Wednesday 8th December 2010, Roquetas and where's the sun cream.

Heavens it's hot.

Heather baby (our daughter) is 30 today so gave her a call and looking forward to her party when we get back on 11^th.

The taxi to the airport is about €30'ish so that will be about €70 return when you tip and add the extra charges that they usually make up on the spot. Sitting outside the other day and Henk, our Dutch guy next door was asking us how long we were staying and when we told him we were flying back for Christmas he said he would drop us AND pick us up in January! Friendly or what!

Yesterday went for a walk up to El Parador, the local small town and had coffee at our “usual” café. It was May this year we were last there, seems longer because we keep thinking of it as “last year”, makes sense as our “year” is from September to the next June.

 I have to lift the waste-hog a fair way off the ground when emptying the black stuff, which can be very difficult, problem now solved with a piece or strong cord and a short length of rubber pipe! Other problem was the nearest water tap is 2 meters further away than my flat, roll up, 25 m water pipe, problem solved again, genius!

Washing day and as I was emptying the hog of grey water, down the small yellow man hole covered orifice, next to the toilet block, one of my hog caps fell into it, hell's teeth! Had to remove the very large and very heavy, non yellow, man hole cover near it and buried in the sludge a meter down, there it was. Ran back and got SWMBO's sweeping brush hoping while I was gone, that a small child, or car, or old German woman, or bicycle, or the Spanish orange delivery man, had not fallen down the gaping hole and I was going to be sued to hell and back. All was OK and retrieved the cap, irreplaceable over here, that thing is. Put it down as far away from the hole as possible and struggled manfully to get the man hole cover back in place, and a car ran over it! BTW should that not be a person hole cover?

Whilst taking in the sun outside the MS, Henk, our new airport chauffeur, took time out to introduce his wife Fenni, to us and mentioned to her about the lift to Almeria airport on Saturday. They then went into a rapid and complicated discussion which slid easily from hyperbole to litotes with a bit of sarcasm and irony thrown in, obviously concerning something about what they (she) had already planned for Saturday, but being completely in Dutch, went right over our heads. So we still get the lift? Also by some devious means or other SWMBO has managed to wangle a lift from Claudio at the other end. Sweet or what?

Thursday 9^th December 2010, Roquetas and a last quick wash before we go.

Another warm, sunny, windless day, oh the boredom of it all.

Last night it was baked potato covered in home made (MS made?) chilli con carne and some weird Spanish green beans which, coupled with the extant kidney beans and chic peas, may cause a minor revolution “down there” come tomorrow morning. (and it did!)

SWMBO has relented and we are only washing the white things but not, thank God, not all the sheets.

I mean every two weeks! I only get into bed, sleep, get out of bed, that's it! Don't read, complete jigsaws, render walls and alcoves, I don't knit or crochet, listen to music, re-wire 3 pin plugs or deduce the amplitude of SWMBO's snoring. Get in, sleep, get out. What the hell do I do in there (don't even think about that) that makes her want to change and clean ALL the sheets every two weeks? Men are from Mars and SWMBO is from Sunderland, answers everything.

Boring?

When that's finished will do a practice pack and have a final, final look for my UK Vodafone sim.

I had put it in a safe place, told her where I had put it so she could remind me later and we've both forgotten where it is, was or may be.

Then probably a quick cycle ride through to Aquadulce, nice place for coffee and cake.