First blog of the year.

What shall I write about? Expectation.

We had two weeks in Tenerife in December. We did have great expectations for it. We have been there every year for the last ten years, so we know the Island quite well. We normally stay in the Los Americas, but had not been able to "get in" there, and we opted to stay in Golf del Sur.

We are in a Time Share Company, our experience of it has been good, over the ten years we have had good value for our Points/money.

This year was different, the first time we stayed, (a few years ago) we were given a huge appartment overlooking the sea, there had been brilliant Caberets on every night. This time, we were given a smaller appartment (we had asked for sea view in a quiet area). The appartment was looking tired and need of refurbishment, and on the 6th floor - we did almost have sole use of a lift. We could see the sea if we looked to the left of the balcony, if we looked to the right, there was another accomodation block, with a blue painted fire escape type staircase, if we hung over the balcony, we were right over the Entertainment lounges. It did not turn out to be a problem, because we found out at the Welcome Meeting that there were no Entertainments (we were told it was Contractual Problems).

As we went for an exploratory walk towards San Blas, it became apparent that the building sites had been "mothballed", Bars and restaurents were closed or closing. When we talked to people, they told us people were leaving the Island in droves, but not to return to the U.K., they were going to Cyprus and Malta looking for sun levels.

We thought it was perhaps due to this area, but on going to Los Americas and walking to Fanabe, the signs of down turn were evident here too. The scratch card and time share touts were there in force and over zealous.

The weather was unseasonally chill, normally we had seen temperature of 20 - 25, this year it was 17 -19 degrees, all the locals were saying they felt cold and putting jumpers and shoes on, our response was, we had left England in snow and ice.

We did not feel our holiday was working it's magic. Normally we eat out one day and self cater the next day. Our Euros did not go very far at all. I do try and buy Spanish equivilants to keep costs down.

Coming home, due to adverse wind conditions flying into Leeds/Bradford, we had a "non-standard" landing. It was very turblant, the plane was buffetted by 50 m.p.h., winds, the plane was required to turn off it's engines as soon as it got down, a tug pulled it to an area that was considered safe for us to disembark. Coming down the steps, you had to hang on to the handrail with two hands, once we got down, we blew across to the tarmac to the waiting buses, everyone was very quiet going through Passport Control.

Did we have two high expectations of our holiday, or were we just unfortunate being overtaken by poor weather and by world events?

You usually joke on returning home "we need a holiday to get over our holiday". We feel we may never go away again.

My husband developed flu two days after coming home, I got Bronchitis.

30th December, 08.

Like Richard Wilsons says "I can't believe it!". Tomorrow is New Years' Eve, where did 2008 go?
I retired in Dec 07, that is a whole year ago. Where did it go? What did I do?

I am supposed to make Resolutions! What can I think of?

Get fit, get slim, get improved, have fun. Be a better housewife, gardener, possibly be kinder to husband, but only if he is kinder to me.

In 2009, we shall have been married 50 years, perhaps it is time we were kinder to each other.

Christmas is almost upon us.

What a lot of fuss Christmas is, so much hassle and hype, for what is basically just another day.

Christmas is best if you have small children around. Then it is absolute magic. We shall be spending the day with our daughter, her partner, and our grandson who is four and a half.
It maybe quite a noisy day.

Our eldest granddaughter is 16, this will be her first "grown up" Christmas. I can remember it being very special at that age.

As "pensioner parents" the magic has been lost to us. Neither of us relish sitting on the settee being the "old folks" in the corner. I do fight back and do washing ups, and make helpful coffees and teas as required. But it's not the same.

Reading

I have been on holiday to Tenerife, while I was there I read four books. All different.
I took with me "Shadowmancer" a fantasy set in Yorkshire near Whitby. It was the first fantasy book I have read. Although it was primarily a kids' book, i njoyed it. Perhaps because it is set in an area that I know. The author was G.P.Taylor.

The second one was "Coastliners" by Joanne Harris, I have read most of her books, but this one did not seem to me to be as good. It was the tale of a girl returning to the small Island off the French Coast that she was brought up on.

The Hotel where we stayed had a "Library" where if you put books in, you can take books out. I put my two in and took out: "All Passions Spent" by Vita Sackville West and "My Beautiful Career" by Miles Franklin. Coincidentally, both books were set in the late 1800s to early 1900s.
Both dealt with the "privillaged" lives led by men, and the lot of women as "second class" people.
One book by an accomplished author, and one written by a first time 16 year old author who lived in the Australian outback (she had to write, like the Brontes', in a masculine name). I also began "The Girl who married a Lion" by Alexander McCall Smith. This turned out to be Aesops Fables type stories in an African setting, quite charming.

Santa Train.

Today we went with our daughter, partner and her son to see the section of Restored Railway at Elsecar in South Yorkshire, where they run Santa Trains for the little children. The Railway is run by volunteers, and their children, who act as Santas little helpers.

It is only a short section of track, and the train chugs backwards and forwards, until Santa has spoken to every child and they have received a present. Today, it took over an hour and a half!
To help ease the strain on the train, for the adults, we are given mince pies and Baileys'.

The children get so excited, it is lovely to see their faces. Each and every child reacts in a different way to the experience. It may be the last trip we do on this train, our grandson who is four and a half, was looking a bit closely at Santa, so maybe next year we will have to find a different event to take him to. He is a clever child with "all his buttons sewn on." He can figure things out in his head, he seems to know insinctively how things work, or how they are done.

The experience for us is lovely, by going on the train, we are helping with the fund raising and giving support for the efforts of the restorers and rebuilders effort, helping to keep a little Railway community going.

What is poetry?

At a unofficial group meeting today, the question came up "What is poetry?"
Does the rhyme make a poem?
Does the metre make it a poem?
Is it that you use different language in a poem to the way use language in speaking?

Can any one define - What is poetry?

Remember me, I am Baby P

Why did no one see?
What my family did to me.
Why did no one think of me?
Alone, afraid, unloved, I stayed
Hurt, hungry, my cries were never heard.
Why did Doctors not see?
What my family did to me.
Why did no "caring adult" rescue me?
Why did society fail me?
Remember me, I am Baby P.