October Thoughts

Today I am going to indulge myself in a little "Grandma" boasting.  Believe it or not this is something I don't often do, in fact I am probably a disgrace as a Grandmother as I don't even carry photos of my brood in a suitably capacious handbag!

However, my No.1 Granddaughter has just be made Head Girl of her Primary School - voted for by the staff and all the pupils.  What a sign of her popularity.  No.2 Granddaughter has just started "big school" at the grand age of 4 yrs and 10 months.  Photographs were taken of my latest schoolgirl in her uniform, blue and white checked dress, blazer [with room to grow!] and her straw boater set upon her head on rather a jaunty angle.  No. 1 Grandson [who will be 14 in December] delights in already towering above his "little Grandma" and the way he is growing he is likely to end up taller than his Papa too.  We recently took a photo of him with No. 2 Grandson [at his 8th Birthday tea] and they are both so handsome [OK I am biaised - but they are!].  This year No. 2 Grandson's school play in a small football league and he is really keen to prove he can be good at sport as well as his lessons.  Yesterday's highlight was winning "Man of the Match" - one proud lad.

Whenever people ask me whether I would like to move to our home in Spain I always reply that I couldn't be away from my family all year.  Our longest time in Spain was probably last year when we clocked up nearly 12 weeks, going out at Christmas, Easter, May Bank Holiday, and approx. 6 weeks in the Summer.  Of course the other vital factor is that we haven't retired, we still need to work. No-one these days can exist on a state pension.  I have spent most of my working life self-employed so haven't the comfort of any kind of end salary pension. 

To be honest most of the time I enjoy my work and I don't dwell on getting older ..... that way lies depression!  Groucho Marx's famous quote for men is that "you are only as old as the woman you feel" - I need to find an appropriate quote for women. 

Summer Memories

Since my last post back in April I have been concentrating on trying to win more work projects for my Consultancy and at the same time marketing our holiday apartments in Spain.  Evenings, when I used to catch up on my blog, were used for increased marketing efforts for both new projects and bookings for Spain.

We did have a really good Summer in Spain with guests from the North of England, Canada, London, Dublin and Barcelona who shared with us and our family the most fantastic weather and who, to our delight, loved staying at Vista Alegre.  We watched the Olympics and most of the Paralympics via TV, as we did not manage to get tickets we thought we might as well be watching from Spain. Even from a distance the excitement of it all gripped us and we added to the crowd noise whenever a British medal was won.   

The planting we have slowly been doing over the last couple of years at Vista Alegre is now coming into its own and adds to our wonderful views.  

Sitting here on a surprisingly cold Autumn day in my office in London I do wonder how I manage to drag myself away - here's to Christmas and New Year back in Spain.  Let me know if anyone cares to join us.