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Published: December 24th 2017
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To those of you that have enjoyed reading my blog over the years I must apologise for the huge gap between this and the last one in the summer, which was at the beginning of July. I suppose the advent of social media means that those of you who are Face book friends will have a pretty good idea of what I have been up to.
I do feel that social media is potentially reducing us to short sound bites and changing the way we use words and get information. I realise some of you may be labelling me a grumpy old woman!!
I will endeavour to summarise half a year into one blog and then I promise to be more diligent. So a few highlights
· Chris built the shed for Muriel and Gordon and we loved our stay
· The British and Irish Lions drew the test series in New Zealand
· We did a short housesit in Edinburgh and saw a few shows at the Fringe
· My cholesterol is now back to normal with diet and the lowest dose of statins but my shoulder problem is arthritis in the AC joint!!
· We did some fab walking and cycling on the Northumberland coast
· I managed a trip to catch up with Jill and Paul in Berkhamstead
There were two memorable birthdays this year.
My friend Vicki was 70 in May and we had an interesting break to Vienna. A glorious city with wonderful friendly people, a fabulous transport system and the highlights were the Opera House and Gustav Klimt’s “The kiss”. We won’t mention the two of us falling!! The travel was a bit of a pain and I think for a short break it needs to be direct from Newcastle as apart from the wonderful guy in Vienna airport I was unimpressed with the way passengers needing assistance are shuttled around, especially at Heathrow.
Chris’ Auntie Pat was 90 in September, so we delayed our return to Spain to celebrate. We had a lovely family meal at Hotel du Vin and Chris arranged a surprise visit from his sister who lives in Hampshire.
So now let’s work backwards.
It’s December 24th and we are doing a house sit in a farmhouse in rural Portugal. The view is spectacular and it would have
been my dream life 10 years ago. There is enough land to be self sufficient, space for pigs, chickens and ducks and fruit and olive trees and huge vegetable patches. It is in a small hamlet Pesos Fundeiros and in a half an hour walk you can swim in the Cambril Lake. The owners of the house have gone to Wales to see family so we are looking after the house and their dog, Shade and two cats Ruby and Marty. The nearest town is Pedroag Grande and it is 3.5k away and is the nearest place for services. The house has been converted in a very rustic, arty style and we have a wood burner for heat but in the daytime it is warm enough to eat out on the deck and take in the peace and quiet. So far I have had to take care of most things as Chris has been ill with man-flu!!
Over the summer we saw our lovely house in Casas Nuevas transformed into a two storey house with fabulous views overlooking the mountains. We spent October and November painting, cleaning, varnishing, cleaning, sanding, cleaning.......you get the picture. The fun bits were finding
furniture together and making it into a home. We have always had three bedrooms but one of the downstairs ones has been converted into a dining room and access to upstairs. Our bedroom is now upstairs with a separate area with wardrobes and a lovely new shower room. Our first purchase was a comfortable new bed, bought in Mula and delivered and put together by the staff from the shop. Likewise we bought an L-shaped sofa which was delivered the same day. We drove 40k to Caravaca and ordered a funky acacia table for the dining room and it came 2 weeks earlier than planned.
We should have known that venturing to IKEA and Leroy Merlin (a bit like B&Q) might be a different story. I will give you the short version for IKEA, order €1,000 worth of stuff (including delivery and fitting) and find the delivery is short of 2 wardrobe doors, fitting team don’t turn up and then spend a week on the phone to “customer service”, eventually pick up the doors from the shop and get the delivery refunded. Still waiting for a reply to my long complaint letter!!
Leroy Merlin same story, ordered some
air-con units on-line, got the email to go and pick them up and several reminders and text messages BUT when we got to the shop only one box was there!! Still waiting for a date to go and collect them.
The moral of both stories could be shop local but the Spanish equivalent for the bedroom was too expensive and too bulky for our taste. The air-con system was double the price locally. So you pay your money and take your chance.
When we get back in January we have to sort out delivery of the dining chairs and then there are still a few jobs left to do and pictures and curtains to put up. The two guest rooms downstairs are now both ready and we have the luxury of two bathrooms now.
If October and November were busy in the house we did still have time for other things, I am still going into to school each Thursday to work with Mateo and have a short class each week with Julia who is eight. I had a great day with the children and parents up in the mountains. We had a great trip to Fortuna
to enjoy the thermal baths and then down to the coast and saw Roberto Fonseca, a Cuban pianist, at the Cartagena Jazz Festival.
The walking group is in full swing and on 2
nd December I led the walk in Casa Nuevas and we ate in the youth hostel up the hill from the village. I am also involved in a project to help develop a book of walks, just like producing and annual report from my work life !. Sadly Chris is not walking at present as his knee has deteriorated and he is waiting for referral to orthopaedics in the UK. One thing that we have not had time for is the gym and that is on the list for January.
December was frantic but very enjoyable; we did another Estacion Inglesa course in Biar, Alicante. It was a bigger group and obviously colder than the one we did in April but tiring yet enjoyable.
12
th to 19
th December we headed home to see our families and I stayed with Imogen and Keith. We had a girl’s night out in Newcastle and had some delicious food at Cafe Vivo and then saw a show at the Live Theatre. The title was “Terminal Velocity of Snowflakes” and it was a very clever piece with two characters and was written by a local writer. Theatre is one of the things I miss being in Spain.
I had time to catch up with friends too, enjoyed fish and chips with Jane, Sue and Sue and met the new addition to Julie’s family a little Bedlington terrier pup called Teddy. I cooked a family meal, intending it to be our Christmas meal but Imogen wanted Cassoulet so that was what I made. It was great to see everyone together and Chris came over to Jarrow with his boys so it was good for everyone to finally meet up.
Christmas here is going to be very quiet, just the two of us and the dog and cats. We have bought nice food but not a traditional Christmas dinner we are having scallops and steak. We have got some nice fizz and wine and port and for one day I will not be worrying about how much fat there is in anything!!!
As most of you know we always have a future plan but next year it is hampered by Chris’ knee and our plans for SE Asia will have to change and I may be going alone to Vietnam and Cambodia.
So I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that 2018 brings new adventures. Remember you can make your dreams come true.
Norma xx
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