Hot, Hot, Hot that’s August here in Spain and we’re not in the hottest part. Penny and I went for a day out during the first week of the month and took a drive into the mountains taking in the lovely scenery and small villages. We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant (food was OK but not worth a mention), and upon returning to the car, the temperature had risen to 41 degrees!!!!!!!!! Having said that we unexpectedly got a couple of showers in the second and third weeks, shame for the holidaymakers but great for the garden. The rain must have come from Africa, as there was a substantial layer of sand left on the patios and the swimming pool, which took a day to clean up.

Gripe….I had occasion to call PC World technical support which is at a premium rate, the “expert” kept saying “bear with me” as he logged my details and then disappeared for a couple of minutes only to return and ask me all the same questions again whilst mumbling “bear with me”. Eventually, I challenged him to either give me what I wanted or give me the phone number of someone who will help; he promptly gave me the number of the laptop manufacturers helpline. That experience cost me £5! I then contacted the number given (also Premium rate) and spent another £5.50 logging my details with the “helpful” assistant. As I was calling from my computer (Skype) I ran out of credit and had to log off, on returning later I spent another £10 to find out that I could not get the discs sent to Spain! Premium rate calls are a rip-off!!!!!

As mentioned earlier, the garden has enjoyed the summer rain and we have another flush of flowers. Our “Cica” palm has grown substantially over the years and this year we had our second flowering (seems like every 4 years).

Although Penny’s art classes have stopped for the next month, she continues to produce some little gems such as these:

The originals are much better than these photos suggest.

There is nothing to report on our lift being completed, as previously mentioned, Spain grinds to a halt in August so we will have to wait till September for the installation.

I noticed a news-banner on Sky News the other day which read:

“Teenage abuse of alcohol is leading to the breakdown of the family”

I think it should be read the other way around!

My latest exploits at golf have somewhat inspired me, Always thinking I was a poor player (well actually, I am) I seem to do rather well among my colleagues in the society with which I play fortnightly. I regularly pick up second or third prize in my division. Sadly, this does not mean I am particularly good, rather that the rest are particularly poor! I certainly joined the right bunch.

Our neighbour in the “Pink Palace” invited us to a party at which we were requested to wear “white” (a great equalizer). The catering was provided buy the Marriott Hotel and its chefs and was superb, Champagne, Cocktails and good quality wine flowed continuously throughout the night. The guests were mainly German, Spanish and Belgian but we managed OK to hold our own and met some old friends and some new interesting people. We eventually staggered home (next door) at 2.30am at which time the younger element had taken over the party for some fun.

Short and sweet this month, thanks for reading.