Ramblings in Retirement
April 2001
This has been a busy month with one thing or another and time has flown.

I was impressed with our builder who installed the pool steps as he came in at a price almost half what I was quoted a couple of years ago by another company.

Penny had an appointment with the cardiologist and before attending she had to get an ECG and Blood analysis, we thought this would be simple at our local clinic so we did not organise an interpreter as yours truly thought he could manage. Well, firstly the reception would not book the test but insisted we see the doctor; the doctor decides to be unhappy about the Hospital telling him what to do and rants away while I try to understand him. The upshot is that a blood test is arranged for the following week at the clinic and he scribbles all over the document for the hospital. As usual, when Penny goes for the Blood test they are unable to find a vein and stab her several times before eventually getting some red stuff. She leaves the clinic with arms like sieves.

Our next expedition is to the hospital where Penny has to have a “stress” test (I feel like I need one too, trying to cope with the language and unfamiliar surroundings). Fortunately, this not only passes without incident, but Penny also met the cardiologist, who carried out the ECG then and there. The following day we set off again for the hospital for the formal appointment with the cardiologist (again sans interpreter as we know he speaks English). The outcome is that he is pleased with all the results, blood, stress and ECG and believes there to be an improvement on the results Penny had in the UK a couple of years ago. Not only that but he agreed that she should stop taking the beta blockers (the side effects caused swelling of the ankles and yellowing of the whites of the eyes as well as making her susceptible to bronchitis).

The primary reason for all this was to establish ourselves on the Spanish National Health system and bring our records up to date. Thankfully this has now been accomplished, all in all, a great result even if it was a little torturous getting there. It must be said however that the service we received from both the clinic and the hospital was excellent and certainly on a par with the UK, if not better.
The weather in April has been very nice with temperatures up in the mid 20s, the surrounding area of orange trees are in full blossom and give off a lovely scent. The garden has come alive and desperately needs attention so; Penny and I have been weeding, cutting back ivy, lantanas, agave cactus and tidying in general. The garden loungers were treated with teak oil, seedling tomatoes and peppers planted and the herb border cut back to promote fresh growth. (It’s amazing how a little paragraph like that, makes light of many hours of hard work)!

We decided to paint the balustrade (both the new area around the septic tank and original fronting the road) in an attempt to tie in the colour scheme. (The original was a salmon pink, the new was white and there was a stretch of cream on the garage roof). With Penny’s help, we finished the job in a record time of 14 hours, 45 litres of paint and sore knees, hands etc...

The lift tower has now been illuminated and we are looking to buy a couple of palm trees to position on the garage roof which will give the whole area a “lived in” appearance. I’ll save the photos until all is complete.
That’s all for April.