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!!