In the meantime, of course, I have started a blog! I may only have managed two entries so far, due to the pressures of the paperwork we are trying to complete for the Lions Fiesta in Denia in June, but I have had a few  comments, which is very nice.

So, to continue keeping track of what we are up to, please log on to:

http://cameronchronicles2010.blogspot.com

See you soon!

Judi went home on Tuesday afternoon (16th March) and had a good trip back. She arrived at Stansted on time and managed to save herself an hour on the rest of the trip home by taking a bus to Chelmsford and a train from there instead of waiting for the airport bus which only runs every two hours these days. Economies, I suppose... As she knows very well, we thoroughly enjoy her company, and are very grateful to her for her willingness to look after Bill and allow Peter and me to have a few days away.

In the rest of that week we had a Lions meeting on the Wednesday evening which meant catching up with what had been going on in our absence, and a Camera Club meeting on Thursday evening which was a review of the Adobe Lightroom program, covering the management and retireval of large numbers of photographs - I currently have about 35,000 in my computer. Our computer guru came over on Saturday afternoon and installed the program and showed me how to get started with transferring the mass of them already sitting on my hard drive!

As I may have mentioned before, we are organising a Quiz to be run at a local Bar in April as a fund-raising event for the Lions. With the help of other members and some advertising we now have fourteen of the fifteen teams we need all signed up, and the majority of the organisation of the venue completed. So that is coming on well.

Over the weekend Peter decided that we had to make arrangements to have the car put through her 'MOT' - which is an 'ITV' out here! There is a new centre just down the road and we found the relevant web site and made an online appointment for 9.45 on the morning of Monday 22nd March. We took the paperwork that was indicated and arrived a few minutes early. It seems that making an appointment is an absolute waste of time, because the majority of the people in the queues ahead of us obviously didn't have one! We went into the office, gave the chap behind the desk the paperwork and answered his questions. When he was satisfied he gave us the test form with the details of the car at the top and told us just to 'wait our turn'.  We were about the eighth in our queue and I had time to do most of my Spanish homework before we got to the head of it.

Being new, the building has all the modern equipment and the process is fairly painless, although Peter was not at all happy with being told to rev the engine up to screaming point to check the emissions! Neither was he happy when the tecnico told us that the car was fine, but it wouldn't pass the test because we didn't have the relevant paperwork for the towbar! Yes, you read that right - a towbar was fixed by Mitsubishi when we bought the car but they failed to pass the details on to the Trafico office so that it was included on the logbook. And they failed to give us the technical leaflets which should have been included in our batch of paperwork.

Peter contacted the garage that had done the prelimary checking - Richard Byrne in Vergel - and they were magic! In 24 hours they had sorted out the paperwork, checked the electrical connections on the towbar and accompanied Peter back to the ITV centre, where the same tecnico checked the bar and the paperwork and signed the whole lot off. He just has to go back in a few days to collect the log book after revision to include the towbar. Not cheap though - the whole procedure cost over 100€!

Alison, a friend of ours from Colchester, arrived on Tuesday afternoon. We went to pick her up from Alicante and found when we got to the airport arrivals lounge that all the boards were showing flights from several hours previous all marked 'delayed'. And we couldn't find any details of flights from Stansted at all. To add to our confusion, Alison had texted earlier to say that they were boarding on time. We managed to find out from a Thompson's rep eventually that the airport had been shut for several hours during the morning due to fog, but nobody had any information on current flights. Eventually Peter decided that he would walk through to Terminal 2 to see if there was anything more helpful on their boards, and when he got up there he found Alison standing by the gate considering what to do next! Apparently the plane had been kept standing on the tarmac at Stansted for thirty minutes after boarding and they had not been allowed to use their phones to tell anybody about the delay. We were very relieved, though - it seems that other people had been waiting several hours for delayed planes.

The weather finally seems to be picking up a bit. It is definitely warmer this week and we have had sunshine for most of today. We took Bill into the Acuario (private clinic) this morning to have his ears syringed - he gets problems with wax occasionally due to working with jet engines in his days in the RAF. After that we went to Cafe Rosa for a coffee and a toasted teacake.

Peter and Alison went for a walk along the beach at Las Rotas as the sun was shining and left me to catch up with the washing and the paperwork - no, that wasn't a request for a 'big aaaaah' - I appreciate the opportunity to keep up with these things!

Alison also has an iTouch just like mine but she has only had it a couple of weeks and doesn't have any apps on it yet so we have been discussing what fun they are and I have been passing on details of some of the ones I have found. She is going to register with iTunes when she gets home and go hunting!

I am going to have a cup of tea now - Peter and Alison are just back - and get this published. Sorry about the lack of images but they certainly slow the procedure down!

(As you will know from my group e-mail, I couldn't publish this at the time! I contacted my web host straight away but they weren't very helpful and I am still pursuing the solution. When you read this, you will know that I have found it!  Monday 29th March...)

The hotel was very nice - it was called Posada de Vallina and was originally an 8th century inn built by the same builders who were building the Mosque just across the road. The only problem was the beds...they couldn't have been any harder if they had been the original ones left over from the 8th century! But the breakfast room was very modern, full of wonderful things like fresh fruit, yoghourts, croissants, fresh rolls, muffins, doughnuts, ham, cheese, etc., etc. And you could use the drinks machine for tea, coffee or chocolate any time during the day, which made up for the fact that there were no facilities for making tea in the bedrooms. Mind you, there was a mini-bar but we didn't use it.

On Tuesday morning we took a walk across the bridge and photographed the heavily-swollen river Guadalquivir. There was no way of telling how much higher than normal it was, but it was obvious from some of the things that were half under the water that it was not at its usual level! We looked again later in the week and it was receding a bit...

On Wednesday morning we presented ourselves at the ticket booth for the mosque at 10am, complete with cameras and a tripod as well, in my case. Before we paid our eight euros each I asked the man if it was OK to take photos and he assured me that there were no problems at all. We walked across the courtyard to the main entrance and the 'vigilante' on the door pointed at my tripod and told me I couldn't use it! I was amazed and asked him what the problem was, and he just turned the ticket over and showed me the bit that said it was forbidden to film or take photographs with the use of a tripod! Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing...  It does mean, of course, that it is practically impossible to get any decent photos if you can't use a tripod, because the light levels inside are fairly low and you can't hold the camera steady enough for the length of time it takes to expose a decent picture. We did manage to get a few but not the ones we had wanted - so we bought a proper guide book later!

We went out for a walk round the old town in the afternoon, after a siesta, and found an advert for a Flamenco Show that evening (10.30pm to 12.30am) so we bought tickets. It was very traditional, with lots of frantic guitar music, and wailing and hand-clapping, and several sultry Spanish señoritas stamping their feet and looking enticing - the object of their attentions was a small, swarthy chap with a three-day growth of beard, who, despite his unprepossessing appearance, nevertheless managed the very Spanish attitude of total arrogance and disdain towards the women. It was very loud and very colourful, and totally convinced us that we were indeed in Andalucia.

Thursday we returned to the river to record its reducing level, and then walked round the block to see some of the other buildings and gardens. We found several posters announcing that Córdoba was going to be the European City of Culture in 2016, and there was certainly evidence of a lot of work going on to bring it up to scratch. Perhaps we should make a note to return that year and take another set of photos.

I had my new iTouch with me which recognised the Wi-Fi connection in the hotel, so I was able to download various new apps, including Sudoku and Spider Solitaire, which was very useful because there wasn't much going on and the TV was in Spanish - we did watch the second half of the Arsenal v Oporto EUFA Cup match but Peter wasn't much impressed. He isn't very keen on football anyway and the excitable Spanish commentators were a bit too much!

We had a good breakfast on Friday and set off for home just after 10am. Fortunately the sun was shining and we were able to appreciate the lovely Andalucian landscape much better than on the journey down. The trip from Córdoba down to the border of Malaga Province was through rolling green hills which Peter said reminded him of Herefordshire!

The weather closed in a bit through the second half of the trip and there was evidence of recent snow along the sides of the road but we kept going without incident. We were held up on two occasions for ten or fifteen minutes each time by roadworks and so only made three short stops after that.

We arrived home at 5pm, in time to have a cup of tea and unload the car, before getting ready for fish and chips at Café Rosa. It was a lovely meal, as usual, but we were very tired and happy to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

On Saturday morning we went and got the fruit and veg from José as usual and then went to the Portal to give Judi and her wallet a break from being shut in the house! She bought herself some jewellery and some lovely shoes, and we shared some chocolate and churros before coming home for some lunch and a catch-up on the events of the week.

Today has been fairly quiet, apart from all the Mother's Day phone calls - bless the children for remembering! Both Peter's boys rang this evening as well, so it was a full house.

It has been a good week - it's nice to see some new parts of Spain and to have some new photos to work with, and Judi finished her last OU essay so it was a productive week all round. I think the next one will be a bit more predictable...

hotel on right - wall of mosque on left

It's the top of a telescope!

the Great Mosque of Córdoba

Flamenco dancers (google pic)

not quite like these - but you get the idea!

We have had some meetings, phone calls and e-mail exchanges in respect of the Lions. We are still chasing adverts and tradestands for the Fun in the Park event in Denia in June; organising and chasing up teams for the Quiz in April; and browbeating volunteers for the abseil in September, as well as designing and producing posters, programmes and business cards. We had also been collecting and sorting items for the Boot Sale yesterday, but it was cancelled due to the continuing unsettled weather.

We went down to the Town Hall just over a week ago to chase up our missing water bill - it has now been a year since we were billed for our drinking water, and nothing has been sorted out despite a few trips to talk to Irene in the office at the Town Hall. This time she did finally admit that we were on a list of those people who had not been transferred from the Town Hall records to the SUMA (tax collecting agency) records at the appropriate time. It didn't seem that anything had been done about it, though, and we are still awaiting a bill!

Last weekend Peter realised that I was serious about wanting Jane's old iTouch, even though it didn't have a phone, so he rang her up and told her she had a sale! She cleared her data off it and brought it round to me on Monday, which was very convenient as Judi (my sister) arrived on Tuesday with her new iPhone! She had been working her way through registry with iTunes and the Apps Store so she was able to show me how to get started. We have been having enormous fun with them over the last few days, and it is quite surprising to see how envious the younger generation is of our new toys! We both now have various new apps, both the useful kind (dictionaries, maps, converters, etc) and the fun kind (Paper Toss, IQuarium, Sky Sports Football, etc). We haven't yet actually paid for any of these new apps, but I feel the time is approaching.

I went to Specsavers for my first new pair of glasses in the more than four years since my first visit to the Eye Clinic in Valencia in the run up to the corneal transplant. The result was that my right eye, which has been bearing the brunt of everything in that period, has hardly altered at all and is still very good, but the left eye now has an enormous amount of astigmatism (distortion) following the operation and it is not possible to correct the vision for that eye to make it independently capable of reading, etc. Seems a shame after all that aggravation, but the vision is still good enough to provide binocular vision for driving so I am not going to waste my time fretting about it. I ordered a nice new pair of frames so I am looking forward to a slightly different outlook on the world!

Judi arrived on Tuesday afternoon - unfortunately it was raining! We went to the Portal to wander round on Wednesday as it was still raining, but Thursday was a bright and sunny day although windy and we spent some time walking on the beach at the Arenal in Javea - the waves were enormous! On Friday we went down to Almería to visit Paul and Glyn and show Judi something of the area before the boys return to the UK at the end of this month. While we were there Glyn downloaded some of his enormous library of music on to my iTouch and I found out that it would work independently of earphones or docks which surprised me because I didn't think it had any loudspeaker!

We have spent the weekend getting ready for our trip to Cordoba and making sure that Judi has everything she needs for the few days we are away. There shouldn't be any problem - she has done it before and we are not that far away.

There will now be a short intermission before I return next weekend with details of the visit to the glories of Andalucia. Take care of yourselves...

Mojacar pueblo

Back to get lunch and then we left for a Photowalk with the Oliva U3A Camera Club. We went to Forna, which is in the Vall de la Gallinera not far from Pego. It is a little tiny town at the end of a road to nowhere, but it has the remains of an enormous castle! That is on the top of a bluff overlooking the town so we didn't go up there on this visit.

There are lots of interesting traditional houses, and some modern reformations as well, and the group of ten spent a couple of hours wandering round looking for that 'special' angle before having a coffee and setting off for home. I did download my images to the computer during the evening and I fear that I might have missed that 'special' angle yet again... It was fairly windy while we were there so I didn't set my tripod up - naughty, naughty! Not surprising that some of the shots weren't as sharp as they should have been.

While I was cooking dinner I discovered that our new microwave was not working... there are times when you just want to scream! So that will be another trip back to the shop and another argument over whether they should replace it or we should contact the manufacturer. Peter took the rice down to Bill's to cook it in his microwave and dinner was about fifteen minutes late.

I talked to Sharon in the evening and we caught up with the gossip. She gave me the web site address for the official photos of their Ladies' Night last Saturday and I have to say that they all looked very glamorous! Can't say the same for Chris in his pale blue transparent tights, though!

I hobbled around doing the washing and a bit of cleaning and tidying in between resting the leg and 'playing' with my computer. Peter took me down to my Spanish class and dropped me off on the back road by the school so that I wouldn't have to climb the stairs next to the Town Hall up to the Library where we have our classes.

We had all seen reports over the weekend of the floods and mudslides in Madeira and were concerned for Bruce (one of our classmates) and his wife Helen who are on holiday on the island for a month. When one of his neighbours arrived we were all very relieved to find out that she had spoken to him on his mobile and he confirmed that they were fine and not staying in the affected area. That's a blessing, then!

I had a quiet afternoon, resting my leg before the Quiz in the evening. That went well. We only had six teams but it was quite enough and the average marks were up to scratch. Supper was bangers and mash or quiche with chips and salad, but Jane told me that she still had a helping of the sea food stew from Sunday if I wanted it. I agreed - fewer calories than the other options and no wheat - and it was just as tasty as the day before. We shan't be there for the next quiz in two weeks' time as that is the day we go to Córdoba, so one of our previous guest presenters is going to do it.  We got back a little after 11pm, and I was glad to get to bed not too long after that!

We went to Café Rosa for lunch, and I had a lovely sea food stew, followed by a pancake with lemon juice - Jane says she has been making them all week! Jane has recently taken delivery of an iPhone so her old iTouch is up for sale! I had a play with it and it reminded me irresistibly of the one that Paul had on his 40th birthday - it feels so positive and reliable! Peter can't see the point of it as it doesn't have a phone, and I can't make a good case for needing it, even though I would be very happy to have it and am sure that it would come in useful for checking emails when we are away - as long as the hotel has wi-fi! Looks as though she will have to keep looking for a new owner for it...

More resting on the sofa, interspersed with some photoediting. A friend came at 6pm for a massage of her stiff painful neck, and then I made a sandwich for Bill and Peter took it down. He started doing his Spanish homework, but after a few minutes the phone rang and it was Andy, his younger son. They had a long talk, because Andy has various complications in his life at the moment. No sooner had he rung off and Peter had returned to his books than the phone rang again - and it was Philip, the older one! He has challenges as well so that was another long talk. Peter did manage to get his homework done in the long run...and then remembered that he was supposed to have phoned his mother! Much too late by then, so that will be an apologetic call tomorrow.

A little more treatment on my knee, which fortunately seems to be responding well and it will soon be time for bed. Doesn't time fly by?

...but I only had one!

On from there to Beep, a computer shop in the town where Peter needed to order a new drive for his computer.  The very friendly co-owner (we have bought quite a lot there) told us about some current special offers, and before you could say 'knife' Peter had agreed to buy a new laptop! Apparently the exchange rate is a bit better at the moment, the sale price was very good, and our current, rather old, version is playing up. When we tried to set it up later we couldn't get the Operating System to change to English although the guy in the shop assured us that it would! I don't think we are going to cope too well with the full technical array of instructions in Spanish, so Peter will be taking it back on Monday morning...

We called into the Portal for a coffee, to get over the shock of spending so much money, and bought some cards and one or two things from Eroski. On from there to the Piscina Bar in Rafol to talk to the lady in charge of the food about the meal she is going to provide for the Lions' Quiz Night in April. We tried again to persuade her that there is only going to be a fairly short break, and that this will not be a full dinner for most of the English, but she is indefatigable! So we have agreed that there will be three courses with about fifteen choices of main course, and then coffee. Red, white or rosado wine, beer or water will be on the tables and the whole thing will cost 8€ per head!  We are going to charge 10€ and the 2€ extra will go into the Lions' funds along with the profits from a heads and tails raffle for a bottle of malt whisky which Bill has agreed to donate from his stock.

By the time we got home I was having quite a bit of trouble with my knee - I have been hobbling a bit for a day or two but I think that the morning's travels had been a bit much for it. Peter iced it for me, and left me with strict instructions to stay put on the sofa while he went out for a ride on his motorbike while the sun was still shining. He checked it out thoroughly during the evening and says I have damaged a cartilage. I have no idea how I did that, but the cure is obviously rest. Fortunately, I can rest it at the computer some of the time, as long as I sit on the sofa with the leg raised at other times. I'm sure it will sort itself out quite quickly as long as I do what I am told...

He arrived back home about 9.30am feeling quite worn out by his exertions on the bike - he hasn't been out on it for some considerable time, because of the inclement weather. He had a couple of phone calls from the garage during the day, first to ask where the papers for the ITV (MOT) were, and second to report that they had taken the car down to be tested but the centre had refused to do it because it was raining! Apparently they have outdoor electrics, and it is too dangerous to use the tools in the rain - tells you something about our normal weather patterns, doesn't it? By the way, there is a brand new ITV centre on the edge of Ondara, all finished, kitted out, all the equipment indoors out of the rain and fully tested - and it has been sitting unused for about three months now because they are still waiting for an industrial operating licence! That is a typical example of Spanish bureaucracy...  According to this site - www.circuitv.com/ - the new facility will be opening on 25 February...I can't wait to see if they are right!

About 4.30pm I asked Peter what the arrangements were for the car as it would be getting dark about 6pm and he has no lights on his bike. He said he would wait until about 5pm and then ring the garage. In the end he got involved in something on his computer and the garage owner rang at 5.10pm to say that they normally closed at 5pm and was Peter coming down or did he want to leave the car there until Monday?! Peter told him to wait there and leapt on his bike....   Apparently he got there in about twelve minutes and picked up the car which has still not had its ITV test.

Peter put something into the microwave during the evening and it blew its top! It has been behaving strangely for a day or two and this was apparently the end of its useful life. Another thing on the list for tomorrow...

the new ITV (MOT) centre just off the Ondara bypass

We went and had breakfast at Café Rosa this morning and then on into Denia and had a wander round - bought some heavyweight card for the Lions' business cards and some small plastic folders to keep them safe during delivery. And then we went to a computer store in the centre - and bought a new printer! It is an Epson SX115, which includes a photocopier (black and white as well as coloured), a scanner and a printer with four separate ink cartridges - all for the princely sum of 69€! Isn't it amazing how some things get cheaper and cheaper, and others just seem to head in the other direction?

We brought our goodies home and Peter set the printer up after lunch. We had some problems, unfortunately, and it took two or three attempts before it would actually print. Seems to be OK now, though... I have printed several things since, including a full set of teams sheets and interval rounds for the Quiz on Monday and all is good!

We had an early dinner and then Peter and I took ourselves off to Javea in the pouring rain to attend a photoediting session of the Marina Alta Camera Club. We arrived in the café downstairs, soaking wet after wading across the square from the car park, and warmed ourselves up with a carajillo - black coffee with brandy, in case you don't know. Colin had brought some DVDs with him, from a PhotoShop training course and we watched some very interesting techniques for making photos look more professional. Unfortunately, we started late, because the meeting using the room we were booked for overran, and then the caretaker came up and asked if we would mind leaving early because he had a 'personal problem' and wanted to get home early! It is difficult to complain, because we don't pay for the use of it anyway!

We got home about 10.15pm and I rang Judi for a long chat, bringing ourselves up-to-date on what is going on in our respective worlds.

Norma was the centre of attention at Spanish again, although we all joined in. Her boiler had finally been replaced, so that was all right, but she then told us that her builder (a local Spanish chap) had invited them to his daughter's wedding. Antonio then explained what the custom is out here...if you accept an invitation to a wedding you are expected to give the parents whatever is the currently-acceptable amount in order to cover your share of the costs of the reception, the entertainment and the flowers in the church. At the moment, according to Antonio, the amount is 100€ per guest...  The invitation contained details of a Wedding List in a local ferretería (which sells household goods, including crockery, china, utensils, etc), but it seems that only the people who are not going to the wedding buy presents from this list.  The invitation also contained the reference of the Bank Account to which the money should be paid if you are accepting the invitation!  Apparently it is quite normal for people to arrange to be away rather than incur the expense.

Antonio says that most young people would like to change this outdated custom, but their parents insist on it being continued because they can't afford to take on the expense themselves. Isn't that amazing?

I actually spent some time photoediting this afternoon - I haven't had time for much of that lately - and then we had an early dinner before going to the Lions General Meeting in Jalon. We met Stuart and Andrea in Rafol and they came with us this time. Stuart (as Vice-President)  was running the meeting as the President was away in England at a family funeral. There was definitely less off-topic chat than normal and we finished by 8.30pm!

We dropped Stuart and Andrea off in Rafol and were home by 9.15pm. Time to finish some more of the Quiz rounds after updating the business card files for those Lions who want cards. We have decided we shall have to go into Denia tomorrow morning and look for a new printer...

Colin who runs the Basic Camera Skills Group wasn't there - they are moving house - so I acquired two people from his group to join my Basic Editing one for the afternoon. We reviewed Levels and Hue/Saturation and then added in how to use the lasso and the marquee tools to refine where you made your alterations. They seemed to appreciate it, even if it is sounding like Double Dutch to some of you!

We got home about 5.45pm by which time it was beginning to rain! Bill stayed downstairs for his dinner because, although the rain was fairly light, it was still wet underfoot.

More computer work after dinner. I am preparing business cards for the Lions to help them when approaching  people about buying advertising space in the programme or booking trade-stands for the June fiesta in Denia. There is a meeting tomorrow night and I want to take some cards  along to show members what they are like - but my printer is playing up! I have to switch it on and off, unplug and re-plug it and then re-boot the computer before it will deign to print a few...and then it seizes up again and I have to repeat the procedure. It is getting on a bit - we brought it out with us seven years ago - and I fear its days may be numbered. I did tell it that, but it didn't make it any more co-operative. Oh well, nothing last for ever, does it?

Off to Spanish in the rain for 1pm - the ladies were all sporting fancy hats because of the inclement weather, except for me...I only had the hood of my raincoat! I shall obviously have to make more of an effort. Norma told us about her problems with her boiler and how she had called the plumber on Saturday night and he had said she should find the stopcock and turn it off and he would come on Monday morning. So for the weekend they had no hot water - how lucky that they have another house next to us and she could come up there and have a nice hot bath!

When Peter picked me up from Spanish - he had been to get some petrol in the meantime - we went to the Portal and had a salad for lunch and a wander round the shops. What else do you do in the rain? We went into C&As and I found a black and white windcheater zip-up top that I liked - and it was only 15€ in the sales! Later on we decided to have a coffee before going home and went to the Art Café (near Eroski) and found four members of the Oliva Camera Group there! So we had a chat in advance of the meeting arranged for tomorrow.

Salmon and courgette pasta-bake for dinner and then Peter and I watched the first part of Torchwood: Children of Earth - we decided not to continue with the other parts because we had seen it quite recently anyway.

After that I decided I had to get on with the preparation of the quiz - a week to go and only one round completed!

Peter decided he would walk down to Raco Verde to get the papers because it was too cold to go out on either of his bikes. I went down and did Bill's shower as usual and we then scanned the papers before lunch. We had decided to have dinner at home this evening, partly because we had already been out on Friday, and partly because we had been expecting it to be raining. And being Valentine's Day Jane and Helen were fully booked up anyway, which is very good for them - tiring, but financially rewarding.

There was, of course, more rugby this afternoon - I seem to recall that England managed to beat Italy, although apparently they were very lucky to do so after Jonny Wilkinson missed three penalty kicks for the first time since Noah was a lad. I did some proof-reading of a document that one of Peter's boys was preparing  and as soon as the rugby was over we went through it on the phone.

Bill came up for dinner this evening and we had a very warming winter beef stew, followed by little steamed puddings with a small scoop of ice-cream...and yes, I had one as well. It is Sunday after all. Peter and I watched Torchwood later and I finished off the preparation of the Interval Round for next week's quiz.

It is nearly 11pm and I am just about to go down to make sure that Bill is OK before locking up his back door. I shall publish this after that, and then perhaps read a little more of my new book (Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger). I am enjoying it very much - I like her style of writing and the story is intriguing even though the chronology is more traditional than her previous one. Much of the story is based around the Highgate Cemetery in London, a venue which I know some of my readers (!) are familiar with...

Jonny Wilkinson

Tom Sayers Grave

After we had collected our bagful of fresh and healthy goodies (for the grand total of 13.50€) we went to Jean and Derek's. I had my camera gear in the car because I wanted to take some pictures of her birthday lilies which were starting to come out. We also had a drink and talked about the preparations for their forthcoming move out here in the summer. Derek is going to need some foolproof communications systems, and it wouldn't seem like a good idea to rely on Telefonica.

We came back home about 12.30pm and one of Peter's patients arrived for a discussion not long after.  His wife came too and we all had a cup of tea and talked about motorbikes. By the time they left the rain was getting well-established and it seemed that the forecast was right when it said that it would last all day. I spent the afternoon mostly on the computer while Peter did some ironing and then watched the Ireland-France match in the Six Nations Rugby tournament. It continued after 7pm when dinner was ready so we sat and ate our meal in front of the TV. Bill stayed downstairs, of course... he doesn't do rain.

During the evening I downloaded and edited some of the images of Jean's lilies and I have posted one on here for you to see. Please feel free to make any comments you want. I also checked my messages in all the various places where they arrive, played a game of Pathwords on Facebook and reviewed some of the current contests on EyeFetch. So much to do, so little time!

my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50

The meeting was at a house we had never been to before but we got to the main entrance of the urbanisation and rang him and he came down and led us back - just what we have to do for our visitors the first time they come! The main purpose of the meeting was to select thirty images out of sixty-five to go into a competition next week. (You may recall that we had put some in...) It went fairly easily and in most cases we were all in agreement - just the odd 'discussion'! Afterwards we talked about the gaps in the agenda for the coming year and agreed some possible events - two of which Peter and I now have to try and arrange.

One of the committee members is also a member (a  founder member, even) of the BOPA motorbike club and he had turned up on his bike because the car wasn't available - and it was absolutely freezing! His bike doesn't have a screen so he was frozen almost solid by the time he got home and complaining on the internet about 'brass monkeys'.

We got home about 5.30pm and had time to warm up before setting off again, this time to Café Rosa for fish and chips with Jean and Derek. It was a very pleasant evening - the food was lovely as always and the company was convivial. It was nice and warm too because Jane had lit the gas stove. Pleasant as it was, we didn't stay chatting long after the meal because Bill gets uncomfortable if he sits too long without moving.

We were home before 10pm and I had a long chat with Judi. Her migraines have been playing up particularly lately and we were trying to decide what might cause them to happen regularly when she is at home, but hardly ever when she is away. The investigation continues...

I checked my messages after that and then we went to bed.

 
Marina Alta Camera Club
www.macameraclub.com

Honda Shadow

At lunchtime Peter and I took Bill over to Specsavers in Javea to collect his new glasses. They only needed a very minor tweak to fit properly and he is very pleased with the improvement in his vison. After collecting two smart new cases and kissing all the hands he could reach we left to go and have lunch at a near-by restaurant who do beautiful quiches. The sun was shining but the wind was blowing a gale and once we got round the corner we were subjected to the full blast. We carried on regardless, with visons of these lovely warm quiches - but when we got there we discovered that the restaurant was closed for the month of February! Fortunately, Peter knew another one over at the Arenal and we were more than ready for our lunch by the time we had staggered back to the car against the wind and then driven over there. We polished off a selection of quiches and had some coffee and then drove straight home - much too cold to go anywhere else!

Under the instructions of my Personal Trainer I did fifteen minutes of cycling in the afternoon (and he did half an hour as well) and then I continued with my computer projects for the various Camera Clubs and sites I belong to.  Being on Facebook tempts me to go and play games and check messages as well...I'm fast running out of time to do everything! I shall have to take a tip from the staff of the Denia hospital - according to a recent newspaper report they have been working '365 days per week' to cut down the waiting lists - that's the way to do it!

Peter massaged my back and ribs again before bed - they do seem to be settling down at last.

Peter went to his Spanish class at 11am and I had a shower and got ready for Jean's Spanish celebration of her birthday...it took me a while, following my new motto of 'never knowingly underdressed'! Peter dropped me off at my Spanish class for 1pm and then went home to collect Bill and get him down to Bar Carpi in the village for 2pm. And when our class finished shortly after 2pm Norma gave me a lift down to the party, so we both arrived 'fashionably late'. Since we completed the party it was time to present a large bouquet of lilies which we had all clubbed together to get for Jean and they certainly made an impressive centrepiece - we had to move them to a side table, though, because nobody could see across the table! The restaurant is celebrated for its paella and it certainly was lovely but you really need to eat before you go, just to make sure that you don't starve! The drink was on the table just after 2pm, but the bread and allioli didn't arrive until after 2.45, the salads at 3pm, the entremeses at 3.15 and the paella about 3.30! It was a giant paella dish set on a side table so we all went and helped ourselves, and it really was nice - the rice is unbelievably tasty with all the stock and spices absorbed into it. The choice of desserts was typically Spanish - flan, flan, cake or custard. Bill had a piece of the chocolate cake and it was very nice - I had just a tiny taste and it was very more-ish. Fortunately, he wouldn't let me have any more!

We finally got home about 5pm, and sat down for a cup of tea. I had asked Peter earlier in the day if he would take on the job of personal trainer for the next few weeks, so that I could see if the right sort of exercising in the right amounts combined with sensible eating would be seen to improve my health and help with the weight loss. We talked over what would be involved and decided to give it a go. I said that I would even let him tell me when I should go to bed! I was hoping that he wouldn't say anything too early but his son, Phil, rang quite late and by the time they finished talking it was getting on for midnight anyway.

We had a fairly quiet morning - Peter cooked bacon and egg for Glyn but Paul said he would wait until later. (I had just one rasher of bacon.) We chatted about various things, including where they might eventually settle, but it was all fairly inconsequential.

I made a salad for lunch about 1pm - Paul did eat some of that - and they packed their gear into the car and drove a couple of hundred metres down the mountain to visit Jean and Derek and admire their underbuild before heading back to Almería. Paul phoned about 7.30pm to say that they had been in for some half an hour and had got the fire going to warm the place up.

During the afternoon Peter got his couch in from the terrace because it was much too cold to do 'thorough examinations' out there, and he even lit the gas stove just to make sure I didn't get chilled. Mind you, the examination and subsequent treatment did take some time - I think we might both have been chilled to the bone on the terrace. The end result is that I 'sprung' the ribs where they are attached to the spine on the left side when I hauled myself out of a puddle some time at the end of last year, and that it takes the intercostal muscles a very long time to heal and repair, as they are continually being disturbed by the movement of the patient as they breathe.

I was feeling fairly 'knocked about' after that and so Peter cooked the dinner - now you can't say that every physiotherapist would go so far to look after their patient! I am going to bed fairly early and have taken a Paracetamol so I am hoping for a better night.

make what you can of this!

Apparently, the boys have not been going to the shops recently, because they have been eating sensibly in order to get rid of a little Christmas and New Year excess and the shops are all too near cafes and bars with tempting treats on offer - such willpower! So they bought themselves a few items to augment their wardrobes, and then we had a wander round C&A's where Paul bought a top I liked as my birthday present and then added a necklace to it.

It was lunchtime by then so we stopped at Eddie Rocket's where Peter and I had chicken Caesar salads, Glyn had small portions of chips and onion rings... and Paul had a coffee! He has moved on to the starvation part of the cycle. We continued with the shopping afterwards but didn't find very much more. Paul and Glyn were looking for a kettle but Eroski's had nothing, so we stopped at Euronics in Ondara on the way home and they found one there.

Home about 4.30pm, with just time for a cup of tea and a sit down before getting some pasta for Bill - we all had a little helping because supper at the Quiz isn't until about 9pm. The Quiz went very well - we had eight tables, including one for the team consisting of Paul, Glyn, Jean and Derek who came second after a tie break! They had actually been in the lead halfway through but faltered on the Sports and General Knowledge rounds. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves as usual, and Jane said that she was already just about fully booked for the next one - just one table left, which was promptly booked as soon as she had announced it. We did quite well with the raffle, too - took 43E, which were split 21€ to two cash prizes on the night (14€ and 7)and the other 22€ between two local charities. When the draw was made the cash prizes were won by Paul and Derek  who promptly donated them back to the charities!

We got home about 11.30pm, a little later than usual because Paul always gets a bit chatty after several vodkas and we had trouble prising him away from Jane and Helen! We all had a cup of tea while they had a smoke and then it was bedtime again...

Jean and Derek were at Café Rosa when we arrived so we all milled around a bit with drinks before sitting down to a lovely meal. I indulged myself with fish pie and a cherry pavlova - mind you, I only had two Ryvitas with some Philadelphia light throughout the rest of the day. Jean and Derek had brought presents for Peter and for me, which was very thoughtful of them - mine was a striking silver necklace and Peter's was a book of Charlie Boorman's adventures on a motorbike.

We got home about 4pm and chilled out for a while, to aid the digestion. Later on we watched a programme that Paul and Glyn had been following and then moved on to a Victoria Wood special. It was very funny, in her own unique style, but we gave up before the end because it was getting a bit late. The boys were tired after having left home about 9am so they crashed out and we were not long behind them.

The sun was still shining but the wind was whipping through the narrow streets when we went down to José's stall. Fortunately there weren't many of the village ladies there so we didn't have to wait too long. Afterwards we went to Café Rosa for breakfast - I had muesli with fresh fruit and creme fraiche, followed by a coffee and a large brandy! After a chat we went on to do a little bit of shopping. Paul rang while we were out (fortunately I had diverted the phone to the mobile) and confirmed that they were intending to be here about 12 noon tomorrow. We got back home in good time to get Bill's lunch and then I did some ironing, put the shopping away and returned to my computer.

The Six Nations Rugby Championship started this afternoon so Peter watched the England-Wales match. Having listened to his comments, I think it fair to say that England could have played better throughout much of the match but pulled themselves together a bit towards the end and deserved their win. You will doubtless realise that that is a sanitised distillation of what I actually heard.

After dinner I finished the selection and editing of my five photographs for the Marina Alta Camera Club's competition with Alton in Hampshire, and sent them to the webmaster ready for the committee meeting next Friday afternoon. In the middle of that Jane and Helen arrived with a card and bottle of pacharan! The drink is one of our favourites,  being a Spanish alcoholic's version of sloe gin, made with sloes and anise! They came in for a chat so we opened the bottle...  That is two alcoholic drinks in one day!

Not much more to do today - another cup of tea and then bed, I reckon. Nice to think I am celebrating tomorrow as well...

I stripped their bed as soon as we had waved goodbye and got the linen in the wash ready for the next visitors on Sunday! We did a bit of tidying and sorting around the house and the computer and then had lunch. Peter had broken the arm on his only pair of everyday specs a while ago and fixed it with super-glue, but he wasn't convinced it was going to last so he decided to go into Denia in the afternoon to get a new pair from General Optica. I decided to go as well to see if my rings were ready.

We parked the car near the tunnel under the castle and walked through to the jewellers which was still shut for the siesta, so we continued to the opticians - which was also shut! So we went and had a drink at Gormand in Calle Diana. Peter always goes there because he says they have the best coffee in town, and I am working my way through their list of hot flavoured chocolate drinks, so it was the obvious place to go - I had a lovely cup of thick mint-flavoured chocolate, which was like a melted After Eight mint. But I didn't have anything with it and I had only had some ratatouille at lunchtime, finishing up the bit that had been de trop the night before.

We then went to the jewellers and the rings were ready. I didn't bother to ask them why they hadn't rung to tell me that, as they had promised, because Spanish shops always promise it and never do it! Some of you may remember that I had to have two wedding rings cut off about this time last year after I had damaged my hand in a fall. I put them on the side waiting for the swelling to go down, and finally got round to taking them in in the middle of December! The jeweller was going to melt them down and remake them into matching plain bands, one gold and one white gold. They look very nice but they are very loose - I have lost some weight since December but I am surprised that it makes that difference. I am now wearing them on my middle finger where they fit fine. I was happy to have them back because tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, though nobody but Bill and I remember it these days - we were married 22 years ago, six months before his brain haemorrhage.

Back to the opticians. They were happy to sell Peter new frames and fit the old lenses in, which they said would only take an hour. He was pleased with that because he had expected to be without them for at least a week. So we wandered round the shops and had another drink at a café at the other end of town and then went back to collect them. They had indeed been finished, but the optician had to confess that in grinding the corner of one of the lenses to fit the new frame they had taken a tiny chip out of it. After sincere apologies, gracefully accepted, he said that he would, of course, order a new pair which would be entirely free - result!

After all that we didn't get home until nearly 7pm and Bill decided he would have his dinner downstairs as it would be about 7.45pm by the time it was ready and he had something to watch on the TV. Fortunately, it was salmon curry which doesn't take long to prepare.

After that we had to catch up with all the things on the computer which we hadn't done through being out most of the afternoon. I stayed up until about 12.30am so that I could get the washing progressed a bit - the cheap electricity makes a difference to the bill, but can be a pain when you don't want to use the expensive variety between 12 noon and 10pm. Then I went to bed, a year older but not feeling any pain!

The coffee was fine but the wander was a bit truncated because Bob wasn't interested in looking at the shops. So we moved on to Javea, where it was still raining and windy but, fortunately, not too cold. We had a rather brisk stroll along the front from the car park to a bar-café in the square and decided it was time for lunch. I had a plate of grilled vegetables which were very nice - instead of the usual chunks the various bits had been sliced finely and sprinkled with oil and garlic before grilling. Now they can't have damaged my diet, can they?  I also had a taste of Bob's scrambled egg with mushroom and prawns, and one small piece of bread with allioli. Considering that there were also bowls of patatas bravas and Russian salad which I ignored I thought I had done well. Peter had the scrambled egg as well and Pat had sardines.

After another coffee (with sweetener, of course!) it was back out into the rain and wind. We drove home by a circuitous route to show Bob the marker for the Greenwich Meridian Line which passes through this area of Spain - he was convinced that it went through Portugal so we had to put the record straight.

There were a mass of e-mails on the computer when we got back, aon the continuing subject of the U3A Camera Club at Oliva. I did a few answers then, and followed it up later, and by bedtime we all seemed to be singing from the same songsheet! Thank heavens for that...

It was my turn to cook the dinner last night and we had the chicken breasts with ratatouille and steamed veg - when it was on the table I discovered that Pat doesn't eat anything with peppers in! Fortunately there was enough of the other dishes. The chicken was nice and tender, but I would have preferred a bit more oomph - I would have used blue cheese instead of the Emmenthal but Peter is not keen. Must have another think...

We couldn't find anything on the TV to amuse after dinner so Bob read his book, Pat played Bejeweled on Peter's PC, I tried to print the Quiz sheets until the printer gave up, and Peter prepared his music round for the quiz. They went to bed just before 10.30 as usual and we were a bit earlier than usual, at 11.45.

The weather is supposed to be good again tomorrow - just typical for the day of departure, isn't it?

We walked along the far side of the marina and down into the town...

You may be able to see that it is now called the 'Prime Meridian' - the Americans didn't like the UK having the credit!

Something like this!

Saturday, 30 January: I was coming back upstairs from doing my cycling about lunchtime when I came upon Clio limping her way up the stairs. I picked her up to save her struggling the rest of the way, and had a look at her paws while I had the opportunity. This time I could see what the problem was - one of the claws was actually digging into the pad on her left foot and causing a wound which looked very sore! We rang a fried to get the name of the vet in Beniarbeig who is recommended by several of our pet-owning friends and Peter rang him. He is a mobile vet, and he turned up in less than two hours, checked her heart, clipped her claws, treated the wound, gave her a pain-killing and antibiotic injection and only charged us his normal fee, even though we were actually into emergency callout hours. Such a lovely chap, as well! He was so gentle and nice with Clio, and he speaks English too! What more could we need? His number is definitely now on our telephone agenda.

We had to put iodine on the wound twice a day for two days, and now she is leaping about demanding attention just like usual. She says thank you to Auntie Anna for the kind enquiries after her health....

The morning had been spent buying fruit and veg from José, and then going over to the motorbike shop where Peter bought that lovely denim padded jacket I told you about. I haven't had a chance to photograph it yet, but I will.

After all the kerfuffle with Clio we finished preparing for Peter's sister and her husband who arrived about 7pm. They had been delayed a little at the Luton end, and had to wait half-an-hour or so in a queue at Alicante airport for their hired car, but otherwise they had had a good journey. They brought a lovely digital photo frame as a Christmas-cum-birthday present for Peter - we have never had one of those before, so Bob set it up - he had already prepared a card with several photos of him and Pat! - and we admired that for a while. Afterwards we had a baked seafood pasta, salad and garlic bread for dinner, and then settled down for a bit of a chat before they went to bed. They are early birds, so they have been in bed by 10.30 and up by 7.30 most days - that is a bit of a shock to the system round here! It has confused Clio a bit, as well...

Sunday, 31 January: Peter, Pat and Bob went off for a walk to the Garden Centre in Benimeli to buy the papers and then continued into Denia for a walk on the beach. I did Bill's shower as usual and then we all went to Café Rosa for a lovely leisurely Sunday lunch. We watched some TV later, and discussed the forthcoming party for Peter and Pat's mother who will be 100 years old in April. The family is gathering at a Greek Cypriot restaurant in Cockfosters - now you weren't expecting that, were you?

Monday, 1 February: I stayed at home to get on with the laundry and go to Spanish while Peter went with Pat and Bob for a sightseeing trip. They drove through Pego and up the Vall de Gallinera, ending up in Xativa where Peter wanted to show them the castle. Unfortunately, it shuts on Mondays! So they went on to Simat and visited that lovely monastery I told you about previously. Pat and Bob were impressed by the time and money that the Valencian Government are putting into refurbishing it.

We had chicken sweet-and-sour for dinner, accompanied by a little of the ice-cream and wine that Pat and Bob had bought on the way back from their expedition. After dinner, Bob introduced me to a computer game called Alchemy which they both play and I had a bit of a practice at that after they had gone to bed.

Tuesday, 2 February: Peter and I had various things to do so Pat and Bob took themselves off to Benidorm for the day, having already said that they would prepare dinner in the evening. We went and did the shopping as usual and then came straight back because Peter was expecting one of his motorbiking friends for a treatment on his back. They turned up at 12.30 and we all had a chat after the treatment. It turns out that they teach line-dancing and have connections with the club I used to go to in Denia! They are currently teaching at the Hotel Julia in Parcent on Wednesday evenings and I said I would go next week. It will be better for me to go there than the centre of Denia because the access and the parking are both easier.

We had a quick lunch and then set off for the Camera Club in Oliva. We weren't sure quite what to expect because there had been some rumblings about the club not being sufficiently well-organised, and in danger of turning into a chat club, and a meeting had been called to 'discuss the future of the club'. It turned out to be a rather ill-tempered meeting at the start with a few bruised egos evident and a bit of disagreement on the way to proceed. Eventually, it was agreed that members would present their suggestions on a new web site that has just been set up and that a group of those who have previously volunteered to help (which includes Peter and me) would analyse the suggestions and draw up a plan for approval. I have a feeling - as someone commented at the meeting - that we may end up having to cut the democracy a bit, it being impossible to please everybody. Nevertheless, it must be possible to come up with something - there are Camera Clubs all over the place!

By the time we got back about 5.30 Pat and Bob had returned and were into their preparations for dinner. Much to my delight, I was banned from the kitchen for the duration. They served us three tapas dishes for starters - sherried mushrooms with a breadcrumb and cheese topping, broad beans with bacon and prawns in garlic oil - and pan-fried swordfish and tuna with chips and peas. The tuna had a Japanese sauce on it which was very tasty and the swordfish, which was beautifully tender, had been marinaded in fresh orange juice. Lovely to be served food which you haven't cooked yourself, and even better when you are barred from the kitchen until it has all been tidied and cleaned!

After dinner Bob set me up in the Facebook game of Bejeweled and played a couple of boards which were fairly high-scoring.  He then saved the score under my name - so it looks as though I am an expert! Apparently the game lasts several more days, during which that score will remain on the board and give me a chance to get to grips with the technique before a new game starts and everybody finds out that I don't know what I am doing!

During the evening we had an e-mail from the Javea Camera Club, apologising for the short notice, but asking for 'five of our best photos' each by next Monday! There is an impending competition with a Camera Club in Alton and the photos have to be chosen next week by the Club Committee - to which we were elected last month!

Well, we did say that we thought we should get 'more involved' in 2010!

Wednesday, 3 February: I weighed myself this morning, as usual, and was very pleased to find that I have lost a pound, despite the upheavals to my eating routines!

Pat and Bob went off to Valencia about 9.30, intending to visit the City of Arts and Sciences and the Americas Cup Port. As I am sure you are all aware, the Americas Cup starts next Monday, so the Port should be buzzing today! We did go on a previous occasion when they were here, but the place was deserted.

I spent most of the morning catching up with various of the computer tasks relating to Camera Clubs, real and virtual, and did my Spanish homework as well. Peter went down to his class for 11am and we had a drink when he came back before I went to my 1pm class. When I returned there was no sign of him, but it was obvious from the clothes that were in the bedroom and the ones that weren't that he had gone out for a ride on Brunhilde. It is a lovely bright day, even though the wind is a bit fresh so I am sure that he will enjoy that.

We are going to the Wok International in Denia this evening - Bob and Pat's treat - so that is another evening I can safely ignore the kitchen. I am however cooking for their last night tomorrow - chicken breasts stuffed with Emmenthal cheese and wrapped in serrano ham, accompanied by ratatouille and steamed vegetables - so it will be back to normal from then.

I'm intending to do my cycling this afternoon and a bit more of the computer work before starting to find these 'five of the best' photos. I'll let you know tomorrow if anything interferes with my plans.

Pao is dark like this - but a little more handsome

Pat and Bob

Simat

Two for the price of one! The Americas Cup at the City of Arts and Sciences!

The fish and chips were lovely - Jane said she had deliberately put less batter on my fish because she reads this diary and knows I am trying to be good... thank you, Jane! I didn't eat all my chips either, but there was no evidence of that because Bill and Peter polished them off between them. We had leek and potato soup before and just a coffee after, so I am hoping it won't be too bad.

I worked on a poster for the Lions Quiz this afternoon while Peter was dealing with the chap with the bad back. And then I looked at the EyeFetch site and caught up with one or two of the contests where I needed to vote, and played a game or two of Spider Solitaire for the sake of my brain. By then Peter had finished and we all had a brief chat before they set off on their motobike to go down to the coast for a ride. Impressive bike, and two full black leather suits! What a super outfit...

After putting the couch, towels, oils, etc away, Peter had time to 'rest his eyes' before we went out to eat. And he has been poring over his motorbike magazines since we got back.

We are keeping an eye on Clio at the moment, because she seems to be having trouble with one of her feet - she is limping a bit. But sometimes she sits with the left foot held pathetically just off the floor, and sometimes it is the right one! Is she having us on? Time will tell...

There is a wonderful moon tonight - an almost clear sky with the glow of the moon setting off the few clouds that are around. It is full early tomorrow morning, so Peter is going to put the crystals out to be cleansed and revitalised overnight.

He went off down to the Post Office to collect a parcel that the postman was holding for him, and at last it was the birthday present that Philip had posted at least two weeks ago! Philip had been tracking it on line and we had been waiting impatiently while it crept imperceptibly nearer... And then, finally, it arrived. It was a very smart blue shirt, a lightweight neckwarmer for wearing on the bike, some motorbike mags and some cards, all beautifully packed up in a Happy Birthday box. Peter texted him to say it had arrived and they had a chat this evening.

After sorting out the washing and having a quick breakfast (a banana and a glass of peach juice) we set off for Denia and our first appointment, arriving spot-on at 10am. We talked to the secretary at the offices of the solicitor who sponsors some of the Lions activities about the printing of the programme for the Fun in the Park event in June. They did last year's somewhat smaller version and she said she would find out some details and let us know.

On from there to Gormand's, our favourite coffee shop in the area, where I had a cup of chocolate with hazelnut to supplement my breakfast. Back to the car, and a quick trip across town to the Raquel Payá school which is one of the organisations which will be benefitting from the money raised at the do in June. The Lions had been invited to have a look around the school. First of all there was a photo - I must do my best to get behind the camera so that I can avoid these horrible things! - and then the very young and friendly headmistress, Maete Marti (in green in the photo) showed us around. I have to say that I have never seen anything like it in my life. They have 68 pupils, aged from four to twenty, who attend every day, and another 35 who come in for part-time help and stimulation. They are all mentally retarded and the treatments are tailored to individual needs. The staff consists of teachers and teaching assistants and the ratio is more-or-less one staff member to two pupils, although it differs in practice because many of the pupils need one-to-one attention. It was my impression that everybody was very happy (apart from a few poor little souls who just seemed totally confused as to what was going on) and getting on with lots of activities in all sorts of areas. We have all been invited to attend a play they are putting on at the Social Centre in May - that will be a very interesting occasion.

We had a brief chat with some of the members afterwards about the programmeand then walked round to the Torrecremada Gardens next to the market area where the event will take place in June. It is quite a large area, and well laid out. There some wide walkways which will take tradestands down each side, and some paths through garden areas which will take tables and chairs for refreshments. Also a nicely laid out area for entertainers...It should prove a very good venue - I hope the organisers have put in their request for good weather!

Round the corner to La Trufa, which is another very nice café, where we had coffee and I had a piece of tortilla for lunch. We got home a few minutes after two, but before Bill had started to panic that his lunch was going to be late. As we had already had lunch, I started straight in on the amendments to the programme which had been suggested, and then visited the printers' site to have a look at prices and procedures. That continued into some photoeditng of the photos we took earlier, and of the one of us which had been sent on during the afternoon, and before I knew it it was 6pm!

I went down and did fifteen minutes cycling while Peter peeled some potatoes and stripped the chicken off the bones. I made a salad when I got back to the kitchen and we were ready for dinner at 7pm as usual. What with all the bad weather we have been having, this was the first time that Bill had come up for quite a while - we don't want to give up on it because I'm sure that the exercise and the change of scenery is good for him.

I can't remember quite what else I have been doing this evening, but it is now 11.15pm and I am still sitting at my computer...Must finish this off now and move about a bit...

Members of the Jalon and Orba Lions with the headmistress of the Raquel Payá School, Maete Marti

Torrecremada Gardens
in winter

I put a little washing on this morning and then sat down with my breakfast in front of the TV and actually watched a bit of Heir Hunters - it was quite funny to think of all these competing firms rushing round the country trying to sign up potential heirs and bag the commission for themselves! I had thought it would be a much more quill-pen sort of approach!

Peter went off to his Spanish lesson just before 11am, and I spent some time on the computer while he was out. I went into the kitchen to check the washing and heard a car door. Thinking he was a bit early I looked out of the window and saw a silver car... As I was going to the front door to find out what was happening I realised that Peter had locked the outer door and the visitor wouldn't be able to reach the bell. I opened the door just in time to catch him as he was getting back into the car - it was a very speedy delivery man, bringing the filter for my camera that Peter had ordered online yesterday afternoon! I had a look at it later, just to make sure it fitted, and it appears to be completely opaque! I'm not quite sure what to expect because it is an infrared filter and I haven't had one of those before. I shall have to experiment when the weather improves...

We had a cup of tea when he came in just after twelve noon, and then he took me down to my class at one. Andrea and I persuaded Antonio to have a go at the abseiling in September and he is going to ask round his football friends for volunteers as well! When we finished just after two it was sheeting down - I made a quick dash down the steps by the Town Hall to the main road and was glad to see that Peter had managed to park quite close. He had already done sandwiches for himself and Bill, so he went off to Javea for a Reiki session with one of his colleagues as soon as he had got me home.

I had a quick and light lunch (corn crackers with Philadephia Light and a hard-boiled egg) and then got on with preparing the quiz for Monday 8th - I wanted to get it done early, so that we weren't concerning ourselves about it next week when Pat and Bob are here. It is nearly all done now - I just have to find a few more questions for the Current Affairs round and type up the interval round. Peter will do the music round because he enjoys recording little bits of music onto a CD...

We watched a little bit of the Dog Whisperer this evening - Cesar was having a real battle with a dog that was fixated on his owners' feet! I rang Sharon after that, and she told me about a quiz they are organising for Friday night as part of the launch of a charity run - Race for Life, I believe. Apparently they have more than twenty teams so it will be a much bigger affair to manage than our one.

I'm going to publish this now and then get to bed - we have a fairly early start tomorrow, with appointments in Denia at 10am and 11am followed by a walk round the site of the event in June to familiarise ourselves with its layout. And all before lunch.

an infrared image...

I put a Spanish TV programme on this morning and found myself watching lots of excited Spanish reporters cavorting in the snow! Bless them! They don't get that much of it in the normal way, and they were acting just like big kids - there was even one girl standing under a tree and shaking all the snow over herself! Fortunately there wasn't any here, although it might have made a nice change from all that rain. We checked the forecast and found that the wind and rain was supposed to continue unabated all day so we sent a message to the Camera Club in Oliva saying that we weren't coming. Jonathan, who runs it, rang a few minutes later saying that he thought that was a very good idea and he was cancelling it. And then there was another message later on from some other members who said they were going to go in anyway...I hope they enjoyed themselves!

We had a chicken sweet and sour this evening which was warming and very tasty - just a small portion for me and very little rice. Peter decided the weather called for some pampering so he and Bill had steamed puddings with cream afterwards! Mind you, I hope to have the last laugh in the long run when my denim biking suit fits better than his...

I have been doing some Spanish homework during the day and working on the programme for the Fun in the Park event. There is a Lions meeting tomorrow but we are not going because only the heads of sub-committees go to make more space available in a rather small room. We shall get the decisions in due course.

I watched Gok Wan this evening showing women 'How to Look Good Naked'. In this one he was working with a young woman who had lost a leg in a motorbike accident - he does most certainly manage to bring the sparkle back into their eyes! And she looked absolutely gorgeous on the catwalk - her new hairstyle was a stunner.

I'm going to make a cup of tea whan I have published this and decide whether I want anything for supper - I forgot to tell you that I had raw vegetables and hummus for lunch, so I think I probably have a little space for a couple of nuts and a raisin! Do you know, for the first time in longer than I can remember, I am really looking forward to weighing myself in the morning! I know I have lost weight and I can't wait to see how much... I'll tell you tomorrow!

Peter took over a while later while I went down to do some cycling. The left knee, which had been causing some problems with inflammation, felt fine, but unfortunately after about ten minutes I got cramp in the other leg! I tried to do something about it, but it wasn't having any so the cycling had to come to a stop for then.

Peter dropped me off at the doctor's surgery to get a prescription for the aciclovir tablets which keep the herpes virus from waking up and attacking my new cornea. The doctor at the eye clinic said I have to take them for another six months and then stop. I think I shall be a bit nervous at that stage! Unfortunately the doctor was running late, having been held up by the rain, so I was ten minutes late to my Spanish class.

The rain had eased a little by the time class was finished so Peter and I decided that we would go to Café Rosa for a quick lunch and then do the shopping, as the forecast was worse for tomorrow. We tried to ring the Café but there wasn't any signal so we got a sandwich for Bill, collected the bags and got in the car - only to see Jane and Helen drive past on their way home to an early lunch! When I spoke to them later they said that there hadn't been anybody around and we should have rung! Never mind! We went back into the house and got a quick lunch and then went shopping as planned.

By the time we were back and everything was put away it was time to cook a pasta for tea and then head off to Café Rosa for the quiz. Some people had cried off because of the weather, but we still had five full teams, and everything was fine. Our guest quizmaster,John, was very confident - well, he's a man, isn't he? - and Liz was just a little more hesitant but it all went very well. They included a round called 'Who Am I?' which was very popular. So much so that we decided we would include the format in our range of rounds as well. We joined up with Nancy and Maggie, as the boys are away getting wet in Sitges, but we didn't do very well! The team came second to last, in part due to picking the wrong round to play our joker. We chose Food and Drink and only got three points - if we had gone for our other possibility of General Knowledge we would have had eight points and come third! What a good job that it is only for fun...

I opted for a chicken salad for my supper to keep the calories down, and drank water and a coffee as we were clearing up. I did order a dark rum and coke at the beginning of the evening, but when I suddenly remembered that I hadn't asked for a diet coke (not being used to drinking these things) I passed it over to Peter and he finished it. The quiz took a little longer than usual and we didn't get home until about 11.15, so it was time to say goodnight to Bill, check the final things on the computer, have a drink and get to bed. Well, that was the plan, but Peter started working on the Lions documents, and we didn't finally go until 1am!

I went down to do Bill's shower at 11am and we were all finished before it got wet. I was glad about that because the side steps get very slippery in the rain, and if it gets heavy then they turn into a river! Without benefit of guttering, much of the rain that lands on the roof ends up on the steps.

We read the papers for a while before lunch and then Peter made bacon sandwiches for himself and Bill - I had two crispbreads with low-fat Philly and a hard-boiled egg.

After lunch I checked my messages and dealt with one or two that needed replies, and then finished my Spanish homework. Peter was struggling with reflexive verbs so we had a discussion on what they were and how they worked. And then I did a bit more playing around with ideas for the front cover of the Lions programme. And I had a look at a photographic supply web site looking for something for my birthday - an infrared filter is the favourite at the moment!

We had decided not to go out for dinner since the weather was bad, so I cooked a beef stew. The beef was lean and cooked nicely and we had lots of root vegetables - I added some white beans as well since I wasn't going to have much of the meat. It was all very tasty, and much better than getting soaked going to a restaurant!

We got an e-mail this afternoon from our friend Jean, who is coming out in February to celebrate her birthday (which was on 17th Jan, as I am sure you recall) with her friends out here. She and her husband Derek have been trying for some time to arrange it so that he could work from Spain with short visits to the firm in London, and it has finally been agreed! They are expecting to move out here in the summer, and will then be available to join fully in the mad social whirl - at least, she will!  It will be really good. Jean and I have been saying for some while now, 'Well, we'll be able to do this or that soon', and now we can start planning in earnest! Derek is a biker, so Peter is already planning to enrol him in BOPA, one of the local motorbike clubs.

And then later there was another e-mail from Alison, a friend from Colchester, who last visited three years ago, and has been moved to come out again by reading this diary! Another good reason for keeping going...

By the way, I did try my knitting yesterday evening, but I got in a real muddle! It looks from the illustration as though the main body is reversed stocking stitch with four double cable panels up the back section, but you have to refer to a chart for the cable panel, and then refer to somewhere else for the explanations of what the chart is showing! I had a go at the first row but it was obviously wrong so I took it back and then gave up for the time being. There is just too much going on at the moment for me to concentrate on it properly. Fortunately, there isn't a baby anywhere waiting for it - they would need a bigger size by the time I finish it.

We went down to José's fruit and veg stall this morning, and then on to the Portal to collect my Nokia phone which had been 'opened' for use with my Orange SIM card. Mark in the shop set it all up for me and confirmed that I will be able to swap the card between the two should I get brave enough to have another go at the Samsung! Peter is coping with his but I just seem to get the jitters when mine does anything, and the touchscreen is so sensitive that I have to write a text several times before I get it ready to send.

After a coffee at Lizarran's - I had a couple of montaditos for breakfast, but I only ate the tortilla and the ham and trimmings and left the bread - we went on to Peter Zwaan's because he had sourced a denim biker's jacket that Peter wanted for the summer. He tried it on and it looked absolutely wonderful! It has the padded sections for protection and they look like 3D gothic patterns on the back and the shoulders. The only problem was that the colour of the denim in the jacket and the trousers he tried the other day didn't match - so Peter Z is going to get a lighter pair of trousers in to see if they are better. I think this is going to be the best incentive for ages to make me stick to my diet - lose weight, buy a medium-size denim suit and strut my stuff on the bike club rides! When Peter gets his suit I am going to take a photo of him wearing it, and stick copies up on the fridge and the cupboards as the traditional reminder not to pick. I'll put one on here, too.

When we got home he came down with me to check how my knee moved on the bike and then gave me permission to do twenty minutes, which I enjoyed. We had a big bowl of salad and a hard-boiled egg for lunch, followed by a mug of the usual weak black tea. Surely there is nothing detrimental to the diet hiding in that?

More paperwork this afternoon and I spent an hour or so playing with some ideas for the front cover of the programme for the Fun in the Park event.  One of my problems will be that parts of it have to be in three languages!

I cooked a salmon curry for dinner with brown rice (only had a half portion myself) and Bill came up as usual. They were televising an FA Cup match between Spurs and Leeds so we  watched that. After coffee, with half an hour of the match to go, I retreated to the office, but I heard the shouts and comments and gathered that Leeds had equalised in the 90th minute, thus earning themselves a replay at Elland Road - I gathered from the two fans here that that was a very fair outcome.  They may be a very deserving team, but I thought that it was a shame that they had a player called 'Snodgrass'! If I had been their manager I would have insisted that he changed his name before signing his contract!

I'm intending to do some more of my knitting this evening - I got up to the bit where I have to set the pattern some while ago and haven't done any since then. So I thought I would do my Spanish homework and then sit down with my knitting - sounds about right for a granny, doesn't it?

While all this was going on, we talked to Michelle about the Fun in the Park do in Dénia in June. She cheerfully agreed to a full page advert in the programme, and said that Mark, her partner, would have one as well, only his would probably be two halves as he has two businesses. Shge also suggested some of her customers who might be interested and pointed out the advertising literature they had left for her to display. And a few minutes later, one of them walked in! We talked to her and she said that she would have a tradestand on the day... Before we left we told Michelle about the abseil that was being arranged for September and she jumped at the chance (forgive the pun)! She did one for her 40th birthday a few years back and loved it - she was also sure that Mark would love it too! Apparently she raised more than 2,000€ last time, so she could turn out to be a star catch for this event.

All nice and tidy, we proceeded to Café Rosa for lunch, where Jane agreed that they would have an advert as well. Bill had a ham and cheese omelette with chips, Peter had a freshly-made beefburger in a bun with chips, and I had a very tasty chicken Caesar salad. It was all very enjoyable and very reasonable too.

We got back home about 3.30pm and started on the paperwork. I had been going to do some cycling but the inflammation in my knee had been playing up and Peter said I should rest it for the day. I am delighted to find that I am getting to the stage where that is a disappointment, because I enjoy it and feel better after it! Instead, I created some files for the information we are beginning to collect for the Lions events, and sent some e-mails reporting details to other Committee members. Peter also rang one of our neighbours who is a mountain-walker and he agreed to the abseil as well - we are going to get him to check with some of the other walkers.

After dinner, I thought I had better get the printing done for the quiz on Monday - we are not actually presenting this one, but we had said that we would print the various answer papers for the guest quizmasters. After two sheets my printer started jamming up! It has always been inclined to play up now and again and we have never been able to discover why. Peter crawled about under the table and moved various cables and so on, then deleted and reset the printer and also my new wireless keyboard and mouse. Everything worked perfectly - at least for a short while. Eventually he said he would nurse the printer through the fifty or more sheets of printing needed for the quiz, and he managed to make it behave. I was very grateful, because I was on the verge of throwing the b****y thing out the window!

I got various other bits done - for EyeFetch, for Café Rosa, etc. but went to bed before I was able to do this one - sorry for making you wait!

 

I shall be holding Peter's coat...
 

We visited the Tabacos in Sanet this morning to sign the local petition to Iberdrola (the electricity supplier) telling them that we were all fed up with their terrible service - ten minutes of rain or wind and the power goes off! Apparently their local sub-station was originally installed by Christopher Columbus before he set of for America! Such are the problems of living out in the sticks.  

Afterwards, we went into the Portal. It was time for coffee by then, and that was all I had - a small coffee with a sweetener. Peter, on the other hand, had a doughnut with his...  We then had a look at a couple of shops, pricing up small TVs because Bill's is playing up and it may need replacing if we can't sort it out, and we collected the new Audrey Niffenegger book, 'Her Fearful Symmetry'. I can't read it yet because it is a birthday present, but I am really looking forward to it! If you have not yet read her first book, 'The Time Traveller's Wife', then I would suggest that you do yourself a favour and get hold of a copy. I also called at the Orange shop to see if my Nokia had been returned but it hasn't...just how long does it take to unlock a phone? I'm going to change the Sim card over from my Samsung and see if my stress levels reduce - the touch screen is so sensitive that it is driving me mad!

We got home just in time to make a nice healthy salad for lunch before going to another Lions meeting. This was an informal one with the leader of the Publicity sub-committee for the big 'Fun in the Park' day in June - we have been assigned to him to help with all the publicity requirements. He handed us some notes and drafts and said we were now responsible for producing a 16 to 20 page programme! That'll be a bit time-consuming and will also involve finding out just who is supplying half of the information that we will need to include and making sure that we get it on time. He had already produced a flyer for use in persuading people to join in, but when I printed a copy off to have a look I found that most of the illustrations were covered in copyright protection text! After a word with him, I spent the evening replacing the pictures with copyright-free ones, reorganising the text a little and producing it as an image that users will be able to print off easily as and when they need them. I can see that we are going to have our work cut out with this!

Peter spent an hour on the garden when we got back, pruning back all the bushes and the olive trees with the new shears he bought this morning. He is a demon pruner, but so far most of his victims have survived. I spent twenty minutes or so on my bike and then sorted some of my e-mails before getting dinner - I prepared the chicken and Peter did the vegetables.  Bill came up because it was a pleasant evening but I think he may be eating downstairs over the next couple of days - the forecast is not good. In fact the organiser cancelled the motorbike group's ride on Sunday because the weather is predicted to be so wet and windy - Peter was not best pleased.

I rang Sharon this evening to tell her that Peter's card had arrived - she told me that the duet on the morning of his birthday was actually her and Victoria...Emily was not able to join in as she had already left for school. Unfortunately, Sharon has a cold at the moment...she didn't actually call me 'Bubby' but it was quite close. She says she is getting plenty of sleep, eating well and taking the tablets, so I am sure she will be feeling better soon.

I have to sort out the rest of the washing before I go to bed - in fact I have to dry the lot I washed this morning before we can go to bed, because the sheet is in there! Never mind, at least the electricity is cheap!

I spent some time catching up with the laundry I didn't finish yesterday and I had my static cycle ride before going to Spanish. It was a good session, with interesting chats and new vocabulary picked up. One of our discussions was about Barack Obama and I got home to see on the news that those idiots in Massachusetts have elected a Republican! I really despair of the Americans - when will they stop shooting themselves in the foot with their own short-sighted selfish stupidity!

I made a salad for lunch and that was all I had - Peter added bread and butter and extra dried fruit to his, but then he is only a little bit overweight. I think his main concern is whether he can keep on getting into those sexy black leather trousers he wears on his bike...

We had an early dinner because there was another Lions meeting - this one was a General Meeting at the Town Hall in Jalon. We were officially welcomed as new members and the Secretary said he would send an e-mail with details of the fees to be paid. Details of current and future events were discussed, and we had to pass on the plans for the quiz we are going to be running on 22nd April. We finished by 8.45pm because they lock the place up then! Stuart and Andrea had given us a lift to make sure we knew where we were going so they dropped us back at our car in Rafol and we were home by about 9.15pm.

I am now catching up with this diary and some of my other online commitments and that will bring another day to a close...

After Peter had opened his cards and presents - see the collage of some of them aside - and answered birthday calls from Sharon (including a duet of 'Happy Birthday' from her and Emily) and from Philip, he decided that he fancied a full cooked breakfast, as it was his birthday, so we called in on Café Rosa on our way to do the shopping. When we got there we found a couple of friends from the Marina Alta Camera Club already there chatting, and Jane on her own as Helen was out doing the shopping. So we chatted to the friends while Jane tried to sort out drinks and cooking. Another friend turned up not long after and we continued chatting. We did get our breakfast after a little longer wait than usual but it was just as tasty!

We went on from there to Masymas (taking a birthday call from his sister on the way) and then to Mercadona as usual and got home with about 45 minutes to spare to pack the freezer and fridge stuff away, get Bill's lunch and drive to Rafol to meet a couple of friends from the Lions.

And we managed it! We arrived in the car park of the Piscina Bar (the bar alongside the swimming pool) at the same time as they did. The idea was to have a look at the place and the rooms at the back to see if they would be suitable for running a quiz to raise funds for the Lions. The bar is owned by the Town Hall and the Alcalde (Mayor) had told Stuart that the Lions were welcome to use any of the facilities of the bar or of the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) for free in their fund-raising activities. We thought that was exceedingly generous of him and when the rooms in question turned out to be clean, fresh and of reasonable size we were even more impressed. The quiz in question will be one of the ones previously presented at the Café Rosa (with due reference to that establishment, of course, and information about the continuing quizzes to be enjoyed there) and the room we will be using, together with its mezzanine floor could actually accommodate about eighty people - I think the challenge will be to find anything like that many!

We had thought we were just having a drink and a chat with the lady who runs it, but it turned out that Stuart had booked lunch! After a discussion with the boss we settled on paella, which, of course, takes a while to prepare. While we were waiting we were brought a large plate of salad to share, followed by four thick slices of bread, toasted and covered with tomato frito and an anchovy, and then four mini-pizza type bases with a spinach and shrimp topping! We thought it must be time for the paella by then, but she arrived with a dish of fresh bread and a small dish of a fish and vegetable stew 'to try'! Eventually the paella arrived and it was very good! It was a Valencian-style dish, with meat rather than fish and very tasty - the crunchy rice on the bottome of the dish - called 'soccorat' - was just lovely. We ate as much as we could, declined a dessert and finished with a coffee! After that we had a discussion with the management about the quiz and she is very happy to go along with whatever we want.

We got back home about four o'clock and sat down. I decided I needed to write an e-mail to 'Los Vecinos' with some more information about the local burglaries and that took some time to do - I kept looking for better ways of saying what had to be said. We had seen the Dutch owner of one of the houses near us and he said it was very worrying to read about burglaries on the mountain when you were away, because it left you wondering if your house was one of them. I understand the worry, but what am I supposed to do about it?  All the unoccupied house in our close area have resident neighbours who keep an eye on them and can contact the owner if necessary. Given that arrangement, why would you need to worry?

Early evening and it was off to eat again! We had booked a meal at the Café Rosa and Peter had asked Jane to do steak and chips for him and Bill. I had opted for salmon because I tend to avoid red meat. We added starters and desserts and ended up really stuffed! It was a very pleasant evening though - the food is always good and there were quite a few others in, so there was a nice atmosphere. We usually eat fairly early, so fortunately we were back about 9 pm and had some time to digest before trying to sleep.

When we got in there was a message from Peter's second son, Andrew, so they texted an exchange of greetings. Paul rang later to wish Peter a happy birthday, and I talked to him afterwards. He said that he and Glyn will be coming up on Sunday 7th February and staying over for the quiz on Monday night. I'm really pleased about that - it means that they will be here for my birthday lunch on Sunday (which has been postponed a day so that he and Glyn and Jean and Derek can all be there) and the four of them will make an excellent quiz team for the Monday evening. Everything is booked with Jane at the Café Rosa so all we have to do now is prepare the quiz!

I'm off to bed, but I really don't know how well I shall be able to sleep...

It's been a rather bitty day since then... I started by collecting the washing and getting the first load of that on; then made some porridge for breakfast for both of us; then cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms; and then stopped for coffee! Peter had been cleaning the windows while I was doing the other things, and he went down to do Bill's windows and then to clean the floors.

By the time I had had a shower and washed my hair it was 12.45 and time to go down to the town for my Spanish lesson. We spent most of it reading, translating and discussing a Spanish article from the internet about the death of Michael Jackson, which it described as 'the most important event of 2009'. I disagreed with this - he was never one of my favourites anyway - and I cannot understand how anyone can truly believe that the death of a popstar, be he never so talented, could be that important! What about the economic crisis? What about the casualties of wars and natural disasters? A few others agreed with me, and we ended up getting told by a younger classmate that perhaps it was our age that made us unable to appreciate the intrinsic importance of Michael Jackson to the world!  Our homework for Wednesday is to choose an event that we really do feel was important in 2009 and write a couple of paragraphs about that!

By the time I returned from my class Peter was ready to visit his Reiki colleague in Javea. He was going on his motorbike, because it gives them both a good workout and it is cheaper than going in the car! While he was out I had my lunch and then watched a little bit of TV - 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' because it is always a possible source of quiz questions. When my lunch had gone down I did my static cycling. I am starting this week with five sessions (weekdays) building up to the thirty minutes that I was doing previously, and including a walk at the weekend, weather permitting. I'm just hoping that I will be able to build it up gently enough to avoid any injury and get back into the swing of it.

After that I wrapped Peter's presents for tomorrow and  took the card from Bill down for him to sign. All done and tidied away before he returned! I had had some more information about burglaries during the afternoon so I was trying to collate that and some other bits of information while Peter went down to do his static cycling and then have a shower. Unfortunately, I was still doing it at 7pm when he came out, so I was in trouble! Dinner is supposed to be at 7pm! I went down to tell Bill that we would be late and he agreed to forgive me for the oversight... It was only half an hour late as we were having pasta so it didn't interfere with his planned football viewing.

I have written some more e-mails this evening, and now,once I have finished this, I think I might sit and watch a bit of mindless TV!

Peter went out to play with the BOPA Group this morning. They apparently followed the route he had recommended last week (Jalon, Bernia, Pinos, Moraira, Benitachell, Javea, La Xara and home) so they let him lead. No breakdowns this time, just a puppy that ran out and nearly got entangled with his wheels! They took coffee stops in Pinos and Moraira, so it was obviously very hard going - seems that it got so hot that one of the ladies had to go to the loo and remove her thermals from under her trousers! Colin, who maintains the BOPA site (www.bopabikers.com) is away in England at the moment, so you may have to wait a little while if you want to check for any other racy details.

After Bill's shower I made myself some coffee and sat down to watch a recording of a programme about Barack Obama that my sister had recommended. It was more than two hours long and followed him from the announcement of his willingness to stand for President to 4th November 2008 when he actually won. It was inspirational stuff - he and his staff so obviously believed in everything they were doing and put every last ounce of energy into it. Just over a year into the job now, and I still think he is the best hope the world has...

I have been doing some more reading about Astrology and am slowly getting a bit more of the picture - I have been collecting some notes on Planets, Signs, Houses and Aspects and trying to make sense of how they fit together. It is an enormous subject and I shall just have to pursue it with patience. I think my main hope is that it might just help me to understand what motivates an individual...I could even try applying it to men!

We had dinner at home today because Peter had found a large leg of lamb in Mercadona at what he thought was a reasonable price (about £7) and wanted to have an old-fashioned home-cooked Sunday dinner. It turned out quite nicely - the lamb was cooked in a terracotta dish in the oven, with gravy, for nearly four hours and we had roasted carrots, parsnips and onions, and potatoes and broccoli, followed by a small piece of Viennetta and a cup of coffee. It made a pleasant change, but I do prefer the freedom of not cooking on a Sunday!

I have been doing some research on the internet for Mike and Brian - when we were sharing fish and chips on Friday evening they were saying how much they used to enjoy going to concerts in England, and what a pity it was that the nearest ones to us are in Valencia and so amazingly expensive. We asked if they had heard of the Palau in Altea which puts on many shows, concerts and exhibitions of all kinds, and they hadn't, so I found the web site (www.palaualtea.com) and sent them the details. Unfortunately it is not available in English, but still reasonably simple to follow...'musicá', 'concierto' and 'teatro'  are fairly self-explanatory!  You can buy tickets online (if you can follow the system) and they seem to range from 10€ to 15€, which is very reasonable. The building is gorgeous, there is parking not too far away...I'm wondering why we haven't made more use of it? We have been to a couple of art exhibitions but that is it...  There is a Flamenco Show coming up soon that looks interesting...

You will recall that I commented last night that I hadn't had much feedback - thanks to those of you who replied! And particularly to my lovely Sharon who said that she read it every day because it made her feel as though she was out here with us! Well, that 's the best reason I could possibly have for keeping it going.

The 44th President of the USA

The Palau at Altea

One of our friends from the village was there at the same time and she told me that her husband had just been diagnosed with Parkinson's. He has apparently been depressed for some time and the doctor had him on anti-depressants. It was generally assumed that it was the result of a couple of skin cancer ops he has had recently, but further tests revealed that it was in fact Parkinsons. Now that the doctor has started providing the right medication her husband is suddenly re-discovering his joy in life, and making plans, and singing around the house...and she doesn't know whether to laugh because he is happy today, or cry because she doesn't know what tomorrow will bring. We ended up agreeing that none of us know what tomorrow will bring...laughing today is the only sane approach.

As we hadn't had any breakfast before going shopping we popped over to the Café Rosa to remedy the lack. Peter had two poached eggs on toast with fried tomatoes and I had a bowl of muesli with fresh fruit and crème fraiche - followed by coffee it hit the spot nicely. We spent a few minutes chatting to a couple in there who live in the Birmingham area and have a holiday home in Beniarbeig.  It turned out in the conversation that she is Russian and he was born in India! Now there's a good example of multi-culturalism for you - and I don't have a clue how they met or how they ended up in Birmingham. Isn't life strange?

I rang Jean when we got home to wish her a happy birthday for tomorrow. She has been suffering from a very nasty cold but is feeling much better now and ready to celebrate. Apparently friends and family are joining them at a local hotel for a party tonight, and then everybody is staying at the hotel so they are in position for a big celebration breakfast on the day itself. I'm sure they will all have a great time, and nobody has to drive anywhere... Jean told me they had booked their flights out here for 7th February, which is very nice as they will be able to join us to celebrate my birthday for the first time, and Peter's and hers for the second time! And if we are very lucky Paul and Glyn might join us. Should be lots of fun.

Peter decided he would finish mending Bill's window blind in the hour or so he had before lunch. The strap that controls it had broken some months ago and he did a temporary repair which made the blind usable, but wouldn't allow it to drop all the way to the bottom. Once he started it soon became apparent that this wasn't going to be any easier than one of ours that we did last year. It becomes almost impossible to decide which way round the tension wheel has to go in order to reel the strap in, and whether the blind should be up or down at the time... We did get it finished eventually but it took about three hours.

I have been reading up on Astrology recently, starting with a conversation that we had with Paul and Glyn when they were up here a couple of weeks ago. We have always thought that the big astrological coincidence in our relationship was that his ex-wife and I were both born on 6th February, but it turns out that an even bigger one is that Peter and I both have rising signs in Cancer - 25º and 27º respectively. As far as I understand it, that is going to go a long way towards evening out the differences caused by our Sun signs (Capricorn and Aquarius respectively) and putting us on the same wavelength, which might explain a lot of things that have puzzled me over the past fourteen years. If I can find the time, I shall pursue the subject.

We had a phone call from a neighbour this evening to say that there had been another couple of burglaries on the mountain last night. They are targetting empty properties (holiday homes) and drilling out the locks to get in once they have established that there is nobody there at present. The general belief is that the culprits are the orange pickers who have been drafted into the area to work in the local groves for a mere pittance, and  supplement their income in any way they can. There is no proof, though - it could be local villains using the pickers as a convenient cover! Anyway, we have put the word out among the owners and asked everyone to watch out for anything suspicious, and to keep an eye on neighbouring empty houses. I'm saure they will move on soon...

Cancer: the Crab

As I was waving the intrepid biker off our Dutch neighbour from over the road came out. They returned from Holland yesterday and said that the weather there had been awful. The trip back had not been a problem but everywhere was covered with snow as far south as Narbonne. It seems that everybody has been freezing recently - roll on Spring!

After Bill and I had had some lunch I went to the Portal de la Marina to do a little shopping - it is the birthday of a certain gentleman of our acquaintance next Tuesday, so his absence on the bike seemed like a good opportunity to see what the Portal could offer - I won't give you any more details in case he reads this before Tuesday!  Suffice it to say that presents seem to get harder to find every year - I don´t know whether that is because we have less money or that he has already got everything!

He was very happy went he got back from his ride and I am all in favour of anything that makes him happy! It makes life much easier all round...

We had decided to go to the Café Rosa this evening for fish and chips and I discovered earlier that Brian and Mike from Beniarbeig were going as well, so we all sat together and had a very pleasant meal and a good chat. We even included an impromptu singsong which rather surprised the other guests! Brian had read my comment in yesterday's diary about 'when our cheap rate (electricity) starts' and wanted to know more, so I checked on the Iberdrola site and sent him the details - the site (www.iberdrola.es) is quite impressive and available in English so it is worth a read for anyone who has to deal with them.

I have spent some time this evening changing the stop press section to celebrate Jean's birthday. She is having a big party in England this weekend, and then she and her husband Derek will be coming out here to repeat the occasion as soon as their other commitments allow. We are all looking forward to that - they certainly know how to throw a party!

Meet Brunhilde...

We took Bill to Specsavers in Javea this morning to have his eyes tested for the first time since we left England - and they found that he is actually about half a diopter less short-sighted than he was when his last glasses were made! Did you know that Spain was good for your eyesight? Their premises are staffed by a bevy of lovely ladies all of whom were very happy to let Bill kiss their hand, so he had a whale of a time. He is now looking forward to going back in a couple of weeks to collect the two new pairs and have them fitted, which will undoubtedly involve lots more hand-kissing. Peter had his eyes tested again as they had a spare appointment and his haven't changed in the last eighteen months or so either. I have to go in a few weeks but I'm pretty sure that my prescriptions will change - after a corneal transplant and the fitting of a prescription lens in the eye I think that is a safe bet.

We went over to the Cafe Backstube for a light lunch after we were all finished and then home. I think Bill was pleased to get in out of the wind - he has enough trouble keeping his feet in order in the normal way without worrying about whether he is going to get blown over.

Peter and I went into Denia for 4pm to collect a packet from Amazon. He ordered a CD - Susan Boyle's new one - some weeks ago and it didn't arrive, so he contacted Amazon who sent another one and a tracking number. We had a phone call from a courier firm in Denia yesterday telling us that they had the packet and asking us to ring to arrange delivery. When I rang her back she said that they had tried to deliver it earlier in the day but there was nobody in, so it was now back in their office. They would try again next Wednesday or Thursday if we wished, or we could go in and collect it! How very Spanish...

After that we returned to Ondara to the computer shop, Beep Beep, to get a new Spanish keyboard for my computer. My last one started playing up and I replaced it with an old English-style keyboard, but it makes it very difficult to do all the accents and upside-down question and exclamation marks, etc that you need when writing Spanish so I got a new one. It amazes me how cheap these things are these days. We fitted it when we got in, but unsurprisingly it didn't work properly. The keyboard is fine and I now have my Spanish keys - ¿See what I mean? - but the mouse isn't working so I am using the one from my Wacom tablet. That's a problem to be solved another day...

Peter went down and did a session on his static bike before dinner - I'm leaving mine until tomorrow, and will start doing it every day next Monday.

I've been answering e-mails, editing and posting photos and writing this since dinner, apart from a phone call to Paul about 10pm. He says that he and Glyn have just about got over their colds and are feeling 'normal' again - whatever that is! They apparently have gales down there as well: he said he had had to get up at 6.30 this morning to pick up the washing which was strewn over the gravel because the wind had broken their rotary clothes drier!

On the subject of laundry, I put a load in at 10pm because that is when our cheap rate starts - it is due to finish any minute and I have to dry the sheet before we can go to bed! All together now - aaahhhh!

Peter went to his Spanish class this morning, where he found that it had actually re-started last Friday!  When he came back just after 1200 we decided to have an early lunch before my class at 1pm because we had a Lions meeting in Jalon at 3pm and Antonio's classes often overrun a bit. As luck would have it, the class did actually finish only a couple of minutes late, so we had time to call in at Bar Tormos and have a coffee before going on to the Orba petrol station where we had arranged to meet Stuart and Andrea so we could follow them to the meeting, which was at the President's house. I was glad that we had them as our guides because the entrance to the narrow track leading to the house would have been very easy to miss. We spent a couple of hours discussing future Lions events ranging from a quiz (guess who will be running that?) to abseiling! Peter said that he would be willing to have a go at that, and I said I would hold his coat!

I spent 15 minutes on the static bicycle when we got back, while Peter cooked a beanfeast, one of his signature dishes. On to the computer after that to check up on correspondence, send a message to my Camera Club Photoediting Group about the basic course which is starting next week, and organise a couple of photos of the snow for local houseowners currently away from Sanet, who want to see what they are missing. Oh, I also found an email this morning from a friend in Beniarbeig (thanks, Maz!) telling me that I could have had my mobile 'opened' at Pedreguer market for much less than the 22€ that Orange are charging me! I knew somebody would know... the information is too late for me, but I have passed it on in case it is of use to anyone else.

We arranged various other meetings connected with the Lions this afternoon and  I have just uploaded them to my online calendar which is now appearing decidedly full. It is beginning to look as though it might be difficult to fit in things like the washing and the shopping.

A coffee after that, and then it was off to Masymas and Mercadona to do the shopping. We got home about 12 noon, put everything away and then I cooked some 'habas' for lunch - a traditional Spanish tapas, with onions and chorizo sausage cooked in olive oil with a little chilli, and then baby broad beans added with a handful of mint. My version was made with bacon bits as I didn't have chorizo, but it was very tasty and warming in this gloomy weather.

We went to the U3A Camera Club at the Viva Espana restaurant in Oliva this afternoon, and it was raining when we got there. There were general discussions all round as to what we would do this year and I have ended up agreeing to do a six-week basic editing course in Photoshop for four members who have no confidence in their ability to deal with the program. We shall intersperse it with photoshoots when the weather improves and hope that everybody will have increased their skills a bit by the time the spring arrives. Had a couple of coffees and a chat with various people we haven't seen since last year (!) so it was very pleasant.

We got home about 5.45pm and it was definitely much warmer on the road that it had been yesterday - perhaps that was because it was still raining! Bill stayed downstairs for dinner because he doesn't like rain...

I've just been down to say goodnight to Bill and the wind is picking up again - according to the forecast it is going to be about 40km for the next three days. At least it is drying up the last of the rain.

My Spanish classes are at 1pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, and Peter's are at 11am on Wednesday and 12 noon on Friday - it makes it a bit difficult to arrange other things around them sometimes! I felt a bit guilty because I hadn't done my homework, what with one thing and another...particularly the time spent on this, I think. We were supposed to have written up two or three diary entries of things we had done in the holidays, but we ended up discussing them in class anyway. So I told them all about Wednesday 23rd December, when we thought that the car had been stolen in Ondara with all Peter's motorbike gear and papers in it, but found out when we got to the local Police Station that it had in fact been towed away for being parked in front of a Vado Permanente  (protected access to a garage, etc.). It was such a relief to find that it was the police who had stolen it, and that, for only 80 euros, they were prepared to sell it back to us again! The thought of having to replace all those papers sends shivers down your spine.

We had lunch after the class and then took things quietly until about 6pm when I cooked some pasta for an early dinner. We left with the quiz gear at 7.15pm and noticed that the car thermometer was showing 2°C as we drove along the valley road! The quiz went very well - we had seven teams and everyone enjoyed themselves. There were no complaints about questions being too hard, or answers being wrong and nearly everyone has booked for the next one on 25th January, which is actually being run by a guest quizmaster. We will be playing instead and it will make a nice change for us to be on the other side of the table again - we did it in November and it was a salutory reminder that it is much easier when you have the answers on your piece of paper.

We had a cup of coffee after it was all over and a brief chat with Jane and Helen who are too busy during the evening to do much chatting, and then drove home about 11pm - the temperature on the valley road by then was 1°C...this is not what we moved to Spain for!

We went down to Cafe Rosa for 2pm and had our usual very enjoyable Sunday lunch. Bill opted for the Steak and Ale pie (surprise, surprise!) and Jane did me a very nice piece of salmon in pesto, even though she didn't actually have salmon on the menu. The desserts were lovely, as always, and Helen had decorated the cherry cheesecake with Cape gooseberries, and chocolate sauce - they looked almost too good to eat.

Since Jane is very into gadgets, I took my two mobile phones down with me to see if she could actually get the backs off - she did, of course! I haven't yet worked out at what age you become incapable of handling these little perishers, but it must be somewhere between Jane and me! (That will be about 23, then?) I changed from a Nokia to a Samsung (smaller and simpler version of an iPhone) and have been getting progressively more irritated with it. The touch screen is so sensitive that I can't get through the writing of a text without touching the wrong button and fouling the whole thing up! And there are so many different icons that I still don't think I have visited them all, let alone worked out what they are for. So I thought I would go back to the Nokia for a while and see if the return to a somewhat simpler model would be a relief - hence the need to remove the backs. I wanted to change the SIM card from the new one to the old one, but when I eventually got that done it seems that there is a restriction code needed to make the Nokia accept the card - so I shall have to go into the Orange shop anyway! Now that's a shame - it means another visit to the Portal de la Marina...

Since we got home I have been finally finishing the preparations for the Quiz - Jane tells me we have eight teams booked at this moment! - and getting thoroughly up-to-date with this diary. I shall get Bill a sandwich a little later, and see if we feel like eating anything. And then I might read some more of an Astrology book I found on the shelf. We were talking about Astrology when Paul and Glyn were here, and the first chapter of this book sets out the relationship between the signs in such a simple fashion that I had a real 'ah-ha!' moment when I saw the chart he had included. One fascinating bit of information I realised was that Brian (my first husband and the father of my children), Bill and Peter are all Earth signs, which is the total opposite of my Aquarian Air sign - I shall have to keep reading to find out what it all means!

We finished our coffee and escaped! There is a small area for playing petanque outside, and some of the locals were actually playing, despite the Arctic conditions - some of them were women as well, who should surely have been at home preparing the midday meal?

Back at Cafe Rosa, Jane and Helen had arrived and were getting set up for customers. We had a chat about Jane's laptop, which is in need of a bit of TLC, and the resurrection of this diary and then Jane told me that in their early days in Sanet she had been searching the internet for information on the town and came across a website belonging to a family of three who had moved out here from England, and were keeping a diary about their progress...it was only the other day, on a visit to this current version, that she realised that it had been us she had been reading about previously! Small world, isn't it?

Having booked the three of us in for dinner tomorrow, we went back home and shut ourselves in, away from the nasty, un-Spanish weather. We did indoor things, like photoediting, reading, and watching TV and I sorted out most of the rest of the Quiz. Having checked the online forecasts (the one at www.eltiempo.es has been pretty accurate, and you can select Beniarbeig as your base, which is about as close as you need to be) it seems that tomorrow should be more clement, but there is still the chance of more snow on Sunday night. Watch this space!

       Helen                   Jane

After a late breakfast, Peter and I drove over to La Xara to get Bill's cigars for the month and stopped at the Portal de la Marina on the way back for a coffee and a quick bit of retail therapy. C&A's had a sale on, and I bought a winter-style top with sleeves for 9€ - that can't be bad!

On the way home we could see that there was more snow on the mountains further inland and decided to take a drive after a quick lunch and get some photographs before it melted. We had intended to go to Castell de Castells by the direct route but unfortunately the road is still closed for roadworks - that makes about six months so far, I think. So we took the detour via Tarbena which must add at least 20k to the journey. We got some lovely photos on the way, though. The problem was that the thermometer in the car was showing somthing like
-2°C and with a strong wind blowing the snow around as well, it began to be a bit difficult to set the tripod up and try to get a decent photograph. So for the second half of the journey we mostly just enjoyed appreciating the difference that a few inches of snow makes to the appearance of the Costa Blanca - it was quite magical! (By the way, I do apologise to anyone in the UK who is reading this. I know that you are really suffering from the continuing Frozen Britain syndrome, and that we are really just playing at it here - nevertheless, two degrees under freezing comes as a shock to the system when you have lived here for seven years.) There is a possibility that we shall get some more snow on Sunday or Monday, so we might be able to dress up a bit more warmly, take gloves and try again.

I spent a couple of hours in the evening getting organised for the Cafe Rosa Quiz on Monday evening. It is nearly ready now - just a Current Affairs round to finish and the printing of the teamsheets. Peter was sitting opposite finishing his Classical Music round so I was getting a bit distracted by the overflow from his earphones and his vocal accompaniment! For a break from that we put the TV on and came upon a documentary about the worst-ever air disaster that happened in Tenerife in the 70's - I hope Paul never finds that one...he is not happy flying at the best of times.

Snow magic

We've been in Spain seven years today!

The Denia meeting was our first attendance at a Lions' Committee Meeting, after formally agreeing to join the Jalon and Orba branch of the organisation. We have been seconded to the Publicity sub-committee, to help with the preparation of flyers, programmes, etc for their  big fund-raising event this year, which is called Fun in the Park and is to be held in the Torrecremada Park in Denia on 12th June. It will be a full day, from 10am to 10pm with a siesta break from 2pm to 5pm (as is normal round these parts), and it is obviously going to take a lot of organisation to fill that time and space with entertainments and trade stands. We are all racking our brains for contacts and brilliant ideas!

It was still raining when the meeting finished so we didn't stop for any shopping but just had a quick coffee and came home to organise lunch. Peter cooked his special Sunday breakfast lunch - suasage, bacon, eggs, tomatoes and baked beans - while I finished framing the photos for the Camera Club meeting in the evening. If you are interested in the Camera Club, you can find photogalleries containing all the project photos (including ours, of course) at www.macameraclub.com.

We left home at 6.15pm to give ourselves plenty of time, because it was still raining heavily, and we were discussing on the way whether there would actually be enough members there to enable us to hold the planned AGM. In the event, there were a lot more members than we usually get, including some new ones! A pleasant surprise for everyone, and a relief for the chairman. The AGM was simple and straightforward, and the only part that really concerned us was our election to the committee to fill two empty seats. It wasn't a surprise, because we were the only ones who had volunteered.

The Framed Project for the month (see my entries under yesterday's page below) duly took place. One of Peter's entries came first (you can, of course, see it on the camera club site at the address above) and my one of Paul and Glyn came equal second. I was pleased with that, until the Secretary went on to say that there were four entries sharing second place! Never mind - as they say it is the taking part that counts, not the winning.

We finished the evening with the Photo of the Year competition, which is our opportunity to review all the winning entries from the monthly projects throughout the year and to choose three favourites. It was a mammoth task with about forty excellent photos all competing for attention. Felicity, who won it with a very impromptu shot of her husband posing by a pillarbox , was absolutely delighted and totally amazed as well.

And after all that we headed for home, still in the rain, to make sure that the power hadn't gone off and left Bill without heat or light. Fortunately, everything was fine, and all he could complain about was that the TV reception wasn't too good because of the weather.

What a day! Two meetings, four new jobs and a first and second prize for our photography. I wonder what the rest of the year will hold.

We started quietly with cups of tea on the terrace - it was a bit chilly but it enabled the boys to have a cigarette. We had several phone calls with family in England to make sure everybody was coping with the blizzards and snow drifts! The forecasts look as though it is going to continue for some time - I thought I caught a slightly anxious vibe from Paul at the thought of returning to such weather.

I had already told them that I would appreciate using them as models for a project called 'Framed' which was due to be presented at the Camera Club meeting tomorrow evening, so we duly adjourned to the garden where they posed for me very patiently and I took a lot of photos. You can see the one I chose in the column alongside, together with an earlier one that I took in Mojacar last month.

It was a little fresh out there, and the sun was disappearing behind some cloud by the time we had finished so we retreated to the house for some warmth - and more tea!

I cooked a pasta for lunch at 2pm and Bill came up and joined us. We had a coffee and a chat afterwards and they left for home just before 4pm. Paul rang at 6.30pm to say that they were safely back, and that Glyn was already lighting the fire as the place was freezing! They don't have central heating.

Peter and I finished printing our entries for tomorrow's project and finding mounts for them, had a light tea and then watched the Dog Whisperer - it really is amazing to watch how he can make the dogs do exactly what he wants them to! Perhaps we should call him in to help Brian and Mike out with their three energetic housemates!

Paul, Glyn, Sharon and Shelley in Mojacar

As we were making the first cup of tea, he told me their news - they have decided to move back to the UK when their tenancy expires in April. I was initially surprised, and disappointed of course, but after he had explained I can understand their position. They are finding it difficult to find a social niche to fit into...after all, the majority of the ex-pats are much older than they are! They are missing their social life and feel that perhaps the move out here came a bit too early in their lives - Glyn agreed that they might feel differently later on when their bones start creaking, and the thought of the warmth of Spain becomes more enticing.

They are going to start with a rented flat in the Brighton area, with a view to eventually buying a place with some grounds which will accommodate the dogs they are still determined to own. It seems that my future visits to England may well be two-centre holidays - flying into Gatwick and out of Stansted, or the other way round. I am consoling myself at the moment with the idea that Paul won't be able to manage without the sun for too long at a time, so I am sure we will still see them both regularly.

We polished off the chicken curry after the news had been discussed, and then chatted until it was time to get ready to go and watch the celebrations of the Three Kings in Beniarbeig. Brian and Mike had kindly invited us to jopin them and some other friends for a drink while the procession was forming up for 6.30pm as advertised. Mike kept popping outside to see if anything was happening, but the only change was that it started raining a little. Eventually we decided to go and wait on the corner and we met some of the others from the town and chatted with them about the absolute inability of the Spanish to keep to a timetable.

Eventually, a chap on a horse, accompanied by a couple of serfs, rode down the hill and stopped on the corner to read a declaration which we were unable to understand at all. As there was no sign of any action after that we walked down to Cafe Rosa, had a warming drink and discussed what we would like to eat after the parade - if it ever turned up! Somebody arrived from the Town Square with the news that the Kings were due to arrive in the square for 8pm, so we made sure we were there in time. Some while later a very small procession, consisting of some serfs with torches and three small carts, each containg two more serfs and a King and his Queen - now I bet you didn't know that the Three Kings took their wives with them on their journey, did you? - and followed by the Town Band wended their way round the town centre and arrived at the square. The three pairs of Kings and Queens, later said to be all played by heavily made-up teenage girls from the town - made their way to the dais and arranged themselves on their thrones, after which all the waiting children went up and greeted them very politely. They had to be well-behaved or the Kings wouldn't give them their presents when everyone returned the next day.

And then there were a few fireworks! As a spectacle it was a bit disappointing, but we excused them on the grounds that the economic crisis has probably reduced the money available for such occasions. By 9pm we were all back in Cafe Rosa enjoying supper. Jane produced a selection of fish, burgers and eggs, all with chips, to order and some of us had desserts afterwards as well.

With a couple of drinks as well, we had a very pleasant evening and Paul and Glyn were the centre of attention - as indeed they usually are! Paul was knocking back the vodka and orange and was a bit tipsy by the time we got home, so the evening didn't continue for long after that - they were in bed by 11.15pm! 

Having showered, dressed, got the washing on and left Bill his lunch we were on our way in good time, arriving at the FOM (Fondacion Oftalmologico del Mediterraneo) in Valencia by 11am. I booked in and had the initial tests - eyecharts, glaucoma, etc. - by 11.15am, when we sat down on the very uncomfortable metal benches outside the doctor's office. And we were still sat there nearly two hours later! Fortunately we know enough about the FOM's practices to make sure that we always take books.

When I finally saw Dr Peris, she said that everything was healthy and doing well, but she couldn't understand why the vision through the new lens wasn't better. So back I went for a couple more tests. Having reviewed those she decided that it must be some 'opacificacion' in the new lens and she would clean it with a laser. That was fun! She pointed this enormous light straight into my eye, and then said, 'Don't move, don't blink'! It seemed to take ages to finish the procedure by which time the tears were streaming down my face, and I felt as though someone had stuck a finger in my eye. But after that she told me that everything was fine and she was signing me off! At last! I have to wait another four to six weeks and then I can go and organise some new glasses.

By the time she had done it was after 2pm and the cafeteria was just about to close. We managed to persuade him to provide two coffees and some toast, which were very welcome and then set off home about 2.30pm. It seems strange to think that I don't have to go back there again - it has been over four years since my first appointment. 

We stopped off in Ondara to buy some chicken for a curry for dinner tomorrow midday - as we are going to Beniarbeig with Paul and Glyn to join in the Three Kings festivities for 6pm tomorrow we need to eat earlier than the usual 7pm. And the finished curry is now sitting simmering on the hob, wafting its eastern fragrances through to the office... I'll have to make sure there is no late night nibbling or it will be cheese sandwiches all round tomorrow!

I'll take my camera tomorrow evening and try to get some pictures for you...

His moniker in the group is Pete the Scoot, to distinguish him from Dutch Pete, and I think it was that which finally pushed him into selling the scooter and getting a 'proper' bike again. Unfortunately he is still known as Pete the Scoot! His bike is a BMW R1100R for those who like technical details. He is very pleased with it and says it has better balance than the Pan European, as well as being a great deal lighter! I shall definitely get on the pillion one of these days, but I think I need to stick to my diet for a while first and build up my confidence.

I had a nice quiet morning while he was out, doing a bit of laundry, visiting my online photography site and doing a little more of the knitting which I did finally get started last night. I was surprised how familiar it felt, not having done any for more years than I care to try and remember. I've now got to the bit where I have to set the pattern for the triple cable band up the back - no starting with anything simple for me!

Paul rang to say that he and Glyn are finally beginning to feel that they are recovering from their colds, or whatever they were, and they are coming to visit on Tuesday/Wednesday. That covers the Feast of the Three Kings and they would like to go out and see some of the traditional local merrymaking...I just hope they bring their earplugs. I'll do some research for a likely venue!

Bill came up for dinner this evening as usual - unfortunately, by the time we had finished a stiff wind had swept in and it was beginning to rain. It isn't going to be anything much according to the forecast, although they are saying that the temperature is going to drop at the end of the week. Winter draws on, perhaps?

The monastery at Simat de la Valldigna

After we had finished there we went on to the Portal de la Marina which is the local shopping centre in Ondara - for those who don't know it, it's something like a mini-Lakeside, and quite impressive for this part of Spain!

We had bought Bill an official Liverpool FC calendar as one of his Christmas presents - he being their Number One fan - but when I started filling in the family birthdays for the year I discovered that there was no May! That was a real pity because there are four family birthdays in May, including his, so we took it back to the English Bookshop at the Portal to try and get a replacement. After checking with their suppliers they said that the calendar had unfortunately been out of print since 17th December and there was nothing they could do about replacing it. We dithered over whether we should keep it, just in case it becomes a valuable rarity in the future, but in the end avarice won and we swapped it for a cheaper calendar with saucy ladies on and pocketed the four euros change. Bill doesn't seem to mind having saucy ladies on his wall instead of Liverpool FC players - fine fan he is!

We went to have a coffee after that at Lizarran where they do lots of enticing titbits on small slices of bread...being good, I ate the titbits (a tiny piece of ham, a gherkin, a small slice of tortilla and an olive) and left the bread! I am being good - I haven't eaten any wheat since last Sunday!

Since we weren't in any rush we had a wander round and saw lots of people we knew, so we had to stop and wish them the compliments of the season, and check on how their Christmas had been and so on...in the end it had taken so long and we had got so thirsty with the talking that we had to stop for another coffee! This time it was just a coffee, and mine was with sacarina.

We made it home in time to get Bill's lunch for 2pm, and haven't done very much since. I set up the email group to let everybody know when I have published a new page on this diary, so if you are not included in that and would like to be just send me a message on info@jubilacion.co.uk  and I will gladly add you to the list.

I'm off to start my knitting now - I didn't get it done last night because I chatted on the phone too long... what a good thing that our telephone contract gives us free calls to the UK!

May I wish you all a Happy New Year, with lots of what you most enjoy and not too much of the other stuff! And just remember to keep smiling - at the very least it will make everybody wonder  what you are up to!

The New Year certainly came in here with an almighty flourish! The wind started to pick up yesterday afternoon and by midnight it was blowing a gale. The three of us celebrated the advent of the year in Bill's apartment, sharing a toast to health, happiness and (sufficient) prosperity, and then Peter and I went back upstairs to wait for one o'clock and the start of the year in the UK, so we could make a couple of phone calls and pass on our love and best wishes to some of the family. Then we went to bed!

As we didn't celebrate last night we went to Las Brisas for lunch today, and were very pleased to find that they were quite busy - if their business is doing OK then they will still be open for us to visit them as the year proceeds, and we do enjoy eating there.  Milagros, the co-owner, said that most of the diners had apparently done the same as us...perhaps it is a result of the economic situation. Certainly the current rates of exchange between sterling and the euro don't encourage any 'splashing out'.

As the sun is going down the wind seems to be moderating, and the forecast is for it to be less violent tomorrow, which is good - Peter wants to go out on his motorbike on Sunday. Temperatures are currently in the upper teens centigrade and the sun shines most of the time, so that reminds us of one of the reasons we moved here in the first place. There is no guarantee that it will stay like that though - we had some very cold weather in the days leading up to Christmas, with snow on the surrounding mountains (see photograph) and biting winds attacking any exposed bits. That was particularly evident on 20th December when we went to a small carol concert in Beniarbeig - if it hadn't been for the mulled wine and hot mince pies I'm sure my breath would have frozen! (Yes, it was run by a British group - the Spanish don't 'do' mince pies.)

We are going to watch the last episode of David Tennant as Dr Who shortly and then make a couple more phone calls, and the only other thing I might do is start a matinee jacket I am intending to knit. No, there isn't any particular baby in mind...I just remembered the knitting I used to do years ago (my kids will tell you about the Aran jackets...) and thought it might be a good way to keep the brain and fingers exercised at the same time before any signs of rheumatism or forgetfulness set in. If it turns out all right, there are many groups that will cheerfully accept items for sale to raise funds for charity.

Off to get a sandwich for Bill...