Ramblings in Retirement

July 2006

All over Europe there has been a heatwave this July, in Spain, this is not uncommon as generally mid 30s are expected however, I have been amused at the pandemonium caused in the UK when unusual hot weather arrives. Firstly it is greeted with enthusiasm, then, as it continues, the doom-mongers start hitting the media.

Melting tar on the roads,

Dodgy barbeques

Risks to the elderly and children

30+ sun lotions

and, to cap it all, weather presenters commenting that it is all too much! Why not enjoy it? It is not going to last, and a few weeks of hot weather is great for everyone. (We have seen temperatures of 38 and in town and, in the mountains, in excess of 40, yet never have seen tar melting)!

At last we have taken the plunge and had our own version of “Jodrell Bank” installed. (A 1.9 metre satellite dish). Our Sky digibox was playing up and had to be replaced at a cost of around 300€ (no we don’t get free boxes or free installation). We decided that as we were going to get a new box, we may as well upgrade to a bigger dish which would enable us to receive BBC and ITV plus loads more channels. Monday nights are now glorious for Penny as she is now up to date with Emmerdale, Corrie and Eastenders!!!!

I don’t know what you think but I am both sad and angry at the current war in Lebanon.

• One side captures “terrorists” and calls them “Prisoners of War”, but, if the other side reciprocate, it is accused of taking “hostages.”
• One side has a massive arsenal of the latest weaponry (weapons of mass destruction)? Whilst the other has something akin to hand grenades attached to arrows.
• One side has the tacit support of the only world power (and of course our Tony), the other gets only sympathy from the rest of the world
• One side says it will continue until it achieves its goals, the other side says it will continue…………………….forever.

As usual, it is the ordinary people who suffer, yet again.

As it has been so hot there has not been a lot of work done in the garden, I have however been assisting the builders who are constructing a villa in the adjacent plot. (I did not tell them I was helping due to my natural modesty). As the property is nearing completion, they are making the driveway and using a JCB, delivering loads of rocks. I was concerned over the safety angle, as many of these rocks were badly balanced and, they looked like the very type I needed to extend some walling I wanted to complete. This was my last chance to get the supplies of rock so, each evening I have been “relocating” the badly balanced rocks so the workmen would be safe the next day. The new “location” happens to be a stretch of 3 metres wall in my garden.

I bet you have never seen an “Ivy Tree” so here is a photo of one.

Actually this is standard ivy, which grew up the wall, and I cut it back and shaped it to this tree style. Another surprise this month was the flowering of a new cactus plant we purchased a couple of months ago.

Well, it’s short and sweet this month, too hot to be thinking too hard. Hope you enjoy the fine weather while it lasts.