A day off...

With no guests in VnG at the moment, and with Julie arriving back from Australia this lunchtime I had no pressing engagements.  SO it was to all intents and purposes a day off.

Starting the day with a shower for Xali (and myself of course) I followed that up with a couple of lines of washing, then when Tony went down town I swept and mopped through the house, cleaning everything that didn't move on the way.All this was t the background strains of Capital Gold -music from the 60s to the 90s - perfect.

For lunch I threw together a spicy noodle soup.

Whilst Tony was taking his nap I settled down to finish off the book I was reading, and of course was in floods of tears again. Despite that (or is that because of that?) I really enjoyed the book, and thoroughly recommend giving it a go.   
                                             

 

And then settled down at my desk for a bit of writing ... 

not just editing, but also a story in readiment to be uploaded to writey-ho soon. BTW have you voted for your favourite story?

From book to Book...

Yesterday I had a bit of time to get into the book I picked up a couple of days ago - 'It's all about Treo -Life, Love and war with the World's Bravest Dog' by Dave Heyhoe. 

 picture courtesy of Amazon.com

 Unfortunately I also spent the afternoon in floods of tears. The book has had me in gales of laughter, but yesterday it was tears time- am I a softie or what?!

SO today we said goodbye to Judith, dropping her and T at the airport around lunchtime for their Easyjet flight back to the UK. 

Next we went on quite a shopping spree ... First of all to Splau and Primark - Tony got a whole bundle of clothes and new shoes all ready for our cruise next month. I meanwhile wasn't really taken with anything and ended up with a few new knicks. And very lovely they are too. I shall be modelling them later -in private!

Next we hit the hugest supermarket nearby - Al Campo - and stocked up on a few essentials, and some not quite so essentials. After that we needed a little light refreshment so stopped for a beer and a coffee. 

Finally it was back to VnG and to Lidl -other essentials that we really did need. BTW -Lidl are moving across the other side of the roundabout in September to a much larger store... now isn't that exciting!

So now we are bereft of guests , although Olga, John and family are still up the coast visiting family in Costa Brava, and as Julie comes back tomorrow I'm off cat-sitting duties for a while.

Goodness knows what I'll do with myself tomorrow... 

..............well actually I shall be formatting the book - almost there. This evening Ritu & I have been e-mailing re the last three or four illustrations ... I'm just a bit excited about this bestseller I'm about to release... An amazing story is about to get aired...

Mail day

As many of you know I do love a bargain, and I love shopping on-line. Ebay and Amazon are two of my most-used bookmarked sites. (They may not pay their taxes, but they offer me the best deals!)

Anyway I've recently been on-line shopping and we've been waiting for the postman, or delivery company to call. Funnily all the purchases made over the last week or so arrived today. I guess the bank holiday here, turning into a 'puente' meant that everything log-jammed, but still arrived in timely fashion.

So today there were 'presents' for everyone, except the dogs, and Cuddy's still sulking over that, although she did enjoy the box openings!

First of all for me, off e-bay, some Canespro. I've had fungal toenails for some time now (years) in part due to my condition, and nothing I've tried so far has worked. On UK TV I spotted this product and hunted it down on e-bay at a good product +P&P price - I shall let you know how the treatment goes on. This time I am really optimistic.

For Tony I had ordered a couple of new 'Blanace-bracelets'. We are convinced they help his balance so will continue to buy replacements as he wears the old ones out by bashing them into the old walls -now that sounds like he isn't balanced!

And for the cats we have bought a couple of new litter trays. These will be installed in the garden later and filled with new clean sand - they will be happy - no seriously they will!

And so it continues...

So what have we at Casa TulStig been p to since my last post?

On sally & Frazer's last night we had dinner out in Sitges. A drink first in Montroig, followed by dinner in Vikingos, and finally a nightcap on the terrace at The Ceferino, back here in VnG.

The next day I dropped them back at BCN airport and waved them off to the UK. The following day (11/08) Olga, John, Wills and Monica arrived for their three week holiday, staying at her dad's old flat in Gava. Then on Tuesday (13/8) Judith and Tenelle arrived, also into BCN. Having picked them up I dropped them at the Atenea Park Aparthotel where they are staying.

The 13th and 14th were Fiesta Major in El Tacó, so loads going on around us. To celebrate Fiesta Major on the Thursday (15/08) and enjoy some time with all the above (except Sally & Frazer of course who were well back in the UK by now) we invited everyone round for dinner. And I think I can say we all enjoyed ourselves and the food I threw together. The Cheese provolone dip thing that I made was especially popular, as was the Lemon Meringue pie!

On Saturday I met  Judith & Tenelle on the seafront for a drink, then we all walked back to ours. I should have been meeting up with Sue later, who arrived back from visiting her mum in the UK a couple of days before, but her timings were off, and with my responsibility for feeding in Cubelles at the moment we didn't meet up after all.
Today we've had an enjoyable lunchtime with Judith and Tenelle again, back at La Fasana -where we enjoyed a delicious vermut and a few tapas.

Phew (again) .. and you all think summer here is an easy ticket... and we ain't finished yet!!!

Along with all these social goings on I've also been tending the Allotment and finishing of the final edit of my upcoming children's book!!

Two day catch up

Another couple of busy days behind me, and I am feeling fine.

On Tuesday I met up with some ex/current students (Proficiency level) for a drink. Sally and Frazer joined us for a while, so there was plenty of English practise for Alberto, Laura, Guillermo, & David. 

Yesterday I met Juliana for a coffee early on, and to give her a copy of 'The Magic of the Camino' for her mum. I still get a thrill when I sell and sign a book to someone. I am now out of stock here at home so need to order some more...

In the evening Sally and Frazer joined us at Casa TulStig for dinner. They arrived  little early, which could have been embarrassing as in this weather I cook wearing just an apron, so had to rush to the bedroom and dress as soon as the doorbell went. Sally arrived with a beautiful bunch of flowers and a  smelly candle from one of my favourite shops on the Rambla (Mon Verd). 

 

We had a lovely evening filling our faces and chatting. I even brought out a couple of old photo albums allowing us to reminisce about the past few years -goodness we go back a  long way!

This morning I was up the allotment first thing -all very dry now. Some plants have suffered but some are still doing well. The Brussels sprouts and espigall is coming along despite being so dry. 

Another visit to Julie's for feeding etc, then a day updating websites (I got round to it at last) and dealing with other mail etc... all in all a very productive day.

Today in a nutshell (plus)

• Fed the cats- R2's now having salt added to his to make him drink more- hopefully preventing urinary problems again (Vet says it'll be effective,  and safer and cheaper than an Op)
• Walked Xali & Cuddy
• Breakfast -muesli with rice milk -Mmm
• Replied to mails and messed about a bit on the PC
• Down to Cubelles to feed Julie's babies (cats) -Think Doris's happy pill is wearing off -she went for my ankle today
• Lunch - eggs sarnies
• Quick (20 minute) siesta
• Off to airport to pick up Sally & Frazer
• Drop Sally and Frazer at Ribes Roges Hotel - got invited to join the VnG Bordegassos! 
• Home - ironing (no -Tony not me!)
• Get ready to meet Sals and Frazer at Beverly Hills for pre-dinner drinks, dinner in Gildas & the procession in town tonight.

All that and it is a Bank Holiday here in VnG -do I sit still around!?

Oh and BTW if I didn't mention it before anyone know of anyone who can take on two puppies. Julie rescued them from the road where they would have surely been run-over, but now they need rescuing from the refuge.

 

Vermut

What a great afternoon we have had today with wonderful friends, old and new.

We caught the bus down to the square near 'La Fassina' early this afternoon, for a Sunday Vermut. Liam was already there with some friends so we joined their table, soon after James arrived, followed by Denise and Paolo.

Once again the barman offered us fishy taps until I reminded him that we don't eat fish or meat. I guess he will remember us eventually! So we got a packet of crisps instead, and a few olives. 

While we were there the Pabordes arrived (something like Morris dancers) with the giants of the town (this week is Fiesta Major). One of them came over for a chat 'Remember me?' he asked - he was the man who married us six years ago in the Town Hall, and always says hello when he sees us.

Chatting away the afternoon while drinking vermut negro is a great way to relax on a Sunday.

Denise and Paolo were kind enough to drop us off home and dropped in for a quick drink, so we sat in the garden for another hour or so and enjoyed a dip I made yesterday and some sausages that I'd cooked for breakfast this morning. 

Good food, good friends, sunshine - what more can one need?