Monday 15th March PM 2010.
This afternoon we are taking thing easy after the weekend excitements; Brenda is sat in the lounge listening to her teach you self Spanish lessons as we are preparing to move back to Manilva in the next few weeks and have got out of the habit of talking and thinking Spanish. The Sky system has not come back on since Friday so we are missing watching the TV and it looks like we will not be able to watch the Seven Ages of Britain and the Wonders of the Solar System as well as the racing from Cheltenham!
Meanwhile I have remembered a new toy to play with; Google Maps!! I’ve just been online and had forgotten what you can do, I started in Manilva and found our house and then walked down through the village to Mano and Anna”s house. I then went over to Colwyn Bay and found Tim and Thea’s house in Old Colwyn before I walked up to Rhyd-y Foel and found our old house “ Craven Cottage ” We then went over to the Wirral and found the street that Brenda was born in and in which her sister Jenny still lives. Then we headed over to Australia and found where Jack and Lyn have moved to outside Melbourne. Watch out as I could be outside your house next!!
Monday, March 15, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA NEWS AND HEALTH UPDATE.
Monday 15th Mrach 2010.
We have just come back from the health clinic down in Tarifa after having the dressing on Brenda’s arm changed and cleaned by the doctor, yesterday we did the same and now have appointments for the rest of the .week The clinic was very busy this morning but we went in the minute after being looked after by the clinic secretary,once again the system here works very well !
On Sunday after our visit to the clinic we went and had a coffee down on the front by the harbour,the sun was out and it was warm so we were able to sit out and watch the world go by as the ferries came and went across to Tanger as you can see in the pictures below.
The fishing fleet had just come back after an early morning trip and all the fish had already been sold !
As you can see I have changed the template of our blog page so I look forward to any comments ; there are varios different set ups so over the next few days I will try some other ones out and than settle on the best one !
We have just come back from the health clinic down in Tarifa after having the dressing on Brenda’s arm changed and cleaned by the doctor, yesterday we did the same and now have appointments for the rest of the .week The clinic was very busy this morning but we went in the minute after being looked after by the clinic secretary,once again the system here works very well !
On Sunday after our visit to the clinic we went and had a coffee down on the front by the harbour,the sun was out and it was warm so we were able to sit out and watch the world go by as the ferries came and went across to Tanger as you can see in the pictures below.
The fishing fleet had just come back after an early morning trip and all the fish had already been sold !
As you can see I have changed the template of our blog page so I look forward to any comments ; there are varios different set ups so over the next few days I will try some other ones out and than settle on the best one !
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
NEWSFLASH .
Saturday 13th March PM 2010.
This afternoon we have had a little excitement in our very quiet life hear at the villa in Tarifa; Brenda has been in hospital! She was outside on the balcony grooming Boo when the brush caught in his matted coat and he yelped and at the same time turned his head and caught Brenda on the arm, she cried out and I ran out to see blood everywhere, we wrapped it in a towel and at first I thought that it had cut a vein or artery! I called our Doctor who lives just up the road from the villa only to find out that he was skiing in the Sierra Nevada.He told me to take her to the main hospital in Algeciras, so we shot out in the Smart car, I stopped at the hotel at the top of our road and asked the manager where the hospital was as Algeciras is a very large major city; Luckily for us it is at this end of the city by the main port so with the help of a friendly taxi driver who pointed us in the right direction we went straight there.
The Hospital Comarcal Punta de Europa is a very large and modern hospital and was very busy as I dropped Brenda outside the Accident and Emergency entrance; she was seen by the reception straight away and as I arrived her number, with out waiting, came up on the screen. The first Doctor then handed us over to a nursing sister and we went into the emergency room where three more Doctors came and assessed the patient! It was not as bad as we thought and they explained what was going to happen; Brenda had to have a Tetinus injection and also an anti biotic jab in her rear! They then dressed and cleaned the wound and explained that they don’t put stitches in as they want the wound to be open in case of infection, so the dressing has to be changed and checked each day at the local medical centre down in Tarifa.Yet another doctor came and checked that everything was OK and gave us a prescription to pick up at a local chemists for some tablets to help with the pain.
The local chemists was not open as it should have been so we came back over the mountains to Tarifa and found that our regular chemists down in the old town was open,at the same time we made sure that we found the medical centre for our visits for the next seven days; she will have to have the booster jabs for the Tetinus in a months time and again in a year.
The total time that we were in the hospital was just over half an hour !!
This afternoon we have had a little excitement in our very quiet life hear at the villa in Tarifa; Brenda has been in hospital! She was outside on the balcony grooming Boo when the brush caught in his matted coat and he yelped and at the same time turned his head and caught Brenda on the arm, she cried out and I ran out to see blood everywhere, we wrapped it in a towel and at first I thought that it had cut a vein or artery! I called our Doctor who lives just up the road from the villa only to find out that he was skiing in the Sierra Nevada.He told me to take her to the main hospital in Algeciras, so we shot out in the Smart car, I stopped at the hotel at the top of our road and asked the manager where the hospital was as Algeciras is a very large major city; Luckily for us it is at this end of the city by the main port so with the help of a friendly taxi driver who pointed us in the right direction we went straight there.
The Hospital Comarcal Punta de Europa is a very large and modern hospital and was very busy as I dropped Brenda outside the Accident and Emergency entrance; she was seen by the reception straight away and as I arrived her number, with out waiting, came up on the screen. The first Doctor then handed us over to a nursing sister and we went into the emergency room where three more Doctors came and assessed the patient! It was not as bad as we thought and they explained what was going to happen; Brenda had to have a Tetinus injection and also an anti biotic jab in her rear! They then dressed and cleaned the wound and explained that they don’t put stitches in as they want the wound to be open in case of infection, so the dressing has to be changed and checked each day at the local medical centre down in Tarifa.Yet another doctor came and checked that everything was OK and gave us a prescription to pick up at a local chemists for some tablets to help with the pain.
The local chemists was not open as it should have been so we came back over the mountains to Tarifa and found that our regular chemists down in the old town was open,at the same time we made sure that we found the medical centre for our visits for the next seven days; she will have to have the booster jabs for the Tetinus in a months time and again in a year.
The total time that we were in the hospital was just over half an hour !!
CASA OLIMPIA AND COLWYN BAY NEWS UPDATE.
Saturday 13th March 2010.
Today is a beautiful day down here in Tarifa, clear blue skies and no wind with the sun out, it is a little cold by our standards, 17 degs. but we are able to leave the doors open so as the dogs can play out in the garden, Boo over the last couple of days has had a cold so Brenda has been nursing him with lots of love, Vaseline on his nose, Vic Vapour to help him breath better and Oil of Olbas on his pillow on his bed at night, to say that he is getting more looked after than me is a understatement!
Still no news from Chris in England, if he is still there, so we still don’t know when things are going to happen, we are taking some of our clothes home next week when we go over to Estepona for Brenda’s dental appointment on Wednesday as we can’t move all our things in one go in the Smart car; speaking of which the warning light is still coming on so I will have to call into the Mercedes garage as soon as possible to get it checked out.
The satellite connection is not working again so we have no TV to watch from yesterday morning; today I have missed the Bahrain GP qualifying and it looks like we will not be able to see the Rugby Internationals later or the Channel Four racing! Fingers crossed that it comes back on for the GP race tomorrow and especially for next week as it is the Cheltenham Racing Festival which is the highlight of the jump racing season.
We have just come off the phone after speaking to Thea over in Colwyn Bay, they are in the middle of having their two bathrooms refitted,Thea has sourced everything off the internet and has made a saving of over two thirds on all the fittings; last weekend they went for a night away at a Georgian country house hotel that some friends had given them as a present for looking after their daughter. The Ttddyn Llan restaurant with rooms is situated in the Vale of Ederynion outside Corwen in Llandrillo; it is part of the Welsh Rarebits private hotel group, which there are over 55 in Wales, they had a lovely stay and the food and service was very good so it is highly recommended by them and Tim said that he was thinking of us all the time he was eating !
o
Today is a beautiful day down here in Tarifa, clear blue skies and no wind with the sun out, it is a little cold by our standards, 17 degs. but we are able to leave the doors open so as the dogs can play out in the garden, Boo over the last couple of days has had a cold so Brenda has been nursing him with lots of love, Vaseline on his nose, Vic Vapour to help him breath better and Oil of Olbas on his pillow on his bed at night, to say that he is getting more looked after than me is a understatement!
Still no news from Chris in England, if he is still there, so we still don’t know when things are going to happen, we are taking some of our clothes home next week when we go over to Estepona for Brenda’s dental appointment on Wednesday as we can’t move all our things in one go in the Smart car; speaking of which the warning light is still coming on so I will have to call into the Mercedes garage as soon as possible to get it checked out.
The satellite connection is not working again so we have no TV to watch from yesterday morning; today I have missed the Bahrain GP qualifying and it looks like we will not be able to see the Rugby Internationals later or the Channel Four racing! Fingers crossed that it comes back on for the GP race tomorrow and especially for next week as it is the Cheltenham Racing Festival which is the highlight of the jump racing season.
We have just come off the phone after speaking to Thea over in Colwyn Bay, they are in the middle of having their two bathrooms refitted,Thea has sourced everything off the internet and has made a saving of over two thirds on all the fittings; last weekend they went for a night away at a Georgian country house hotel that some friends had given them as a present for looking after their daughter. The Ttddyn Llan restaurant with rooms is situated in the Vale of Ederynion outside Corwen in Llandrillo; it is part of the Welsh Rarebits private hotel group, which there are over 55 in Wales, they had a lovely stay and the food and service was very good so it is highly recommended by them and Tim said that he was thinking of us all the time he was eating !
o
TARIFA REPORT.
Saturday 13th March 2010.
In the first picture below you can see the start of the old part of Tarifa town which is built within a walled area and creates a town within a town; the second picture shows the fort overlooking the Straites of Gibraltar,in old times any ship passing had to pay a tariff,hence the name Tarifa ! The third picture is of the fast ferry leaving the old harbour on its crossing to Tanger which takes 35 mins.If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see out at sea a large Sealand Maersk container ship powering it way towards the Atlantic. The final picture taken across the fishing harbour shows the Riff Mountains on the coast of Africa, beyond them on a very clear day you can see the high Atlas range of mountains and then on the other side is the Sahara desert! These pictures were taken yesterday from the wall of the fishing harbour which is a very busy little port with all the very small blue and white fishing boats going out all together, the catch is landed and sold on the quayside and is used throughout Andalucia, unlike in England where all the catch is sold to Europe, especially the Hake which all comes to Spain were it is the national fish dish! The pictures were taken with our small digi-cam on automatic setting and I could not see anything on the screen in the bright sunlight!
In the first picture below you can see the start of the old part of Tarifa town which is built within a walled area and creates a town within a town; the second picture shows the fort overlooking the Straites of Gibraltar,in old times any ship passing had to pay a tariff,hence the name Tarifa ! The third picture is of the fast ferry leaving the old harbour on its crossing to Tanger which takes 35 mins.If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see out at sea a large Sealand Maersk container ship powering it way towards the Atlantic. The final picture taken across the fishing harbour shows the Riff Mountains on the coast of Africa, beyond them on a very clear day you can see the high Atlas range of mountains and then on the other side is the Sahara desert! These pictures were taken yesterday from the wall of the fishing harbour which is a very busy little port with all the very small blue and white fishing boats going out all together, the catch is landed and sold on the quayside and is used throughout Andalucia, unlike in England where all the catch is sold to Europe, especially the Hake which all comes to Spain were it is the national fish dish! The pictures were taken with our small digi-cam on automatic setting and I could not see anything on the screen in the bright sunlight!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA MANILVA NEWS UPDATE AND TV REVIEW.
Thursday 11th March 2010.
Yesterday we went over in the morning to Estepona as Brenda had an appointment at the dentists; the weather was dry for a change and the sun came out later but it was still a little crisp, the clear blue sky was also a pleasant change and the views across to Gibraltar on the way down the mountain from the villa were spectacular. In other parts of Spain in Barcelona and across in Majorca they have been having severe blizzards with 4 inches of snow falling, the worst weather in over 50 years! On the seven day forecast it is showing for the first time this year that we are going to have sunshine over the weekend.
On our way back we stopped at the house in Manilva as I had to photocopy some documents, Brenda meanwhile was pottering about the house as I was upstairs in the office; my mobile rang and it was Mano to say that they were up in Bar Rojas having a coffee with Brenda ! She had slipped out with the rubbish and bumped into them. When I finished I then shot up and joined them, the owners of the bar welcomed us with open arms as we caught up with all the news from Mano and Anna; Carlos, their son, who was on his day off called in and with him was Andy who lost his wife, he had with him his mother who had flown over on Wednesday evening but she had missed the funeral; they take place very quickly in Spain. We all then had a couple of drinks and toasted the life of Anna, she was only 48, and we all had a good cry as well as remembering the past.
On Tuesday we watched the first episode of “ Wonders of the Solar System ” which was entitled “ Empire of the Sun ” It is introduced by a young looking Professor,Brian Cox, and was quite spectacular; his enthusiasm and knowledge helps you to understand what he is talking about and showing you as he travels around the world; in India he went to Varanass on the bank of the Ganges to witness a total solar eclipse, he was made speechless as the huge mass of people went very quiet; he then went to the Iquazu falls in Brazil to show the power of the sun over water, they are the largest falls in the world and they just take your breath away. The next part took us to above the Artic circle in Norway to watch for his first time the Northern Lights, the “Aurora Boreals” which are caused by solar wind from the sun. Later he visited various giant telescopes around the world and ended up at one listening to the signal from the Voyager probe that was launched over thirty years ago and so far it has traveled over 14 billion kilometers, it is the size of a double Decker bus and his fascination with it was what first got him interested in philosophy. We can’t wait for the second episode !
We are still awaiting another phone call from Chris to give us more dates and details about what is going to happen to Joan, the dogs and cats and the villa over next month- watch this space !!
Yesterday we went over in the morning to Estepona as Brenda had an appointment at the dentists; the weather was dry for a change and the sun came out later but it was still a little crisp, the clear blue sky was also a pleasant change and the views across to Gibraltar on the way down the mountain from the villa were spectacular. In other parts of Spain in Barcelona and across in Majorca they have been having severe blizzards with 4 inches of snow falling, the worst weather in over 50 years! On the seven day forecast it is showing for the first time this year that we are going to have sunshine over the weekend.
On our way back we stopped at the house in Manilva as I had to photocopy some documents, Brenda meanwhile was pottering about the house as I was upstairs in the office; my mobile rang and it was Mano to say that they were up in Bar Rojas having a coffee with Brenda ! She had slipped out with the rubbish and bumped into them. When I finished I then shot up and joined them, the owners of the bar welcomed us with open arms as we caught up with all the news from Mano and Anna; Carlos, their son, who was on his day off called in and with him was Andy who lost his wife, he had with him his mother who had flown over on Wednesday evening but she had missed the funeral; they take place very quickly in Spain. We all then had a couple of drinks and toasted the life of Anna, she was only 48, and we all had a good cry as well as remembering the past.
On Tuesday we watched the first episode of “ Wonders of the Solar System ” which was entitled “ Empire of the Sun ” It is introduced by a young looking Professor,Brian Cox, and was quite spectacular; his enthusiasm and knowledge helps you to understand what he is talking about and showing you as he travels around the world; in India he went to Varanass on the bank of the Ganges to witness a total solar eclipse, he was made speechless as the huge mass of people went very quiet; he then went to the Iquazu falls in Brazil to show the power of the sun over water, they are the largest falls in the world and they just take your breath away. The next part took us to above the Artic circle in Norway to watch for his first time the Northern Lights, the “Aurora Boreals” which are caused by solar wind from the sun. Later he visited various giant telescopes around the world and ended up at one listening to the signal from the Voyager probe that was launched over thirty years ago and so far it has traveled over 14 billion kilometers, it is the size of a double Decker bus and his fascination with it was what first got him interested in philosophy. We can’t wait for the second episode !
We are still awaiting another phone call from Chris to give us more dates and details about what is going to happen to Joan, the dogs and cats and the villa over next month- watch this space !!
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA WEATHER NEWS AND TV UPDATE.
Tuesday 9th March 2010.
Well the first news is that the Sky system came back on of its own accord on Friday evening at 10-pm in the middle of yet another storm; the satellite had been knocked out and it took three days to be realigned! Over the weekend during more bad weather the electricity has also been going off and on all the time and on Monday morning we had also lost all the water pressure, which was fixed by late afternoon; this weather is now the worst in living memory down here on the Costa del Sol and the locals in Manilva just can’t believe how wet it has been, over the weekend next door to Mano and Ann where they live on the side of the hills along side the vine fields there have been landslides and some of the locals residents had to be moved out of their properties for safety reasons ! I have just come off the phone after speaking to Mano and the news is not good; two houses have collapsed and a third is in a bad condition, the family’s are all English and have been put up in the Manilvagreen Aparhotel for the moment. Today we have for the first time no wind or rain and clear blue skies across the Straite to Africa but the seven day forecast is not too good. My thought for the week is “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass … it’s about learning to dance in the rain " !!
""
When I was on the phone to Mano,he was just about to ring us with some very sad news to tell us that the wife of a mutual friend in Manilva had died and the mass and burial was later today in the village; Anna’s husband Andy has looked after her through a long illness and our thoughts and feelings go out to him and all the family; her mother lives in the village and her sister lives just around the corner from our house, she was very much a local girl and there will be a massive turnout from the village as she was very much loved.
The Hake in batter with chips and peas ( sadly not mushy ) on Friday was very nice as was our Minute steak and frits on Saturday, on Sunday morning we always have breakfast as we don’s sit down to our Sunday lunch ( Chicken this week ) until late afternoon; and this week we treated ourselves to Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon, tonight we are having Liver and Bacon with Saute potatoes for supper. On Saturday morning we were watching Saturday Morning Kitchen hosted by James Martin,which is very good, it has all the top chefs on and every week they have to take part in the Ouellette challenge, this week one of the film inserts was of the Celebrity Master Chef semi final and one of their tasks was to make a Pizza, so Brenda then said that she fancied one for lunch! Now normally they are not on the menu but we had some Pizza bases in the deep freeze so I then made a Sexton special; The base was smeared with Tomato Frito and herbs and the topping was diced Ham and Chorizo, sliced vine Tomatoes,baby leaf Spinach and crumbled Blue Cheese all sprinkled with a fine Olive Oil ! The result was a big hit and I’m waiting for takeaway orders to come flooding in !!
Yesterday I had to shoot across to pick up a small money transfer and took the opportunity to check out the house and pick up my tablets from the chemists, on the way back I had a engine warning light come on in the Smart car, which is a little worrying and means that we will have to go to a Mercedes garage to be hooked up to the computer,fingers crossed that it is only a service light ! Tomorrow we are going to Estepona to the dentists, we have had to cancel the last couple of appointments due to the weather and circumstances and will then make the arrangements to get the car checked. Watch this space !
Well the first news is that the Sky system came back on of its own accord on Friday evening at 10-pm in the middle of yet another storm; the satellite had been knocked out and it took three days to be realigned! Over the weekend during more bad weather the electricity has also been going off and on all the time and on Monday morning we had also lost all the water pressure, which was fixed by late afternoon; this weather is now the worst in living memory down here on the Costa del Sol and the locals in Manilva just can’t believe how wet it has been, over the weekend next door to Mano and Ann where they live on the side of the hills along side the vine fields there have been landslides and some of the locals residents had to be moved out of their properties for safety reasons ! I have just come off the phone after speaking to Mano and the news is not good; two houses have collapsed and a third is in a bad condition, the family’s are all English and have been put up in the Manilvagreen Aparhotel for the moment. Today we have for the first time no wind or rain and clear blue skies across the Straite to Africa but the seven day forecast is not too good. My thought for the week is “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass … it’s about learning to dance in the rain " !!
""
When I was on the phone to Mano,he was just about to ring us with some very sad news to tell us that the wife of a mutual friend in Manilva had died and the mass and burial was later today in the village; Anna’s husband Andy has looked after her through a long illness and our thoughts and feelings go out to him and all the family; her mother lives in the village and her sister lives just around the corner from our house, she was very much a local girl and there will be a massive turnout from the village as she was very much loved.
The Hake in batter with chips and peas ( sadly not mushy ) on Friday was very nice as was our Minute steak and frits on Saturday, on Sunday morning we always have breakfast as we don’s sit down to our Sunday lunch ( Chicken this week ) until late afternoon; and this week we treated ourselves to Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon, tonight we are having Liver and Bacon with Saute potatoes for supper. On Saturday morning we were watching Saturday Morning Kitchen hosted by James Martin,which is very good, it has all the top chefs on and every week they have to take part in the Ouellette challenge, this week one of the film inserts was of the Celebrity Master Chef semi final and one of their tasks was to make a Pizza, so Brenda then said that she fancied one for lunch! Now normally they are not on the menu but we had some Pizza bases in the deep freeze so I then made a Sexton special; The base was smeared with Tomato Frito and herbs and the topping was diced Ham and Chorizo, sliced vine Tomatoes,baby leaf Spinach and crumbled Blue Cheese all sprinkled with a fine Olive Oil ! The result was a big hit and I’m waiting for takeaway orders to come flooding in !!
Yesterday I had to shoot across to pick up a small money transfer and took the opportunity to check out the house and pick up my tablets from the chemists, on the way back I had a engine warning light come on in the Smart car, which is a little worrying and means that we will have to go to a Mercedes garage to be hooked up to the computer,fingers crossed that it is only a service light ! Tomorrow we are going to Estepona to the dentists, we have had to cancel the last couple of appointments due to the weather and circumstances and will then make the arrangements to get the car checked. Watch this space !
Friday, March 05, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA NEWS UPDATE FOOD FILM AND TV REVIEW.
Friday 5th.March 2010.
This week the weather has still not changed for the best, it is cloudy and overcast and the forecast for the next seven days is rain and wind, over last weekend more storms hit us and above Malaga on the main auto route to Grenada the main carriage way was washed away in a landslide down the mountain ! On Wednesday the storm hit us in the early evening and the Sky TV system was knocked out and has not come back on as I am typing the blog, we are lost without the TV, Joan’s system upstairs is still working OK but we don’t go and watch it as she likes and follows different programmes so we have missed the BBC I murder drama called Five Days which we had been watching ! It looks like we will be reading over the weekend until I sort out the problem with Sky. Out in the Mediterranean a large cruise liner on its way from Venice to Barcelona with over a thousand passengers onboard was hit by 33ft. waves and two people were killed; the pictures on the news showed the main decks being hit. This morning I had to go over to Estepona to pick up a money transfer at the Western Union office on the front and for the first time the sun was out and all the café’s had people sat outside for their morning coffee, I then came back over to the villa and picked Brenda up to go down to Tarifa to do the shopping. We still have not had any more news from Chris over in England about Joan moving back and the possible sale of the villa, its over five weeks since he first told us about his plan which was all going to happen by the end of February !!
The Loin of Pork for Sunday lunch was succulent and lasted us for a cold dinner on Monday and sandwiches on Tuesday; I made a Chicken curry for Wednesday and picked up some Liver from the English butchers this morning for next week, tonight we are having Hake fillets in batter for a change and the roast for Sunday is Chicken. Brenda as usual is going mad with the vegetable selection and of course we have lots of different potatoe dish’s with everything, meanwhile the dogs menu consists of Savory Mince and Chicken Casserole with lots of trimmings and left overs !
The film that we watched at the start of the week was a good old fashioned western featuring Robert Duvall,Kevin Costner and Annette Bening called Open Range; Michael Gambon is a ruthless rancher who shatters the peace of the two free- grazing cattlemen and the shoot out at the end is memorable ! Nothing on the sports front to report on after the excitement of the weekend so far.
I have just started to use “ Wikipedia ” and I am finding my way around the system which is very interesting, I never bothered before to use it so watch out for lots more facts about everything in the future !
This week the weather has still not changed for the best, it is cloudy and overcast and the forecast for the next seven days is rain and wind, over last weekend more storms hit us and above Malaga on the main auto route to Grenada the main carriage way was washed away in a landslide down the mountain ! On Wednesday the storm hit us in the early evening and the Sky TV system was knocked out and has not come back on as I am typing the blog, we are lost without the TV, Joan’s system upstairs is still working OK but we don’t go and watch it as she likes and follows different programmes so we have missed the BBC I murder drama called Five Days which we had been watching ! It looks like we will be reading over the weekend until I sort out the problem with Sky. Out in the Mediterranean a large cruise liner on its way from Venice to Barcelona with over a thousand passengers onboard was hit by 33ft. waves and two people were killed; the pictures on the news showed the main decks being hit. This morning I had to go over to Estepona to pick up a money transfer at the Western Union office on the front and for the first time the sun was out and all the café’s had people sat outside for their morning coffee, I then came back over to the villa and picked Brenda up to go down to Tarifa to do the shopping. We still have not had any more news from Chris over in England about Joan moving back and the possible sale of the villa, its over five weeks since he first told us about his plan which was all going to happen by the end of February !!
The Loin of Pork for Sunday lunch was succulent and lasted us for a cold dinner on Monday and sandwiches on Tuesday; I made a Chicken curry for Wednesday and picked up some Liver from the English butchers this morning for next week, tonight we are having Hake fillets in batter for a change and the roast for Sunday is Chicken. Brenda as usual is going mad with the vegetable selection and of course we have lots of different potatoe dish’s with everything, meanwhile the dogs menu consists of Savory Mince and Chicken Casserole with lots of trimmings and left overs !
The film that we watched at the start of the week was a good old fashioned western featuring Robert Duvall,Kevin Costner and Annette Bening called Open Range; Michael Gambon is a ruthless rancher who shatters the peace of the two free- grazing cattlemen and the shoot out at the end is memorable ! Nothing on the sports front to report on after the excitement of the weekend so far.
I have just started to use “ Wikipedia ” and I am finding my way around the system which is very interesting, I never bothered before to use it so watch out for lots more facts about everything in the future !
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA.
Tuesday 2nd March 2010.
We have just come off the Skype video as Jack and Lyn called from Australia, they were with some friends and were having a glass or two of Champagne and so they tried out their new PC with built in webcam! Over the weekend we had prepared for the worst as a large Atlantic storm was due to hit the coast but luckily it came in across southern Portugal and then hit north west Spain before going up through France and on towards Belgium and Germany; sadly over 100 people have been killed with falling trees, walls and so on, it reminded us of the time when we where caught in a similar Atlantic hurricane above San Sebastian at the start of our travels in the Winnebago over four years ago.
Still no news on Chris’s plans about Joan and the villa, at the end of last week we received the cash transfer and paid the water bill on Friday morning as we went down to Tarifa for the weekend shopping; fresh Salmon fillets for supper on Friday and Loin of Pork for our Sunday lunch. The two dogs are sat at my feet at the moment as the weather yet again is changing and the forecast for the rest of the week is rain! Last night we watched the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics from Vancouver which was spectacular; my only worry is how we will follow it in 2012 in London! On Sunday evening the final of the Ice Hockey between Canada and the USA was very exciting and went to extra time when the Americans equalized right at the end of normal time; it’s the first to score when they restart and Canada scored a wonder goal, the Canadians went mad! Back on Saturday it was the Six Nations Rugby Union in which England and Wales both lost, England played terrible near the end and gave it away to the Irish. Manchester City beat Chelsea which made Carlos and Mano very happy and Manchester Utd beat Aston Villa at Wembley in the Carling Cup final, I hope that Rooney carries on playing like he is at the moment in the World Cup in South Africa later in the year!
Once again I’m afraid that I am going to go on about another railway programme on BBCFour; The Kalka – Shimla mountain railway is in the foothills of the Himalayas and over its 96kms.it winds its way across 864 bridges and goes through 102 tunnels on its way to the old summer capital of the Raj in Shimla;it is now a Unesco World Heritage site, it was built over a hundred years ago and the people that work and use it now are fascinating, its all very British. The picture below which is not very clear shows one of the trains crossing a viaduct on its way up.
PS; Happy St.Davids Day for yesterday,the first day of Spring !
We have just come off the Skype video as Jack and Lyn called from Australia, they were with some friends and were having a glass or two of Champagne and so they tried out their new PC with built in webcam! Over the weekend we had prepared for the worst as a large Atlantic storm was due to hit the coast but luckily it came in across southern Portugal and then hit north west Spain before going up through France and on towards Belgium and Germany; sadly over 100 people have been killed with falling trees, walls and so on, it reminded us of the time when we where caught in a similar Atlantic hurricane above San Sebastian at the start of our travels in the Winnebago over four years ago.
Still no news on Chris’s plans about Joan and the villa, at the end of last week we received the cash transfer and paid the water bill on Friday morning as we went down to Tarifa for the weekend shopping; fresh Salmon fillets for supper on Friday and Loin of Pork for our Sunday lunch. The two dogs are sat at my feet at the moment as the weather yet again is changing and the forecast for the rest of the week is rain! Last night we watched the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics from Vancouver which was spectacular; my only worry is how we will follow it in 2012 in London! On Sunday evening the final of the Ice Hockey between Canada and the USA was very exciting and went to extra time when the Americans equalized right at the end of normal time; it’s the first to score when they restart and Canada scored a wonder goal, the Canadians went mad! Back on Saturday it was the Six Nations Rugby Union in which England and Wales both lost, England played terrible near the end and gave it away to the Irish. Manchester City beat Chelsea which made Carlos and Mano very happy and Manchester Utd beat Aston Villa at Wembley in the Carling Cup final, I hope that Rooney carries on playing like he is at the moment in the World Cup in South Africa later in the year!
Once again I’m afraid that I am going to go on about another railway programme on BBCFour; The Kalka – Shimla mountain railway is in the foothills of the Himalayas and over its 96kms.it winds its way across 864 bridges and goes through 102 tunnels on its way to the old summer capital of the Raj in Shimla;it is now a Unesco World Heritage site, it was built over a hundred years ago and the people that work and use it now are fascinating, its all very British. The picture below which is not very clear shows one of the trains crossing a viaduct on its way up.
PS; Happy St.Davids Day for yesterday,the first day of Spring !
Thursday, February 25, 2010
NAN'S LETTER.
Thursday 25th February 2010.
On Monday when we went over to the house in Manilva we also picked up the post, which had got wet in our post box on the wall outside, one letter was an Airletter from our very dear friend Nan Horsley,Jane from Chester mom, who we have known since before we were married over 40 years ago; it took us some time to dry out the letter and then open it along the three slits to find that much to our surprise Nan who last year had over nine eye operations and reaches the grand old age of 88 this year is still able to write in her lovely and distinctive way such a nice letter, her personality shines through and her sence of humor has not diminished over the years. It is also a miracle that she is able to write on the very thin Airletter paper any way; hearing from Nan brings back a lot of very happy memories when I went to work for her late husband Burt as resident assistant manager at the Bridge Inn in Port Sunlight on the Wirral,where I met Brenda ! Port Sunlight has featured in our lives ever since over the years, we got married in the church, Fred Mellor, our best man who was a Port Sunlight boy, funeral took place there and sadly the last time we were there was for the funeral of his dear wife Carol, our very dear friend, who died back in 2008.In more happy times we have been to weddings of friends over the years as their children grew up; in the letter Nan says that she still bumps into Curly the Dutch chef from the Bridge in the supermarket!
PS; The picture below taken this morning shows the progress on the new Wine Centre which is due to open later in the year,
On Monday when we went over to the house in Manilva we also picked up the post, which had got wet in our post box on the wall outside, one letter was an Airletter from our very dear friend Nan Horsley,Jane from Chester mom, who we have known since before we were married over 40 years ago; it took us some time to dry out the letter and then open it along the three slits to find that much to our surprise Nan who last year had over nine eye operations and reaches the grand old age of 88 this year is still able to write in her lovely and distinctive way such a nice letter, her personality shines through and her sence of humor has not diminished over the years. It is also a miracle that she is able to write on the very thin Airletter paper any way; hearing from Nan brings back a lot of very happy memories when I went to work for her late husband Burt as resident assistant manager at the Bridge Inn in Port Sunlight on the Wirral,where I met Brenda ! Port Sunlight has featured in our lives ever since over the years, we got married in the church, Fred Mellor, our best man who was a Port Sunlight boy, funeral took place there and sadly the last time we were there was for the funeral of his dear wife Carol, our very dear friend, who died back in 2008.In more happy times we have been to weddings of friends over the years as their children grew up; in the letter Nan says that she still bumps into Curly the Dutch chef from the Bridge in the supermarket!
PS; The picture below taken this morning shows the progress on the new Wine Centre which is due to open later in the year,
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA NEWS OLYMPIC AND TV UPDATE.
Wednesday 24th February 2010.
Over the weekend we have been on a severe weather warning as the storm that hit Madiera, so catastrophically on Saturday hit us on Sunday and Monday, not as bad as the sting had been taken out of it as it crossed the Atlantic! We once again got caught in the rain on Monday morning as we went over to Manilva to check out the house,pick up the tablets from the chemists and call at the Ferreteria for light bulbs, we then went down to Estepona as Brenda had another appointment at the dentists and at the same time we called into Western Union to pick up a cash transfer but with no luck as the number was wrong ! This money was to pay the water bill which is due by the end of the month, I’ve just had a call with a new number so I will have to go over in the morning to pick it up and then shoot back to Tarifa to pay it!! This weekend is when all the carnivals take place and it is also Andalucia Day on Sunday so it is like a long bank holiday weekend until Tuesday. On the way back we called into the English butchers, as you can see in the picture below of the Steak, Kidney and Mushroom Pie !
We have been watching the winter Olympics from Vancouver which have been very exciting, except for the Curling! Amy Williams winning a gold medal in the Skeleton Bob was terrific, the Canadian commentator got it right again when she talked about how positive she was in the interview before the start and how negative the other English girl favorite was; the Alpine events on the downhill course have been very well covered and the Ski jumping was as usual spectacular, the new sport of Ski Cross with four competitors going down, over and around a steep course in a race to the finish takes your breath away, Yesterday the Ice Dancing was unbelievable with the Canadian couple winning the gold, the only difference being that they do not show the scores individually other wise I am sure they would have done a Torvil and Dean!
On Monday the third episode of the Seven Ages of Britain was very interesting and I found on BBC3 a lovely programme about the Darjeeling mountain railway and the lives of the people that are employed and live with it all their lives; it is only 52 miles long and winds it way through the mountains and along the narrow parts it shares it route with the road, a little jem!
Over the weekend we have been on a severe weather warning as the storm that hit Madiera, so catastrophically on Saturday hit us on Sunday and Monday, not as bad as the sting had been taken out of it as it crossed the Atlantic! We once again got caught in the rain on Monday morning as we went over to Manilva to check out the house,pick up the tablets from the chemists and call at the Ferreteria for light bulbs, we then went down to Estepona as Brenda had another appointment at the dentists and at the same time we called into Western Union to pick up a cash transfer but with no luck as the number was wrong ! This money was to pay the water bill which is due by the end of the month, I’ve just had a call with a new number so I will have to go over in the morning to pick it up and then shoot back to Tarifa to pay it!! This weekend is when all the carnivals take place and it is also Andalucia Day on Sunday so it is like a long bank holiday weekend until Tuesday. On the way back we called into the English butchers, as you can see in the picture below of the Steak, Kidney and Mushroom Pie !
We have been watching the winter Olympics from Vancouver which have been very exciting, except for the Curling! Amy Williams winning a gold medal in the Skeleton Bob was terrific, the Canadian commentator got it right again when she talked about how positive she was in the interview before the start and how negative the other English girl favorite was; the Alpine events on the downhill course have been very well covered and the Ski jumping was as usual spectacular, the new sport of Ski Cross with four competitors going down, over and around a steep course in a race to the finish takes your breath away, Yesterday the Ice Dancing was unbelievable with the Canadian couple winning the gold, the only difference being that they do not show the scores individually other wise I am sure they would have done a Torvil and Dean!
On Monday the third episode of the Seven Ages of Britain was very interesting and I found on BBC3 a lovely programme about the Darjeeling mountain railway and the lives of the people that are employed and live with it all their lives; it is only 52 miles long and winds it way through the mountains and along the narrow parts it shares it route with the road, a little jem!
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