The Menopausal Gardener

Internet is up and running and technology has re-entered our lives.  Montgomery , where we are renting till we complete on our new home, is full of friendly people who have made us feel very welcome.  Although the weather is slightly colder than Spain  ( a lot) we are adjusting to it and life is so much better , now we can see the children.  We have looked at Tractor's but as yet have not made a decision on what we shall end up buying, and Max seems to be able to talk on the subject for a considerable length of time :-)

I miss Lisa and Yolanda and wish they were here with us and I also miss my garden.  At present we only have a courtyard but when we move in January we will then have 11 acres.  We need to create a website for our new venture which will be called 'Barton Hollow'.  I have been saying for ages that I need to do a new website for my photography but I think it hasn't happened as the time wasn't right and I wasn't in the right 'place'.  I need to upload some photo's of Montgomery so I am afraid this posting is without a picture, but I shall rectify this soon.

So onwards and upwards and I promise that I shall be more productive any minute now.....

and most probably the day after that.............  Lovely Spanish weather you can't beat it.  It always seems to get that bit cooler once September arrives and so it is now.  Still hot, but somedays a cooling breeze sweeps through the valley and it is very welcome.  The garden seems to have survived the hot summer and there are only a few things that we could have done better.  One is that we should have watered the grapes more, they were there on the vines but shriveled up pretty quick because we forgot about them.

We had our wedding anniversary last Sunday and it was a lovely day.  Corrine was here and we had booked lunch as the new Shanti Som Spa hotel just down the road.  Their food is truly amazing and it is my favourite place to eat - the setting and the decor is perfect.  Alistair had arranged for them to do a bouquet of flowers for me and it must have been the biggest one I have ever seen, it was stunning, made up of white lilies and red roses.  It was truly glorious.  Alistair had surprised me in the morning with body products from La Occitaine which was a lovely surprise and all in all we had a very memorable wedding anniversary.

We may have a buyer for the house so things have picked up a pace, and I find myself feeling a bit sad as I water the garden we have created and lookout at the amazing view we have from our terrace.  We have been very happy here, but it will be interesting to see what new adventure await us in the UK.  I so miss the girls and Max.  It will be a different lifestyle and a much colder one for us but I am looking forward to big Sunday lunches with the family and a roaring log fire.

Time to pour myself a glass of champagne and join Alistair by the pool - better make the most of it while we can :-)  

The summer is well and truly blistering hot in Spain, thank god for air conditioning and swimming pools.  I am still unpacking and it is like Christmas  because I have such a bad memory, opening boxes brings new surprises of things i had forgotten I had.  The vegetable garden is looking rather past it, with beans dried in situ and only the tomatoes producing a fresh supply every couple of days.  I actually forgot about the courgette bed and have this morning gone and bought some - oh silly me.

We have been juicing in the mornings or more correctly Alistair and Max.  Yesterday they did coconuts - they juiced the coconut at the same time adding the coconut water which produced a beautiful silky juice.  It was truly delicious. I think Alistair has written about it's benefits on his website  www.best-health-juicing.com.

I haven't unpacked my plant seeds as yet but when I do I will get busy planting some herbs and pak choi, maybe some melon's as well.  I will take some photographs of the veg beds as soon as this Wednesday is over and we get back to normal. We have a viewing that day and also a British TV crew doing some filming to see if they want to use us for a programme they will be filming in September.  Hopefully we will have sold by then and will be looking for a smallholding or small farm back around Ludlow.

We had an enjoyable day last week driving around the Costa del Luz.  Max packed his kite and we went along the coast from Tarifa.  The sky was full of kites and the surfers where in their element.  It is a surfer's paradise at Tarifa due to the Atlantic winds and people travel from all over the world to spend their holidays here.  I guess a lot stay all year around more or less.  Simone sunbathed and i took photographs.  Simone and Max return to the UK tomorrow and I will be sad to see them go, but i really have so many things I need to get onto, that once everything is unpacked and the viewing over i will get my computer organised and start on my art work, and you never know - the long awaited new website.  

Its had been awhile since my last words, its not that I have been overly busy but I feel this website needs a total overhaul now and I want a new one to show what I am actually doing with myself these days.

I have recently had an eye operation that has not settled down yet.  Lens implant removed, cataract op and a new lens implanted. Its not feeling fantastic and I've found that working on the computer screen has made things worse.  Hopefully things will settle down soon.

The ferry is booked for my return to Spain but I am not sure how I am going to fit everything into my car.  Furniture is being taken care of by one of my daughters but I still seem to have collected plenty of new stuff. 

Lots of new finds in the way of inspiration  www.magnoliapearl.com being a big one and my head is full of idea's of things that I want to do with my photography, art and in the making of things.  I have bought some great lace pieces from the vintage shop in Ludlow and some fantastic tintype photo's from Ludlow antique/flea market.  I just want to get home to Spain and get back to my books and creative space.  Its been hard tying to work off the dining room table without all my things around me.  It will not be easy to leave the children but as they all over in July it wont seem too bad till after the summer. 

There are so many truly gifted and lovely people in the world and I feel blessed that they have crossed my path,  I learn something from the way they live their lives and the goodness they send out in a ripple effect. I feel its important to not let  negative people encroach on your space and lay their issues on your shoulders.

This maybe the last post on this site but things will be bigger, brighter and trumpets will be being blown.

Sending love to all the people that make a difference in my life. 

Well hello from a sunny/rainy Ludlow on a Saturday morning.  A couple of my last blogs seem to have disappeared, not sure where , how or why - but that's technology for you.

I have been working on my photography of late and have decided to join an Image library.  I don't want my pictures scattered among many so I am putting them exculsively with "Alamy"  for the present.  It is quite a slow process as Quality control is pretty tough and as I am new to them it takes  awhile to get  pictures ready and key-worded etc.  Everyday there will be more added and I hope to create different genres of photographs that can be used for commercial use.  I am also in touch with RHS and they are going to look at a selection of my recent photographs to see if they can use them at all.  What I really need now is some good light and I would love a 24mm - 70mm Nikoor lens, cost around £1,000.00 so need to save my pennies up I think. 

Ludlow had a terrible May Fair which I blogged about - Waltzer's, Switchbacks etc.  It was horrible and turned Ludlow into a noisy, yob filled town for a four days.  Now we have returned to normality and the Spring Fair is on this weekend - good music and food is all arranged in the Castle and the market is in full swing in the square. As it is my youngest daughter, Corrine's 22nd birthday on Monday, we are going to celebrate it at the Fair tomorrow.  Cassie is bringing cake, bunting and balloons and I am looking forward to a great day.  Sadly Alistair is in Spain so wont be able to join in the celebrations, but he has people viewing the house there tomorrow so we will cross our fingers once again.  On the gardening front, Alistair tells me that the peas, cougettes, spinach, tomatoes and other veg are growing well and I am looking forward to getting my  hands in the soil again at the end of this month when Max has Half term.  Here is a picture I took last weekend up on Clee Hill of Max flying his kite.  It was freezing and I had earache - but what one puts up with for ones art :-)

My Photographs at Alamy

Well Mr Underhills was extremely good, and we were blown away by the thought and detail that went into making our evening truly memorable.  We had an individual menu with eight courses.  Each mouthful was amazing and it so nice that it was just a stroll from our house.  It is on the riverside of the Teme and because of the amount of snow we have had the river was rushing past the window where we sat.  Candles flickered outside along the terrace wall and it was a lovely birthday celebration.

The change, is all down to my youngest Max. He  started boarding school last September and  we both cried on the phone during the following weeks. With the hope that he would settle into the routine we persevered - but come January he still is unhappy although he has made friends and enjoyed the sailing.  After family discussions, I went on the search for an alternative and found a school not to far away that  provides daily transport to Ludlow.  So after another uniform buying trip and a night of sewing name tags on ( yet again, it only seems five minutes since all the boarding stuff had to be named) I opened a bottle of wine and put on a 'desperate housewives' dvd ( birthday present collection from Simone)  I had never seen it before - it made the hours more bearerable.

Achilles is missing Sparticas and is following Alistair everywhere, lying across his computer and sending emails, and likes to sleep with Alistair .  Poor Sparty, we miss him.

Dylan meanwhile is just as smelly and scruffy as ever, 12 now and looking like he will go on forever.  He is totally deaf, seems to have lost his sense of smell and I'm not sure whether he can see too well either.  I suppose it's where we are all heading as we get older.  God I hope I don't get smelly.  I don't mind being excentric though, in fact I'm aiming for it.

In Spain the Almond blossom is covering the valley and Alistair has taken some pictures for me.  I wish i was there to take some myself.  

My no meat, no sugar, salt or processed foods diet that started at the beginning of the year has been no problem to continue and as yet my Pork pie urges have been kept under control.  

Bring on Spring

Well, we are a week into the New Year, and the start has made me bring a few changes into my life.  I have several books covering the Max Gerson therapy, covering the curing of chronic diseases such as a diabetes, cancer, MS and others.  At the end of 2010, I watched a webinar with Charlotte Gerson and her son Hugh. Charlotte is the late Max Gerson daughter and is n her eighties.  When one considers how our body is a self healing mechanism it has for a long time made sense to me that given what our bodies need in the way of nutrition, they will keep themselves at a level of optimum health.

It was a stunning webinar and covered a lot of issues in its 90 minutes, hopefully you may get to watch it yourselves.  A lot of common sense and clear explanations regarding the issues we have in our environment these days. In regard to toxins in our food and in products that we use on our body, and how we can relieve our bodies of this pressure of elimination of  toxins. Also how to give it the fuel it needs to repair the damage done, and make ourselves in a more healthy individual.  The start of the year has brought big changes for me because of this information and I have now stopped eating all meat's, stopped taking sugar and salt in my food and drinks and avoiding processed foods as much as I can.  Only one week in and I already feel better in myself and can feel any bloating reduced quite considerably.  If only the Pharmaceuticals did not have such a strong hold on our media and money making markets and people were given information like this, I am sure the tide could be turned on the Cancer epedemic that we see to be increasing at a steady pace.

My plans to get my organic garden up and running as soon as we find our new home will be one of the first things that I will implement.

I am once again feeling human again.  Weeks have gone by - Alistair flew over from Spain and saved me from my insomnia and then kidnapped me to Spain for a couple of weeks.  It was nice to see the animals and we managed to pick enough olives for Alistair to take to the mill and give us a few large containers of olive oil.  It is a bumper year for olives this year after two bad ones and the olive groves are full of locals either hitting their trees with sticks to collect their crop or milking them with their hands as we do which is much more theraputic and seems less cruel somehow.  It was nice to have the sun on my skin and be able to sit outside in the evening.  The garden looked beautiful because of Lisa's hard work and it was an amazing comparison from our Ludlow garden, all empty and colour-less.  The garden looked like an English garden in summer. 

Alistair and I flew back to Ludlow last week and I bought myself a very furry hat and am back in my walking boots to manage the snowy pavements.  We arrived back in time for the Medieval Festival, filled with costumes, soldiers and roasting pigs.  It was fun for us but not so sure for the poor medieval stall holders who must have been freezing after standing for two days and an evening.  The town was heaving with visitors and the shops did a roaring trade.  We managed to find an open fire and some hot whisky toddys in our local. Tomorrow Alistair flies back to Spain, and i shall miss him terribly - but I have something to look forward to, as we have arranged for Dylan our Westie to be brought over to be with me.  He leaves Spain tomorrow ( Thursday) and will arrive in Ludlow on Saturday - so we have been out buying bed, bowls and a padded coat for him as we think the shock in change of weather is not something he will take kindly too.  Alistair is not wanting to go but till we sell the house we don't have a choice - that is if we can get to the airport tomorrow, the snow is falling heavily at present

However much I love Spain, it hasn't got the seasons, and August has to be the most colourful one here in the UK.  Driving along the road it is hard to keep ones eyes away from all the amazing images that are passing you by.  I have been blown away by them, but feel that there are most probably enough photographs out there already covering the Autumn/Fall.  Especially  those of my  American teachers  Laurie Excell, Moose Peterson and Joe Mcnally - not forgetting Scott Kelby.  They produce images that I can only dream of  - maybe one day soon :-)  Ludlow is as lovely as ever with a wide range of friendly excentric people.  I have had red Indians doing sun worshiping opposite my house, a cowboy walking a weasel/ferret on a lead and then a man walking past with two parrots, obviously giving them a day out.  Love love love it........ Yesterday I went to see  an osteopath ( only a stroll away) as I seem to have less blood flow to one side of my head ( explains a lot, and I just thought it was my Irish genes) I felt a lot better after  all the stretching, clicking and bendy stuff.  I hadn't realised that I might have to take my clothes off, and felt rather dumb struck when asked to remove my jeans.  Quickly trying to recollect what pants I had put on that morning.  Horrors of horrors, it was a thong because of wearing jeans ( no panty line wanted)  No No a fifty two year old in a thong arghhhhhhhh. Its ok the osteopath said at last , just unbutton the the jeans and that should be fine. Obviously my expression had revealed my anxiousness.

Anyway everything feels looser and i will go back in a week, in the meantime i have the eye consultant this Friday to have a look at my lens implants as they are causing me some concern and it looks like I will need them removed and new ones replaced.  Similar to the Bionic woman - maybe i should gradually rebuild myself.  Also if this wasn't enough, my Insomnia has been terrible and after two weeks I was feeling a wreck and similar to how I was in Spain when the menopause first hit.  I tried everything but conceded in the end and went to see a doctor.  I now have drugs that make me sleep like a baby which is great and scary,  I can't take them for ever but i want to sleep so badly.  I think i am going to try and not worry about the pills or anything else health related for a week and then reconsider the situation  ( was that not a song in 'Oliver')

Oh, I better mention gardening while I'm here.  As we have a strict recycling system here in Ludlow and this Tuesday was the collection of white bags ( garden and food waste, and cardboard/paper, compostable items)  I thought I would clear the garden - well four white bags worth, as that is my limit for collection purposes.  The hardest work is not the gardening it is trying to cut or bend everything to fit into the white bag ( they are not big)  anyway it is cleared now and I wont be able to resist finding some lovely plants on the market to give us some colour through the winter.  Birds are emptying the feeders in a day and half, which starts making it a expensive pleasure, but worth it.  I am busy working on my photography and post editing pics.  Hopefully I will soon start on my new website covering my photography.

The mornings can be hauntingly beautiful, with the mist covering the river and the town.

It has been just over two weeks since my arrival in Ludlow, and as you can imagine there has been a lot to do in settling into my new home. Alistair was here for a week and then had to return to Spain to see to viewings that had been arranged for the house.  

It is always strange those first nights in a new house especially in one as old as this, with creaking of floorboards and the like.  I have grown accustomed to them now and love my little house with its little garden.  Ludlow has markets on most days and yesterday was the flea market day.   Corrine and I found some bargains and then joined Simone and JJ for a super pub Sunday lunch.  It's so nice to be able to walk out of my front door and stroll around the corner to the shops, cafes etc.  The town is full of tourists every day who come to see the Castle and explore the cobbled streets and their many independent shops, including  three traditional butchers and three bakers providing a great range of products.  Pork pies and Olive & pumpkin seed bread are my failings at present.  I never thought i would eat toast in bed but find myself awake early around 6am after a peaceful nights sleep even with the window wide open ( lovely sash windows) no frogs or mosquito's just the sound of the birds in the morning - I sit in bed listening to them as I have my tea and toast and feel quite blissful.  In the evenings I listen to Radio 4 on my new/old radio and it feels like i have stepped back in time.  

My garden is small but cute and quite wild looking - I put out feeders for the birds and was told not to expect to see much happening for awhile till they found the food.  In one day they cleared the lot !!!  I now find myself buying copious amounts of food so the birds are as happy as myself and I think they are.  Today I am going to so some work in the garden and  have bought some penstemon's , passionflower and lavender to make a start.  The roses need replacing and a general tidy up so I can see what I can add to the garden in the way of herbs and some design features,  then I need to crack on with my photography - I have so much to learn and so much I want to achieve.

Alistair and I went on a 7 mile walk when he was here.  It was organised by the people who run the Food Festival here in Ludlow and was a great way to find out about the area and also discover that my left knee seems to give up the ghost after approx six and a half miles.  The walk had regular stops where food and drink were given from different sponsors and musicians and singers perform.  It was really something, sat on top of a hill eating raspberry brulee, drinking perry and listening to a violinist.  Loved it Loved it.  I have bought myself some proper walking shoes which i wear every time I go out now.  I might look shorter than usual but they make me feel like a local :-) 

I am feeling not too good, and even though the sun is shining I am finding it hard to lift my mood. There are so many things to be thankful for, but I think I will  have to wait for the cloud to pass and try to focus on positive things.  Like 'Lunch'.  We joined some friends down on the coast yesterday as we missed them on their last visit over, as we were so busy doing house stuff.  This time they booked at a place we had never been before.  A nice little Hotel called 'Oceano' tastefully decorated with properly trained staff  ( last time we went out for lunch Alistair had a bowl poured on him)  It was very pleasant sat by the sea, this picture is taken from where I was sitting.  Mussels and then beef - it was delicious and have made a mental note to take the children there when they are over.  Then on the way home we called in at the shopping complex 'La Canada' where I had a look at an 'ipad'  ( want one) and bought a LaCie external drive  500GB to make some room on my Mac.  I couldn't resist a quick look at the Nikon cameras ( want one of those as well) and then bought a wedding present for a reception we are going to this evening, and then headed off home, back up into the mountains - where, I then spent an hour watering all the pots before settling down to watch the football.  Sky decided not to work on just that channel, but now I'm glad we didn't see it.  What a disaster England were.  I really can't see the justification in the the amount of money they get paid.

I suspect the are feeling a bit like me today - and have a cloud hanging over them also.

Well its been a stressful time but we seem to have arrived at the end of it all.  The sun is shining and everything in the garden is looking lovely.  Veg is growing, potatoes are earthed up and the house is finally re-decorated and looking good.  Alistair and I are sooooooo looking forward to a holiday when we sell the house.  The children are well and happy, Corrine  has gone to Dublin with some friends for her 21st and no doubt is partaking in a few glasses of guinness.

There have been problems with this blog page causing computers to freeze so I am going to keep this short and just add  some pictures that I have taken of the garden and outdoor kitchen over the last couple of days, as I want to publish this and change a few things to sort out the problem.

Firstly I must just say a big thank you to my children for giving me the best Mothers Day ever.  A very well planned surprise ( I usually hate surprises) Alistair did an amazing job as well, keeping their arrival and collection from the airport all hush hush, with pre-arranged business meetings that I did not suspect at all. I feel very lucky to have such a marvellous family.

At last the sun came out and we managed to feel some warmth on our skin.  We took the chance to get to a garden centre and start our revitalising scheme for the garden.  I started planting yesterday and felt suitabley knackered last night.  It has been a long wet winter and the garden needs some love and attention.  The jet washer is out and I am going to work gradually around the terraces cleaning floors and pots as I go.  I started yesterday at the front door and replaced the pots of last years geraniums with larger pots and  beautiful dark red geraniums.  The potatoes are just popping their heads through the soil and some veg seeds are now planted in old toilet roll centres - they seem to work extremely well for sweet corn. The lemon trees have now been given a strong citrus feed as some were looking very depleted with yellowing leaves as they have certainly produced a bumper crop this year.  The house will go back on the market around the end of May and it should be looking dazzingly beautiful by then.  We are off to another garden centre today as there is no stopping us now the sun is shining and I can get lots done when i have my ipod earphones in and can listen to great music as I work.  Yesterday choice was, Ray Montagnue, Seth Lakeman, Santana and Florence and the machine.

 Have just checked the weather forecast and showers are predicted for some of the coming days, Drat and fiddlesticks  ( fiddlesticks is an underused word that I'm trying to incorporate into my sentences more)

Here are some lemony pics.

Again I am writing this from my favourite place - bed.  On my second cup of tea and having read the on-line papers, I thought I would post what most probably will be my last blog of the year.

Clouds loomed across the valley yesterday and then we had our first monsoonal type pour down of the year. The wind was howling through the palm trees and almost constant flashes of lightening could be seen in the distant mountains, the highest ones tipped with snow now.  All through the night it continued, and on the occasions that it woke me I could see from my bed the palm trees bending under the strain as the sensor lights on the drive were triggered by the blustery weather.

Max has been enjoying his on-line school and last night logged on to watch the school talent show.  It was brilliant, and their were around 70 plus watching, as children of all ages performed over a conference call set up.   There was piano playing, singing, demonstrations of all sorts of things from creating digital art to a lovely girl baking a cake.  Very imaginative I thought and how amazing that all these children had made the effort to contribute to their online community.  The show went on for at least two hours and most probably was better attended than many school performances I have sat through over the years.

All that having to go out in the cold dark night, drive to school then struggle to find somewhere to park, fight to find a good seat and then only be able to see the top of your son/daughter's head for about 5 seconds, then hang around till they have said good bye to all their friends wishing you could be back home with a hot toddy by a warm fire.

I for one enjoyed the show in the comfort of our own home, by a roaring fire and could even catch a bit of Coronation St.  between acts.

Here is a picture of Max at school, with Sparticus offering help when needed.

Actually he does sit at a desk with his books, but this was 'break time' when they chat with each other. 

The painting is one that I've done for the cover of Alistairs next book called 'Goliath'.

I am looking forward to seeing all the children at Christmas and we are going to relax and make the most of their company, watch old films and kick back with a few halves of guinness.

Have a peaceful Christmas where ever you are. and may next year see more love spread around the world.

It has been hard these last few days without our beloved Bruno.  He had not been well, and then one of his leg joints swelled and started being painful for him when he put any pressure on it.  Our beautiful vet Emanuel, decided it was either an abcess or a tumour.  She gave him some acupunture to help wth pain and some manipulation on his spine to help release the pressure that was building up due to excessive pressure put on joints and discs .  We also gave him some antibiotics  to see if it made any difference to what might have been an abcess - this was done last Wednesday.  Due to the stairs we have here and the fact that Bruno couldn't walk, we took to keeping him in the hall at night and carrying him in and out of the front door.  

On Friday night about 9pm we suddenly heard what I thought was screaming and looked around for our son Max as I thought he must have fallen downstairs or something similar and then realised it was Bruno.  Alistair dashed to him, and we think that he must have tried to put weight on his leg and the bone snapped. Cancer .

Max and I sat with him once we had made him comfortable and had him lying down, we held his head and soothed him whilst Alistair rang for the vet, Emanuel didn't have the necessary medication but thankfully rang around and managed to find a friend of hers that was not too far from us dealing with an emergency and  could be with us in 15 min.  Alistair met him at the end of our track and showed him the way to our house.  I suppose it must have been about 10 pm by then.

We had no choice but to sedate Bruno and then the vet gave the final injection. A kind man who didn't speak any English and coped with our limited Spanish.  He wiped tears from his eyes with his shoulder as he administered it and we sat in silence for many minutes after Bruno's heart stopped.  Just spending time with this huge hearted dog who had loved us as much as we loved him.

Dylan our westie who has been with Bruno for 11 years slept on my bed that night.  Lost and not knowing where his big friend had gone, but the way he had stared at Bruno while we were holding him made it clear to me that he knew something serious was happening.

The next day, it took Alistair and Max most of the day to dig a grave and later in the afternoon we buried Bruno with some words that Max had written and read and then laid on top of Bruno.  I have kept his collar so we can always feel his energy.

I hope he stays nearby and doesn't leave us altogether,  Thank you Bruno for being you.x

Its been a long hot summer and I haven't blogged hardly as much as I should have done. We have had no rain since sometime in early June and it has been hard work keeping the plants alive and the garden green.  If anybody has visited Spain recently you will be aware how brown it looks as you fly over the country.  We are pleased that we have managed to maintain our little oasis during these hot months but as I type this on the 6th September we have a grey sky and a chance of rain ( just as visitors arrive from the UK looking for sun) the air is cooler and I have been able to put jeans on for the first time in ages instead of the usual kaftan ( although they are tight and a diet is obviously needed)

I thought I would write this as I am going to the UK tomorrow for 6 weeks to start home schooling our son Max and get a feeling for our prospective new home town of Ludlow.  Alistair will drive over after our visitors have gone and bring clothes, books etc that will be needed, and of course my car.

The veg garden is still producing although the plants look exhausted by the intense heat.  New tomato plants are growing well cauliflower, broccolli, lettuce, peppers and aubergines are all surviving,  but  its hard work keeping up with the caterpillars that keep trying to take over the brassica's.

I bought Alistair a banjo for his birthday and I have decided to have another go at the guitar, so our aim is by Christmas 2010 to be able to play duelling banjo's for a christmas party piece.  If our memories can remember chords from one day to the next :-)  Although we think we have found a great way to keep the grey matter responding with giving it this new challange.  Thunder is rolling over the mountains now and a beautiful breeze is wafting through the open doors.  It will be interesting to see how soon I get fed up with rain during my stay in the UK, but it will be a nice change at first.  Max and I are looking forward to our new adventure in home schooling and I'm sure I will learn just as much as he will.

It will be difficult being away from Alistair as we are always together in everything we do, but he is busy writing his second book and will throw himself into it while we are away.

I will try to do a blog from Ludlow when Alistair brings my Apple Mac over, along with my rain coat, umbrella and winter boots.

It's been a hectic couple of weeks, with a trip over to the UK to do some filming for the TV programme 'Escape to the Country'.  It was exhausting, fun, and very interesting, and hopefully fruitful in our search for a new home in Ludlow.  We were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed the green countryside and everybody was very freindly.  Alistair couldn't stop me from talking to strangers, I hadn't realised that I have missed talking to people in English so much and I certainly made up for it.  I have loads of new friends now !! 

We flew back to Spain with two of the daughters and they spent their week topping up tans as girls of a certain age do, and swimming in the pool.  It is so hot now and I have started getting outside in the garden for 7.30am as by 10am it is too hot to do anything outside other than float in the pool. I have been planting up pots that are in shade with asparagus ferns - they look light and delicate and create a frothy backdrop for the red geraniums. Speaking of the geraniums, they are getting tired after blooming for the last few months so I am giving them a good feed on a regular basis now along with the veg.  Broad beans are finished, but tomatoes and french beans are producing well.  This morning after weeding the raised veg beds I planted more lettuce and cucumbers and thinned out the Pak choi which has been contributing to our stir fries for the last few weeks.  Gardening was finished by 10am and I dived into the pool for a cool down before coffee.  I will miss this garden terribly but am excited by future adventures and being able  to see the girls more. 

We wonder what Spartacus and Achilles (our Spanish cats)  will make of English weather, but we think that if they have an AGA to curl up by they'll be just fine.

As I look out of the window, the campo is a gradually turning brown with the heat and only the olive groves and almond trees are still green - and our irrigated garden - no clouds can be seen and the Spanish sparrows are in their nests with their young.  At around 7-8pm as things cool a little they will fill the sky and dive bomb the swimming pool to refresh themselves, and we will watch from the G&T terrace no doubt with a glass clinking with ice.  

I quite enjoyed the rain in England, how wierd!!

It has been a really terrible morning. The pictures are of six puppies that Alistair found dumped by the public bins this morning.  Not in a box or a scrap of material, just on the ground wriggling and crying. Cold and wet and not even old enough to have their eyes open, it looked like they had been out all night.  Alistair rang me and I hurried myself getting a box and blankets ready for them. We found a dropper and I tried to get some milk into them and warm them up while Alistair went and bought baby milk and syringes. 

How can people discard life like that, just dumped on the ground and left.  That is one of the things that I have found difficult with some of the Spanish, they can be so cruel in regards to animals.  You see donkeys and horses with their legs hobbled and left out in the full heat of the Spanish sun with no water in sight. I didn't know what to do for the best.  We rang the animal shelter that we know of and they said to bring them down.  They were used to this sort of thing, but it doesn't take away the sadness one feels.  The only hope they say is to have a bitch with puppies that they can put them too as it is almost impossible to create what the puppies need from their mother, massaging their tummies and wiping their behinds to make them mess.  If their is nobody able to take the massive job on, euthanasia is the only answer.  

What does one do?  We are going away soon so can't take it on.  I cried there and all the way back.  I feel disgusted with myself that I can't make sure they survive.  Two of my daughters understand the decision to take them to the shelter but Corrine does not. She wanted to fly out from the UK to look after them.  She knows what can happen to them as she used to be a volunteer worker at the animal shelter when she lived here and said that she had seen three litters put to sleep.

Will I be able to forgive myself for letting their lives slip away, I am too scared to ring to see if they found someone to take care of them in case I hear that they didn't.

I have poured myself a glass of wine, seems a small blip in comparison. 

Well maybe not so lonely actually.  The bells have been ringing across the valley as the goat men and their goats plus some sheep roam the campo letting their animals feed.  They always have numerous cow bells on them like you see (or hear) in places like Austria. It's a lovely sound as they wonder freely with the new baby kids leaping on rocks or seeking their mother's milk.  

As in all things modern, times have even touched the goat men. Max had taken them down a bottle of cold water as it's hard work sitting in the shade of an olive tree watching goats. I had my camera out and was just getting in position to take these photos when he whipped out his mobile and started texting, most probably his 'mujer'  (woman) to say 'not goat again for dinner tonight'.  You can smell and hear them before you see them and the goaty smell lingers in the air well after they have moved on, but it's another part of Spanish country life that we love so much.

Paella fiesta came and went, then we had Easter celebrations (Semana Santa) which are major here.  We went and watched the Palm Sunday procession through the village but didn't get around to the following Friday, Saturday and Sunday processions and events. Yolanda our housekeeper looked shattered through lack of sleep when she came back to work.  She lives in the village and the very loud music and drums go on till the early hours.  

Alistair has been busy writing and I have been painting, the children have been over which provoked tearful journeys back from the airport and much discussion about our future plans.

The olive trees are just about to burst into blossom which I was photographing the other day thinking how pretty the little buds looked. Like tiny cotton balls.  Then i realised they were in fact little balls of some insects eggs. I now know how the olive tree fly gets its grubs into the olives, and I have to decide whether to use a chemical spray, go around rubbing them off with my fingers (could take weeks) or leave things to nature. I have a feeling it might be 'nature'.  

The campo is also covered in wild flowers at present and is looking amazingly beautiful.  I feel moved by the beauty of what mother earth can produce, and walking along the track with only the sound of the birds singing makes me realise that I could not be away from the country side for too long.

Our plans have changed for the future due to children and what we want to do for them and their future, and I will say more in my next blog when things are a bit more settled.

We may yet be making charcoal in a forest somewhere and producing honey from our own bees!

As we all know fear in all it's guises very often stops us doing the things that we would love to do.  Fear of looking stupid in other's eyes, fear of failure, fear of surprising family and friends etc.  We all change and over the years and people around us can find these changes disturbing.  Change is scary! 

Well you're most probably wondering what this has got to do with gardening. Nothing! But i know from my own experience that i have a strong fear of failure and the consequence of failure, in that it will make me feel bad about myself.  Which puts one on a cycle of continuous disatsifaction with oneself. 'If only' are  powerful words. If only i had more money I would be happy. If only I had the love of my life, a new car, better family relations, better job... and as you know the list can be endless.  

Reaching that stage in our life where we realise that we already have everything right here inside of us and nothing external should have the power over us to effect our basic happiness.  Of course there are always exceptions, ill health in others, accidents etc, but our fundamental beliefs can set us free from this commercial, materalistic world we live in and look at the more core issues in our environment and to appreciate the world and  nature that has been provided for us by 'whoever' God, Higher power, evolution, Allah .............  For me there is a 'source'  that has brought about our existence and a route that we take, and lessons we learn.  I remember thinking that at 39 i knew everything, only to find at 40 i knew nothing whatsoever.  Life continues to surprise me and I still consider myself a novice that might run out of years before i manage to learn a jot of what there is out there to learn, but in the meantime I am trying to follow my passions as these i feel are an important part of us if not the main part.  What am i here for? What is my destiny? What am i meant to do with my life?  We all ask ouselves these questions. Well maybe Richard Branson doesn't, I'm not sure :-)

If we listen to our truth and respond with actions that feel right for us, we are following our soul's requirements.  Follow your passion and if you don't know what it is yet, maybe its not the right time to know it. Sit, meditate and keep yourself open to coincidences that happen around you.

I used to paint watercolours and loved it so much... time stopped when i painted, there was nothing except me and my painting when i was lost in my passion.  Then events changed, a divorce from my former husband and the life and children changes that occur in this situation.  Painting went on the back burner, paints were packed away.  After a couple of years I unpacked them and found myself unable to bring myself to start. Why? Fear!  The memory of being able to paint was safer than risking finding out i couldn't (I would have lost my passion). They were packed away again and now 12 years later I decided that the fear of failure and the chance of finding out that I couldn't paint was holding me back from being who I felt was my best person.  I bit the bullet and painted. These are my first paintings. Not great, but they are a start and the feeling came back that i thought i might have lost.  The passion! 

The sun has eventually started to shine, although it's cold in the evenings still. A couple of  shrubs are now in full flower and here are pictures of the Hardenbergia and Acacia.  As you walk past the lower part of the garden the scent from the Acacia, which is honey-like, drifts through the air and is heavenly.  We have been to the local garden centre as I wanted to re-plant the containers as the sight of the frost browned geraniums was getting to me, and so they have all been planted with blue/mauve primula's which are looking good scattered around the terrace.

I have had to stay in bed for several days due to doing my back in.  Not due to any heavy gardening work you understand, but from lifting my large recyclable shopping bag into the trolley (so much for being Green!). We were due lots of children plus partners over to visit and I was stocking up with food.  It then meant they didn't see me for a few days while I rested in bed deliberating whether to go to the Osteopath or whether it was healing itself. I did speak to him on the phone and he was most helpful, but as I couldn't stand the pain of trying to get into the car I stayed put, and things seem to have mended, well almost, just the odd twinge.  I spent some of the time in bed constructively, listening to CDs about Qauntum Leaping, sounds wacky I know, but don't knock it till you try it! This has given me loads of ideas for projects.  If you want to find out more google 'The American Monk'.

The lemon trees are covered with lemons so there will be plenty of lemonade and lemon cheesecake etc. till we get fed up with sight of them and then I will be making lemon hair rinses and other concoctions.

I have taken these pictures this morning and as you can see it's a lovely day, I am going to get my paints out now and start creating!

It was Max's 14th Birthday this weekend, Oh what a great time we all had... Max had two of his friends from school to sleep over on the Friday night. 

I did my best Party tea, sausages on sticks, sandwiches, pizza etc. plus of course a chocolate cake with candles.  I should have known things weren't going to be easy after one them (no names) spilled boiling hot chocolate over himself, and I had to spray him down with burn relief aerosol and get his clothes in the wash.  I had pictures of returning a permanently scarred child to his parents.  Off they went to the basement (not a cellar or anything, but a proper living area, just in case you thought us really cruel). We ignored the noise of boys larking about and managed to get to sleep at some unearthly hour (far to late for oldies) only to be woken at 2am by screams.  It seemed that one of them had gone to the bathroom and when he came back the other two thought he was a burglar. Huh! 

Morning came and Alistair fed them a good fry up, and we took them off to Lobo Park, which is a Wolf Park about an hour's drive away.  We arrived with a few moans about being hungry (already). Then we found that the note in my wallet that I thought was a fifty Euro, was a ten, aargh.  After much probing in pockets and handbag we just managed to pay the entrance fee, but nothing over for anything else except a hot chocolate each (you would have thought they would have been too emotionally scarred to go there again).

Wolves were good, and we learnt a lot (for example the obvious origin of he phrase "wolf it down"), but it was quite cold. With all that howling about being hungry I'm not sure who should have been caged up - boys or wolves! So after an hour walking around the compound it was nice to get back in the car and off we set to find an ATM, which took a bit of doing, with the boys grumbling about how starving they were. That accomplished, we took them for lunch at a nice Italian Resaurant,  and then dropped them off at their respective homes. Quite a drive home, I took over as Alistair was starting to flag. We arrived home in the dark, and the first thing we did was open a bottle of wine (our 'No Drinking' month well and truly dashed).

The next morning (Sunday) Max did an initial tidy up downstairs before I timidly ventured down there.  Things didn't seem to bad till I found the "Squirty Cream" can and noticed flecks of white around the room.  Oh No!!  And Max thinking he was helping had very kindly put the decorative VELVET BURGUNDY cushion covers in the washing machine with the white sheets.  Oh Joy!!

Alistair heard a tiny voice calling up from the basement "Pour me a  large Gin & Tonic please". He gladly obliged.

Well it was my birthday yesterday and what a lovely day I had.  I stayed in bed all day and read and napped and read again.  It was bliss.  Alistair and Max brought in my presents before Max went to school and Alistair had bought a lovely gold chain with a gold Maltese cross which  had a single diamond in the centre.  He must have bought it when we were over there at Christmas after seeing me looking in the shop window and saying how pretty it was. 

He is really getting good with presents now. 

We don't talk about last year and what happened on my 50th Birthday, needless to say he has learnt the hard way that cartoon Character PJ's from H&M do not do it for a girl.  I can't bring myself to tell the whole story, just that I am emotionally scarred by it enough to break out in a cold sweat at the sight of Minnie Mouse. Even the spa hotel he had booked for the weekend let us down and our house burglar alarm went off so we had to drive home the same night as we arrived ( false alarm). All in all not a great 50th, but still in the big scheme of things I have a fantastic husband.

Also, Alistiar did build me a garden shed last year ( I feel really ungrateful now) plaque and all.  Here are some pics.

This year was brilliant and Alistair brought me a glass of champagne at 2pm and  after an early evening scented oil bath, I surfaced for a beautiful dinner that the boys had cooked for me.  All in all a fantastic birthday, and one I plan to re-enact next year. 

I didn't open the shutters yesterday so I don't know what the garden was up to, but it was still all there this morning, although covered in frost. Looks like the banana trees have been caught and a few other things, but the winter flowering pansies are OK.

This is not an eccentric writer who thinks the sun shines indoors, but a writer (my husband) who keeps getting dive bombed by a kamikaze fly.  The hat worked and now I am being plaqued by the rogue fly.  

The year was brought in with a bottle of Cava and Jools Holland on the TV.  Fireworks went off in Monda and the customary meeting in the village square at midnight will have taken place.  Grapes are eaten, one at each chime (12 in all for the non-mathematical of you)  Seedless are advisable.  The supermarkets sell little tins of 12 grapes, seems a good money-making venture. I also noticed the prices of loose grapes were considerably higher than normal.

It was a glorious sunny day yesterday, but we have had a rainy night and indoors seems to be the best place to be today.  Max is away skiing with his sisters so it seems a good time to write and our working music today is Leonard Cohen and Cheb Mami (sang on Desert Rose with Sting).  I find Cheb is great to write to and when I eventually learn to belly dance I already have my favourite tracks.  Don't think I can manage it with Leonard though.

Alistair and I have decided not to drink any alcohol for a month. Why? To give our livers a rest after the festivities?  As I know I have a fatty liver this is a good idea, especially as I hear you can lose a stone in weight just by stopping drinking for a month. We will test our will power - one day down 30 to go. 

Well another first, We were called as witnesses for a case between our insurance Company and Endesa ( electric Company) 

Alistair was called in to the court first, the Judge took one look at him in his gangster style suit and said 'Take him down'  Then it was my turn.  I was placed in front of the microphone, looking squeaky clean in my "Prime of Miss Jean Brody' suit.  The judge bowed his head, squinted at me over his glasses, which were perched on the end of his nose 

( where else) and gave me a lesser sentence.  Ball and chain, not to be removed till the New Year.  It wasn't easy driving home I can tell you.  Max has rigged up a system that involves his skateboard and and a cat litter tray which means I can get around the house quite nicely. We are going to put christmas decorations on it later.

 I have to go and bake a cake now ( for you know who) in the hope i can get him out in time for Christmas.

Actually we were just there as witnesses and walked out as free men ( and women) but it was it quite social as other witnesses that had been called, were people we knew so we had a bit of a chin wag ( doesn't translate into Spanish)

The picture is of the actual cells at Malaga court, hopefully we wont ever get any closer.

Very cold here, and i have had to put a jumper on, YES a Jumper.  Where will it all end.

We had Christmas Day today,  it was great.   

Glad that's over for another year, we thought we would get it over and done with, out of the way, ( as Peter Kay would say) 

Actually as we are going to be in Malta at Christmas and wouldn't see our super neighbours and friends Richard and Janet, we decided to have  an early Christmas dinner with them, pull crackers, and wear stupid hats etc. ( took the photo at the beginning when everybody looked normal) so we wouldn't miss out  on enjoying their company over Christmas.

Of course because of this, no gardening has been done today, but we did venture outside to the outdoor kitchen, where Alistair had lit a festive log fire and had mulled wine waiting on their arrival. 

We had a fantastic Christmas pudding from Harrods, that our friends Bing and Nicky had brought  us on their visit in November, accompanied by Brandy butter, custard and cream.  ( sooooo Spanish)

It was interesting that when i showed Yolanda ( housekeeper if you haven't looked at 'The Cast' pictures) the parsnips and brussell sprouts, she had no idea what they were, and said she had never seen them before.  You see there is so much the Spanish are missing out on, 'Brussel sprouts'  we need to get a marketing programme  up and running. ( or not)

Well, i'ts been exhausting and I'm now ready for a Bailey's and a Ferrero Rocher. Might even put on the Mamma Mia DVD

Bliss!

Well not quite, don't want to get ahead of myself.  No sign of any neem seeds showing their faces yet, maybe they just don't like Europe and need the Indian weather to grow.... We will see.  Have just ordered some neem toothpaste, for our son Max, as his braces are causing him not to clean his teeth as well as he would normally and gum disease is slightly obvious, testimonials that I have read have praised neem unreservedly so I will keep you posted.  

It has been raining quite a bit over the last week or so and everything in the garden is looking fresh and very much alive, Passionflower's are covered in blooms and lavender is coming into flower again if it isn't already flowering.  We have nearly finished the part of the garden that we were at a loss what to do with and together with Alistair and Max's effort and my pointing ... Rocks are in place and soon gravel will be too.  Picture when finished.

On walking around the garden checking and tyng in climbers I am amazed how much is flowering for the end of November.  There is snow on the distant  mountains and I believe skiing has started earlier than normal in the Sierra Nevada's because of it.  Driving back from the school run this morning I suddenly became aware of the snowy mountains with the sun shining on them, they truly looked magnificent.

Banana plants, Birds of Paradise and Bougainvillea are looking great.  I dont protect the banana plants and they seem to survive the light frost we can get here in the mountains, I usually just cut the outer leaves off in the spring and anything that looks a bit tired.  Not exactly technical pruning I think, but they seem happy. 

Lemons are ready to be picked - lemonade ?  preserved lemons?  

G & T  Oh yes 

I thought i would add this picture of Sparticus just because he follows me around the garden and he is so cute.

I was going to write about 'Neem' but i don't feel like it .......

Only joking, i will save my Neem info for next time as we have been away this weekend, over to the UK to meet up with our children for our daughter Cassie's birthday.  A great time was had by all.  Cassie is at University in London and we had booked all the tribe in at 'The Rembrandt Hotel' in Knightsbridge. We had Cassie's boyfriend Perry with us and we had a fleeting visit from Corrines, as he joined us for a quick breakfast before sweeping Corrine off to watch Spurs play ( Corrine had a great time).  We all went to see  'Spamalot'  the Monty Python show on the Saturday night,  hilarious, try and see it.  Alistair and i saw it in New York last year and wanted the kids to see it, our seats were a bit up with the God's in the balcony but it was a great laugh.  

Then on the Sunday we managed some light shopping and I stocked up with Biltong from Harrods and we had a traditional  Sunday Roast before going to The Royal Albert Hall to see Michael Bolton in concert in the evening.  Here I expect some people will 'groan'  ( the boys in the group did)  but he was fantastic, what a voice, and we had great seats.  Alistair did the pre-ordering of drinks so we had no rush in the interval and could sip our wine while the boys reluctantly agreed Michael could sing.

As we strolled back to our Hotel through Autumnal leaves our ears still vibrating,  we all agreed it had been a lovely weekend.  We said our goodbyes the following morning, for me tearfully, as everybody went their separate ways and Alistair , Max and I made our way to Gatwick. The plane was delayed ( pain) so late last night we arrived home and I have slept till noon today.  Now its time to make a cofeee and go and check on those Neem seeds..........  

It was unusual for us to have rain in September, but greatly appreciated, and the plants responded with sudden growth appearing everywhere after being stupefied by the heat during the summer months.  It's now October, and we have lovely warm days that have found me planting numerous seeds and preparing the raised veg beds for new crops, and taking cuttings of 'Myaporum' which is a fast growing evergreen providing a superb dense hedge in a short space of time.  The almonds that I left on the trees are now sun-dried enough to shake from the tree and eat or add to recipes.  Chicken in almonds is a popular dish here.

Alistair has finished my beautiful Spanish shed which was my 50th birthday present, only nine months late but he has been very busy with numerous jobs that needed to be done before the rains arrive properly in November.  So I have found myself setting up in my new domain and moving in tools, books, chairs, plants, and have thoroughly enjoyed a glass of wine on my little verandah while looking through my gardening books and planning my choices of seeds and plants.  As I write this the wind is howling and the rain is pouring down, its quite nice once in awhile to get cosy in the kitchen and have time to do my writing, without being lured outside by the sunshine (people in England will think I'm mad saying this). Tonight I think we may bring in some olive logs and light a fire and make the most of it.