona rang on Sunday morning to tell us that she is now a Grannie. The new arrival weighed in at eight pounds twelve ounces! Her name is Kaila (I'm not at all sure how to spell that).

I reckon that this makes 'im indoors a Great Uncle.............well, I suppose he had to be great at something!! Sorry mate.

Our best wishes to Shona and the proud parents and I'm looking forward to seeing the photos in June.

Poor Puppy

My first objective when I start my blog is to pick a title and the content flows from there. However, I'm ending before I set off tonight! Poor unhappy puppy.

We had a wander around the village this afternoon and met up with loads of our mates. Caron, David, young Charlotte, Maz, Bernard, Vi and Margaret as well as Pam and John. All good fun with lots of laughs which ended with a visit to the park as it was young Elena's birthday. (No pics, but happen Caron will forward a couple at a later date).

Talking of birthdays and as an aside, I reckon Maz is coming up with a cunning plan for my celebration on Wednesday. I keep hearing mutterings about a trip to Adeje, on the bus, with lots of beer stops. Don't expect a blog on May the second!! Hopefully, 'im indoors will come up with my printer/scanner/copier which I've been waiting two years for! Back to the plot!

I would never knock the Spanish as they have welcomed me to their country and are a happy go lucky type of folk...........but, I really don't like the way they treat their dogs. I've been watching this bloke all week as he has acquired a Yorkshire Terrier puppy which he tends to drag behind him everywhere he goes. She is around six weeks old and is such a sweetie. He is normally so drunk that he doesn't know where he is, never mind the pup. I did offer to buy her but he wouldn't have it.

Being my father's daughter I'll worry about it for weeks.

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