General Chat

Well. my apologies to everyone...I do occassionally jump to the wrong conclusion and it looks as if that is what I did here, so we will keepthe thread going.
Some of the descriptions are really so good that I can picture the areas and places being described. There are some very talented writers here, I may collate the descriptions and then print them off, if I ever get to grips with my Spanish desk top comp. Maybe when I get my UL laptop back, which is in England, I will be able to do just that.

I miss the English countryside with the rolling hills, the beautifull summer evening walks, even the smell of the manure being placed on the land!!! I do NOT miss the awful Yello rape seed as it is not grown near myhome...I have dreadful Hay fever if I am anywhere near it. I miss the lavendar fields in Norfolk, but I love the mountains around me and the beautifl rugged coastline, the fishing villages, the vast land and the wonderful skies.

The small soft shelled crabs are delicious although it took me a while to have the courage to eat them.

Today we had the menu del dia or dish of the day which was a large plate of sald with olives, warm chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, and parmesan cheese in fine slices with, lots of wonderful olive oil, followed by Pork ecalope or rabbit. I had the pork as did our visitors and OH had the Rabbit...knew it was a mistake as guess who ended up with the rabbit which in fact was very tasty and tender.
Followed this with home made Pistacio Ice cream and a cup of strong black coffee.


Then rather full we tried to go for a short walk but the temps beat us 35c today and so we came home. Friends now inpool, OH watching sport on TV and me , well you know what I am doing.

Val in SA,
the Shell Fiesta sounds fun and I look forward to learning more about it.

Frances
you made my day about a Tornado possible heading our way, I would dearly like to go on one of the Tornado chases across America, OH thinks I am Mad.! However I cannot find anything about it on Accuweather which is what I generally rely on...having just written that, the sky has become really dark!!!

Hello to Mel, what are you doing today?

Frances, I hope that your missing cat returns, and how big are the snakes that the other cat catches. Surprisingly we do not see many snakes here in Peniscola.
The lady next door who is German and spends the summer here had "tamed" a wild cat and sadly last week the cat became vey unwell and died in a matter of 20 minutes. Although sad my neighbour has decided not to encourage any more cats.

I am going to have my quiet time now, just for about 10 or 15 minutes...if I do not have this time I do feel cheated. My grandmother whom I absolutly adored always encouraged me to join her in her special 10 or 15 quiet minuts, she used to say that it gave her space and now I know what she meant.

Take care everyone.


Bridget

Bridget,
The snake was about 18", in old money, very thin with beautiful blu-black-grey markings, non-poisonous but could probably give a cat a nasty nip. We inherited our cats when the people next door returned to UK 8 years ago, I don't actually think they were that feral, probably their mother was one generation removed from domesticated. They had been speyed so we haven't had the problems of unwanted litters, thank goodness and they do like to be outside unless we are having a 'gota fria' and then they stay in for as long as possible.
The weather forecast I saw was on the Spanish TV..so we shall see.
Take care
Frances

good morning to one and all
i have been busy doing stuff on peeps family trees and getting ready to move to a new base at work
looks like they want me to to pass me skills on to the new staff which i will enjoy , I Think its always good to help others

anyway still doing some of my family tree and will be going to Liverpool sometime over the weekend to see the bands play Lets hope we have no rain
I am feeling a lot better now and get better each day

Hope you all have a good weekend and bank holiday
KEITH

Hello Keith

For some reason I was not aware that you had been unwell.I am glad that you are feeling better and whatever the work is that yo do, it must be very good otherwise your company would not ask you to pass on your skills. I agree it is always rewarding when you are able to help others in this way...Good Luck

Which bands are you hoping to see? Do tell us all about it.

Enjoy your weekend and the same to anyone else who visits here today.

This is my visitors last day, they fly back to Yorkshire tomorrow morning. It ahs been great fun having them here and it has meant that I have been able to have lots of scrabble games......won a few!!

I was up ealy today so was able to watch the changes in the sky and it looks as if we are going to have a much cooler day, around 26c and maybe some rain if not a storm.

I have had my special 10 minutes and sat peacefully on the top verandah overlooking the bay, and it was so quiet I could have heard a pin drop...it is really relaxing and enables me to think about people who need some positive thoughts, time for reflection as well, and sometimes I simply clear my mind....I beleive that this has helped me to be more relaxed than I used to be, some people have even told me that I am and look relaxed.

Take care everyone, I shall have a look at the Culinary thread now, some good recipes on there


Bye

Bridget

Good morning to you all,

It is a cool day to-day, when I looked out across the rooftops at the sea it was like a sheet of glass, the sun was just coming up .

We have a small water feature on the patio which is outside our bedroom window where a little frog has taken up residence somewhere among the plants, I haven't actually seen it but we hear it, especially early in the morning and in the evening, it has a high-pitched croak and gets quite excitable at times. I have got quite used to it and will miss it should it decide to move on.

I will not be doing much to-day will just take things easy.

Glad to hear you are feeling so much better Keith, will keep my fingers crossed for good weather when you go to Liverpool.

Those having a long week-end - do enjoy,



Val in SA.

Val in SA

I can just imagine that frog, I hope he doesn't stray to far.
My day is quiet as we are simply relaxing with our friends as they fly home tomorrow.
The sky was black this morning and looked rather menacing but the sun is out, it is hot again around 30c but clouds are here as well so some respite from the sun.

Val, how about adding a Culinary delight to the new thread, and there are some really interesting items on there already.

I will be sending everyone a PM as I have an idea abouut how we may be able to use all the info, so watch out for your messages.


Have relaxing day

Bridget

Morning Bridget and everyone,
Number 2 cat turned up last night with two wounds on her head, she ate her tea but obviously she is getting food elsewhere as she didn't 'gobble' it down. She wouldn't let us near her and after about 5 minutes she shot off and she didn't turn up for breakfast!!!
Cooler here today and quite cloudy, we have been promised rain but so far no sign of it. OH busy painting the inside of our wardrobe this morning, have so far filled one rubbish bag and one charity shop bag, there will probably be more as we put things back in there when the paint has dried.
Enjoy your day whatever you may be doing.
Frances

Good morning everyone
Had a good day out all our sons where with us at a BBQ
All went well its always nice to see the lads
today i will be sending photos to the chester meet to members so that will take some time to do then maybe if any of my sons turn up we may do a spot of fishing

Good morning everyone,

Another very warm night and still no sign of rain...it has been forecast but never seems to reach here.

I woke at 04.30 and simply could not get back to sleep, so added a recipe to Culinary Delights, walked around the garden, with Jet and Joe following me. We, that is said Jet and Joe, sat on top verendah and simply looked out to the Horizon. I watched the daylight come up, and looked across to the right side of the mountain I live on. There tucked into individual plots are houses of all shapes and sizes, surounded by various trees, palms and bouganvillea, I could nothelp wondering if anyone else was doing the same as me, or sending messages to the Spanish site of GR? The street lighting is kept to a very low level and therefore the mood of the day is almost palpable...and I wonder sometimes what it was like to live without street lighting ar=t all, a tome when we only had candles etc.

Was life really so different, were dreams and aspirations so very far removed from what we all still wish for. Was life really any more simple, These are also the thoughts that I have as I find more family for my tree.

Well I am going back upstairs soon and will have a coffee sitting on Verandah 2, the one outside our sitting room and wait for my day to start.


I look forward to reading all your messages, and hope that everyone is feeling good. Enjoy your day



Bridget

Good morning,

I was up at 6 this morning, the sun was not up yet and everything was quiet and calm before the noises of the day start. I put a load of washing in the machine and then had coffee and a rusk while I read the newspaper. I went into the back garden where the citrus trees are and the scent of the orange blossoms was lovely so early in the morning.

Well I'd bettter be off to start the chores of the day.

Have a lovely day and enjoy whatever you will be doing.

I have just read your recipe for aubergines which I love, so will definitely be trying that one.

Val in SA..

Good morning everyone and welcome to September!! Where has this year gone?

Keith how is the transition to your new base proceeding? From the upbeat tone of your message it sounds as if you will be good at the task in hand.Which bands did you see and i hope that you enjoyed youir time with your sons and did you catch any fish?

Val in SA. How is your frrog, have you seen him yet? I think frogs are such funny things and loved having them in my garden in UK. Haven,t seen any here yet except my brass one which sits on the edge of our fountain. I do love the sound of the water cascading.

Hope that you enjoy the aubergines when you make the dish.

Last night was sooooo warm that I thought I was going to melt!!
Stepped outside onto a veranda at around 04.00hrs this morning and the ground was very warm!!! It felt rather surreal. There was a very clear sky last night and all the star constellations were clearly visible, I wish I knew more about them.

My thoughts this morning went to all those who fought in world War 2, as on 3rd September it will be 70 years since the declaration....I went to an exhibition in London a few years ago about the concentration camps and the display that has haunted me was a glass wall which was around 200 feet long and about 1 foot deep. It encassed thousands of shoes...from plimsoles to high heeld shoes, from working boots to smart gents shoes, babies shoes , odd shoes , some were stained others looked almost new. I couldn't move away from it...I am a shoe lover and the impact that this had will never go away. I do not wish to offend anyone and know that all wars are dreadful but "Lest we Forget" please spend a few minutes just being greatful that we are all alive.

This I suppose has taken my daily thought time, so, in about half an hour I will have a coffe and remember those who have contacted me re their life at the moment and send some positive thougts. remember there always is "light at the end of the tunnel" but we just do not know where that light will take us.

Enjoy your day everyone and I look forward to hearing from you,.

Bridget

Good morning,

Spring Day to-day, but it is such a blustery day and also cloudy, not at all like Spring. The first of my pansies are flowering, a lovely bright yellow - that's more like Spring. My lonely lettuce is coming along nicely as are my spring onions. I would like to plant some green beans next.

I haven't seen my frog yet, but he was very noisy last night at about 11.30pm, I think something must have upset him!

I often wonder how different life would have been had my father not been taken prisoner in World War 2 and spent so many years away from us.

Do take care.


Val in SA.

Good morning Val,
When the pansies come through they always seem to be so optomistic.

So many people musthave the same thoughts as you, about fathers, brothers etc who left home one day because of the WAR and then didn't come back for a long time, if ever. I know that my elder siser missed her father, and that my mother who was only 16 when she married also missed him terribly and found when he returned that he simply wasn't the same person that she remembered. Sadly they divorced in 1948, the death of their only son when he was 4 hours old finally was the straw to far and yet whenever they met it was so obvious that all the feelings were still there.

He is still alive and in his nineties and I visit hime everytime I go to the UK.

I shall think of him this week along with my own uncles, and my in laws. My MIL was a Land Army girl and my FIL served all across Europe.


" We shall remember them" I shall also think of all those in Afghan including my sons colleagues and friends.



Bye for now

Bridget

Just popped in to say Hi to everyone. It is the first day of Spring here in Australia. Lovely day. Don't know what happened to Winter. It was the mildest one I have ever known. We kept waiting for the torrential rains and the cold - but got nothing. Admittedly, some places got the rain, but not in outer Sydney, where I am. We didn't even feel the cold air coming from the snow on the mountains - although they did get some snow - not a lot. Thankfully, the snowfields in southern NSW had enough for the skiiers to enjoy.

Amazingly, our temperatures were averaging 18 to 23 at a time when they would normally be 12 to 16. We are not complaining, but it does mean that we will be more likely to have fires in Summer and more water restrictions.

However, the gardens are looking lovely and making me miss my old garden (I now live in a villa complex with a paved courtyard) but I bought yet another plant in a pot to-day, so that's my 'fix' for this week!

Hope you are all enjoying your life/retirement. I slept late this morning - but what the heck! that's one of the advantages of being retired, isn't it?

well its the first of september and a lovely morning here in cumbria. Five months tonight since my stroke and I am glad I'm making a good recovery and can just enjoy although with a few frustrations this lovely day

Glad you are making a good recovery after your stroke Blackrose.
My sister-in-law had a stroke in April and after 6 weeks in a rehabilitation centre she too has made remarkable progress. I trust you will improve a little more each day.

Good wishes.


Val in SA..

Afternoon, Bridget and everyone,
Another lovely day on the Costa Blanca. Walked down into the village this morning to take some 'stuff'' to the charity shop and to see if they had any books I haven't read, luckily they had one or two and are doing a special offer 3 paperbacks for 1euro.
This is purely coincidence but we are watching 'Family at War' at the moment, our neighbours have kindly lent us the dvds. Don't know if you remember the series but it came out in about 1970 which was the 25th anniversary of the end of WW2. We can't actually remember it the first time round but that could be because we were newly married!!!!
Enjoy the day
Frances

Sorry for being so late everyone.
Son in Barcelona caklled again yesterday, he is now in hospital having had an opereation on his torn tendon and is in plaster. Now this son is really not the most patient of people and is talking about 2nd opinions etc. Ssorry to say I cut him short and old hime that at almost 38 yrs old he should have learnt to listen more!! Not quite what he was expecting. I do understand his position as he lives in one of the very old appartmesnt in Barcelona on the 6th floor and no lift so he can't go back there! He split up from his ;ong term partner about 18mths ago, and would you beleive it , it was her he called for help and because she is absolutley still in love with him, off she went and organised everything. Then she called me ti say she couldn't manage to have him at their old residence as there are no lifts there either. Anyway he has to stay in hospital for while and I have suggested that he comes to stay with us.
He has had a vey difficult year as far as business goes and h and his business partner are VERY worried about the future..they have two shops wiithch sell very avent gard clothes, they are still selling but not at the same volume and all the service charges have almost doubled. For the last few months they have taken very little earnings for them selves.

So I am not quiet my usual self so will have to ask you all to say a little prayer for us today and also to give me some help in keeping this and the Culinary thread going for a few days.

Black Rose, Well done, just keep exercising and moving around as much as you can safely do, it is so pleaseing to hear that you are making progress.


Off to phone hospital now
so bye everyone

Bridget

Bridget, family must come first, sorry to hear about son's problems. Come back to the thread and the culinary thread when you have time. Will be thinking of you and your son.

Ann xx

Hello Bridget,

Sorry to hear about your son, will be remembering you all in prayer.

it's a very windy day again to-day, from a distance the sea looks almost navy-blue and is very choppy.

For lunch to-day I will be making curried eggs, one of my daughter's favourites. Although she doesn't live with us her workshop is here so she has lunch with us most days.

I see there are a few more buds on my pansies and the lobelias are also starting to flower , they are so lovely when they are flowering and hang over the side of the pot..




Val in SA.