Fruit !!!! Lovely!!!!!

The fruit trees this year are laden with fruits, the cherries and apricots are ready now and every one is busy making jam and bottling the fruit. Gloria gave me lovely apricots , about 3 pounds so I hope to make jam tomorrow when I have been for extra sugar. I walked through the village of Subcetate twice this week to see Gloria and sit on her terrace and as I walked I was amazed at the amount of fruit this year . The plum and walnuts, pears and apples are all there waiting to ripen ( can't wait!!) and the joy is some of the trees are on the street so you can pick what ever you like as you walk along.

It is really hot at the moment most days reaching 86 deg.F to 90 deg F , I try not to go out in the afternoon as it is too hot for me but lovely and cool in my apartment and the flowers on my front are so nice now I just sit and do some knitting and enjoy the garden , also watch the goat and her babies skipping and playing in the field opposite. There are a lot of birds of pray hovering over the trees and then swooping down for their pray but good to watch. Also noticed a lot of beautiful butterflies and huge grasshoppers and very unusual insects which as yet I cannot put a name to. I must try and take some photo's of them all so I can maybe know what they are.

Got to go and water the plants now , they need twice a day at least now as they dry out very fast.

Hot Weather!!

Well I am not complaining but with all the hot weather we are having I find it hard to sit on the computer when I should be outside enjoying it, however I will make the effort. !!

Last Saturday was a big day for Kathy and Kenneth as all their dreams of opening a day centre in town for the poor people and street kids finally came to fruition. I did remark to them it was D Day after all. It was a lovely hot sunny day and what a good turn out. People came from England who support the charity and from Scotland. There were people from the town hall and social services departments, volunteers , friends and family. Kathy made a wonderful speech , the centre looked wonderful and everyone was impressed. The food too was great , Sorin ( an old friend) did a marvelous job and Lot's of others contributed too.

Johanna is blooming !! don't know if I mentioned I am to be a Great Grandma in August. The pregnancy is progressing well and they are both excited as am I. I have been knitting all kinds of things for the baby. Also knitting for my friend Narcisa who works at Sensi Blu (pharmacy) and who has been very kind to me, she has her baby in January.

Amy had her Prom. on Friday night and came to show me her dress etc. she looked lovely , It was at the Hotel Park so I hope they had a good time before the big exams at the end of this month. Kenny I do not see much of as he is busy at university in Timisoara but saw him at the opening , sporting his kilt , he looked great and seems to be doing well and has a lovely girlfriend , Alina.

Johanna and Philip now have Geese and ducks and are enjoying being in their house in the small village and living true village life. I expect they will have chickens next and I know they have been busy in the garden with veg. and herbs and flowers.

It is getting very hot again so I think I will go and sit out and look at my flowers now and do some knitting. So bye for now .

Visit to UK

Well at last I have time to catch up on my blog. There has been so many things going on since I came back. Problems with the boiler meant I had plumbers and engineers here for four days altogether. The boiler had not been installed properly ( another disaster from Casa Rom) so the engineer Zoli who was such a nice man and knew his job , excellent worker . He brought very good plumbers in and without too much detail the job was completed and is now all OK.

It has been very hot here in the 80's and I sometimes find it hard to do much when it is so hot and humid. I have also been busy getting the garden done and it is paying dividends now, when I look out of my windows there is a lot of colour.

Well to my visit to Manchester (Hyde) , I had a wonderful time staying with my sister Betty and Tom her husband and was made very welcome. She had all the foods in that I love and miss so much in Romania. We shopped till we dropped but unfortunately never got to Manchester centre it was just a little too much and there were day's when I needed to rest. I did need to take pain killers but it allowed me to go out shopping with Betty etc. etc. We had nice meals out with the family and Easter Sunday went to my nephews , Tony who is a really good host and did a wonderful buffet as it was Gabriel's 18Th birthday too. I saw almost everyone and stayed over night with Bill and Angie and went for a curry with them and Robert and Pattie and Alice too , Angie and I went to the garden centre on the following morning then Kirsti and Nick came with the children and Karen called too . So it was all very nice and nice to be with Angie and Bill.

I saw Janet my good friend and Joyce and Rebbecca in fact saw Janet three times this time , I think she misses me as I do her and every one but it was still nice to get home to my own little palace and of course my own bed ha ha !!! My flight with Lufthansa were very good and the wheelchair assistance proved to be excellent. Ever body that helped me were very kind so thank you Lufthansa ans staff and thanks to my nephew Tony for taking me to the airport.

I have settled back into my life in Arad again now and have seen friends here again and been to the English Conversation club again. Today Mark is coming to do some work that needs doing in the bath room ( sealing the bath properly and some grouting ) I will post a few pictures of my visit not too many to bore you all. Thanks to all for reading my Blog and thanks very much to all in Hyde for making my visit such a good one .

Well I am ready to go !!!!!

At Alast I am ready to go to UK to visit family and friends. It is lovely warm weather , with bright sunshine here and the trees are already full of blossom . I love this time of year when everything just bursts into life again. This year I am so pleased to have two fruit trees on my front garden , a cherry and plum and raspberry's , honeysuckle and roses. I hope to get Lot's more in when I get back.

I shall be in Manchester for Easter so that will be nice although I will miss the Romanian Easter , it is celebrated much more here with all the old traditions still carrying on. Everyone eats lamb at Easter but not the rest of the year and lovely decorated eggs are on every ones table.

Well I must get the last things done, Kathy is coming for me soon to take me to Timisoara airport and from there I change at Munich then on to Manchester then a cab to my sisters where I shall be staying , it will be lovely to see everyone . I also look forward to fish and chips etc etc

Happy Easter every one !!!

Sincere Symoathy

A sad day for Liam Neeson and his family. Just to express my sincere sypathy to Liam , his sons and all the family. It just make you so glad that your family are all well .

International Ladies Day

It was International Ladies Day and Mothers Day last Sunday, on the Friday I went with Johanna and Philip to Rosanna's wee school in Levada, as Kathy was away we were representing her. It was very nice , the children sang songs and said some poems. Although I did not understand all of it , it was still good to see the children and Rosanna was very pleased we were there for her. Rosie presented me with a lovely a basket and card that the children had made themselves. It is a lovely little village school and a credit to the staff , who work hard with the limited resources they have. Great wall charts are all around the class rooms and mobiles all made from paper but very impressive.

I received lovely flowers from Hajni and Alina ( Kenny's girlfriend) and Alexandra did drawings for me. It certainly looks as if Spring is here at last. Kathy did not arrive back until late Monday but although she was tired after a long journey brought a lovely card for me .

My visit to UK is creeping up on me so I must start to get everything ready to go , I cannot stand leaving every thing until the last minute, and the past few day's I have not felt well (may be over doing thing's) when you feel a little better you forget you should not be doing certain things , the back does not like it ha ha !!! Gloria is coming soon for a coffee so must get on.

Staying inside in the warm!!

MY LOVELY DAUGHTER OF WHOM i AM SO PROUD, i LOVE HER MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD, With me of course ! ! !!



Kenny , Alina and Yasmina . Sylvia with Rosie and Yasmina all wrapped up for the snow! Me cutting mine and Kenny's birthday cake which Mariana so kindly made for us. Lastly my little French Madelines Yummy!!!


It is so cold and the snow is quite thick still and it froze last night that I am afraid to venture out .(Don't want any more falls!) So I decided to bake some Madelines (the dainty cakes from France) The first lot I put too much mixture in the special shaped trays (They tasted delicious though) but the second batch were perfect as you will see in my picture.

Just going to put a few random pictures on today as I must get on and do some house work!!!!!

OH!!! Gosh we have snow now!!!

Oh !! I spoke too soon, we have thick snow now and it's still snowing. It is very pretty out there but minus 5 deg. I shall be staying in today I wouldn't want to slip and upset my back again and it is jolly cold, I chanced it to the dustbins and that was bad enough. The strange thing is; things have not come to a stand still as they did in UK !!!!!

I got a phone call last week on Wednesday from Catherine at the BBC , she asked if I would go on Radio Manchester again , I said OK. So Thursday am, I was on the radio talking about communications.I told them how good Skype was for me, to be able to talk to my sister in Hyde who has no computer but I speak to her on the land line for an hour or so , usually Sunday when she has time to talk and it only costs me about 50p and of course to Angie and Bill in Oldham for nothing as they have a computer. We also spoke about the Blog and how people contact me from all over the world to ask about Romania. They also mentioned Twitter but I have not as yet explored that.

It was Amy's birthday on Sunday so the gang came and we had cheese and biscuits , nibbles and cakes and a little champagne , it was nice to see everyone if a bit tiring but that's normal, we had eight adults and three children, Mary Beth who has come as a volunteer to help for three weeks is wonderful with the children and is a lovely girl we will be sorry when she leaves, her Mum is a nurse and she came last year to help the charity that Kathy and Kenneth run for the poor people and street children.

I am looking forward to my trip to Hyde and have booked wheelchair assistance as the walking across Munich airport and Manchester are too much for me with the state of my back and I want to get there feeling OK so that I can enjoy my stay with Betty and Tom and hopefully see Angie and Bill and all the rest of my family and friends. I will be there for Easter so that will be nice.

Hope you like the photo's I took this morning from the apartment. The snow is so pretty !!!!

Spring is on the way!!

Well while Britain is experiencing the worst snow fall in 18 years we have nice sunny days and much warmer temperatures. The first snowdrops have popped their heads up which to me is a sure sign that spring is on the way.The big difference with Britain having snow and snow here is , we have very low temperatures with it IE. 16 degrees below zero on the coldest day in Arad this winter.

I managed to go to the English conversation club last Wednesday with Gloria and Kate and Amy came too, It was nice to see everyone again and there was endless chatter about all sorts of things.I think we shall all be glad again when the Terrace opens at the end of April beginning of May. It is so pleasant to sit outside and the gardens are lovely. The speed life is passing it will not be long, I never used to believe it when folk used to say "time passes quicker the older you get" but now I know they were right.

I am hoping to visit Manchester in April to see my family, it will be almost a year since i went , so it will be good to see everyone and walk round Hyde market, go to Ashton and Stockport on the bus and of course to eat "HOLLANDS" meat pies ha ha !! Yum oh! and of course fish and chips.

Well it is Wednesday again already so Gloria (my friend from Ireland) and I hope to go to the club again tonight. I have a few jobs on the agenda today so must get on.
I was just comparing prices the other day whilst shopping and everything here is dearer now than UK, you can not get a tin of tomatoes or baked beans for under 40p., butter is £1.50 for half a pound and the gas and electric are so much dearer. It seems people think things are cheap here but that is not the case, however that does not stop me from still liking living here .!!!!

Happy New Year!!

Well I must say I welcome 2009, and hope it will be a year free of accidents and illness , not just for me but all my family and friends ,in fact for everyone. It is Chinese new year on the 26Th January, the year of the Ox , so who knows the Ox might bring some good things!!!! I had a quiet New Year, the family came to see me new years eve ( which was lovely) before they all went off to watch the fire works at the town hall. I was invited to Kathy and Kens for new year dinner but to be honest was glad to just have a quiet time.

The weather has warmed up now and faint signs of spring approaching. The coldest day we had in this part of Romania was 16 degrees below freezing wow!! that is cold. I try not to go out when it is too cold. I am feeling a lot better and just have to be careful now, no lifting, no falling and some gentle exercises. We have all had coughs and colds but then who hasn't?? it's all part of winter and as it has been so cold it will be good to kill the bugs and good for the fruit trees and gardens. Talking of frosty , we went to Helen's for a meal after Christmas and she did sprouts from her garden Mmmm delish!! with a lovely pork and wine stew followed by apple pie and a trifle, it was a very nice evening enjoyed by all, thanks Helen.

I have not been doing any going out in the evenings due to not feeling well but I really feel I should make the effort and try to go this next Wednesday, I miss my friends there and all the Banter. I am quite pleased with my self as I had a pile of emails outstanding and I have almost answered them all. I must get in touch again with my friend Jan who diligently follows my blog and sends me endless patterns , bless her.

We had a visitor over Christmas from the foundation, Susan Davies. She was a breath of fresh air and made me laugh so much , you just had to feel better. Especially good as she has the same Lancashire accent as me. She was very upset as the boy sh mainly came to see Cristi had been moved from a nice home to a hovel with rats running about. Poor Susan was distraught. I hope the people responsible may take note and try to help him . Any way thanks Susan for your company and for the Jellies and Oxo cubes you sent me on your return to UK.

Hoping I do not loose my readers and will try now to keep my blog. up to date, also hope to resume my Romanian lessons and get out more. All the best every one for 2009.

Happy Christmas

Hello everyone!! Just to wish all who read my blog a very Happy Christmas, Sarbatori Fericite!! and a healthy new year.

I am feeling a little better and hope to celebrate with my family and extended family. We are all going to Mariana's and Nelu's for Christmas eve , the Romanians big celebration is on Christmas eve and usually lot's of carol singers and good food. Christmas day is at Johanna and Philips house in Dorabant's and I hear we are having goose and lot's more goodies, I just hope I can do it justice.

Best wishes Rose x x x x x

Parties for Yasmina and Rosie

Well I have made it at last to do my blog, the past few weeks have been endless trips to the eva clinic for treatments on my back. It is a lot better than it was and now waiting to see the surgeon in Timisoara on Wednesday.

We had a small tea party for Yasmina at my apartment ( the girls did all the work) it was easier for me to have them here than to travel to Kathy's and back. You will see from the pictures they had a good time and Yasmina loved the doll and push chair from Granny!!! The following week it was Rosanna's birthday , we put Cd's on of all the children's songs and danced to " in and out the dancing bluebells" m "The wheels on the bus go round and round " etc etc. I managed to make a trifle and used two chocolate Swiss rolls to make a cake for Rosie.A good time was had by all including little Daniela (Irina's daughter) .

Some how I have managed to get most of my Christmas presents with the help of Kathy , Amy and Gloria. I hope to be able to wrap some today. The Christmas boxes have arrived from UK 800 I think. I also had a visit from Rosemary who is an old friend, she spends a lot of time here helping the children. She brought some of her visitors with her , they were lovely people , Kevin I remembered from Kathy's wedding and two nurses who are a delight and have done a lot of good work here.

The weather is very mild , most days warmer than Britain, ( very unseasonal) we are all hoping it will snow for Christmas. The Primarie looks fantastic with a really lovely tree and a nativity , crowds of people go to have a look every day and in the evening as it shines at night. I must go now and start to wrap presents and maybe ring my sister.!!

Eva Medical Centre

Eva Medical Clinic was founded in 2003, has 10 employees and is managed by Dr. Reghina Patru, Primary Doctor in Balneophysiotherapy,and medical recuperation with competence in homeopathy, acupuncture,gemotherapy and physiotherapy.

Therapeutic behaviour is based on the combination of alopatic (classic)treatment with traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy and physiotherapy with minimally invasive repercussion over the body and with good results. In our cabinet, the most common pathologies are of rheumatic (rheumatic polyarthritis , ankylosing spondylitis, cervical and lumbar discopathy), neurologic (polyneuritis, neuralgia) and of physical rehabilitation types.For pediatric affections,good results are obtained by combining homeopathic treatment with physiotherapy.

More details on www,medicaleva.ro ( still under construction)

Centrul Medical Eva, Arad

I want to tell you about the clinic where I have been having intensive treatment for my back problems. Mainly because I would like people in UK and all over the world for that matter what really good health care we have in Romania. Many people say to me and the media what a backward country Romania is, well I can tell you that is definitely NOT the case!! Not only did I get immediate help but we have all the very latest machines and technology. I was sent for an MRI within a few days of me going to the clinic, the results of which showed three Herniated discs and Oedema and infection on one of the discs. I then was given an appointment to see a Neurosurgeon ( Dr. Plesh) in Timisoara on the 17Th Dec. ( yes that quick).

I arrived at the clinic on Strada Octavian Goga on Monday morning and had ultrasound massage, electrotherapy, massage acupuncture (with infusions) and pain killing injection and peripheral nerve damage injections. By the end of the first week I was feeling better than I had for a long time (considering I could hardly walk and was in a great deal of pain) It was a small miracle to me!!

The atmosphere in the clinic is warm and friendly and I was soon talking a little Romanian to all the other patients , who were very kind to me and made sure I got my turn to go in for Physio. The girls in Physio (most of whom spoke some English) were very good to me and very respectful. The nurse and I had fun , she used to call me Manchester United (I wonder why?) Costi the young doctor helped me enormously, translating for me and answering any questions I had. And last but not least Doctor Reghina Patru was and is superb. Her diagnosis was spot on and verified by the MRI scan. She is caring, efficient and very clever indeed and I owe my thanks to her for helping me to feel better. She has told me my back will not get better but she will make me as comfortable as possible, bless her.

I would recommend any one to this wonderful clinic, it is only small but my word they see a lot of people and I am told people come from all around Romania to see Doctor Patru. Well done to all and many thanks for everything.

Is It November ????

Is it November I ask myself?? It is 21 degs C today and yesterday it was 28C . It's wonderful bright sunshine and warm , more like late spring early summer. I wonder if we will get any snow this year we had very little last year. The winters here used to be so cold even down to minus 20 . We shall see but really the people here need some frost etc. for the fruit trees and other produce.

I have not been well at all but without going into too much detail ( you don't want to read of my moans!!) I have now a Herniated disc in my back, spondylosis very bad, but to cut a long story short the specialist has put me on Tramadol and starting tomorrow every day I go for Electro therapy, Physio, Massage and Acupuncture and some pain killing injections and even Homeopathy injections. They certainly get a move on here I also have a MRI on Wednesday, so hopefully in a couple of weeks I will feel better, they told me they cannot cure but will try to make me more comfortable.

Enough of me now, Kathy came with the two little ones Yasmina and Rosie on Halloween , we had a lovely evening playing and singing songs and of course sweeties as it was Halloween. It was also nice to spend time with Kathy as she is so busy most of the time she comes often but usually cannot stay for long.

I think they are coming for me today to take me out for coffee and cakes and as I will be in the car it will not be too much walking. It will be nice in the sunshine . Will go and make myself presentable now, bye from sunny Romania.

Johanna and Philips wedding

Just to say a very big thank you to everyone for making it such a lovely day, and to all the people of Romania who are good friends thank you for making us all feel so welcome in your lovely city of Arad. Thank you to the Continental for a job very well done , thanks to Lili and Angie for all the fantastic hair do's, thanks for all the flowers ( a Romanian tradition at weddings) they were beautiful. Thank you to the Minister, and God parents , Thank you from a proud Granny Rose .

Just some more pictures but what a day to remember!!!

The Wedding of Johanna and Philip

My sister Betty arrived safely with Gabrielle ( her grand daughter) on Thursday night 9Th October, Kathy had picked them up at Budapest airport along with other guests from Scotland. It was late when they got to my apartment but we sat chatting until the early hours. Friday we had a late breakfast and then went into town for a wee look round ( Betty has been before but she does love Arad) , had a bite to eat at MacDonald's and the sun was shining , it was a good day.














Well Saturday we awoke to bright sunshine and lovely and warm . So glad for Johanna and Philip and we all got ready to go to church. The church is "The Red Church" on the main Boulevard (I have posted pictures of it previously). Some friends I met here years ago Cassie and Dana came for us in the car so we arrived early which was nice as I got to see everyone before we went inside.It was so different having guests from Scotland, England, Australia ( Philip is Australian) and of course all the many good friends, colleges and neighbours from Romania. I did not realise just how many friends I had made in Arad and it was lovely to see them all. The church was packed and looked very beautiful and the bells rang out proudly for the brides arrival.

Philip looked very good in his kilt and when the bride arrived with her main bridesmaid Amy and the little ones I felt a tear in my eyes, they all looked amazing. I will of course put some pictures on this post but we have not got the official ones yet as the bride and groom went on honeymoon to France and on to Australia .










































The Continental Hotel did a wonderful spread for the Buffet and it was a cold one first followed by a splendid hot buffet. The food was delicious and I think the nicest wedding cake I have tasted. Everyone joined in the dancing ( Scottish country dancing and some Romanian too) , it was uplifting to see all the different peoples mixing so well even with a slight language barrier, but then as I have said many times the Romanian people are so friendly, kind and polite, they welcome strangers and make them feel at home. We went home , Betty and I about 12 midnight but I believe the festivities went on well into the night. A very nice day, a happy day and I wish Johanna and Philip every happiness.

Just a PS everyones hair looked fantastic so many thanks to Lilie and Angi x x x x














These pics are of : me and Betty, Gabrielle, Hajni and Alexandra, Cassie, Dana, Gloria, My lovely daughter Kathy, Johanna and her Dad, Philip and family, Amy, Rosie, Judith and Daniela.

A little bit of sunshine in my life!!

This little girl has brought a lot of sunshine to my life, just as Rosanna has, she is Kathy and Kenneth's latest foster child , Yasmina!! She is a joy and while I was feeling very low after my accident she made me laugh and took my mind off things for a while bless her, I really love these two little girls!!!!

Well Done Dr. Johanna Cloke!!!!!!

I am so proud of you Johanna, well done on your Graduation and becoming Doctor Johanna Cloke. It was hard work and lot's of study but even though you had to do all that in Romanian , you did it. !!!!!!!! We are all so pleased for you and your next big event, your wedding coming soon and I know you had to work hard with all the arrangements for that. I wish you every happiness Johanna and Philip and am sure you will both be very happy. I love you very much Jo and am so proud to be your Granny.

Disastrous Holiday!!

I will not write a long boring blog about the holiday in Kusadasi, just to say it was awful. The journey was full of hold ups, the luggage was wet through on arrival and worst of all I had a bad fall and ended up in hospital. I have broken my nose and as you will see from the picture I am slowely recovering from the terrible bruising.If I had been drinking I could have said it was my own fault but I hadn't so really do not know quite what happened except I tripped over on the way to the bathroom in the night. That is why I have not written my blog as I have difficulty wearing my glasses, but I am putting my best foot forward and trying to get better for Johanna's wedding on the 11th October!!!

Cooler!!!!!!

Good morning all, I have been busy making Pitta bread and Rock Buns this morning and ironing and getting some things ready for my week away in Kusadasi with Amy. I shall take a few Rock Buns with me to Tina's (my tutor) this evening as they are always very kind and Tina's Mum makes pancakes for me so I would like to return the favour.

I had not been too well last week so on Friday night Amy suggested we should get our best tog's on and go out, we went to the Hotel Arad on the Terrace and had steak and three nice salads it was very nice and the food was delicious as usual. We just had one drink each and chatted about all sorts, but then the heavens opened and the rain just fell down in torrents. We decided we would go home but it was good to get out for a while. Kathy rang later on Skype and we all talked for an hour and Amy and I were singing for them all, they were all at Lesley's (Kathy's dearest friend.)

Yesterday (Sunday) I got all my housework done then Hajni came with Alexandra for a couple of hours, I watched a little TV ( good programme discussing the "Davinci Code") went to bed early as I was tired, I seem to get more tired lately (old age creeping on!!!) Well I will go and sweep the porch and path now and clean some windows , then may be a wee rest before my lesson at 5.30 pm.

Keep well every one and enjoy each day as it comes, you never know what may happen , so enjoy today!!!!!!!!!!

Projects

Angie Hope you are feeling better, we all love you and are thinking about you ,I am sure Bill is a good help and will be looking after you. Keep smiling!!!!



My goodness, where is the time going to?? each week seems to go faster. On Friday Amy and Rosanna came to stay with me, Johanna and Philip went to Brasov for a short break and to show Philips Dad Malcom so I had said I would look after Rosanna and Amy was missing her Mum and Dad so she came too. I made some nice meals for us, we went out shopping and as you will see from the pictures Rosanna made some good things too, she also made Blueberry muffins all by herself. Amy helped with the washing up, making beds etc etc and a lot of other things too.

On Monday I went for another lesson with Tina, she is lovely and very patient with me . It is going to be a slow process but I am sure I will be pleased when I can have a conversation with my neighbours and friends. Angie managed to get us on Skype, it was lovely to hear her and see her. She had an op. last week (Not nice) but was being very brave and positive , she did look tired we all love her very much and hope she has a speedy recovery.

It has been slightly cooler this week and Rosie and I got the hanging baskets all down and sorted all the dead bits out and gave them a really good watering. I got a lot of little jobs done , but had Neuralgia for three days and found it very painful. Amy came again yesterday and I had decided not to go to the ECC as I did not feel so good , but she convinced me to get ready and said it would do me good, which it did!! Must get ready for my lesson now and make sure my homework (Tema) is right. Hope you are all OK out there!!!!

Learning the Language

Buna Ziua, ce mai facetí?

Má numesc Rose,eu am saizeci si sase de ani. Locuiesc ín Romania din Decembrie douá mii sase.

Hobby-urile mele sunt, crosetatul,cititul,grádináritul si calculatorul. Mi-am fácut multi prieteni ín Arad si Subcetate locuiesc aici, acum si nu má voi íntoarce sá locuiesc ín Marea Britanie.

This is a little of the Romanian I have been learning. It is difficult to write it properly as my key board is not the right one. Hope you can understand some of it!!!!

Sunday Afternoon at the Strand

I spent Sunday afternoon at the "Strand", It was buzzing, hundreds of people enjoying themselves. I went with Kathy , Kenneth, Amy and Yasmina, we went to watch Kenny MC for a promotion. He is working there for 5 weekends during the summer holidays, and he is very good. It was very hot and most people were in the pools ( I think there are four pools) and now a new ripple pool. I had some whitebait freshly cooked , delicious. The last time I had them was in Cornwall but , my goodness they cost a lot more there. There was a lot of stalls selling hot corn on the cob, crepes , hamburgers, freshly made chips , and lots more. It only costs three new Ron (60p) to go in so quite a few families can afford to go and swim, picnic, laze on the grass or whatever! We have three girls here helping (students) they thought it was great and as good as being at any of the holiday resorts.

Well I am going for a Romanian lesson tonight after a break as my teacher Tina was on a well deserved holiday, she works 8 hours a day and does tutoring in the evening and has a little boy to look after too.I have been practising , but still find it difficult, the older you get the harder it is to learn new skills.

I made plum jam this week. I went to see an old friend in Saleani (Mariana) and she gave me lots of delicious plums and home made Tomato juice , she is wonderful and she was so pleased to see me and the same for me too , I wish I lived a little nearer and I could see more of her.

Gloria ( my friend from Belfast) has been away and I have really missed her, be glad when she comes back. Hajni has been good though and now has a little car, she took me to "Jackson" and I got a couple of things and we hope to go in to Hungary soon to the markets.

Must go now and practise some more before my lesson ha ha !!!!

Another Hot Summer!!

Yes it is another long hot summer with temperatures in the 30's every day for weeks now. I see UK is not having it so good with all the rain and just a few hot days. Everyone is busy here, Kathy had 25 norwegian visitors at the day centre yesterday plus of course the street children, they all had a barbeque. Kenneth is working hard as usual mainly on the house at Dorabanti for Johanna and Philip to go and live in when they are married. Johanna is doing her final exams and arranging things for the wedding. Kenny is sorting out things ready to restart uni. and Amy is learning to drive, helping with the little ones Rosanna and Yasmina and helping me too, she comes to the supermarket with me and helps with everything.Phlilp is working and getting ready for a visit from his Dad, who is coming from Australia.

As for me I do keep busy with keeping the apartment clean and tidy, trying to study Romanian, ( which I find difficult) going to town, meeting friends etc and hope to go to the ECC ( English conversation club) tomorrow night, I did not go last week and really missed seeing everyone. I am getting to know the city very well now and don't get lost as I used to. There are the most interesting shops to see in the side streets and lot's of them are down in the basements, (no space is wasted here) and very qaint.

As I walked through the village the other day I saw many Damsons , Plums, Grapes all nearlly ready for picking (Hope to make Damson Gin for Christmas) and it looks like a good crop of walnuts too, how wonderful and there are so many you can just walk along and get as many as you like Yum!!!! It also seems to have been a good year for roses they are beautiful , there are so many flowers here and everyone makes the effort with window boxes and hanging baskets.

I just fancied Pitta bread the other day and as you can't get it here I made some , it was so good I shall make more tomorrow, much better than shop bought and of course the smell whilst it is cooking Mmmmmm!!! Well must go now and do some more study I so much want to learn the language, wish I wasn't so thick !!!! Bye for now!

So much to do!!!!!!

Hello everyone, well there is so much to lately I have to write down what I am doing each day on my calender and really have not much time left to email friends or Blog, ha ha. However I seem to be able to have a quiet day today so here goes. We have had my niece and family here, you remember baby Oliver and Niamh. They have every moment of the visit and loved all the different food they had. I was having a party for some of my friends from the ECC and it was Estela's birthday so it was great to have everyone at my house. I made chili and rice, cold buffet, trifle and summer pudding. It all went down a treat we all laughed and sang , it was a great evening and well worth the hard work to see everyone mixing with each other and having a jolly good time.

It is still very hot on Sunday we all went to Hajni's house in the village and had a nice meal there and more singing and dancing. It was almost 90deg F so the barbecue was done outside but we had to eat indoors it was too hot to go out.The children were fantastic and Niamh sang 5 or 6 songs for us she is a lovely little girl and very well mannered too, of course we had performances from Daniela, Rosie and Alexandra too .

I felt rather fragile come Monday so had a quiet day and studied my Romanian as I had a lesson at 5.30pm. Tina said I had done very well and got fairly good marks for my homework.On the way home there was the most fantastic thunder storm (Fortuna in Romanian) the sky lit up with the streaks of lightning I just managed to get indoors before the down pour, but we do need the rain. The people rely so much on their home grown veg. and it was so dry so they will be pleased and by Tuesday the air was lovely and fresh.

Tuesday and it was Kirsy's last night ( Gosh!!! that went quickly) we wanted to take them to the "Bulzan" for traditional food but they are closed so we went to the Terrace at the Hotel Arad. We had a very good meal and the children played in the gardens. Niamh was heard saying "Oh it is so nice here , I must come again" and we hope they will all come again we shall miss them.

It is Wednesday now and very pleasant outside just warm enough with a slight breeze. Hope to get a few jobs done while it is cooler , so I must get on now. It is the ECC again tonight phew!! I have never been out so much!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quite a busy week

Monday,Wednesday and Thursday I was at the dentist to sort out my teeth.By Thursday I had new teeth and all a success. Wednesday I called to see Gloria, she said she had really enjoyed the crumpets I gave her so I must make more asap.We went to town together on Thursday, I called at the bank, payed my phone bill etc etc. We called at Elefantul ( a little shop on the Boulevard) and I got a summery bag in cotton. We called for a couple of coffee's and cold drinks as once again it was very hot. Found a new shop next door to Ziridava where they have bit bigger sizes and got two cotton tops , ideal for this hot weather.

Friday I stayed in and got some jobs done in the apartment and Eddie came with plumbers to fix my tap etc.I also stayed in on Saturday and Irina and Daniela came to see me which was nice. Also Paul and Kenny dropped in for a quick visit. Sunday again already, I decided to make the chili for next Saturday for a wee party for Estela's birthday, I will freeze it then there will not be quite so much to do on the day.Kathy and Ken took me out in the evening , we went to the Hotel again on the Terrace, very good, I had Papernash(hot fresh doughnuts with jam and cream) delicious!!!!! So all in all another good week.

Last Weeks Diary!!

Dana , the sweet girl who waits on us all on Wednesday nights, We have become friends now, she is a lovely girl. The other pictures are of the Terrace at The Hotel Arad, it is a very nice place to sit and while away the evening and the food is very good too and the service excellent.


The weather is still very hot here , so I do not venture far as it just doesn't suit me, I keep in the shade and if all else fails "Wear a Big Hat!!" By the way I must tell you my good news,,, only three Mosquito bite in eight weeks , wonderful and even the ones I had did not react as bad as they used to. Thanks to Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) , one tablet 100Mg's per day and it is proving to be very successful.
Wednesday evening I went to the English conversation club on the Terrace at the Hotel Arad. It is a beautiful terrace with Honeysuckle perfuming the evening air, conifers , geraniums, begonia, fuchsia and roses. We all had a good time and Kathy , Ken and Amy came too. It is always a pleasure for me to see all these lovely people and to chat the night away.
On Thursday because it was too hot to go walking I went to Gloria's house in Subcetate, it is a lovely house and they keep the garden looking lovely. We sat out on the balcony for hours chatting and drinking refreshing elder flower cordial with mineral water. Gloria got the binoculars out as I spotted a pretty bird with yellow and green wing and tail feathers it was sitting in the apricot tree. What a nice afternoon, thanks Gloria and I went home with mange tu and apples and i think i may get some apricots next time they have lots on the tree.
Sunday I decided to make crumpets and to be able to give some to Gloria to try. I was in the middle of cooking them (it is a slow process) when Kathy and Ken came with Yasmina so of course they had crumpets with their coffee. It was good to see them and have a chat , Sundays are such long days when you are on your own. Anyway they also called for me in the evening and we spent at least two hours all the family on the river on a pontoon, having snacks and drinks, it was really good as we watched the little boats going up and down and every time one passed the pontoon rocked .
Well that was my week more or less !! A good one!!

Assorted Photo'e of my time in Cyprus

Susi Yum !!!



At least I got in the sea once!! Lovely wedding


I thought I would just show you a few of the photo's in Cyprus.......