December has been a mixed month for the weather as we had half the month with sunshine and the other half with rain! This is unusual. Christmas Day till New Years Eve was beautiful with lots of sunshine though.

We received the full payment for the insurance claim in respect of the damage to the lift electronic sensors with no hassle whatsoever; it’s nice to know some things work efficiently in Spain. There is still no news about replacing the garage door but as I haven’t paid them I’m not bothered (but it does look a bit odd with two different doors). Similarly, the builders have not finished the stonework around one side of the doorway as they claim this is specialised work and needs a proper stonemason, they likewise haven’t been paid. However on 31^st December the job was completed, hurrah. This photo shows the new garage door (the lighter brown one) and Penny with her new car together with the finished wall.

Penny’s back has improved but she continues to go for treatment to a chiropractor in Denia, we need to get her fit for our holiday adventure. Talking of which we have received confirmation and details of our adventure and grow increasingly excited. A colleague from the computer club did a similar holiday last year and gave us his home movie DVD of his adventure which has been interesting and really whetted our appetite. As we are not in the Spanish NHS, we have to go private to get our vaccinations for the trip. Hepatitis, Polio, Typhoid jabs are recommended as are Malaria tablets which we got from a private clinic in Javea (450€) Our friends, Bernard and Margaret who are going with us, had the same vaccinations from the NHS in the UK and paid nothing at all!

God Bless Ryanair. After experiencing cheap flights in October when I flew to Milan (and when Penny and I returned from the UK at the end of the same month) I have booked again for our return to the UK in January and at the total cost of 20€ for the two of us. (And booked the return to Valencia in February for the same price). My friend in Tortosa, Paul, told me of his cheap flights with Ryanair and I never thought that I would be able to benefit but now I am a Ryanair fan. Valencia Airport is roughly the same distance from our town as Alicante Airport but despite rapid growth of the terminal (upgraded to cope with the passenger traffic for the Americas Cup and next years Formula 1) it is much less hectic than Alicante which at times resembles a cattle market.

I have treated myself to a new pair of spectacles as the last pair was damaged (I had preferred “rimless” spectacles but the last two pairs have both failed at the same point, i.e., the join of the leg to the lens) and, given the expense, I opted for a sturdier pair of semi-rimmed. I visited Specsavers (yeah, we got one too) in Javea and got a good deal as they had a promotion which gave “pensioners” over 60years of age a 25% discount.

The garden, whilst not in bad condition, needed attention as when we go on holiday in February growth will make it very untidy and I will need to do a lot of work. I ordered a large skip and set about cutting back the Palm tree (lower branches droop and need to come off but more importantly, the orange berries which grow out in large stalks, are such a weight they pull down the branches and need to be removed. This is a dangerous activity as the inner part of the palm leaves have short 6” hard leaves which are like stilettos and can cause considerable pain when they pierce you). The hedging at the rear of the villa was also cut back severely and consigned to the skip, as was a large proportion of the Olive tree up at the back of the lawn. Our Orange tree, which has done nothing for the past few years, was on a final warning and still produced no fruit so it too went in the skip.

Penny has lost the motivation for painting this month and has definitely slowed down, this is the only offering this month, I think it is very nice.

We are having a nice meal on New Years Evening and will celebrate the incoming New Year with a glass (or two) of nice champagne on the naya watching the fireworks display up and down the coast. I hope you all have a lovely time and enjoy a prosperous 2008.

Ramblings in Retirement
November 2007

It’s been a funny old month for weather as we have had some rain-showers and cold (12 degrees) which is unusual for us, still, must count our blessings, as it seems the weather in the UK is poor also.

Owing to the flood in the garage in October and the failure of the electronic sensors on the lift, I made a claim on our insurance, they promptly sent an assessor who took photos and agreed to pay for the replacement of the sensors (879€). He also included a sum of 200€ for repainting the interior of the garage. Great news.

The builders also turned up and created a new opening for the second electric garage door completing it in a week. The people who were to install the door arrived the following week and, halfway through, discovered that they had the wrong door colour! (The original door was dark brown and the new one was supposed to match but turned out a pine colour). The boss arrived and apologised profusely saying he would replace it ASAP but that it has to come from Germany so it may be a few weeks, meanwhile we have doors of different colours, which looks a bit silly. We are also waiting on a wall builder to remake the stonewall where the window used to be.

So why do we need two electric doors I hear you say? Well, owing to Penny’s extracurricular activities of Art Classes, Yoga etc., she is demanding she has use of the car which conflicts with my needs. EKE is not a comfortable car to drive in the winter and I don’t relish using it to go to Javea wrapped up like an Eskimo so, we have bought Penny her own car which arrived at the end of the month. It’s a Hyundai Atos automatic (I think it is called an Atos Prime in the UK), which she loves, because it has a high seat making entry and exit easy.

Early in the month Penny “did her back in” and has been suffering considerable pain for most of the month. It still is giving problems and confines her to a stiff chair and frequent hot baths. Several trips to the Osteopath have helped but not cured the problem to date. These things take time but I am sure it is tiresome now.

We managed to go to a theatre show in Denia to see a play called “The Eccentric Lives” which told the story of the Bronte’s family. Penny, being somewhat an aficionado (since we once lived near Haworth), thoroughly enjoyed the play. For myself, having in the past been dragged kicking and screaming to Haworth Parsonage on several occasions, it was also enjoyable as it brought animation to what I have seen in the past. Also the reference to the “Black Bull” pub conjured up pleasant memories for me.

My golf has suffered a setback as the Society Committee reduced my handicap by 5 strokes! Despite this setback I managed to get third prize for a recent competition in Benidorm.

Our house in Gildersome seems to be stuck on the market and there does not appear to be much interest, perhaps this is due to the time of the year. Fortunately we are in no hurry to sell and we may take it off the market and try again in the spring.

This summer we were having lunch with friends at a nice restaurant in the mountains and during the meal one of the couples told us about an adventure holiday they had in Indo-China. We were so enthralled that we got the brochure which detailed the 21 day adventure of travelling through Thailand, Laos and Cambodia living in small town family hotels, eating in local restaurants and mixing with real local people. Visiting hill tribes and ancient sacred ruins, crossing the Mekong River by small boat and a tour of the famous Angkor Wat City in Cambodia it all sounded too fantastic to miss. We have booked this adventure for February 2008 and are now searching for appropriate footwear, rucksacks and Mosquito repellent!

Penny, owing to her back problem has not been as busy with her painting as she finds sitting too uncomfortable but I include a couple of paintings she did earlier in the month.