T is for time to Celebrate

 Hello Ladies, last Saturday we celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary, it wasn’t the day we had planned where all our family flew over to celebrate with us, due to restrictions on travel it meant that our youngest son and family couldn’t come over from San Francisco nor our eldest son and his family from England. We  did go out for a lunch and our youngest son organised a Zoom call for everyone, that was really lovely. Our son took a screen shot of us all so at least we have a reminder!

The glasses and champers we've  had ten years, since our 40th Anniversary, they were a gift, we didn’t drink the champagne as we were actually on a cruise on the day, around the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and up to San Francisco to visit the family before going home, a fabulous trip, so we decided that we would save it until the family came over all together, for some reason that year they came at different times and then on a trip to San Francisco in the October my husband had a massive heart attack and ended up spending our holiday in hospital after having a triple bypass, not the holiday we expected, anyway we still never opened the bottle as my husband doesn't drink alcohol so the bottle still sits there. since then we’ve had additions to the family and with  GSs starting school  everyone always has different holidays.

 it’s been eight years since we all managed to be in Spain at the same time. We all have plans now to celebrate next May 29th, fingers crossed.

The flowers were sent from our eldest son, our 5 year old GS actually picked it as he said Nan had to have purple flowers as it's my favourite colour!

This is our wedding photo with the Lance Guard, it should have been a sword guard but my husband wasn't with his regiment at the time, he was on a recruiting team attached to the 307 South Notts Hussars.

The Hussars were in time of war were a mounted regiment so their weapon was a lance, easier to use on horseback!

we had our honeymoon in St Ives in Cornwall, in 1971 not many people went abroad for holidays and my husband only had a weeks leave.

This is one of my favourite photos, our Wedding Album was all black and white, we paid extra to have a small album done in colour, well it was 1971!!

I actually bought a rolling pin on our Honeymoon, I think the first thing I purchased as a married woman, I still have it and use it all the time, it is well traveled.

We did decided to go out for lunch, we just went a stroll around the Marina and then to one of our favourite restaurant, Viggios.

we did look at the menu but we've had most of the dishes on it over the years so  we decided to have the Menu Del Dia as you can see they had a big selection.

We chose a salad for our starter, it was delicious with ham and pineapple

and a slice of Garlic bread.

As you can see, my drink for this week, a glass of wine to celebrate.

First course we both chose Gazpacho, it was homemade and I think the best we’ve ever tasted.

Our main course we had the hake with Seafood and Leek sauce and roasted potatoes, I had already tried it before I remembered to take a photo, the photo doesn’t do it justice, I think the sauce over the fish makes it look a strange colour, it was delicious but after that we decided to skip pudding and just have coffee.

I love the coffee cups here, I couldn’t get a good photo, they are hand painted  and the saucer has writing on it, by then the restaurant was full so I felt a big self conscious taking a picture of a coffee.

I hope you are all still awake after all that!!  I was due to have my second vaccine tomorrow but had a text message on Sunday to say it is delayed until next Monday, no idea why, of course the council have only just released it online so hopefully everyone knows and doesn't have a wasted journey tomorrow!

Have a lovely T Day Ladies, take care

Jan x

T for Taking. time

 Hello Ladies, I’ve been MIA due to being ill, I had some kind of gastric infection for two weeks, after not being able to get a doctors appointment for a week my husband took me to the emergency department, happily for me it was my own doctor who was on duty, I was pleased as she knows me and speaks English, we had been googling words to describe my sickness just in case the doctor didn't speak any English.

I had a jab in the bottom for sickness and pills but it took me six days before I could eat, I’m still feeling weak even after three weeks but now my husband is on crutches, after we had to stand in line for four hours for his second vaccine and my first, he’s somehow hurt his foot, I actually sat in the car for the first three hours as I couldn’t stand in the sun after feeling so ill. There’s been so many complaints to the council they had to put a letter online to apologise although last week it was just the same when we drove past.

Between our family we have had three of the vaccines, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson so it will be interesting how we all fare.

Luckily my husband can still drive and I needed to shop so we decided to try a beach side cafe for breakfast, we could park right outside so no walking for him, gorgeous views!

View from the decking, these are Pop up Cafes that are built in the Spring and  usually disappear during the Autumn.

This is the view to the right of the Cafe, that's the small Church I've shown before but from the back.

Looking towards the small Marina.

I'm guessing these are where people sit in the evenings when it's cooler!

My drink for this week, shame the coffee was in a cardboard cup but at least it was a patterned one and it was good coffee.

Our small veg plot is growing well, the strawberries are growing so much, I’ve had to freeze most of them as we’ve had too many to eat. 

Sunday I made strawberry Fluff, weight watches recipe, just Greek yoghurt and a packet of jelly(jello) whipped up, unfortunately it didn’t all set!

It was tasty but more like a semi set milkshake, LOL

I took this photo yesterday and it has set much better, I had to spoon it into the dishes so it doesn't look as neat as on the recipe!

I’m pleased that our currant bushes have fruit on them for the first time, I think they heard the rumour that this year was their last chance, I’m happy to see one of the bushes is the red currant, they are slowly turning red, the black currant is growing but no fruit but I think that will survive for another year as that’s actually my husbands favourite for jam so hopefully next year it will fruit.

These are our bush Tomatoe plants, the strangest ones I've ever seen, they are only about 8 inches high although we've had quite a few, enough to make three pasta sauces!

We've now planted some normal cherry Tomatoe plants so they will fruit as these are finishing, well that's the plan.

I haven’t managed to craft at all as it’s just too much effort but hopefully next week we will both be fit as fiddles as my Mum used to say! So until then, keep safe!

Jan x

T is for stupendo

 HappyT Day Ladies, the weeks really do pass quickly, last Thursday was our youngest GSs fifth birthday, we had booked the ferry to go over but yet again we had to cancel so we managed to FaceTime while he opened his presents before school. Apparently he was awake very early so we were all chatting at 6am Uk time!

He had a beach party, he was super excited Saturday morning and said it was his Special Day.  They hired a beach hut to store the food although they were disappointed that it was quite basic, some sell for extortionate prices, we saw one for £50,000!

Our meal on Friday, Menu Del Dia on the Marina

We were the first to arrive, as you can see all spaced out and we had nearly finished our main course by the time other people arrived.

It’s unbelievable how they can make any money at the price, €11 each.

I had a Mixed salad to start, DH had a Murcian Salad, which is tinned tomatoes with half a hard boiled egg and olives, he loves it, we also had delicious fresh bread with alioil, (garlic Mayo), homemade!

I then had the crab with a kind of coleslaw, DH had baked Brie with Tomatoe jam, forgot to take the photos but they were both delicious.

Our main course! I had the fish dish, Hake, Salmon, Pau, not sure what that is but it was tasty, a couple of clams all in a Mariners sauce, 

DH had the pork knuckle, he said it was delicious, he always has a different dish to me just in case I don't like what I've ordered, what a thoughtful  husband he is!!

I chose Ice cream thinking it would be refreshing, until I saw the two slices!!!! My DH had to eat one of them to help me out, we are loathe to leave anything as they ask if everything was ok!

Strawberry cheesecake for my DH, he always chooses cheesecake

My drink for this weeks T party, As we paid the bill the waiter came out with two shots of Baileys, I did have a couple of sips,  my DH doesn't drink or like Baileys.

By this time I was fit to burst as you can imagine, the portions never look massive but by the time I've had the starter I'm struggling. We more or less staggered back to the car, thankfully we had already finished our walk and didn't have far to go back to the car

Every time we pass this clothes shop I have to smile at this dress, I'm not sure who they think will be buying it as in the winter it's mainly seniors, my DIL suggest I buy it for a Lockdown party although it is our Golden wedding next month, LOL

Not sure what my DH would say if I came out wearing it though!!

Hope everyone had a good week, we keep having a little rain although the days are warm enough for me to break out my crop trousers and put away my sweaters!! Keep Safe Ladies

Jan x

T is for

 Thank you to all the lovely ladies who came to visit last week, sorry I didn’t get time to visit everyone who posted later, we were so exhausted by the time we arrived home from the vaccine centre all we wanted was a cup of tea and to sit down!

My DH had an appointment for 11.33 but when we arrived half an hour early it was clear that people had just arrived with no appointments and were being seen anyway, the line went around the sports centre, down and up the next road, along the main road and down and up another road, it took two hours of standing and slowly moving until he finally got into the hall, then it was a snaking line.

 all organised at the point of injection thankfully, two minutes and he was done, now we know we will ignore any appointment time and get there when they open, the next morning we both had aching back and hips, bearing in mind everyone in the line was aged 70- 79 you’d think they would have kept to appointment times to save older people having to stand for over two hours, I don’t know why we were surprised as here in Spain they have no organisation skills whatsoever.

The good thing was that we got chatting to people we had never met before, as usual the Brits in the line made jokes about it all, I’m now waiting to hear when I will have the pleasure of getting mine! My DIL said her Mum in Poland had the same experience!

One of our walks last week, another cloudy day but we enjoyed it, not many people around either. 

This is on the beach side of the Marina, a lovely place to have a drink in the summer. The restaurant used to do a ten course tasting menu, it was really delicious, you didn't get a menu and our friend Mary doesn't like shellfish, we did warn her there would be some, of course about four of the dishes had shellfish so our DH's had to eat them, no complains from either of them.

of course the views are spectacular as the other side is on the edge of the sea.

I took this from the same place looking down the Paseo, I love that we are surrounded by the mountains although they look pretty threatening when it's a cloudy day.

 This is my piece of art for our dear friend Nancy's challenge on SCS, to use corrugated cardboard.

It took me two weeks to finish it as I always get stuck at the end, I think I used everything I have in my stash, even used my corrugated paper maker, you know the little gadget that I just had to have and haven't used for about ten years.

Overnight on Sunday we had a really awful storm, thunder, lightening and torrential rain, when we woke up yesterday morning our whole garden was covered in red sand, it seems to be happening more often in recent years, it also means a few hours of intense cleaning to get rid of it.

We had to hose down the garden, something we hate to do as it such a waste of water but we know from past experiences if you let it dry it's impossible to sweep up as it dries like clay on the tiles, as for the pool, well that will be more waste water as it will have to go straight to waste water to get rid of the sand otherwise it just gets back into the filters! 

My drink related photo this week is a mug that was a gift from a friend to my DH, it’s from Woolwich where my DH did his Military training, it shows the Woolwich Barracks, it never gets used as it’s quite fine China but it was a lovely surprise gift as it reminded my DH of his time there.

Well that's me for this week, more cleaning to do, it's all go being retired LOL

Have a great T Day and keep safe.

Jan x

T is for Tuesday

 Well it’s been a quieter week than last week, we did have a smile at our almost five year old GS, when we were chatting on Sunday, his Mum was getting ready to go to a cheese and wine party for her sisters Birthday, our GS said he didn't want to go as girls only talk about princesses and unicorns, LOL

Good news, my DH is getting his vaccine tomorrow, he had a phone call last night, in rapid Spanish but when they realised he wasn't Spanish  he slowed down enough to be understood, 11.33am, just love the Spanish,  we never get an appointment at ten past or half past always six minutes past or eighteen minutes past, not that they are ever on time, our Spanish friend said this morning it will probably be 1pm, ha.ha. we always ask now if they mean Spanish or English time, they find it amusing! I'm not in the 70+ age group so I have to wait.

Last Friday we went out for a Chinese meal, it must be 18 months since we last had one as we haven’t been going out for a lunch until a couple of weeks ago since well before lockdown 

It’s a restaurant we haven’t been to before but it was well spaced out and very clean. It is opposite to one of the beaches but there’s no shade on the terrace and seeing as it was a warm day we chose to eat inside.

They first gave us prawn crackers with our menu, I’m not a big fan of them but I always end up eating them while deciding what to eat.

The menu as you can see it’s really a good menu and very cheap,  €6.50.

They do have a normal menu to choose from.

First course we chose Chinese salad and spring roll, we shared them as you can see.

Our main course we shared Rice Three delicious, Beef in Oyster sauce, noodles and chicken chow Mien.

We both decided the Beef was the tastiest but it was all lovely

Our drinks, I had the white wine and DH had the sin Alcohol beer, it did say on the menu drinks were not included but when we paid the bill she hadn't charged us, we didn't argue of course LOL

One meal this week was supposed to be Ribs but I couldn’t get any so I  bought what looked like the meat from the ribs, my DH cooked them Chinese style, also rice cooked with colorante, he likes it to look colourful,  I'm not sure if you can buy it in England but it’s used over here instead of saffron, so much cheaper too, used in Paella dishes.

We had so much rain last week especially Wednesday, all day, we did go out to shop and have breakfast, everywhere looked miserable but Thursday the sun came out so we had our walk, we did sit inside the cafe as it was a bit breezy but this was our view of the Marina.

This is the side street to the cafe, not quite so pretty but what always amuses me is that people in the apartments hang their washing out over  the street, something I would never do, hang my unmentionables where everyone can see them and have the risk of them blowing around the Paseo if it gets windy!

 A Happy St Georges Day to all the English ladies on Friday, we usually have our first swim on that day but this year the pool isn't anywhere near warm enough to tempt me, 

Happy T Day Ladies, thank you for visiting me last week and all your lovely comments, Stay Safe.

Jan x

T is for Travel

 Good morning Ladies, we’ve had a busy week, it didn’t start off that way. 

We needed a new Padron from the Ayuntamiento, this document is proof you own a property and live here, unfortunately if you need it as proof it has to be less than three months old! So off we went armed with passports, utility bills, residencia papers, fortunately we were second in line, doesn’t take long once you are there seeing as we are only renewing it. After taking all the documents we could think of he only looked at one of our passports!!!

 I need to renew my Medical card, for some reason last time it was renewed I didn’t get the full four years. Now I need an appointment to see the man who does the paperwork, then it's all sent  off,  I’m guessing to Madrid!

We read online that a replica boat had been docked in the harbour so we decided to take a closer look while we were on our walk, it’s quite impressive.

 It’s a replica of the Noa Victoria, it was the first ship  to circumnavigate the world between 1519 -1522, This voyage was overseen by Fernao de Magalhaes, known as Magellan in English. and took three years and covered 45,000 miles.

The Vessel is a Carrack, 60-70 feet long and built of Oak and Pine,  it housed 45 crew and formed part of a five ship expedition to map a trade route for Spain. It was financed by Carlos V and 265 men began the journey but only the Victoria returned with just 18 men.

Megellan was killed in the battle of Mactan and Barbosa took control only to be poisoned by the Rajah of Humabon in the (Cebu) Philippines after being invited to a banquet in honour of the Spanish King. The remaining 18 crew were a mix of nationalities and survivors from the five ships that started the expedition, Most of the crew died from malnutrition. 

Between 2004 - 2006 she completed her own round the world trip stopping in 17 countries .

They were very brave to sail around the world as it's not the biggest boat I've ever seen!

One of our meals last week, homemade meatballs with sauce made with tomatoes, onions, red peppers and Garlic.

They were quite big so we had two each with cheese sprinkled on the top, the rest we froze for another meal.

My drink for this week was a quick coffee after we had been to get our Padron, a different coffee from usual. I quite like the pattern on the top.

This is a slice of the Lemon Curd cheesecake I made a few weeks ago, I had to cut a slice for the photo as it was too deep so parts of the lemon curd topping  slid sideways, not a pretty sight but it tasted ok.

It was just Greek yoghurt, cream cheese, icing sugar mixed together with a biscuit base, I used my homemade lemon curd on the top and a swirl inside.

I made this card last week, for a challenge on SCS, as usual it started off a quite a simple card but ended up taking me days to finish, you know when you start something and wish you really hadn't! 

Apart from all that we've been gardening, taking out a massive Bird of Paradise plant, took three days and ten huge bin bags to get rid of it all. we are both suffering from sore backs and shoulders from digging etc, I will post a picture of the finished garden next week, until then, take care and stay safe Ladies.

Jan x

T is for Tasty Treat

 Hello Ladies, here we are again meeting up with Bluebeard and Elizabeth for our weekly T party.

Hope you all had a good Easter, I hope you didn't eat too many chocolate eggs, my DH bought me six mini Caramel eggs, my favourite,  we had our mini celebration by having a lunchtime menu at the Indian restaurant across the road, it was delicious as usual.

We sent our youngest GS a Dinosaur Egg, he loved it , Grandad was silly and asked if it was an Eggasaurus, he said, no Grandad!  it's a T-Rex, the most fearsome Dinosaur in the world, he still doesn't always know when Grandad is joking.

This is the lunchtime Menu, as you can see it's very good value for money, we had the 9.95 menu.

The first course was Poppadoms with three dips.

One of the starters, Onion Bahji, I had the Cauliflower Pakora but for some reason it isn't letting me crop the photo. It was delicious.

The main course, we had already started before I remembered to take a photo, hence the messy look!!

Chicken Balti and Lamb Tikka Masala

Rice and Garlic Nan

Also my drink for this week, a glass of wine that is part of the menu 

These were in our local supermarket, they usually have a boiled egg in the middle that's been coloured, I'd imagine the kids are pleased to see they now have chocolate eggs inside, not much fun getting a boiled egg but looking closely I think there's one at the other end!!

These are the photos I took last week when it was very windy, we see this fishing boat coming back into the harbour every morning, well we hear the noise before we see it as hundreds of seagulls fly out to meet it, I’m guessing they throw the fishy bits overboard, we are usually on the Paseo so not near enough for a good photo but we were on the back part of the marina as the boat came in, the noise was deafening as you can imagine!

The big building on the hill is a cafe bar, it’s on so many different levels with a tiny splash pool at the bottom, fab views too, a lovely place to take visitors. Once when we were there with our sons we were all excited as we saw what we thought were seals in the harbour, turns out it was the diving school and what we saw were the divers heads with wet suits on, LOL very disappointing.

The building is part of the fish market, every morning we hear the buzzer going off, we think it is after every sale is complete.

They have beautiful Mosaics on the walls, I will try to find them to post another time.

Over the weekend we didn't have breakfast at our normal Cafe as it was very busy on the seafront so we went to the bakery for croissants and takeaway coffee and sat in the sun on a bench overlooking the beach, it was very enjoyable for a change. 

Today the sun is shining and it's back to normal here so  Happy T Day and Keep Safe Ladies 

Jan X