T is for

 Time to join Elizabeth and Bleubeard for another T Party, soon comes around, I sometimes find it hard to remember what I’ve been doing since the last weeks Party!  

It’s been slightly cooler weather, still hot but bearable,  we had a couple of small jobs to do but we’ve been up early to do them, my husbands main weekly job, sometimes twice a week is cleaning the pool, the wind brings dust that sinks to the bottom of the pool so it’s an ongoing task, 

I think I mentioned that we had a trip to buy a fly screen, the sort that has hanging strips, well my husband put up the hooks, it was hard going as the beam he had to drill has metal bars running through it, anyway he finished and we hung it up and we were both speechless, it was too short, of course I got the blame, my husband insists he told me 230cm and I wrote down 213cm.

 It wasn’t wasted as I now have it hanging outside my craft room door! we’ve been all over to find a longer length, eventually we went to  visanfer builders merchants who have some made to measure, chose the colour, clear with gold spirals, who doesn't like a bit of bling, paid a deposit then the girl rang to say they can’t make it, we went back to ask if any of the others on display could be made in that length, she rang to say yes but unfortunately only white, oh well, matches the door! At least when it arrives we just have to hang it up. Our next project is making a fly screen for he small window in my craft room, it’s all go being retired you know !!

So had another visit to the Chinese restaurant,  if we arrive at 1pm we are usually the only ones in there and it’s cool, we ordered the duck and chicken, again, this time my husband decided  to try the bananas and I had the apple fritters with honey., I think the heat was getting to the waitress, she tried to pour my wine into the glass without taking the cork out, made us all laugh, she pointed to her head and said it’s too hot!

Luckily the Apple fritters in Honey were a smaller portion than the bananas, thankfully!

Tomorrow lunchtime we are planning to try a restaurant we haven't been to before, it's been recommended to us by some friends.

This is our BBQ area although it’s now our seating area, it’s lovely and cool now we’ve had the roof put on and having a gap around the top means we get a lovely breeze, most days, the flowers are all artificial, it takes too much water in the heat to keep them alive so this year we bought more pots and flowers, I bought the trailing plants to hide the drain pipe so I’m quite pleased with it now

I tiled the walls, with help from my husband, he was the labourer for that job, the brick pillars were just concrete so we covered them with handmade bricks.

I made a bacon, tomato and cheese quiche for dinner, it lasted two days with salad, I made it with creme fraise instead of cream, it makes the filling really creamy, my husband also made the potato salad with it instead of Mayo, I don’t like Mayo so I really enjoyed it. I usually put out the meal because, as you can see, this is my husbands idea of a small portion,  he then complains when I can't finish my meal!!!

My drink this week, I haven't had Lemon Barley water for years, I spotted it in the  local English supermarket, I do get tired of drinking water so it's been a refreshing change.

Nothing too exciting to do in this heat, it's getting harder and harder to park at the beach now the holidaymakers are here and that's at 8.30am when we arrive to walk, apparently it's hard to see the sand during the afternoon as there's so many people on the beach.

Hope you are all keeping safe and enjoying the summer, take care.

Jan x

T is for Toooo Hot

 This last week has been soooo hot, Tuesday morning we  had our appointment in Murcia to have our paperwork checked and fingerprints done, firstly we were miles early, the motorway was manic but we parked and had a coffee sat in the shade, parking was €1.50 for the day but some people wouldn’t pay so left their cars on the road, both sides, so we had entertainment when the police arrived and put parking tickets on all the cars, one man spent ages arguing with the police , foolish man,

We went inside and after going through the scanners the joy of a massive room with aircon,  all went without a hitch, driving home the car showed 37c,it was 39c but dropped slightly, 

as soon as we got home we put our documents away and went straight in the pool, the water was 31c, 

Wednesday we went to Cartagena to buy some solar lights for the BBQ patio but had to take our receipt to Jose so he can get our appointment next month to collect our TIE cards.

 It was quite funny as we decided to have breakfast in our town before driving to Cartagena, we went to a cafe we’ve never been to before, first we bumped into our friend Pedro, we haven’t seen him for over a  year, then when the waitress came with the coffees and tomatoes on toast we asked for pepper, she said yes I Remember, we were puzzled,  she then said she knows us from the cafe on the marina, honestly everywhere we go we bump into waiters who we know from different restaurants, the man from the BP Garage, we have been here a long time though!!

A funny story, years ago my husband had to show photo ID to the young lady to pay by credit card for his diesel,  he showed her his photo and said look Tom Cruise, so yesterday he filled the car and he went in to pay, she was training a new girl, she said here's Tom Cruise, my husband, always the joker lowered his mask slightly and said, no George Clooney, he said they both fell about laughing, I wonder why!!!

We always know when it’s officially summer, the floating slides

The grannies seats in the sea as we call them, I know some of the ladies are most likely my age or possibly younger but not in my mind! I really can’t think of myself of that age, well until I try to get up off my knees or bend down, LOL

Someone had a lucky escape, this boat was rescued two miles out from Cartagena, we thought it had hit the rocks near our beach, apparently the helicopters etc were called and everyone was rescued but they towed the boat here to have it repaired in our Marina, it’s now in there being repaired, that will cost a pretty penny I'm sure, our sons friend had a boat, he used to say BOAT stands for Break out another thousand!!!

My ticket to the T party this week, coffee, beer and wine, delicious fried bananas in honey, we had a Chinese meal last Friday, we had sweet and sour chicken, again, with  duck in orange sauce, forgot to take a photo but I was very naughty and had this for my afters, my husband was a good boy and only had coffee, it was delicious, they also do apple too, might have to try that next time!

Yesterday we had a heatwave, 40C, it was so hot we had to go inside at 3pm to escape the heat, even with swimming it was horrendous with the humidity, at 10pm it was still in the 30's, we had the aircon going all night but I woke up this morning wrapped up in the sheet! Apparently it's going to be 10c lower today so fingers crossed.

Have a Happy T Day ladies, thank you so much to everyone who paid me a visit last week and the kind comments, they were much appreciated. Take care and keep safe.

Jan x

T is for Tuesday, already!

 Is it really Tuesday already, the week really flies by,  it’s been quite relaxed this week, an early morning walk, breakfast and shopping or collectling meds, nothing exciting really.

I have been trying to craft but since I was ill I can’t seem to get my mojo back, I’ve had the odd hour here and there. I join the challenges on Splitcoaststampers but I’m so far behind, I have about three different ones on the go, I start off well and then my idea floats away.

One of the challenges was anything faux , I’m made faux metal,  this is the front of one of the photo journals, I’m making one for both sons, I’m quite pleased with it as I didn’t want anything flowery.

 I rummaged through my stash looking for textured pieces to stick on it before covering with silver gaffer tape as we call it, I think it’s really called insulation tape. I had to smile as I ask my husband if he had any, he never batted an eye lid or even asked me what I needed it for, he just said he would look in his tool room, he didn't  have any so he went out to buy some for me, what a star he is.

Of course since I took the photo I've added some Indigo Gilding Wax on some parts to darken it! This is the point when I usually ruin things just going one step to far, luckily this time it's OK

I’ve been making strawberry jam and lemon curd to use the fruit, I have to pick the strawberries twice a day as they ripen so fast, the tomatoes are now beginning to ripen too. We asked Alvarro who owns the cafe where we eat breakfast if he would like a bag of lemons, he said yes please so at least we can give some more away as the fridge is full!

My drink, a coffee on the beach.

First time we had been to this cafe, very slow service so wouldn't want to go when they are busy

As you can it's right on the beach

This is the view to the right of the cafe, how lovely to have a holiday home right on the beach although they have been demolishing some further along the road that sit on the beach so perhaps not!!

Well must dash as we are off to Murcia to have our finger prints taken for our new TIE card, have a Happy T Day and keep safe.

Jan x

T is for Tapas, again

 Hello Ladies, hope you are all well, we seem to have had another busy week but now I look back I wonder why.

We did collect our documents for our TIE card and Sunday we decided we would take a drive to Murcia to see where the offices are, actually it was very easy to find but then we decided to go to IKEA, only five minutes drive away apparently, the trouble is that we had to find our way back to the motorway,  not always easy here as they have service roads alongside the main roads and motorways so sometimes it can be confusing, thank goodness it was early and Sunday with not so much traffic.

We already have two chairs but decided to buy two more but as we went in the main door we spotted some lovely cane chairs, my husband asked one of the staff if they were in the garden section, she said yes so we decided to go there first, as you may know that is near the check outs!

 we couldn’t find them, asked at the desk, no joy so we gave up, went all the way back to find the ones we came for and then spotted the ones we’d been looking for, unfortunately they were quite expensive and we would have to buy four to match, we ended up buying the ones we already had, by this time we were flagging so found a short cut to pay, I always like the thought of going to IKEA but never actually enjoy it.

I was shocked that my husband decided to put them together when we got home, I hate helping  him as he is methodical, counts the screws etc by that time I’m on page ten, ha,ha such fun. I will post a photo next week when all the hanging pots are in place

So Friday we decided to try a restaurant the other end of the beach from last week

to the left you can see the campsite, it’s starting to fill up

Unfortunately even at midday they had no tapas ready so we just had a coffee, lovely views. This is looking to the right, it's quite a steep drop from where you can see the edge of the beach and quite stony, we had to buy the GSs rubber shoes to wear.

We went back to the Oasis restaurant, the same place as last week rather than drive somewhere else

We did have one different Tapas, pork in salsa, very nice, apart from that the other two tapas were the same, even the drinks.

I like to watch the birds, one even sat on the chair next to me and started chirping loudly, that was before the food even arrived.

I took this photo, they sit on the gate, you can see them waiting,  when the waitress disappears they try to go inside looking for food

Good news I had my colon results back today, negativo! The weather is hot now, yesterday when we went back to the car after our walk it was showing 38c, we were parked in the sun, it dropped to 31con the way home! Today it was 27c at 10am so if you'd like to pop over for a cool drink you will find me in the shade with a book.

Take Care Ladies

Jan x

T is for Tapas

 Hello Ladies, here we are again joining Elizabeth and Bluebeard for our weekly T Party.

Most days we've had our walk and breakfast, Last week I had to post some Birthday cards and we walked past the church, it reminded me that I had taken a photo months ago to show and forgot. It looks lovely from this side but not so pretty from the other side!

 Friday I had my appointment to renew my medical card, I wasn’t looking forward to it as we have to see the man we all call Happy Jack as he has never been known to smile, we’ve been three times over the years we’ve lived in Spain, this time he didn’t smile but he was friendlier, I’m guessing since we now have to actually make an appointment he isn’t quite so stressed.

Mind you it didn’t start off well as we walked into his office he said only one person, well he has a screen, two chairs so you can’t actually get near the desk and all wearing masks! Anyway my husband told him it was only for me so he allowed him to stand at the open door and then he totally ignored me!!! five minutes later we were done, documents checked and a document printed as a receipt, he said it could take a year or two months, LOL talk about covering all eventualities, apparently some are back in a couple of weeks so we will see.

We were early for my appointment so we decided to have a coffee at the bakery in the town, my husband gave the waitress a note to pay for the coffee, she came around the counter to show us the machine, you put your note in and it gives out the change!! Next stop robots making the coffee I'm guessing!

After that we decided to nip into the accountants office to see if he had our documents ready for our first appointment for our new TIE card, of course as soon he saw us he said he would ring on Monday, funny that, no news until we turn up, no phone call yesterday but this morning we had a call whilst on our walk and we have to collect our documents tomorrow and have an appointment for our finger prints etc on July 6th!

we went looking for a thermometer for our seating area, my husband has hung the pots on the wall and I bought the flowers for them but we just need a centrepiece, no joy at the moment but I did spot this necklace in a window, what attracted me was the butterflies of course, I think they are made of leather so I'm not sure how comfortable it would be to wear!

   

After that we decided it was time for lunch, neither of us felt like eating a big meal in the heat so we went to the Oasis restaurant for tapas, we sat in the garden, a lovely relaxing lunch.

Alitas de Pollo, (chicken wings) ,tortilla and albondigas, ( very garlicky meatballs) but tasty, a glass of wine and sin alcohol beer, also my drink for this weeks ticket to the party, it was lovely chilling out, then it was home for a swim, a good way to finish the week, it’s our youngest sons favourite place to have tapas when he comes over from San Francisco so of course I sent him the photo!! What a cruel Mother I am!!!

Yesterday we had even more excitement, my husband read online that we could download a form and take it to the local councillor at the office down the road to apply for an EU vaccine passport, so my husband downloaded it and sent it to me on an email so I could print it off, eight copies printed, four for us and four for our neighbours, then a new message, they'd sent the wrong form, eight more copies, two filled in and two just in case we’d made a mistake, so we were  driving home when our neighbour rings to say his wife was there and that we also need a copy of our passports so we dash home, fire up the computer and scan our passports, quick March across to the office, an hours wait, literally took five minutes for the lady to check the paperwork but of course half of the neighbourhood had the same idea, oh well, we Brits are well known for our love of standing in a queue, we were taking bets which year they will arrive in the post! 

Well that’s been my week, hope you’ve all had a more relaxing or exciting week, Happy T Day

Jan x

T is for Tuesday

 Hello Ladies, hope everyone is safe and well, I’m pleased to say I’m feeling good and  thank you for all your kind comments last week.

We’ve been doing a few jobs around the villa,  we removed three electric heaters that haven’t been used since we had the log fire, of course we had holes to fill in and then painting, luckily we were able to just paint where we had filled in the holes, we were worried it would mean painting the whole room, not something we relished doing in the heat.

We also had some ceiling fans fitted in the lounge and dining room, they are quite big but when they are off the blades are tucked away, we thought they looked a little more modern too, they also have remote control, another one for my husbands collection!!

This is the fan off with just the light on, it has three different coloured lights, so of course I had to stand and watch while my husband played with all the settings, he does love a remote control!

Not sure if you noticed the clock in the background, it’s a giant wristwatch, we bought it when we lived in Germany when I was pregnant with our eldest son, he’s 49 next month, it does lose a few minutes but it’s traveled about with us, our sons don’t like it but I  tell them it’s a heirloom, ha,ha, I couldn’t part with as it’s one of the few things we have left for our time in Germany.

This is the blades out, it isn't flashing,It's the light catching the spinning blade, our DIL asked why it flashes as it spins!! They are so quiet too, that's why we took the ones out from the bedroom as the clicking sounds drove us mad.

My drink this week is a coffee, on  Friday we decided to have a Chinese’s meal, I didn’t take photos as I’ve shown this restaurant before but before lunch we had a short stroll at another beach, it was too hot by midday to walk very far but it was nice to sit and enjoy the view.

Not much else to report apart, we spending our afternoons in the shade reading and swimming as it's very hot now, the pool is 28c so I'm also doing some lengths to get fit. I'm still picking bowls of strawberries every day, we could do with the GS's here to help eat them although the wood lice seem to like them too!! 

Happy T Day, hope you are also enjoying some good weather.

Jan x

T is for A Trying Time

 Hello Ladies, Tuesday once again, time to join Elizabeth and Bleubeard for another T party.

We were having a fairly quiet week, a visit to the accountant to collect our paperwork and pay the bill, they are now preparing our new residence cards, we already have residencia but they have a new card and although it isn’t compulsory at the moment we’ve decided to get one before the Spanish government decides to change their minds.

On Friday it was very cloudy so we changed our plans and decided to have fish and chips near the beach, we drove to a different place this time, it was spitting with rain so we sat in the car listening to a podcast. I totally forgot to take a photo as we had a longer drive than we thought, the place we were heading to has been blocked off and made into a lovely area, unfortunately it’s blocked off to cars.

My choice of drink, I've never had it before but I forgot our drinks from home so had to run in the supermarket to buy two, I'm trying not to drink fizzy drinks at the moment so I just grabbed this.

It was quite nice.

Saturday started off as normal, we drove to the beach, had our walk, it was spitting with rain which turned into a down pour.

This was the view while we were having breakfast. Luckily they have two tables inside.

As you can see it's a small place so not good for trade when the weather is bad, luckily in Spain that's not too often.

It's owned buy a young couple with two children, they are lovely and we've known them for years as he used to work at the local Italian restaurant, he wasn't married at the time so we've seen his children from being babies and now they are at school.

we shopped on the way home and then I went into Mercadona to buy some Pan Cristal, cobs as we call them but bread rolls to everyone else. I was only in the shop for about five minutes but as I came out my husband was shouting to me to hurry up, the back tyre on the car was almost flat! Luckily the BP garage is across the road so we dashed over to pump up the tyre, it was so flat the air didn’t even register on the machine, of course it had to  be the new fangled ones that need money and then you had to set the pressure you need, etc, not what you need when you are in a hurry.

the pressure back up we drove across town to the tyre repair, closed, on a Saturday!! Drove to the next place closed too! We decided then it would be best to try and get home so on the way we stopped and to do the tyre pressure again, arrived home and the tyre was nearly flat so my husband started to change the tyre, of course it started to pour with rain so I had to hold the big umbrella over him, luckily, years ago, he had bought  an extending wrench so he was able to remove the wheel nuts! He was so tired afterwards, I think it was the stress, so yesterday we had to drive to town to get the tyre fixed, typical, I also had to have my second vaccine so it couldn’t have come at a worse time! Isn’t it always the case.

I’m pleased to report that my vaccine went really well, very well organised, it was in the tomatoe factory, a massive warehouse, when I went in there were two and a half long lines queuing so I was expecting a long wait but we kept moving, slowly all the time, when I arrived to have my medical card checked they had about eight people checking, by the time I got to the place for the vaccine I was sent straight through, a young man was waving the vaccine to show he was ready, he actually spoke English, I was surprised when I walked back to the car that it had only been half an hour.

I thought after twelve hours I had escaped any problems but at 1am this morning I woke up with aching bones and the shivers, I took a pain killer and thankfully went back to sleep, I felt fine this morning but since we've arrived home I'm aching again!

After my vaccine we went back to have the tyre put back on the car, he said he would do it for us, only charged €10, a bargain, now the car is full of diesel, washed and the tyre pressures reset on the computer!

This morning the weather is sunny and warm and this is the view today!

That's me for this week, off to sit in the shade with some fruit and hopefully a swim, take care ladies.

Happy T Day!

Jan x

Yesterday I had my second vaccine