CASA OLIMPIA.

Sunday/Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday 9th/10th/11th/12th August 2009.

Sunday 9th.

This morning was our last day before the workmen hit us hard next week as they finish all the jobs, over the last few days there has been a sea mist over the Strait so we hear the fog horns all the time, it’s mainly the very large container ships which are also the fastest as they set off to all parts of the world. We had our lunch of cold Chicken and new potatoes followed by some sweet Ogen melon on the balcony with a light breeze coming off the hills behind us,at night it is very close and we have the windows open and the fans on all around the villa;the dogs spend all their time on the marble floors and follow Brenda everywhere she goes!

Monday 10th.

Brenda has started to get things ready for Thursday as we need the three bedrooms ready and at the same time we are sparkling up the villa in general; the dust is not just from the work going on so there is a lot of cleaning to be done. The pool is now running fine and we have been in most evening, the PH. Reading is settling down and the water is very clear and blue,the grass all around the garden is starting to come back and the view is getting greener every day! The sprinklers are doing their job as they move them to the more brown parts and the various plants and shrubs are picking up, the Fir trees along both sides of the drive are also watered everyday, by me!

Tuesday 11th.

After checking our bank online I shot across to Estepona to adjust the accounts and arranged to meet Mano to pass on some payments for the work so far, I also dropped off some of our clothes and things at the house and on the way back called into the English butchers and picked up some Lamb steaks for dinner, then I also called into the very large Hypermarket behind Algeciras and bought fresh flowers for the main lounge. Whilst there I spotted a very good offer on large plasma TVs as I have had no luck finding the part for the existing one and also spotted a film shop with its own passport studio which we need to renew Joan’s passport. As I arrived back Chris called and I updated him on all the work news, he then asked me to buy a new TV as the offer was to good to be missed and as a surprise for the grandchildren a slide to go in the garden! Meanwhile the villa was a hive of industry and noise, cement and plaster dust, tile chipping and wood cuttings-a building site! We then set off down to Tarifa to stock with food and essentials for the visitors. Later in the evening Nina called to confirm her travel details and we told her that we had the children’s room ready and the new cot was fine, one problem that we discussed was the open marble staircase down to the lower ground floor, it’s basically a open hole in the kitchen and I told her that I would come up with a plan to make it safe!

Wednesday 12th.

I was up early and set off to the bank,again,in Estepona as more transfers had come in over night and I needed to buy the TV and slide; on arriving at Carrefour,the hypermarket, I found that the TV offer was only for yesterday but after negotiations I managed to get the last one! The problem was getting it in the VW,in the end it went on the floor in front of the back seats after I had adjusted the two front seats which ment that I had to drive with my face on the windscreen and my knees under my chin! I then stopped at Toys R Us and found a “ Helluva ” slide which was on display and was the last one so I obtained a discount,the only problem was the size,it needed a lorry to pick it up in its’ box! When I got back Mano had arrived and was helping Brenda with her cleaning regime around the villa, five workmen were working on finishing the jobs when suddenly Nico, Juan’s son in law who was one of them had a funny turn as he was working on the fence, he has had a heart by pass operation when he was a young child in Brazil and he was not very well so one of the other workers rushed him to hospital in his car,which also ment that we were down to three workers! I came up with an idea to cover the staircase in the kitchen by putting a wooden false floor over the hole,so Mano went out with Juan in the lorry to pick up the timber and at the same time they picked up the slide! Every thing is coming together and on Thursday they will just be finished before I set off to Gibraltar to pick the family up, the only thing that will not be finished is the fence!Later in the afternoon Mano and I installed the new TV in the viewing room off the main lounge,I then took Mano back to Manilva as the lorry can only have three passengers,he is coming back tomorrow to help us get clear and to help me put up the slide! The dogs have been very good and have kept out of the way all day as the place has been a madhouse!! Tonight we had a light supper of Pork escalope and then showered as the evening went a little cooler ready for tomorrow.

PS; As we sat on the balcony with Joan after everybody had left we suddenly noticed coming out of the mist a very large cruie liner,it turned out to be the Grand Princess which is the biggest liner in the world,it was on its way to Southampton at 22 knots! It is taller than the Statue of Liberty,951 feet long, has13 decks and weighs 109-ooo tons! Honest !! Sorry no picture because of the mist.