Nothing to do with actual festivities mind, it's just that after our visit to Mercadona, and I forgot to get any wine, can you believe that, it's first on the list and I didn't get any! There we were 8pm, dinner eaten and no vino, where's that emergency bottle of white spirit I keep handy?
I digress, during the visit we picked up some more of these plug into the mains anti mossie repellent thingies. Going to bed last night surrounded by various coloured lights, some blinking some not, was like switching the Christmas tree lights on in Oxford Street. The mossies won't be repelled, they’ll be blinded.
Here's the list, 3 mossies repellents, bright red, constant, 2 gas/CO2 detectors, green, blinking, microwave clock, white'ish, blinking, fridge/freezer, green constant, oh, and my Palm phone, intermittent, green and orange when charging. This morning Tricia said that although she had not drunk a thing she felt like she had had more that a bottle of the fizzy Cava stuff. It wasn't that, it's just with all those bloody lights on she must have thought she had been “clubbing it” until the early hours.
Guess what? Result, no bites.
Today, Sabado, (Saturday) we are walking to Zahora beach and walking in the other direction and SWMBO's taking a bag for some more bloody shells.
Spanish; over the time we have been doing this, coming up two years, we have been picking up some Spanish; numbers, days of the week, time, weights and ordering beer. Now SWMBO has decided that will will work on the body parts, (there may be hope for me yet!) one word at a time. So the last 11 days have given us:-
Face la Cara
Nose la Nariz
Head la Cabeza
Eye el Ojo
Foot el Pie
Mouth la Boca
Ear la Oreja
Arm el Brazo
Shoulder el Hombro
Hair el Pelo
Usually, when the word ends in “o” it's male, i.e. “el” and “a”, female “la”, so what's with “la hand”, should be male but it isn't? I've learnt a word on the side and I can now tell her to stick her el pie up her el culo until she figures it out.
Back to my rant on Nationwide and we’ve sussed it, if you use their debit card and withdraw €100 from the ATM, here in Spain you pay about 3.7% on the transaction, 2.5 % plus £1.50. Also the same if you pay for your groceries at the Mercadona or for diesel, or whatever.
Now if you use their credit card, there is no charge at all and you get THAT days Euro/GBP conversion rate. Tried it yesterday and it was! So by using the NW credit card for everything, keeping a tab and paying it off in full each month, no charges and the money sits in my savings account earning interest, OK not much but some. So NW is giving me credit for a month and saving me money. BTW you do need some cash, for coffees etc. but I got enough out pre November 1st when the ATM charging started.
We like it here but need to move to Roquetas campsite near Almeria to catch the flight back to Gatwick in December, round here it's RyanAir to Stansted and they are all booked up anyway. Worked it out and we could drive it for about €90 return, but no where long term to park there. Flying would be via Madrid and/or Barcelona and expensive. Tried to work it out using “The Fabulous Spanish Railway System”, hell's teeth, there are no direct lines to anywhere, they say there are, but no way Jose. Tried to plan it from San Fernando DAMN!!!! there I've said it and that bloody tune's in my head again, “bidi, bidi, bom, bom, to San Fernando”, shit! Anyway from THAT place it would be about ten changes and I wouldn't guarantee arriving within a two day margin.
Try it:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PszSocNLxY
Now I wasn't going to mention a certain party but he turned up this morning on his recent purchase from Carrefour, a ladies bike complete with a basket on the front, he's on the turn I'm telling you.
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| Goes faster backwards |
After first questioning me as to whether my mother and father were actually married he then proceeded to tell me that this was Debbie's bike and his was back at the Wildcat 5er. So on the way out for our Zahora walk part II, “the other way”, we dropped in to have a look. Notice anything? Hint, the front brake lever is on the left and should be on the right. Yep, Tony had managed to put the front wheel on the wrong way round, “This is how it came, didn't touch it mate!” Yeah, right. An allen key adjustment later and all was fixed. “Did seem a bit wobbly when I took for a spin”.
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| Fixing it |
Still he made up for it big time when on our return he handed over two large cases filled with DVDs, quite a lot of which are our favourites or we haven’t actually seen, so “House” goes back into it's house for a couple of weeks. I don't think I dare let them see our “collection” as they are all just chucked in a box and his, being ex army, are in alphabetical order!
Back to the walk; as you can see we could hardly move as the beach was so crowded. SWMBO set gathering up as many shells as she could but it was sparse pickings as the tide was in. “Well we will not come back at the same time tomorrow, this tide thing is a problem”. I tried to explain to her that the tides does not come in or go out at the same time every day and then I foolishly tried to explain the rule of twelfths, the rule states that in the first hour after low tide the water level will rise by one twelfth of the range, in the second hour two twelfths, and so on according to the sequence – 1:2:3:3:2:1.BTW I got as far as “the rules states” and was told to “shut my gob”.
Still nice walk and back for a very tasty salad with cheese and eggs. SWMBO did not have any egg as she is saving her “egg quota” for tomorrow's chuckie eggs and soldiers, in bed of course, which more or less, marks the start of our week.
Just been ordered to get the kettle on as it's 4pm and cake time, this is from somebody that stated categorically I mustn't buy any cake when we were last in Mercadona, it's a walnut cake, delish.
Last night the plan was Conil's Mercadona then a walk round the town and finish up at the seafront to watch the sunset, missed it by 10 minutes because we went into a free exhibition containing artefacts from World War II. It was the word “free” that drew us in but turned out quite interesting as there were uniforms, helmets, guns, bullets etc. In other words everything SWMBO is really interested in.
So it's back there again tonight and catch that sunset and here it is, courtesy of Tricia.
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| Conil going to sleep |
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