Writing, Eating and Walking...

Another sunny day in VnG...

And today I've almost finished the file update for the re.-release / second edition of Winner- The story is the same of course, but I've improved the grammar and found the typos that were missed by the last edit - going through it all carefully myself this time page by page.

Jane is well into reading 'Take Two'. I spoke to her this morning and she told me she had been reading it at the hairdressers but had to put it down so as not to make a show of herself an burst out crying there and then- I am so pleased (not to make her cry, well, yes and no) that the emotions I poured into the story have come through, and she's hardly half way through yet!

Today is Julie's birthday so I've baked a coffee and walnut cake to take to school. Those teachers are well-spoiled, only yesterday they had raspberry muffins for another of the teacher's birthdays. It's not the most beautiful cake I've ever baked, but it was baked with love and from the offcuts we've tried it's DELISH!

Tonight, after school, we're off to Gilda's again for dinner to celebrate.

And finally, I must just mention my new project- CAMINO 2013!!
Yes I've been wondering where to walk, or whether to walk at all next year, but having had a couple of coincidental things happen telling me about the Camino Ingles I've decided that YES I will be walking again.  (you can find details HERE). It's just 110 -116kms depending on which site you look at, and should take just 4-5 days depending on how many stages we decide to do. And I say we as I have spoken to Janey about it and she's keen to come along again next year. WE are also thinking about then going on to Finisterre (and/or Muxia) on the coast.

SO if anyone would like to join us either for just the Camino Ingles (only 5 days - you know you'd love to!!!!) - we'll see you onto a plane in Santiago, or for the whole thing -we'd love for you to join us. Oh and if you want to walk with us 'virtually' just watch this space as I'll be putting up more news as I find it. Incidentally, today I've been net-surfing to find out about the route an albergues etc

Surprise Surprise

Well, yesterday's surprise celebration eventually went off without a hitch.
We started off with a wander round the Fair. Andrew an I went through the 'Crazy House' which was a good giggle ad fed our inner kids!
Arriving at the cafe where we were meeting for drinks Tony's face was a picture- He just couldn't work out why sally and Michael were sitting there, until Olga and John and the kid poke their head round the corner, then when Julie, June, Sue, Christine and Jordi appeared too he got the message.
WE had a really good evening, and when we moved just down the Paseo to the restaurant (Pica Tapa) with the Birthday Balloons and sang a chorus of 'Happy Birthday' the whole restaurant joined in too, clapping and singing along with us. I'm not sure if Tony was touched but I was -isn't VnG a happy place to be.
After dinner some of us returned to the fair, and The Oliver Diaz Family along with Sally and Michael went on the carousel as we watched pulling face and making various hand signals to them!

Birthday dinner for my man

Last night we went out to dinner with our dearest friend Julie.  Tony wanted to try a restaurant that we'd only visited once before on the main Rambla here in VnG - Gilda. It's right next door to where the old Cocktail bar used to be for those of you that know our town.  

GILDA - Rambla Principal, 114-116. VNG 08800 SPAIN

Telf: 938935735

We each chose to try the 'Menu del dia'. All except one of the five starters was vegetarian, and for main course we could chose any Pizza from the main menu or one of the other choices, two of the others also being vegetarian.

To start we all had paparadella in a four cheese sauce. Thinking as it was the menu the portion would only be small we tucked into the home-made bread rolls before it arrived, only to find the portions were huge. We each followed this with pizzas of our choice- which again were huge.  There were five choices for dessert, but thinking that the ice-cream would be the smallest option we each went for that. It was chocolate ice-cream and had the delightful strong flavour of chocolate truffles. Coffee and Limoncello liqueur were also included in the menu del dia price of 12.50€ which I think you'll agree is amazing value for money.With a bottle of the house white wine, which was very drinkable -slightly fruity yet dry enough to please Julie the bill came to less than 45€ for the three of us!!

We had a table in the courtyard at the back of the restaurant which was the perfect spot on such a hot night. The background music was mellow and not too loud to be invasive, and the service from the waiters and owners friendly and helpful.

To say we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves is an understatement. Julie is always great company and we chatted easily all evening before She jumped on her scooter bound for Cubelles and we walked back up the hill.

On arriving near our barrio I rushed ahead and got Cuddy and Xali for a run around in the park in the cool midnight air. They both loved the additional outing, which for us was the perfect end to a perfect evening.

Later today I am off to the airport to pick up Jane and the whole scene will be played out once more in a different restaurant -most probably Oganquit -but for those details I will keep you hanging on until tomorrow.

60th Birthday Celebrations - DAY ONE

Today is Tony's 60th Birthday. Over the past week cards have been arriving and I have hidden them for him to open this morning -so that was the first ritual of the day, as we had breakfast. The cards have taken up residence for the next few days on top of the TV cabinet. Just above his one of his presents from me- A barometer/thermometer/clock thingy.

Around lunchtime he had an aborted Skype call from his family - aborted as the signal wasn't strong enough for some reason. Then nephew Andrew stepped up and brought a laptop in and the call was back on, just much later. Tony was thrilled to see and talk to his mum, as she was to see and talk to him.

Thsi evening we are out to dinner with Julie in town, which will be a quiet affair, but hopefully an enjoyable one....

Kittens and clutter

Yesterday was Sprout's third birthday. I can hardly believe it was three years ago that I found his bare little body by the skips in a shoebox whilst walking the dogs. Our vet suggested he probably wouldn't survive, but I doggedly fed him every three hours (night and day) for the following few weeks, and not only did he survive he thrived. 

In August 2009 this was him next to his toy:

And this is him now (same toy) - What a handsome young man - and so loving - this afternoon he's spent a lot of time rubbing his nose and face all over mine- leaving me with a fur covered and itchy face- ah that's love! 

Today we've been continuing with our decluttering. It seems no-one wants our books, so sadly (and slightly guiltily) we are dumping them. So if you've been to our place(or seen any listed on our web-site http://personales.ya.com/tulstigespana ) and seen any that you might have liked to read get in touch quick. We've also been going through the cupboards and drawers and chucking out anything that is not of use or too close to our hearts. I'm loving all the clean space it's creating.

A Big Day.....

.....here at Casa TulStig -first of all because it's Xali's birthday -this year he hits thirteen, which in human years is supposed to be ninety-one, and if that's right he's a very sprightly ninety one year old. And that's just two years younger than his grandma Stiggants, who as I mentioned was ninety-three yesterday, and here's the promised photo:

Tone's mum with Jools and Lynne.

Xali's had a very good day - He had a very long walk (his choice) followed by tuna for breakfast and roast chicken for lunch and dinner, and is now relaxing in his favourite chair.

And tonight it's the first semi final of the Eurovision- the show's good, and there are plenty of the usual surprises- Russian grannies and strange goings on and lyrics on stage. Unfortunately it's been tainted for me a bit by a documentary I watched yesterday on the Beeb about the regime in Azerbaijan- not a country with a human rights record to be proud of - if I say 'corruption' and 'mafia' , oh and 'oil' from the President down I think you'll get my meaning. However, like the Eurovision spokeswoman said without Eurovision visiting the documentary would never have happened. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and asking the universe for change. I've not a lot of hope for the UK's chance on Saturday though- Englebert Humperdink singing a song that's a clear rip off of 'mother of mine' from the seventies- retro or what?!?

And a quick 'Camino note' - I'm thinking of getting a new lightweight rucksack -all comments taken into account (please).

Coming Together...

Isn't it great when things come together. A couple of days I had a chat with my guardian spirit and he'd really been working overtime to bring things into focus for me.

At last our 'new door' project is coming to fruition. Fernando, the carpenter, came round and gave us the best quote ever -he's currently got no work on and is ready to start. We're more than happy to employ him, as not only are we getting what we want we're supporting him in the best way possible.

Yesterday  I started a major re-write of my sequel - when I woke I knew that something was wrong with the story as it was and also had a different plot i my head. Today I've written more than I have for days- it's really flowing again, and at today's rate of writing the end wont be too far away.. 

I have also been bemoaning the lack of written communications through our door lately. Today a card arrived from the wonderful Michelle in Australia, enclosing a  recipe for Thai curry too - now that's the kind of mail I really like. Thank you Michelle. 

My Camino plans are coming together too. today I received a tweet about the albergues on the Primitivo route. Perfect additional information. This had a link to a guidebook for the route, which I followed and that should be winging its way to me as I type. 

And finally for today's rambling it's Tony's mum's 93rd birthday. She hasn't been too well recently but yesterday had a bit of a family do. Tony phoned at just the right time - during said do and had nice chat with his mum. Lynne sent us a few photos yesterday evening but as they're on my PC and I'm currently on the laptop I'll add one in tomorrow. Which incidentally is Xali's 13th birthday, so here's a picture of our wonderful lad relaxing with Vinni this afternoon.

Tommy's birthday

Another great day here at Casa TulStig - not in small part to the book I've just finished:

I think I may have mentioned before that I haven't always liked Louise Hay's writing, but this one has pushed me back onto the positive life track that I so love. It has many affirmations which I've started using, and it's also reinforced my beliefs in the laws of abundance and attraction.  A definite recommendation for reading.

As per usual I started the day by feeding the kids- and as today was Tommy's 4th birthday breakfast included an additional treat of tuna. Then a walk with Xali and Cuddy in the warmth of the sunshine.  Next job to answer e-mails and other posts etc, and write the TulStig newsletter for last month (did you get your copy- if not and you want one let me know and I'll add you to our mailing list)


Lunch was in the garden - cream of garlic soup- delicious

Followed by a bowl of strawberries and cream. For the animals there was a selection of pork chops- another treat for Tommy's birthday. Strangely (not) there are no pictures of the meat!!

After lunch we relaxed a while in the garden.

  Cuddy, Xali (Vinnie in the background)

 Birthday boy Tom and Sprout

before retiring to the living room for a little writing, some TV and a delicious dinner of (veggie) meatballs with a tomato sauce and spaghetti.Once again followed by strawberries with mashed banana.

The perfect end to another perfect day.

Birthdays, English and doubles

First of all I must give a big shout out to sister in law Janey a it's her birthday today.

Happy Birthday Old Thing.

And here's a pic of the Game bird with another game bird - daughter Amy.

I may not have mentioned this before but I really do love my job, particularity when it challenges my knowledge of my language. Most of my lasses are advanced classes which test me from time to time, as well as a couple of intermediate classes and a proficiency class (high level) which regularly makes em think. Today I've also had parent-meetings, which I don't enjoy as much, but at least they're over for another year.

BTW -how good is your English? How many of you can complete the following within 12minutes (approx time allowed at exam level) You may need to enlarge the piece to read it. (you can do this by right clicking it and saving it to your pc then printing or enlarging the image)

Walking down the Rambla after school this afternoon I was checking out a young man coming my way and was surprised at his likeness to Nick. He was such a doppelgänger that I almost went over and hugged him. The features were so similar right down to the tattoos. It really was one of those surreal- is it- isn't it moments. Texting Nick the details of the encounter afterwards has given us both a few giggles!

The 'real' Nick:

A Day in pictures

An early morning walk:

Followed by a visit to Denise and Paolo's- it being Paolo's birthday we were dropping his present off- sorry no pic.
Then lunch in the garden again -leek and potato soup. Spot the cats enjoying the balmy weather (just one missing an he wa son the roof sunning himself!).

Tony enjoying my offering.

 And a little baking too- Raspberry muffins.

And just look what's just satrted to blossom - our Camelia:

And now as I type this up on my ne gadget we're watching 'Venice 24/7' and hav ejust seen the cruise ship that we are planning to be on in September coming into town- It looks like we're going to be in for a great view of the city.

Finally thoughts of tomorrow - There's a general strike here in Spain so our schools closed- a day off with pay- a great result. I  just hope there's no trouble in town to mar the demonstrations.

Welcome Liliana....

Yesterday at 11.40 Sue gave birth to Liliana Ivy - 3.2kgs.  Being in a meeting at school meant that we didn't get the message until later on,. Happy to report the whole Jimenez family are doing well. They will be in hospital for a few days though as Liliana wouldn't turn round (breach) so Sue had to have a cesarean, and thus has to wait until everything is healed a bit before they'll let her home. As further updates come in I will keep you all posted , as proud Daddy Jordi is happy to keep us all informed -Sue would just like to get home and join Tony for a burger in Burger King- The food at the hospital being of the usual standard one comes to expect.

And here's a pic Jordi sent us yesterday:

Aside from that there is very little to report from Sunny Spain at the moment. Today was my weekend to work- classes as enjoyable as ever. This evening we are planning a romantic dinner in- well we'll have dinner at home, and the rest of the weekend we'll see how we go on.

Fortunately my sciatica seems under better control, thanks to Liam's little muscle relaxant pills and the pain is negligible, although at night it still kicks in on ad off- perhaps it's time for a new mattress- I shall check out the Internet for something.....

UPs and DOWNs

An interesting couple of days here at Casa TulStig!

Today was the twins birthday - my boys are six years old now!! That's them on the right (with Tommy on the left) so they had tuna for breakfast, chicken for lunch and by teatime none of them were hungry so they've spent the evening lolling around the house- Yup they are spoilt. BTW the tuna and chicken went to all the animals- Tone and I had soup for lunch and veggie burgers with all the trimmings for dinner

Yesterday during the early hours the bar next door was ram-raided. All very odd. We heard a big bang and thought nothing more of it, then our bedroom was lit up by blue lights -The local police had arrived. Just how a car could ram-raid the bar is incredible- the road is so narrow, the bar had heavy flower pots in front of it and it's hardly a fort Knox full of dosh.

Today I've spent a lot of time with Sue. we went shopping and had a coffee, then this evening I picked up her and Jordi to take them to the hospital in readiness for their baby daughter to make her appearance- all very exciting. She's due to pop out tomorrow- I await a text!!

On top of that the Camino Primitivo plans are all up in the air. Nick might not be able to make it, well it's looking less and less likely cos of thing occurring in his life, and maybe Janey will cos of changes in hers. I'm still going, but at the moment the question is will I go alone, with Janey, or with Nick, or even with Nick and Janey.... watch this space!!

Oh and my back/leg  -sciatica. At last I've had a good night's sleep, and even woke up pain free for the first time in about a month. Yesterday Liam gave me a muscle relaxant to take before bedtime. I did and slept well. Today the pain has been minimal. I shall be taking another tonight and hopefully the pain will be on its way for good.

So there you go that's the good and not so good news from Casa TulStig -on balance at least for us things are good.

Weekend Surprises...

Over the weekend we were missing in action from the blog site I'm afraid- well we had a secret mission in hand and were off and away.

After month's of planning with sister in law,Jane, and niece, Amy Tony and I were planning a surprise arrival at my brother, Andrew's birthday party. Andrew was 50 just a little while back, but they were in Barbados partying on the day, so we'd agreed to celebrate this last weekend. We'd had a few moments when we thought we'd given the game away, but fortunately not..... To see his face as he opened the door and saw us standing there- PRICELESS!!  He clearly had no idea!!

So we left here early Saturday morning, flew to Gatwick where we were picked up by Amy. We then did a little shopping, both for the birthday boy and some goodies to bring home. Then we stopped off in Henfield for a while - the village in which I grew up. We dropped into one of the local hostelries for a pint or two before heading out to Andrew and Jane's place. Amy dropped us off at the top of the road and then went off to the do. ten minutes or so later, as agreed, we knoked at the door. Andrew answered and had such a look on his face it was magic. Yup I almost cried!!

Well -The party went on into the later hours and of course I may have had one or two G&Ts too many but we had great time. The evening ended with Andrew and I duetting on Sing-star -a kind of karaoke game.

ON Sunday I cooked breakfast before we headed out to the George (another hostelry) in Henfield for lunch. Before going we called ahead to check there were veggie options, and the chef said he could make sure there was so we booked a table- I ordered the Sunday lunch option without meat and with veggie gravy as previously agreed with the chef on the phone- it confused the waitress slightly but I must say it was exceptional.  . It was the kind of Sunday lunch I would do myself- now believe me that is five star praise.

After that we had to head back to the airport for our flight home, which wasn't a wonderful experience  -thanks Easyjet, but hey ho one in fifty flights or so being a bit off kilter matters not much.

And as for the goodies we managed to haul home: (How many can you name?)

Happy Birthday ....

Today was yet another milestone in the TulStig Household.  Our little girl -the only one in the house- was four years old today.  I can't believe it was four years ago when we went to that little farm down on the seafront adn were chosen by this tiny little puppy, who wanted to come and live with us!
How did this big gorgeous monster.....

 grow from this cute little puppy in just four years...

I am pleased to say that even though she is the equivalent of 28 years of the human-kind she is no more mature than the rest of us!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUDDS!!!