Bad weather ....
Blimey, have we had some..... We're well into our third week of very unsettled weather. It started by being overcast with a few showers, some heavy, but for the last ten days we've had almost daily storms and torrential downpours, culminating with a really nasty storm from late Monday to yesterday morning. Today started beautifully, really warm and sunny but now, mid-afternoon, the clouds are back and I've heard thunder in the distance. I saw an entry on Facebook yesterday from one of the Bay Radio presenters that it's official - it's the 'gota fria' (literally 'cold drop').
Just before the bad weather arrived I decided to dig out a few cacti that really are nothing exciting to look at and not thriving particularly, as well as the dozens of aloe vera 'babies' that have rooted from the bigger plants. Two days later I started seeing a rash appearing, masses of tiny bumps with an even tinier blister on top. Amazingly this rash wasn't itchy at all, but it spread slowly over my arms, legs and chest until eventually, after a week, a few appeared on my neck. That was it - off to the doctor! An anti-histamine injection and a course of anti-histamine tablets and I'm now clear, but it has taken over a week.
So between the bad weather and the rash I've been spending a lot of time at home, the rash being too unsightly to inflict on other people. I've had a few evenings out, just not as many as usual.
My car passed it's ITV (MOT in the UK) - that was a huge relief, I was afraid I'd need a new exhaust and possibly new tyres, but all that had to be done was replace a rear bulb, so I got off reasonably lightly. Now I need to clean it ..... *grimace*
'The Tapas Bar at La Risa' (John and June's new venture) is all but ready to go. A bunch of us went there on Saturday night for a 'wine tasting', to give our opinions on the wines that the bar will stock, including the house wines. Needless to say by the end of the evening a fair amount had been consumed and most of us (not the 'experts' among us) were thoroughly confused about our choices!
Correos has managed to mess up the delivery of a parcel from Sara.... They posted the ticket in the wrong mail box to begin with. That mailbox is owned by people who use their bungalow as a holiday home. They arrived for a week's visit ten days ago and eventually the ticket found its way into my box. Unfortunately the deadline for collecting the parcel had passed and by the time I got to the post office it was on its way back to the UK. Sara has made a claim to the Returned Parcels Depot (in Glasgow!!!) and is now waiting for it to show up. It could take two months - grrrrrrrrr. I would have thought that in this day and age it would be possible to identify the post office of origin from a barcode or postcode on whatever piece of paper is stuck onto the parcel in the first place. That seems so easy and logical to me......
My friend and former neighbour Doreen is making her first trip abroad on her own to visit me the week after next. It was for the funeral of her husband Dougie that I went to the UK at Easter. I really didn't think she would be ready to make this trip until next year, am really looking forward to it and have a busy ten days lined up for her!
I have to end on a sad note - Derek's sister's husband died last week. After a long battle with cancer it finally reached his brain, after which it was just a matter of time. He was admitted to hospital around 10th August. The funeral took place in Barnstaple today and to my side of the family's huge regret neither I nor any of the children were able to be there.
R.I.P. Phil - always remembered with great love and affection.
Just before the bad weather arrived I decided to dig out a few cacti that really are nothing exciting to look at and not thriving particularly, as well as the dozens of aloe vera 'babies' that have rooted from the bigger plants. Two days later I started seeing a rash appearing, masses of tiny bumps with an even tinier blister on top. Amazingly this rash wasn't itchy at all, but it spread slowly over my arms, legs and chest until eventually, after a week, a few appeared on my neck. That was it - off to the doctor! An anti-histamine injection and a course of anti-histamine tablets and I'm now clear, but it has taken over a week.
So between the bad weather and the rash I've been spending a lot of time at home, the rash being too unsightly to inflict on other people. I've had a few evenings out, just not as many as usual.
What else can I tell you?
My car passed it's ITV (MOT in the UK) - that was a huge relief, I was afraid I'd need a new exhaust and possibly new tyres, but all that had to be done was replace a rear bulb, so I got off reasonably lightly. Now I need to clean it ..... *grimace*
'The Tapas Bar at La Risa' (John and June's new venture) is all but ready to go. A bunch of us went there on Saturday night for a 'wine tasting', to give our opinions on the wines that the bar will stock, including the house wines. Needless to say by the end of the evening a fair amount had been consumed and most of us (not the 'experts' among us) were thoroughly confused about our choices!
Correos has managed to mess up the delivery of a parcel from Sara.... They posted the ticket in the wrong mail box to begin with. That mailbox is owned by people who use their bungalow as a holiday home. They arrived for a week's visit ten days ago and eventually the ticket found its way into my box. Unfortunately the deadline for collecting the parcel had passed and by the time I got to the post office it was on its way back to the UK. Sara has made a claim to the Returned Parcels Depot (in Glasgow!!!) and is now waiting for it to show up. It could take two months - grrrrrrrrr. I would have thought that in this day and age it would be possible to identify the post office of origin from a barcode or postcode on whatever piece of paper is stuck onto the parcel in the first place. That seems so easy and logical to me......
My friend and former neighbour Doreen is making her first trip abroad on her own to visit me the week after next. It was for the funeral of her husband Dougie that I went to the UK at Easter. I really didn't think she would be ready to make this trip until next year, am really looking forward to it and have a busy ten days lined up for her!
I have to end on a sad note - Derek's sister's husband died last week. After a long battle with cancer it finally reached his brain, after which it was just a matter of time. He was admitted to hospital around 10th August. The funeral took place in Barnstaple today and to my side of the family's huge regret neither I nor any of the children were able to be there.
R.I.P. Phil - always remembered with great love and affection.
posted by CaroleW at Wednesday, September 30, 2009
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