Brindleboy123's Blog

Evening everyone, nearly a week since I was on here to post, life must be very quiet but thats not such a bad thing is it!  Southern Spain has been blessed with very warm weather this week and we are getting to the point where the dogs run out lunchtime as fast as they can to lift their leg (with the exception of the wee wee kid obviously who is very much the lady and always squats!) and then run back in as the ground is so hot.

Holidaymakers are arriving too and the whole place is slowly starting to feel very different from those long winter months.  A neighbour friend has arrived with 11 others in tow! She cares for 3 disabled in her own home and also does respite throughout the year.  The lads (I say lads, but they are 54 and 62!) have lived with her for way over 20 years and are very much part of the family. John has Downs and is very posh! Chris has a form of autism and just adores being over here.  Louise is 26 and has lived with my friend probably for around 3 years and is well settled and happy.  She loves nothing more than to get dressed up and to go to the bar and ask for her Vino Tinto!! John’s parents were, I understand doctors, but felt unable to cope with him and he has been in care for most of his life. Very much a creature of habit.  We were laughing today at some of the things that he has come out with over the years.  One time he had to go to the GP for a check up and the doctor asked if he could provide a specimen.  John just looked horrified and told the doctor “I went to the lavatory at 8am this morning and cant possibly go again before 1 o’clock”!! The first Christmas he was with the family, Judy asked if he would like a small glass of sherry and of course he did.  When the bottle was brought out he apparently said, “at home Sherry comes in a decanter and never in a bottle”!!!

Judy used to also care for Malcolm.  Malcolm was a wonderful man, again with Downs but has sadly now had to be placed in a nursing home as he has many complex medical conditions.  Forgive me if I’ve told this story before, but it makes me laugh so much each time I think of it.  Malcolm had a “thing” for using the vacuum. Christmas used to be a real problem for him because of the pine needles.  He never used to say very much at all but every day when he came down to the lounge he would mutter “bugger, bugger, bugger” when he saw all the needles on the floor and would rush to get the vacuum out to clear up.  One day Judy suggested that he “vacuumed the pine needles” and went in the room later to discover that he had done just that…….all of them, including those on the tree! The Christmas tree was bare as the day it was born with just the baubles hanging on the end of sorryful branches!!!  Well, she did ask!

Its Saturday evening now…(tiredness overtook me when I started to type!) 8 o’clock and the sun is still shining.  We have been to Alicante today and managed to get my Ipod replaced which the shop took in for repair in January.  I mustn’t complain because it was bought almost 2 years ago!  Well worth the wait.

I have been reading some of the roll call posts on the Carers forum and was very interested in the posts about people with a “second sense”.  I told Tony about it and he agreed as when his disabled son was alive he would apparently often be in the bedroom “chatting” away to someone.  Sam always denied that he had been talking to anyone though!  My young niece was only a tiny baby when her dad committed suicide.  As you can imagine it was terribly, terribly tragic.  My sister would keep photographs of him around the house and these would often fall (and usually land in very strange places).  My niece would sometimes at night say that her daddy used to come in at night when she was in the bedroom.  None of us can say for sure….I would like to believe that it is true.

Eurovision tonight and for the first time in as many years as I can remember, I’m not 100% sure I will be watching it!  I’ve got a little disillusioned about it all over the last couple of years as I’m sure the various countries vote for their friends rather than the best song!  So tonight, we are going to watch the lads (John and Chris) do a little karaoke!  I won’t be joining in…….there is only one man that I will ever sing for (no, not Tony, Simon Cowell of course!).

Keep well everyone, hope you have a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend (no holiday here so everything closed as usual tomorrow as its Sunday). Have a little sunshine on me!

Much love to you all.  Bell x

Now, if you have been following on my every word (!!!) you may have noticed that I haven’t posted anything for a couple of weeks which as those who know me will know, it is not like me to keep my fingers off the keyboard for that long! Tonight I thought it was time I went on here and low and behold that last two posts I had written were missing!  I found one in the Trash box and the other was in the trash box too, but with no words on the post!!!   I have either lost the plot completely or it is the damn menopause thing…..(she types, taking off her cardi yet again before she dissolves into yet another lump of lard). I have been looking it up on the internet and there is apparently a whole host of wonderful things awaiting me….hot flushes, loss of memory, confusion, headaches, low libido, aches in joints, tiredness….need I go on? I didn’t like the idea of all that lot so had a word with a friend who I thought would put my mind at rest and tell me that it wouldn’t be so bad.  She told me she was still having flushes 19 years after they started!!  So, only 18 years and 10 months to go……………

Tony has decided that tomorrow he is going to start to diet….I can still hear Miss Daisey saying “oh yes, heard it all before….” She used to say that every week when Tony told her yet again that he was going on a diet (usually just after she had passed her potatoes or meat on to his plate!)  I think this time though he might actually mean it which is good for him, but also means that I don’t get to have all the nice things either.  Still, it won’t do me any harm either.  I’ve always had a bit of an “hourglass figure”, albeit a fairly big hourglass!!! I used to envy those women who had lovely long legs as Mum seemed to be reluctant to provide me with legs other than the little logs that came with the rest of my body at birth.  I’m sure it was a ploy on her part to ensure that I always remained shorter than her! Have you noticed that so many “big” women have skinny legs….makes me mad! Someone recently told me that as you get older your legs get thinner, great I thought at last, but then she said that the fat goes to your tummy!!  Looks like my size 12 – 14 hourglass is going to turn into a roly poly!

I hear today that summer has arrived in the UK.  Hope you have all enjoyed the sunshine, makes the world of difference to how you feel doesn’t it.  It has been lovely here too and hopefully the good weather is here to stay.  We are starting to get some holidaymakers over now and there is nothing worse than saving for your holiday all year only to get rain.  I went into the swimming pool this week and although it was pretty cold at first it did feel much better after a while.  Some of the little ones splash about like there’s no tomorrow and don’t seem to feel the cold.  In July and August it is so hot that the pool is like a bath in the evenings and is actually not really very refreshing.  Mustn’t complain though.

Went to the market today.  5 kilos of oranges for 3 euros.  Excellent.  They look like footballs mind you, and there were only 9 so you can tell how big they are.  By the time we had finished in the market we weren’t hungry…had samples of fruit, cheese and meat given to us! Had a bargain on the rummage counter – 2 dresses for 4 euros each.  Someone took us to lunch and I wore one of them and it looked really good.  I’m a cheap date I suppose!

This is going to be a busy week, more physio (I’m almost physio’d out and seem to do more shifts than the staff there).  Tony is going to tidy the garage and has bought loads of shelving to put up.  I know I should really throw more things away but not ready to do that yet.  Tomorrow I am going to ring the funeral directors to organise a granite vase with Mum’s name on for the cemetary,  I could have Mum’s name put on the headstone but it would mean having to get the permission from my sister as I think she now holds the deeds to the grave.  That would just not work.  I know it would end in upset so I have decided to just get the vase and have the gold lettering with Mum’s name etc put on to it.  Hopefully I will be able to get over to Bristol in June some time to sort out the grave etc.  My sister doesn’t go there much, only Christmas really, so I really don’t know what to do about having it kept up together.  I think years ago you were able to pay the council to tidy the grave but that doesn’t seem to be available nowadays.

Did anyone else see Beckham in Afghanistan this morning on the news?  Now, I know there are a lot of youngsters over there who would probably love to see him but I really thought it was unnecessary to have it publicised.  Surely, those people who have celebrity status should visit purely to boost morale of the troops etc not for the publicity that comes with it…do it quietly Becks, but that is just my opinion, and what do I know!. Rant over.

Right, listening to Blood Brothers at the moment so signing off now ….hope the sun continues to warm the cockles of your heart!  Take care one and all.  Much love, Bell x

I just love Sunday, not sure why it should be any different to any other day of the week.  When you are retired (a very young retiree I might add!), every day should feel the same but for some reason Sundays are still more restful!

Its been quite a good week all in all.  Back to physio again – part of me just wants to say that my neck is better so I don’t have to go but I guess that would be stupid and it is best that I do get it all sorted out now. Its ok but its the “fango” thing that I’m not too keen on….its a rubber mat that they wrap in a sheet and put on my back. It is moulded into my neck and back and I have to lay there until it cools down.  Paints a lovely picture doesn’t it! All is well until I get one of my “tropical moments”….I have walked away I must admit from one or two fangos with the mould of my back left on the bed!

I’ve spent most evenings this week trying to transfer my music from my old steam driven laptop on to the new one……there are 7,000 songs on there and it is taken quite a time and I’m sure I will end up with RSI or whatever it is of the thumb…I know there must be an easier way of doing it but I was so insistent with Tony that I could do it that I can’t give in now….I’ve made it to the “D’s”  only 22 more letters to go!

You might remember that I said Tony’s dad and his wife were over this week. Sadly, they haven’t spoken to Tony for several years now and I was wondering if this year when we saw him he would speak but when we were walking the dogs he walked past us.  Sad isn’t it really. I think they are due to leave tomorrow but the grapevine tells me that they are back in September.  I have to say he is doing very well for his age.  He must be coming up for 80 now and his wife is 20 years younger (perhaps thats the reason).  He does look a little thinner (and I was pleased to say that his wife looks a little fatter…oops, naughty Bell) but otherwise he looks pretty darn good and is walking around fine.  Hopefully Tony will be the same at that age.

Still having really vivid dreams…..always the same people in my dreams, Mum, Dad and Miss Daisey. Surprisingly, my dear uncle bill is very rarely in my dreams.  They are still mostly focused around my Mum and to be honest they aren’t very pleasant.  It got to the stage where I’m just begging to expect to dream of them each night and wonder if that is partly the problem.  I wake up feeling quite exhaustive as they seem so real at the time.  My ex used to say that he never had a dream, how wonderful that must be to just close your eyes and then wake up 7 hours later all rested! I feel like I go to battle every night.

Tomorrow there are people renting the apartment that Miss Daisey had. I went in this evening to turn on the water etc and found it so very sad. So many of her things are still in there that she bought as we left it for the owners.  I think it will be very odd when I see other people in there.  God I miss that dear lady so very much.

Today we went to see friends who have just come back from travelling around here and there in their mobile home thingy.  They actually went to see their neighbour who live on an island in Holland and just come here to Torrevieja for one week each month.  They were really interesting to talk with.  The husband had something to do with the design of the Mlilenium wheel, but has never been on it as he is afraid of heights! The lady is a senior ITU nurse in Coronary care.  I think they were rather religious and were explaining to us how on their island where there are 6 villages and 43,000 people living, there are 6 churches of differing dominations.  Very strange apparently some of the beliefs – one group are forbidden to speak to anyone on a Sunday….how odd is that! The same group consider tattoos to be evil and would not welcome anyone into the community who had a tattoo.  Thankfully, the couple who I met today were not part of this group, particularly as Tony has a few tattoos as do our friends.  Coral (the lady from Holland) had made a cake and gave me the recipe…it was gorgeous. I made it too when I got home.  It is basically made with flour, butter, sugar and oats with apple and cinnamon on the top.  Delicious and will, from this day forward be known as “Coral’s cake”.  I have had 3 pieces but have decided that as it has porridge oats in it, it must be good for me!

Coral was explaining how the Dutch people remember those that fought and those who died in the war and on May 5th flags are put up everywhere. One day of the week throughout the year, films relating to the war are shown so no-one ever forgets what has happened.  How different this is to the UK…… I found our conversation today fascinating and hope that I am able to meet with them again.

Tomorrow we are meeting up with our friend from the Kennels where we went with Miss Daisey last year ….remember? She is coming down to see our flat as she has never been here and we will go for a bite of lunch or something.  I think the Three musketeers  will find it very odd to see Trish on their own ground!

Okee dokey, time for bed said sleepy head (or is that cake calling me from the fridge?)… hope everything is ok with you all and that no-one is planning to travel far tomorrow as it looks like the Ash cloud is moving around ye

Hello all, so good to be back with you all again (whoever you are!) It has been a very busy and tiring few days to be honest and my brain (what there is of one) is totally exhausted.  First let me explain that Tony has bought me a Macbook (apparently all my music etc was clogging up the computer) so I am trying to find my way around everything.  If my typing goes a bit skewy, blame him not me!

Anyway, Thursday night had our first night without the three musketeers as Rosemary calls them (love it Rosemary -mental note to pray that when I grow up I will be as clever as Rosemary!!). No dogs to jump around on the bed you would have thought I would have had a good night sleep but no such luck.  I missed them!  Quite used to waking up in the night and having a wet hairy nose right next to my face and it not being Tony! Eventually got up at around 5.45 and watched the election programme in bed with a cup of tea.  Least said about that the better – lets just hope that it is all going to work out well for the UK in the long run.  (Actually already had a “discussion” at the cafe this morning with a very staunch conservative man so enough politics for one day).

Bags packed, we were taken to the pick up point for the coach to Barcelona at around 8.45 where we waited for half an hour.  Coach wasn’t late, I just have to be there early!  I’m the same when I get excited about going into a shop for something, I often make Tony drop me off so I can run in!  We were picked up on the roundabout by the shopping centre.  May not mean much to you, standing on a roundabout, but over here the majority of “ladies of the night…and day) can be found on roundabouts but I felt pretty safe with Tony stood by me – unless people thought it was a case of buy one get one free!

Tony and I were I think, the only Alonso supporters on the coach with the others being keen on Hamilton.  We got on with our Ferrari hats on and held our heads up high and I had my fingers crossed at the same time.

To say it was a long journey is an understatement.  We finally arrived at the hotel around 6.3o that night.  Oh, I have to tell you about one couple that got on after us.  English couple, I would say in their middle to late 60’s. She got on in her slippers and wasn’t on the coach 5 minutes before she had her seat back, mouth open and was snoring.  I don’t think she actually saw anything of the journey other than when we stopped.  I thought Tony could fall off to sleep quick but this lady could beat him hands down!  The snoring added a lovely bass beat to the music that was playing on the coach though!

Hotel was ok even though it was about an hour away from the track.  Hadn’t quite cottoned on to how to serve hot food though and even I had to turn my nose up at cold baked beans first thing in the morning.

The first day we were at the circuit was ok and we found a good spot which was right in the middle of the Spanish fans all cheering for Alonso.  We were not allowed to take in glass bottles or cans and bags were searched but what is amazing is the fact that they didn’t mind if alcohol or knives went through the gate!  Anyone who has ever eaten with the Spanish will know how they can really go to town.  We were sat not too far from some trees where some lads had brought whole legs of ham, the long chorizo and these they had dangling over the branches!  When lunchtime came, out came the knives and the meat was cut and placed in the long bagettes and swilled down with a glass of beer!

I have to say there was absolutely no trouble with anyone despite there being an abundance of alcohol (there is even someone walking around selling beer from a barrel).  It was all very good natured.  Race day was very much the same although there were so many more people there – they gave out that there were 98,113 people at the circuit all together.  At 99 euros for the cheapest tickets for the 3 days, it must be quite a profit making venture! Some people paid hundreds of euros for the stand seats.

Would I ever go again? No. I love to watch the race but found it hard to follow on the screen and track.  You get a much better view on the telly. To be perfectly honest (and we didn’t tell anyone on the coach this), we decided to leave a bit early and trundled back to the coach, particularly as Alonso was in 4th place and seemed to be going nowhere.  It wasn’t until everyone started to come back that we realised that Hamilton had a burst tyre or something and Alonso had moved up into 2nd place!  Of course we pretended we had seen it all and enjoyed the fact that we were the only two supporters on the coach!!!

Susie….we have been to Barcelona before on a 4 day trip and yes, we very much enjoyed going around and seeing the sites.  I would recommend Barcelona to anyone as there is so much to see and it really is a wonderful city to explore.

Arrived home at about 1.30 in the morning. It would have been earlier if it had not been for four people who we dropped off only to find that they had parked their car in a car park but not noticed the sign that said the park was closed after 12 midnight….couldn’t leave them there so the coach had to do a detour and take them home!   We were very fortunate that where we were dropped there was a taxi rank and my Spanish even managed to get us home.

Picked up the dogs on Monday afternoon and it would seem that they were well behaved with the exception of the wee wee kid who was the normal little madam that she is, although I think that Helga does have a bit of a soft spot for her. Bobby in particular was pleased to see us and I swear he put his paw up at Helga as we left!

Monday afternoon was back to the physio doctor who despite my assurance that I was feeling a lot better decided after examining me that I still needed more physio!  Can you believe that….must be 9 weeks or so I’ve been going now.  Its not as if it is once or twice a week it is every single day! Tony had to go to A & E while I was there too as he yawned and pulled a muscle. He was in a lot of pain so thought he ought to get it checked out just in case he had cracked a rib. Luckily everything was ok apart from the fact that the prescription that we picked up later and paid 50 euros for, although very good pills, reacted to his other medication and he had a heart beat going as fast as Alonso’s car last night.  Needless to say the pills will now stay in the cupboard!

Tony’s dad arrived with his wife on Sunday and is staying in the next block to us. May have mentioned before that his Dad doesn’t speak to us..long story which to be honest I think is very sad as we really have no idea what the problem was other than probably his wife. They haven’t spoken for several years now and I did suggest to Tony that he might want to speak to his Dad (I would love to have the opportunity to speak to my dear dad even if it were only once just so I could tell him how much I love and  miss him). We actually walked along the road and his Dad went passed us and didn’t say a word though.  Sad.

I’m just watching the workman still digging outside.  At the moment there is a digger actually in the whole which I presume is so that it can go even deeper…either that or it can’t get out! Hopefully not too much longer before they are finished.  I think they plan to finish for the summer holidays at the end of June.

Right, time to put the kettle on and have a nice mug of camamile. I’ve been very good lately (about 3 days anyway!) and have left the biscuits and chocolate alone) not sure how long it will last, I’m sure I will have a moment of weakness in the not too distant future!

Haven’t had chance to look at the forum much since I have been back, but will do so later.  Hope you are all keeping well and getting a little more sunshine than we have here today.  Keep smiling everyone.  Love as always, Bell xxx

This is one of the pipes going being lowered in.....

 (I know it seems strange starting with a picture, but an hour or so ago I started downloading this to show you as per the text in the blog, and I´m about to throw the PC out the window into the whole that the pipe is now fitting into so decided to leave the photo where it has finally landed!)….Night all!

Hello everyone….not sure if there is anyone out there, especially tonight as my guess is you are all looking to see who is going to be head honcho after today! 

Today the dogs went over to stay with Helga (I think her real name is Yvonne but Helga seems far more fitting) ….wee wee kid has been before there and she wasn´t too bad although I swear she took two steps back when she got to the gate! The Ugly one, well what can I say….. he rambled in, took a look at the old german shepard that Helga has grumbled a bit and walked away! Bobby, he cried and cried! Broke my heart leaving them for all of 5 minutes, no to be honest, I do really miss them although it is nice not to have to go out with them and play referee for a few days!

Spent a couple of hours shopping which was lethal! We have a C & A here (bet you don´t!) and its very popular but obviously most people are the same size as me….too old for the mini skirts or belts that they look like and not quite ready for the A line flower frocks that all Spanish women over a certain age seem to wear.  I headed in to Gerry Webber´s shop and there was an armchair for Tony to sit in which was another mistake……I kept picking bits up and taking them over to him, he would say “nice” why don´t you get it….so I did, and I did, and I did! My wardrobe consists of very little nowadays other than what I have bought in either Primark orMetalan and the odd bit from the local market so it was really nice to buy something for a change which had a decent cut and fabric.  Took me back to my “former” life when I would shop til I dropped as money was not really an issue in those days….must have had a suit for every day of the month, ridiculous now when I think of it and to be honest I think my shopping was probably a way of covering up for sadness in other areas of my life.  The charity shops in Weston did very well out of me when we left the UK and there must have been some real smart people walking around with bargains!

Last night was wonderful here….I´ve mentioned before about the works that have been going on outside our street. Well, yesterday they got to just outside our window. There was an almighty bang and a flash and the digger man had cut through the main electricity pipe! There was a lot of huffing and puffing, a few more sparks (it was like November 5th actually) and the A team were called in!  The digger driver just took himself off up the road and wasn´t seen again until this morning.  Unusually for Spain, when I asked I was told the electric would be back on in an hour and it was only in fact another 2 hours (not bad on their standards). We were all hooked up to a generator for the night and the night shift worked on until 3 am to fix it.  Imagine this though, the workman when it happened had to obviously stay on so my neighbour upstairs who is, I imagine around 30, threw them down a few cans of beer aou nd a few cans of olives!  It is really quite normal to see workman stopping for a “tea” break at 10 am only to pull out a bottle of beer and a bread roll! My guess is they would be sacked in the UK….not here though! They never seem to be bothered by it though, and rarely drink the whole bottle!  Hopefully the photographs we took will come out and I will attach them later.

Right, off to pack now for our few days in Barcelona….Formula 1 remember? Look out for me on Sunday if you watch the race…we will be the one with the lop-sided Spanish flag  (Tony being 6´2″ and me under 5´!)

Take care one and all….catch you all again soon?  By the way Susie…if you tare reading this, read your PM, why not do a blog too, if you get the time which I know is precious for you. I often wonder if I am simply writing to myself but it is so therapeutic it doesn´t really matter! Hope not though really!

Bye for now, catch you all again real soon. Love Bell x

PS….Tony has just read on the internet that Alonso (F1) has said he is expecting a huge number of his fans to be wearing blue and flying the blue flag of Asturias which is where he is from…..apparently Blue will be the new Farrari colour….Gutted, we have nothing but red to wear for this weekend, thought we were going to be “well in”!!!! Typical!

Just thought I would pop in and tell you about my evening.  A friend of mine asked if I wanted to go to a spiritualist church where there was going to be a medium this evening.  Never in my life have I ever been to anything remotely like this but perhaps because of the obvious, I decided to go along with her and a couple of others.

We arrived in this house that had been converted and there were about 18 – 20 people there also.  It began with a lady coming around to collect the money…..only 3€ and I guess someone has to pay for the bills!  Anyway, she started at the end of the row where I was sitting and I recognised several of things that she said about the ladies that she spoke with before me.  She told them mostly about how their loved ones were watching over them etc etc and it was all very heart-warming for them all.  Then she got to me!  Firstly, she said that my mum had possibly been “heavy chested” which I don´t suppose was too much of an asumption when you consider my amble load! She then suggested Mum had been smart which I had to say was not necessarily the case. She then told me in that case, I liked to always be smart and Mum often disagreed with what I wore or chose to wear….right there! She spoke about how cold Mum had been as a person and how I often couldn´t do anything right for her! (Right again!) She told me that Mum had a difficult time, even at her passing which I have to agree as Mum was extremely scared and fought right up til the last minute.  The one thing I was pleased to hear though was when she said that Mum knew she hadn´t treated me kindly and that she was sorry for that…..it would have been lovely for Mum to have said that to me when she was alive but it wasn´t to be. I was then told that she thought I was in a very lonely place and that I must came away and pull out of it. Easy said!

When I first went into the room I admired a painting on the wall, not only because it was the only one there other than some very old photographs but mainly because it was a painting of daiseys…. She asked me if I knew someone by the name of Terry (someone here by that name but wouldn´t say we were close) and also someone by the name of Muriel. I don´t recognise that name and she then suggested that it could be a Muriel (as in a painting – apologies for spelling) and asked if I liked art. I had to admit that I had been admiring the painting earlier in the evening.

On the whole, did it make me feel better? Not really, just reinforced the way I felt my Mum had been and the sadness that it wasn´t different.  The only positive parts were the fact that she said was sorry for the way she had acted and also the fact that there was a mention of the painting of the daisey´s as in my mind, if this is all to be believed, it could be a roundabout reference to my dear Miss Daisey.  So, tonight I am probably a little bit more confused than usual and wondering how I am going to move out of the “lonely place” wherever that may be…..

On a much brighter note, we have actually managed to book our holiday!  Virgin Holidays  did everything in their power to make it extremely difficult to book with them so ended up phoning a travel agent in my old town who has given us a fairly good deal! Las Vegas here we come……….pancakes!! Fudge Brownies and steak…(who cares about gambling anyway!!

Off to catch up with Eastenders as I missed it earlier….my god that sounds sooooo sad!

Take care one and all. This piece of music has beautiful words and I often imagine I am singing it to Mum, hope you enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4pIgF4hTys

Love to you all, Bell x

Happy May everyone!  Can´t believe I haven´t been on here for a week….not like me at all!  Just trying to remember what has been going on over the last week….Our friends finally arrived on Tuesday after having their flight changed I don´t know how many times.  Its bad enough when you are young and able but they are in their late 70´s and one of them has Parkinson´s.  Anyway, all was well that ended well as they had a good trip over and arrived into the sunshine which has stayed with us all week.  It has been lovely having them here, they are like parents to us and I really enjoy their company.  We´ve taken them out and about as this is the first time that they haven´t hired a car in all the years that they have been coming over (around 30!). Hire cars here are ridiculous prices, somewhere around 350 pounds for a week and then they manage to get huge amounts from you for the extra insurance. 

We went to the market and that was great, I managed to get some new shoes for 5€..bargain! (Probably not really as I have so many that they will more than likely stay under the bed…) my friend bought bits and pieces for her grand-daughter including handbags for 1€!! Went out for a couple of meals too which is always nice (especially when their is a pudding!).  I got myself a wonderful migraine and spent yesterday in bed but was well enough to go out for a couple of hours last night….had to really as it was the last night we would be able to go out with them. 

Brenda (my friend) renamed the Ugly one “lardy”, I think she is right, he really has put on weight! I have to watch him now as he will go and eat anything that the other two terrors leave in their dishes (not that that is much). 

Still going to physio – not sure if this will be the last week.  I´m hoping that I will get a doctors appointment soon – I think I have had enough now and can´t see that the physio is going to make much difference, I think it is just going to be a matter of time.  I have a TENS machine now so I can put it on my neck as and when – that´s if I can get it off of Tony, he seems to be using is for every part of his body (well, not every part!)

Not sure if I had previously told you, but Tony´s dad and his wife used to live over here, just a couple of blocks away.  We got on well but for some reason (and we have no idea why) he stopped speaking to us! Our only thoughts were that it was because his wife wanted to go back to the UK and knew that if Pops wasn´t speaking with Tony it would be more than likely that he would agree to go….sounds stupid but there wasn´t any other logical explanation.  Anyway, that was about 4 years ago now and they have come back here every year for their holiday since!  Crazy.  Sad thing is that they walk past us in the street.  Tony doesn´t get worked up about it but I think it is sad.  Perhaps because Tony and all his family were in the army they can cope with things like this more, who knows.  Well, today I understand they are back again for a week or so, then 2 weeks in August too.  The funny thing is in the block that they stay, there are quite a few busy bodies and you only have to say something and it goes around like wild fire.  Yesterday someone asked us if we had a nice time in our house in the mountains recently!!!  We haven´t got one but we said we did ages ago to someone just to see if word would get around, which it obviously did!

Roadworks still going on outside the flat…and road still closed off, horrendous.  We have had a bit of a respite though as it was May Day on Saturday and everything stops!  No shops open….nada!  Doesn´t matter which day of the week May Day falls on, it is a public holiday so no work (other than bars/restaurants).

Today is Mother´s day in Spain and all the restaurants are full to overflowing.  It really is lovely to see them all having meals with their families….ummmm, haven´t got one now but we did do our first “meal” indoors for our friends this week.  We tried to make it nice and Tony said he felt like we were on Come Dine with Me!  We told them that we were quite happy for them to sort through our knicker drawers while we served up but they said they didn´t think they´d bother!  Not sure what marks we would have got but the meal was very nice.  Tony did a stuffed pork sirloin and veg and we both did a chocolate basket with ice-cream and strawberries..delicious!  We´ve never had a table big enough before to invite people for a meal and I actually quite enjoyed it.  Tony made sure it was all done like a military operation so we were quite organised!

We finally made the decision about a holiday and we are going to put the boat out and have “the big one”. We phoned Virgin for two weeks in Las Vegas and hopefully that will go ahead sometime in October.  It is a nightmare at the moment though trying to get back to Virgin.  Like so many companies they have those wretched premium numbers which are bad enough in the UK but from Spain it could cost a fortune.  Managed to get an alternative number from the Say NO to 0870 website but still haven´t managed to finalise everything.  Hopefully will be sorted on Tuesday.  I really don´t like gambling, in fact quite against it, but I know Tony will like to have a little flutter.  More interested though in going to see the shows, particularly want to see Jersey Boys.

May already…can you believe it! Another 6 weeks and my Mum has been gone for a year.  I can´t believe it.  I´m still at the stage where I go over the last few days in my head time after time but hope that at some stage this will pass.  I try to think of some good times but sadly these were few and far between. 

It is starting to fill up (well, not fill up more of a trickle this year) with people in the flats here.  Mostly the owners coming down for long weekends getting their apartments ready for the summer.  We have one apartment here that is owned by a lady who lives in New York and for the past 24 -25 years she has only used the apartment once each year for her holiday and the rest of the time it is all locked up.  I´m sure it must all be like new still even after all this time!

I best get off now and see what has been happening in the world whilst I have been elsewhere….hope you are all well out there and that if you are in the UK you enjoyed your Summer last Wednesday!! (sorry, couldn´t resist that one!) If its any consolation, we  are promised rain next week so with the lack of drains in these here parts, best get the waders out again!

Take care everyone….enjoy the bank holiday and hope the sun shines for you.

Much love as always, Bell x