April's chewing the fat

So April has arrived and we are already truly bedded in here, at home.

Our flights back (29th/30th March) and our grocery order and warm house all kicked in smoothly and uneventfully.  We had a bit of added luxury on our overnighters this winter as we stumped up for the wider seats with more legroom.  I think it is really worth it - for me any way.  Ken pretty much sleeps his way home, so he'd be fine in a match box.

By All Fool's Day I was already ordering stuff for the shop project.  I had also changed my mind about the building I would do it in.  I won't take up space here with garden or dolls house chatter as I do that on the other blogs for anyone interested.  That said, when I remove those two elements from this one there doesn't seem to be much left.

Our first week home was stuffed full (smile) of eating out; so much for me ordering the grocery in advance so we wouldn't starve  After all, if you have to go to the garden centre you may as well eat there.

By the second we were up at the crack of dawn for roof repairers and the cleaner.  Deep joy; I have a cleaner here in the UK for the occasional sort out.  I hate cleaning house; it is a thankless task, within five minutes it all needs doing again.
   
We also had a lovely surprise.  Amongst our mountain of post was a card saying we had a registered package to pick up.  Neither of us were expecting anything, so Ken went off to pick up the mystery item.  This turned out to be a note from the Halifax saying he had won something in their monthly prize draw.  Off he trotted to Bury and was pleased to find he'd won £100.  It won't pay for the roof, but it is better than zilch.  Apparently the prizes are 100, 1,000 and 100,000.

Now the next sentence is worth noting.  I had my haircut and it was fine.  ....  end of subject

On the 4th my new dolls house shop arrived - the Lyddington.  I don't actually love it, like I loved the Honeychurch, but it is a much more practical building to go at for what I want to do.   I am though loving the historical research aspect of it all.  I must drive Ken crazy with - "You'll never guess how Edwardians.........".  He gets tortured with it because I can't imagine how anyone can't be interested in how our grandmothers/greatgrandmothers lived.  It is an almost touchable part of our own histories.

The 5th and off to Ikea for a general rummage and the table, shelves and drawers I wanted for my proposed work room.  Such fun - I am great at finding the cheapest and the also the most perfect thing for the job.  take this literally - my shelves, drawers and table were the cheapest of their kind that Ikea do. I don't have many talents but this is one of them.  Give me tuppence and I can convert a barn to a home.  Think Doris Day and Calamity Jane.

The next couple of days we emptied, cleaned and painted the inside of my new work space. Bing, bang, bosh, build the furniture and I was in!  

During the same time period I managed to write my first article for Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazine.  As it isn't due until July (for publication in September) I am a little ahead of the game.  I hope to do one each month for the next six months, so it is done and dusted.  It needs to be done while I am at home in the UK alongside the Wentworth; otherwise if there's a snag like needing another/different photograph, it would be a tad difficult.  See, there is a method in my madness.


On the 15th Ken and I got all gusseted up ready for a grown up trip into the big city for a meal out with friends.  Crikey, it seems like forever since we actually went out, at night, to Manchester, in a cab. Such japes Pip.  It was a lovely evening in good company in a Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant.

A couple of days later and I was back in almost the same part of the city to meet my best friend for a trip round the Art Gallery, some lunch and a huge gossip catch up.  Every inch of it was a delight.  

The guide for the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition (possibly my favourite period of art history) was absolutely excellent.  A really good balance of information and humour.  The exhibition itself seemed a little sparse and I think he was required to add in some pre pre-raf stuff along with some post pre-raf stuff to extend the tour.  That aside, it was excellent and I learned a lot.  I won't be able to retain it, but it was fun while it lasted.

Lunch was delicious. I have no idea why that every art gallery I have ever eaten in manages to produce good meals, but they do.

As for the chatter - it was essential and it mends the horrid six months gap in our friendship every year.  We are puttering along in parallel as ever again now.

I might mention that the date of this event was 18th April and I wore fairly hefty clothes and a mac and scarf and I was as frozen and wet as if it were mid-winter. I remember our guide mentioning one of the Bronte sisters going for a walk, getting wet through to her woollen vest and dying of consumption - it struck a chord.  

As compensation when I got home I managed to join my other half in a full-on Indian curry in the evening.  No, I am never outfaced by two main meals a day. We also managed to eat out the next two days too with friends. It is good to catch up!

On the 21st we were off to the Pudsey Dolls House Show.  It kept me occupied from 10.30am to 2pm so it must be a fairly good one.  I had ordered a load of stuff to pick up so it was also useful for that.  It was even more useful for the person who bought the Honeychurch, we carted it there so they could drive down from Humberside to collect it to save them coming all the way to Bury.  I never got to meet either of them as I was in the show.  Ken and her husband did the deal in the car park!

The rest of the month is back to back Bentley's.  I even missed the Harrogate Spring Flower Show.  

That said, it really hasn't been the weather for it.  This April was the wettest since records began (100 years ago) so England certainly knew how to say welcome home.  Without any exaggeration we have had one fine day in the whole month since we got back and that was on the 30th.  I wonder what it will chuck at us in May.

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March gossiping

'I crave an iPhone. I am totally in love with Siri and all the other bells and whistles but today I found the item which clinched this for me. There is an App which purports to keep you in a thirty foot mosquito free zone. It supposedly emits ultrasonic sound to keep female Mosquitos away and will run in the background of your device. I decided it probably wasn't all that useful on my iPad but on an iPhone.... Sheer heaven. Please tell me it's for real?'




I just found that note which I scribbled in my collection of March thoughts. We have been back in the UK ten days and I can barely remember and certainly can't 'feel' Florida. It really is like having some sort of split personality this dual life we lead. I put on my English coat (literally this year!) and Florida falls away. Bear with me while I scratch around to remember what we actually did in March. I know we had special visitors but other than that???




I've just skipped through my notes and I am right we spent the first week getting ready for the arrival of my son, Chris and his partner, Gayle and my grand-daughter Lucy (17 plus months old). They live in Canada so we only get to see them a couple of times a year. They stayed just nine days which simply flew by. We then spent the last few days just sorting ourselves out for our summer-in-the-UK departure.




I am pretty sure Chris and Gayle are comfortable with my nattering about them and sharing pictures but I try to stick to my rule of not scooping other people up into this public place too much. Just because I choose to share my mental wanderings with you doesn't mean I can drag others along too.




Suffice it to say it was truly magical to have my grand-daughter under our roof. She is at an age and stage where she is just a laugh a minute. I know there's barely a grand parent alive who doesn't think their grand-child is just the best but in this case ..... Seriously she has a lovely temperament, amiable, not grizzly, a joy to take out - even to restaurants. She is as bright as a button (like her parents) and watching the mass of newly learned things she added every single day takes your breath away. 




She is also delightfully brave, nothing outfaces or alarms her. She met the sea for the first time and literally took it in her stride.




All in all it was a wonderful time and one I will treasure.

Sailor Ken completed his sailing course during their stay and has since taken out a Hobie-cat a couple of times so I thought I'd share a picture of him in it (he doesn't count in the privacy stakes apparently). Actually he probably won't be happy because he said when he saw the ones I took that they were useful because they showed that he was sitting too far back. So all you Hobie-cat sailors can boast how you do it better. Me - I was pretty impressed; they get up a fair lickety-split when they catch the breeze. Not impressed enough to join him.

February's nattering

Before I launch into February, which promises to be about three sentences long, I've just remembered I forgot to tell you about the robbery!  While Ken and I were in the UK it seems that someone (a couple of youths?) broke into all our garages and stole various things. Phil and Sue told us about it when we got home.  We had a cursory check and all seemed to be OK.


We then saw a slew of (plain clothes) detectives and police rummaging around and taking prints and generally spending a great deal of time and energy searching for clues - photos in the bushes etc.  We were mightily impressed and were quick to compare the service to the level of interest our police show in a petty domestic robberies.  Joke on us!  Their interest was because one of our neighbours had his gun stolen!  Another had his magazine nicked.  Being British we had a brief flash of Playboy or a car magazine before the penny dropped - he, of course, meant ammunition.  It is a whole other world here. Since which we also learned there is at least one other neighbour in the eight of us who has a gun - so that's three that we know of. Moral of that story - don't argue with Americans.


Meanwhile Ken figured out what was wrong with the doors - they were all badly fitted.  The tongue of the lock wasn't going all the way across which allows the locking mechanism to drop in place.  The hole hadn't been cut deep enough to allow this, so it was easy to slip in a screwdriver and push it back. Hey presto - one open door.   They then helped themselves to all and sundry from the cars which most people don't lock when they put them in a garage.


We were crowing about how we were fine... always lock the car and never leave anything in it of value even in the garage.  Really we are too perfect to live!


A few days later, planning our Orlando trip, Ken couldn't find the GPS.  Yes, you guessed it.... not only had it been left in the car before we went away but the car battery was on charge and the car was therefore unlocked.  Talk about rubbish timing.


It gets worse, the American car insurance doesn't cover theft from cars... the car has to be stolen then it covers contents!  The American house insurance doesn't cover stuff in garages and cars.  The UK travel insurance didn't cover it because we weren't here!!!!  No wonder people don't buy insurance.


Any way all that happened way back at the beginning of January and this is a February natter.


Well, actually there's nothing to tell you and no pictures to show you....


In preparation for Lucy's visit, we've spent a lot of time mentally returning to the mid seventies and trying to remember what tiny tots need .  We did really well and bought a (nearly) brand new cot, priced at $25 so I bid him down to $20 and bump a up seat for the dining chair priced at $15 and yes, you guessed it I got it for $10.  This was less than the hire cost.  I've also bought masses of bargain price clothes and other bits and bobs.  Indeed the hard part is not to buy stuff.


We did a lot of Library lectures and concerts, nothing too much stands out except someone who played a resonator guitar wonderfully and a good lecture on Bach's (two and a half hour) Mass. Funny and informative.  In comparison we did a lecture on Alzheimers that was totally forgettable (!)  Why, oh why, do some  lecturers produce 15 slides and then proceed to read them - adding nothing and doing it inaudibly????  In fact he hadn't even produced the slides himself they were taken from the Alzheimers website.  We actually did the Bach lecture and this one on the same day - gluttons for punishment.


In the middle of the month Ken went on his first of five sailing lessons while I stayed home and fried weevils and baked ships biscuits.  He is loving it and I can see us sailing our catamaran round the world as our next adventure, with two pairs of knickers and one saucepan for survival.


A couple of days later we succumbed to the unforgivable sin and went to an English food shop and bought English stuff.  Hate ex-pat pandering.  Hate it even more after spending an arm and a leg on awful stuff.  We paid £4.42 for a packet of, actually so bad they went down Oscar (the waste disposal), sausages.  £7.58 for two tiny equally nauseating pork pies; their only virtue which helps overcome the bright pink nasty gluey paste like substance in them is they are so salty we were too busy complaining about that to notice much else.  Get ready for this one... Weetabix cost £5.36.  They are great, though they are being rationed.  Pataks sauce, tin of custard, HP baked beans, tin of Golden syrup (deep joy - I made a syrup sponge pudding and then a treacle tart) and a packet of McVities digestive cost us another £12!  Perhaps if I didn't fantasise over pictures of Tesco Finest every time I get a missive from them I would do better.  They are my on-line food porn - the, unobtainable for me,  fantasy ideal of food.


Oh - looking through my diary I just spotted another library offering - a guy with guitar purporting to sing music from the 50's and 60's.  His earliest was 1926 and he just about scraped into the late 40's.  Worse than that the audience were asked to 'sing-along' - and they did!  I had this awful sensation of being in an old people's home thinking this was fun.  Actually I didn't think it was fun, I looked around me and saw my (not too distant) future.  Not good for an already depressed person.  


The next night our night out was a fun evening with an Irish singing group of four, interspersed with a pipe band and air step (Irish) dancers.  That was certainly more lively and even Ken sang along with Black Velvet Band.  Good craic.


.... and, as if like magic, it was the 29th.  I never proposed to a soul to get a free silk dress; and then it was March.

January's blathering

Looking back through the month to type this I can't believe we were in the UK just a few weeks ago; it seems like months!

We spent our last few days flitting to the doctors and doing chores such as laundry and cleaning before decamping (yet again) for foreign shores. We also hacked down the rest of the climbing roses to knee height to freshen them up for next year. For me, all this was done in the brave state of martyrdom as I was feeling really feak and weeble (as we say in our family). In a way the dreaded journey back was easy by comparison.

By the 5th when we were actually flying back I thought I was feeling a bit better and was surprised how well I managed the trip. Within a couple of days of being back in the sun (it is supposed to help pityriasis rosea) I was doing OK and so my hostessing duties never missed a beat. That said it really has taken me until now to feel 'normal' again. That's what you get for getting a young person's disease.

Our days in the January sunshine with our friends were taken up with our usual eating, shopping, pool, bikes, beaches and tennis. I will leave you to guess which of those activities actually apply to me.

On the 15th we took off for an overnighter in Sarasota. There was a doll's house show there and it seemed like a cunning plan for me to do that and for us all to have a gander at Sarasota and its environs. The show was a good deal better than I thought it might have been especially after I saw the hotel it was in! It was also where we had elected to stay. It was a very tired Holiday Inn which had been taken over by Ramada. I was totally underwhelmed by the rooms/building/service, but for one night it was doable (and convenient).

Ken, Sue and Phil pootled around a little during the morning while I was doing the show and came back for me around lunchtime. They probably did the best tour of the trip as they drove down Longboat Key which I remember (from years ago) as being very pretty. We then all did a mooch around and a meal. Our mooch included a trip to the South Florida Museum to have a look at the Manatees and sit, in my case doze, through a Planetarium lecture. I promise you it was a very good 'show' it was just that I was still struggling through the great itch and its ramifications. The question and answer conversation afterwards was worth the visit in itself. Excellent presenter/lecturer.

This museum has the only born-in-captivity-Manatee in the world, which is now 64 years old - how sad - though, as they are quick to point out, it is a very old Manatee thanks to its lifetime of cosseting and it wouldn't have a clue how to make it out in the big bad world. The other couple of manatees there were just being 'mended' and would be retuned to their natural environment very soon.

This picture shows Snooty getting some extra fruit treats from his keeper. Like me, he is having to watch what he eats as the vet says he should drop a few more pounds. To be fair I haven't had a vet tell me to drop a few more pounds, but that's probably because I can figure it out for myself. How he hops on the scales every morning I don't begin to understand. Those differences aside we look pretty much alike. (He'd be cuter with a blonde wig) You can see how we drive sailors mad with lust.

A new to us novelty was the (occasional) parking spaces in Sarasota with a an electrical hitch (what are they called?) so you can recharge your electric car.

I just enlarged the photo to see if there was a clue - guess what... it is called a Charge Point. So no points for imagination there then and a minus score for lack of fun. Opportunity missed I think....

- leccymeter 

- voltometer

- hot rod

- sparky

- leccy

- we charge (it isn't free of course)

- live wire

- megs

Monday was spent getting back to Naples very slowly. We stopped off at a couple of different beaches in Venice. The first, Nokomis Beach, had a renovated plaza designed by Jack West. No, I admit it, I don't know who Jack West was and judging from the plaza, aka car park and toilets, and the other photographic examples of his work exhibited there it simply looks like the worst of the fifties concrete and steel utilitarian stuff I grew up amongst in Birmingham and was glad to see the back of. It is always a challenge showing wonderful things to a Philistine.

We went to find the centre of Venice and its pier and en route managed to find Ciao Gelato. This is a must if you ever go to Venice. Decidedly freshly made each day with the best of ingredients and all sorts of wonderful flavours. The amaretto was terrific. Even I loved his ice cream. I always like the idea of ice cream but actually hate eating it because it is sooo cold! Yes, I know, I know...... This time it was worth the cold discomfort for the lovely mouth-filling creamy deliciousness.

Replete we finally made it to the pier. I never got beyond the entrance to it as I was waylaid by a delightful lady - as old as Methuselah but so interesting to talk to about her life, both past and present. What a sweetie.

Just before we left for Sarasota Phil and Sue decided they were going to buy a tablet each - this is a small computer, not Paracetamol, just in case there was any doubt. Sue had the Android and Phil opted for the iPad.

On our return, the next few days was back to back, not mention front to front, messing with gizmos that did and/or didn't work every five minutes. Here's a photo of my intrepid three in the Apple Store (Waterside shops). During all these whys and wherefores from the newbies I got tempted into several madnesses which I'd not bothered to try on my iPad all of which led to my having to do a total wipe out (hard reset) and return it to its naked as the day it was born state. Luckily I was backed up in the Cloud (some of you might grasp this?) and all my stuff came back. So now I have done the trial by fire and I am a fully fledged gizmo user who can now do soft resets without a tremor. Hope never to do another hard reset, the anxiety is too much.  Take a look at the photo and guess what everyone had for Christmas this year in Naples.  It was non-stop heaving and you had to make an appointment to see an Engineer if an assistant couldn't help you.

On the 21st we were off again to Orlando for a week. It is almost entirely devoted to shopping. I have done all I need now for a year from just two shops - Bealls Outlets and Coldwater Creek Outlet. Such bargains. When you can get a pair of trousers for 11 cents.  Honestly – they started at an outlet price of $16.99 then reduced to $11.99, then a one day further reduction, then old person discount, then a five dollar coupon and, Voilà, eleven cents. I also snagged a couple of brilliant dresses from Coldwater Creek for $6.99 each. They have a starting price around $80. How do you say no? I spent around $150 and have 30 items of clothing which includes a couple of lovely jackets.

Between shopping and eating out every day, Ken and Sue and Phil also threw in some sitting round the pool time. I managed a couple of hours on one of the days but it is not for me. Being a fidgety britches I am useless at just sitting around for long stretches unless I have a really good book to read. Even then I like to do that in comfort and being stretched out on a grill rack (aka sun bed) and being toasted lightly whilst being nibbled at by every conceivable creature on the planet isn't my idea of heaven. You will gather I am not partial to the great outdoors. God's outdoors is why woman invented indoors. Settees, air con/heating, food.... Why would you choose outside?

Phil and Sue were lucky with their weather during their six week Florida stay. There were a couple of cooler days but no real cold snap.  Even in Orlando, although it is further North in the State, the sun still shone. Every day was in the mid to high eighties until P and S flew home on Thursday. That evening we had a tornado advisory which nearly became a tornado warning but settled back into high winds and rain overnight leaving Ken and I with a very dull and cool last day on Friday.

We were all shopped out, so we decided we ought to sample the Disney experience. We do this Orlando stay each year and a couple of other flying visits occasionally and never 'go to Disney'. Shameful for a British Florida resident. Many years ago we did Epcot on a road trip type holiday around Florida (which is how we found Naples) and Ken has done some Disney stuff when his kids were small, but that's it. I searched and searched for something which might be aimed at old fogies and we played with the notion of doing the Titanic thingy, especially as it is the period I am doing in my Le Tout Paris miniature. We reneged on that as neither of us could crank up enough enthusiasm and so we settled on just walking around downtown Disney as the best compromise. I shuffled all my Pollyanna molecules to the surface and determined to be positive and bury my natural cynicism and enjoy it. Sadly I hadn't allowed for the fact that I not only lack a 'fun' gene but seemingly the Disney piece has gone missing too. It was like walking around Salford precinct only with the addition of Mickey ears and sprinkles. However, I did like the huge river boat (the crab house) and I wondered if it is a defunct real one or just a Disney 'set'? It is certainly impressive and led to me imagining the glory days of the show-boats and how wonderful they must have been.  I apologise for the (lack of) quality of the photo.  It was sunset and taken with my phone. The reflections of a low sun made it impossible to see what I was aiming at as the screen was a complete blank.  I had no idea what I I'd got - if anything.  Now you know why I trawled round for days when I bought my camera trying to find one with a viewfinder as well as the stupid screen.  Do you know you just can't get one any more unless you go to SLR.  That said - guess who forgot to take her camera!  I am sure Downtown has another life at night when it is all lit up and the bars and restaurants are buzzing; perhaps we didn't see it at its best?

After we had done the obligatory walk round we fled to Bealls Outlets to return a couple of  (housey) things. This led to us to discovering an Aldi on the same mall. Four months here and Aldi looks like Marks and Spencers! We stuffed a couple of food bags with all sorts of goodies like golden syrup (treacle tart and sponge puddings!) water biscuits, plain chocolate Leibnitz biscuits and dark chocolate covered marzipan bars (and more). Yummy.

The following day we drove home to Naples. I was so whacked I even declined a trip to the best Greek Restaurant on the planet - well, in Tarpon Springs and I actually forgot about a promised trip to Ikea. The only stop we made is the compulsory one at Smokin' Joe's for Ken's ice cream. We were home by lunchtime and filled our faces in Cracker Barrel for ease. I was too tired to care.

The last three days have just been chores - twelve loads of laundry (!) putting things back in place and a bit of cleaning. We now have a month and a bit before my son and his partner and my lovely grand-daughter arrive for a visit. February is ours to do with as we like. Now we’re stuck!


More photos

Merry Crimbo and the rest of December.

Christmas and all its chaos seems to kick in a bit later here in Naples than it does at home.  Maybe as they celebrate Thanksgiving late in November folk haven't got their eye on the next holiday until they've got that one behind them.  For whatever reason I do get the feeling that the real Christmas season here begins o/a 1st December.

On that particular evening we went to Fifth Avenue for the tree lighting ceremony which is a pretty big deal and always brings out the crowds in their Christmas finery.  We felt full of figgy-puddingness as we wandered up and down the street and listened to singers and watched dancers strutting their stuff.  Our evening concluded with the lighting of the tree (by the mayor) and we pootled off home feeling very Christmassy.


By now I also had The Nutcracker and It's a Wonderful Life under my belt.  These are two of my absolute requirements to usher in Christmas.  After putting up the Christmas decorations outside the condo I had completed the set.


My next Christmas task was to order my grocery from Tesco ready for delivery the day after we get back.  This is a nightmare of the grandest proportions.  


Firstly I had to be able to figure out what food I need to (a) restock an empty cupboard (b) to accommodate one (gluten free) guest for four days and (c) an overlapping other (new to me so don't know what he likes) guest for two days, followed by (d) food that will keep/freeze/last to see us out for the rest of our stay as we don't have a car on the road and have to manage with top up bits from our local shop.  This meant endless continually revised lists of meals and ingredients needed for the meals which meant my work space looked liked Dicken's circumlocution office in Little Dorritt.  It also meant I went on line to Tesco to add and alter about half a dozen times before I was (fingers crossed) happy with the result.  Other than forgetting the Majool dates it proved pretty successful.  Needless to say my daughter (tongue in cheek) tortured me with an hourly reminder that it can't possibly be Christmas without a Majool date!


Part two of the food ordeal is actually trying to book a delivery slot.  Each date is released 21 days ahead.  I managed to get a slot for the 22nd reasonably OK which I did just in case I didn't snare one for the 23rd.  They come on line at midnight in the UK so dead on 7 pm I was at my machine trying to sign in and book a time.  It took one and a half hours to just be able to use their system as it was so overloaded.  Finally I scraped up a delivery for the 23rd as the best compromise between one early enough so we didn't starve in the interim but not too early for Christmas to have manky food by the time I got to it.


As for Christmas gifts.  Postage to all and sundry is crippling.  I decided when Lucy was born to buy her a Hallmark Christmas decoration each year for her to collect.  2010's went to Canada with me when we visited her in September that year.  This time I discovered that the mailing costs were twice the cost of the ornament.  Gayle kindly rescued me and bought one I had chosen on my behalf.  Thank heaven for Paypal banking. Looks like I will be taking one in May for 2012's Christmas when I visit.


I'll come back to Christmas I am sure, but for now I am looking at the other day to day stuff.


Set against all the expenses of the Yuletide we seem to have had a great (Naples) bargain month.  In one week we managed to get two free lots of cheese.  We were overcharged a dollar (the till price and the package label didn't match) so you get to keep the item and the full price is refunded.  We were recipients of more terrific customer service two more times that week.  I had bought (my three millionth) pillow thirty days before and used it each night but wasn't happy with it.  As I had actually paid a reasonable amount for this one in a desperate attempt to find a comfortable one I wondered if I could take it back.  Sure enough, no real conversation or questions about it - bing, bang, bosh, money back.  The third bit of happy shopper was a food mixer which I'd had two years.  It was bought to make bread and even with the addition of bread hooks didn't really do the job although all the blurbs attached to its advertising claimed it did.  I rang the company, not to complain, but to ask for advice in case there was something I was doing wrong.  No problem we'll send you another one - later model, slightly more powerful motor and we'll also add in the dough hooks.  Four days later I had a spanking new mixer!  How ever long we live here I can't get used to such service.  


We also ate out many times since we arrived using various coupon, restaurant offers and Groupon purchases, one of which led us to eat at an unpromising Deli opposite the park.  It turned out that it made a great lunch of soup and sandwich and, in this case, for half the price.


We did seem to have a panic flurry of shopping before our guests arrived for them and for Christmas bits and bobs to take home but it was all very pleasant and we managed to squeeze in our usual free concerts and movies.


The day Phil and Sue arrived (from a brief stay in Orlando) our dishwasher decided to die but it was fixed the following day under our service contract so no big deal.  On the same day we had also booked for a musical 'do' at the library but P & S decided to give it a miss, so Ken and I tootled off on our own to a jolly evening of Christmas music and a bit of audience sing-a-long.  We just needed a mince pie and mulled wine to top it off.


More Christmas music followed at Golden Gate High School on the 17th, courtesy of Naples Orchestra and Chorus.  We did this with P & S and Carole joined us too.


Even more music was soaked up the following day with the regular concert in the park.  We did a diner meal at Mel's following this rather than a posher meal and had some great ribs.


A couple of days later (20th) and Ken and I were on our way home for Christmas.


We got back to a problem with our heating system... there's always something!  It had managed to stay on non-stop for three months at a cost of about £100.  Just before we left we had done a belt and braces job by having an exterior boiler stat put on the garage wall to avoid last year's burst water pipes.  It seems this had managed somehow to stick in the on position.  Ken eventually solved it and normal life began with our welcome home trip to the chippy to buy lunch!




I have found a terrific local cleaning service and they are happy to do odds and ends of work for me as and when, so the next day we were scrubbed from top to bottom by Kirsty.  Meanwhile I worked on tidying the garden (see my burygardeners blog).  With the arrival of the mountain of food the following day we were ready to 'DO' a sort of Christmas.


My daughter appeared on Christmas Eve and we had a very low key but pleasant Christmas lunch on the day itself.  I made some notes early on Christmas morning which may as well just stand as is.



Christmas 8 am and I am up on my own.  We had a very late night with Sally so I don't expect to her or Ken for a while.  My sleep pattern is totally screwed up.  I got up at 5.30 am on our first day back , 10.30 am the next day and no sleep at all the next night so I got up and stayed up and did useful stuff like wrap gifts for Xmas stockings.  Today was a 6.30am beginning... So here I am.

I am spending useful quiet time thinking and writing and eventually preparing lunch.  My thinking began with a bunch of Christmas resolutions for next year. Firstly I want to come home at least a week before the big day so everything isn't such a rush.  It would allow me to do it properly if we are here for three or more weeks.  I hate this half hearted not quite Christmas.  The ba humbug thing just doesn't work; all you do is spoil other people's Christmas.  In reality you probably don't but that's how it feels when you are the mom and responsible for the world and his wife's happiness.  I want a Christmas tree and the rooms looking like Christmas...   be this Christmas day or not I may persuade Ken to go in the loft and lug a tree down. He was a bit reluctant at 1 am this morning!  So far  the only food I seem to have forgotten is the dates!   How can you forget the dates!  Needless to say it was the first thing Sally asked me for when she arrived.

My second resolution is to skip this year's rubbish idea of no presents for the grown ups.  All that's happened so far with the exception of Ken! is that I have the embarrassment of accepting gifts from everyone and not being able to return their kindness.  So my nice cool adult logic is swamped with guilt and feeling like the cheesiest person around.  I promise you I have given everyone's present buying money to charity but even that comes with the guilt of my feeling smug about doing something good by robbing someone else of the pleasure of opening a pressie.  Hey ho, back to the drawing board.  I think I need to heed what everyone has been telling me all my life that I should stop trying to control the whole world and just accept that things are what they are and how they should be and most folk like it that way.  Apparently the world hasn't just been waiting for me to arrive on the scene and get it organised properly.  As with all great megalomaniacs I am saddened by this.

Meanwhile I am off to peel a sprout.



Boxing Day saw the arrival of Sally's partner and we did the classic English Boxing Day cold cuts meal.  On the 27th Ken's children, Susan and Richard, were added into the mix and we caught up with them.


While all this was going on my 'mosquito bites???' which I had flown in with had turned into (nasty blistery) chicken pox as confirmed over the telephone by a doctor.  I had it as a child and only 13% of the population get it twice.  I have also had shingles (at 60) so was thrilled to be doing the rounds again.  By the time Christmas (and ours visitors) had gone I was feeling decidedly ill with it.  When it gets to the stage where you actually choose not to drink a cup of tea because the effort of having to pick up a cup several times is just too much, it is time to worry.


I made an appointment with the doctor who diagnosed a staph infection and gave me antibiotics and antihistamine and an appointment for a week later.  I absolutely knew this was a wrong guess - but what can you do?  The antihistamine (non-drowsy) made me feel even worse! and I'm never happy loading myself with high dose antibiotics but...........

Meanwhile I was convinced I had a viral thing called pityriasis rosea and, when I went back to the surgery, the nurse and doctor had also come to this conclusion; without my suggesting it!  After upsetting more than my fair share of doctors by telling them what disease I've got, I have finally learned to keep schtum.  Why don't I just be brave and tell them and save all our grief and time?  If you are interested enough and click on the link the photos look exactly like I looked, other than its a man's hairy chest!  I am now on week six (13 Jan) and am just about feeling OK, so its been a long haul.  Sadly I have no tips on how to avoid this little treat.


So, as you've probably gathered my last couple of days at home consisted of flopping about the place and dreading the journey back over the pond to the sun.  I'll tell you how that went in my January epistle.

Bye, bye November...

For anyone still keeping up with my increasingly boring life I thought I'd tidy up and finish off November. I want to make a real effort to be more organised and write one month at a time in some regular sort of way. I know I must have said this a few times before and not managed it but let's make this my old year's resolution and see if I can do it - starting at the end of December! I can see the excuses creeping in already - I'll be so busy in the UK with visitors that I'll never get a chance on the 30th!
But for now ... to the last week of last month!

I left you on the 22nd up to my gunnels in painters. On the 23rd - the third and the promised last day - five painters were thrown at the job. Those of you who know the apartment will realise that five people living in it is 'full'; five people decorating in it, is overflowing. As always we escaped.


A quick flit round the shops and a great lunch in a, new to us, Greek restaurant (Pelagos). It had been commended to (us) the audience by the conductor at the Phil when talking to his guest pianist. They were both perfectly right - terrific food, good price, nice people. It has been added to our regular eatery hit list. 


We were asked to be back by 3 pm when they expected to be finished and to bring the balance of the money in cash (!) We were given some spiel about paying the lads for Thanksgiving (the next day) and the banks being closed on Thanksgiving.  No, it didn't make sense to us either, we just assumed it was a cash in hand tax fiddle for everyone concerned. We duly reappeared on time and hid out at the pool with a book for another hour as they clearly weren't any where near finished at three. At four we returned to 202 to stand around in the smell and dementia for a while. I finally gave up and rang my sweet neighbour in Georgia to ask if I could sit in her apartment (next door), which I did. It was very odd sitting in someone else's home. I told her I felt like Goldilocks and ended up sitting in three different places before leaving. Four-thirty and some more rolled round and the guys eventually left clutching the wad of money. It seemed neither the owner nor his two sons deemed it necessary to turn up and check the job or even pick up the cash. Mmm!

As for the decorating....   The job itself was utterly shambolic to say the least but they did do it in three days as promised and the end result was acceptable. Nothing like the quality which was promised in the sales pitch. It has been just a quick clean up right through. It does feel good though to take ownership of the place at last. I always feel a home feels more like yours when its been painted right through. It looks like a a giant sugared almond but its what I like. Ken just sighed and said, "Colour? what colour? looks white to me....''

As with everything else in this foreign land even painting and paints are different to back home. The trouble I had trying to determine what was meant by a flat enamel ('flat' being our matte) as opposed to just a flat paint was a pain. No-one even understood the question - basically all I wanted to know was, would it shine? That being precisely what I didn't want... reply ... no it just has a slight sheen (!) does that mean slightly shiny?... no, its flat with a slight sheen! Trims and interior woodwork here are usually painted in the same (latex!) paint as the walls - so every colour and degree of shininess under the sun can be chosen and mixed for you.  I preferred an oil-based wood paint.  We were told that white oil-based paint for the trims and doors only came in one white and in semi-gloss. (I confess to not having checked this out as I trusted the painter not to be telling porky pies!) Similarly ceiling paint in white is just that - no fiddling around with shades of white or finishes. The gloss turned out to be just like our white gloss of years ago and stinks just as badly. I had forgotten just how evil the paint of my childhood was. We lived with the doors and windows open for days and were still afflicted with stinging eyes, vaguely sore throat and chest (even Ken!) and in my case a permanent headache, which I still seem to be suffering from a little. Neither of us can smell the paint any more, but than could just be a case of getting used to it.


The 24th was Thanksgiving Day. As in previous years we retreated to Cracker Barrel for our holiday dinner like the saddos we are. This year it proved very useful as we both looked dire in terms of clothes and bodies because we were in the throes of putting the place back together again following the painting spree. Ken actually likes his Cracker Barrel Thanksgiving Dinner. American food is decidedly man food!

The ongoing smell never managed to ruin my appetite, of course, but it did prevent us from eating at home (!!!) so day five arrived and I had to eat crabs legs again! This translated into a huge plate of crab legs (a dozen maybe?), nine generous sized sushi, a plate of ''what does that taste like?'' samples from the other 200 plus buffet dishes, followed by another plate of crabs legs for pudding!! oooh I almost forgot the three Chinese pastry/cake things for pudding number two. I have such self control!

I've struggled to keep to my weight this month with too many meals out. I know the food police won't get you if you don't clear your plate but I am one of those people who keep going and going even past the wanting it stage. If there is food in front of me I'll eat it. As I said to a friend I still have the bulging bits all over but they just don't weigh as much.

The 26th brought our annual (my birthday) outing to The Nutcracker. So nice once in a while to be a 'growed-up' and dress up and go out after dark especially to somewhere like the Phil. I wish everyone else felt the same. Most of the audience are a delight in both clothes and manners but there is a small group who haven't a clue about theatre etiquette or who deliberately flout it, which is worse in my book. Someone actually brought a baby to the ballet. Maybe to a matinee performance, especially The Nutcracker, which you expect to be filled with children, but to an evening performance?  I think not. Luckily it was only a slightly grizzly baby! We also fell foul of a couple immediately in front of us who really needed a hotel room. I think whispering, giggling and eating each other's faces is a tad inappropriate for any theatre venue? To some extent I love the performance enough to get lost in it but was I brought curtly back to earth now and then by their almost non-stop antics. Being British and, in truth, not wanting to seem to be an old kermudgin I was useless at actually resorting to 'ticking them off'. These weren't idiot teenagers but a couple in their high thirties (at least). Even in my five quid dress (but nice shoes!) I felt vastly superior!

The following day (Sunday) I had somehow got roped in to help out at The Naples Concert Band concert which Ken 'works' for. It was fine. I discovered I don't actually mind shaking a red bucket at complete strangers and demanding money. It is odd the sort of talents you don't suspect in yourself... this is one I should have tried sooner and I could have been rich. Though Ken tells me you can only do it at a concert otherwise it is called demanding money with menaces.

Our month ended on the 30th with a minor blow. Someone, or rather several someones, have decided in their wisdom to erect a shiny Alcatraz black chain link fence along the line of the woods opposite our condo.

(The photo actually isn't our lake, but looks the same. This fence borders two sides of Sherwood 1 and must have cost an arm and a leg!)

Probably bits of my email to R says all I want to say on the subject:

I've calmed down a bit now but I am still saddened by it. Ken thought that a fence along the border of Sherwood meant just that ... In the woods along our border line. We both appreciate that it probably would have cost more to put there as it would have been more difficult to erect but to have spoiled our view in this way is pretty poor. You know I would always choose barrier planting to block access.. Nicer to look at, cheaper to install and virtually maintenance free especially in a wild wood!! There seems to be a resistance to it over here for some reason. Using a fence instead seems to lose on every point: it will need maintaining to some extent and if someone is determined to trespass it will need fixing every five minutes ... It is pretty easy to wreck.

Why shiny black? Dark green to help it blend and a matt finish would have been much better.  This one glows delightfully (!) in the setting sun... certainly ruins my favourite moments on the lanai!!!!! Aaaaaarrrgghhh!

The only option we have left is to plant in front of it and anything we do plant will look like some sort of hedge as it will probably be a single specimen... Fig? Bougainvillea? Etc and will need maintaining regularly... More expense! And still it won't be the original more  attractive wild aspect we once had. The best form of planting would be a layer of what is on the other side.. In other words put a strip of wood on this side of the fence therefore making the monstrosity ACTUALLY be in the wood as it should have been in the first place. Can you imagine the cost along the length of that stretch?.... That's not going to happen!

Another issue this raises is our own access to the woods... Dog walkers, the man who meditates there, nosey bobs like Ken and I and the fire and other emergency services though they will just hack through it I guess. Anyone who wants to live in there now can do so in comfort as no-one from this side will be checking on them. Fencing our BORDER might have been a good idea but chopping off part of our property just seems plain daft to me.

I suspect my problem here is that I am awful at living in a communal way. I pride myself on being excellent at tolerance and compromise but in truth that is probably only on the things I don't feel all that strongly about, when it comes to things that matter to me I want them done my way!  So, a board-run apartment is a bad fit for me.

I mentioned about being very homesick last winter and that I hoped I wouldn't feel like it this year but alas I do. I kept pushing it away and refusing to indulge myself in it to such an extent that eventually I ended up blubbing like a baby one of the days to go home. Poor Ken is bewildered by it all. It isn't that this place isn't wonderful - it is. This is something which has no basis in sense or reason. I just want to go home! The only defence I have is that many people who emigrate to a much better life reach a point where they realise they don't want to be a 'foreigner' in a 'strange' land and they desperately want to go home where everything, even the bad things, chime harmoniously with their soul.  Almost everything here now seems to jar.  In effect Ken and I have lived in America for five years, even though that is composed of ten half years. In a way that seems like us having been here more time, not less. When I get here now I just feel like an émigrée who needs to go home. I am weary with trying to rationalise it and to convince others that it makes some sort of sense, especially when I know it doesn't.  All I know is that I am left with the insoluble conflict of not wanting to live here any more and that I will miss it dreadfully when I don't!

Everyone is perfectly correct in that I would hate the winters back home and that I would miss Naples, so I stick with the plan. The last time we sold up in Naples and bought the house in France I was the one who knocked that on the head a year later because I wanted to be back here!   Also Ken loves it here more than our life in the UK. There really isn't a solution. Coming here will have a natural end at some point simply by our advancing old age and the cost and the practical difficulties encountered doing it. I am just marking time and hoping that the end is sooner rather than later (though I suspect it won't be). Meanwhile like a prisoner under house arrest in a palace I tick off the days to December 20th and then to March 29th.