Movies, Pizza, BBQ's. Life is Good!

Hi folks and welcome from a very rainy England. Yes, it's July 26th and it's a Sunday evening and the weather over the last few days has been horrible. It's more like November than the middle of summer. I know we Brits have a reputation for moaning about the weather and i try not to do so but really, this weekend has been very wet and miserable. This morning I even put the light son in the house to read and I put the heating on too because I felt cold. I'm sure it was psychological an d it wasn't necessary but that's what I did.

It's been a nice week for me other than the weather. I've several of the 'children' to stay which is always nice. Hubby and I spent a late afternoon at the beach hut and enjoyed an impromptu barbecue and the dog came too and loved it.....

...I received a clean bill of health from from the doctor after my routine NHS health check....but my weight was a shock. However, the nurse said that I had a nice waist which made me smile.
 I went swimming at the local leisure centre for the first time and joined in an 'Over 50's' session which was hilarious because absolutely no swimming was being done by any of the other folks at the session...just lots of chatting whilst bobbing up and down in the water. I gave up and went into the 'lane swimming' session which was much better for me. At least I could swim without interrupting conversations.
I watched 3 films in 24 hours which was most unlike me. First of all hubby and I went to see Jurassic World in 3D which we both thoroughly enjoyed. This was preceded by a 3 course meal with drinks at Pizza Express. I honestly can't remember when I last ate a three course meal and while Pizza Express is hardly cordon bleu, it was very pleasant nonetheless.
The following day I went with my son and three of the grandchildren to see Minions. That was fun and the children enjoyed it. Son was traumatised at the thought of seeing the film but hadn't seen his nieces or nephews for some time and had the day off so he agreed to come with me. He enjoyed the film more than he expected and the children are always pleased to see their 'silly uncle'.
Then that evening I sat and watched 'Hector and the Search for Happiness' via Netflix. It's a film starring Simon Pegg and I had never heard of it. I thought it was great. It's probably not for everyone but I think it's worth a watch.

Last night, after the rain had stopped and the skies cleared, we had another barbecue but at home this time. It was a small affair with hubby, daughter and son in law and it was lovely. The food and drink were just right and a nice time was had by all.

Next week things change again when one of our girls and her boyfriend come to stay with us for a while until they decide what their next move is going to be. It will be lovely having them here but it will feel strange too as we have had the house to ourselves since we moved in last November. Next weekend we are off to the Cambridge Folk Festival which is going to be great....Frank Turner will be there!

Oh, and I almost forgot to say that one of our daughters has got she and I entry to a signing that Frank is doing in London in August and we get to meet him too apparently which is going to be a bit mad. i might be able to get a photo with him. That would be amazing!

That's it for now. Apologies that it's not a very interesting update. I guess it's just a sign that my life and my mind are pretty stable at the moment which is great for me but not so good for blog readers!

Take care everyone.

xxx

Back Home

Hello all.

Yes, I am home and back to 'normal' life after a wonderful 10 days away in sunny Rhodes. The holiday was just what the doctor ordered for both hubby and myself. We had sunshine and cloudless skies every day, we swam in the sea almost daily, we ate and drank whatever we liked and treated ourselves to a few organised excursions which were very enjoyable. I think it did us both the world of good to relax and just enjoy each others company without any of the stresses of issues back home.

Now we are home, the dog is back and normal service has been resumed. We are knee deep in paperwork relating to father in law's estate which is going to take some organising but we are already making great inroads so things are on the move which is good news.

Since our return home we have both been on a 5 day clean living plan which we both felt we needed after the excesses of the holiday. We have had 5 days of no dairy (except for a splash of milk in a cup of tea twice a day), limited meat and lots and lots of salad, vegetables and the occasional fruit....and loads of water. It's been a positive experience for us both. I had a horrendous headache and upset tummy on day 3 but that was all. However, yesterday - day 5- I was making cheese straws for one of my daughters and that was a real temptation. I succumbed to the calling of the broken cheese straw that was left on the baking tray and ate it. It was lovely. Then, later in the evening while visiting my granddaughter for her 6th birthday, I couldn't resist the lure of a small slice of 'Frozen' birthday cake with bright blue icing. So my last day of 5 was a bit rubbish. Hubby remained strong throughout though and completed his 5 days and feels very much better for it too.

I am still undecided about what I should do regarding work. I feel as if I should find something part time but I don't know what if I don't want to continue with care work. The local supermarket is advertising for part time pharmacy staff so I might investigate that further or I might just kick back and enjoy the summer and wait until Autumn and reconsider my options then. The second option is preferable at the moment!

It seems as if my blogging might have influenced two of my four offspring. Two of my girls have recently started blogs independently of each other and I expect both blogs to make interesting, if varied, reading. Please click on the links below if you would like to take a look at their initial blog entries.

http://mytwentysomethingkitchen.blogspot.co.uk

https://bubblesandbeatingdepression.wordpress.com

That's it for now. Lots to do so I'd better crack on.

Until next time

xxxxx

P.S. 'Love Is All You Need' - from my granddaughter, aged 6 (yesterday) xx

Teeth and Skin AKA Pefkos Pt 2

Morning all,

It's 7.20 on another fine bright morning at our studio accommodation at Pefkos Beach in Rhodes. We are still having the best time and the weather remains stunning. I know that I have already blogged from here but I'm going to do it again. I know...always taking chances😉

So, what's been happening over the last few days? Certainly Wimbledon and all its excitement and drama have passed us by completely and it was only yesterday that we realised that Andy Murray had made it to the semi finals shorty to be followed by the news that he had been soundly thrashed by Roger Federer who, from all reports that I have read, played superb tennis and thoroughly deserved his win.

Hubby has been a little more organised when it comes to the cricket, or more specifically, The Ashes. So much so that he has regularly asked the barman in one of the bars at our accommodation to put the cricket on the TV for him so that he can see how England are getting on. It's much quicker and easier to do that than to struggle to get a wifi connection and check it online. He seems happy with the teams progress and, last night, was trying to explain the 5 day test match rules and objectives to a nice barman who tried his best to follow the description he was being given but left after 5 minutes as confused as when he started!

On Thursday evening we didn't go out for food and had an evening in our room 'eating rubbish and watching junk on TV' a la Kevin in Home Alone😊. We had a baguette each, some nuts and Pringles and some lemonade. Shallow Hal was in the television and I hadn't seen that film so I quite enjoyed watching that. 

As I was munching away at the Pringles I bit down on something that felt like a stone. It turned out to be part of my tooth. Fortunately it appears that it is from a tooth that has no root to it as, luckily, I am in no pain from it at all. I just feel like I have an enormous hole in my tooth. Dentist for me next week then.

The other physical thing I have had this holiday, except for the nagging realisation that I am, in deed, getting older as walking up and down steps leads to me hanging onto any handrail in case I miss my footing and fall and make a complete idiot of myself, is a raised red bumpy rash on my chest and arms. I assume it's some kind of heat rash but I have never had it before. My chest appears to be in the mend this morning but my arms remain bumpy. I have thrown away the sun oil protection that I was using and am going with Garnier Factor 20 from now on so I'll soon see if that makes any difference. I feel that it's some kind of prickly heat or similar but as long as it doesn't get worse then it won't be a problem. Fingers crossed.

Now, yesterday, Friday, we went on another organised day trip...this time it was to Lindos, then to an olive oil factory and finally back to Rhodes Old Town where we went the other day. We left at 8.30 am and were in Lindos in no time. The digital display in the coach told us that it was already 35 degrees. Yes, it was going to be an interesting climb up the 240 or so steps to get us the the foot of the Acropolis. We had an excellent tour guide who explained everything and more than we ever needed to know about the history surrounding the place and we set off on the climb to the top. 

On the way up the steps we passed Greek ladies selling cotton goods, table clothes, clothing and similar which that spread out across the hillsides for tourists to see and we passed the donkies that are used as taxis to ferry less energetic people up to the top of the hill. 

The views from the top were stunning and I do love Greek ruins so I was very happy. Despite the heat it was a joyful and moving experience for me which I found strange.

Our descent was incident free. Hubby finally brought a Greek shirt, we had a fresh orange juice each and then an ice cream ..mine pistachio flavoured and hubby lemon. There is also a wonderful church which you can visit on the way down. Photographs were not allowed and I had to cover my legs and shoulders before entering which I did with the wraps they provided. I can't really put into words how beautiful the interior of the church was. All I know is that I'm so happy I went in. Hubby didn't. It's not his thing.

Back to the coach, a quick half an hour at the olive oil factory...hardly a factory as we know it, more a shop with a car park...where we had the process of getting oil from the olives described to us and which finished with us all sampling various types of olive oil with fresh bread. My favourite was the oil with rosemary. I brought a can of oil.. a can because it keeps its flavour better than if stored in glass... and then back on the coach again and on to Rhodes Old Town via the coast which was stunning and passed  the ancient Olympic arena which reminded me so much of a trip I made to Delfi years ago with some school children.

We got into Rhodes Old Town and saw a completely different side to it as we had a different tour guide. We basically had a couple of hours free time there and we decided to pay 6 euros each and go into the museum  which used to be a hospital many, many years ago.

Well, it was the best 12 euros we have spent. The museum was full of Greek artefacts, many damaged but still astonishing in their history. Statues of Athena and Zeus with heads or feet or hands missing. Headstones of people who had died in the hospital, bronze tweezers and ear rings, more Greek pottery than you've ever seen...all on display. Mosaics from swimming baths, statues of lions and a dolphin were easily spotted. Walks through glorious gardens full of medicinal herbs and citrus trees and rooms where, I believe, patients who were convalescing could gather. It was amazing!

We found a cafe in the shade in the grounds of the museum and enjoyed a cold beer and a Greek salad before returning to the streets, having another ice cream .. this time I had banana flavour.... and then back onto the coach for our trip back to the hotel.

The display on the coach informed us that it was now 36 degrees. That was at 5pm. We got to our accommodation, hubby caught up with the cricket and we had a couple of drinks before returning to our room to get ready for the evening. We were both pretty tired but forced ourselves to go out and eat!

I think today will be a quiet one. A trip to the beach is planned but that's about all which is fine with me. There is currently a gentle breeze on the balcony where I'm typing this and people are starting to surface and go down to breakfast. Most have their beach towels with them so I expect a lot of the sun beds will have been taken very soon. Some things never change!

Xxx

Pefkos and Job Change

Good morning from Rhodes! Yes, I'm typing this from a balcony overlooking the sea in Pefkos which is about an hours drive from the airport on this pretty Greek island.

We have never been to this island before but have been to Corfu and Crete in the past. We both really the enjoy these islands and so we thought at we would investigate another of them and, although we have only been here for three days, we have not been disappointed.

Our self catering accommodation has all that we need, the town of Pefkos has enough to do without being it being a 24/7 party town (let's face it, we are a bit too long in the tooth for all of that!), the people are friendly and the weather is fantastic (we do both love a bit of sunshine).

One of the views from our room

Our room is up a hill but it affords us lovely views. There is a lift that takes us half way up if we are overloaded with bags or just too hot to face the walk but I have only used it a couple of times so far. I like the challenge of walking from the bottom to the top, whatever the weather, whatever I am carrying. I like to think that at least I am getting a little bit of exercise to make up for all of the laying about in the sunshine that I'm doing!  Let's face it, the 10,000 steps that I have been trying to do every day are not going to happen on this holiday. The 8 glasses of water a day, on the other hand, is extremely easy when you are seeing temperatures of 35 degrees on a daily basis.

We have are on to day 4 proper of our 10 day stay and yesterday afternoon we went on one of our three booked excursions. We find that, if we don't book such trips out, we stay in the resort and see little other than what is under our noses. Yesterday was Rhodes Old Town, a Unesco Heritage location and quite spectacular. We also have a night time boat trip around the harbour at the end of this evening which was lovely.

Our tour guide, a very chirpy man called Antonio, was  a sweetheart who referred to everything as 'amazing' and was obviously unhappy about the number of immigrants who are now living in his country. He was very knowledgable, even down to telling us about the gypsies who come from Roumania, put their children on the streets playing accordions to raise money, drug their babies in the hope that tourists will part with their hard earned Euros out of pity and who actually live in luxury when they return to heir homelands at the end of the season.

We had a great tour of the old town and it was really quite something to see despite its delapidated condition due to the porous stone that was used to build the 4 foot thick walls.

Our trip also included a meze meal which was very enjoyable. Unfortunately we sat at a table with a lady and her teenage granddaughter or daughter ... not sure which... both of whom seemed to have had a difficult day and who didn't know how to smile. The older lady spent all of her time trying to get a wifi signal...in the middle of an ancient city with 4 foot walls??... and didn't say a word to us or the other couple on our table but was very good at shooting fierce glares at anyone who looked her way.

There was also a boyfriend of the young girl who wouldn't eat any of the food because it only ate 'plain stuff'. The waiters were incredibly patient and offered him various changes of menu. Eventually he nibbled on a piece of plain chicken and a bread roll. His girlfriend was much the same. When the three of them left the table there was an audible sigh of relief from us and the other couple at the end of our seating area. We immediately struck up a conversation which was so nice after enduring almost an hour of surly silence.

After eating we went up onto the roof of the restaurant to enjoy beautiful views and a cocktail👍🌞 

Sunset over Rhodes Old Town

Today will be a quiet day of sunshine, sea swimming  and reading which is going to be nice. I've been really good with the sun lotion which my kids won't believe although,to be honest, if you don't use sunscreen out here you are asking for trouble. I have got a coupe of insect bites from last night which I've just spotted and I have got a very itchy chest but, apart from that,all is well.

Ive been so busy that I haven't mentioned the fact that I left my job last Friday, the day before we free out here.  After two and a bit years my time as a healthcare assistant at the medical centre of the school I worked at has come to an end. The job was never quite what I expected it to be and the hours were not great but I will miss the place and the people more than I thought I would. It feels very strange to think that I won't be returning there in September.

Many people have asked me if I'm now going to retire which really shocked me at first. Do I look old enough to retire?!?! Don't answer that!  I know that I don't feel it but I do know that I don't want to work nights anymore. They really aren't good for you and play havoc with the body clock. I will probably find a part time job of some sort as I do like to have my own money these days but I've no idea what I will do. There is always a great demand for care workers and care is what I have done for the vast majority of my working life. However, I feel that I may have had enough of that type of work despite knowing that I'm really good at it. I'm not sure that I have much more to give to others without it being detrimental to my own health. I do find it difficult to switch off from such work and it hasn't always done me any favours.

So, the future, as always, is waiting to be discovered and none of us know what it holds. I just hope that we all stay happy and healthy. We don't really need much more than that do we?

Right, I'm off for breakfast after applying some anti itch stuff to my ankles😉

 Have a fabulous day.

Xxx