July is the new August.....

The heat and humidity are continuing to exhaust us - daytime temps in the high 30s, but thankfully (in my house at least) dropping to a reasonable level at night so I can sleep! Although most of us, my friends that is, have air conditioning we avoid using it too much because once you move away from it, go out for example, you feel the heat even more and the whole object is defeated. Some banks and shops have their aircon set at almost Siberia levels, but out in the street again you look as if you've just stepped out of the shower! Not moaning you understand, I chose to live here and most of the time the weather is wonderful!



Painted my living area, the painting itself wasn't a huge job, it was moving the furniture and getting it put back again that took the most time. Managed to get the stereo unit back together but for some reason can't get my 'computer to speakers' set-up working as it used to - need to turn the volume really high, but it's not really a huge problem as I only use my lappy to 'listen again' to radio programmes I might have missed, about once a month if that. Consulted Simon and after trying various configurations still can't find the answer. It's not important. De-cluttered, packed away pictures and a few ornaments to give a 'cleaner' look. But at the end of it all, I can't actually see any difference! Still I know it's freshly done!



We celebrated H.'s 70th birthday by going, as always, to the Kathmandu. Lovely evening, H. had a wonderful birthday, especially as she had her only son with, he's here for a week. H. had heard from B. that day and there's some good news. B. is living with her sister and brother-in-law in th UK; they've made her a lovely sitting room/bedroom in their big house (I think it's a large Tudor mansion or something); she's signed on with their GP who had been warned in advance and already has appointments at the local hospital and been assigned a MacMillan nurse. The doctor is taking an altogether more optimistic view than the doctors did here, and B. sounded very positive, very happy (probably because she's with her family and on familiar territory with lots of support) and altogether seems to be in much better shape than when she left here just over a week ago. She's planning to buy a car to give her some independence - now that is really good news, as she'd all but given up driving here. We drank a toast to her during our evening out.



Added yet another property agent to my list - a friend told me that a friend of theirs had just joined this agency and that she has an excellent reputation. I hope they're right! I got on with her really well and must admit she did inspire some confidence. She had this amazingly neat camera which produces a 360deg. view of the different rooms - very impressive!



We have another silly new 'law' to contend with here - you are not allowed to drive your car while wearing 'flip-flops', or indeed any shoe without a proper back! As ever, this 'law' has not been widely publicised, apart from a column inch at best in the papers. Obviously the town halls are suffering reduced income from property tax, sales tax, wealth tax etc. in these difficult times, so we assume the local police have been tasked with getting as much revenue as they can by fining motorists for minor offences (sound familiar?). Two 'policia local' were seen stopping drivers as they were leaving the market car park on Friday, opening the car door and looking at the feet of the drivers. We're all carrying 'full' shoes in our cars now. I guess most of those stopped by the police were tourists and totally unaware of the new law. I bet hardly any were Spanish!

Some good news from the family - Sara has finally landed a job with the NHS and starts next Monday. I know she hadn't been in her last job very long but her manager turned out to be a bully and has made Sara's life thoroughly miserable for most of the time she was there. It explains why Sara was the third person in that job in under a year. Thankfully Sara has HR (company speak for Personnel!) qualifications which the other two didn't and has been able to tell the HR department exactly what has been going on without fear of repercussions. Too late to save her job (not that she wanted to stay) but hopefully it has provided ammunition for the relevant department and manager to sort this woman out once and for all, which no-one has been able to do until now. Sara would have left eventually anyway, as the travel time was too much and she needed something closer to home.

Don't think I've forgotten anything, so will leave you with the latest picture of Chloe (right) and Elli, all dressed up and ready to go to the wedding of Sara and Scott's friends John and Kaff (yes, really!).






Happy Sunday!

Quick update.....

Actually not a lot to report but half a loaf's better than none I suppose!

June is 'tax' month so prepared all my documents and took them to the gestoria. Nothing complicated about my finances so a couple of weeks later they were ready for signing - job done.

Having said there's nothing complicated I have been simplifying legal and financial matters, which eventually required a visit to the notary. After a lot of messing around with appointments and having to re-arrange a few non essential 'dates' we finally made it on the fourth attempt. However, after waiting an hour to get documents signed I was told I needed the original of a particular document as it wasn't showing up on the computer and the photocopy wasn't sufficient - another half hour wasted while I came home to get it. Finally, after two and a half hours, we were done. I hate going to the notary, it's always the same - wait, wait and wait some more. The only saving grace is that the office is beautifully air conditioned and the seating extremely comfortable!

We girls celebrated M.'s birthday by going to the Kathmandu Indian restaurant, a favourite place and one we go to most Wednesdays. The Chicken Safari is to die for and 5 of the 6 of us there chose it for our main course - the staff are getting used to this!

Sad news about one of our group - B. has breast cancer and it has spread. Following a mammogram last year when she was told her breast problem was only mastitis or an infection of some kind, it became clear to her (and us) earlier this year that something far more serious was going on. As she was about to have surgery on her feet to correct damage incurred in a road traffic accident a few years ago and also had a very difficult domestic situation to deal with at the same time, she waited until those were resolved before dealing with it. The cancer has spread beyond the breast, into other organs and her bones. Her daughter and two sisters have come out and they are packing up and clearing her house ready to rent it out while she returns to the UK for treatment. They leave in a few days time. It's her birthday tomorrow and I visited her on Saturday, taking her card, present and some flowers. It may be the last time I see her for some while. She is talking of coming back for short holidays in the future. We all hope she does.

Social life is grinding to a halt! It's becoming too hot to go anywhere, so exhausting, it takes forever to get ready as we break into a sweat whenever we move. Dancing is definitely off the agenda for the time being!

Along with the girlfriends and other Blue Skies members I went to a barbecue at the home of our late leader, Julia, last Saturday evening. Julia left her estate to a lifelong friend, Michael, and he organised this party to celebrate her life. As Blue Skies hasn't been running for quite a while we caught up with lots of fellow members we hadn't seen for months. Two of Julia's close friends organised the food, the men of course did duty at the barbecue, and it was lovely to sit out in the cool garden just enjoying the company. Two friends have just got engaged, and this event was a good time to celebrate.

Have decided to clear the junk from the basement, hope I'll be able to get rid of it at the Eco-Park, but first I'm planning to paint the living area, it's looking a bit tired. Only thing that worries me is dismantling the stereo system and the tv, video and dvd set up. I'm bound to get it wrong when I try and put it back together and may well end up without any form of entertainment at all - unless I get a man in to rescue me!

Hopefully more soon ................