Swins 2010 2011 tour, where are we now?: Saturday 7th May 2011, BP and it's a storm coming, the weather that is, not our daughter Heather.

(pictures at end as usual)
Saying that, who knows, depends on her mood when she gets here?

Yep, thunder, lightening and rain is due for the day and into the evening, then hopefully, if the forecast is correct, four days of glorious sunshine.

Last night it was boules, me 13 – 7, doms, her 3 – 1 , damn! Chicken and veg and some mini pizzas and then half of “Gladiator” before she fell asleep. Conversation went like this; “Tricia, you're asleep!” Snore, snore, snore, “Eh?, what?, hic, no I'm not”, snore, snore, snore. “Yes you are!” “No I'm.......mmmmmmmmmt.” Snooooooooooooooooooooore".

We have not put any “green” down so you have to wear flip flops and try to prevent bringing loads of gravel into the MS, when I come to think of it we only started using green when we were at Marjal, not BP.

Changed the gas bottle, 5 weeks, not bad. They wanted €16.50 to change it on site at reception, a BP (not B Park, Brit Petrol) is only one mile away and it's €14 there, so no brainer.

SWMBO had said she would wash the car this morning and after I'd picked myself up I told her where the car shampoo was, she's now called it off as it is going to rain “that bloody brown stuff”.
When they get lightening it often starts a fire in the adjoining mountains and they use helicopters and flying boats to drop water on the fires. Both aircraft use the sea to fill up, for the helicopter some sort of bag, and the plane appears to semi land (sea?) and scoop water straight into it's hold, would really like to see that.

Back to BP. One of it's foibles as I now remember is the showers, depending on the one you choose and what is going on around you, the shower temperature fluctuates sometime quiet alarmingly. For instance, you are in there with the water temperature set to high'ish and someone flushes the toilet, if you are in shower #1, 0.1 seconds will elapse before you are scalded appallingly, shower #5 (the end one), 1.2 seconds and plenty of time to step out of the water stream momentarily. Of course if the cleaning lady comes in you are better off turning the setting to cool as she obviously take a devious joy in filling her bucket from the various spigots around the block and can be heard chuckling merrily as she listens to the screams of pain and anguish from the shower stalls.

Of course when ever I think of anything bad about BP I am immediately cheered up at the thought that there is a Mercadona and a Lidl (may God bless and keep it) within a couple of minutes walking distance. I have been known, apparently, in moments of melancholy, to go and just lean against a Lidl (may God bless and keep it), just to cheer myself up, one day I'm going to work there, think of the discounts!

Today is going to be a little walk into town to get some, sink plugs, BBQ lighter and two catapults (don't ask) and then on way back get some other stuff from Mercadona. One of the things we were also going to get is a very small notepad for our shopping lists as the one we used is now full. Brainstorm! Use the back of the previous receipt! Why didn't I think of that before? Brilliant!
One of the jobs I had set myself when I retired over two years ago now, was to name all the MP3 music files I had converted from vinyl and CD for about 20 years or so, over 4,000 of the buggers.
Well as of yesterday, I've finally finished and also replaced the tracks on my portable MP3 so now instead of listening to track EJ #7.mp3 I can listen to “Come down in time”, by Elton John, one less thing.

SWMBO is changing the sheets for Heather coming and I'm going to suffer the agonies of the “rock n roll” bed with a sleeping bag, four nights only, thank the Lord.

Unfortunately caught myself reading the Telegraph online and all the TV coverage, about the recent AV business, a quote from Edward Murrow comes to mind; "When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained." such is life I suppose.
If there were any spelling or grammar mistakes in the last epistle it's my fault as SWMBO did not get to proof read it (as she always does BTW) as I posted it in a hurry, normally try to complete it weekly (very) on Thursdays.

Popped out to the town and picked up a paella gas BBQ and 50 cm pan, can't wait! Also got a set of six boules for €13, about €25 in Carrefour, how do they do it?

Just been out to wash the car as second born is arriving soon and SWMBO is in “tidy” mode. It's raining while I do this but I'm not as off my trolley as the six Brits playing boules next to me. The car was covered in bird crap so it took some doing. SWMBO is vacuuming as if her life depended upon it and the whole MS is getting a spruce up all round, is royalty coming?

Much more important, Sunderland are playing Bolton Wanderers today and need a win, will not know until I we get back from the airport so will be on tenterhooks until then. Her flight arrives at 7:55 pm at Valencia so if she is on time we should be back at the MS around 10 pm at the latest, they will have been constantly yacking all the way and will obviously continue so I will have time to get on the internet and check.

Just checking the pitch rent and if we stay an extra two days we pay €35 less because the tariff drops over 61 days, as the cost of changing our ferry back will be at worst €10, why not? Except, “I've got a hairdressers appointment on the 24th!” So that's that then.

I'm sure they are profiteering here, just found out it's €4.20/hour for the tennis, RDM had two courts and they were free!

Hell's teeth! Just had an almighty clap of thunder and it's getting very dark at 5 pm here, so probably in for it as forecast. "Fiery the angels rose, and as they rose deep thunder roll'd around their shores: indignant burning with the fires of Orc." For the uneducated it's from William Blake's America; a prophesy, and not from Blade Runner, that's a miss quote. Comes from being force fed English literature for two hours every Thursday morning, instead of one, because some stupid git had burned down the Woodwork block, back in the 60's, at Farringdon Secondary in Sunderland.

Sunday 8th May 2011, BP and the Sun (and daughter) are here for a few days.

Picked Heather up at 8pm last night, she had landed early and we did not even park, straight out of arrivals into the back of the Truckasarus and away. It was raining and stormy when we left but had cleared up when we got back at 9 pm. This morning it's hot and sunny and I've had to prepare TWO chucky egg and soldiers.
Last night we just talked, after a dinner of delicious home made chicken curry and rice followed by a few red wines. I had previously relented at SWMBO's behest and bought bottles of wine instead of the usual gallon as we had to appear at our best for second born. Four very nice bottles of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007, from Lidl (may God bless and keep it) at €2.49 each, what a rip off! We only drank two.

Heather brought Tricia's anniversary present with her, a Panasonic HM-TA1, or in other words a HD video/8 Mp stills camera about the size of a Nokia mobile phone, I've......er sorry, she has always wanted one, and it fits on her utility handlebars a treat! I will probably need another 1TB external disc drive to store the videos judging from her history with her present stills camera, remember the 500 pictures in four days in Granada? Anyway she is very happy with it and as soon as she's mastered it I may be posting some small videos, who knows?

No cards, boules or doms, last night, just bed.

After a late breakfast it was a walk down and along the beach, coffee and then back to the MS. Then down to the swimming pool to sunbathe and after 50 minutes Heather's bored and wants to go on a cycle ride. So she's got my bike and they're off along the cycle path to Oropesa, the same trip as we did the other day, I'm left to prepare dinner, roast Moroccan chicken with veggies.

Game of boules and after a lucky start from Heather, plays like she's taking no prisoners and fairly hurls the boules down the pitch, Tricia came out the winner, second Heather and my sorry arse trailed in a very bad last. Dinner as prepared and then “Deja Vu”, STARRING Denzel Washington, I think I'd seen that before actually. More fizz and wine and then bed.

Monday 9th May 2011, BP and a bit quieter this morning.

Got told to make less noise when I get up on the morning as I'm making their breakfasts, apparently I “woke” them up on Sunday about 8:30 am, I'd been up since 7! So this morning, quiet as a mouse and then they finally hove to around the 10:30 am mark.

Then they were off to the shops after emptying my wallet of any cash, returning just in time for chicken wraps for lunch and then back down the beach, after going through my pockets for any extra coins, I stayed in and “did” things, cooking and mending etc. I'm fairly sure they will make an appearance around 6'ish just in time for a quick shower and then sit down to steak and all the trimmings, for dinner.

Quite a lot of transients on the site, a couple of vans parked next to us last night about 10 pm and were gone again when I got up this morning, poor buggers probably on their way back to the UK.
Fixed the rear bike alarm, filled up with water, did a bit of shopping and generally cleared up a bit.
Yep, 6:35 pm and I'm getting the dinner ready and here they come on cue. I'm doing fillet steaks with garlic potatoes for them, I'm having a pizza (BTW there were only two steaks in a pack, go figure). The steaks here are not cheap but taste absolutely great so it was not a surprise when they both started eating everything went quiet, they had actually stopped talking!

A Knights Tale with the late Heath Ledger, no he's dead already, and then bed, no boules or domino results today.

Tuesday 10th May 2011, BP and a tad cloudy?

It's 9:45 am, not a sound from the bedroom, they're still both in bye bye land, won't wake them and trying to type this as quietly as possible. Don't know yet, as I have not been told, as to what the plan is and what we are going to do with the day.

Internet is down again, sometimes it drops out and you have to wait an hour or so until this system clears down because you can't log in as it thinks you already are logged in and there can't be duplicate ID's on the system. To log out you have to go to their log out screen only to fully terminate from the system, so if it drops out the above happens.

Just dropped them off in Castellon after she found my “secret” € stash, well not exactly “found” but after threatening me with her catapult armed, with 1.5 cm ball bearing (where did she get them?) I kinda buckled and told her where it was, in the bag where I keep my wastehog spares, somewhere she would normally never look. I'm to go back and pick them up about 6'ish, yep, when the shops have opened again after siesta.

By the cringe! Just checked the stats on the blog and I've had over 2,000 hits on this one alone, there are four, but get this, from 10 countries, two guys are in Russia! What's that all about then?
Have mentioned the CC rally here and OK each to his own, but I am basically an anti social bastid, SWMBO is a little right wing of that, we like our own company. So about 50 of them came and took over the boules courts next to us, again OK, that's what they are there for. Then the leader chap starts up (never a chapess BTW), you can always tell them apart, sandals and socks, shorts that are a guess at short longs or long shorts, hat or knotted handkerchief and a voice that sounds like his cojones are permanently tightly clasped in a small vice, and usually loud.

“The first activity is as follows; Henry is playing with Hillary, George is playing with Pippa, Gary is playing with Mildred and Patrick is playing with Herbet”. Up until the last one I thought “aye aye should get the video out, might make some money on the porn channel”. Then again it takes all kinds. Mind when I found out that Patrick's surname was Fitzherbert and Herbert's, Fitzpatrick, well some things not right are they? Says so in the scriptures.

But then they went and marked out a boules pitch on the pitch next to us, on one guy's backswing he very nearly spilt my OJ as I was having late breakfast by the MS.

Back to the spending duo. On the way to picking them up and had a call “Can you come a little later?” They had been there for 6 hours already! They were both carrying bags from Zara! Back and then the parade at what they had bought and I had paid for. SWMBO; “We need more hangers in the wardrobe and do you really need all these clothes?”

Heather wanted a lie down so we went off to plays boules and I lost 2 games to 1.
No dinner as they had had “a rather large lunch”, so it was just snacks as we watched “Field of Dreams” with Kevin Kostner, got quite crowded in the MS.

Bed and I was told to sleep “quieter” because I had woke them up last night when I turned over in the rock and roll bed.

Got up quietly and SSS then made breakfast, washing up and doing a bit of catching up on the blog.
They walked down to the beach, I don't like lying on the beach, and after about 2 hours I cycled down with their lunch of FSOJ and some chicken salad wraps, hard life for some.

Took them back to Castellon at 5pm, just in time for the shops to open, both wearing what they had just bought yesterday so there was no way they were taking anything back. I was told to get them at 7:30 pm unless I received any other instructions.

Tonight is anyone's guess as we want to stay in, go out, play Ludo, have a game of Boules, eat out, eat in, yep it's a two women story and I can't keep up anymore, it was bad enough with just one. Roll on tomorrow and we get the younger one on the plane, unless she decides to stay!

How mad is this, look at this receipt (see picture), beer IS cheaper than soft drinks, no wonder I'm driven to it, or in the case of BP, walk or cycle.

Decision was I cook another steak dinner with chips, I get a beefburger, ludo and then tried to watch Amazing Grace but didn't like it so it was bed for all.

Thursday 12th May 2011, BP and she's gone back, blood pressure returning to normal.

No, it's been a delight having second born with us for a few days, her and SWMBO spent a lot of needed, quality time together. So it was up at 9 am for all, crispy bacon sandwiches for the girls, coffee for me, and then the 55 mile trip to Valencia airport. No mishaps and we got her there in good time. We planned to take in a campsite near Valencia, about 15 miles along the coast, it was pretty dismal and we will be giving it a miss. Then back through the town and on to the A7 north until, just after a junction, a motorway fire, all stop for over an hour.

Back to MS eventually and then down to Mercadona to replace the half of the fridge that second born had eaten, mind she's still rather slim for it.

On the way back a couple of Spanish kids had a display of sea shells, SWMBO got the idea, they were for free and took one, by the look on the young lad's face I didn't think they actually were gratis. Having told her this she felt she had to give them some sweets in recompense so when I got back to the MS I handed her a packet of miniature chocolate Easter eggs Heather had not found, “I'm not going to give them them all, give me a few out!”

Motorhome and attached trailer turned up and parked in the pitch next to us, taking all the afternoon sun, still they are only here for one night, phew!

Dinner was a mixture of chips, eggs, fish fingers and peas although not necessary in that order, boules me, 2-1, doms, her 3-1 and then half of “Blazing Saddles” BY Mel Brooks, one of my all time favourites, but she fell asleep.

Earthquake in Lorca, a place we had passed on the A7 coming up here, 10 dead, in Spain? Where's this God then, kids and pregnant women?

Typing again at 1 am, can't sleep, mind buzzing in circles for I reason I do not know, Friday the 13th problem I suppose, probably start on the chillies and pickled onions in a minute. Still TGIF today tomorrow/today, no work, what am I saying, there is no work anymore. Also blog host is not working, down for maintenance, so I don't know when I will be posting this.

Tomorrow is going to be a big wash day including sheets so up with the new washing lines and the general emptying and filling of the tanks. Will be using, if possible the on site washing machines and as it's kinda full and there only three of them, may have to queue a bit.

Some great quotes from Blazing Saddles:-
"Hedley Lamarr:My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.
(me tonight, can't sleep)
Taggart:God darnit, Mr. Lamarr, you use your tongue prettier than a twenty dollar whore."
"Hedley Lamarr:My mind is aglow with whirling, transient nodes of thought careening through a cosmic vapour of invention.
(me tonight again)
Taggart:Ditto.
Hedley Lamarr:"Ditto?" "Ditto," you provincial putz?"
And the best:-
"Taggart:What do you want me to do, sir?
Hedley Lamarr:I want you to round up every vicious criminal and gunslinger in the west. Take this down.
[Taggart looks for a pen and paper while Hedley talks]
Hedley Lamarr:I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists.
Taggart:[finding pen and paper] Could you repeat that, sir?"
And there's more!

Friday 13th May 2011, BP, a small wash day all that.

Couldn't post because the blogger website is still down for maintenance!

Managed to get to sleep at about 4am and up again at 9 am. Breakfast was the Spanish version of rice crispies, as I had used up my boxes from Morrison's in Gibraltar, OK'ish. Washing same as, same as. Then a 10 mile cycle along the beach and back through the town, boules, me 2 – 1, cribbage, me, after a rather hot chilli and rice. SWMBO reading then bed before 10 pm.