WOW!

Saturday:

Went to have my hair done this morning - Georgette has a new chair at the back-wash - it reclines and massages as well! Georgette herself washed my hair, giving it a fab massage as she did so; meanwhile the chair (reclined) was massaging me from bottom up to shoulders and down to my feet. I needed waking up at the end! Hope she gets one for the second back-wash! She cut my hair a little shorter at the back to keep it out of my (sweaty!) neck but kept the length at the sides, nice and easy to deal with during my trip. She's just been to Majorca to do the hair for models on a catalogue shoot (a Spanish clothes shop catalogue - don't know which one though). Feel really good and have decided NOT to do housework today to avoid excess sweating and flattening my hair! (Vain cow!). Actually I prefer to do chores early in the morning or in the evening when it's cooler and I can shower afterwards because no matter how slowly I work I still end up a sweating sticky mess.



Still on a personal note, I started following the Slimming World diet again a week last Monday. It took me a day or two to get the food left from Sara's visit out of the way but by the Wednesday I was on the diet properly. When I 'weighed in' last Monday I was thrilled to find I'd lost 6 lbs. Sara was lucky enough to win the basic SW starter pack on ebay and brought it out with her. The diet has changed quite substantially since I did SW for the first time in 1999 but I still find it a good one to follow. Sticking to it has been a problem in recent years partly because of Derek's health problems and giving him the things he liked in order to sustain his appetite. Now I'm on my own I hope it will be easier to cater for my own tastes - no biscuits, sweets, crisps or lots of cheese. I tend to have more original days than green as excessive carbohydrate tends to make me bloated. Having followed two weeks' menus I'm now concentrating on the original food lists for the next four days to maximise my chances of getting 3 or 4 lbs more off before I go 'home'.

Sunday:

I'm struggling with my luggage! Half my case is filled with 'non-clothes' items and if I take the clothes and shoes as well as the necessary toiletries etc. I'm going to be over my allowance. The only solution will be to take the bare minimum and shop for more when I get there - after all I'd otherwise be bringing a half empty case back. Now there's a thought - Sara's been waxing lyrical about the new Primark store, so maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea after all!

I see the weather is set for rain in the UK - of course tomorrow is the start of Wimbledon fortnight so what can you expect! Why didn't I check the dates before booking my flights? Tsk tsk......

Next blog from the UK I think, so see you later in the week. Hasta luego!

Chickened out

I didn't go to the Moors and Christians after all. Don't ask me why I didn't feel like it, I just didn't. Wondered if it had something to do with it being Father's Day - maybe.......

Meanwhile, I'm finally getting my kitchen ceiling finished (making good where the old cooker hood was removed), the fridge door is fixed and I've got the bulb replaced in the overhead above the persiana doors. Couldn't figure out how to get it out - now I know and will get spare bulbs when I get back.

Most of the week in the afternoons I've been scrapbooking, first putting pics in the Rusty Pickle book, that will be a whole summer project. Then I did these two:

Chloe and her morning's fishing in the rock pools:




This next one's just for fun!



The last one I'll do before going back to England will be of their time at the fair, using the photos I put in my last blog.

Went shopping this morning, spotted a 'drawer organiser' in Ale-Hop - measures about 12" square, with 16 little sections. It's pink fabric and came flat! It just velcros together at the corners and the sections are all in one piece and velcro to the sides. Liked it on sight, decided to buy it without knowing what I'd use it for but put it to use in my scrap area holding my tools etc. Stupidly I haven't taken a picture of it!

Think that's it for now - been a fairly uneventful week so far - will try and blog again before I leave for the UK! See you later!

Sara and the girls .....

...duly arrived on Sunday 3rd - was shocked on arriving at the airport to find it was absolutely heaving with people! Parking was a nightmare. As usual I'd tracked their flight on the internet and it looked as if they were going to be half an hour late. However, having been caught out like this before I made sure I was there for the time they were supposed to land, and in the event they were only 5 minutes late.

The weather was good to us for the whole week! The first chance we had we took the girls to the pool but were disappointed to find it looked as though it hadn't been cleaned very recently - nothing major, a few dead insects but enough to put Chloe off. We didn't take Elli in as it was a bit cold for her. Resolved to try the beach instead the following day.

Our days quickly fell into a pattern of going down to the beach for the morning - Chloe bought herself a fishing net and spent most of her time in the rock pools, usually managing to make friends with other little girls doing the same thing. We quickly learned that Elli and sand are not a good combination so timed the rest of our trips so she would be due for her morning nap shortly after we got there! The following are just a few of the pictures we took during the week, many of which I hope will find their way onto scrapbook pages in due course!





Either before or after the beach we shopped (after if it was for food!), occasionally having lunch in the town, then returned here to the house for an afternoon nap for Elli, some sunbathing for Sara, and for Chloe and me a couple or three hours in the basement doing some scrapbooking. I took them all over to 1WorldScrap in Javea, bought Chloe a scrapbook album complete with stickers, frames and alphabets and each afternoon we did two pages of Chloe and her family. She's taken the album home to finish it with pictures of her friends and family members I don't have photos of, and also to write in the spaces provided about her favourite things etc.


We mostly had our main meal of the day about 6 pm for the sake of the little ones, after which we would go back to the town for an ice cream from Tutto Frutto and to spend some time at the fair. Chloe had her favourite 'rides', always starting with the mini quad bikes. Only towards the end of the week did Sara have a go because Chloe wanted to go on a faster quad. Sara enjoyed it so much she regretted not doing it sooner, even taking Elli on one!






Next stop is always the roundabout! Chloe has her favourite cars, though Elli likes it best if Chloe goes on the one with the bell! Each time it comes round Chloe rings the bell and Elli waves and laughs at her. A couple of times Sara let Chloe take Elli on the bus (the safest car for Elli, the doors lock properly), which plays 'Congratulations' when you press the button.




After an hour or so we'd make our way home, get the girls bathed and in bed and allow ourselves to relax a little! Usually both Sara and I were so tired with all the fresh sea air, walking and amusing the little ones that we were both well ready for bed ourselves. For once both Chloe and Elli slept through, disturbed nights for Sara being a dreadful feature of previous visits. Must have been the effect of the fresh air for them too!

All too soon it was Sunday again and time for them to leave. For once we managed to do it without tears as it's only a couple of weeks until we see each other again when I make my first trip 'home' since September.

On my own once again I did the usual house stuff - laundry, cleaning etc. and then started on the garden. Cut about a dozen palm fans, weeded, cut back the neighbours' overgrowing oleander which was hindering the growth of my bougainvillea! Had a good sweep of all the paths too - the strong breezes we've been having had blown all kinds of debris into the nooks and crannies of the garden. A friend who keeps an eye on me (!) on behalf of the family hopes to borrow a chain saw to trim the trunks of the palms and get rid of the sharp remains of the stems where they've been cut. Will make the garden a lot safer for Elli.

Bought a proper computer desk! Flatpacked but one of the easiest pieces of furniture I've ever put together. No pieces missing, in fact there were extras in the pack, and it looks really smart. Very pleased with it.

Made another trip to 1WorldScrap and bought yet more stash - I was there two hours! And finally I've done some scrapbooking. First project was to put together a small album of pictures of the house in readiness for my trip, I know some people will want to see where I now live! I finished the pages with the photos on earlier this evening, just need to write a few words and, if I can do it without damage, make some changes to the cover and jazz it up a bit.

One of the things Sara brought with her was the new Slimming World pack, acquired for me via ebay. I was delighted to find the latest issue of the SW magazine in one of the newsagents in town, first time I've seen one. I may go back and ask if they'll reserve a copy for me each time. So this morning it was up early and away down to the market before 8 a.m.! Bought loads of fruit and veg, I'm sure I shan't manage to eat it all! But I'm back on the diet and determined....

This week it's Moraira's Moors and Christians Fiesta week. Each evening there's been something happening in the village but today the daytime events began, street parades and bands. This evening the 'Moors' have come ashore and as I write this (11.45 pm) the 'canon fire' has just started! Tomorrow (Saturday) we will be woken by fireworks at 8.30 am followed by a musical 'wake up' at 9.00 and the same on Sunday. Over the next two days the re-enactment of the conquest will take place with the grand finale on Sunday evening when I expect there will be a spectacular fireworks display. I'm hoping to go down one of the days over the weekend. The Spanish love their fireworks - no 'elf and safety police here! The last time we were in Moraira for this fiesta was the year we bought our first holiday home here and we were so busy with moving in we didn't manage to see any of it.

I hope when I blog next I'll have pictures of this fiesta to share, meanwhile I'm going to watch CSI Miami! Night!

Workshop weekend ....

I signed up for two classes at 1WorldScrap's workshop weekend - now wish I'd done them all! But I'm very happy with what I did. The first was with Lance Anderson of Rusty Pickle, which was the 2nd class of the day. This class was incredible value for money - the kit we were given was worth more than we paid for the class I'm sure! Can't remember (without checking the instruction leaflet) exactly how many sheets of paper were included along with a spiral bound 6 x 12 album with 10 pages (20 sides not including covers), plus brilliant chipboard alphas and a sheet of stick-on alphas, ribbon, fibre etc. The first thing we had to do was dismantle the album and scallop the edges of each page! Lance took us through a different technique for each page - well, that was the plan but it became clear that no way was three hours sufficient time to do each one. At the end he admitted that this was a brand new class and he hadn't actually taught it previously so had no idea how much time it would take. For future classes the time will be revised! None of us had time to complete these albums, however I did finish mine at home that evening and the following morning.

Anyway here's some pics from that first class - my album is called 'Spanish Summer 2007' and I want to use it to record my first full summer here in Spain - family holidays etc. as well as what's happening locally.

L to R - Lance teaching the class; Lance and me; some of the pages in the album

Above - The 'flip-flop' page! We cut flip-flop shapes and hinged them onto the page so they can be lifted to reveal pictures or journalling.

Sunday was 'Inks' Day - Jenn Starr from Ranger Inks did two classes, I chose to go to the second (afternoon) one which used alcohol inks. I've never bothered much with inks of any kind on my layouts but I'm glad I took this class as it was great to learn just how effective alcohol inks are! The kit for the class included six squares of very thick black card and several sheets of glossy paper (the kind you print photos on) in various sizes of squares and circles. Jenn demonstrated the technique of applying the inks and how to create different colours/effects using the inks and blending solution - it was fascinating! We finished the little pages by stamping different patterns on them. What we were actually making were background pages for what eventually became an accordion album once we had punched holes in the edges and tied them together with ribbon. I forgot to take my camera this time so didn't get a picture of Jenn unfortunately; however here's my finished album - not sure yet what I'm going to use it for - because of it's structure it's an easy project to have out on display.

There were probably around 10 people per class and most were Spanish - scrapbooking is quite 'new' to Spain and most of the ladies there only took up this hobby since Anke opened her online shop/retail shop at the beginning of the year. They are very talented! Not sure how many were local but I think at least two came down from Barcelona 500km/300 miles away!

This was the first time I'd ever taken part in classes, here or in the UK, and I still cannot believe that I've found such a great place in Spain to get my stash without having to use online shops (something I try to avoid given the state of the Spanish postal system). As well as locally available supplies it's absolutely certain that in the UK I would never have got within 200 miles or more of people like Lance Anderson and Jenn Starr without going to one of the big scrapbooking events. To be able to attend small classes with these stars is a great privelege and I count myself extremely fortunate. I wonder what Anke will come up with next!

Lance, Jenn and Anke were all heading for Scrapaganza in Holland the following weekend - wonder what new supplies will be arriving in the shop as a result!

Not sure whether it was that Sunday evening or the following day when Sara decided she 'needed' to come out with the girls for a week! No matter that it would only be just over 4 weeks before I made my trip to the UK! Anyway the upshot was that they'd be arriving the following Sunday (3rd June) - I think I went to bed praying that THIS time the weather wouldn't let them down!

More later .......

Falling behind .....

I can just never quite keep up with this blogging lark! The last four weeks have been a bit manic - I've had two lots of visitors! Think my update will be better in two or three separate posts!

First, the property valuations. I was disappointed (but not surprised) to learn that at the moment I could only realistically expect to get about what we paid for the house back in November 2004. One agent did suggest a higher figure which would also cover what's been spent recently but the general feeling among all the agents is that the market needs a year at least to settle down. A second said that if I had the nerve to stick it out for two or even three years I could do much better. Well, I did say right from the start that I intended to give myself a year to see how I get on so that fits with their general view and my intentions.

Doug and Doreen arrived the same week for a ten day stay. It was so good to see them, they were both feeling a bit down and it was strange for the three of us to be together without Derek. I've made it plain that I don't want anyone to feel they can't talk about him and I hope that message will be passed back to the friends I'll be meeting up with back in the UK when I make my trip at the end of the month.

We did lots of little things while D and D were here, including a visit to Benidorm's Sunday market. They like Benidorm and are far more familiar with it than I am. I'd never have found the market so thank goodnes for Dougie! It's big and very cramped and shoulder to shoulder with punters! It was also hot. Having done it I won't be in a hurry to visit again! Doreen had bought some shoes at the Moraira market but then wished she'd bought a second pair. Her only opportunity was to get some from Benidorm. After what seemed like hours and almost at the end of the market we found a stall selling what she wanted.

They bought a beautiful rose bush for Derek from a local garden centre, we hope it's called Red Devil, it didn't have a label but was with others of that name and was the only one with a bloom, which is a fabulous colour and smells gorgeous. It's now in a large pot outside my back door.

We went to Javea one day - Dougie wanted to find a jeweller's shop he remembered. It was still there! Had a walk along the prom, stopping for coffee halfway, then we went in search of the Yorkshire Linen shop, hoping also to find the Scrapbooking shop as well, which I believed was close by. It was! Unbelievably I am much better set up here in Spain for getting scrapping stash locally than I ever was in the UK where I was forced to do most of my shopping online. Anke, who owns the shop (1worldscrap), is a lovely lady and has worked wonders in getting Spanish ladies to take up scrapbooking. Over the weekend following D and D's departure she was running workshops with classes by Lance Anderson of Rusty Pickle and Jen Starr from Ranger Inks - after telling my scrapping friends on Scrapitude and finding out just how highly thought of these two are I signed up for a couple of classes, one on each of the two days. In a later blog I'll show what I did (haven't taken pictures of my work yet!)

While they were here Dougie used Derek's electric scooter to get around on so I suggested he took it home when they left - what use is it to me? There's no doubt Derek would approve! I was sad to see them go home but it won't be long before I'm back there myself.

On the Monday following my scrapping weekend I finally got to the notary to sign the documents which I hope has now completed the formalities following Derek's death. Once I had them in my sticky mitts I rushed them over to the bank who'd frozen the bank account yet again. The account was frozen at a certain amount, there's money in the account above that figure but I can't use an ATM machine to get it, so until their head office has had the documents and given permission for the account to be unblocked I have to go to the bank each time I want cash. A bit of a nuisance to say the least!

Will leave it there for now, back later with more!