Ramblings in Retirement
May 2006

Again, we have had a busy month, we have to set off for the UK on the 22nd of May as Penny is expected at Leeds General Infirmary for an Angioplasty procedure on the 26th. This meant we had to ensure the garden was in order (May is one of the fastest growing months for plants, and WEEDS), so we carried out a load of weeding and also checked over the automatic watering system so our plants won’t die whilst we are away. I also managed to rig up a temporary system to give water to our pot plants by grouping them all together and adding a drip feed. With any luck, all will be thriving on our return.

We went to a nearby restaurant early in the month as it was advertising a cinema presentation in English. It was a great night and something of a diversion. Penny was impressed with the surround sound and how it added to the atmosphere of the evening. The Home Cinema systems which seem to be on sale everywhere, are easy to fit particularly in the UK where you have carpets and skirting boards that allow for the wiring to be hidden. In Spain, we have tiled floors and it is virtually impossible to hide them. Nevertheless, we decided to buy a system (which incorporated a combined DVD and Video). Hiding the wiring has been a challenge but, I’m happy to say that this has been accomplished (more or less) and the results are really good, adding to our enjoyment of watching our movies at home. (this was cleverly timed, normally around now we cease watching TV as the nights get longer and warmer, we'll never learn still young and impetus)!

The pool light has been repaired, the mosaic tiles cleaned of calcium deposit and re-grouted where necessary, and over a three day period, the pool was refilled. I also took the opportunity to change the sand in the filter to ensure crystal clear water. (it takes 6 x ½ cwt bags to fill the filter and of course 6 x ½ cwt bags need to be removed and disposed of). I found a company who will install “Roman Steps” which will allow us to walk down into the pool rather than use the step ladder but they won’t do the work till the end of the season. Penny would love “Roman Steps” whilst I just plunge in. (when the temperature gets to 26 degrees)!!!!





My birthday this year, fell as normal, on the 20th of the month, and I reached the ripe old age of “late fifties”! It occurred to me that when I was 10 years old I desperately wanted to be a “teenager”, when I was in my 20s, I wanted to get on to my 30s as this was the age of driving my career and being taken serious. The period between 40 and 70 years of age signals the end of life, career and enjoyment (only to find out later that this is nonsense). I can’t wait till my late 70’s and 80’s as this is when people get to brag about their age and await admiring comments as to how young one looks!

Our return to the UK started the day before our wedding anniversary and we travelled to Tortosa in the north of Spain for a nice lunch with our friends, Paul and Annette who live there. It was lovely, sitting at a roadside restaurant, on the harbour of a small fishing town (L’Ampolla), swapping stories of our lives in Spain. Later, that afternoon, we drove up and into France stopping overnight in Beziers. The following day (our 26th Anniversary) we drove through the middle of France over the Millau Bridge to a small town, south of Orleans where I had booked an overnight stop at a lovely chateau called, Chateau de la Vererrie. Through using the Internet, I was able to view all the rooms at the chateau and choose the one which I believed Penny would enjoy and find most “memorable”. We were almost alone as guests, just two other couples of oriental origin.
We had the run of the entire chateau and one of the treats was to rummage in the library where they had photo albums of the owning family from Victorian times to the late fifties. The Chateau had booked us a table at a restaurant in the nearby town of Aubigny sur Nere and we enjoyed a delicious meal and local Sancerre wine to celebrate our anniversary.







Penny’s Angioplasty Procedure

Penny underwent her treatment as planned on the Friday morning and all seemed to go well. After a while they remove the sheath (I think this is the device they use to channel wires and things up through the artery), apparently, it is essential to apply significant pressure to the point of connection to the femal artery but, as this was applied, Penny felt some significant pain, so they administered a shot of morphine. Well! This zonked her out, then she had a significant drop in blood pressure as they removed the sheath and poor old Penny looked decidedly ill. Over the next couple of hours, she gradually came round, had a little water then managed to vomit all over the bed, a little later she managed to get most of it over me, so I went home for a bath!


The following morning, suitably spruced, I was able to collect Penny from the hospital and deposit her in bed, back in Gildersome. By Sunday things were getting back to normal and I booked a return to Spain via Portsmouth-Bilbao ferry for the first week in June.






To show her appreciation for my attentive care during her ordeal, Penny treated me to some "retail therapy" (she wanted some summer clothes)! Once we had thoroughly searched out the department store and it’s designer franchises, we walked through the mall and searched through all the self same designer shops only to return to the department store and double (TRIPLE) check. THEN , not to buy anything at all!!! Mars and Venus spring to mind!!

Hope you enjoy and please leave a comment for feedback.

Ramblings in Retirement
April 2006

Spring is in the air and time is passing so quickly. I don’t know if it is because I was so late in posting the last month’s Ramblings, or some other reason, but it seems like yesterday when I wrote last.

We did not leave the UK until mid April so I have little to report apart from having a nice excursion to Scotland to see my aunt, cousin, sister, niece and various other relatives. Penny and I were fortunate to visit Scotland on one of the few days in the year when the sun shone and as a result we were able to marvel at the glorious countryside. (Sorry, Scottish relatives, but it is wet up there)! On our journey, we had an overnight stay at a small castle/hotel called Auchen Castle, near Beatock. The accommodation was very good indeed (and we were lucky to be upgraded to their best suite), the castle grounds were very well maintained and the overall ambience was good however, unfortunately, the restaurant was not good at all. The menu, although limited, sounded good but the quality of the food was poor, despite elaborate decoration. The hotel specialised in Weddings and functions and did not seem able (or willing) to cope with passing trade. I did complain about the food remarking that it seemed to be reheated rather than freshly cooked, the response was that all their food is fresh, to which I commented, “ might have been fresh when you got it but certainly wasn’t when we did”. I further suggested they change the supplier or better still, change the chef. It is a shame that such a nice place leaves a bad taste in the mouth. (No pun intended it just came out that way).

We arrived back in Spain on the 16^th and quickly warmed to our change in climate!! (I’ve done it again). The lack of rain had taken its toll on the potted plants but thanks to the irrigation system, everything in the garden was rosy (not again, I feel this is going to be one of these issues).

The new rose-bed,
(Put in place in February) not only has established itself but also provided a wonderful show of roses.











In fact the entire garden is a riot of colour and, whilst these pictures do not do justice, I want to take you on a tour around some of the areas. Firstly, from our kitchen door we are greeted with a nice display of geraniums. (The stand was courtesy of Julio’s casa in Malaga)

Looking up to the top level there is a virtual cascading wall of small densely packed, pink flowers, which this year is an absolute delight. As you approach you can hear and see the buzz of thousands of honeybees.

To the right of this, we have a trailing cactus (I don’t know it’s name but it is quite common) Again, this has an abundance of showy “Aster” like flowers

The front garden specialises in feature plants rather than flowers but there is a mixed bed of perlagoniums and geraniums, which we kept, and they always delight at this time of year

To the rear of the house there is a mixed bed of

geraniums and on the upper level, a border

of white Margaritas.

Unfortunately whilst in the UK, we missed the annual display of Iris, Narcissi, Azalea and the best of the highly perfumed Jasmine but there is plenty to keep us going.

The pool has finally been refilled and new lamp inserted. All the mosaic tiles have been cleaned to remove calcium deposits, touch ups where necessary and the capping repainted for the season. It took almost 3 full days to refill (did I mention our water pressure was rubbish)? I also took the opportunity to replace the sand in the filter unit (supposed to be done every 5 years or so) and lugged 3 hundredweight of the special stuff up the stairs. (I did not lug the 3cwt. of old stuff down again, choosing to disperse it in the garden instead). A couple of day’s filter/backwash/filter and the pool was bright and sparkling. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, rain has dampened (!) my spirits as it means I have to keep hoovering the damn pool.

We were guests of our new neighbour, (A “Luxemburger” and owner of “Pink Palace”) to join him for a night out as a token of his appreciation for us allowing him to tap into our electrical supply for a few days (it’s too long a story for here). We had a grand tour of his “palace” and then out to a very nice Belgian restaurant for dinner. A really delightful evening. It did make me think though, there are not many famous Belgians (apart from Poirot, and he was fictional) but can you name any famous Luxemburgers?

Just o prove that we don’t really miss out on much from the UK Penny and I went to the English cinema the other day. The “cinema” was in a nearby restaurant, the large screen was projected and the movie was a DVD called “The Quiet American” (it’s got Michael Caine in it, not a lot of people know that) (!)

We will be returning by car to the UK on 22^nd of May as Penny has her appointment for Angioplasty on the 26^th. So, until the next issue, “Hasta llego”