Well, it wasn't any less hectic...

We are finally getting towards the end of the preparations for the programme for the Lions Charity Fun Day in June. It is just as well because it currently contains 80 pages! Any more and we would have to publish in serial form. It was a push to get everything in on time, and in fact we didn't. Fortunately, we had anticipated that nobody would believe that a deadline was actually just that, so we kept ourselves a few days in hand that we didn't tell anybody else about.
We've been so busy that I actually forgot Paul and Glyn's first wedding anniversary on Sunday! They were both very sweet about it, but I couldn't believe I had done it! It only seems like it happened yesterday - perhaps that is why I forgot that it was actually a year ago!
As far as the programme is concerned, all I have to do now is translate the mock-up layout on to my Publisher file on the computer, adjust sizes as necessary, make sure that the pages run in the order that the printer needs and fill any unsightly gaps with logos, mottoes, clip-art or anything else that seems appropriate.
But first, we are off to England for the weekend - providing that the volcanic ash keeps over to the west as seems likely at the moment. We have a rather busy schedule for Saturday - seeing family and friends in Clacton and then going to a show at the West Cliff theatre in the evening - and then on Sunday we are taking Peter's mother out for a second birthday dinner as we couldn't get over for the first, thanks to that volcano. At least, that is the plan... However, she is in hospital at the moment with an infected leg and they can't tell us when they will be sending her home. The hospital isn't open to visitors at present either because they have a vomiting bug going round. Do you think someone is trying to tell us something?
I'll update you when we get back on Monday, but after that I shall have to put a wet towel over my head and get on with my computer work!
Have a good weekend...

A new week dawns...

...and it might even be a bit less hectic than the last one, although I wouldn't like to bet on that.
Judi and Tom were finally repatriated yesterday morning. We took them to Xeraco to catch the little train up to Valencia from where they retraced their steps on the Euromed to Barcelona. At least there were no unscheduled and unexplained stops in the orange groves of Castellon. I understand that the hotel in Barcelona to which their airline had directed them was in the middle of an industrial estate and the restaurant was closed! No wonder it was cheap! At least it was very close to the airport for their early flight. They arrived back in Heathrow more or less on time which must have been a relief and met Tom's anxious mother at Heston Services - after a fairly swift de-briefing she took him back to Lichfield where I understand he was summarily despatched for a shower to make up for the deficiencies of twelve days without proper maternal supervision!
She rang me later to say how grateful they all were that we had been near enough to help, and I said it had been a pleasure - we had enjoyed Tom's company and he had certainly seemed to enjoy the adventure...and the few Cokes he had had over the week.
They both helped out with some of our Lions tasks while they were here - Tom helped Peter with preparing a sign for the car park at the quiz on Thursday while Judi and I went shopping, and then she later helped me to prepare the Interval Round for the same occasion. The quiz went well - everybody seemed to enjoy themselves even though the venue was a little crowded, and we made just over a hundred euros for the funds. It wasn't really a fund-raising occasion anyway - more an opportunity to raise the profile of the Jalon and Orba Lions in the valley. Our Press Officer took some photos of the winning teams for publication in the local press, so we shall get a bit more publicity for the cause.
There were a couple of warm sunny days in the week and both Judi and Tom went for a swim on Thursday afternoon - that's good! The pool has now been christened for 2010. Judi actually caught the sun a bit across the back of her neck so she has made a start on her tan for the year.
Saturday morning Peter and I did a bit of shopping and then went back to the Quiz venue at the Piscina Bar in Rafol de Almunia to settle up. Frances was very pleasant and helpful and actually waived some of the bill as their contribution to the effort. The three-course meal that they provided along with a bottle of wine, water and coffee was very good and amazingly good value at 8€ per person. She also showed us round some of the other rooms in the building and we might well be able to hold some of our meetings there - the advantage of that is that the local Mayor has said there will be no charge to the Lions for any of the functions or meetings that we hold in any of the buildings owned by the Town Hall! What a helpful man!
Peter actually went out for a ride on his motorbike with the local group this morning - it is four weeks since he damaged his ankles and yesterday was his first ride on the bike since then. The joints are very much improved but he now has to build up the strength in the ligaments and muscles.
We lunched at Café Rosa before returning to get on with some more of the preparation for the programme for the Fun Day in June. The deadline for sending in advertisements is the end of this coming week and we shall then have about ten days to get everything laid out and then set up on the computer before sending it to the printers. I'm looking forward to the day AFTER that!
I investigated the blog site this morning and found out how to have new entries sent out to readers automatically - unfortunately, the number of people I can include for this is quite restricted so the rest of you will still be getting my email! If you prefer, you can click on the button for 'follower' and you get the option to sign on, anonymously if you wish, and receive new entries from the site as I post them. You will need a Google account or something similar, but they are free and not too complicated. I'd be interested to hear how you feel about this.
Back soon!

Living in interesting times

So we set off on Saturday morning to Valencia to meet Judi and Tom. Peter had decided he wasn't happy about the idea of swooping in to the station forecourt to pick them up as we didn't have any idea of where to park, and he wouldn't be able to leave the car if it wasn't in a proper parking space. So we thought we would get the little train from Xeraco to Valencia Nord. I drove up to Xeraco and we got there in plenty of time, and bought our tickets with our pensioner Gold Cards! €8.50 for two return tickets for a 45-minute journey!
As we were trundling along I got a text from Judi saying that their train had come to a complete halt and all the announcements were in Spanish. I promised to try and find out when we got to the station in Valencia. Unfortunately, when I did manage to find the Information desk they were all out of it - information, that is! Nobody had a clue what was the matter with the train from Barcelona, although they did know that it had stopped. One of the clerks grudgingly went off to see if he could find out anything, and came back several minutes later with a long and complicated story in Spanish which he refused to slow down or repeat. In the end, he said that the train had stopped and that was it - the passengers would need to make their own arrangements! I pointed out that my sister and her young grandson were on board and didn't speak any Spanish. He replied, with a shrug, 'Si...es problema.'
Peter and I decided to go and get a coffee and something to eat while we tried to work out what to do next. After a mouthful of coffee I rang Judi to confirm that there was no information at all on the boards at the station. She said that they had in fact moved on to the nearest station after a delay of about an hour, during much of which their carriage had been surrounded by ambulancemen, police and firemen. She had had a brief interchange with a fellow passenger, but the only word she had understood was 'suicida'...
Eventually, when they were about an hour overdue, a message appeared on the arrivals board saying that they were due in by 2.20pm. And indeed, at precisely 2.20pm the Euromed rolled into Platform 2.
As Judi remarked, 'What else can they have in store for us?'
We had an uneventful trip home and consoled ourselves with a traditional 'nice cup of tea'.
On Sunday morning Judi got a message that her BA flight for Monday was cancelled and they were eventually re-booked for Saturday - Tom's Mum was not too happy at that news!
A neighbour of ours had his grandchildren out here and they had arranged to get the bus to Santander (8-hour trip) and then cross to Plymouth on the Brittany Ferry. After discussion Judi decided that they would go along with the travellers if there were still places available on the ferry. But there weren't any left. So back to plan A - keep enjoying the rest here until Friday and then return to Barcelona to get the plane on Saturday.
We had a nice quiet Sunday, including dinner at Cafe Rosa, and I lent Tom my iTouch to Bejewelled 2 - he promptly racked up a score of about 145,000! The rest of the people on my team will be amazed! 94,000 is the very highest I have ever achieved. And meanwhile Judi was achieving 375,000! I think I need to give this up - it is not good for my ego to be consistently put down like this.
And now it is Monday, and all the chat is going on about sending Navy boats to the French coast, and more recently about re-opening airports because maybe the ash isn't dangerous after all! Judi has rung her booking people and they say that their advice is still that they cannot book anything for sooner than seven days. They have put her on a call-back list and someone will ring to discuss the latest situation later today. She thinks it will probably be Saturday before anything else gets sorted out anyway!
We went down to the market this morning and Judi bought some shorts for Tom so he can enjoy the sun which has returned today. He was exploring the edge of the pool this afternoon, lost his footing and sat down unceremoniously in some rather cold water. Judi laughed to see the look on his face!
I was talking to Paul yesterday evening and he reminded me that his Dad (my first husband)and Lynn (his third wife) were on holiday in Antigua when all this started - and are therefore still there. As they are in a luxury all-inclusive resort they should be managing pretty well! And my brother's partner is still stuck in Cairo...
Do you think life is ever going to return to anything we would have regarded as normal? Or do we all just have to get used to some new norms?
More news before long.

Unexpected visitors...

Early this morning I rang my sister who was stranded in Barcelona with her grandson and asked her what she had been able to arrange. The answer was nothing at all at that stage. Later in the day she managed to contact the airline and to re-book flights but the earliest possible were on Monday evening! Although she and Tom have been thoroughly enjoying exploring Barcelona, there is a limit to the time you want to spend pounding the pavements, so we invited them to come and spend the weekend with us. She went round to the Estacion del Norte and booked seats on a fast train arriving in Valencia (where we shall pick them up) at 1pm, and the return trip on Monday leaving at 2pm to get back to the airport in Barcelona for an evening flight. She will of course be checking the web sites to make sure something is actually flying before making the trip back north.
Tom is delighted - he will get a trip on a fast train, and a look at the house where his beloved Granny spends quite a bit of her time, and he is also getting a good extension to his holiday. He is one of the few who is actively enthusiastic about that volcano and its activities!
I spoke to my daughter, who is not so pleased that we won't be in Clacton tomorrow afternoon but philosophical about waiting for three weeks - she is going to go to the theatre and organise tickets for us for the Saturday evening so we can watch the show. I am looking forward to that - I used to work on the Front of House staff there before we moved, the show is about the history of the theatre and Emily and Victoria are in it! No wonder I am looking forward to it...
I texted Paul and Glyn as well and they were very sympathetic about Peter's disappointment in missing such an important event in his mother's life. He is indeed upset about it, but he has written a mini speech which he has sent to his older son who will deliver it on his behalf after the guests have eaten. And I understand that the other son has organised for lots of photos to be taken, so we shall at least be able to see it all secondhand.
We have also used our day to good effect, progressing the work on the adverts for the Lions' programme, printing out some of the paperwork for the quiz next Thursday and setting up the Tom-Tom for our Valencia trip tomorrow.
Since I was not supposed to be cooking today we decided to go and have fish and chips at Café Rosa and the meal was as tasty as ever. Helen even had some chocolate ice-cream so I had a spoonful of that in my cherry pavlova! Yes, I know it is disgustingly sybaritic, but sometimes these things are just necessary.
And now it is midnight and time for bed - it'll be another long day tomorrow.
(What a daft thing to say - it will be 24 hours long, just like all the others!)
Sleep well...

...and God disposes

So now it is official. Flight 8222 is cancelled and Mother will be celebrating her birthday without her firstborn at her side. Peter is very disappointed that he will not be there at such a unique gathering of the clans, and only slightly consoled by the fact that we have re-booked for the weekend of 7 to 10 May.
We shall do all the things that we had planned for this weekend - with the addition of being able to see my granddaughters performing in a dance show at the Westcliff Theatre - and I am sure that Mother will be pleased to see Peter then. It's just that it won't be the same.
A salutary reminder for all of us that we are not absolutely in charge of our destinies!

Man proposes...

Here we are, all organised and ready to fly off to the UK to visit family and help to celebrate Peter's mother's 100th birthday - and what happens? A volcano in Iceland erupts and all the air space through most of northern Europe is suddenly closed! You wouldn't credit it, would you?
What amazes me is how many of our family and friends were supposed to be flying today and tomorrow - us, my sister and her grandson, my brother's partner, Bill's carers...
At the moment the Easyjet site is showing all flights cancelled up to midday tomorrow and ours is scheduled for about 3pm. We are quite reconciled to finding it cancelled in the morning and we shall then try and re-schedule everything - flights, car parking, cattery and Bill's carers - for about three weeks time.
Ah well...

Still can't see the wood for the trees...

Life still seems very hectic! Peter's ankles are improving, but he is still not driving or climbing stairs so I am still the duty driver. I'm not unhappy about that because I am getting lots of practice!
Clio has had another tummy upset, so the vet has been out and we are currently feeding her fresh turkey and ham! I think Peter is feeling that she is eating better than him. I am just hoping that she will be over it by the time she goes into the cattery on Friday - fortunately, Esperanza, our beautiful Spanish vet, knows the owners and says there will not be any problem. She apparently now qualifies as a 'senior' cat, being over six years, so we need to pay more attention to her diet. (Her and me both!)
The gathering of information for the Lions' programme for the June Fiesta is proceeding slowly - there is a committee meeting on Thursday which I am going to (it is up three flights of stairs) and I am taking the opportunity to talk to the office experts about the preparation of the files for printing. I shall feel better when I have a handle on that!
We have nearly completed the quiz for next Monday which takes place about four hours after we arrive back in Spain - we are leaving the folder at the cafe in case we are delayed. We have also made good progress on the Lions' Quiz for next week, but still have to visit on Wednesday this week to give her the food orders and arrange a voucher for a meal for four as first prize.
So, you can see that life has not been dull... I am quite glad that the weather hasn't been too good because I wouldn't have had time to enjoy it! And on Friday we are off to England to celebrate Peter's mother's 100th birthday...that will be some occasion. I will tell you all about it next time.
Take care of yourselves.

Peter's ankles, and other impediments to a quiet life

Just in case you didn't know, Peter lost his footing on the rustic garden stairs the Saturday before last, and sprained both his ankles. No, I'm not quite sure how he did it, either. Fortunately, Alison, who was staying with us had some arnica pillules with her and dosed him immediately, together with Rescue Remedy, and he stuck his feet in a bucket of iced water. All of this and the continuing treatment with arnica, massage and rest seems to have controlled the swelling to a pretty good extent, but they are still very painful and he moves about very slowly and carefully with a stick.
One immediate result was that I got back to some proper driving because Alison was flying home from Alicante on the Monday. I did consider a few alternatives, but in the end the only sensible thing was for me to drive. I told myself that driving the 90 or so kilometres to the airport and back was no different than driving a return trip into Denia ten times and I knew I could do that.
And everything went fine, of course. So, on Tuesday I went shopping in Ondara in the morning and then to the Camera Club in Oliva in the afternoon, on Wednesday I went to my Spanish class, on Thursday we went and got some fuel...and so on. And tonight I drove us to the quiz in Beniarbeig and came back in the dark! That was the first for a long time.
We have also been very busy getting the information and artwork together for the programme we are producing for the Lions Fun Day in Denia in June. Bob and Liz who are on the same committee came round for a meeting this afternoon and left us with a lot more details to sort out!
And the Lions Quiz on 22nd April is fast approaching. We need to confirm the details with the teams, check with the caterer, organise the prizes...oh, and write the quiz questions!
Whatever happened to the retirement dream of sitting in the sun with a good book?
Whatever you are doing, enjoy it!

Welcome...

Having had some trouble with publishing my own web site I thought I would try one of these modern 'blogs'. I believe it also has the advantage that anyone reading it can send me a reply...that sounds good! Instant feedback!
I'm going to press the button now and see what happens. Watch this space!
Oh, and a very Happy Easter to you all.