My First Award!

Thank you Casdok for this award! I wonder if it feels like this to receive an Oscar! I feel I should go into a long speech of thanks to all the people who have helped me reach thus far in my life!

Having received this accolade I assume that I must make an award to another blogger. I read so many brilliant blogs that it is so hard to pick out just 1 or 2 for an award.

But I have made my decision and the Award for Best "Blogger That hits the mark" goes to , drum roll please..................countrycraftangel, for telling her story so bravely over the past few months and having us gripped to the edge of our seats waiting for the next installment and another Award goes to.................... countrymousie , whose blogging has certainly hit the spot over recent months and who too has gone through a dreadful time this summer but so bravely seems to be getting on with her life: going for coffee with her straight hairdresser , is a great start to a new life!!

I'm sure many of you will concur with my choices, but I know I could have made awards to so many of you. Such a talented band of bloggers we have on this site, providing so much to entertain and challenge us.

The things I do for love!

Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, I still have not purchased a digital camera. My dad gave me money for my brthday to do just that but I haven't had opportunity yet to go out and buy one.



If I had I would be able to post a photo of me which would probably shock you as I'm currently sporting a very bruised fat lip.



I'm very conscious of the fact that people probably think I have been the victim of domestic violence. Everyone I meet looks at it and then looks away, but they politely do not mention it, so in the end I feel I should explain.



But the explanation is so unbelievable, you won't believe how I did it!



I will start at the very beginning, Stan has a very strange liking for Cat's eyes, as well as a huge love of all types of cars, vans and lorries.

Over the years he has collected a few old cat's eyes which stand proudly on the fireplace hearth, some of the eyes are red, some green, some white. It seems a harmless hobby.

However, I saw an old cat's eye on top of a bollard at the end of the road and my first thought was, "I must try to retrieve that for Stan". It wasn't possible then as the road was busy, but that evening after I had collected Lucy from her After school club i drove to the bottom of the road and it was still there, there were no cars behind or in front of me, so i said to lucy, " You just jump out and get the cat's eye" , would she do it? No she wouldn't, so i threw the car door open and made a dash for the bollard, I caught my chin and lip on the top of the car door, bang, I grabbed the cat's eye, felt my chin and the pain just flooded through me, blood was running down my chin. What a mess! I drove home with one hand holding a tissue to my face and the other holding the wheel and doing everything else.

When I looked in the mirror I was shocked, my lip had grown enormous and had gone very purple and there was a nasty gash in the skin and it wouldn't stop bleeding for ages.

Stan was delighted with the cat's eye and was highly amused by my actions.
Why do I do these things?!

After several doses of Arnica the bruising has gone down, I won't be quite so keen to rush off after cat's eyes in future!

End of a Spanish Dream

"They're coming home"
This is home.

The Spanish dream is all but at an end for my daughter Sophie and partner M. In less than 12 hours they will be making their way to the Airport in Malaga for the final time.





The last few days have been frantic and emotional for them and for me. There has been a lot of phone calls to and from Spain in order to make arrangements, deposit funds into Sophie's bank so they could buy extra cases, then more money to cover excess baggage at airport. Book flights, arrange car and so on...... I haven't slept at all well for the past few nights. I just want them home now. It was Ok when they were settled and happy but now it's all changed and I have that feeling of doom and gloom. I will only relax when the door opens at 2am and they walk in, the dog will of course go loopy and wake everyone else up...................but who cares, my baby is coming home!





M's boss still hasn't paid him his dues, he's worked solidly for that man for the last 4 months and has only been paid for 2 months, yet boss seemed surprised when M said he was leaving as he couldn't live without money! Boss gave him 100 euros, What a cheek! He owes him 2400 euros!





Sophie was terribly upset yesterday , they had to take the little dog that they'd been looking after to the Rehoming centre. They hadn't set out to have a dog, but some british friends who'd been in Spain for a long time hadn't taken this stray dog in and when they were returning to England 6 weeks ago they asked Sophie and m if they would take him. Sophie loves dogs and soon they became closest friends. He's only young, bit of a mongrel, but seemed to have some Red Setter in him,tall, thin with very long spindly legs, and red hair and floppy ears.


The other chap they shared with , didn't like the dog and would not take it on.


So yesterday, they made that long journey to the Vet's and re homing centre. Sophie was in floods of tears and felt she was betraying Lucky, but the vet said there was a very good chance of him being re homed as he is young and full of fun. I felt for Sophie, but I wasn't there to be able to give her a hug.





I'll be glad when she is safely back here , until the next adventure takes them off again!


They are talking of going to France, where M's Dad and Step Mum live, though i can't see that working. M and step mum do not see eye to eye, and M & his dad have a volatile relationship too..........but we'll see.





On a totally different front : Did anyone see the BBC news this morning? There was an item about fly fishing and breast cancer recovery in Sussex . I was fascinated by it, there appears to be strong correlation between fly fishing and getting a good recovery from breast cancer, as the fishing uses muscles that help to repair the arms where surgery has taken place and also the therapeutic side of just being at one with water and nature and thinking of nothing but trying to catch a fish. I've never been at all interested in fishing, but this got me thinking maybe I should!


Anyone know much about Fly fishing? I 'd love to hear about it and what you think of this news item.

My Spanish Holiday- Part 2

View from the apartment.


On arriving at Malaga airport, my daughter Sophie and her boyfriend M met us and drove us to their apartment. We travelled along the coast road that heads for Marbella and Cadiz, it's known as "Death Road". I must say I was shocked when I read the overhead gantry message


" 1824 killed on this road since January", it's a long road, but that is an awful lot of people to be killed! Surely there must be some mistake in the translation, should it read "casualties" rather than "killed", but Sophie informed me it was definitley fatalities............................by the time we returned to the airport less than a week later the sign had increased to 1848. That is some dangerous road, I was petrified to be on it.





Now of course I am worrying about Sophie & M as they travel on it quite regularly, drivers seem to be oblivious to all other car uses and take huge risks.





It was a relief on Saturday when we drove to visit Gibraltar that we were able to take the Toll roads, so much quieter and less dangerous, albeit expensive.


I was fascinated by Gibraltar, as I had heard so much about it, my mother's brother, Uncle Verdun was stationed on Gibraltar for part of the war, before he was taken Prisoner by the Germans and he had told my Mum and I such fascinating stories. My Mum managed to visit there a few years ago and was able to show my Uncle the photographs , it was one of the last times she saw him before he died. He was delighted that she had been there and was surprized how little had changed in 50 years.


So I was determined to see for myself, M kindly drove Sophie , Lucy and I there, we had read in the guide book that it is better to park in Spain and walk across and it is harder getting back through Passport control , but we found ourselves in the wrong lane and next we know the Security at the border are checking our passports and waving us into Gibraltar! Suddenly we could see English Policemen, and Red post boxes, Red Telephone Boxes, and "£" signs instead of Euros. It was surreal!


We parked the car at the first available car Park and then the only way into Gibraltar is to walk across the Airport Runway, yes, I do mean that, we walked across the "runway", if a plane is landing or taking off barriers come down and red lights flash like on level crossings!! Most bizarre!





Then we walked through the Landport Tunnel, originally the only entrance into the Town. Every where has a kind of shabbiness to it, it seems to be a bit stuck in time. Not at all like main Spain.


It was very weird finding all our favourite British Shops.....Marks and Spencer, British Home Stores, and much to Sophie's pleasure La Senza, she is fed up with Spanish stores not selling bras for anyone more then a "b" cup, she needs a much bigger size than that! so I had to treat her to a very pretty new bra! But at least now she knows where to come when she needs new underwear!

Leaving Gibraltar was harder than arriving, we found ourselved in a very long queue of cars all heading for passport control, the queue moved very slowly as cars were checked and items bought looked at. The Security seemed to check any car which appeared to have non Spanish or non Gibraltan registrations. Luckily we were ok as we were in a Spanish Hire car and after a brief check of our passports we were waved back through into Spain.





That's about all for the moment, things to do, places to go etc!

Homework: My Spanish Holiday.

I was so anxious as I waited at the airport departures that as soon as we had checked in , I took Lucy through to security to get it over with. Would I set the security alarm off? Would they think I was carrying some hidden weapon in my boob? (For those that do not know, I had a reconstruction of my breast following a mastectomy earlier in the year and this temporary boob has a magnet in it which was used for expanding me. It will be replaced with a permanent boob later in the year)As I approached the security gates I had butterflies in my stomach. I put my hand luggage in the tray and pushed it through the conveyor belt to be scanned and I stepped forward, the security woman beckoned me through. I walked forward, suddenly the machine starts buzzing, Oh No, this is it, I start blathering on about the magnet in my boob and the woman asked me to raise my arms , she searches me and then points to my shoes. "Take those off and try again" she says, I pass the shoes through the other check and walk back through again, this time there is only a slight beeb. The security woman smiles and says all is well, I can carry on and collect my things. I don't believe it, my shoes let me down, not the magnet, that barely registered!


I was hoping for my very own "Shirley Valentine" moment. The moment I saw him my heart lurched in my rib cage, he was tall, very tanned and had a perfect physique, he had the longest eye lashes I've ever seen on a man and he fluttered them as he spoke to me. He was mesmerising me as he spoke, his head tilted to one side and he laughed as he pushed his fingers through his neatly spiked , gelled hair. Then he looked down and became quite still and I could see tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke of his lost love. His lover had left him after 4 years to return to England and he was distraught but there was nothing I could do to help him, he had no interest in me, he had no interest in women. His love was for another beautiful young man, who wanted a different life,he wanted to return to England and pursue his studies but it meant leaving the love of his life behind in Spain.





This is the young man who shares an apartment with Sophie and her partner M, where Lucy and I stayed last week having the most amazing time. I will tell you some more later. No time now! The picture is of the Garden Stream and walkway to the pool at La Reserva.