Roller skating

24.4.09

Hubby and I have taken up skating. I have a great pair of roller boots that allows me to stand up straight, while he has a flash pair of inline skates.

As a kid, my best friend and I used to skate almost every day, up and down the roads outside our houses, across to the park, occasionally to a roller disco – but that’s going back some (and we were very, very young!). The roller discos were big in the early eighties but I doubt if they even exist today. Having said that, almost everything else that was big in the eighties seems to be making a comeback so maybe we’ll be in luck?

Although, I doubt that I could actually dance on skates now. Back then, I was a bit of a mover and shaker – these days, moving and shaking just leaves me in a heap on the floor, with grazes on my knees and bruises on my bum (although it has a fair amount more padding now than it used to).

Today, we take our skates down to the local marina, where the surface is just perfect for skating. Half an hour to an hour and I can’t take any more. It’s not that my muscles ache, or anything, it’s that the boots keep your feet so rigid that your feet hurt so much. But it certainly is lots of fun!

Has winter finally come to an end?

19.4.09

This winter seems to have been endless. The rain never seemed to stop and the wind never seemed to stop blowing up a storm. Everybody seemed to be getting down and fed up, waiting for the Algarve sun to finally show its face and for the summer season to begin. After all, we're not far off May!
Yesterday evening was spent in a stunning location - arguably the Algarve's best marina, Vilamoura. Friends invited us to join them at a favourite Chinese restaurant of theirs for a sumptuous meal. We certainly were not disappointed with the surroundings, or the food - it was, without doubt, the best Chinese meal we have ever eaten in Portugal! The only drawback was the weather. It didn't just rain a little - it poured and poured! We had intended to arrive early and meander around the marina to soak up the atmosphere but with weather like that... the ambience was certainly missing.
Nevertheless, a fantastic evening was had by the four of us and culminated in the bar at the Tivoli Hotel, where we had a (rather pricey) drink, whilst enjoying the live music by a fantastic musician, who serenaded us with his guitar, his trumpet and rather impressive vocals.
This morning, much to our delight, the sun was shining. We're hoping that the summer might finally have arrived but I'm not going to get my hopes up just yet.
We've had a great morning with the same friends down in Praia da Rocha. Starting off at the marina where we embarrassed ourselves with our lack of talent on our roller skates (hubby on roller blades, however, knows what he is doing), we then proceeded to the local cafe, overlooking the beach. We ate breakfast and drank coffee while slowly my white wintery (practically translucent) skin became red and burnt, indicating a good time to leave. Arriving home, we noticed that the rain might have gone for the time being, but the wind certainly hasn't. It sounds like it's blowing a gale out there. Oh well... we can't have it all, can we?

A trip for two reasons

9.4.09

I have just returned from a short trip to the UK. Sadly it was for the funeral of my step mother-in-law’s brother-in-law. He was in his early eighties, but it still came as a bit of a shock to the family. He was a much loved gentleman in the community and the service was attended by a vast number of people from the little village in which he lived in Northamptonshire.
Although my husband and I are not direct blood family members, we are always treated as such, and it never fails to touch me how warm they are towards us. I do hope they will continue to visit us, even though my step mother in law is no longer with us, and she was obviously the main person they had always come to see.
The funeral was not the only reason for our visit, it was also the ideal opportunity to see my fifth nephew for the very first time. Born last September, we had not had the chance to fly over until recently. My sister’s fifth baby (all boys), is an absolute cutie! Seeing the little ones never fails to make me broody; hubby, on the other hand, seems to get a little traumatised just at the mere thought of having to hold the little ‘un. I put him on his lap, and my dear hubby froze – not wanting to move a muscle. The 7 month old didn’t seem to mind, however, happily looking him straight in the face with a smile and a gurgle. The look of absolute terror on hubby’s face led me to remove the babe from his vicinity. Hopefully, should we ever have our own, he might be a little different!

Nada. Rien. Nothing

1.4.09

When you are unsure about what to write in your blog… what springs to mind? Nothing…. not a single, tiny little thing. When you want a blank mind (to, perhaps fall asleep, cut out a particularly boring conversation, etc) you just can’t blank everything out. But when you want your imagination to run riot, you get nothing but a blank mind. Grrrr. Very irritating.


So, what should I write about?


Should I tell you a bit about my life? Should I tell you that I have actually written a novel? That it remains an unpublished novel? That getting a literary agent is nigh on impossible? That because of this I decided to put that novel in a drawer somewhere and completely forget it about or should I tell you that I started a second novel about five years ago but I have been too lazy to finish it?
No… perhaps I just won’t write anything. For now anyway.
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