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.......