General Chat

Only 118 days left Bridget - the time will soon go.

Blustry here today and heavy ain forcasted for next 2 days - and guess whose water heater has broken !! Yes, ours and it is housed in a cupboard on the roof terrace - got someone coming to look at it tomorrow but not expecting to get it sorted until the weather is dry. Although I did say to hubby he could hold an umbrella up so workman would be dry !!! haha

Oh well next door neighbour is away until end of month so I sent her a text and she said we could use her shower - so I will be feeding the cats and then popping in the bathroom for a shower and hair wash.

Take care all

Love Mary xx

nn

I have just worked out that there are 119 days before I finish work, so if I take out weekends and my 12 days holiday that can't be to bad really can it!
I think that I will do a daily count down or would that drive you all mad??

Hello to you all.
I have just trawled through all the pages from one to number 30 and they are all still very interesting, I shall look at the others tomorrow.
On the September 2009 there are three dates 4th, fifth, and 7th where I have written descriptions re Peniscola or places of interest in Peniscola.
I was also amazed at the number of people who are still in touch and I want to simply say thank you to each and everyone of you. I am looking forward to writing more about my daily life and surroundings and now I know just when I finish work I am feeling great again!
There are also some people who seem to have fallen off the thread and I wonder how they all are.
In case any of you are in contact here are the names of those people so maybe just maybe they will come back.

King Keith I know that you have posted a few messages recently but "did you ever start writing your book"?

Catchthecat. Where are you and what are you up to?

Jenxx, Mummo and Nundah how are you all?

Tree Hunter how is that baby you so proudly told us about and who was 9 weeks old when you wrote on here in august 2009.

Val. A very special thank you for you have remained in contact with me from the beginnig and a similar thank you from me to everyone who has been involved in this thread. We are now on page 50, can we try for pages 60 and then 70...of course we can and I am confident that we will have smiles, sadness, celebrations and the delight of learning about each other. so my aim now is NOT to talk aout my work any more well I might when we get into january because I shall be preparing to go home, but not a word more til then. I am going backe to my original purpose to talk in wriyting to people across the uk and further.
Onwards we go, well we will if you all stay with me for the Journey!

OH NO! I thought that I had pressed Addbut didn't. not sure what I did but it isn't here so will write again soon
Sob Sob

I promised to write some motre abou Peniscola and it was agreed that something I would write about how we celebrate Christmas in Peniscola.

So here is my attempt!

CHRISTMAS IN PENISCOLA, SPAIN

The first thing to know is that it is certainly different than Christmas in UK, and as far as I am aware in America.
When we were still living in the UK we used to discuss just how commercialised Christmas had become with children of all ages seemingly wanting more and more expensive gifts, each family trying to out do the each other and parents becoming ever more fraught. So what did we do? We put a limit on the amount of money we were going to spend for each grandchild, and only token gifts to anyone more than 18...well that is the coming of age in the UK !
We were somewhat taken aback when all the adults, that is anyone over 18 expressed their relief as well and suddenly the real meaning of Christmas came back into our lives.
Now you may be wondrering what has thIs got to do with Spain?

We arrived in Spain in late October 2003 and went to Peniscola on the advice of a cousin of mine who lives in Madrid, he thought that we may like the simplicity of the village/town. How right he was. The first few weeks we lived in an Hotel and during that time we found and bought our beautiful house. We moved in on the 11th of December and our furniture arrived on the 17th just in time for Christmas!
So what did we discover about Christmas.?

The first thing was that there is relativley little commercialism, the Spanish still respect the religous aspect and the family all get together, it is not unusual to have three and sometimes four generations all staying together.
The first sign of Christmas is the El Gordo in English The fat One! when on the 21st of December the biggest lottery in the world is drawn and children sing out the winning number of the tickets and it goes on all day, every home, bar , restaurant, house the announcements blaring out. (Strangly enough it is also has one of the best odds of winning a prize and when I ggogled it this morning just to be accurate it is estimated to have a 1 in 6.5 chance of winning one of the prizes!)

After this event the street lights come on, and they are not gaudy! Christmas trees suddenly arrive and are everywhere as are some wonderful pointsettiers, from bars and gardens to streets and avenues, in the parks and high above shops.

Belens or Nativity Scenes as we call them in the UK. appear everywhere all with the Three wise men, Mary, Joseph and of course baby Jesus, I had brought mine with me as I couldn't bare to throw it away and we still use it now.
Nochebuene or Christmas Eve is is the most important day of the year for the family to be together. families get together and have their main meal in the evening after they have promenaded along the sea front, met their friend in bars, and then they go home and have their Christmas Dinner. Different parts of Spain have a differnt tradition as what is the meat/fish they have for that meal.

For example in Southeren Spain they eat Pork and the reason for this is again historical becausewhe the people from North Africa came into Spain they could be detected as Muslims by not eating Pork! In Peniscola we eat Turkey and in northern Spain they eat Lamb. The starter is usullay fish or seafood and the desert normally Turron is served, this is made from sweetend almonds. Of course the wine flows and Cava is the most common drink which is referred to as Spanish Champagne. but after the toast for Christmas many bottles of wine are drunk and it isnot uncomme=on to ive the children a small amount of wine topped with water or lemonade.

Part two to follw this afternoon as I need to make some lunch!! it is all this talk about food!

Good morning,

It is good to hear that you are feeling better Bridget, and I hope Tess is also feeling a bit better to-day. I am afraid I have no experience of Diabetes at all, like you "I didn't need to know".

The Weavers are back and I can hear them twittering away in the tree outside, such a lovely sound. I just hope the neigbours cats don't catch any of them.

The builders were on the job bright and early this morning, 6.30 a.m. to be precise fortunately I was up! Our garden is looking a lot better now although everything needs water. We were without water from sometime yesterday afternoon until 10.30 p.m. - the result of a burst water pipe just around the corner from us, we certainly take things for granted. We had to flush the pipes as when the water came on again it was very dirty, but we watered the fruit trees, something we haven't been able to do. I spoke to the Municipal Official in charge of the Water Department to explain that if we used more than our quota this month they were not to charge us as it was not our fault.

I think the National Health Scheme envisaged by our Government is going to mean taxpayers will have to dig deeper into their pockets. I haven't yet figured out what this will mean for those of us who are members of Medical Aids. Apparently everyone will have to contribute.

That all or now, have a lovely weeken and take care of yourselves.



Val.

Here in Hastings it is damp, grey and cold and we were promised, sunshine and warmth...now is it the forecasters that are getting it wrong or .............

Today I feel so much better than I have for the last few months and I would like to say a big Thank You to everyone on here who has read and tolerated all my worries, and concerns .
I feel at peace with myself again and tyhat means a great deal to me. I will be back on here sometime later today and will try to write about something that I hope you will all enjoy.

Maybe I will even nudge a few people who used to write on here but have drifted away..

Bye for now and enjoy today

Very tired day today and will have a busy one tomorrow.
Will try to be back on Sunday for a chat.

Tess

NUDGE

Good evening eveyone,
I finally went to see a doctor today, what a lot of paperwork one has to complete. I expalined that I had hurt my back recently giving full details of how it had happened and it seems that is is nothing to serious. I need to rest more, by that he meant that I have to lay doen on a flat hardish surface. I have had major back since I was about20 and a patient caused me to be in hospital for 4 months on traction and all sorts of paraphenalia ...so have generally been fairly carful.
Then came the surprise,,,I may have type two diabetes, now if this is so I am going to have to be very carefiul so if anyone has this please tell me how you manage? We love entertaining and eating out etc and I thoroughly enjoy cooking. OK i hear you say "Bridget is a nurse so why doesn't she know what to do?" Well the answer is" I didn't need to"
Well that is enoough about me, How are you all, what are you doing, what can you see from where you are?
How about telling us all about a precious moment in your life, or what is happening in your part of the world.

Bye for now

Bridget

TheresaAkaBridgetThe Fidget!

Your aunt sounds absolutely wonderful, I am sure that those who manager to keep alive, alert and have an interest just keep going.

Today I booked a flight Home from 27th December to11th January and I am excited about it already. I will be at home for New Year so we can have our usual New Years Eve Party...

The when I come back I should only have a short time here and then I will be going "HOME VIPPEE.


I will be away this weekend as I am going to see my older sister, she called me yesterday and we had a good chat so i am looking forward to seeing her and the rest of her family.

I have been told by my Boss that I can work from home for a while as I have felt do down but will be back at work next week,

Sorry this isn't a very interesting message

Bye bye for now

Hi everyone,
Bridget, I hope that you are managing to rest and that you feel better soon. Not long till Feb. so try to keep cheerful.

My sister and I went to visit our aunt (by marriage) today. She is one hundred years old and lives in her own home with one of her sons, (who is unwell).

While we were there she showed us her "latest projects"

She has a baby doll, which she is crocheting a complete matternity (spl) set for.
She has alos got a Barbie/Cindy type doll, she is sewing a brides outfit for this one. She said the difficult bit is trying to keep the veil on the head.

She is a wonderful lady, I am fortunate to know her.

Hello
Thank you for your concerns and I have stayed at home today, infact I have been in bed for most of the day, I have been called six times from work and the Admin person has called me to say she thinks tha I should go in tomorrow as they will be short otherwise. She even asked if I had been to see a doctor yet !

I am not going in tomorrow and will try to see a GP but I haven't registered with anyone here so not sure what will happen.

Alison the use of the W11Fit sounds fun I think that I may ask the children to buy one for my Christmas...I have said no more presents but maybe this would be a good idea.

well I have to get dressed and go across the road to buy some essentials such as milk and bread.
Bye for now

Bridget

Bridget you must look after yourself. I think Val is right you need a day or two in bed.

Really enjoyed reading about Peniscola and having been there for a couple of days in June can really say what a beautiful place it is.

Today is overcast and there are a few very black clouds about - thunderstorms are promised - so the washing will have to wait until tomorrow.

Take care
Love Mary xx

Bridget you must look after yourself, I suppose putting yourself to bed for a day or so is out of the question?

It is overcast again to-day but quite warm.

The empty plot diagonally across the street from us has been sold, and a three storey house is being built. The excavation started on Friday and as I sit here I can hear the machinery. Am not looking forward to all the noise and dust. I am, however, wondering why our Municipality is allowing more building to take place when our water situation has not improved.

We will have been married 53 years this week, hardly seems possible as it seems just like yesterday we were married.

My daughter installed her Wii Fit for us over the weekend, so we have been doing some exercising with it and I must say I have enjoyed it tremendously. To begin with I am doing half an hour daily and will increase slowly.

Am off to town in a little while.

Look after yourself.


Val.

I am pleased that my ramble about home was well received and will write some more tomorrow. At the moment what I thought was just a cold is turning into a chest infection, have a sore throat, earache, headache and my voice is fast disappearing, Also last night I hurt my back assisting one of our residents...so much for working a night duty!!!

Val it sounds as if you have been very busy and so pleased to hear that at last you have a a gardener.
It is sad when traditional events begin to fade away but maybe something else will replace your Shell festival.

I am looking out for the book Star of the Sea and so is my niece who is very much into book clubs etc some are on line as well,. She is very close to me which is really pleasing.
Well that s all for now
Bridget

Hello,

Bridget, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about where you live, please continue.

Well, after my friends left my niece's son arrived to spend a few days with us. It was good to see him again too.

Jimmy is helping the ladies from the church make pancakes every second week and he is having a ball, they think it is really wonderful that he will stand and make pancakes all morning! He says he must do his bit to help raise funds. We only have about 50 members, all senior citizens some more senior than others!!

Hope your football teams came out on top.

The Shell Festival was not a success this year, firstly the weather was foul, the most terrible wind and then there weren't good stalls and apparently not much entertainment. Because of the weather we stayed home, but people who braved the weather told me about it. Some residents are saying that because it is not improving the time has come for it to be
scrapped, which will be a pity as it is JBay. I think the fact that there was another festival at a nearby country village didn't help much either.

We have had a little drizzle over the past couple of days but still no real rain.

Oh yes, we have found a new gardener who started work last Friday - my word he is such an improvement on the last one. Of course he is much younger which immediately makes a difference. He works very well and quickly. So no more getting down on my knees!!

Enough waffle for now.

Take care.


Val.

Hello Tess
I shall lookout for this book and give it a try. My father was born in Dublin and was brought up in Finglas, Sadly he never knew his parents and was brought up with one set of names and he learnt, as an adult, that he his "parents" were in fact foster parents and his real name was given to him. He was born in 1912 and did not know this secret until 1945! He spent many years to trace his real family but without success, even now I cannot find anything....

I have to work tonight as the person has telephoned to say she is to unwell to come to work. I suspected this but still was disappointed when she called,

I do hope that West Ham win this one I shall keep my fingers crossed and my toes.

Bye for now

Bridget

Hi Bridget, book is called "Star of the Sea" by Joseph O'Connor. It is named after a ship and much of the story is set aboard. It is set during the time of the famine.
It's also about crime, so a bit different.
My brother didn't like it at all, but I am reserving judgment.
I have to keep reminding myself that the story is told by one of the protaganists.. (spl). Referances quoted are also those quoted by the narrator, NOT the author, so they have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

What part of Ireland was your father from?

Have had a quick look at Peniscola - the Castle looks great, really stunning.

Just looked up hwo our football teams are playing tomorrow, hoping that they both do as well as last week.
Yours are playing Fulham at home, while we are playing Bolton Wanderers also at home. I hopethat the rain stops for a while.

Tess

P.S Would love to hear about the festivals.