Rain, rain go away .......

OK, enough now ..... it's not as if we're desperate for water, we got plenty earlier in the year and no-one's saying there's a shortage. It's rained every day since Monday. Went to the market this morning - only the fruit and veg stalls were set up (and not all of those, my usual one wasn't there). The rest of the stall-holders were standing around wondering whether to bother. As I left, a few started putting theirs up as the rain had stopped, but I wasn't going to hang around indefinitely, even though there were a few things I was planning to buy. Next week will do .....

Had a couple of outings with Blue Skies since my last blog update - Las Brisas to start the new season and last week The Lemon Tree, which is a lovely place, quite near me so I can have a glass of vino! We're only meeting fortnightly now, as the U3A also have a Saturday solo dining group. At the moment the two outings are clashing but hopefully the organisers will get their heads together and come to some arrangement about alternating the dates.

Got lots of compliments about my weight loss from people who haven't seen me for a couple of months - very gratifying! I'm now about 3 stones lighter than I was when Derek and I arrived in Spain two years ago today. I feel so much better. However, the downside (if you can call it that!) is that all my clothes are hanging off me. I need to go through my entire wardrobe and see what there is that looks reasonably decent to wear while I gradually re-stock! I'd like to lose another 10lbs if I can, but will keep an eye on how I'm looking, very conscious of the appearance of wrinkly skin!

5th September was our 44th Wedding anniversary. This time I was determined not to wallow in misery but to remember the good times and I got through the day pretty well.

Not a lot more to tell at the moment, so will leave it here - see you next time!

Is that it?

The end of summer? Judging by the number of tourists in the village it certainly seems like it. Of course the British school autumn term begins this week so those families had gone by last weekend. It was a pleaure to enjoy our Monday 'girlie' lunch in relative peace! Aren't we awful? All of us jubilant that we have our village back! The temperature is easing too, along with the humidity, making chores and going out less of a sweaty ordeal. As summer seemed to be so late arriving this year we're all hoping for an 'Indian' one before the onset of autumn. The nights are drawing in and for the first time I had to drive to the President Bar in Javea last night with the headlights on.

I've given up trying to brighten the garden with pot plants and geraniums - I just can't keep them going, even with an irrigation system in place. They all seemed to fall foul of some insect infestation. So now I'm going for the minimalist look and sticking with bougainvilleas, honeysuckle, wisteria etc., which are all growing nicely in their respective beds. Keeping it clean and tidy is much easier now. While Simon and family were here, he and I did some palm trimming and I decided to tackle the one palm tree I've not done much to - it's more of a bush and its growth is quite neat, but I saw there were dead fans at the bottom and it needs tidying up. It has very small 'fans' and I merrily started hacking away at them, only to realise, after I'd got stung, there was a wasps' nest right in front of my face. I found a very good spray to kill the wasps and this morning have knocked the empty nest off the bush, will cut the palms off later today or tomorrow.

Simon, Louise, Reece and Ryan were here for 11 days. I think they enjoyed themselves; they spent lots of time at the beach (Moraira and Javea), similarly down by the pool and took a trip to Aqualandia which they were able to enjoy to the full as the boys are now old enough and big enough to go on everything!

Simon helped me sort out my two laptops and I've now got everything transferred to what was Derek's machine - newer than mine, which has developed a worryingly noisy fan. He also helped sort out other (electronic) bits and pieces for me and in doing so found a lot of things he could take home with him - headphones, blank discs (not compatible with either lappy), etc. Quite a haul in fact!

It was lovely to have them here. Their flight home was delayed by three hours unfortunately so made for a very late arrival at their house.

Blue Skies begins again this weekend - Las Brisas as usual for the first Saturday of the month. Waiting to hear from the other girlfriends whether we're going or not. As it's the first outing of the new 'season' we feel we should but it's not high on the list of favourite venues. During August the five of us have continued meeting up each weekend for a meal, which has been lovely. Really my social life hasn't suffered much at all this August! Last year was so different and I look back and wonder at how much my life has changed in a year.

On Monday it was 'sign up' night for the new U3A. I've put my name down for Yoga, Card making/Scrapbooking and the Saturday Singles dining group. There's also a Sunday lunch singles dining group but if I go out for a meal on Saturday evenings, I certainly won't want another big meal at lunchtime on Sunday! I'll see how I get on with the ones I've chosen before I consider anything else - there are between 30 and 40 groups available to choose from.

Think that's enough for now - see you again soon!