April Catch Up

Went walking with Maryanne and Mary on 11th – this time organised by Mary. Walking from 19 Court Way over the river on the ferry then across the meadows for a circuit of Richmond Park. Then lunch at the Lass O' Richmond Hill before heading back.  It rained heavily while we were at Mary’s house and we were worried about not having waterproofs, but it cleared by the time we started and was a beautiful day thereafter.

Supper with Caroline and Pru on 13^th at Azzuro.  Pru had crashed her car earlier in the day and was a bit late – but glad to have a glass of wine with friends after such a stressful day.

On 15^th went over to Majorca for 6 days to visit Amanda on my own this time. She picked me up from the airport in her lovely new car – a Citroen C3 which has lots more space than her old car and is very comfortable. 

Amanda's new car

The weather was much warmer and the place was livelier than in January, with many holiday makers around and people in swimwear lying around the pools at the hotels. There were sun beds and shades on the beach too. There were lots more restaurants open – but not very many drunks or marauding stag/hen parties, at least not in the daytime.  I stayed with Amanda and Sam which was lovely.  Each morning I would go with Amanda to take Bethany to nursery, and then go and pick her up again at 3.30 pm.  It is a brilliant nursery and they teach the children lots of useful things as well as occupying them with games etc.  Bethany’s group have a lie down after lunch.  They only speak Spanish, so Bethany will soon be bi-lingual – lucky girl. 

Bethany's first school photo

Sam was about to start a new job so he was around for the first few days which was nice.  We had a barbecue in the garden which was nice.  Amanda and Sam had started laying some artificial grass which they had been given - which looked very nice. The sun was shining but it was cold out of the sun and there was quite a breeze.  The paddling pool came out for the first time for Bethany. 

Amanda had to work at the weekend in the evenings, so on the Friday evening I walked in to Magaluf to eat at her restaurant.  I had a wonderful meal sitting looking out over the beach and sea as the sun set.  I had a fillet steak served on a hot rock which was a new experience but a brilliant way to eat it as I just cut a bit off and flash cooked it on the rock to eat it.  I got 10% discount too.

Fillet steak on hot rock

It was a quiet night so Amanda finished reasonably early and I waited for her to get a lift back.  I couldn’t believe it when we crossed the strip to get to her car and it was heaving with people, drunks, noise etc etc.  The beach front had been so quiet and serene.  I was glad I wasn’t staying in Magaluf that time.  The three of us went out to eat one evening while Sue (Sam’s mum) babysat so that we could relax.  We went in to Palmanova and had a nice meal at a restaurant there.  It made a nice change from Meson.  I couldn’t leave without a visit to Meson – Amanda and I had their set lunch on Sunday which was very good and very cheap.  Sam started his job on the Monday – where they were dismantling one of the high rides in Magaluf just to prove to the council that it was a temporary structure before setting it up again.  It involved a huge crane and the road was closed.  Amanda and I had a nice day – we drove to Palmanova and then walked to Magaluf where we had lunch at her restaurant – 20% discount this time (staff).  Then we walked back to the Tartan Arms for a drink where we could watch the crane (and Sam) at work for a while and then went to pick up Bethany.  I bought a new 1TB external hard drive and Sam downloaded lots of television series on to it for me.

As I was flying out on 15^th Jayne was flying back!  She landed at Heathrow just as I was going through to board my plane at Gatwick.

All too soon it was time to come home – and when I did I was hit with a nasty cough and cold which really laid me low and made me feel ill which is not like me at all.  On the Saturday it was the Middlesex AGM and I was ringing for South & West in the striking competition.  I was in the A band this time – a touch of Grandsire Caters called by John Manley.  It was a very simple composition (145 three times) and we all laughed beforehand and made comments along the lines of “we don’t want a repeat of last year do we” (when Chris O’Mahony miscalled a more complicated composition and the team were disqualified).  Lo and behold – John failed to put a bob in and we had to stop.  So disqualified for the second year running.  Must be some sort of record.  I didn’t really mind but I was surprised that Steve or James didn’t put the bob in themselves.  Anyway the rest of the day went without hitch and I came away with a huge box of reports to send out.

The next day I was able to go down to Devon again for a week – and it was wonderful to see Jayne again. I was still struggling with the terrible cold I had picked up - Jayne administered lots of TLC and made me smother myself in Vic, Eucalyptus and Ravensara and by the end of the week I was feeling much better although the niggly cough took longer to shift.

Jayne had assured me by text that there had been no sign of the mice – but when I opened the cupboard there were mice droppings and bait everywhere!  She thought I had left it like that!  So we cleaned it all out again and put fresh bait down – and they haven’t been back since so far.

I went to a service of thanksgiving at Tracey House to celebrate its 30 years of existence.  It was a lovely little service in the lounge – and there was cake afterwards!  It is so sad to see the nice Baptist minister so ravaged with cancer these days.

Tracey House Cake