Ramblings in Retirement
February 2009

Lots of nice weather this month, although we did have some severe gales at the beginning which caused some considerable tree/fence damage as well as dislodging our satellite dish. Most of the oranges have been picked (that is those on contract, whereas there are many just left on the trees as the price is so low it’s not worth harvesting). I was in the Jalon Valley the other week and you could buy 10 kilos of oranges for €5. The next horticultural event taking place this month is the Almond blossom on the trees everywhere you go. It has be>en said, that the reason this part of Spain is called the Costa Blanca is because of the white almond blossom but around here many of the trees sport a delicate pink blossom and perhaps it should be renamed the Costa Rosada!





















By the time you receive this, the blossom will have all gone and the trees lush with leaves and small green almonds starting to form, should be a bumper crop this year.

I did mention last month that my golf had improved (due to my new magic club, lucky sweater, new glove and lucky slacks etc.) and this trend has continued. On our Society outing at Benidorm I came in with first place but my joy was short lived as they cut my handicap by 2.3 strokes for future events.














Since we came to Spain we have spent a fortune on receiving satellite TV. Initially we had an analogue system, then we had to change to a digital system, then when SKY relocated the Astra Satellite we had to upgrade to the satellite dish to 1 metre and buy a new Sky box. As programmes tended to scramble in the evening, we again upgraded, this time to a 1.9 metre dish. Following our gales, this piece of equipment has come loose and I’m afraid that any future heavy winds might result in the dish taking off from its brackets and removing most of the roof and wall!! We have at last relented to have a 2.4 metre dish located in the garden on the upper level and installed with a new Sky plus box.

At long last we have managed to get on to the Spanish Health system, we received the appropriate forms for Penny (being of pensionable age she can apply and I can “piggy back” to get cover). Firstly we had to go to the town hall and request a “Certificado de Padron” which is an official document which says we live at our current address, we had to wait a few days for them to produce this. Next we went to the Social Security offices, queued for a while got to the desk only to find out it was the wrong section, off to another desk, another queue, another wait and then we gave them all the forms and documents (E121, Certificado de Padron, our residence certificates and passports) and were duly issued with our European Health Cards for treatment outside Spain. In addition we were issued with two further forms with which we needed to register with the health centre. At the health centre we once again got in the wrong queue, eventually we got the right one and waited 1⁄2 hour only to be told that we could not register in Denia as we lived in Pedreguer. Off to the next queue!

I had occasion to visit the doctor as I has an inflammation in my hand (either a sting or something sharp from the garden) however on payment, the machine would not accept my Private insurance card. Enquiry to the company I was informed that that particular doctor was not authorised on my insurance cover (despite the fact that it was the best and most expensive and we have had this since 2002). I was advised that if I wanted to have “English Speaking” doctors we should switch our private insurance to another plan (with the same company) and in so doing save approximately €100 month! Needless to say we switched.
So now we have “belt and braces” health cover here in Spain, Spanish NHS if we want it, free prescriptions and English speaking doctors on our private medical insurance. (Although we had free prescriptions from the UK it did cost over £400 to fly over and collect them)!

Penny and I have been very busy in the garden getting everything ready for the Spring. I’ve lost count of the number of black bags full of weeds, cuttings etc., I’ve carted off to the tip but the results are good. I’ve ordered 60 Geraniums Mexicana from England which are due to arrive early March. These are a trailing variety with red and white flowers and often seen adorning window boxes in Germany. I think these will look fantastic draping over the garage wall and on the upper level troughs (I’ll send a photo in the summer).

On a final note, I woke today 28th February to see that we had RAIN! It was quite a shock as we have not had any for weeks and weeks and it’s due to last on and off till Monday. Agghh.