Ben's 18th

February 6th.  Ben turned 18.  He had a party on the 5th.  About 20 friends came round for pizzas, games, drinks and many stayed the night (although I don't think many slept).  The theme was an 8 year old's party and they played musical bumps and pass the parcel.  I made Ben a Dr Who cake and he was given a sonic screwdriver by Waqar (definitely his favourite present!)

Pyrenees Skiing Trip

Our friends (from a previous house swap), Ana and Fernando, offered us their apartment as the return part of the exchange from when two of their daughters, Natalia and Beatriz, stayed with us to improve their English.  We were very grateful as we had been struggling to find an apartment (the whole of the south of France was on holiday that week and everywhere was full).

We were on a tight budget and we decided to drive to Panticosa, just across the border from France to Spain in the western Pyrenees.  This would mean that we had the car with us so that we could ski both at Panticosa and at Formigal (a much bigger resort).

We caught the ferry after Ben's tennis coaching session on Saturday morning and drove to Saintes where we had booked an F1 hotel.  On Sunday we drove to Panticosa and met up with Ana and Fernando in the apartment at around 3.30pm.  After a coffee and some cake they handed over the apartment to us.  We went out for a nice meal at Sampietro's that evening.

Ana's friend Chris O'Sullivan sorted us out ski hire and lift passes.  He runs a hotel and language school (O'Sullivan's) and could get us favourable rates.  By around 9.30am we were ready to get the gondola up to the ski runs in Panticosa.  Beccy now snowboards really well and can stay with Ben and Brian.  I pottered around on the green slopes all morning and then went down the mountain to sort out some lunch, which I took back up to the others.  We bought cafe con leche and chocolate to drink with lunch.  The chocolate was an interesting very thick syrup, quite bitter.  I took the boxes and other stuff back to the apartment and went back up to ski some more, eventually meeting up with the others so that we could all ski together before the end of the day.


In the evening we cooked a meal (paste in a tomato sauce with solomillo and mixed vegetables, fresh bread and olives followed by crema catalana).  Ben and Beccy played on the game cube and then Brian took Ben to play pool in the pub while Beccy and I stayed at the apartment reading.



On Tuesday we started skiing together.  We first did a blue run and then at the bottom of this run Brian suggested that we carry on down a red run to the bottom.  Ben and Beccy assured me that it wasn't too steep and I got to the bottom without incident, although some parts were actually quite steep ( my problem is lack of confidence rather than lack of ability).  I did the run again before the end of the day and also spent a pleasant ride on the chair lift conversing with a Spanish ski instructor in French because he didn't speak enough English and I didn't speak enough Spanish!


The snow was quite heavy and by lunchtime we were all soaked.  We ate lunch while we decided what to do next and then Beccy and I went back to the apartment and Ben and Brian braved it for about another 30 minutes.  The trouble was that you collected snow while you were on the chair lift and became very cold.  Also, the chair lifts were collecting snow on the way round so you sat in snow and got a very wet bum!

We all amused ourselves with revision, reading, game cube games, card and TV and then cooked macaroni cheese, chicken escalopes with ham and cheese and mixed veg for dinner followed by chocolate cakes.  They have a good butcher's counter in the village grocery store from which I was able to buy some interesting meat cuts each day.  After washing up we all went to the pub to play pool.  Ben managed to beat everyone and I was beaten by everyone else, although in a game of doubles Ben and I beat Beccy and Brian.  Before bed we all sat and watched "The Panic Room" on DVD.


On Wednesday we got up late and decided not to ski.  It was still raining/snowing heavily and we didn't fancy getting wet and cold again so we drove to Balneario de Panticosa (thermal spa) to see how it had moved forward from when they were developing it 3 years ago - it still wasn't complete!  Then we drove to Jaca to have a look around.  There were some shops but nothing exciting to buy (and we forgot to take enough money with us anyway).  We visited the Citadel (built in the reign of Felipe II, a fortified town with moat).  Deer were being kept in the moat.

On the way to Panticosa we stopped at a place called Gavin and walked up into the mountains on a closed road that had clearly had a number of avalanches.  Having seen a good number of birds of prey in Jaca and its surroundings (kites, lammergeyers and others) we didn't see any in the mountains.  On the way out we had driven around a large lake at Puerta de Jaca, crossing the dam and driving through a tunnel through the mountain.  Apart from birds of prey we saw no wildlife.  In the mountains we did see hellebores and an interesting looking plant that seemed to be growing out of the rock (not sure what it was).  Having originally decided that we might ski the afternoon we ended up doing no skiing at all but did plenty of mountain walking to exercise our legs.  It was incredibly warm.

On Thursday the sun came out.  We went to Formigal as early as we could (9.30am) and skied there all day, leaving when they shut the lifts.  Ben and Beccy both did some jumps and Ben did a black run.  We managed to stay either together or in contact all day, meeting at the bottom of each run to decide where to go next.  We managed to cover the whole resort and did blue and red runs at every one of the 5 stations.

After skiing we drove to the French border (about 10km) to see if the road was open (there had been information that the road was closed due to an avalanche) but it wasn't.  They had closed the border as the road on the French side was still blocked.  this would mean our journey home would probably start with a detour.

We had pizzas and salad (not very Spanish) for dinner followed by pancakes and then went to play pool.  We had three games of doubles and then played killer which Beccy won twice.  Her addition to the rules (pot the balls in number order) made the game more challenging and more enjoyable.

On Friday Ben, Brian and Beccy went up to ski while I cleaned the apartment ready to go up at 12.30pm.  Unfortunately, Beccy fell and jarred her wrist so Brian brought her back to the apartment and went back up to join Ben.  That meant no skiing for me!  Just as well really as it took most of the day to clean up and pack the car.

At 3.30pm we met Brian and Ben at the bottom of the gondola, returned the skis and snowboard to the shop and met Chris at our apartment to sort out payment for everything.  After the boys had eaten we left the apartment and drove to Bordeaux (about 4 hours).  Our drive through the mountains was in daylight and, luckily, the road through the border and Portalet was now open (cleared of avalanches) which knocked some time off the journey.

French motorways don't have streetlights and generally have just 2 lanes and it was good to do most of the driving during the day.  In Bordeaux we found an F1, checked in and then walked along to a restaurant (Grill Courtepaille) where we had the best meal of the holiday (rillettes de sardines, chauvre en lard avec toast, a fish dish in foil, chicken kebab and pave of fillet steak).  This was also the best meal we have had anywhere in a long time.  We walked back to the F1 for a good sleep.

The next day we drove first to Poitiers where we found a cafe and had panninis and pastries.  Our next stop (apart from motorway services for snacks) was Calais, arriving at around 7pm.  We filled up with cheap diesel and visited the Carrefour supermarket for cheese, wines and something to eat for dinner before heading for the ferry and arriving at passport control at 7.45pm.  Unfortunately, there was such a queue at passport control that we didn't make it through by 8pm to check in for our booked ferry.  We also didn't make it through by 8.30pm when the ferry was due to leave.  Although the ferry actually left quite late and we could have made it onto that one, they put us on the next ferry at 9.50pm.  We didn't mind, we had the biggest laughs of the holiday.  Brian tried to display a message with his iPhone to another car (something the children used to do to other children) but only succeeded in showing half his message to a very worried mum while the rest of us hid below the windows in fits of laughter.  Luckily, they went on a different ferry to us.  We were also amused by an Englishman who was pushing his 2CV through passport control and was being cut up by impatient drivers who didn't want him to get in front of them.  He had at least 2 female passengers in the back who didn't get out to help push.  Once he got through passports his passengers did get out and helped him to bump start the car, which he was then able to drive onto the ferry (we were disappointed as we had wanted to see how he would get the car up the ramp onto the ferry and off at the other end!)  We were also amused by the number of different ways that people were getting over a chain link fence to get to the waiting area, some jumped, some went to great lengths to get underneath and some walked round.  We tried to guess what each would do by the way they were dressed.  It was a nice end to the holiday.  We had all had a good rest from work and had spent some valuable family time together.  Thanks Ana and Fernando.

Rowing

On the 2nd I went out rowing in a ladies 4.  The trip was the longest I had been on for a long time and I hadn't rowed (rather than skulled) for a very long time.  My hand was bleeding by the end of the row.  We did manage to keep the boat quite stable and I think we rowed quite well for a first outing and I will be in the crew for some races, which will give me the incentive to keep rowing rather than just going every now and then.  I drove the scooter there and found that my confidence had grown.  After the row we all went for coffee at the Dockside outlet.  It was really enjoyable with the only problem being that my left wellie had developed a leak and so I had to find some new socks and a replacement boot before we could go out. Need new wellies before next week!

Since that first outing I have been out a few times and have competed in one head race (we didn't do too well but the water was so rough we felt lucky not to get wet).  By March, however, there doesn't seem to be a team and I might have to go back to single skulling.  We'll wait and see.

A very different year this year so far!

It has been a strange start to the year so far, after a heavy drinking session on New Year's Eve, we managed not to have terrible hangovers and I spent New Year's Day baking bread and cake.  Three months in and some not so nice things have happened.  In the grand scheme of things we are a very fortunate family.  We have three wonderful children all of whom are bright, active and caring.  We have a wonderful daughter-in-law and a beautiful grandson, who we don't see as much of as we would like.  We have had many really good years and at the end of each year when I look back over what we have done, what we have achieved and how happy, in general, we have been I always reflect on how lucky we are and hope that the next year, without being greedy, is just as good.

At Christmas Mum told us that her breast cancer had returned and that she had a date for a mastectomy operation followed in all probability by chemotherapy treatment.  Her operation was booked for 19th January.  On the 16th she suffered a minor stroke which, although it was frightening at the time, hasn't left her with extensive damage but did mean that she was unable to have the operation.  It took her many weeks to recover from the stroke and now has a new date for the operation.  At least this time she hasn't kept it to herself and will not be quite as stressed as last time (which could have contributed to the stroke).

At the end of the first week in January our cat, Smudge, died.  She was nearly 18 years old and she just gradually faded away.  I sat with her until she died, very peacefully.  We had her cremated and collected her ashes to scatter around the silver birch in the garden.

At the end of February, not long after we returned from our skiing trip, our other adult cat, Poppy, suffered a heart attack and died.  I found her in the outside cupboard where she normally slept at night.  Poppy was about 13 and, although she was overweight, it wasn't expected and I was quite shocked when I found her.  Her ashes will be scattered with Smudge's.

On March 7th Brian's nan died.  She had been out with the family the day before and we had dropped her off at home in the early evening.  Apart from some breathlessness she seemed as normal but she had breathing difficulties in the early hours of the morning and called for help.  She died later the same morning at the hospital.

Brian was told that he may lose his franchise due to cutbacks.  We don't yet know whether this will happen but he is having to start to face the idea that he might have to do something else.  I hope that he can be open minded and look at all possibilities otherwise he may just shut down.  My job seems to be safe (although some members of my department will lose their jobs this year) and I may need to increase my hours if we feel that we need the extra money.

On the positive side, Ben has been offered places at all the universities he applied to and now needs to gt the required grades.  Beccy has started to coach the younger girls in football at school.   She is being given the responsibility of running the coaching sessions and may either play or referee school matches.  She is working one hour a day, four days a week taking over from Mum while she is unwell.  It gives her extra pocket money and a sense of responsibility.  Ben continues to earn his money coaching at the tennis club and is seeing an increase in the amount of coaching he is able to do.  They both still fully commit themselves to their sports both as players and as coaches, umpires and referees.  They are also both kept busy by scouting and cadet activities.  Dan and Helen still seem to be doing well at their respective jobs and are looking into buying the lease for the shop next door to them so that Helen can use it for her business.  Alexander is developing brilliantly.  He says quite a lot and is becoming understandable at times.   He picks things up very quickly as well.  Last week when we were at a restaurant having a meal he sat on my lap and we were playing magic tricks.  I held and shook a napkin and he bent down to hide so that when I took the napkin away he had disappeared.  Then, when I held the napkin up again he sat up so that he was there when I removed it again.  He learnt that trick after one go!  Not bad for a two year old!  We are still a very fortunate family.