An explanation of the title of this blog...

Friday, January 27, 2012

Friday fill-ins





1. It's time to put my feet up.

2. Dish up the Coq au Vin ... and don't forget the vin!

3. I'm trying to ignore the ironing.

4. "Are you going to the disco tonight?", was the last funny comment I received.

5. Please send sherbet dabs.

6. Get me some shoulder padding 'cause I'm in it for the long haul.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to not watching the snooker, tomorrow my plans include not watching the football and Sunday I want to go for a walk!




Saturday, January 14, 2012

A quiet, hazy Saturday morning...


...with no need to slog around the shops, but not wanting to sit at home all day, we decided that a quiet stroll along the Paseo filled the bill. Quiet being the key word; we hardly saw a soul apart from a young woman in running gear loping along accompanied by a panting, tubby Shitsu and an older couple sitting in the sun. She was on a mobility scooter and we noticed it was sporting a numberplate on the back, a similar size to those on motorbikes. We surmised that she had brought it from some other European country where stricter regulations are enforced.

Here there seems to be no National norm, each town's police force has its own ideas. An acquaintance, struck down by polio as a child and left with one child size leg as the rest of him grew normally, drove out from the UK with a specially adapted car that allowed him to be as mobile as he needed to be in his new home. Some years later, through no fault of his own, he was involved in an accident and his specially adapted car was a write off. His Spanish insurance company was only prepared to cough up the value of a normal car of its age, and this did not cover the cost of adaptation let alone replacing the car. His solution was to buy a sturdy mobility scooter with a large battery that promised a good mileage. He lived in a residential complex a couple kilometres outside town, and he would trundle down the hill to do his shopping, go to church and even go out at night for meals. As he grew more confident he even went as far as Moraira, holding up the traffic as he followed the winding coast road. All went well until he decided to change his living arrangements. He was finding it increasingly difficult to manage at home on his own, but he could not afford to pay the cost of residential care where he was. Someone at his church told him that she had a friend in Altea who took in elderly PGs and was a much cheaper alternative to a large residential home. The upshot was that he made the move and was very happy in his new home, but the new local bobbies were not very happy with him. As he began to explore his new environment, he found his scooter was too wide for many of the very narrow footpaths in his new town, and often he had to take to the road. He was informed, very politely, that if he was using his scooter on the road in their town, that he needed insurance, lights front and rear and he would have to apply for a numberplate at the Town Hall, then pay road tax and get his vehicle MOTed...

It seems that the UK is considering new rules for "invalid carriages" as well.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Friday Fill-ins





I found this Friday Fill-in link on Hazel's Blog and she found it on Suzie's....you can play along by going here.




1. When I looked out the window this morning it was still dark.
2. Jealousy doesn't make sense to me.
3. Remind me to get gas tomorrow.
4. Reading is something I love to do!
5. TP is a North American tent?
6. I cleaned the refrigerator recently and I found saffron.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Sicily Unpacked, tomorrow my plans include lighting the log burner for the first time this Winter and Sunday, I want to finish the scarf I am knitting!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The Tidings...

"You tell her", "No you tell her, you're a better Arbinjo than me..." Malcolm cleared his throat. "It's the Monkey Bus lot, they've taken a vote on where to go next, and they would like to come and stay with you for a while."

"So where are they now?" I asked, wondering how much time I had to prepare myself. "Benidorm" said Malcolm, "Ruby-Lou has got work as an extra on the filming of Benidorm; she's playing the mascot on Madge's scooter, but that finishes this week, and Pointy Kitty and Bracket were giving rides on the beach, but Bracket got accused of looking up a Dollybird's skirt and got banned. Clooney is busking outside The Talk of the Town, Munkima and Bossman are looking after the youngsters and the others are wheeling and dealing on the markets."

"And what have you been up to Earl?" I turned to EG, and he looked nervously down at his hands and swung his legs.  "Mmm....this and that....please Mrs T....can we come home?"




Monday, January 09, 2012

Who should turn up today but EG and Malcolm.  "We are the Arbinjoes" he said, as he climbed through the cat flap after Malcolm.  I raised an eyebrow and turned to Malcolm for elucidation. He rolled his eyes. "He means Harbingers" he said, in his best Stephen Fry voice. "We are the harbingers of tidings, but whether glad or bad is a matter of opinion."

"You'd better come in then boys and give me your news...it's been a while since you paid me a visit."  I settled them at the table on the balcony and waited....


Saturday, January 07, 2012

Sunny Saturday

On my way into town this morning I pulled over to look at the birds on the Salinas. I think someone must be feeding them, because as soon as they saw my car stop, a small flock of Sooty Terns started to circle and then swam around looking hopeful...

Friday, January 06, 2012

That tree...


...is as big as ever...
and it is not the only thing growing. All of my orchids are making new flower spikes. Some of them are rebudding on last years stems as well as producing new stems and I am fiddling with them every morning trying to get the new stems to grow towards the supports.

My favourite method if the new stem is fairly close to a stick is a rolled up post-it note slipped over stick and stem; as the stem grows I move it upwards, the stem grows straight up towards the light coming in at the top of the tube,

and as it gets longer and stronger I use squeezy hair clips to hold it in place.








This one was some distance away, so I have been coaxing it into the right direction with a strip of folded kitchen roll. You an see where this plant is sprouting from last year's old bare flower spike as well as making a new one.




Specialised orchid pots cost an arm and a leg; my solution to growing on babies is to use plastic water bottles...the bottom half of the bottle holds water and the neck of the top half rests in the water. The new roots grow down towards the moisture and it is easy to see their progress.

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

I Lost a Year....


...and I shall be very happy if I don't find it again. Things are now improving, Bossman is walking again, no longer needing morphine for his back pain, PSA levels are rock bottom, and we just need to wait for the hospital to send for him to sort out his eyes. The left is a straightforward cataract operation, the right eye is slightly more complicated. The TIA in May left him unable to move the eye to the right, only to the left, and he doesn't seem to be able to move it in co-ordination with the left eye either, so he has constant double vision and balance and co-ordination problems. I have cobbled him up a cardboard eye patch from a bit of Christmas card, packing tape and soft paper tape and at home he covers his cloudy left eye so he only sees one TV screen, plate, wife etc., and when he goes out he has a black paper patch on his glasses, or else wears his wraparound sunglasses. The major problem with only using one eye is the inability to judge distances! Cups miss tables, plates miss shelves and boiling water is just as likely to end up in the sugar basin as in the teapot...but who am I to complain? At least he is now able to walk into the kitchen and make himself a drink, and by moving my office chair in there for him to use, he can even cook a meal if I get the ingredients out of high and low cupboards, as he can whizz himself around without any danger of him falling over. He has fallen out of the chair once; he tried to get the potatoes out of the bottom cupboard while I was out shopping and he leant so far forward the chair rolled away from him and he landed on the floor. At first he thought he would stay there until I returned, but he said he was getting so cold that he crawled into the living room onto the carpet, and once there, he was able to pull himself up using the coffee table and the back of the couch. Maybe he needs a safety belt!