All I can say tonight is .....

Saturday 28th June 2008 ....Leeds...16 degrees and overcast.

Photos taken in Seville Spain on Wednesday 25th June 2008.....

Apparently the cause of this was a power surge within the store and all their tills, security cameras etc. had also gone down .
After a short time the ATM machine began to reboot itself but had gobbled up my card and failed to dispense the money.

Talk about stressed...I was cursing and that is completely out of character for me so I rushed instore and informed the Security colleague on duty about what had happened, he confirmed that there had been a power failure at that precise time and had the time etc. on record. I was advised to report the card etc. to my bank but as I pointed out to the Customer Services Manager that it was not the card at fault but the power surge that had caused it to happen

So as advised, just after 5 o'clock pm, we phoned the bank help-line to report the machine failure but I found that trying to explain to a nice lady in India that my store had had a power surge at the very time my money was being counted therefore causing the machine to fail was just too difficult, (she couldn't understand me and I couldn't understand her ) which is why I have just finished putting it all in writing in order to hand over personally to the manager of my local branch tomorrow morning.

Although there are some ex-pats living at the other end of town they are mainly brits working as builders, cafe owners or are retired.
Jane's house is at the agricultural end of town with olive groves and vineyards directly at the back.
These pics were taken in early February so I can't wait to see the how the vines are coming along now.

Just a little further down there is a horse ganaderia (ranch) and there is a rough patch of ground fifty yards from her front door where we've spotted horse and trainer practising their equestrian dancing.
I suppose that if I was a late riser there would be one drawback, that is the fact that the farmer begins his daily work at the crack of dawn and my bedroom window overlooks his yard..but that doesn't bother me too much really as ear plugs are a wonderful invention

I like the fact that I can walk down the street and greet the locals, housewives sweeping up outside their front doors, the kiddies playing table tennis in the square and I like that the shop-keeper knows everyone in the village by name and welcomes you as if you belong.

Despite the tractor, the days at this end of the town are very tranquil and once you go through the house and into the walled garden at the back then it is a totally different scene

The garden covers quite a large area set on three levels and its piece de resistance is the swimming pool where on another level above there is a decked area for sun-lounging. The house used to belong to the father of the spanish lady Jofesa who lives next door...she told us that where the decking is now there was a pigsty for nigh on 40 years

Are you sitting comfortably?
Bellys are useful when you want to shimmy..fortunately I have an ample one
Carnivals and fiestas are what give me a buzz.
Dance is my passion..I wish was good at it but watching those who are is sufficient.
E is the first letter of t'old man's name
Family are the ones who will still be here when transient friends are long gone.
Greeters are grossly underrated
How many holidays a year do you want??..he asked
Isadora is my name....blogging drivel is my game.
Jam sandwiches were my favourite childhood treat in the 1950's.
Kerplunk was one of our favourite games when the kids were little.
Lightening fascinates me.
Mother, I miss you xx
No-one will go camping with me so I go by myself..
October 25th is when I get my bus-pass and free prescriptions!
Pyjamas are what I wear in bed..cotton in summer, flannelette in winter.
Quizes on TV are not my cup of tea.
Rhubarb and gooseberries grow in my garden.
Spain of course, where I will be next week..Yay..
Tears I have shed a plenty but not lately thank goodness.
Uncles of mine were mainly 'Miners' but one was once a 'Lord Provost' in Scotland.
Vera Duckworth is NOT my sister!
Wine used to be my favourite alcholic drink.
Xanadu..an idyllic, beautiful place ..i'll find one day.
Yorkie, born and bred
Zero, nil no more..

That's the last of my posts for this my blog birthday, I think i've made up for all the days I missed last week

So, this morning when he brought Bella and myself a early morning brew (Bella was setting off early to go to Hull)..he came into the bedroom with a two mushrooms the size of his fists .
"Well, would you ever" he said as he showed them to me.
" I was sat in my chair having my cuppa at 5.30 (he had opened the curtains) when Mrs Chan tapped on the living room window with these in her hands mouthing "MUSH-A-ROOOMS, MUSH-A-ROOOMS"
He went out to her and she explained she had already had her early morning walk and had picked these in the fields

Olive and popeye decided to compare their size with a medium sized egg egg

Today's Monday, today's Monday, Monday is washing day
Is everybody happy? You bet your life we are!

Today's Tuesday, today's Tuesday, Tuesday is soup
Monday is washing day
Is everybody happy? You bet your life we are!

Today's Wednesday, today's Wednesday, Wednesday is roaster beef.
Tuesday is soup
Monday is washing day
Is everybody happy? You bet your life we are!

Today's Thursday, today's Thursday, Thursday is shephard's pie
Wednesday is roaster beef
Tuesday is soup
Monday is washing day
Is everybody happy? You bet your life we are!

Today's Friday, today's Friday, Friday is fish
Thursday is shephard's pie
Wednesday is roaster beef(etc.)
Is everybody happy? You bet your life we are!

Today's Saturday, today's Saturday, Saturday's payday
Friday is fish(etc.)

(very gently)Today's Sunday, today's Sunday, Sunday is church...
(fast)Saturday is payday(etc.)
(slow)Is everybody happy? You bet you life we aaaaare!

I'll blog about the other food present a little later

I was at my position in the foyer ready and willing to say "Hello" to anyone who would respond in kind when a middle-aged couple came in pushing an empty trolley, they were a third the way in when the wife spied a display with reduced household goods at the opposite end of the foyer near to the customer restaurant..she went over to have a look while Mr "Sourpuss" stood with his trolley quite close to me. A minute or two later the wife beckoned him over to look at the goods on display so he promptly left the trolley and crossed over to her.
Just then one of my friendly Porter colleagues, a guy of italian descent who is around my age popped in for a chat. He saw the trolley and went to hold it in order to push it back into the outdoor trolley bay as he thought it was abandoned. " I think that couple over there will be back for that trolley, Mario" I said.
"Oh", he said "we had better hold on to it then to make sure no other customers nick off with it"
So there we were Mario and I, two jolly 59 year olds having a nice chat and a laugh in the way that we are prone to do up here in the Wild West of Yorkshire ..a bit of banter, a joke and a laugh, when dolly day-dream (the wife) turned around and realised that her husband had abandoned the trolley and that we were propping ourselves up on it.
She rushed over to us with Mr Sourpuss" trailing behind.
"Sorry, sorry" she said "I didn't know he'd left it here"
"No worries" I replied..(now this is where I must have gone wrong) as I was still in banter mode I carried on to say " You can leave your trolleys anywhere you like 'love' (yorkshire accent required) but if you leave them in the middle of the foyer then they tend to go walkabout!"
At this Mario and myself had a little chuckle but the couple didn't seem to get the joke
She mouthed "Sorry" once more and he never even made eye contact, he just walked away with the same dour expression he came in with.

"Ah well, I thought "it takes all sorts" and thought nothing more about it...until about ten minutes later that is .

I was passing the cigarette kiosk when a colleague told me that there had been a chap at the customer service desk complaining about me in rather an irate manner.
Quick as a flash I crossed over to the desk where they informed me that Yes indeed, a man had complained and asked to speak to a Manager.
She had fielded the enquiry and written down the man's complaint..that being that he had never ever been spoken to in such a disgraceful and disrectful way before and all over him having left a trolley for a few minutes. He wanted assurances that the complaint would be passed on to a higher body and that I would be disciplined accordingly
"Certainly Sir" she had said.
"What" I hissed "ask Mario what occurred"
"It's OK Isadora, we know what customers are like and we know you, it won't be passed on so don't worry"

I was sorely tempted to approach the aforementioned dour Scot on his way out (in my neutral professional voice, of course) but took some deep breaths instead and learnt the lesson from it.
The moral of the story is ...don't call anyone "Love" or try to be witty with anyone unless you know they have a sense of humour!

Ha!!...now I know why I didn't blog this before..'cos it's pathetic

Well, today my shift was spent in the Bakery where I spent a 'customer free' six hours labelling bread and advising teenagers on the pitfalls of free love

I discovered this orchid in the powder room of the ladies toilets in the Novotel hotel in Nimes, France last month.

I was in Leeds city centre enjoying the sunshine, I watched an operatic singer busking, I browsed around the wonderful 'Kirgate market' where t'old man always buys his ham shanks (he cooks them too) and we ambled up to the trendy 'Light' complex which houses poshish restaurants, the Radissan hotel and a cinema complex.
We ate lunch in the foyer, in the form of bacon and sausage sarnies being distributed for free complete with tea or coffee, not sure why they were free but I think it was all part of some council initiative or such-like.
We were about to make our way to the open air market which is adjacent to the bus station as this is usually our last port of call and where we buy lots of fruit and veg at bargain prices...e.g three bags of seedless grapes for £1..Ok they will need eating fairly quickly but that's not a problem for me ...then something rare happened, my mobile phone rang
It was Lulu "Hello mum" she said "are you still in Leeds?"
I assured her I was so she said "Will you do me a big, big favour?"
"of course" I replied.
" Can you go up to Jumbo's record shop in the St John's centre and buy me some tickets to see Franz Ferdinand"
Apparently she had received an e-mail informing her that the band Franz Ferdinand had just announced that they were to play at the 'Faversham'
Franz Ferdinand is a British indie rock band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 2001. Named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria,
The band first experienced chart success when their second single "Take Me Out" which reached no. 3 in the UK Charts The band won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two BRIT Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act.
The Faversham is a small venue which only holds around 450 people in its largest concert room so the tickets are like gold dust....I had to get up there fast before they were all sold out.
Without further ado I legged it up there and five minutes later I phoned her back with the message "mission accomplished".
She was over the moon as the last time she had seen this band was a couple of years ago at Manchester Arena along with about 11 thousand other fans.

It has been a little over a week and I was just beginning to get used to my time without the internet, even the fact that I walked the two miles to the library this morning and on arrival found that it was closed until this afternoon didn't phase me ....I just kept right on walking down the country lanes I hadn't walked along before in nearly 24 years that I have lived here.
I passed the large pond once more and today there were numerous lone figures sat fishing,

I saw ducks, canadian geese, squirrels, a red admiral, fungi, reeds, clover and to top it all I had had the pleasure of a companion to absorb this wonderful nature all around...yes indeed, t'old man had accompanied me on my trip to the "library" which is a very rare occurrence indeed...when the sun shines, there's hope in the land

This fungi was huge and very yellow...I don't know whether it is but it looks highly poisonous!