Dear reader
Not sure anyone is still out there as it’s been a long time since I updated the diary. Life has slipped into a bit of a routine, albeit a pleasant one and the need to update the diary has slipped on the back burner. But hey, this is our last few days at Los Madriles so I thought I’d better get my arse ( or should I say Great Arse) into gear and get typing.
So this diary entry starts a week or so before Christmas when we flew back to the UK for 17 nights. We had pre booked our flights and left from Alicante although in future we will use the San Javier Murcia airport which is a lot nearer and easier to get in and out. We picked up our hire car at Gatwick using Thrifty which we would recommend as they are efficient, friendly and provided us with a top of the range Ford Fiesta with all the mod cons and leather seats under the basic small car category.
It was bitterly cold in UK and a shock to our system. We arrived to a lovely warm cottage with Christmas Decs and a hot casserole in the slow cooker. The two gingers were there to greet us too.
After a few days we both had colds and cancelled our visit to Hallaton to visit the grandchildren. We arranged to deliver pressies on 27th December a few days before we were flying back but due to the heavy snow at Kettering, we had to cancel our visit. Our main reason for returning was to see the grandchildren and we never got to see them!! We did manage to get their presents delivered in January.
During our time home, I saw my parents and we caught up with as many friends as we could. John's brother visited us on Christmas Day and we also had Andy and her partner Jonathan for Christmas lunch. Jonathan had brought up his horse and carriage and we were treated for a ride around the village.
Soon it was time to return to Spain and we dropped the car off at Gatwick in heavy rain. It was lovely to drive Flo from Alicante back to the campsite in the warm sunshine with the roof down.
We celebrated the New Year in the van as neither of us were fully recovered and still had coughs. We ate 12 grapes, one for each chime representing each month of the year, a Spanish tradition, and drank Cava and watched some fireworks from our pitch. The weather remained pretty good for January and the first part of February. It then became a bit of a mixed bag, we still had sunny days but much cooler with gusty winds at times and rain, but still better than the awful weather they were having in the UK.
Before long life at Los Madriles was back to normal. We got into regular exercise, walking, swimming, stretching, cycling and aqua aerobics. John occasionally played Boules and I joined a fabulous Yoga class by the sea. I continued my late evening Zumba classes too. We needed to keep up the exercise as our social life was getting hectic. We had lunch with both sets of German neighbours, lunch with friends and drinks and dining after the rugby. I have become very domesticated and have purchased a slow cooker, an electric juicer, a set of kitchen scales, two cake tins and a hand mixer. I have also got a small travel iron, something I said I would never carry, but our friends Catherine and Phil are such a well heeled couple that we have to keep up with them. However, I've stopped short of bringing my sewing machine but I know of at least two people who have theirs with them.
Each month the campsite had a quiz night. We formed a team of six with us, Phil and Catherine and Corrine and Simon. We called our team the No Brainers and we lived up to our name coming around 10th out of 14 teams. We had fun though.
During February we had two birthdays to celebrate, John's sister Penny and her husband Dennis joined us and rented a Casseta on the campsite. During their stay Dennis celebrated his birthday. The weather wasn't as good as it had been but they seemed to enjoy it saying it was brighter and warmer than home. We took them to Cartagena and up to the guns. One day we did a lovely walk from Bon Nuevo where the sandstone eroded rocks are. We walked along the coastline and had a picnic on a nudist beach, close by was a nude man sunbathing. You knew nudity would be in my diary somewhere!! On their last day we drove up to the Sierra Espuna mountains where there was snow at the top and very cold.
The second birthday was our friend Phil's. HIs celebrations seem to last for a week. Phil and Catherine treated us and several of their friends to a lovely lunch at a restaurant on the outskirts of Cartagena called Casa Beltri. The gardens and the building itself was very special and a hidden gem. Phil was treated to a selection of tasty presents and a few cheeky ones too. Later in the week they hosted a BBQ on the campsite for about 16 of us. We were fed and watered well and some of us danced. Later we finished the day with a game of Boules, boys versus girls, the boys won.
Some people say that spending the winter months in Spain is a bit like living in a bubble. Well my bubble was about to burst. On 11th February I received a telephone call to say my dad had suffered a major stroke. Within 36 hours I was on a plane, this time from Murcia airport and collected yet another hire car from Thrifty. My lovely friend Gill let me stay with her for the 10 days I was home as she lived near the hospital. My brother flew in the following day from Geneva and also stayed at a friends house. I spent a week with my brother John and despite the circumstances, it was lovely to spend time with just the two of us going down memory lane.
Dad seemed to be making slow progress and he was going to be sent to Farnham hospital which has a specialist stroke rehab unit when he was well enough to travel. On that basis, difficult as it was to leave him, we felt we could go back. I was due home soon anyway.
On the plus side, I surprised my friend Andy who was moving from Northmoor to Devon at her leaving party. Her face was a picture when I walked in, but my housesitters faces were even better! Nobody knew I was in the UK so it was a real surprise albeit for the wrong reasons. I chose not to go home as I didn't want to see the cats as I was in a fragile state as it was.
The day before I was due to return John's bubble burst. He had been out walking and fell over fracuring his elbow. I was greeted at Murcia airport by Phil, who kindly drove, and John with his left arm completely in plaster. Given the weather at home, here wasn't a bad place to wait for your arm to mend. John was optimistic thinking the plaster would come off in a week but it remained on until 15th. He could not swim, cycle or wash up. On top of that I had to shower him every other day in the campsite's disabled shower with his plaster covered with a bin liner.
John's arm meant that our return was delayed by two weeks. During this time my dad deteriorated and he caught pneumonia. In the last ten days I received two phone calls from the hospital telling me I need to come back if I want to be with dad. Despite looking at flights and hire cars, I made the difficult decision to stay here. John would have struggled and I felt I couldn't leave him. As I type my dad is still with us and life has become a roller coaster of emotions. I am grateful to my friends here and those in the know and my brother and John for their support. I have spoken to my dad twice and told him to hang on. I now realise that this is asking a lot. Dad is no longer receiving nutrition or fluids and it's not realistic to expect him to last another 5 nights.
So my phone has become my worst enemy as I dread it ringing. I keep myself busy by exercising, doing jobs and going out and about. The nights are the most difficult.
As this is going to be my last diary entry for this trip, I thought I would end on a more positive note. Not long ago we used to wonder why anyone would want to spend a whole winter on one campsite. Having a car has made us look at travel a bit differently now. The campsite has to be the right one for overwintering and Los Madriles ticks most of the boxes. Isla Plana and surrounding area is quite stunning. Despite the ever growing plastic greenhouses, I love this area and I am in awe still of the mountains and coastline. We have nade new friends we will keep in touch with and there is still plenty of exploring to do. On that basis we have booked the same pitch for October.
So dear reader, if you have got this far, I thank you for sticking with it and for following my diary. I think the photos are better than my ramblings but there you go. So until next time, enjoy your summer ( or winter if you are in Oz).
