Twits on Twitter

I am officially beginning to act my age - I hate text speak "CU@4" will get the short repost "not if I see you first!", I have no desire to be on Twitter or even follow anyone on Twitter, the minute insignificant details of my own life bore me let alone reading about others.

I am just about staying on Facebook but this is mainly to keep my grandchildren happy but frankly this may go soon too. No, I am not turning into a Howard Hughes style recluse but I am beginning to think all this information and personal detail sharing is going to backfire.

I like getting hand written letters, cards even - am I alone?

I like actually talking to people on the phone not just leaving a voicemail.

It's raining, I am on antibiotics for a chest infection and coughing for Britain so perhaps the above rant is an extreme reaction or then again maybe not.

Winter Blues

Winter has arrived with a vengence in London, no snow as yet but very cold with what my American friends call the "chill factor".

I am trying to decide if I can face going out again tonight. I should be going to a rehearsal of a Comedy Sketch Show I have been helping to script over the last few weeks. I have contributed generally but in particular supplied lyrics for four songs which I want to make sure are performed well. So...... cold or not I suppose I better get myself to the rehearsal. The trouble with Winter is it encourages me to hibernate.

I will cheer myself up by looking through some new photos we took at our place in Spain at Christmas.

Long Time No Blog!

Frankly I do not have a real excuse for this protracted gap in posting - since our Christmas and New Year stay in Spain I have been concentrating on building up additional work projects and everything else has been put to one side. In these extremely difficult economic times and with our Spanish property to finance we needed to ensure finances for the coming few months. Anyhow, hooray I have had several new projects commissioned and the new year is looking much healthier.

I shall try to catch up with my blog reading soon too.

Highlights since my last posting have been a great time in Spain with beautiful weather and good times with friends, a "Sleepover" with our youngest two grandchildren last Friday where I discovered I could still climb up and sleep in a top bunk bed [not bad eh?] and the start of my work with Volunteer Reading Help.

With VRH I have been assigned to work at a local school with three 9 year boys who are "reluctant readers" and I am hoping to make real progress over the next few weeks - I'll keep you informed.

Escap

For the last few weeks it has been "heads down" try to drum up more work projects, so I have had less time to keep up to date with my blog. I am feeling a little guilty about this as I know some of my far flung relatives use the blog to keep in touch.

There is such gloom on all the news programmes currently - will the euro zone survive? will Greece default? will Italy go bankrupt? etc etc etc. Yesterday we had three separate protest marches taking place in London, at least they were predominantly peaceful but still it is hard not to get depressed - hence the photo above. Although I seem to be working just to pay the mortgage on our Spanish property, on grey days like today it cheers me up to know I can escape sometimes.

I have been promising for ages to show you all more of the property we renovated in Ibi [a town inland from Alicante in Spain] where we created an apartment for ourselves, an apartment for Brother and Sister-in-law, and two apartments for holiday lettings. It was a real labour of love and now, at last, we have started to have guests come to stay and received some great reviews on Trip Advisor.

For next season we have been approved by a company called Tots to Travel as ideal for family holidays and we are hoping this will lead to more bookings. We really love having people to stay especially as everyone who has come so far have loved Vista Alegre as much as we do. It is always interesting to meet new people, last Summer we had two families come from Holland who were delightful guests. If all our future guests are as nice we will be very lucky.

We are going out as usual over Christmas and the New Year period and two friends who regularly join us have signed up again. Luckily I booked and paid for our flights and car hire a few weeks ago before the new round of economic gloom hit the headlines so we are going whether we can afford it or not!

If anyone else wants to escape - get in touch.

City of London Protests

Travelling to see clients in Central London yesterday I passed the Protest Camp at Finsbury Square and also the camp below the steps of St. Paul's. Big signs saying "Capitalism doesn't work there is another way" - but no signs saying what the other way actually is! Don't get me wrong peaceful protests like these should not be banned but I worry that whenever a spokesperson for the protest groups is interviewed they do not come across coherently.

What is the alternative? Communism didn't work, fascism didn't work - just hitting out at Capitalism as all bad, to my mind, is so narrow minded.

What is bad is GREED - ethical capitalism is what we need and it can be achieved.

We have a great deal of hypocracy in our country, people scream about the high salaries paid to captains of industry but not about the obscene wages paid to footballers.

Any new ideas out there?

The Conference Season

We have just completed the Autumn round of Political Party Conferences. I have watched as much as I can take of speeches from Lib Dems, Labour and lastly Conservatives. In these tough times I find myself being hyper critical of the rhetoric.

I will keep my comments brief:- Clegg [Lib Dem and Coalition Deputy PM] having a tough time explaining to his party members that being in Government is not as easy as they think. You can promise the earth when you have no chance of getting into power, because you know you'll never have to deliver!

Milliband [Labour] the younger getting booed by some of his own party [not a good look], saying sorry for past huge mistakes and banging on about "values" and succeeding in upsetting the unions whose votes helped him into Leadership over his own far more able older brother. [It can't be easy being their Mother.] Somehow he just hasn't got it, his speech writers must be tearing their hair out.

Cameron [Conservative] the PM has grown more confident and this shows in his presentation. He has managed to hold the Coalition together [just about] and is sticking to his guns on the economy although it is not an easy sell to party delegates and the country as a whole. Some good common sense policies were outlined but we want to see less talk more action.

We are living in difficult times but I can't help thinking that the "doom and gloom" merchants in the media are not helping. I am not sticking my head in the sand but I do believe a little optimism and confidence goes a long way. I am determined to be positive [I just hope that doesn't become my epitaph.]

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Just when you least expect it Summer returns! Today in London the sky is deep blue, the sun is shining and the temperature is around 27 degrees - heavenly. The grumblers are already saying "it won't last, we'll have snow in October" etc etc. Why can't people just enjoy the moment. I was so lucky to spend my Summer holiday in Spain and have had an entire month of sunshine but London had a dreadful August so this is a real treat.

Tomorrow is the Jewish New Year and so I am taking this opportunity to wish you all whatever your religious or non-religious persuasion A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR. After the Synagogue services we will be celebrating with family [lots of food of course this is, after all, a Jewish festival].