Wednesday, October 3, 2007 10:52:41 AM
Here we are again, back in Spain, at my cousin's Ann & Fred's place near a little village called Ginestar. This trip I fear will be the last one this year in our travels around the world. 2007 has seen us visit Capetown South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the USA, so to finish this years travels we have returned to Spain to see what Ann & Fred have been up to since our last visit, and also to help Fred with one or two little jobs about the place.
Well, they have installed a swimming pool and more areas have been concreted, a low wall in the kitchen has been demolished and the kitchen partly refurbished.
My jobs are to assist Fred with reinstalling a wood burning stove, waterproffing the verandah roof, fix the generator shed door and relocate water storage containers to their permanent resting place. Once these chores are complete I might get in some R&R.
The weather so far has been brilliant for this time of year seeing we are in Sept/Oct time we are experiencing blue skies sometimes with fluffy white clouds and temperatures in the late twenties.
JOBS DONE SO FAR:
So far we have, replaced the wood burning stove complete with chimney stack, relocated the water storage containers and repaired the generator door. Plans today was to do the verandah roof, but lastnight the heavens have opened and we have experienced a thunder and light show over the mountains. The heavy rain has continued this morning (3rd Oct) and has halted our work, hence I have been able to update my blog. Photo's will be posted when I return to UK. See you all soon.
Friday, February 16, 2007 4:37:35 PM
Back again, This time from Cape Town South Africa. 14.02.07 Weather here at present hot and dry, since we have arrived, we have toured the city in many different ways, we took a taxi to Table Mountain where we had a lift in a revolving cable car to it's summit where we enjoyed spectacular views over Cape Town City and Waterfront. We spent all day exploring the mountain where we found several species of wild flowers and both species of lizard. We were privaledged to see the Mountain Beauty Butterfly but in flight only. The next day 15.02.07 we visited the Kirstenbosch Gardens using local Blue tour bus, beautiful setting and wonderful display of flora and fauna, the wind got up and the mist came down as we finished our visit to the gardens. So we returned to Cape Town again using the Tour Bus which showed us the best it could of the coastline on route to the city. 16.02.07 we again took a tour bus this time it was red, which gave us a different sight of the town. We debussed at Camp Bay a seside resort and watch the waves crash onto the shore, we had a great Fish meal. Fortunately you can hop on and off the buses at will, so we caught the next available one and got off a few stops down the road at Sea Point, this time we took a short stroll ( about 1 Hour ) along the promanade and ended back in the Waterfront area of the City, then back to the hotel to write this. Tomorrow we move on......
Mark can you forward this to Mich, Steve and girls as Web Mail still down. Love to everyone.
On the move
Tuesday, January 2, 2007 1:36:21 PM
I'm back,and a Happy New Year to you all.
Ruby Wedding:
On Sunday the 31st December 2006 my wife Rose and I celebrated our Ruby Weeding. The celebration started with a Service of thanksgiving at our local Church 'St.Catherine of Sienna, Rose and I walked down the aisle to a rendition of Beatles music and during the service we renewed our Vows that we had pledged to one another 40 years ago, our daughter Michelle recited a a very moving poem written and composed by herself and our son Mark read an apt passage from the Bible. We walked away from the altar at the end of the service with a rendition of 'Love Me Tender' sang by the Church band. Family and friends, old and new helped us to further celebrate in grand style with a party. Woodcote Village Hall was the venue for a party, and when we arrived we found it was aptly decorated with banners, balloons and photographs depicting Rose and myself throughout the 40 years of our marriage including one of us on our wedding Day. The party went with a swing which included an 'Air Guitar Challenge', when several of us had fun making idiots of ourselves playing our air guitars. The evening concluded with the traditional welcome to the New Year. A Great time was had by all. Our loving thanks must go to Mark and Michelle and their respective families for making the day so memorable. Thanks guys for all your hard work.
Friday, September 1, 2006 6:31:22 PM
Friday 1st September 2006, a return visit to The Living Rainforest at Hampstead Norreys, Nr Newbury Berks. This was my second visit and we met up with my daughter Michelle and our grandchildren, the object was to introduce our grandchildren to this magical place, an actual living rainforest that visitors can walk around and experience the climate, humidity and see nature in all it's glory. There are ferns, butterflies, birds, insects, spiders and snakes as well as a variety of beautiful tropical flowers and plants. Once inside the enormous greenhouses it takes a while to get used to the heat and humidity but once conquered we had a great visit. It was magical just to see the wide eyes of the children as they roamed around taking in the sites, and trying to answer their questions. If you haven't visited this place, I strongly recommend you do......
Sunday, August 13, 2006 2:29:31 PM
My wife Rose and I have just returned from an amazing trip to my cousin Ann's place in Spain. A small little property sat in the middle of a few acres of land (see photos) near to the picturesque village called Ginestar in Catalunya.
My cousin Ann and her partner decided to move to this part of the world in order to seek out a warmer climate, and boy did they, all the time we were there the temperatures ranged from 38 to 40 degrees C with clear blue skies it was paradise. There is still some work to do to the property to make it a home from home but these things take time and the Spanish seem to have a lot of that, taking their time to install utilities we we have come accustomed to in the UK. Where the Spanish are concerned when they say we will be up tommorow they never state what year so thinks can get frustrating at times. But despite that their little plot is coming together slowly and while you are waiting for the engineers to arrive you can sit in the shade and become mesmerised by the mountainous scenery displayed all around you.
Ann met us at Reus airport and conveyed us to her little home, where we enjoyed a fantastic week being ferried around to all the immediate attractions, from warm seas to chilled caves, we also sampled local hospitality in the form of many Fiesta's and firework displays. All in all we had a great time and can't wait to go again.
Saturday, July 22, 2006 7:51:35 PM
Friday 21st July I was treated to a day at the British International Motor Show in London, with my son Mark, son-in-law Steve and our very good mate Simon (known him so long he is almost Family). Thanks Simon for securing the tickets for us.
It was my first visit to the ExCeL, Docklands and boy was I impressed with the venue. The Motor Show was of course brilliant, but I was slightly disappointed with the lack of Babes on Bonnets though, not to worry as there were quite a few beautiful mean machines to ogle at, ranging from the Glam machines such as Bentley, Ferrari, Aston Martin's etc; to the what I call the sensible cars ( the ones that I could possibly afford at a push, but can only dream about). The star of the show in my view (in the sensible machine range) was the Chrysler 300c , what a mean machine it was too, with good looks combined with sensible design and good value for money. Sorry Simon but just had to mention it......
Sunday, July 16, 2006 10:16:39 AM
The 15th July 2006 saw the Sports Aid event take place at Prospect Park Reading. Taking part was a three generation female team, consisting of Grandma Rose, Mummy Michelle and daughters Hollie and Phoebe. Their 1 mile run started with a 15 minute warm up at the Start Line before they were sent on their way at 12:27 pm.
First past the Finish Line was Hollie at 12:38 with a time of 0:11:27 mins followed closely by Phoebe with a time of 0:15:05, the double act of Grandma and Mummy had a finishing time of 0:16:48.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying a Picnic in the Park with equestrian rides and fun slides, but for some of us it was all too tiring just to watch.
See photo Album
My Opera
