This week has flown past as usual. Our week with Ben ended with a very pleasant evening at a bar in a local village, where we had gone so Ben could sing some karaoke. It wasn't the best one we have been to, but he wowed them all at the end with his rendition of "You raise me up".
Saturday was spent fairly quietly, sitting round the pool and chatting, as on Sunday we were all up at 'silly o'clock' to see them drive off for the 6+hours trip to Barcelona. It is a good thing there were two of them to share the driving. From there they caught a 1 o'clock train across into France, and picked up the night sleeper train to Paris. Then it was the Eurostar to London, and a final train home to Birmingham, where they arrived Monday lunch time. Whew! I'm glad it wasn't me. Ben hates flying, and because he works for the railway they can travel that way at very low cost, but it would be too much travelling for me.
I filled big bagettes with plenty of meat etc for them to eat on their journey but I think they had fairly basic meals the rest of the way. We still have a traditional Sunday roast just about every week, even when it is this hot, so just to make them jealous I sent them this photo of my oven. Mean aren't I?!
So the rest of this week I have been stripping the beds, washing all the pool towels etc ready for son number two who arrives next Thursday with his partner and their four boys. That will be a hectic week with excited boys and animals, but I look forward to seeing them all again.
When they leave we have two weeks to 'recover' before my grand-daughter, her husband and two gorgeous little boys arrive. Three days before they leave, her brother is coming with his girlfriend, so we'll be playing 'sardines' for those few days. Mikey will be staying for a full week, and I think that will be the end of our visitors for this year. He has been in the summer before, but he usually comes to spend Christmas with us. This is the first time he has brought Lily with him so it will be nice to get to know her better.
On Monday I had a quick trip down to Mojacar to run a few errands. I parked on the sea front and it looked so lovely. There were quite a few holiday makers enjoying the sun but the sea was 'lively' and the red flags were flying all the way along the beach, warning that the sea was too dangerous to swim in. (There are some very strong currents there).It is a shame for the tourists though they mostly have a good pool at their hotel if they want to swim, but I love to see it like that. As the waves rolled over they reflected the sun, and the spray made little rainbows so the surf sparkled like little gems. I tried several setting on my camera to try and catch it, but these were the best I managed.
And one on 'Auto' setting for good measure.
I enjoyed going to my new choir again on Wednesday evening. We are working on part one of Handle's The Messiah for a recital at Christmas, and as one of the pieces is the wonderful "For Unto Us a Child is Born", I decided to use that theme to make a set of eight Christmas cards, all the same, for a challenge I enter each month. Here is one finished one.
I have just started work on a Scrapbook page which I hope to have printed out very soon. I have a big flat-bed colour printer that allows me to print out 12" x 12" scrapbook pages, and this week it decided to stop working. So I am very grateful to have an IT buff for a husband. Chris worked on it this morning and it is fully functioning again now!
And that's about it for this week. I thought I'd leave you with this cute picture that I spotted on Facebook this morning.
Do follow me over to Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World, and maybe link a brief post about what has made you smile this week.
5 comments:
Hi Kate, that was interesting what you said about Ben working for the railway. I used to work with a lady whose husband worked for the railway's too and they used to go all over the place by train. Sounds like you're going to be very busy but in a nice way. Loving the photos of the sea too, looks like a nice cool place to be though it has been a bit better here today as we've had some rain. I like your Christmas card but not started any yet. I must say the dog pic is so sweet. Happy weekend, Angela xxx
Gosh, what a journey! But I can understand their reasoning if Ben hates flying so much. Beside, working for the railway helps. Personally I would love a long train journey. But to have to drive all the way to Barcelona would be a real drag. It's a pite there aren't any through trains from Spain to say, Holland or Germany. From Italy it is easy. It was almost non-stop. I usually changed either in Milan or in Munich, booked a sleeper. Wonderful. But from Spain, there is no through train at all.
Sorry, moan over. Sunday roast. I do mine on Saturday (as we eat in the day rather than in the evening, and Sundays we don't get home from church until nearly 2 pm. ). I'm doing a chicken roast dinner tomorrow and we had pork last week. I'm experimenting with secreto at the mo. Trying out all sorts of (Spanish) recipes for this lovely cut of meat. This week I pan-cooked it with red fruit and dark beer. Very nice.
Beautiful pictures of the waves. I keep telling myself I need to learn how to use my camera on different settings other than automatic. One day.....
You had me giggling about the sub woofers. Good one that.
Have a lovely weekend,
It's going to be a hot one,
Hugs,
Lisca
Oh Kate, I laughed throughout this post. It was a joy to read. Your son who hates to fly took some great train rides. Trains in the states are very seldom used. I live in the largest city in my state and we don't even have a train station here. I would have to go about 40 miles to catch the nearest train and it only has a few destinations. Ben is very lucky. On my bucket list is a trip on Eurostar through the Tunnel from England to France and back.
You are going to be exhausted in about three weeks. We may have to pick you up off the floor (grin).
I can't stop singing "For Unto Us a Child is Born", "Unto Us, a Son is Given." See what you have started? I miss the Messiah, which we sang every year at Christmas and Easter.
Your funny was so cute. I hope you have a super weekend and great next week, too. Get some rest. You're going to need it.
Oh Kate I do love that doggy image :). Sounds as though the next few weeks are your 'silly season' with visitors - although it's always great to have family visiting.
I love that card you created, even on the second viewing
Blessings
Maxine
Crikey they really mustn't like flying for a journey like that. I giggled at the photo you sent which looks lovely, even we don't manage a roast dinner every Sunday these days, far too many pans for my liking.
The sea looks so inviting, but I can imagine the current being strong under those crashing waves, I love the rainbow effect on the tops of the waves - beautiful.
Your Christmas cards are gorgeous, I need to crack on with mine as I'm absolutely sure that I don't have enough made for Christmas.
The sub-woofer picture definitely raised a smile.
I hope you have a fabulous weekend and week ahead lots of visitors to look forward to, you obviously have a very busy summer coming up.
Hugs
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