My Favourite Blog Post

Its five years since we took the boys to London, we hadn't been in the UK long, it was the most fantastic day, and Bombos post on the day summed it all up nicely.

You can read it here

He has never written a post since!

Planning For The UK

What can I say about the Manchester bombings that have not already been said....not a lot really.

I cant imagine the grief that the  family  and the friends of the victims are feeling. Losing elaine was without a doubt the worst thing that has ever happened to me, and nothing in the future will be that bad. But we knew it was going to happen, we planned to live as good as life as we could, we planned the funeral together and we said our goodbyes, it was bloody awful but at least when it all ended it was quite peaceful and to be honest a relief.

With these poor people they have none of that, it must be so unbearable, it certainly affected me for a few days, I couldn't and still cannot get my head round the whole sad episode. Unfortunately there will be more of these attacks, it's just so so sad and wrong.

Meanwhile down in Mojacar life goes on, a few of us were invited to a friends house for a BBQ and very nice it was too.

The host Brian is due to return to the UK next Wednesday, he winters here in Mojacar, but this time he seriously doesn't want to go back, I think he may be back sooner rather than later.  

The car is back looking like new again, I had the front end resprayed whilst it was getting the damaged door and wheel arch repaired, it is now absolutely pristine, how long it will last that way is anyone's guess. 

My plans for my return trip to the UK are coming along nicely, I will be driving back through through France to Calais, it's a bit more difficult without the motorhome, so I have booked a Hotel in Teruel (Spain), then Bordeaux and Rouen in France. I will take the shuttle under the Channel, next stop will be Elaine's sisters near Maidstone, then Mousehole for two weeks, next stop will be my sisters caravan for ten days near Napton on the Hill. After that the caravan will be moved to Stoneleigh near Coventry where I will watch my niece do her stuff in the showjumping arena for six days. After that its two weeks on the Lancaster canal on a narrowboat, I have done a swap with some friends, I have the boat whilst they take off to Scotland in my car for a couple of weeks. No real plans after that, I hope to spend some time in the Macclesfield area, and also some time down south with some Aussie friends who will be in the UK for a month. Im really not sure how its all going to work out especially travelling on my own, but I do need a bit of a challenge. 

Peace xx

Angels XXX

Elaine spent nearly two months in the East Cheshire Hospice and passed where there last August 18th.

As I have said before, the staff there were the most passionate, caring and all round lovely people I have ever  met. I still get messages from them every now and again asking how I am going which is so thoughtful.

One lady (Jill) had a very strong attachment with Elaine, she spent hours with her talking about everything and anything plus of course looking after her needs, she brought in jars of Polish gherkins for her when Elaine was having strange cravings.

She sent me a message a little while ago that her and her husband Matt were coming to Mojacar as they have friends in the area and would I like to meet up for lunch.  

Of course I wanted to meet up, so yesterday we had the most wonderful lunch and catch up, their friends Jo and Clive also came along and were fantastic company.

We also had a video chat with some of the nurses who were working at the hospice, namely Carly, Sarah and Clare plus one whose name I cant remember.

All of these ladies are angels, and I can never thank them enough for the care that they gave to Elaine and the support that they gave to me and the boys during that emotional time.

Jill and myself

 It was a very long lunch at a fantastic restaurant, thank you for your company guys x

Jill, Matt, Clive, Jo and myself

 Later in the afternoon we went across the road to the beach, they all went for a swim, but I had to leave them to do a few chores, we will all meet up again in the not too distant future.

I went down to the garage early evening to check on progress with the Jag, she is looking good and should be ready to pick up in the middle of next week.

In the evening it was time to go to the pub, and listen to some really good music by Ashley and Dainius.

Whilst there I met up with another couple of Angels whose friendship means so much to me.

They are mature well above their years, and have been a fantastic help and support to me over the last 9 months or so.

The gorgeous Eva.

Lovely Lily.

Angels rule OK XX

Sometimes I Do Pinch Myself...

Its been over nine months since Elaine's funeral and to be honest it has been a struggle with some bad black patches.  Thankfully i'm feeling much more positive and am really starting to appreciate where I live.

I have always known that it is without a doubt the best part of Spain, we travelled extensively throughout Spain in our two motorhomes, and nothing comes close to our little  paradise.

The last few weeks I really have started to appreciate living here.

This morning on my walk to the coffee shop I took a few pics as it was an absolutely perfect day weatherwise, most days are good but today was a cracker. 

My villa is smack in the middle of the pic, its totally quiet, but only a five minute walk down to the paseo and the beach, ten minutes back up tho! 

The beach is always stunning. 

The mountains behind Mojacar make a perfect backdrop. 

 Another aspect of living in Mojacar and Spain in general is that it is so cheap, we went to the restaurant below last night, normally we just go to tapas bars or a beach bar but on special occasions we go to one of the more up market restaurants.  Sensations is a fantastic restaurant, with brilliant service and ambiance.  Last night the  three course dinner cost 12 euro or £10.30 or in Aussie dollars $18.00. You also get a free drink with your bill, a baileys, limoncello or rum etc.  Drinks during dinner are extra but are very very cheap.   

This is the entrance, I couldn't get an inside shot because I had the doggies with me, but believe me it is fantastic. 

On the walk back we passed Ankara, we normally go here early evening on the weekends to watch some live music, it's in a brilliant location, you can sit on the wall with your drink and its not a problem whatsoever, no bouncers and never any trouble. 

A better view of my pad on the way back along the paseo, it's the one on the far right.  

And a close up....I spent a fair bit of time cleaning it today, it's bloody huge for just me and two dogs so I'm thinking about getting a cleaner in once a week. Anyone want a job?? 

Once I got back home I decided to go down the garage and see how the car is progressing, the assessor has been and the repairs have started, but they did tell me it would take months to get my money back from his insurance, paperwork is a nightmare in Spain, they just dont rush anything through. In the paperwork and bureaucratic dept Spain is still very much in the Franco era! 

Talking of paperwork the motorbike is finally in my name after 9 months of going from pillar to post, I rode it to the garage and did a few other chores, it hasn't run in months and took a while to start, but once going it was no problem at all. 

So sometimes I do pinch myself and consider myself very privileged to live this life, I dont feel lucky as none of it was luck, it was all planned, I have never been left a cent it's all been down to hard work.

Now work is well and truly over for me, so Im going to enjoy this part of my life with no apologies or regrets.

Of course one thing would make it perfect beyond belief and that would be to have my lovely gorgeous wife Elaine with me. She is with me in my thoughts every minute of every day and will be there until my dying breath which will hopefully be a little way away. She is also with me physically in the form of some of her ashes which I carry  in a small locket around my neck, it only comes off if I have a shower or go for a swim.

Peace x

  

My Wedding Anniversary Goes Awry

Sunday would have been our tenth wedding anniversary, I really didnt know how I was going to handle it or how I was going to feel.

Normally my Sundays are spent listening to bands and ending up at a beach bar, a few beers and wines are generally consumed. 

I really didnt fancy doing that so I thought I would go for a nice drive in the Jag, then would spend a couple of hours in the late arvo  watching Man Utd play in the pub. 

Earlier in the day I walked the doggies and had a coffee at a local cafe, one of the staff (Lily) is a very good friend and knows how low I was a few weeks ago.  I was telling her of my plans, she said if I wanted to go for dinner or a drink later she would happily join me. I replied no I will just spend it on my own and have a quiet one......... More of that later!    

So back to the wedding anniversary, we got married on 14th May 2007 at The Little Church Of The West in Las Vegas.

We only had two guests.... Jane and Andy, who were friends from Macclesfield, Elaine and Jane went to school together.

After the wedding we had drinks and wedding cake in our room, then had dinner in the lovely Bellagio hotel which was the hotel where we where staying .

Below are a few pics of that lovely day....

Back to the present day, the doggies were loaded in the back of the Shaguar and off I went on my mini road trip.

It was a lovely day, I just drove inland and stopped at little villages whenever I fancied it and went walkabout. 

Heading back down the mountain towards Mojacar and home. 

Whilst I was up in one of the villages a little voice in my head (Elaine) said dont mope and feel sorry for yourself, so I called Lily and said yep Im up for dinner later, I will pick you up at 20.30.

I dropped the dogs off at home then drove down to the pub watch Man Utd, the game was crap, they lost!

I left the pub at 19.30  so I could go home and smarten myself up for dinner.

When I walked towards the car I nearly died.....Some twat had smacked into my unmarked lovely car!

I went back into the bar to tell Jay the Landlord what had happened, he was just shutting up for the night. He came outside and noticed a note on the screen.   

He had smacked in the rear door and wheel arch and apparently taken off up the road, luckily for me my car was parked outside a bar where lots of people watched the POS (Piece of Shit) hit my car and take off, unfortunately for him he was held up by traffic so they got his reg number and type of car etc.

Jay has lived in Spain since he was a teenager and is fluent in Spanish, he called the cops, and ten minutes later the cops pulled up.

We showed them the note and within minutes they had found all his details on their car computer, they rang him and told him they were coming up for a chat, ten minutes later they returned with the POS driving his battered POS.

The witnesses had said he backed into my car, and to me it was pretty obvious looking at the rear corner of the car that this was the POS and his POS car.

As he got out of his car I asked him whilst only swearing slightly why the fck did you just drive off, his response was I dont speak English!! Later on he was talking to Jay in fluent English!!

The POS was of Pakistani origin, not saying that in a racial way, that's what the cops told us when they were checking out his details on their computer, I still prefer the term POS (Piece of Shit)

He denied that he hit my car he denied that he was driving, he totally denied everything put to him.

The cops lined his car up next to mine and the damaged lined up perfectly, but their concern was that there was no red paint on his car. Without that it was a bit dodgy, they then said to the POS why was the car filthy except the area where he had hit my car, they looked inside his boot and found polish and rags, the POS had polished the red off of his car. The cops were so pissed off because they knew it was him but he just stood there smirking. Then bingo the cop scraped red paint off of his rear light lens, got you you lying POS.

They were so thorough taking photos etc, basically they hated being lied to by the POS.

Finally after 2 hours he admitted it, but only by saying to the cop If you said I hit it then I must of!

The cops then said our job is done, so fill out your accident reports we are off, the POS then says he can't read or write!! The cops were fuming, no probs they said we will fill it out and you can sign it, then the POS then started reading out his insurance details, what a rotten POS he was in all aspects. After three hours we were sorted but only thanks to two fantastic cops, my mate Jay the translator and the people sat outside the bar, I owe them all big time.

In the meantime I had been messaging Lily saying if you want to cancel its no problem, but no the lovely girl she is said just come whenever you are finished.....We sat down in the restaurant at 22.30!  I had a lovely night, we went to a bar after dinner and I ended getting home at 04.00.

Monday morning I was up early and straight down to the insurance office in Mojacar, they were great, they filled out all the forms and took the accident sheet etc. They told me to take it to the local smash repair place and leave it with them, and they would get an assessor out asap.

This morning (Tuesday) I had a call from the main insurance office in Gibraltar, they had received all the paperwork, it was a cut and dried case, and that the assessor would go around later in the day and give the go ahead for the repairs to be carried out, they told me to relax do nothing and they would chase up the POS insurers for the cost etc. I wouldn't lose any no claims etc......RESULT!

I really didn't care about the damage to the car, it's just a car, it was just the POS that lied and lied and lied.  As I said you could tell that this POS was and had always been a snake and would be a lying snake until his dying day.

It was a strange wedding anniversary.

I Love you Elaine xxxxxxx

Holidaying In Mojacar

I have had my niece Kimberley staying with me for the last week, I asked her what she wanted to do whilst she was here, her answer was to spend time with me and just chill.

So we did, normally my life is taken up with normal mundane stuff like shopping, cleaning the house, car etc, walking the dogs etc.  I do pop down the pub for a drink most nights and always have a coffee at a cafe sometime in the day, but for this week I was going to go into total holiday mode.

We went down the beach, swam in the sea, laid on the beach beds whilst sipping cocktails.

My villa hasnt got a pool as I'm perched on the edge of a cliff, so we used a friends.

Kimberley is just floating around before we went to lunch at one of the local chiringuitos. 

It was starting to get very enjoyable doing nothing. 

 Bombo came with us to Lua where we watched a band and drank more cocktails. 

We went to La Carolina, which is mine and Elaine's favourite beach in Spain, we spent most of the afternoon there and also had lunch at a beachside bar. 

Bombo also had his much needed haircut whilst Kimberley was here. 

We did plenty of walking along the paseo. 

And more chillin in another friends pool. 

Yesterday we went quad biking up and over the mountains behind Mojacar. 

 We went with a group of friends, it was excellent fun.

Lovely views up there. 

We finished last night with a few beers down the local pub, accompanied by Pizza and pool.

It was the most fantastic week and I really enjoys Kimberleys company, we also spent a lot of time reminiscing about Elaine and mum, a lot of tears were shed.

I took her back to Almeria airport this morning for a tearful farewell.

I can thoroughly recommend a holiday in Mojacar.

As we have been out every day and night I have to now start the big clean up and get the place back into some sort of shape again, I didnt want to do it when Kim was here, it would have ruined the holiday!