Homework

Once again the word of homework has reared it's ugly head. The school holidays are moving on and it is less than two weeks when 'Thing' 1 goes back to school. At the beginning of the hols we scheduled all of homework that needed to be done, so that we all knew what was expected. Also, so that Thing 1, as he is particularly devious could not:
1. Hide some of it.
2. Lose some of it.
3. Hide/lose the list of things to be done.
4. Leave it all outside in the garden so it would blow in the pool.
[As he is the most sly and shifty child I know.]
Anyway most of the work had been done over the last few weeks by: speaking nicely, speaking firmly, discussing, reasoning, threatening to remove treats, actually removing treats, bribing and lastly shouting!
However, he has left his pet hate until last. Complete an English spelling book and to read 5 Spanish story books and 2 English kids novels and write book summaries on each. OMG!!!!
The hell of the last two days. Hubby is away in the UK and yesterday I did all of the above and to cap it all had to chase him around the house and actually grab him and lead him to the table where books were laid out. I physically sat next to him for two hours, persuading, cajoling, helping, turning the page, cello taping the dictionary when it got ripped in his rage.
Finally the spelling book was completed and I felt that I needed not a glass of wine but the whole bottle or maybe a case. However, that was not possible as I'm detoxing. I looked forward to today. [not!]
To my great surprise once the book had been completed he became the model child.
He:
1. Cleaned and hoovered his room and the office.
2. He offered to walk the dog [ A FIRST!]
3. He fetched the washing in off the line and helped with every little thing he could think of around the house all evening. AMAZING!

After some thought and a phone conversation with hubby we realised what might have brought upon the model behaviour..... It was the fact that I had spent time with him and not his sister.

Today we went through the same procedure as yesterday, but this just took longer, probably because I had been listening to his sister read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

At one point I started to read out loud the first of the Spanish story books. This worked, however, as he hates to hear my pigeon Spanish! or rather Spanglish as he puts it.

He has promised to do two books tomorrow. We'll see!

Jewellery at Candeez

Here are some of my latest jewellery creations:

They are all available to buy at £12 each including postage to any european country.

Earrings or a pendant can be made to match any item.

If you are interested in one of these or would like to commission something new, email me at Candeezjewellery@yahoo.co.uk or check out http://www.candeez.co.uk/

God's creatures

I'm out of the doghouse with Tilly. Well not literally. I'm in the house, but Darcy [Dog 2] is out of the house and in a new one.

Yesterday I had a call from a local couple that had seen my post on the Torrevieja.com forum to find Darcy a new home. They were looking for a dog. They came to see him that very same afternoon and took him home. Hurray! no more dog fights. Tilly, my Labradoodle looked very relieved as Darcy walked out of the gate without a bye or leave.

However, nothing stays smooth running for long. Thing 1 had noticed an ant in the kitchen earlier in the day. Hubby noticed an ant later in the afternoon. We were just about to lock up before going out for a mid week Chinese [it's too hot to cook] and I noticed about 30 of the little buggers on my kitchen cabinet. I opened the door to find the cupboard crawling with them. Yuk!

Having phoned our friends to say we would be late, emptied the cupboard, thrown out the food and having killed as many as I could see, helped by Thing 2. I put down ant powder and we then retreated to the restaurant.

All evening both Thing 2 and I had the sensation of ants crawling on our arms and legs.

Later on we all returned home to find a new brigade of ants still marching in lines across the same cupboard. Walking around the ant powder as best they could. So once again I did the same thing. However, this time I happened to notice that the chair I was standing on that I had dragged around from the dining area. [It's very heavy] had an extra appendage. Sticking out underneath the seat there was, unmistakingly, the backend of a large cockroach. More yuk!

Quick thinking and knowing that I would probably get only one chance at it. [coz they're quick little blighters] I grabbed a shoe, knocked it to the ground and gave it a hard whack!

Success! One squashed cockroach. I don't normally kill God's creatures, but in my book these are excluded.

I get all the good jobs!

Barely a breeze

I'm sitting here at my desk watching people park their cars outside the house and making their way down onto the beach. Saturdays in August are always busy at the beach, and it makes it difficult to even park my own car close to the house.

The heat is turned up to max. Barely a breeze. Dogs fighting at regular intervals. Darcy is still wearing his 'lampshade', which Doodle hates, but it actually offers him some protection to the bites and snarls that come his way when he gets within 2 feet of the Doodle.

Thing 1 and 2 are bored with loads of bickering and play fighting to wind us all up.
This in turn sets the dogs off.
Haven't thought of what's for dinner yet. Maybe I'll head for the supermarket for some respite, or I'll follow Hubby's advice [the heat must be getting to him - as he is the most foodyiest person I know] and "just give them a sandwich" - I don't think so!

Breakfast like a King!

I read an article recently that said the most healthiest lifestyle to adopt regarding food intake was to eat most of your calories for breakfast, eat less at lunch and even less for tea. I suppose the saying breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper applies to this theory. The article suggested that a woman would normally eat 15oo calories a day, and that 800 calories should be breakfast. This should include any cravings you may have e.g chocolate.

It occurred to me that if your craving happened to be beer then this theory means you should have beer for breakfast. This must be why you can always see little wizened old Spanish men in bars in the morning with a beer or a brandy alongside their morning coffee. These men are never fat. You never see them jogging down the street, Ipod in their ears, early in the mornings, nor, do you see them entering or leaving the local gym. So, it must be said that this theory must be true.

The problem I have is that I am never hungry first thing in the morning, I normally don't eat anything until 10.30 or later. So, listen all you pharmaceutical research and development companies out there. Do us all a favour and start developing a product that increases appetite, rather than supressing it, so that we can gorge ourselves in the mornings and be thin again.

Darcy!

What a week!. It's been a bit quiet on the blog front for three reasons.

The most important one being:
My right arm was chopped off........ Well no, but it did feel like it. My computer screen decided it would no longer work. This is on a laptop that is under 6 months old. So will shortly be winging it's way back to the lads at Currys tech team to repair it. This is the third time it has gone back.

We also have had visitors. My dear friend Debs, hubby and three sons came to visit. We also found this dog, whom we have named Darcy.

Darcy was sitting outside the lifeguards beach hut at Cala Capitan last Sunday. The lifeguards had tethered him to get him off the beach where he was scavenging for food. We happened to walk past and against my better judgement took him home and fed him. It transpired that he had no microchip and was approx 18 months old. He is still in residence, but if my Labradoodle has anything to do with it, not for long. Tilly, the Labradoodle is grouchy with other dogs as she is suffering a hip displacement and arthritis. Anyway after almost a week of gnashing of teeth, growling and snapping I contacted the local charity APAH who have agreed to finance the removal of his bits to calm him down. If this has the desired effect then he can stay if not we will foster him until APAH or we can re home him ourselves. There is also one more hurdle to jump, hubby is allergic to pet hair, so that is also in the mix.

Earlier hubby opened our front gate and Darcy did a runner. We had to then launch our own search party to find him. Comprising Thing 1 on his bike and hubby. Hubby returned home having given up as the dog was to fast for him and was of sight. Thing 1 caught up with Darcy, but had forgotten to take the lead. So hubby was persuaded to get the car out and to track him down. He is now back at home as if nothing had ever happened. Tomorrow is the day of his op so hopefully we won't have any escapology recurrences after that.

He is now putting his head on the keyboard of my new computer, [purchased this morning]. He seems very interested in my blog. Perhaps he was a blogger in a former life. Or, perhaps he was worked out there is an open window behind the screen where he could possibly make his escape, knowing what fate befalls him tomorrow.