Paparazzi!

The other day traveling back from Alicante airport, we passed the salt lakes with its wealth of wildlife. Thing 2 was in the car and said 'Look at the paparazzi!' Thinking we had unknowingly become famous and had been chased away from the airport by paps on motorbikes I looked in the rear view mirror. No paps and no bikes. However, by the side of the road two people were taking photos of a huge number of wading flamingos.Well she is only 10.

Back blogging

I'm back to blogging, but don't know what to blog about. So much has happened in the last 4 months. General life is much the same. Thing 1 and 2 are much the same. Thing 1, my son has changed for the better and is now reading novels of his own choice in his own time. Fantastic! Thing 2 is playing up at school. I don't know why and after a trip to speak to her teacher and many sessions of explaining the do's and don'ts of good behaviour in class, she doesn't seem any better. Her main problem is that she giggles. So another child will say something in the class and she will start giggling which draws attention to herself and she gets in trouble. I have now told her that she will get held back this year and will have to repeat unless she pulls her socks up, PRONTO!
It was my birthday last week. Hubby was away working so I had the day to myself. The girls had arranged a lunch out at a lovely restaurant but had cancelled the arrangement informing me that some of them couldn't make it and planned a breakfast out instead. I was determined not return home after the breakfast as I would have just spent the day on my own at home, so I decided to check out a Thallaso therapy spa nearby. One of my friends joined me for a delightful tour of said establishment and I plan to go and treat myself this week for a pure indulgent spa treatment.
A very practical hubby bought me a pedometer for my birthday. My fault I had actually inadvertently asked for one. Mental note: Be careful what you wish for [out loud]prior to a Birthday. Anyway I have done 18,000 steps today. So I have eaten a Turkish delight to celebrate!

Pillow Talk

The scene:
Late at night having just gone to bed.
I say "I haven't a clue what I'm going to wear to the do on Saturday. Any ideas?"
Hubby responds "I don't know."
I say "You've seen everything in my wardrobe, what looks nicest?"
Hubby - "I don't know, try on three outfits and I'll choose."
Me -"No, you must have some idea. What looks OK?"
Hubby - "I know wear your brown ribbed top."
I think for a moment. "No, I don't have a brown ribbed top."
Hubby [said with conviction] -" Yes you do, the v necked one."
Me - "No, I definitely do not have a brown ribbed v necked top."
Hubby is now hysterical with laughter and I mean completely hysterical, unable to speak, curled up in a ball.
I say - "You must be thinking of someone else."

Running in circles

Thing 1 has been chosen for the regional cross country race representing his school. He was given this news at school today. He is very excited and feel he needs to waste no time and train for this event. So he is currently running round in circles around the house in the garden in his school uniform. [No time to change]. Navigating around all the shrubs and plants and pathways, over and over. He looks so funny.

My new laptop

My new lap top has arrived. I'm on my third laptop in the last 2 years. My upmarket Compaq [4 months old died for good a few weeks ago. During it's life it had been repaired twice. Currys were very good and offered a replacement. However, all my research work was lost. I am now using a new Samsung. It is quite robust. I am being really careful not to put it directly on my lap. You're not meant to, you know? The fan cannot cool the internal workings and the machine dies an early death. I know through experience now to back up everything important, but what do you do with websites that you come across that you think I'll save that - I may want to look at that another day? I'm not aware of a quick and easy way to back them up. If you have any ideas let me know.

Tidy your room! 12 Things

How do you get a nine year old -Thing 2 to tidy her bedroom?
After many many different ways ranging from the very simple of requests to bribery I found a new method.
Yesterday, her room was once again ridiculously untidy. Trying to get her to tidy up as she went along obviously hadn't worked so I decided to make a game out of it.
First, I asked her to pick up all of the toys and junk that had accumulated on her bed so I could change it. Then I asked her to pick up 12 things off of the floor which should really be in the bin. She thought this was good fun. Once she had counted out 12 pieces of rubbish and put them in the waste basket, I then told her to pick up everything off of the floor that needed to be put away - at least 12 things. Next, I asked her to pick up 12 things off of the desk, which had also become a dumping ground. Another 12 things off of the bookcase which shouldn't be there. Now it is possible to see how pretty the room could look she has promised to finish off her desk and bookcase tomorrow.
Tomorrow is here and -I'm still waiting.

Tranquila

Life has returned back to normal. This means Thing 1 and 2 have gone back to school. The house is tranquila - 'calm' to the non Spanish readers between the hours of 8 am and 1pm weekdays. Yippee! The weather has calmed down a bit too. We no longer get temps of 35 degs+. They are now about 30 degs. The mozzies are still biting egged on by the high humidity and occasional thunderstorm.
I am going to embark on a new exercise regime. But I've got to make it fun otherwise it won't last. The one thing I have been promising myself to do is to learn to roller blade. There are lots of coastal promenades on which to scoot along. Every day I witness an elderly gentleman with roller blades and walking poles bomb down my road passing my villa, looking very toned and fit.
However,also I'm yet to master the technique. I have watched both Thing 1 and 2 whizz up and down the outside patio and I thought I could join them. My theory went thus: I figured that in my youth I ice skated around at Richmond ice rink every week at the ice skating disco night, [oops I'm showing my age], so therefore roller blading wouldn't be that difficult. How wrong I was! My one attempt didn't even get me out of the house: holding onto hubbies shoulders, door frames, furniture and anything that could keep me upright proved that this was no easy task. I gave up and my roller blades have been redundant ever since.
However, I am not the sort of person who gives up on anything, so I will let you know of my progress. I'm going to ask Thing 2 for a lesson. Watch this space!

Climbing a mountain

The last couple of days have been like climbing mount Everest. Hubby has been away for 12 days now and Thing 1 and Thing 2 have been far worst than their 'Cat in the Hat' characters ever were.
I am almost at the summit.
Thing 2 is due to go back to school on Tuesday and Thing 1 on Wednesday.
Both of them have become professional at dodging my requests for help around the house, but a complete experts at:
1. Creating a washing mountain to rival that of a family twice our size.
2. Leave an inordinate amount of mess in every room they venture into.
3. Constantly argue/shout with/at each other or answer me back.
3. Manage to pull out of their wardrobes clothes they just can't be bothered to put back or hang up properly, so decide to [a] Stuff them down the back of the wardrobe out of site, wrinkled and crumples up or [b] Put them in the laundry basket to add to number 1 of this list.

Thing 1 still hasn't finished all of his homework. I got him a little reprieve yesterday regarding his Spanish homework. He has been adamant all summer that one of his homework tasks - a pack of 2 books he was issued was completely the wrong one, so I phoned the school, spoke to the teacher who confirmed this. She gave me the option of
1. Bring it back and they would give me a refund or
2. Do it anyway.
Well considering he had to read 5 short story books [in Spanish] and complete a book review for each and he still had to read a further 2, much larger novels in English [all before next Wed] I decided the stress of option 2 would probably kill me and opted for option 1.

To add to this the weather is still hot reaching mid thirties every day. So the most basic of tasks are a hard slog. Yesterday we all piled in the car and drove the 45 minutes to Thing 1's school to purchase school books for this term. We then stopped off at the shopping centre to buy new school wheelie bags for each of them. They obviously were starving because they hadn't eaten for at least 2 1/2 hours so dragged me into Burger King. 45 minutes later and 100€ lighter we emerged fed and watered and my detox diet well and truly broken.
Today I went to the Thing 2's school to purchase her books in relative peace whilst they were both at football club.
They are busy eating their lunch so I have hijacked the computer to write this blog. I'm looking forward to late tonight when we have to go to the airport to pick up hubby. Phew!

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.

Gastronomic week

Cheryl's Birthday Bash!

It's been a full up week. When I say full up I mean of the eating variety. It started at the beginning of the week with a trip to our favourite Chinese wok buffet with friends that are over on holiday. We hadn't been there for a while and I don't think it was as good this time.

Then, on Thursday it was Cheryl's birthday, so all the mums met up for lunch at Eduardos la Finca. A supposedly posh restaurant with an outdoor pool and terrace area. We were all very disappointed. The food was so so and the service was the worst I had ever experienced. It was as if they had pulled the waitresses off the street with no training and no organisation whatsoever. Although none of us were in a hurry to leave, it took 2 1/2 hours to be served 3 courses. In fact 20 mins or so after our starters a waitress appeared and asked us if we wanted dessert. Also, there chairs had plastic seat pads meaning you stick to them. So much so that one or two of us had two-toned dresses by the end of the afternoon. We won't be rushing back!

'Thing 1' went to Chloes birthday party on Friday. After the party we were peckish, so we went to the Green chilli. An Indian restaurant recommended to us by quite a few people. Verdict - not as good as Shakira's, Cabo Roig., which remains our favourite.

On Saturday night we had arranged to meet other friends at Shakira's on Saturday night. We had booked a table inside rather than outside because of the heat. It was still 31c at 8.30 pm.

So after such a gastronomic week and the heat we had barely any appetite on Sunday. None of us ate much at all. I jumped on the scales this morning and they hadn't gone up at all. Hurray!

It's such a tough life in Spain.

I could tell you all about the traffic the summer brings with it, or the fact that, if you go out to buy ice cream it's all soft by the time you get home, even though you've put it in the cool bag for the car journey, or it's so hot that you can't take up jogging. [tee hee]

My blog today is coming to an end. A noisy whirlwind has just blown indoors, - 'Thing 1 and 2' have just arrived back from kids club and I've got windows to clean.

Beetroot

Having just served up plates of different types of salads for tea. Thing 2 spots a plate of chopped Beetroot.
"What's that?" she asks.
"It's Beetroot" I reply.
"I've got a friend called Beetroot," she confidently says.
I give her a puzzled look and then it dawns on me. "You mean Beatrice!"

Live on half your money or not!

I was pondering on an article I read in the Sunday Times magazine the other day [part of my bits and bobs that hubby brought back last week] on how to live on half your money. Living in Spain actually takes that theory and makes you put it into practice.

Compared to the UK Spain does not offer a wealth of consumerism. Consumer goods, advertising and an increasing number of retail outlets means that Spain is heading the same way as the UK, but it still has a long way to catch up. When we first arrived here it was quite refreshing not to be bombarded by the retail frenzy. The Christmas hype is non existent here. If it were not for Things 1 and 2 constantly reminding us of the fact, it is quite easy to go through December and not realise that it is actually December. There are only a few Christmas decorations on sale in the big hypermarkets or Chinese 'sell everything' shops and the odd Santa decoration on the occasional house. Easter is a religious festival. Lidl reminds us by selling more chocolate products with Easter themes. The little English shops import a few Easter eggs, and that''s about it. The Spanish aren't into sending cards to all and sundry so there are only one or two card shops, and they are run by British for the British.

I have a couple of British friends who go back to the UK in December just to absorb the Christmas hype and to do a bit of shopping, of course .

Anyway, I'll go back to my original point, where it is possible to live on half your money here. When you go out for groceries it is quite a simple process. The lack of tasty edible ready meals means you have to cook from scratch. So, you have to go and buy your fish/meat/chicken and seasonal veg and then put together a healthy balanced meal. If you are quite controlled it is easy to just put one or two naughties in your basket to liven up your eating plan. Wine and beer are cheap too, so you can buy whilst feeling indulgent, only parting with a few Euro. The only time you tend to spend more is if you buy imported products that it is impossible to do without e.g. Heinz baked beans.

With all that money saved you can then go back the UK once or twice a year to exercise the demons of a lifetime of ingrained, retail brain washing that everyone brought up in the UK has endured and SPLURGE all that cash in the shops! All you have to do then is pay for the extra weight in your checked in bags to get it all back home, especially if you are flying Ryan Air.

I've got an Award!

I GOT AN AWARD!!!!



The lovely Kath has given me this award! Thank you so much!
there are apparently RULES to this award...
(copied and pasted from Kath's delightful blog Juicy Fig)

1. I can put this rather sparkly Logo on my Blog.
2. Put a link/or mention the lovely person who gave you the award.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put a link to that Blog on your Blog.
5. Leave a message on their blog of your nomination.

I am nominating 1 blog for an award. This is because I believe this blog is worthy of an award. I have followed Rootietoot for 2 years and I love her humour.

Check it out at:
http://becauseitreallyispersonal.wordpress.com/

Three kids

We have just been out for a cheap Chinese. There are many advantages and disadvantages to living in Spain. One advantage is the cheap Chinese. We get 3 courses with many choices, rice or noodles or chips, a half bottle of wine or beer or soft drink. All for 5.75€ [about £4.20]. That's a bargain if ever I saw one and it gives me the night off from the kitchen.

Over the meal we discussed me going back to the UK for a holiday for a week [minus kids or hubby]- Bliss. Thing 1 had been playing about egged on by a giggling hubby who just added fuel to the 'messing about' fire. Hubby just couldn't keep a straight face, even though he was attempting to chastise Thing 1. With an exasperated sigh I asked what on earth would I come back to, if I did indeed leave them all for a week.

Dear hubby answered "3 children".

Never a truer word said.

Cooler week

After the heat of last week it has cooled down about 10 degrees. We have had one thunderstorm and are due to have more. So I embarked on my 'half as good as Madonna' goal today. I dragged hubby out for an hour's hike around the coast. This definitely equalled one workout. I needed some sustenance for such a hike, so I ate a Kit Kat chunky. They probably cancelled each other out. Never mind.

The red flag was flying at the beach. In fact there were 4 red flags in total. That meant under no circumstances should anyone enter the sea. Two of them were placed right on the shoreline, so no-one could be mistaken. The waves were high and the beach was heaving, which is quite unusual for a weekday in mid July. There were still a mad few in the sea. I feel sorry for the lifeguards who have to rescue the people who ignore the flags, putting their own lives at risk.

Thing 2 has just watched '10 years younger' on the TV. She said I want to be 10 years younger" it then dawned on her what she had said and added an embarrassed "oh no! I'm nine."

The unveiling of the injured toe has happened. I persuaded Thing 1 to take off his bandage tonight, so he could have a shower. We can all now take the pegs off our noses!