2024 Diary - Page 48

2 September

Turned right out of the hotel gate instead of left today because I wanted to see La Caleta. I had no idea what to expect but it was quite a nice walk (before sunrise) to get there and it was a pretty place when I arrived.

There were lots of steps - the photo was taken part way up - but the nature reserve and the sunrise views were well worth the climb.

The biggest treat of my morning walk was coming across a hedgehog. I didn't even imagine they could survive in such a dry and hot place but he/she was scurrying along, I guess to get back to the den before sun up. It was far too fast for me to get a decent photo.

There are loads of these rock towers between the hotel and La Caleta.

3 September

We'd booked an excursion for today so no early morning walk and no gym because we had to be at the pick up point before 8.30 a.m. and didn't get back until about 4 pm.

It was a great day with our first stop being Masca, a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. It has no doctor, pharmacy, school or anything much apart from a couple of cafe / restaurants for the visitors so it wouldn't do for me!

The roads were really bendy and twisty but Jose, our guide and driver, clearly knew what he was doing even if some of the tourists in their rental cars didn't. I don't think he was impressed with most of them at all.

On the way to Tiede National Park, Jose explained how important pine trees are to Tenerife because of the way the preserve water and create mini reservoirs - vital for the people who live and work on the island.

The first part of the park we visited was pretty much as we expected, having visited other volcanic areas around the world. Lots of solid lava looking very sharp and menacing and definitely not for walking on.

The following stop was quite amazing. it was like nothing either of us had ever seen before - like the surface of the Moon apparently.

The information board told us that when the Apollo craft landed, they found landscapes similar to this, craters with gentle walls covered in very slippery volcanic dust. This area is used to test prototypes ofvehicles and instruments that are used to explore the Moon.

Similarly, when torrents of water form in arid landscapes, such as this, they usually leave a mark in the shape of canals like some nearby to this place.

We had lunch in the National Park at Restuarante 7 Canadas and were really pleased to see this Atlantic Canary flitting about with its mate.

Next stop was to see the Giants' Parade, a series of rocks that are remains of the Canadas Volcano that existed before Mount Tiede (or Papa Tiede as the locals call it).

Funnily enough, it was me rather than Jonathon who struggled with the altitude this time (highest point was about 2,250 metres).

We saw a few plants while we were travelling about but a lot of the flowers had lost their colour with it being the end of the summer.

The clouds were gathering as we came back to the coast (via the almost inevitable Aloe Vera farm) so it was hard to see the neighbouring islands en route.

By the time we got back to Adeje it was quite grey and threatening over the mountains (but still OK on the coast).

We went for our daily fix of gelato then back for dinner so Jonathon could go sunset hunting with his camera.

4 September

A much quieter day today.

I went for an early morning walk to La Caleta. It was much cloudier today and not as warm. The clouds and the black sand made everything a bit monochrome, especially before the sun came up.

I decided to have a quick visit to the nature reserve (I counted the steps up - 127 - and the same down). My aim is to visit it in more detail tomorrow, my last chance before we have to go home.

It's a great place to see the sunrise but also interesting in itself.

We had a "window" seat at breakfast so a lovely view over the hotel gardens. There's anoher Riu hotel next door so we had a good view of their garden as well.

We spent a good few hours in and around the pool today. No need for a gym visit when I'd been swimming. it was very relaxing and a good way to recover from the exertions of yesterday.

Our usual visit to Gelato Fortuna was followed by dinner and watching the sun go down.

5 September

I went to the nature reserve and had a good walk around, having dropped Jonathon off en route so he could do some early morning photography.

The nature reserve is bleakly beautiful but there's a lot of plant life when you look.

I met up with Jonathon who was on his way back as well. The sunrise wasn't spectacular but he found plenty of other things to photograph instead.

The waves were definitely stronger today.

A quick trip to the gym sorted out the calorie burning for the day as did the walk to the ice cream parlour! There was no stracciatella on show but, as we have been regular customers, they had a look at the next lot of ice cream to come out of the main fridge and there was some in there so Jonathon was spoiled!

Jonathon disappeared to look for the sunset after dinner. The live entertainment was pretty good this evening so we enjoyed listening to it from the comfort of our room.

6 September

Friday and our last day here but we weren't being picked up until tea time so had plenty of time to enjoy the remainder of our holiday.

I went for a shorter sunrise walk then popped to the gym.

I came back via the beach. It was lovely and quiet at that time of day.

The sunrise looked lovely in the hotel pool when I got back.

We packed our bags and took advantage of our balcony and the lovely view as long as we could before we had to check out.

I enjoyed looking at lots of lovely flowers on the way back.

The car collected us and so began our long journey home. The end of another lovely holiday.

7 September

We finally got home at 3 a.m. so very, very tired. Oli seemed pleased to see us and spent most of the night asleep with Jonathon.

The packing waiting until I got up about quarter to nine - very late for me - then I got a couple of loads of washing done before I ran out of airer space.

Everything else got put away and we are all back to normal.

We went to The Orpington for brunch and got a voucher from Oli for Jenny and Peter as a thank you for looking after him while we were away.

Carole phoned to say that Mum was in A&E. She was feeling OK in herself but had bad diarrhoea so Carole had called 111 and an ambulance turned up 10 minutes later. Mum was expected to come home later this afternoon but, when Carole went to get her, she had a fainting spell so they hooked her up to a drip and kept her in overnight.

Went to the gym to get my steps done and caught up with the admin. that had built up while we were away.

8 September

I was woken up about 2 a.m. by a massive thunderstorm - right overhead (apparently there were some direct hits in Orpington, thankfully not at our house). Oli was with Jonathon at the time but later came to me and snuggled up close, not getting up when I did but staying under the duvet until I came home from the gym. Lazy cat.

I did the final load of holiday washing before I went to the gym so we're all up straight now, apart from the inevitable ironing.

Church was next on the agenda. The preacher today was at Eltham URC until it closed down so he's looking for a new post. He was really good with the youngsters but ran over by 15 minutes and didn't come across as inspiring so let's see if he's in the running as our new minister.

I went for a walk in the drizzle after dinner - it faired up about half way round. I didn't go far, just to Poverest Park and Covet Wood.

Pauline went to see Mum and reported back that she's not too bad but they are keeping her in for a day or two.

Carole phoned Larchfield to check on Dad - all as normal and she's hoping to visit tomorrow because the home is now open again, having got the latest infection under control.

I caught up with Christine - usual chit chat and exchange of news.

We opened our new ISAs for this tax year, including on-line identification for the first time for the building society. All done, just waiting for thei final confirmation then we can transfer the money in.

9 September

Oli and I really didn't want to get up when the alarm went off at 5.45 a.m. this morning but I guess it's all part of getting back to normal.

Ela's class was tough - lots of running today which isn't my favourite but I'm sure it does us good.

Mum still in hospital but hoping to go home tomorrow or Wednesday.

Gilda came for our usual weekly walk. We dropped a load of old newspapers at Orpington Cat Rescue and walked from there via Kevington.

This sign made us smile even though we didn't see the dog.

Jonathon met us at Masala Dabbas for lunch then went to YBS at Bromely because they decided they had a problem with his ID for opening the new ISA. Having had a chat with them, he came home and tried again so both accounts are now open and money transferred.

Went to do my final Park Watch shift for the year. All very quiet and not much litter to collect so an easy hour.

10 September

The sunrise was lovely this morning. Oli and fox cub didn't seem to take much notice of it - Oli was far too busy guarding the door!

Gym and work so back to normal. Patricia is on holiday so I knew I would be busy and I was!

Pauline collected Mum from hospital because she was well enough to be discharged.

Met Gilda at Bromley to see Cluedo 2 - completely bonkers but the second half was really good fun.

I came home to a surprise - HMRC had finally responded to my letter of July 2023 and, even more surprisingly, agreed a tax refund. Wonders will never cease.

11 September

Gym and work again today and it was still busy. I emptied most of the stuff out of my locker because we'll be moving offices soon so I now have a bag of stuff to sort out!

Mum is tired but happy to be home. Dad is much better and was up and enjoying the entertainment today - the antibiotics must have done him some good.

Gilda came (again) - this time we went to The Cricketers with Jonathon, Ginny, Jane and Swati for the monthly pub quiz. We didn't do very well this month - good to tell the music round was back instead of the lovely dingbats we had last month.

An even bigger surprise today - a cheque arrived from HMRC for my tax refund.

12 September

Ela's class to start the day then a quick turn on the treadmill before Ela decided she had enough time to do my health assessment (it was booked in for lunchtime so doing it then saved me having to go back).

All OK on the assessment with the measurements going in the right direction.

I got home to find the road drains being clearer ready for autumn - don't remember seeing this happen before but it's a welcome surprise.

Walked Tesha and Nellie - Mia has a poorly leg so wan't able to walk today but she still got a good scruffle from me.

Will came and cleaned the windows and Ravi parked his car on our drive for a while - they're having an extension built.

I did a load of financial stuff so that's all up to date and Pauline got Mum's house insurance sorted out.

We went to Etna in Bromley for dinner and relived our holiday to some extent because they have yummy homemade lemonade.

Having bought some new trainers and work shoes for me, we then went to Unico for gelato to continue to holiday experience. One thing that wasn't like our holiday was the weather - I put a jumper on for the first time this season when I got home because it's turned chilly!

13 September

What a lovely, sunny day it was today. It was very chilly first thing but the sun came out and it was a proper, bright early autumn day.

Yoga first - Kevin has gone home to South Africa because his Mum is very poorly so we had a different teacher today - no idea what her name was.

June led her Friday walk. We skirted Crofton Woods and Jubilee Country Park before heading through the Hawkwood Estate to Chislehurst to see the old Cock Pit. Apparently it was stopped many years ago, not because of any concern for the fighting cocks but because the crowds were becoming too rowdy!

June had two dogs with her today. Her own dog, Benji and Arthur, who she was dog sitting for a few days.

It was a lovely walk and Diane gave me a lift back from Jubilee Country Park so that saved me retracing the rest of my steps back home.

With getting a lift home, I had time to do some gardening so a bit of gentle pruning but the main job was "harvesting". Today's haul was a few runner beans, the last of the carrots, the Duke of York potatoes and a few raspberries.

I met Jo, Carol and Sindhu for dinner and a catch up at Fiesta Mexicana in Orpington High Street. It was a new restaurant for me. The food was very tasty but it was really, really noisy so we couldn't hear each other very well.

14 September

Did a few household chores then went to the gym for a while.

Javid had been round to deliver a big bag of cooking apples so they were waiting for me when I got back. We had some for dinner with the produce from yesterda (apart from the potatoes because we had a few Charlottes to eat up).

I took the Knoll Active walkers on a bear hunt today so we headed off to Chislehurst.

Jonathon had gone to Toulouse Lautrec for a photo shoot by the time I got back.

I caught up with the ironing and had a run through of the hymns for tomorrow then settled down in front of the television before going to bed.

15 September

Gym to start the day (after a few jobs) then church - so far, so normal.

The plan for the afternoon was to deliver a letter to John from church then go look at waterproof jackets for both of us. Unfortunately, Jonathon's car had other ideas so I had to hoof it to the far side of Orpington to deliver the letter. Had we gone in the car, I wouldn't have seen this lovely post box topper or the pretty gardens I passed along the way.

Jonathon looked it up and it seems to be the battery that's run out of useful life but he'll need to call the garage tomorrow to find out what to do next.

The weather was lovely so the washing dried outside and I spent some time with Oli and my newspaper when I got back from my walk.

Had a Skype call with Mum who seemed to be on good form.

Caught up with Christine and put the world to rights!

16 September

Ela's class to start the day then Ben of All Cleaming Clean came to do the carpets.

I left Jonathon to deal with him, move furniture around etc. while Gilda and I went for a walk in South Norwood. I was Gilda's first trip on a tram and first visit to either of the parks we visited so all very exciting for her!

Alma was here cleaning when I got home - she's done a lovely job of cleaning the fridge today (extra job because she couldn't get into the front sitting room).

The sunset was very pretty.

I did my secretarial job for the Worship Team meeting at St. John's URC in the evening.

17 September

Gym then work.

All Gleaming Clean came and sprayed the carpets with a stain guard so that's done for another few months.

Jonathon took his car into the repair shop so hopefully they'll be able to sort it out quickly and it won't be a major problem.

I was supposed to be meeting Mark for dinner this evening but he messaged to say he had a nasty cold so cancelled. Pauline and Paul were in London for the night before they catch an early Eurostar tomorrow so I met up with them and we went to Granary Square Brasserie instead. A nice surprise!

18 September

There was apparently an illegal bonfire about 2 miles away from here last night and our air quality monitor certainly shows that the fumes were picked up.

Gym and work today. It was very grey in London and the office was really quiet after the busy-ness of yesterday so it wasn't very interesting.

Jonathon collected his car - all mended and back to normal again.

19 September

Ela's class and a short stint on the treadmill then home for a pot of green tea before dog walking - that was the plan. Unfortunately, neither Tisha nor Mia are well enough to walk at the moment and Nellie probably wouldn't want to walk without Tisha so Carol said to leave it for this week.

I took myself for a local walk instead to check the route for Saturday afternoon. There's plenty of colour around and some really interesting fungus popping up here and there this year.

20 September

A quick visit to the gym after a few household jobs. If I hadn't agreed to meet Lorraine so she could sign Jo's birthday card I might not have gone!

Met up with June, Benji and a couple of others to join June's Friday walk. We passed a beautiful garden en route, admired all the lovely trees in Crofton Wood and enjoyed seeing the farmland - a real variety of scenery.

After lunch with Jonathon, I joined some of the other flamingos at Dawn's house to make some preparations for Jo's birthday. Basically, we now have crepe paper "feather" skirts and head dresses! Sharon and I chickened out of making hte skirts and took responsiblity for the head dresses.

By the time I'd done all that, I'd not only hit all my fitness targets for the day and also completed this month's stretch challenge so quite a few boxes ticked.

Swept the back yard then caught up with some admin when I got home.

21 September

No visit to the gym today because it was Fitness Fiesta at Crofton Halls so I'd signed up for that. I did four classes:

Pilates
Sound Bowls
Les Mills Dance
Circuits

I'm glad I did it but I was pretty tired by the end.

It was my first experience of Sound Bowls - very relaxing but I'm not sure I'd want to do it regularly.

By the time I'd got home, gone to the High Street to get my hair cut, had lunch and then Skyped with Mum it was time to lead a walk for the Knoll Active Group. Tomorrow would have been better but the weather forecast for tomorrow is very wet so it had to be today!

There was definitely an autumn hue to some of the scenery as we walked around. The sun was starting to set as we walked through Priory Gardens.

22 September

As forecast, we had a lot of rain overnight and it was still pouring down when I got up. I worked out how many steps I'd do with what I had planned for the day and made sure I did the rest in the gym.

By the time I went to church, the rain had stopped and it stayed damp but fair for most of the rest of the day so nowhere near the thunder and lightning we'd been threatened with. St John's was left a bug legacy recently and is using part of it to revamp the gardens - the work is coming along nicely.

Oli took full advantage of us being in with the windows open (as he often does) and was not happy when we had to close the windows to go to Orpington GPO for lunch. They do toasted sandwiches as well as roast dinners on Sundays - good job because the roasts are far too big for us.

Jonathon went to do a photo shoot but I spent the rest of the day doing yet more admin, chatting to Christine, reading the paper etc.

To 2024 Diary (Page 49)