General Chat

Keith

delighted to hear that you have access to your grandson and it sounds as if you are having a great time. Sadly we do not have any contact with 3 of our grandchildren as the mother has changed the telephone number and returns all correspondence. OH whose son is the husband, and father of the children, has now decided to srep to one side and wait to see what happens.
Son now has only limited access according to wifes' mood. He did not take the advice we gave which was to seek legal advice asap and is now suffering some 10 months on and has finally accepted that he must do this!!!!


Enjoy every moment

Also remember that it is people like you who helps to make this thread successfull

Bye for now

Bridget

Hello to you all,

It's another blustery day here although quite warm.

Nice to hear that you are having fun with your grandson Keith.
I think it is sad when grandparents have no contact with their grandchildren.
That said, I don't have any grandchildren as my only child - a daughter - has decided that marriage and children are not for her. I have, however, been fortunate enough to have my brother's grandchildren around and they have been like my own.

Talking of books, Bridget, my daughter is an avid reader and collector of books, and still has a couple of her children's books including her first Prayer Book which was so well-used. We started taking her to the library with us when she was still a baby and she started choosing her own books from the children's library when she was about 2 years old.
Sorry don't mean to bore you.

The Ginger Biscuits are really very nice allthough I too shouldn't eat too many of them - but oh dear.......... I have given up on losing weight.

I think we are all feeling the effect of increasing prices, over here it seems as though everytime I go shopping I get less for more money! I truly don't know how people receiving a state pension here survive.

Bridget, South Africa is a beautiful country, it is just a pity about the high crime rate which no-one seems to be able to do anything about.

Once again it is time to be thinking of lunch - seems I am always thinkin of food!!

Have a lovely day.



Val in SA.

Morning Bridget and all,
The rain has gone and the air is fresher. We still have some cloud, quite a lot in fact so it may rain again. We have been clearing out underneath the house this morning, we don't have an attic or a loft but the underneath of the house, more like a crawl space is where we keep all our 'things that might come in useful'.....a lot have gone in the rubbish.
You are so lucky,Bridget to have the space to keep all those books and CDs, we would have to live in the shed if we had kept all our books!!
Must try the Aubergine dish as there are so many about at the moment.
As you say prices in Spain are going up....you would think the supermarkets would catch on to the fact that people have less money therefore they are more careful about where and how they spend it, and introduce a few offers, doesn't seem to work like that here.
Near us a landlord has doubled the rent he charges for a row of 6 shops, two of those shops have now ceased trading as they cannot afford the rise and another one is considering his position...what sense is there in putting up rents at this time. Still musn't spoil the day by moaning. Enjoy the rest of Sunday.
Frances.

Good morning everyone, It really is a good morning for around 01.00hrs it started to rain, I do not mean light rain or showers but REALLY RAINING!!! What a relief, the iar changed immediatley, we could breath easily again, infact I stood outside in the rain just to feel it and breat the cooler air.
It continued to rain all nigh, it stopped about 10 minutes ago, but has started again now,,,,

The plants in the garden are looking better already, no amount of watering plus water system does as much for plants as real rain,> Of course there is a downside as it is festival week but as prayers have been answered I guess everything will continue...

I therefore have not sat in the garden this morning, witha cup of coffee, Jet and Joe either sitting beside me or running around, rather I have been looking out of the windoe=w wondering if everyone will think I mad for enjoying the rain!

I have almost finished filing all the info on my family, but am becoming increasingky worried by some very old documents such as the origanal birth and marrige certs for my Ford family looking so old and some have been folded for most of their life and are now falling apart. I do feelpriveledged to have them and to be able to see the original handwriting some of which would put mine to shame. I also have quite a few of my grandfathers army records and need to know how to preserve them as well...

Now the word preserve has just reminded me that I promised to add a few recipes to the Culinary Delights thread so must do that this morning.


PLEASE if anyone knows how I should keep them or of any specialist who may be able to preserve them I would be most graetful.


OOPS, electricity went off. Another quirk when living in my part of Spain, without warning the electricity goes off, usually only for a few minutes as just now, but it has been known to be off for hours !

Whilst the elec was off I took time to think and contemplate so did not come straight back on here.

Keith I think of you and the the meetings you go to, I am sure that you must be an inspiration to others and also of course, or at least I hoe, for you to express you feelings in a safe way.

Well going to put those recipes on now so will sign off but will be back to check who else has been awake and available to write on here


Byee.....


Bridget

Dear Bridget and everybody,
I think you need to store your documents in an acid free environment. I have found a site you may want to look at.....I haven't had anything to do with these people I just saw their ad in Family Tree Magazine...www.cab-search.co.uk.
Today the weather is cool, cloudy and with the threat of rain though the sky towards the coast is lighter. Pleased that you got your rain, Bridget, everywhere feels so much cleaner doesn't it?
Very sad to-day as Terry Wogan has announced he will be leaving the breakfast show at the end of the year...boo-hoo.
Ah well enjoy the day
Frances.

Hello all,

Glad you have rain at last Bridget. I know what it's like waiting for rain which never comes. There is nothing like rain for the garden one can almost see the grass grow when it rains after a long dry spell!!!

The weather to-day is lovely and the days are getting longer now.

The electricity going off sounds like home! It happens here frequently.
In fact our electricity supplier is always asking us to use electricity sparingly because the demand exceeds the supply, and we keep having outages. Oh well that's life.

Take care.


Val in SA.

A few days ago I said that I would make an entry re the festivities in Peniscola.

So here we are.

Patron Saint's Festival in Honour or The Mare de Deu DeL'Ermitana.

As I mentioned previously near the Castle Papa Luna, is the church of the Virgen de la Ermitana, where the Moors and Christians dances will be performed every evening in September in commemoration of the fighting between them in hundreds aof years ago. It all starts at he church which has an image of the virgin Mary which is claimed to have belonged to the Apostle St James.

Having been declared as a National Tourist Interst the festival starts on the 7th of September and lasts up to the last Sunday of the month.

On the last Saturday in September the dance representing the battle takes place, the costumes are amazing and they are always embelished with gold and silver, in magnificent colours and they cannot be the same as those worn on the previous year, so as the festival draws to a close so the families start to design and make the costumes for the following year.

Between now and the last Saturday there will be bull runs, concerts, both in the new concert hall and in the open, traditional songs will be sung in the bars and restaurants. Farmers dances take place , gypsy dancing, childrends dancing. etc and these go on at various times, not always as advertised, street stalls, fire works etc all leading up to the last day which I think is on Sunday week.
This will be through the streets, all the seating has already been booked, we shall be there!! It is a time of fun,laughter, good food and wine with friends both old and new and all ending with yet another amazing firewairk display.
All the local schools will be represented with every type of band imaginable, but not Rock etc!
In this area all children who go to school learn how to play a musical instument and they seem to enjoy doing so.

The last parade takes about 3 hours. My favourite time is when the Moors arrive on their horses, the men are so proud and thoroughly enjoy all the magnificent cantering etc. they also enjoy having there photo taken!

As it draws to a close around midnight the newly crowned Queen arrives with her maids and the dresses again are fantastic. So importnat is this role that girls can put it in their CV.

I expect we will hear music most evenings now until the end of the month and also more fireworjk displays, but they are no longer allowed to have the music after midnight, thank goodness because it used to be until 4 or 5 in the morning!!!

Our two dogs, Jet and Joe will go inland to kennels for the night because they HATE fireworks and we will not be there to look after them because we shall be joining in all the fun.


Bye for now


bridget

I am Late today and see that everyone else seems to be the same.
Today the sun is shining and at the moment no sign of anymore rain, but everywhere looks cleaner and the air is fresh. The temp now around 25c so very comfortable.The sky is pale blue with quite a lot of cloud and all around us is very quiet and peaceful. However I think that is because the firework were going off last night until around 00.30 this morning and the bands were playing for about another 45 mins. Living up the mountain meean we can hear it very clearly...it doesn't happen too often though.

OH is out helping a friend with his garden, friend has very arthritic knees so needs the help and i guess that they will call in for a beer on the way home!!

Must do some real house work today not just skimming over the top!!!

Had good news yesterday from my daughter who had a brief traumatic marriage with far reached consequences....that having stayed at home with her children to give them all the support they needed she has after nearly 9 years decided that she can go back to work.
We as a family have supported her through this period so she did not rely on the State.
Well she returns to work next week and she is so excited. It is about 200 metres from the school her daughter goes to and her son can walk home from school with some friends. The mother of one will look after him for about an hour each day. For my daughter this is equivalent to landing on the moon!!

So for anyone out there with very difficult situations, or for those who feel that a situation will never change, please do not lose hope....life can improve, we have to be patient.

Not much else to say at the moment as I feel rather emotional about this BUT I will still have my contemplation and quiet minutes with my coffee.

Bye for now

Good afternoon Bridget,
What wonderful news about your daughter, you and she must be over the moon.
I expect there will be quite a few late mornings for you now that the fiesta is up and running! You are so lucky that the music stops at midnight, round here it goes on until at least 4 00am. and most of it is awful. Luckily this year we were away when the main fiesta was taking place, we have another smaller one at the end of August but the music there was really quite acceptable.
We went to see the Moors and Christians parade in Calpe on a couple of occasions, fabulous, there is also a museum where you can see the costumes. The one thing I miss is the cigar smoking, all the men used to smoke, or pretend to, big fat cigars but that seems to have gone by the board now.
Enjoy the rest of the day
Frances

Bridget, wonderful news about your daughter, I am so pleased for her, and for you. What lovely parents to have supported her all this time, you have my admiration.

Ann
Glos

Good afternoon all,

Really good news about your daughter Bridget, am very happy for you both. Hope your son is also doing well.

I am really late to-day, a friend called round this morning and then took us out for lunch said it would do Jimmy good, but he was absolutely exhausted when we got back and just fell onto the bed! We had a lovely lunch and a glass of wine.

To-day the sea looks cruel, dark and very choppy because of the wind which is blowing again to-day.

Your festivals sound very interesting I must say.

That's all for now.



Val in SA.

frances

i know what yo mean about the music!!! LOL It used to drive us mad! The music would go on until aroiun 3am and then at 3.30am the disco used to come alive and the Singing, OH MY GOODNESS THE SINGING, we used to sit on the balcony and simply gave up trying to sleep until around 06.00hrs BUT this year that has changed. Local government has decided that after midnight loud music etc must not continue, I think there must have been a lot of complaints, so fare this new legislation has been adhered too, however next Saturday will be the testing time.
Mixed views about the cigars......always looked good but health???????

Val in SA

Pleased to hear that you enjoyed your day and the lunch out. Can understand about yoiur OH being exhausted but I am sure that he also enjoyed going out, maybe just having a coffe or tea out would be better for him next time. It takes quite a while to recover as I am sure you know.

The sun has returned and the weather is pleasantly warm, haven't checked the thermomitor since this morning but would take a guess at around 30c. slight breeze, Blue sea, blue and grey sky and a very slight wind.

Hope we Keith on here soon I wonder if he has settled after his location move and if he has started training staff yet.

Take care everyone. bye until tomorrow


bridget

PS son in Barcelona coping well, son in Wales has decided to train as a Financial Adviser, already has one first class degree, ! in fact the three boys all gost first, must have their fathers brain genes! and been working in retail for some years, still doing this so will be studying in spare time . He can be very focused. Twin to this son still doing well in the army which he loves, looks very smart in his officers uniform, daughter I have mentioned earlier, both stepsons still ok so all is well in my world tofday but there is always tomorrow....

Bridget, I think Keiths Job is a "Party Organiser " for Ann Summers.**M**>:o)))>.pmsl.

morning all
just a little update
When back to support group meetiing and got good news
They said the scan looks ok and i can now fly again

pmsl Merlin

Hello - just popping in to say I don't post on here much but I do come in and read the posts.

Good to hear about your daughter. I'm sure she will enjoy the change of lifestyle and independence, not to mention the new friends she will make. I wish her all the very best.

KingKeith and Berona,

You both beat me to the thred this morning.
keith delighted to hear the goodnews but not as delighted as you! Please come back and let us all know how the transfer is/has gone and are you enjoying the new role?

berona, well it is nice to know that you pop in and read some of the entries, but how about joing us with some daily thoughts, fun, concerns etc. Meanwhile thank you for your kind message

Top Everyone. We went outlast night for our fortnightly Indian meal. Now generally speaking Indian food is really not good here and we do miss it. BUT the local tiny English Bar has a good size terrace and some Indian folk who live about 45 mins away and have a resataurant come once a month andcook real Indian food for anyone who wishes to partake and the cost is reasonable.. SO we do have to book ahaed. We always go if possible otherwise who knows, they may decide that it isn't viable. When they went on holiday I even bought some for the freezer, which those of you who know from the Culinary thread will know I do not do often.


Keith I shall very positive thoughts for you today when I sit and contemplate, I also have a lot to be pleased about this week despite the son who split his tendon and is now in Plaster,

Does anyone have good days without really knowing why and then feel down in the dumbs when everything seems to be OK..??

The weather here today is warming up fast, and I think it is going to be evry hot again. The sea is definetly a good blue , there are a few clouds in the sky soo.....

We are going to have apasta dish tonight I just have to think exactly what, OH defrosted some minced Beef by accident, he forgot to put it back in the freezer when taking out some Ice Cream yesterday.

Val in Sa, your description" the sea looks cruel, dark and very choopy" gave me an instant picture of what you were talking about. Thanks.

Not sure what to do today, not for the lack of things to do but rather a lethargy of not wanting to do anything except maybe read a book, sit in the garden, write a few letters, oh the choices we have to make???

Well time to wonder around the gardens and have my special time, I must remember to include those who are feeling better, had good news etc not just those of us in need.

Well take care, I shall pop back later today to see if anyone else has had the time or inclination to write on here today

Bye

bridget

A very good morning to you all,

We had some rain during the night which was really nice and I had hoped it would continue to-day but alas no such luck. Although still cloudy, the sun keeps peeping through.

Glad to hear you had good news Keith.

I sorted through a lot of my papers yesterday afternoon after I returned from lunch, so now at least everything is in files. The sad thing for me is that no one else in my family is interested in my research. I am waiting for a death certificate which I ordered in the hopes there will be some useful information on it re the person I think is my ggggrandmother.

I am off to have a cup of tea.

Have a good day everyone.



Val in SA.

Vali n SA

I will send you a PM. But I kinow exactly what you mean. My OH tells me I am talking to dead people!!!! I ignore him, because it isn't worth the hastle, other than that we get on well!!

bridget

Good afternoon Bridget and everyone,
Late today as OH has been using the computer, trying to land a helicopter in one piece, unsuccessful so has given up.
Lovely weather again, a few clouds and a slight breeze, perfect in fact!
I know what you mean Bridget, about an unexplained feeling of being down in the dumps when things are going fine....do you think it is an age thing or have we just got too much time in which to think?
My husband does tend to show an interest when I find something out of the ordinary, by ordinary I mean dates of birth etc., like his grandfather's WW1 service record but other than that he is not interested. Hey HO!
Enjoy the day
Frances