I had to end my last Blog with the “bad news” about the poor state of the pound, in terms of its exchange rate etc. and the general state of Interest Rates in the UK that are also causing us problems. Regrettably, I have to start this latest Blog again with bad news, in fact very bad news.
Yesterday (6th May) we set off on our mission to Ibiza town to collect mail and check the internet for bank balances and emails, and after a leisurely coffee and later a beer in the sun, arrived back home to discover we had been burgled.
To make matters worse, it would appear to have been entirely my fault, as I had for some inexplicable reason failed to lock the side door to the house. There are three points of entry here; one double door from the main terrace that lets into the dining room and kitchen; a second side door leading from the rear terrace into the hallway and, of course, the front door that leads straight into the sitting room.
It would seem that a thief saw this opportunity and came straight into the house, turned left and immediately found the main bedroom and helped himself to V's jewellry box containing almost all her treasured items, rings, chains, earrings, brooches, cameos and her vintage Omega wrist watch that was awaiting repair. I had left my “compliments of SEB” - Cartier watch on the dressing table, which has also gone, plus a small box of my entire collection (40 years’ worth) of cuff links. I don't care much about the watch. It may have been worth around £1000 once but it only ever cost me £250 thanks to a refund from SEB some years ago. But it’s V's stuff that is so sad. All her items had some sort of special attachment, some link to the past 40 years or more and can't be replaced and she is still coming to terms with the loss and is now very unsettled here.
We spent sometime with the Guardia Civil who were very polite but could only take a statement and put it down to experience. No doubt the opportunist thief or “B******DO”, as Mrs H calls him, was one of the new “visitors” to the Island, now arrived at the start of the season at the same time as the rising crime levels. We have been trying to work out how he did it. Was he there when we came home and was it him we heard when the side door that I had left unlocked banged closed? The thief was so tidy only leaving a few very small tell-tale signs he had been sorting through stuff and if it hadn't been for V looking for a necklace to try on with a new dress we may not have noticed for over a week or more!!
Anyway, it made us feel pretty bad about things and we are now a tad paranoid about going out and checking doors and things. The neighbours have been good and sympathetic and will be vigilant. Now, on with a more cheerful Blog.
I originally started off this month’s Blog with such a load of ranting drivel about knuckle-headed police in the UK and a British Government with a part time Secretary for Defence whilst the UK is in the midst of a war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and then I took a breath. I realised that just as I thought it couldn't get any worse in the UK politically, it did here in Spain. So, without further ado I decided to restrict my “rant” to this opening paragraph and get back to normal, if that is, I am ever “normal” again after being robbed in the middle of the day.
THE WEATHER
The weather has at last taken a real turn for the best now and clearly summer is on the way with warm mornings and nice hot afternoons, ideal for sunbathing. All this so far removed from the October deluges, the November dullness, the December sunny weather somehow followed by freezing January and February. Sitting outside Montesol's watching the Ibiza throngs with a coffee and the paper is a pleasure and now that we are fairly well known there we almost have a conversation in Spanglish with the waiters.
THINGS HAIR WISE
Mrs H has found a hairdresser who doesn't give her a nervous breakdown at each visit and I have found a barber in Mrs H, so I don't have to suffer the indignity of asking for a trim and paying 10 euros for the privilege. The ladies hairdresser in question lives in a small house in the old town of Ibiza, Dalt Vila and is situated on a steep cobbled, almost medieval street that climbs towards the top of the town. During these visits I escape to the town below and pick up a paper, a cool beer and cigar and sit and watch the world go by. However, at the new exchange rate this is not such a low cost event. The Tourist rate is now £1 = €1.20 and commercial exchange rates £1 = €1.25 the last time I transferred some money. Now a coffee costs about £1.10 (that's a small cup not a huge Costa’s thing!) and a small beer now costs about £1.30 so it's all a far cry from only last year when a coffee cost 74p and a beer £1.00. On top of that, Ibiza is now the most expensive of the Islands and even more expensive than Marbella although property price falls are now forecast here, as there has been a lot of greed among the local people. This is one of the only places I have ever come across where the price of a house for sale goes up the longer it is on the market and not selling. Work that one out.
THE INTERNET (or lack of it)
I am still waiting with teeth grinding tolerance for a telephone and internet to be installed but despite many calls and emails, we have only seen a acknowledgement and little else. Once I have the internet communication it will be so much easier with Skype and MSN Messenger etc. I can also provide you all with a link to Photobucket so that you can see some of the latest photographs I have taken.
STOP PRESS: **** As I type this Blog I am pleased to announce that WE ARE ON THE INTERNET!!!!! ********
We also have a phone number which I will email to those who may be interested. Bad news is we seem to be sharing the number with the Hotel Hacienda!!!! We have already taken several bookings..... more on this as we go mad.
THINGS FELINE
We were out in the garden the other day doing some extensive weeding, that probably needed a tractor with plough if we were to do it properly, when a small white and very loud cat came poking around our legs demanding to be played with. Mrs H who does not have a fondness for flea and tick ridden cats kept a discrete distance while I (wearing gloves) treated the moggy to a good old petting. The upshot of this was that the flaming thing would not go away and sat mewing at the doors of the house all night, despite the fact that it lives with three other cats a short distance away at a neighbour’s house. The next day I noticed that the cat seemed to have gone away but I had predicted to Mrs H that it may well have reappeared the previous day bearing a gift in the form of a dead animal. As it happened it didn't do that exactly then but it did the following day by presenting us with a dead vole with a garnish of green leaves. We have continued to ignore the pleas of the cat and it now arrives has a quick nudge round our legs and a small stoke from me and off it goes. Its brother is a very similar cat but totally deaf, which can be amusing if you creep up on it! He has been known to climb into the back of our car so I have to watch out.
HEALTH
Our salt consumption has risen considerably since we have been here so we are going to have to cut back dramatically before we do ourselves any lasting damage. We fortunately have not adopted the Spanish taste and style of cooking in vast quantities of oil and cooking vegetables to a sad sogginess. We have maintained our high British standards in this respect. However, we were somewhat taken aback by our friends, the landlords, the other week when we were browsing cookery books one Sunday afternoon. The lady was looking through the books and announced that English food was not very good and that when they went to London they only ate in a Spanish restaurant. We were surprised to say the least given the efforts that people go to in the UK to provide good food in most places now, except say the Burger bars and plastic tourist traps. We have a plan now to give our Spanish friends a proper British meal - I only hope they enjoy it!
MY BOOK
My book has reached a critical phase you may be interested to know. It comprises some 35,000 words and has taken me almost 3 years to get to this point. It has had one read through for typos, spelling and context, which I have now dealt with and added and changed some sections of it. It's now ready for its next reading and set of amendments and then I am going to decide how to publish it.
Let's hope that my next Blog can be brighter and that V will have healed a bit and also her confidence in being in the house will have improved, so that we can enjoy a more relaxed summer.
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