T is for Trying To Keep Cool

 Not much to going on here at the moment with the excessive heat, we’re getting ready for our eldest son, DIL and youngest GSs visit in ten days time, last Wednesday our family from San Francisco left after their two week visit, it was a sad day made worst by having to be up at 6am to get to the airport.

Our son was mid flight from San Francisco and DIL and GSs at the airport in Berlin when the airlines cancelled their return flights from Spain to the Uk so our poor DIL spent the afternoon at the airport trying to find another flight, ended up flying into Birmingham, miles from London, in the end they hired a car with driver to collect them from Birmingham to drive them to Oxford where our DIL was staying with her sister and then taking our son on to London for his flight home the following Day, Hopefully they will get a refund on their original flight as it cost an extra £900 for the flights and £300 for the car! Quite disgusting that they are allowed to just cancel leaving people stranded.

Our GS pointed out the sky as we were driving to the beach, dark rays across the sky.

We had a lovely two weeks with them, it was exhausting as our ten year old GS loves the pool and so I had hours of fun with him, also playing Uno, we had a championship every evening before bed, it was fun but they are all very competitive so you had to have your wits about you at all times. Also some cheating going on too!

Our ten year old GS wanted to play in my craft room, he made this card for his Mum, he embossed the BG and he wiped pink distress inks over the raised pattern before adding the flowers, bling and the MOM across the front.

I think he did a great job for his first time!

it's 9.30am and already hot and humid, we have already had our walk and breakfast,  today and Wednesday we have heat warnings as they say it may get up to 46C, never had more than 40C here before and only once I think, fingers crossed it doesn't get that hot!

My ticket to the T party for this week; I sent this photo to our son to show that we are preparing for his visit, we always take a couple of beers to the airport, wine for DIL and cold drink for GS, to celebrate the start of their holiday, usually sandwiches too just incase they are hungry, it keeps GS occupied as it's a 90 minute journey from the airport, he told me over the weekend that he is travelling in his swim shorts so he can jump out of the car and jump straight into the pool, I had visions of him sitting on the plane with his swimming goggles on too. LOL

Hope all the ladies of the T gang are happy and well, that's me for this week, off to the pool for a swim, the water is 31c !  Take Care Ladies

Jan X

T is for Two Days

 Happy T Day, lovely to join Elizabeth and Bleubeard at the T party again this week, we’ve been busy preparing for the invasion, stocking the freezer up with ice creams, filling the wine fridge, also lots of soft drinks and water to keep everyone hydrated. I have another list for tomorrow, another supermarket dash for the rest of my extensive list, we always end up eating up what's left in the fridge and freezer after they leave although we have the youngest GS ten days after they leave so ice creams will definately not be wasted.

I thought you might like to see a photo of our Grand doggies although our GS tells me they are our GreatGrand doggies, Evie and Freya, they were from the same litter, very boisterous but very friendly. I can’t tell them apart but apparently one has some darker colouring!

I really enjoying going out for walks with them both while we were over earlier in the year.

Evie is quite lazy and when we were by the old quarry she would wait for Freya to get the stick from the water and then take it off her, she obviously didnt want to get wet!

My husband found this photo, a replica of the Phoenician boat that was found in the harbour in the Puerto de Mazarron, its made of steel and sits on the traffic island in the Puerto, it’s had red lights put around it to celebrate Blood Donation Day, looks quite stunning.

We had lunch out last Thursday, we had a dental appointment booked for yesterday but they rang to see if we’d like to go earlier so we thought yes let’s get it over with, not my favourite place! I thought I might need a tooth out , we didn’t know if they would do it there and then, turns out the pain is that the bones in my gums, they are weak so inflame my gums, apparently it will get worse, oh joy, anyway after half an hour of a painful clean and Polish off for lunch, although DH did have a filling on Friday, 

We met an English lady while we were waiting for the dentist, she has a holiday home over here,  she lives only half an drive from our son in England, what a coincidence! Anyway she asked if we could meet for a coffee some time but we found that we aren't in Spain at the same time until next January. She told me she owned a shop, I asked hopefully if it was a craft shop by any chance as I know there is one in Faversham, she has an arts and craft type shop where she sells her own jewellry, disaapointing LOL.

We decided to go to Blanca's restaurant, they had a large party arriving so we had to sit inside, as usual it was delicious.

A salad which I forgot to take a photo of and this lovely bread with aioli, garlic Mayo, homemade and strong! If one of you eats it you really both have to.

Gazpacho, obviously homemade as it was slightly thicker than shop bought, so delicious, with croutons and a drizzle of Olive Oil. Very refreshing on a hot day.

My DH had Codillo, pork elbow, that was solid meat, it fell off the bone, two potatoes cooked the the juices.

My Pork in Pepper Sauce, the pork was so tender,I didn’t eat those peppers in case they were hot ones.

We didn’t have a Postre just coffee as we were full to the brim.

My ticket to the T Party this week.

My DIL sent this photo, don’t you love the barman’s face, LOL, 

It’s our DILs cousins wedding , she married a famous footballer, well famous in Poland !they hired the whole hotel by a lake for the wedding and all the guests stayed overnight with a BBQ before they left.

I must say the Polish people like a drink, my husband asked for a non alcoholic beer when we went over and they didn’t have any but offered one stronger than you’d normally drink, they also make their own fruit vodkas, we haven’t tried any but apparently it’s very strong.

My final photo, the cakes, I think the little boy looks like our GSs cousin, just wish I could see his face! 

DIL is over there with her sister and the two boys, our son couldn’t get the time off work unfortunately. 

Only two days to go before our family arrive, Thursday evening,  they should have been arriving at 4.30pm but their flight was cancelled so now they arrive at 9pm, luckily they are arriving at Murcia airport, only 40 minutes from home, our GS told us he will be straight into the pool when he gets out of the car, they are in Berlin at the moment, this morning  they are catching a train to Prague before flying to London to meet up with their Dad so at least they will be over their jet lag, hopefully!

Happy T Day Ladies, see you all in a few weeks time

Jan x

T is For New Place fr Breakfast

 Happy to say summer has finally arrived, weather sunny and warm , we had our first swim on Saturday, quite cool getting in at first but lovely once I started swimming. My DH doesn't swim he just gets in the water and goes round the edges cleaning and skimming the top, I swim around him LOL

Yesterday as usual we had our walk around Bolnuevo, this is a beach bar they erect every summer, they have a few in the Puerto too.

This is Las Redes, the same name as the one I think I mentioned that had to close down on the sea front.

Not the same staff so we think it's been taken over, shame as the other staff were really friendly, the girl here couldn't smile if her life depended on it!

The small outside terrace, just across the other side of the road they have a large dining area.

The inside of the restaurant, through the window, there's a few tables to the left behind the window too, I like the nets and beach theme they've used.

You can just see the Jamon with a cloth over it on a small table, you can have some thinly sliced on the tomatoes but I prefer it with melon.

Our breakfast, Tostado Con Tomate, We like pepper with our tomatoes but there was more pepper in the little packet than normal!! I do love the fancy plates they use.

The bread is lovely, I think they bake it themselves as it always tastes as if fresh from the oven.

Lovely coffee and my ticket to the T Party for this week.

Our circular walk is just over two miles and ends just down the road from the restaurant.

The wet weather we’ve had has bought out the ants, they have been coming out of the grout between the tiles in the conservatory, I hate them and get quite obsessed with them so I’ve been spraying the grout , I’ve found dead ones the next morning, we’ve had a few small flying ants too but not as bad as other years, it’s my ongoing battle!

Later this week we will have to dig out the grout and see what's happening under there.

I made this card to honour a friend on 

Splitcoast Stampers, she was chosen as Stamper of the week, we had to choose a card from her gallery to make, I tried to copy the Moroccan tile effect, this was the only paper I had that looked anything like a tile, everything was from my stash, the accordion flower die I’ve had for years, it’s hardly been used, like many things in my craft room!

Finally managed to wash the Duvet so I can store it for the summer, we only use the thin summer weight Duvet so luckily it fits into my washing machine, we actually had to put the fan on in the bedroom last night as it's very humid with the rain and now the heat drying everything.

We are also preparing for our family arriving next week from San Francisco, they are in Cuba at the moment, pictured in a Pink Cadillac, haha, they are flying to New York and then Berlin before arriving here so I'm guessing they will be quite happy to chill out by the pool for two weeks!

Happy T Day Ladies

Jan x

T is for Tuesday

 Thank you all for your visit last week, kind comments and Anniversary wishes.

I'm sure most of you will recognise this man, the famous Robin Hood, this statue stands outside  Nottingham Castle, our son recently flew from San Francisco to England for a wedding and decided to do all the touristy things as he hasn't been back for about ten years.

As a child I hated having to visit Nottingham Castle when we had visitors, but loved going to Sherwood Forest, in those days you could go inside the trunk of the Major Oak, supposedly the tree that Robin Hood lived in. The last time we went it was roped off as the roots are being damaged.

One of my favourite programmes as a girl was The Adventures of Robin Hood, with Richard Greene, I've never really enjoyed the films made about Robin Hood Since as in my mind Robin Hood is Richard Greene, although I think Erol Flynn played him too and many others.

He also sent this coaster, it's an old saying from Nottingham, it means  "Hello my Dear", or words to that effect,  haha, duck was used by the older generation when I was a girl although I doubt anyone else says it nowadays only my husband as a joke to our neighbour who is also from Nottingham!

We had a lovely meal on the Paseo last Thursday but after taking this picture I totally forgot to take any of the food. We had homemade chicken croquettes, I had Pork Medallions, Steve had BBQ ribs, all delicious.

This photo looks out towards one side of the Marina, the boats are on the other side, the tall building is a restaurant with amazing views. There are quite a few restaurants over there, Italian, Moroccan, German and an ice cream parlour.

My drink this week is a bottle of Gin, Nordes, we bought this on the boat coming home  in March, it’s actually made in Spain, I think I should have googled it before buying it as it says it has a flowery taste with herbs and spices, I liked the bottle, LOL  but it was far more expensive than I would pay for Gin, it's actually on offer in our local supermarket for less than we paid on the boat which is supposedly duty free!! I’m saving it until our eldest comes over as he likes the occasional G&T in the summer.

I've also made some Kumquat Gin, I think it tastes good but I will see if our DIL likes it, our son bought some Pink Gin, Strawberry flavoured, at Christmas it was delicious so I'm experimenting!!!

Our weather has improved but we were still getting thunder during the late afternoon and evening, some rain but it quickly dries, Steve has been trying to empty the water butt as it is sludgy at the bottom but every time he uses the last drop it's rained again! It's played havoc with the pool as it's been bringing down red sahara sand, always makes a mess and takes quite a bit of cleaning, with our family arriving in a couple of weeks it needs to be sparkling clean!

 Take Care and Happy T Day Ladies

Jan x

T is for Celebration

 Hello Ladies, Happy T Day.

I mentioned my Mothers  Day card last week and totally forgot to post the picture!

It folds flat to post, my son said he read an article about how they are all cut on machines, that’s how they make them so precise!

Yesterday was our Wedding Anniversary, 52 years! Hard to believe it’s been so long although of course my husband likes to make all the jokes about it being far too long!

 We actually met when I was 14 and he was 16 at the local youth club so it really has been a long time, haha, we lived within ten minutes walk from each other from being born and our parents both moved and we still lived fifteen minutes walk away,  We actually went to the same school from the age of 5 until 11, even had the same teachers but never knew each other!

We decided to go to a restaurant at Bolnuevo, we used to go there occasionally for breakfast but they never seen to open early enough for us, well we had a drink there but when we saw the menu we didn’t see anything that took our fancy so we paid for the drinks and drove to another restaurant!

We’ve very often thought of eating here as they are really friendly, not the best photo but my husband had to take in from our table under the shaded patio. It's quite big inside but it's lovely to sit outside in the shade.

We had a salad to start, a menu del Dia always starts with salad and bread, forgot the photo!!

Our starter, Guiso de Cerdo, stew with Pork. very tasty as it had a small amount of chilli in the sauce.

Our main course, I had Pork chop with fries and the obligatory egg, for some reason they always seem to put a egg with chops.

My husband had Cerdo de Mano, Pigs Trotters, I know, awful, but he loves them, they are very popular in Spain.

The waiter laughed when I ordered mine, I think he saw my face when my husband ordered the trotters.

I also had a glass of white wine and my husband a glass of non alcoholic beer, we decided against afters so my drink for today is my cup of coffee.

I only remembered the photo when I was halfway through it but it shows the name, our favourite coffee, flower of Jamaica 

We've still been having a lot of rain, sometimes torrential, yesterday was the first dry day for over a week, it was quite hot walking as we were later than usual, the car thermometer showed 27c as we were driving home, we heard someone say it was 30c in Murcia city.

Lastly, I join the card making challenges on Splitcoast Stampers, recently I've been joining a few other challenges, this was my monochrome card, this paper must be over twelve years old, some of the colours in the set I didnt like but I love the black and white ones.

Enjoy the rest of your week ladies, hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend and Whitsun Bank Holiday for those of you in England, we actually got married on Whit Saturday, it was also our sons 8th Wedding Anniversary too so at least he had a long weekend to celebrate, apparently they went to the movies with our Grandson!!

Jan x

 Another Tuesday, another T Party thanks to Elizabeth and Bleubeard, thank you ladies  for your visits  kind comments last week.

I had two lovely Mothers Day cards, my son who lives in SF always sends cards on American MD , this year I had two cards, one from my son and one from my GSs, who knew they had cards for Grandma on Mothers Day, I’ve seen these cards on Pinterest and wondered how they are made so I was really pleased to receive one, I now know it’s beyond my capabilities to make them

This week I have photos of our Monday morning walk last week, it's Bolnuevo, the same beach I posted a photo of last week.

The start of our walk, this used to be a dry river bed that only had water in it in when we have loads of rain but it seems to be holding the water this winter.

You can just see the Flamingo, never seen one here before,  they are found on the coast road near Alicante on the salt flats, pink of course through eating the crustaceans .

My coffee, sitting looking out over the beach, the Restaurant is called The Oasis, in the summer they have live music apparently, we've never been as it doesn't start until 10pm! If we lived closer we might have given it a try but we have to drive there so too late for us.

It's a big restaurant and even have seating across the road on the beach in the summer.

This is looking through to the back of the cafe part, it also leads to a lovely patio area on the other side.

Another part of the restaurant, seating made from palletts, a novel idea, these are the seats that they take onto the beach.

The other side is the restaurant where they have an outside grill and BBQ.

They do amazing tapas and in the summer we sometimes come here for dinner and share a few dishes, lovely when it's too hot to eat a big meal.

On the way home we called at Mercadona to buy some fish.

Our GS loves to come and look at the Squid and Cuttlefish.

We bought Trout and a Plaice, you can see the young lady filleting our fish, My husband usually does it but it's the first time we'd tried the plaice so he thought he'd let the expert do it.

The girls are amazing , not a job I would like to do.

These are the rock formations opposite the beach, they now have a fence around the bottom to keep people from climbing them to take photos..

We saw this strange insect on the villa wall, we take photos for our youngest GS who loves to see them, he always asks us to save them until he comes over.

He tells us it's a stick insect although I thought they didn't have such long legs.

We had torrential ran and thunder and lightning last night just after we went to bed, rained off and on all night too, we’ve had to miss out morning walk but hopefully we will manage to get out later, I hope it’s sunnier wherever you ladies are!

Happy T day

Jan x

T is for Too Many meals

 

Tuesday again, how the week flies, yesterday our car had to have its first ITV as the car is four years old, can’t believe we’ve had it so long already, its a test for smog and road worthiness, i know it’s not something that is done in the States, well definitely not done in CA, it is in England, it’s called the  MOT, 

I thought I’d show some of the meals we had in San Francisco, we flew out on January 8th until February 24th, we actually got to celebrate our sons Birthday just before we came home!

My husband is a big basketball fan and our son works just around the corner from the Chase Centre quite handy for parking when we go into the city.  That's his Office building in the background.

Steve was really pleased to see it in person and have his photo taken although sadly he didn’t get to see a game this time.

Our son took us to S F Kebabs, not being a huge fan of Kebabs, i haven’t eaten one for over thirty years, I was a bit wary. 

                                

I hope the bottles on the counter can be my ticket to the T Party for this week, I forgot to take a photo of our sodas.

As you can see an extensive menu so we let our son choose the food.

we had the platter of dips, stuffed vine leaves, (not to my taste), the vine leaves I mean, falafel and pitta bread which was lovely but far too much even for three of us, in fact if we go again I would just have that.

I had already eaten some of my wrap with Lamb meat before I remembered to take a photo, I didn't managed much more than that so I took the rest home.

Now we know why our son is always telling us he’s put on weight as he sometimes comes here for lunch!!!

Our walk last Sunday along the seafront at Bolnuevo, we like it here when it's busy in the puerto, it's always much quieter although sadly they've demolished our favourite breakfast place, apparently all these years it's been illegal, it's a tiny bar area so they added a huge conservatory on the side without planning permission so now it's gone.They have opened up around the corner with new owners and the Tostada con Tomate is lovely!

Weather is hot here but seeing as we usually leave home at 8.30am and do our circular walk, breakfast, shopping and collect the post we are home before it gets too hot, hope you are seeing some sun wherever you are.

Happy T day

Jan x