Ally Pally

Today I am suffering from a poorly back so I have spent most of the day (aside from the hour spent at Laura's because the bt engineer was there) in my craft room. My new craft room, as most of the stuff has now been moved into the larger back room giving me much more space to create a mess in..

I have mainly been experiementing with new goodies bought at this autumn's Big Stamp and Scrapbook show at Ally Pally on Sunday. Now that Kelly has finished her degree she can now once again join me in our shared scrapping/crafting enthusiasum so we went together, where we spent far too much money but had a terrific day.

Lots of people have complained about the crowds and rude people getting in the way, but we saw none of that. After driving to Gillingham because of engineering works, I met Kelly at Victoria from where we tubed, trained and bussed over to the Palace, arriving just after doors opening time. Even stopping for a cake (thankyou Kez, yummy!) and cup of tea we were still ahead of the crowds, and started our methodic work around the exhibition hall from the back on the left, working from left to right and back again down the room. We had lists of things we wanted clutched in our hands but failing to find most of what was on them, and stopping to watch demo's of techniques on our way, we soon had a whole trench of additional things on our wish lists.

Being out the loop for at least 4 years, Kelly was amazed at all the new products available now, and needed to watch all the demonstrations to see what she had been missing over the time of her studys. We broke for our picnic lunch and then returned to start at the front and make our way back to the middle of the hall. Still we did not meet many crowded parts of the hall, only in the last hour did we find we were often bottlenecked into stalls.

Finally tired yet happy we came away with lots of new goodies. We both loved the glimmer mists and were overjoyed to find a man selling empty spray bottles 6 for £5. We bought 2 shades of the mists each and before going home Kelly decanted some from each bottle into our spray bottles so that we could share colours. Kelly being Kelly managed to spill it all over her fingers though.



We spent a good bit of time, and money on the stall selling masks, especially when the lady demonstrated that they could be used for dry embossing as well. (Of course now Kelly's next must have is a cuttlebug, while it is yet another reason for me not to give up on my zip-e-mate)

My first attempts at using the glimmers wasnt that wonderful as it managed to bleed under the mask, but it does give a brilliant effect all the same.




Our fav stall was the Clarity stamps where the wonderful Barbara Gray was giving demonstrations. Having watched her every time she is there, I finally gave in and bought a brayer, some ink and a stamp. I still need to get the hang of using the brayer, and am pretty sure some of this talented lady's videos are going on my christmas list.

I loved all the cards on the Lili of the Valley stamps and took heaps of photos of their example cards so that I can scraplift them. I have been having fun sorting out my Promarkers into cd cases and putting them into a metal chest my mate bought me a few years back.

Time for a move

I have decided that the reason I have little mojo is not really because I keep getting distracted by Bejeweled Blitz on FaceBook, oh no, not at all, it is because the scrapping room is way too small. I took over the smaller of the three bedrooms when Kelly moved out to Uni but before Laura left home. It seemed ideal when Loz was still using the bigger room. But 2 years down the road after Laura moved out, I am wondering why I am still cramped in a tiny box room with 2 expidit units, a bookcase, a chest of three drawers and a dining room table (not to mention a computer chair, a large printer, a scanner, a large stanley box and a sewing machine). Actually put like that it seems amazing that I fit in there too.

So I decided it was time to move into the bigger spare bedroom and relegate the guests (who we never have anyway) to the box room. And whilst at it, it also seemed a good idea, what with the new job and all, to move all my books back down from the attic where they have been collecting dust since I gave up full time teaching.

Of course all this necessitated a trip to Ikea, and Martin was all too pleased (not) to take me to Lakeside after his game of golf yesterday on his day off. We did really well, not only did the larger Billy bookcase fit in my little KA but so did two extra bits of wood and four tressle legs destined to become greenhouse staging, some of those nifty little screw top jars, some stoppered bottle to fill with home made lemonade and a few more kilner jars for a bit of christmas preserve making.

Today Martin was all too pleased (not) to get all the boxes of books down out the attic for me. I have filled the Billy Bookcase already, managed to throw three boxes of tatty books away, and still have another three boxes left. But its ok, as I have plans for where they will fit ..........

Then next weekend I am off to Ally Pally to the stamp show to buy some stash to fill up my bigger room!

Paper and glue?

Here's a strange thing. I have scrapped!

Yes, thats right, a whole Layout.

I know hard to believe isnt it?

And not only that I am blogging about it too. Whatever next?

Its for the latest Scrapping the Music challenge and the sketch is from Creative Scrappers 120

The photos were taken during the summer on one of the rare sunny - nay, hot days we had back in July. We went for a picnik with mum, dad and Laura, at Mote Park. Now as a child we spent many a 'happy' picnik in a car park, as we would intend going to visit some wonderful house/mannor/castle/monument, but once we arrived, often the entry price was more than my dad would entertain so we would have our picnik in the car park, then come home again.

This has left me a tad fussy about where we lay our picnik clothe, and despite dad's protestations, and moaning about having to carry all the gear, I instisted we walk a bit further away than 10 yards from the car, choosing a picturisk place overlooking the lake. Ok so it was up a bit of a gentle slope, which was difficult for dad with his angina, but Laura soon took care of that by giving him a helping push.

The photos were ideal for this weeks usic challenge, which is Pink's 'Get this Party started'. A bit of artistic licence in the wording, but they work so very well. All the papers and embellishments are from DCWV Nana's Kitchen stack (mmmm lots of lovely glitter), and some thickers thrown in.

Catch up before returning

I would like to do a catch up on my blog............ except there is very little to catch up on.

The weather this August has been grey, miserable and even cold (we had to resort to jumpers and hot water bottles at one point). We have been out a couple of times, but mainly drove round and came home again because it was so miserable. Martin has been back at work, Wayne was off so I didnt get to see much of Laura while they were out doing stuff (although they did take me for a nice pub lunch at the Red Lion) and Kelly/Ollie had their weekends booked fully (camping, Spurs matches) and couldnt come down.

One important thing did happen though, and that is that Kelly passed her final exams for her degree and is now a fully fledged accountant. Well done that girl :D

This weekend combined bank holiday, the Old Etonian's cricket match and our 30th wedding anniversary. After last year's drunken escapades Martin was eager to repeat the exercise but I was dog/house sitting for mum and dad who were away in Norfolk for a few days, so had to get home for the dog. Forced inside the club house by the biting wind and not able to drink I was sober enough to actually see just how rude and ill mannered the visiting team really was. I hadnt noticed before as this was the first time I had stayed inside and not sat outside watching the game. They completely took over the club house, forcing Laura and I (physically) out of our seats, later moving the table we had put our drinks on (without asking us, and nearly spilling our drinksin to the bargin) and just being totally ignorant and unsociable to the people of the club they were visting. I was quite glad in the end to be able to leave, dropping the kids and Martin off at the curry house while I went home for a measly toasted cheese sandwich with the hound.

Our wedding anniversay passed without much fuss, Ollie and Kelly came for lunch as Ollie had to go visit his sick grandmother in hospital, Kelly and I tried out the hot tub but I had put too much chlorine in, so we soon had to get out. Kelly and Laura later came over for cake and a cuppa, and that was that.

I havent done much in the way of paper crafting, nothing to share anyway. I have been continuing my learning journey into dress making. I have been sewing clothes since I was at school, making much of the kids clothes when they were small, and many items for myself through the '80's when I was able to get cheap fabric from the local market. Yet it is only in the last month that I have discovered most commercial patterns are made for a size B bust (and I am far from a size B!!). No wonder the pattern I made up last year didnt fit me. But I have also now discovered something called Full Bust Adjustment, a means of altering the pattern so it fits. I dont have a body form so getting it right is still a bit trial and error but I have nearly finished a top which I think is going to be a lot nearer to my shape than the model on the pattern packet. Watch this space.

I am also starting SOFA, a health and fitness regieme being run by the lovely girls on the Pad but also a FB group so anyone can join in. I am hoping to loose weight, get fit and generally pamper myself. Again watch this space . . . . . .

The Ribbon Girl

The lovely lovely Andrea has started up an online co. selling beautiful ribbons and trimmings. Today if you hop over to the shop's blog, as well as some lovely eyecandy and inspiration, there is the chance to win a huge stash of ribbons and lace. Flick your eyes over to the side to click on The Ribbon Girl. It will take you right where you need to go.

Poor lonely blog

This blog has been very neglected of late. With it being summer hols (not that I am so sure the weather is aware of the fact) we have been rather busy.There has been lots to note on here, but there hasnt been time to write it all up.

So what have we been doing? Having some fun, working hard, spending time with the girls, and getting wet.

Whitstable Oyster Festival started off the summer break, and although Martin was on a late shift, I still wanted to go hear some of the live music at the Brewery Bar.

Laura and Wayne said they would be going too and I could come with them. The event started at 7 o'clock but at 8 o'clock I finally got a text telling me to meet the kids at the Cricket club. By the time transport from there into Whitstable was arranged, it was getting on for 10, and we still hadnt arrived at The Brewery but at the Pearsons Arms. I came to the conclusion this lot were never going to get to the Bands and texted Martin to come down for a drink after work, and then we would go home.

But by 11 we found we had paid our entry free and were all dancing away to the last few songs of the last Band, who were very good and it was a shame it had taken so long to get there as I would have enjoyed the whole act I am sure. I didnt realise there was also going to be a disco and what a brilliant one it was, playing loads of '70's club classics. The place was packed, the atmosphere terrific and we ended up having a really good evening. We finished off the night by jumping in the hot tub enjoying a soak by fairy lights when we got in at two in the morning.

Martin was then on holiday for two weeks, he had wanted to go away again but I pointed out that if he didnt spend some time doing some sort of maintenance on the house, we wouldnt have a home to come back to, so provided with a long list of jobs to do by me, he set to and chopped down all the trees and bushes at the back of the garden, erected my greenhouse, laid turfs and paving slabs and relocated the fruit bed.

He also power hosed off the patio, refilled the gaps with sand, phoned up some workmen to come give quotes for some building work needing doing and managed to sqeeze in a few rounds of golf into the bargin. This left us free to do a few fun things too.

We went to Mote Park with my mum and dad and Laura for a picnic (lovely),




went to Penshurst place and gardens for a day out (dissapointing as the gardens were in dire need of some tlc and a gardener or two and the part of the house we were allowed into was small and boring)



and spent an afternoon being tourists on Tankerton slopes with our deckchairs and books until it got too cold,

had lunch at The Red Lion in Stodmarch (shared by a few chickens and a couple of roosters as well as a cat eating a bird he had caught not 5 foot from our own lunch).



We also met Kelly and Ollie in London for a show. We had noticed when we went up to see The Calendar Girls that it was possible to buy many tickets half price or less if you bought from the little ticket booths in Leicester square so we thought we would give it a try. We asked the kids if we could stay at their place since we wouldnt have to worry about leaving the theatre in time for the last Ramsgate train. When they heard what we were doing they said they would like to come along too.

Of couse with four of us, all with different tastes, finding a show we would all be happy to see could have been a problem, but we gave Ollie first pick and he chose Chicargo which we all agreed we wouldnt mind seeing. It was a bit of a wait until the show started but that meant we had time for TGI Friday as well as a little shoe shopping for Ollie and Kez. The show was very different from anything I had seen before but we all enjoyed it.

In the morning, Martin drove home as he was playing golf but I went back into town with Kelly were she had 'won' a photo shoot complete with makeover at The Starlite Studios just off Carnaby Street. Laura was her first choice of companion but she had got her dates mixed so I was given the opportunity of filling in. We were treated like royalty, given a full make-up and hair makeover and then spent over an hour having our photos taken. The results were fab although a tad expensive. We had been adamant that we were not going to pay for any pics but ended up getting four, which when totalled between the two of us, and taking into account the cost of a hair do and make up ended up quite a reasonable price, and we had a lovely mummy and Kelly morning into the bargin. Thanks for taking me Kelly :)

This week I got to spend some more time at Kelly's place, this time supervising a couple of builders hanging new doors in their house while they were at work. I was treated to a scrummy meal at The Harrow for my troubles and when I travelled back the next morning a complete soaking (down to the skin) waiting for the bus connection in the pouring rain.

I have also been quite busy in my craft room, not papercrafting though but making a couple of dresses. I would desperately love a maxi dress but am practising on shorter ones to start off with. The blue one I made without a pattern, taking advise from the web just to make a tube shape and then sheer it at the top with lines of elastic sewing.

The second is from a burda pattern The Cate dress which I am very chuffed with as I had to alter it upwards 3 sizes to get the fit but which actually works!

Cherries and Utilities

I am having a renewed enjoyment in digi scrapping at the moment. I wanted to see just how many different layouts I could make with the Summer Beach kit from Owl Tree Studios. I admit, only a few of the embellishments from the kit fitted, so I turned to Kate Hatfield's lovely doodly stuff to complete it.

Laura and Wayne came over for a BBQ three weeks ago and bought the young Australian couple who have been staying with them for the past year along too. Our cherry tree had finally decided to produce a decent crop of cherries (probably knew it was for the chop as it was heavily ill and blocking light for the new conservatory).

There were quite a few Martin hadn't been able to reach but quick as a flash Gemma asked if she could climb the tree to collect them. Getting up was a doodle, a small boost from Wayne, but getting her down prooved a bit more of a problem.


I think the lads were tempted, but no, she didnt end up in the hot tub!

This last fortnight has been Martin's annual two weeks off, which is news for another day, but one of his many tasks while off was to sort out the utility bill. Our service provider sends a 6 monthly review which this time was also our yearly review. The gas was fine, but the electricity had jumped from 9kwh per day to 21 kwh. What!!!!!

We phoned them up. After a long conversation they said they couldnt do anything until we had talked to the consumption advisory service.

Another long conversation and it turns out that despite it being way over the average for high consumption it is about right for what we are running.

Ooooo kay. Next stop then is moneysupermarket to see if we can get it cheaper, because our provider wants to put the bill up another £70 a month, putting our utilities way over and above what we pay in morgage. Surely not right.

But what is that we spy... our own provider is going to provide our utilities at a saving of £411 a year on what we are already paying them? All we have to do is change tarrif? Surely not?

So back on the phone to our utility co. Yes thats right, and if you had changed last year you would have saved £250. Well why didnt you say so???????

Then they couldnt work out how much our monthly payments should be on the new tarrif, so ok leave it as it is and give us a call in a couple of months to see if it needs re-adjusting.

All this took us 2.5 hours of our holiday time. Just to be where we were anyway. So that was 2.5 hours of our lives we will never get back.

Next review we are going to make sure we ask if there is a cheaper tarrif available just incase they come up with some new ones.

Hey look!!!

I did some scrapping. OK its digi scrapping and took me all of 15 mins (and 10 of those were hunting down some extra 'bellis to finish it off) but hey!!


Most of the elements and papers are from a free kit from a new site - Owl Tree Studio, the Beach kit is still available and was given away to launch the site. Its a photo of Kelly on the 'Black Beach' in Lanzarote earlier this year.

At the moment we are enjoying our summer holiday but I will be back to blog about all our escapades pretty soon.

I really should have finished writing up our holiday in Lanzarote by now, but blogger's temprementality over putting up my photos, coupled with the new job taking up time, and the very hot muggy weather has kinda delayed things. Luckily I havn't any crafty stuff done that needs urgently sharing (same reasons as above have zapped my mojo) and tbh not much has been happening in my life other than (see above).

So, the last bit (finally).

After the workers had finished digging holes all over the villa and we had had a bit of a chill out (and all the other other excitment that was going on) we drove into Porta de Camon for a game of crazy golf. There were very few other people in there as it was the dead time before dinner when everyone from the beach was off getting showered and changed for an evening out, so it was really relaxing, and although it wasnt a terrific course in the terms of crazy golf, we all had a good time.





Kelly had promised me a stroll along the prom, pretending to be a tourist, browsing the cheesy tourist shops and choosing from the many bars and cafes for our evening meal. It didnt turn out like that though. The road to the seafront was shut for repairs so we ad to take the long way round to the 'old town and harbour' which was apparently the better part of the town to visit. When we got there, lots of 'improvements' had been made and the harbour and any sea views had been blocked by huge concrete cubes piled up presumably for sea defence. The kiddies park was devoid of all its swings and toys, and become a concrete expanse of boring nothingness.

There was no shops (tourist or other kind) and of the half a dozen or so cafes/restaurants, half of them had their waiters our, bombarding passers by with menus, something we all hate and, being contray made us choose one of the other eaterys even though the view across the bay was obscured.

Our meal was lovely although service was a little slow as all the waiters (in all cafes that night I assume) were watching the Spain v Portugal match. Our waiters had obviously been told they could only wear their team tee-shirs if Spain scored, as when the shout went out for the goal, all the staff vanished, only to return with large grins and Spain strip.

Our final day and at last the sun came out with a vengence, so it was a full day by the pool, finishing off the last of our books, and the last of the food and booze. We could go home with a tan and our heads held high since back home we knew there was a heat wave going on.

Lack of photos

I had loads more photos I wanted to put in the last post but blooger wasnt playing nicely. Lets hope it plays nice for this post.

With only 2 full days left of our time in Lanzarote, we were eager to make sure we did all the things we had promised ourselves we would do. Kelly persuaded Ollie that they really did want to go to the aquarium but I had only visited the London one with them in May and wasnt keen to go again so soon. The solution was that we drove into Costa Teguise together, and then go our seperate ways.

We wanted to just walk round and take in the town, and were happy to see the authorities has marked several circular walks to do just that. We started walking along the prom, past the large posh hotels, and then seemed to arrive on the outskirts of town We seemed to have come the wrong way round to see the sights, but all the same we had fun on the keep fit machines before moving on, through a cactus type garden.
We couldnt see where the route went after that so made our way through some back roads, and had just arrived in a more civalised part when the kids phoned us to say they had finished in the aquarium. Obviously there hadnt been enough fish to keep them occupied for more than 20 mins.

We met up and had a rather strange lunch (spanish omlette made with chips instead of potatoes???) in a beach top bar before returning to the villa.

We were aware that there would be a guy coming to sound out the pipes in order to find the leak, and we were not surprised to find them at the villa on our return. They had sounded all over the grounds and villa but hadnt found the leak so decided to dig a test hole to see if they could find the pipework where it entered the house to see if they could follow it round and discover the leak that way.

We read our books in the shade while the guys continued to dig more holes, join pipes and eventually leave, unsuccessull to return when the owner was in residence.

T he weather improved enough in the evening for us to move into the garden and read by the pool, only for the next lot of excitement to occur, two police cars, three policemen and a police dog turned up at the villa across the road!!

It all happens on our holidays.

Monday rolls around again.

Monday on holiday that is.

The weather kinda matched the mood after the defeat of our country's football team in the World Cup, dull and dismal. We decided it was a good day to go visit the fire mountain as hopefully it wouldnt be too hot.

Ollie drove the hire car there, and on the way stopped at the information centre so we could get a general overview. We werent that impressed when it turned out the simulation of a vulcanic erupton was only working 40% - basically this meant we stood in a darkened underground room and had our eardrums blasted with very loud thunder type noises, then saw a small puff of steam through a hole in the wall.

The lava fields are advertised as 'stunning' and gives a real feel for the history and landscape of the island .... in truth there is little to see but miles of rocks,but I did enjoy the time spent trying to get decent photos of craters and small mountain eruption holes through the coach window without getting any reflections back. I dont think I was very successful.

You can also have your lunch in the mountain top restaurantwhere the food is cooked over an open pit sinced the temp of the mountain internally is still over 400 C despite the last eruption being over 200 years ago. We were able to enjoy the guides demonstrating this as they poured cold water down drill holesonly for it to return in a jet of hot steam,or igniting drytwigs laid in open holes simply combusted by the rising heat.

After that the kids took us to the 'Black beach' at Cala el Golfo to see the black lava sand, the green lagoon and to paddle a bit in the sea. This was quite fun especially since the rock bed we were paddling in was very slippy and nearly all of us took a small tumble at some point.By the time we returned to the Villa the weather had heated up, the clouds cleared away and we were able to laze by the pool with our books.

Game tournaments were abandoned as a coachroach had passed away in the games room and was providing great sport for a whole heap of ants who had formed a long chain gang to disect and cart off the remains!

Dismall

Saturday morning in Lanzarote, and a surprise phone call from the Villa owner. She was really worried that the lack of water was ruining our stay and wanted to check we were still happy - yes we were - and she also insisted we go out and have a meal on her - we could do that, or would we rather a refund of some of the holiday rental- well ok if we must. What a lovely lady and what a change from all those horror stories you hear on the media. (And true to her word a cheque was waiting for us on our return home!!)

The day was a day for lazing around the pool, reading our books, taking in a few rays and generally chilling out. Ollie got to try out his new lilo in the pool.

Ollie on his new lilo.

We tried out the hot tub but spoilt by our own at home which was bigger with more jets where this one was a bit of a squash for four of us, much older and a bit tired so we didnt enjoy it as much as we thought we would.

In the evening it was the fuzz ball tournament and guess what? I lost again.

Sunday at the villa dawned ....... overcast, windy and a little cooler. It was the day of the island's biggest event, market day at Teguise. This, apparently, is a huge event, and there certainly were plenty of stalls lining the narrow streets. Ollie had said we needed to get there early ahead of the coach crowds, in fact we were so early, many of the stall owners were still setting up. Actually I think the poor weather had kept the crowds away, we certainly didnt stay that long as it got really cold and a light drizzle driven on by strong winds made it a very unpleasant experience.

Kelly and Ollie pick out some crafted goodies.

Kelly and Ol bought a lovely tea candle holding set, and we bought a hand crafted, sand blasted wine bottle holder but then we high tailed it back to the warmth of the villa.

Poor weather meant we didnt stay to watch the entertainment.

The dismal weather was only equaled by the dismal performance of the England football players in the World cup game against Germany with us loosing 4-2.

The calm before the disappointment

To cheer ourselves up we decided it was an 'eating out' evening, but we couldnt decide where to go. In the end, we dropped the kids off at their fav restaurant while we ventured further afield into Arrecife. Well of couse, this is us, and a holiday wouldnt be a holiday if we didnt manage to get lost at least once. First we couldnt find the seafront, then we couldnt find a parking place, and getting home.............

The whole town seemed to be built on the premise that every road needed to be one-way, there should be no left hand turns, and no-where should there be any road signs/names ESPECIALLY on roundabouts. We did manage to stop the car though, and had a lovely evening stroll together along the prom,

Strolling? along the prom in Arrecife

followed by one of the best ever, tender sorloin steaks I have ever eaten, topped off by an italian type ice-cream from an ice-cream parlour.

Meanwhile, as the only customers, Ollie and Kelly had got a lift home from their restaurant by the owner, a good job as it took us another hour to navigate back the 5 min drive to the Villa.

Lanzarote is a dry old place

When we came back from our delish meal at the restaurant it was to discover there was no water in the villa. We had put this down to simply a water cut in the main services as we had had these frequently when we visited Cyprus and Crete, but we still had no running water the following morning, and whats more, the lady in the villa next door did!!

Kelly rang the managment firm in charge of villa maintenance. It turned out that it was a problem they knew about already. There was a huge underground water storage tank that supplied the villa with water, but there was a leak somewhere between there and the Villa. A huge leak!

Anyway the Maintenance bloke (Graham, a really ni
ce guy) turned up an hour later, refilled the underground tank via a series of valves, switches and pumps (technical stuff) and then showed the men of our party how to shut off the system when we went out or went to bed, so that the tank would not pump dry again. He said he was still trying to get hold of a man with sounding equipment so that they could trace the leak.

We weren't going to let a little thing like lack of running water spoil our holiday, so after a full english, we set off to visit the island's caves.

First we visited the Caves of Los Verdes, a long underground system formed by the volcano lava flow. I cant say I enjoyed this part much, I am not really one for caves, and this one wasnt particulary spectacular.

Not that spectacular - the cave, not Martin!

In some places it was quite hard to get through, some spots were particularly low and there were lots of stairs.

Some low spots - Ollie caught on the roof.

I loved the second cave we visited ( Jameos del Agua) though. It wasnt really a cave, more a tunnel, which has been converted into a cafe and night club. There is a large pool in which can be found tiny lind white crabs which were facinating.

Blind albino crab

The lagoon looked really inviting, especially as Kelly had forgotten the sun lotion, but alas it is not open to the public.

We got a bit lost in the information centre looking for the exit which got a bit frustrating.

Kelly was insistant that since there were so many games facilities available at the Villa, there was going to be league tables and leader boards. I did try to point out that since the order of winners/loosers was going to be pretty predicable before we even started that it was probably a waste of time, but she insisted and drew up the first table for playing pool in the games room.

After bbq'ing T Bone steak on the barbie,



we grabbed some sangria and made our way down to the pool table, clearing out the dead cockroach as we went. The games ended in much the way we had predicted, with me firmly at the bottom of the league.

LOvely relaxing week in Lanzarote.

We have just spent a lovely relaxing holiday in Lanzarote with Kelly and Ollie. Thank you, you two, we had a great time.

Well I say relaxing, but you know that holidays with us are always like holidays with the Cranks, something always goes slightly astray and this past week was no exception to the rule (Boo will be so pleased to read).



So having finished the back log of washing, shopped and tackled part of the jungle in the back yard, its time to post photos and tell tales of our time away in the Canaries.

The week didnt have too auspicious a start as it was, I was attacked by the iron. As I de-creased Martin's tee-shirts to pack, for some reason it decided to erupt in a sideways stream of steam and scald my stomach. I didnt realise just how badly, and it wasnt a place I could easily drench in cold water for 20 mins, the result is still blistering skin.

Anyway packed and in mostly one peice we drove up to Croydon to watch one of those awful England World cup matches, stay the night at the kid's place and then at some god early hour in the morning, take a taxi, train, and then plane to our villa in the hills. ... .... except the booked taxi didnt arrive. Kelly had prebooked it during half time, not really thinking that everyone at the taxi firm would be in the grip of the game and not focussing on the paperwork. As we discovered the next day, (when the taxi firm phoned us up in Lanzarote,) they had booked it for the wrong night!!!

So we were 40 mins late getting to the airport (good job Ollie had suggested we leave really early) grabbed a none too fantastic breakie in Frankie and Benny's only to sit on the tarmac for another 40 mins due to industrial action by French airtraffic control!!

We got there in the end though, the villa was fantastic, four bedrooms, games room complete with a pool and football (fuzz) table, a huge huge swimming pool,

Huge swimming pool.

and a (rather dissappointing) hot tub. We unpacked and looked forward to the coming week, started out with a scumpious meal in the local restaurant.

View from the end of the villa garden.