About Us

My photo
Spain
Now living in l'Olleria, south of Valencia

Friday 30 January 2009

Poor Max - again



Max still hasn't recovered from his abcess. This week, we have had to take him back to the vet's again. She checked very carefully, and the abcess is behind his right eye. This time, she gave him a very big dose of a much stronger anitbiotic, and we have to continue with the tablets for a longer period too. We have to take him back in 10 days, so she can see how he had improved. Poor thing. He gets well for a few days, then goes downhill again. This morning, Ed put his tablets in his food as usual. He is very good at just eating them, along with his dinner, as they are fed a mixture of hard 'biscuit type' food, as well as soft tinned food. However, for some reason today, Paddy decided to eat Max's breakfast! Oh no. Max's tablets. Ed chased Paddy off Max's breakfast, and found that Paddy had found Max's 3 tablets in his dinner, and had simply spat them back out, at the edge of his bowl! Ed mixed them back in, and gave it to Max, who simply ate the whole lot as normal! Very Funny!

Windy


The terrible winds throughout France and Spain reached us too, but not in such great strength, thankfully. Near Benidorm, there was a huge fire, started when 3 big pylons collapsed. 14,000 people had to be evacuated. Much nearer to us, one of the people from my night classes had a tree fall into his garden, and (worse) 3 of his trees fell onto a neighbouring property. Thankfully, the damage to that house was just superficial.

We have used this opportunity to get rid of some of the pine trees in our front garden. A quick count yesterday, put the figure at 65! Although there are some big ones, many of them are still quite small. They are very bedraggled, as the light is not getting to them properly. Technically, we are supposed to get permission to take pine trees down, as there is very little forestry in Spain. However, I don't think anyone will notice of only 10 of them go missing! Ed is so efficient, it is just 1/2 hour, from growing, to being stacked on the log pile.

Saturday 24 January 2009

FIRE


There have been terrible winds throughout north Spain and France for the last few days. So far, we have not been affected very badly. We have had a small pine tree blown over and had to chase around the garden for the patio furniture, but nothing drastic. Tonight, on the way home from the supermarket, I spotted a mountain fire, about 5 miles from us, to the east. The photo is not very good, but this was taken from our balcony. You will have to click on it, to see it properly. The fire appeared to be in 2 places, and Ed suspected that it had been caused by an electricity cable coming down. Very unnerving for the people that live on that side of town.Thankfully for us, the wind was blowing in the right direction for it not to worry us.

Canals Bonfire


On the way back from Xativa, we called in at Canals, to see the bonfire. There were still building it as we arrived and many of the locals were very enthusiastic about the contruction. It is very different to in the UK. Building a bonfire in England usually entails a level of secrecy, so that it isn't torched early, or critisism levelled at the contruction! Here, everyone was happily watching, in anticipation of the main event. I asked when the fire was actually due to be lit, but it was on the Friday, and Tim had to return on the Wednesday. Although classed as the 'biggest bonfire in the world', this was a title from many years ago. However, Tim was quite amused by just how close the fire was to the houses and church.

Xativa Castle with Tim





We strolled up there on Tuesday afternoon, and discovered that after 2pm, on a Tuesday, there is no entry fee. Bless him, he was suprisingly enthusiastic for a petrol-head and certainly seemed to enjoy himself. Sadly, he was only with us for 2 1/2 days, but hopefully it won't be too long before he comes out again.

Tim's Trip

Well, after his unexpected trip to Birmingham, when I returned, I brought Tim with me. As this was his first visit, we did the touritsy things. We took him to Gandia, calling in at the 'all you can eat' mill, where he did himself proud. I think he had 4 main courses, but he topped it all off, with 5 puddings! (I made him put some of the pots on Ed's plate!)

PARTY




Jess and Tim had organised a 'Goths and Fairys' party at the local nightclub on Friday night! It was really good fum. Many of their friends dressed up and it was wonderful to see them all again. (Aren't Jess's eyelashes amazing?!)

Happy Birthday to You Two


Jessica was 21 on 7th and Tim (Sutty) was 25 on the same day. The pair of them cheated, and opened their birthday presents just a few hours after midnight.

Birthday Cake



Jessica loves Beetle cars, so I promised her a car cake for her birthday! Since her favourite colour is purple, there was only one way to go. Can anyone spot the difference? (Clue, the cake is the one without the side windows!)

Bad Trip!

Well, first trip of the year (it is January) to the UK, for Jessica and Tim's birthday. The cheapest way there at the moment, is Alicante to East Midlands, but 'boy' the 6am flight is no fun. We had to get up at 2am, leave here by 2:30 to get to the airport in plenty of time to check in my suitcase. (Being winter, I needed more clothes than usual!)

I arrived in time, then got a message from Timothy, that he had been held up in traffic. 'Not a problem', I texted back, as the carousel still wasn't going around yet, with my suitcase. Then he asked me which terminal I was in. Ah, another mix-up like Alicante (I thought) now more than one arrivals terminal. As I didn't know, I just told him to head for arrivals. A few minutes later, and I was strolling outside. No sign of Tim yet, so I called him again. Perfect, he could pick me up and we cpould get away without paying any parking fees. "Where are you?" "Nearly there. Just coming in now. I can see the sign Birmingham Internation Airport and some big red cranes. Where are you?" I carefully looked behind me, for the red cranes, when the alarm bell went off. Birmingham? No! Oh yes. Poor Tim had got up at the crack of dawn, and gone to the wrong airport.

Thursday 1 January 2009

Happy New Year

Very best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009.

Last night was celebrated with a mixture of old and new friends, in the centre of l'Olleria. Come midnight, we all sang Auld Lang Syne. (Apparently written in 1788) Very funny at the time, as no-one could remember the all of the words. Some remembered some bits, and others remembered other bits. Poor Alba (from Paraguay) joined in, but looked completely bewildered. Not only the strange handholding custom, but also very strange words.

In Spain, it is traditional to eat 12 grapes on the stroke of midnight. These are each for good health in the comming year. I found the buffet was a more agreeable alternative!

I was the nominated driver, so waited until we got home, before embarking on a very large brandy. (Then Jess phoned, which was really lovely, as she was working through the festivities)

Happy New Year, may it be a good one x

Bull update - Part 2

Well, we have finally discovered that Scot's downfall has been published on Youtube. For those who have a strong stomach, the following link will take you to the main event!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgDDfyLqNYU

I must admit, watching it with the sound on, is more effective! (sorry Scott)