Journal Entries
Ho Hum - time to up anchor
Posted Feb 20, 2010
...for the third time this week I wake up to fresh snow.
It's just so pretty, but I am a little bit fed up of the cold weather now. I've done my good turn house-sitting and supervising the decorator. I think I shall go and lie on a beach.
I can see some good tickets, and I don't need to pack my bags.
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Latest reply: Feb 20, 2010
A Good Reason for not Eating in Bed
Posted Jan 24, 2010
Throughout my married life, it was always a very firm rule that biscuits, cake or any other crumbly food should not be eaten in bed. The exception to this was toast, spread with butter and strawberry jam brought back to bed with the newspapers and coffee on a Saturday morning.
The rule was not mine, but I did abide with it, crumbs make unpleasant bedfellows. 
Now, of course, as a widow I can please myself and admit last night to eating some crisps, crackers, and then some maltesers.
This was because I was watching some internet TV, and it seemed that as I could do this equally comfortably 'in bed' - so I did, and had the snacks at the same time.
I now have ants! 
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Latest reply: Jan 24, 2010
Tropical Storm
Posted Dec 12, 2009
Late last night I hung a load of washing outside, fully expecting it to be dry by the morning. 
It normally is.
Just been woken by the most tremendous tropical rainstorm, complete with thunder and lightening. This is only the second time in five weeks that it has rained here, but the first real rains of the winter. My, it rained! The sound of the rain on the glass roof was so enormously loud that it drowned out the sound of the thunder.
I am not nervous of thunder, but it is hard not to be a little jumpy when your bed is actually shaking whenever the clap of thunder occurs simultaneously with the flash of lightening. The full fury of the storm was shaking the island, and my bedroom, sunk as it is into the volcanic rock no longer felt impenetrable and protected.
Ferocious storms like this were once rare, but now have become so frequent that millions of Euros have been invested in an enormous civil engineering project, whereby storm drains have had to be installed throughout the island.
These are some photos I took earlier this year, at one point it seemed like th whole town was being dug up, to put these drains in.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shirleyannbaby/CivilEngineeringNewDrains2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCOaw1OSYsIyDOw#
I hope they have worked! These new rainstorms (climate change sort) turned the local streets into rivers, and the old drainage system immediately overflowed, with resulting drain water and sewer water flooding the beaches. The 'Blue Flag' status is immediately removed whenever pollution like this occurs - so it was vital to address this problem as this island is dependent on tourism.
Of course the houses here don't have gutters or pitched roofs. In the past the old houses captured every drop of rain, by directing the water from the flat roof into an underground cistern.
Just now the rainwater is gushing off my flat roof, falling into the gardens below, it sounds like a water fall. The thunder storm has run out of energy and rolled away somewhere else. It's still pitch black here (7.15 am), but dawn will arrive soon so I can rescue my washing, and my cushions and other stuff I left on the balcony
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Latest reply: Dec 12, 2009
At last I may try some relaxation
Posted Nov 3, 2009
Eventually seem to have convinced others that my electricity supply has a problem which originates outside of my house. The trouble with Spanish houses is that they exist in communities, with shared stuff like outdoor lights, and in my case a shared earth *spike* ( literally a spike) between mine and about 10 more houses. So, somewhere along the line a fault has occurred and I get nearly 400volts of power entering my wires every evening. is not the word. So, my circuit breakers all trip and I am powerless. Such a word, no pun intended. Of course, in the day when the chaps from the power company came to test, my system was perfect and they gave me looks like this I could see them thinking 'mujer inglesa estúpida'
In the first instance we blamed my old refrigerator, and since it was probably very inefficient I have sent it to the recycling depot and ordered a new one. So as well as in the dark, I am without a means to keep my food fresh. It has really brought it home to me how life has changed and we have become so complacent over even a simple thing like not having melted butter due to refrigeration. ( Yesterday the temperature was over 30 degrees C in the daytime and about 25 at night.) Today is cooler, only 25 C, and a pleasant breeze from the sea.
I have ordered my new fridge, which is being delivered on Friday, and on Thursday the electricians are going to install my very own, personal Earth Spike, in my garden. Such a thing! I am impressed. I will take some photos to show you .
So now I have written this down and there is nothing else to do -so I can go and relax - I have been either waiting in for various electricians, who have been unable to locate this source of external volts, or out looking at fridges.
I might even start reading a new book.
...oh yes, I have all the vocabulary needed now for discussing electrical problems in Spanish. I struggled for ages with the word 'wire' 
it's 'cable' pronounced cah -bleh.
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Latest reply: Nov 3, 2009
And Another Thing
Posted Oct 12, 2009
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n4yrp
reminder to self to listen to this.
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Latest reply: Oct 12, 2009
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