Happy campers?
I’ve just told my daughter that all being well we will head off to Tarifa next week camping for a few days.
Her face lit up, “Yey, Primark.”
And there was me thinking she was happy to spend a few days in a mossie infested tent with her mum and dad.
For those of you on the same wave length as my daughter, Primark is located close to Tarifa, at Algeciras. So yes you could drive to Primark and miss Tarifa altogether, or head to Tarifa and hit Primark on the way back home. We will be doing the latter and we will be sedating her father and brother…..
Teenage party
My son has just come into the bedroom to ask me if he can stay up until 11pm on Thursday for a party. Really pleased that he was getting a social life, maybe meeting a friend after years of just being interested in his own company so I said “YES!”.
Turns out he’s part of Guild called House of Rice, well that’s what it sounded like, on the internet game World Of Warcraft. He wants to go to this “party” as he’s been invited and all his “virtual friends” are going. I asked him to describe the party and he told me it wasn’t really a party, he just used that word because it’s a word I would understand. What’s he implying? The last party I experienced was cica 1986.
So the party is actually a raid on a robot. I asked him how many people were going, whilst trying not to laugh as his sister made a big L sign with her fingers at me whilst smiling sweetly at him. Turns out there are two going. I expect one of those was him.
All is well though as it turns out he now cannot go as he needs a speaker. I said ” can I speak for you?” He meant a proper, record player ( see I’m old…) type speaker. So I guess The Guild of Rice house party won’t be much of a party after all and I think the robot, whoever or whatver that is, will survive until Friday morning.
We can all sleep easy now…..
The wanderer returns
My better half has been away in the UK for five days, which is a long time for us to be apart. The first couple of days I found myself lovingly sniffing his clothes in his wardrobe and had to remind myself that he wasn’t dead. I then had to battle the demons as a voice whispered to me ” but what if he was….” Well I’d have a lot more closet space for a start…..
Night times have been the worse. Much as it is pain at times to hear the little snores ( I am being kind…), to find myself pinging upwards towards the ceiling when he gets into bed ( he’s heavier and taller than me …by some measure) it is also re-assuring and comforting to have your BFF lying next to you. I won’t complain quite so hard next time I wake up at 3am due to him fidgeting in his sleep. Little noises became big noises and I began to wonder about the legality of going to bed with a pair of knitting needles tucked under the pillow. I also wondered what I was supposed to do with them should a robber decide to appear in the night through the shutters. Knit him a jumper? Poke out his eyes? Quite frankly I’d probably not even see him as I struggle enough to see people’s faces during the day time. Having a weapon of mass destruction under my pillow didn’t give me comfort as I then spent night three worrying that I might sleepwalk and hurt my own children with them. Or stab myself. On night four I put them back in the sewing box, looked down at my uncut toenails and decided that they would suffice in an emergency.
I’ve enjoyed the usual things that women do when their better halfs are not around.
The loo seat is down, one bathroom is always clean, the bed is really easy to make in the morning, the ironing pile is much reduced, dinner times have consisted of toast and cereal and I’ve caught up on all the SKY tv that I wanted and deleted a few Top Gears….
I’ve also got two dead birds on the terrace that nobody will deal with ( thanks Garfield…) I’m a bit fed up of toast and cereal, the clothes in my hubby’s wardrobe are losing the sniff factor, now I want the real thing, I haven’t slept properly for five nights and being the only parent in the house is really hard work. Hats off to all you single mums and dads. Being a mum and dad all rolled into one is not easy and I only did it for five days. I’ve given myself a C minus.
Hubby is due back in 2 hours and 30 minutes and I’m a very happy girl…..:)
My favourite buys this summer
Have been my swimming shorts from El Campo supermarket at 3.99 euros. No need to bikini wax ( sorry if that is too much information….) no need to worry about cellulite ( though at my age that is the least of my worries….dying is more of a concern ) and much more suitable for parading around on a beach than little stringy numbers best left to those under 30 years.
Also loving my little denim shorts. I only bought them for the garden but in this heat I have even dared to wear them to the supermarket and much cooler than anything else in my wardrobe….apart from my swimming shorts!
Lastly my strappy t-shirt around 6 euros from Marks and Spencers in La Canada, lovely tomato shade which makes me feel summery and cheerful. A splash of colour in the wardrobe is good for the soul……
What have been your best buys this summer?
Rebajas La Canada
Children's dress down to 3 euros, H&M
Gin Gin in her new summery dress
Promod bracelet down to 3 euros
The rebajas or sales have been on in La Canada shopping mal now for a while and I popped there recently for a quick look.
I found the dress above for Gin Gin reduced from 9.95 euros to 3 euros, so we bought two in different patterns, they are ideal for this hot Spanish summer. From H&M kids wear.
The bracelet was from Promod down from 9.95 euros to 5 and then at the caja they said it was down even more to 3 euros. It is really pretty with an inset intricate silver pattern weaved inside the actual bracelet. A lovely present for a friend. They had quite a bit of jewellery that was all heavily discounted.
Zara had some fantastic reductions on adult clothing, lots of signs saying 7 euros.
Imaginarium continue to have quite a few toys with some big discounts too. They gift wrap the toys that you buy too.
I’ve also heard the in El Corte Ingles Puerto Banus there are lots of designer clothing with 70% reductions.
Happy Shopping if you have the energy….
Too hot for gardening…
At long last I see red....
It is just too hot for gardening. I have now run out of enthusiasm for even watering pots and my tomatoes which I’ve looked after for months. I think they have had more attention than the children. However the twice even three times daily watering that they need has now become a chore and as my friend Jenny said…it would be easier just to buy them from the supermarket. She’s right of course. However like childbirth, by next year I’m sure I’ll be buying the seedling again, full of enthusiasm and I will have forgotten that after more than 10 weeks, I have only picked one tomatoe to date…..It didn’t taste great either!
However, after more than 10 weeks of mostly sunshine I took this photo today to remind me how lucky we are living in Southern Spain. You really do never get bored of waking up to blue skies…..
Hard Rock Cafe in Puerto Banus review
The Hard Rock Cafe in Puerto Banus
Our second visit to the Hard Rock Cafe in Puerto Banus, eight months apart and some things haven’t changed.
The front of house at the Hard Rock Cafe in Puerto Banus are the same as the restaurant name - hard. Hard and surly. They were the first time and they were today. The young lady who we dealt with had magnificent fingernails which suggested to me that she wouldn’t get stuck in at the kitchen should she be needed and she also found it extremely difficult to greet us with a welcoming smile. I don’t care how stressed you are in a restaurant, your job is to make the customer feel relaxed and welcome. A smile does that and more. The waitresses were no better. No smiles.
The restaurant was busy but not heaving, to the left of us were plenty of empty tables but we were told there was a 30 minute wait and gave us a pager, suggesting we go to the bar for a drink. We opted for El Corte Ingles and its cool air conditioning instead and came back after 15 minutes to find they were ready for us.
We sat down and were given 3 adult menus. I had to get up to ask if they had a children’s menu…they do. 7.50 euros for a choice of food, drinks and an ice-cream. I think they may provide children with colours as the back of the children’s menu had a colouring page, but we never received any colours. Once Erikita received her meal the waitress whizzed off. I waited expecting her to come back and say “any ketchup, any vinegar, anything else.” She didn’t. I had to go and find someone to get some ketchup.
My son ordered spare ribs for just over 15 euros and they were magnificent. Huge portion and very tender. I opted for a 10 euro burger, which was ok and Erikita ordered the children’s burger. One burger on a small plate with a handful of fries. It was big enough for her. The restaurant is about meat and the chips and any salad on the side are just that..on the side.
Huge choice of cocktails, if you are driving and want a non boozy one, you’ll have to pay around 12 euros, but you get to keep the glass. In fact you have to keep the glass, you are paying for it.
We couldn’t talk. The volume back in November last year was so loud you could hardly talk and it was the same this time. My children were grunting “huh?” everytime I tried to talk to them so if you are on a first date and like the guy/girl, don’t go here. If you are on a first date and can’t stand the guy/girl, go here.
Before my son had finished his meal my daughter was asked would she like her dessert. She was sorted but we were never asked if we wanted a dessert menu. We had been waivering but this just tipped us to say “no, let’s finish and head home.” Erikita’s dessert arrived and it was the head of house that saw we had no spoon. Another wait and the spoon arrived. After a few minutes another spoon arrived. A smaller one more suited to her mouth. She stuck with the first one. The kiddies menu says dessert is an ice-cream sundae but this was much better for her, plain ice-cream, no frills and she enjoyed it.
All in all I have to say it wasn’t a great experience and mostly because the front of the house just come across as so jolly snotty nosed and the waitresses whilst not rude just seem hassled and unfriendly. The Hard Rock Cafe isn’t cheap and so I do expect a restaurant experience, otherwise I could have opted for McDonalds. There are some excellent food items on the menu and the children’s menu is good value.
Sadly that’s it for me. I have been there twice, found it all very lacking in atmosphere ( think some low lights over the table would have helped, it reminded me of an airport lounge today) and the lack of hospitable friendly staff puts me right off.
I’ll stick to places such as Terra Sana on the Golden Mile where the staff are just in a different league and the place has plenty of atmosphere, a kids menu, cocktails, live music nights and cheesecake and carrot cake to die for….
Spare ribs just over 15 euros a portion, finger licking good
6oz burger, most are 10oz, price 10 euros
Children's menu burger, a drink and an ice-cream are included for 7.50 euros.
No alarm clocks needed
In the campo you have the roosters to wake you up at first light. Here on the coast you have the dogs……
Bogus Bodies
9.30am as I headed to the re-cycling skips, bleary eyed as I’m going to bed too late I had the fright of my life. I’ll show you…..I thought it was a real person.
It scared the neighbour too…..then I took a close up photo which begs the questions “who buys this stuff?”
Release the child inside you….
It is there, you may just have to dig deep.
I think most mums find it difficult to make time to have fun. We are so busy giving to the family, giving to the workplace, that our idea of fun becomes an early night or a glass of wine. “Me time” is in short supply too, with a hot bath run with the remains of shampoo bottle considered a pampering experience and if you get to eat breakfast on a school run day sitting down, you are achieving more than me…..
Well today for some reason everyone was up earlier than usual and little Erikita and I grabbed our bikes and went for a quick bike ride. If you head out before 10.30am the mornings are cool enough to go out without emergency supplies of a backpack filled with water, water, more water, salt tablets and the local ambulance number. Gracious, I even managed to go out without my mobile phone.
It has been a long time since I was last on a bike and I had long forgotten just how much fun it can be. When the children were very small we used to go out but the whole time I would be turned around like an owl watching my brood, worrying that at any minute they could get concussion, be hit by a car on a pavement or crash in a heap and end up in a coma. It wasn’t really what I would call fun….
Now Erikita is older the worrying is less and we both went out and cycled away. A lot of it was downhill and there is something about sticking your legs out on a bike and shouting ” wheeeeeee” with the wind ( yes a wind is produced when you are travelling at 45km downhill…) that is utterly liberating. There were quite a few workmen and gardeners working on the villas nearby and I found myself smiling away at them, shouting ” hola” at anyone and everyone. Being a little childish on my bike made me more friendly.
Erika and I noticed the soldier ants marching away, the advocadoes on the trees, butterflies, swallows, all the wild flowers on the verges and mostly just how beautiful the mornings are…when you are on a bike.
I wouldn’t say we cycled enough to get fit, I wouldn’t say we cycled enough to work up a sweat, but we definitely cycled enough to feed our souls and I did release my inner child today. It felt gooooood!
Now, anyone for a game of tiddlywinks?