Unexpected day out.....

After saying on here on Thursday morning that I planned to do chores and scrap that day, I was pleasantly surprised by a phone call just after 9.00 a.m. from one of my gentlemen friends (met through Blue Skies) asking if I'd like to drive to Carrefours at Benidorm with him! Would I? Is the Pope Catholic? I'd never been so the answer was a resounding YES! He wanted a new duvet and bedlinen to go with it and also to price up a new scanner and a new printer. We started in Carrefour - no luck for him but I found a shredder for less than €20 - a bargain, and something I desperately need to keep my paperwork under control (can now have a serious clear out of old documents!). I thought I might also treat myself to a slow cooker but such things don't seem to exist here! I think there might be a message there - like, I don't need one.



Next port of call was Yorkshire Linen, a larger outlet than the one I visit in Javea. Success! He found the duvet he wanted and bought some very attractive cream and brown bedlinen, very fashionable. Finally we took a stroll round La Marina shopping centre. A stroll! It's huge with some wonderful shops though we didn't investigate all of them (shame!).



Instead of lunching out we went back to his house where we had beans and poached eggs on toast - is there a finer meal in the world? I don't know anyone who doesn't count this as a favourite. To round off the day we watched a DVD - Alone in the dark - probably not one I'd have chosen to watch myself but a good story all the same.



Friday, market day, bought the usual fruit and veg and had a good browse but nothing caught my eye so my money stayed safely in my purse! I'm on the look-out for a nice black jacket to wear in the evenings, some pretty scarves, a two tone bag (brown and black - so I don't have to keep changing it!), a body warmer, and one or two cowl neck sweaters. Nothing's ringing my bells so far though.



Last night Blue Skies' dinner outing was to Rusty's here in Moraira. There was dancing too, a fabulous girl singer, Chloe Cooper, providing the entertainment. The venue is quite small and a bit of a squash, the area for dancing is tiny but we managed! I received loads of compliments about this necklace I was wearing





It's black and white with clear 'bling' and black and white cord, bought at the local market for about €5 and looks absolutely stunning! Would love to find matching ear-rings but I haven't seen any yet.

I've spent today finally catching up with the chores. My water filter is still not fixed and now we'll have to have a technician in to sort it out. I can see a big bill coming my way for this - *groan*.

This week my girl friend B. and I have decided to go out somewhere - don't know where yet, will discuss and plan when we meet for lunch tomorrow. Another widow, A., is also hoping to join us for the first time. Her husband and my Derek died within 4 days of each other in February and we have a lot in common. She is a dog-lover and has 4 German Shepherds, lives in a 'finca' and has a lot of house and grounds to take care of. I've yet to see her place but hope to soon. She tells me I inspire her by the way I've coped since losing Derek - the difference between us is that her husband died suddenly and unexpectedly, whereas I was at least a little prepared for what happened. At least she has joined Blue Skies, a good first step on the journey towards acceptance of a life lived alone. Not for the first time I say Blue Skies has been a life-saver.

Time for tea/dinner/supper - call it what you will! Think I'll make it beans and eggs on toast ........ Later, it's CSI Sunday on Five US - my cup overfloweth......

Time for an update....

Feels like I blogged only yesterday! Time flies by so fast these days .....

It has taken a month for the effects of the October storms to penetrate through to my landing ceiling ..... rain must have forced it's way up the slope of the roof and under the tiles so now my ceiling and part of the stairs wall are a bit of a mess. Not sure how long it's going to take to dry out, then it will have to be cleaned thoroughly to get rid of the black mould which is beginning to appear (needless to say, at the highest part of the wall and ceiling above the stairs, which I can't possibly reach, so will have to 'get a man in'). Two of the bedroom ceilings are also spotted with damp but not much and I'm hoping they will dry out and be OK. It's a week since it all first appeared so it's been windows open all day and a bit of heat at night - not much as it isn't really that cold here!

My drinking water filter is still out of action, think it's been three weeks now. The first time it stopped working was as a direct result of the storms and the rubbish that got into the general water system. Had it fixed but after a week it stopped again and no matter what K. (my plumber) has done nothing's worked. Of course it's now out of its 12 month warranty period....... Am trying to avoid buying water from the supermarket. Water from the normal tap is OK for the kettle and cooking as I have a filter in the mains as well. But it's not very tasty for drinking straight!

Socially I've had a very busy weekend! Blue Skies night out was Friday, at Monroe's in Pedreguer. The entertainer was a guy called John Curtis, absolutely brilliant - jived my socks off! One of the best nights I've had. He also does a Sunday show on Bay Radio. Saturday I just had my hair done and recovered from Friday! On Sunday, after K. had been to attempt another fix on the water filter, I spent the afternoon and early evening with a girlfriend, B., whom I met through Blue Skies, at her house - lovely meal and the odd glass or two! Monday lunchtime I met up with B and two other GFs at La Boheme as usual. The lunches usually last until 4 or 4.30! Tuesday B and I went to Benissa, originally to check out the new Iceland store which was due to open last week but is a fortnight late (this is Spain!) so we visited Lidl's instead (disappointing) then went for lunch. Tuesday evening 10 of us met up at Monroe's again, this time it was Jazz night with the Jubilee Jazz band. Some go every week and follow the band but for four or five of us it was a new thing. I'm not especially a jazz fan but it was a good night. I don't think I'll be going every week though.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I spent the morning in the town, bought christmas cards, a new skirt and three new tops - and a Nintendo Wii! Simon had emailed me to ask if there was anywhere here where I could get one. Apparently there aren't any to be had in the UK! I didn't think there was much chance but tried my local 'electrodomestico' store - and they had not one, but ten in their shops! So Reece and Ryan will get their Wii after all. I suggested to Ralf at Pineda that he puts the rest on UK Ebay! As he says, here in Spain children don't spend a lot of time indoors messing on computers and such like!

So after telling everyone I wasn't bringing presents from Spain to the UK, because of baggage allowances and space in my case, I now find myself in the situation of having to drag a Nintendo back with me! It's a bigger box and heavier than I expected but we daren't entrust it to either the Spanish or British postal systems - or a courier for that matter. I'll have to leave my lappy behind and take the Nintendo as hand baggage. Unfortunately cabin luggage counts towards the total baggage allowance so that's nearly 4kg of clothese I can't take with me! But I can buy some while I'm there .......

Today I should do chores but actually I'm hoping to get some scrapping done - I finally finished a layout earlier in the week that's been seriously bugging me for weeks. Going to dig out a few Pencillines sketches to work from as that usually helps to get my mojo on its feet! I may go over to Javea to OneWorld Scrap as Anke is having a sale today and tomorrow. I shouldn't really ........

Off to start the day - hope yours is a good one!

Alone again!

My visitors returned home yesterday after a fabulous 12 day stay. I really love having Doug and Doreen here; they love getting out and about and that's good for me as I can be a real stay at home and get lazy if I'm not careful! The weather has been fantastic - November has begun as wonderfully as October was awful, not a drop of rain so far this month (fingers and toes crossed it stays that way!).

During the 12 days I managed to introduce D and D to my friends from Blue Skies. I'd booked for the three of us to go to Las Brisas as I thought they'd enjoy it. I had a suspicion Blue Skies may be there the same night but didn't find out for sure until a few days beforehand. It was a great evening and D and D were pleased to meet the people with whom I now spend some of my time. We sat separately from the group of course, in fact we ended up on a table right next to where the duo, Double Impact, were performing. The male half of the duo is a real comedian and kept popping his head round the equipment to carry on a conversation with us even while they were playing and singing! At one point, when he was just beginning to sing 'Lady in Red' he mouthed at me 'Why aren't you dancing?' - when I said I had no-one to dance with he danced with me himself - and carried on singing at the same time! It was hilarious - and I loved it!

We invited Brian to a meal here at the house (he's the one who took me out for dinner the week before D and D came) and also to join us at the chinese restaurant he and I went to. I'd taken D and D the first night they arrived and they were keen to go again so we did that on their last night. I know they'll be reporting back to friends in the UK what and how I'm doing and who I'm doing it with!

Having said I enjoy their company (and all my other visitors of course) I have nevertheless banned all visitors now until after Easter next year! My social life is beginning to perk up and I want to make the most of it. I now meet three or four girls from Blue Skies for lunch on a Monday, which stretches well into the late afternoon, and have met a lady who lost her husband in February too. We have so much in common and realise we must have been at Denia hospital at the same time back then. We'll be getting together very soon. Julia (Blue Skies organiser) is in the UK at the moment but we also try to meet up once or twice a week if we can. I really want to develop these friendships as much as possible - it's lovely to have such nice girl friends to hang around with!

And yes, there are one or two men on the scene as well, nothing serious, but it's a terrific boost to the ego when a man asks for your phone number!

The beach is almost back to normal but as D and D aren't 'beach people' I've only been past it a couple of times in the past two weeks. It's looking good and was quite busy the last time I was there.

My birthday fell a couple of days after my last blog entry. As it was a Saturday it meant I could celebrate it with my Blue Skies friends - we went to the Restaurante Timon near Calpe and while there was no dancing I was made a great fuss of and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The downside was that there was very heavy rain again and the views over Calpe which we hoped to see from the outside terrace were completely obliterated. I had slightly more to drink than I usually do and came home nicely merry! I'd had presents and cards from home which I'd opened in the morning - all in all I really did have a happy birthday, though of course I missed Derek a lot.

As usual after having visitors it will take me a few days to adjust to having the house to myself again and catching up with things that have been left undone for a week or two. However, it looks as though I have a busy week in front of me which is good.

Quick message to Jane who left a comment on here - thank you! Sorry, I didn't see it before today, hope I can keep the blog interesting for you to keep reading it! LOL!

Right, off to catch up on some tv programmes - it's CSI night tonight on Five US (180), just hope they're not repeats of episodes I've already seen!