July already!!!!!!

Sorry I have not written my blog. ..... I have had a lot of up's and downs in the last few months and have even cancelled a trip to UK again. High blood pressure etc. will not go into details. Any way I am feeling a lot better.

It is very hot again and bright sunshine and although I cannot go out when it is so hot I have lot's and lot's of pleasure looking at the garden, which is now looking very good. The Roses are lovely, they thrive here and the Geraniums without much attention. We went to a great garden centre and hope to go again soon, the prices were so reasonable and the people very helpful.

The family have all been wonderful and someone calls every day to see I am OK and take me to doctors, shopping etc.etc. Rosie and Yasmina are growing up fast and bring much pleasure to my life. One day about three weeks ago Amy brought them up and I suggested they they went off to the little park at the end of the estate, I gave them bottles of water and crisps and some biscuits and told them to have a picnic ....... Well !!!! they thought it was wonderful and only came back to go to the toilet, they were away two hours! The only thing is, now every time Yasmina comes .. she wants a picnic. It reminded me of when we were little , my sister and brother would go off to Hyde Park with bottles of water and jam sandwiches and stay all day and thought it was a real treat. Gosh!!! those were the days when such small things brought great pleasure and it was safe to let your children go to the park all day unsupervised. Ooooops! must be getting old I keep thinking in the past but at least I have some very happy memories.

Rafaela (Johanna's little one) is almost walking now she is a real cutie . She is a good baby and alway's laughing , she is never still and like all babies into everything. All the family are doing well and planning to visit everyone in UK in August, I don't know when I will be able to go yet as the doctor does not like the thought of me flying with very high BP. I am not at all upset I love my home here and I am very comfortable. I am planning to have four days away in Hungary with Helen when they go , it will be a change and it is not a long journey.

The Day Centre ( The Secret Garden ) is very busy these days, I go sometimes and love to see the progress they are making and how nice it all is now. If you go to the "vis de copil" site (click on address on my side panel) you will see all the activities they do now. At the top of this post you can see a lovely tableau made bythe children from paper flowers which they made themselves.

My friend Gloria has gone to live in Timisoara now but comes over once a week to meet me, usually at one of our new Malls, "The Atrium" where, much to our delight we have C&A. Yes it's great, we used to love it in Britain but they closed all the stores there. Then we go upstairs and have chinese or mexican food, can't be bad eh??? I miss Gloria a lot as she was only over in the village here 5 minutes walk away and we spent long summer afternoons together chatting and drinking tea. Still it is nice to see her most weeks.We never stop talking. Must close now and try to do a couple of job's but it is so hot. Good job I have the air conditioning !!!!!!!

The Spring has brought lovely sunshine and clear skies

April has been a lovely month with bright sunny days. Easter was very nice (as it alway's is here in Romania) and the old traditions still stand. We always get invited to Mariana and Nelu's house in Sanleani . She serves a wonderful spread starting with soup, then salad's and a hot meal and best of all her super cakes which are unbelievable and very scrummy. Before the meal starts we all have a glass of wine or visinata and the cracking of the eggs. It was a lovely day and as I had been quite poorly it was great to get out for a while.

My little fruit trees that were planted last year have blossomed and the fruit has set , so this year I should get a few cherries and plums. The Clematis Montana came into flower this week too , it is very pretty and a welcome site after winter. I have managed to get geraniums in my porch again and they are doing well , I had a change with window boxes and put in minature pansies , marigolds and margarites. I will get more plants to climb up the fences as soon as possible.Kathy has been very busy at the day centre and had quite a few visitors so I have to wait until she can take me .

I am at last feeling a lot better but unfortunatly could not go to Manchester for my planned visit this month. I had big problems with my leg and very high blood pressure but Dr. Bulboaca my GP is wonderful, she sent me for check ups, Diabetic , blood tests etc.etc. and changed my medication , giving me exta tablets for cardio vascular and I am now feeling much better.The medical care here is excellent , I have a friend in UK who has been waiting for weeks for an MRI scan when he could have had one here the next day.We also met a lady (well ! Amy did ) who came here from UK for extensive dental treatment , she said it was still less than half the price even with her air fares and a stay in a Hotel for a week. We are getting more and more people coming here for all kinds of medical teatment including plastic surgery, interesting eh???

I am hoping to go to the English conversation club tonight if only for a short while as I miss all my friends there, Romanian, German Italian and of course American and British , we laugh and say it's like United Nations !!!! Must try to rest a little now and then I will be able to go.

March already !!!!!!!

Hello!! I did not realise just how long it was since I updated my blog. time seems to fly and the older you get , the faster it goes.

Christmas was nice, we had Christmas eve at Mariana's in Sanleani ( the village where Kathy and family live), The family have ben invited there every year since first coming to live in Romania. We are all made very welcome and have a great evening with lovely traditional Romanian food.

Christmas day is always at Kathy's, with Mariana and her family all coming. Kenneth was very poorly with pneumonia and in bed, so it was down to Amy to cook dinner for 22 phew!!! but it was lovely and she did a terrific job, pretty much single handed! Kathy always invites people over the holiday who are away from home and their families and those who would not have a Christmas dinner other than with us.

I was to do Boxing day but Kathy decided it would be too much for me, as I haven't been all that well recently. I still wanted to "host" the day though so I cooked a meat and potato pie and chili con carne in advance and we took it all round to Kathy's. Everyone tucked in and really enjoyed the pie ( it was a change to have something different.)

The winter has been quite cold and lot's of snow but Britain seems to have had their share too this year. Now the spring is on it's way and I have buds on my little fruit trees I planted last spring and the Honeysuckle and clematis Montana are also in bud . It will soon be time to be thinking of doing the window boxes again , can't wait to see some flowers out there!!

My new great grandchild, baby Rafaela is doing well. She is almost 6 months old - how time flies! She has 2 teeth and is almost crawling now.
Irina, Viorel and the children, Daniela and baby Gabriel came too on Boxing day. Wee Gabriel is coming on a treat too he's two weeks older than Rafaela - I like this photo of them both.














I paid a visit to the day centre the other day, it was great to see children and parents who live on the streets or in literally hovels in the pooerest communities tucking into bowls of hot soup and bread.

Some of the children were busy in the quiet room making easter pictures etc. The centre is a real credit to Kathy and Kenneth, how wonderful to have somewhere to get food and warmth and showers and clean clothes for them all. Amy is now on the staff too (though at the moment without pay), I just wish all the people who help to fund this wonderful place could see it for themselves, they would certainly be pleased at the hands on care and love that helps these poor souls.

Well I will try to keep putting bits of news on for those who are good enough to follow my blog. Will put a few pictures on too .

Thanks for the shoe boxes from British children

Arad City Hall at Christmas


The children
loved the boxes
many thanks.










Saint Nocholas .

Trying to make time to do my Blog. again !!!!

Well folks I have finally made it to write my blog again. It has been an eventful few weeks to say the least. I went to Hyde for a three week visit to see my sister, brother and family and of course to see how my home town was doing.

The first thing that hit me as I got off the plane at Manchester was the damp, it just seemed to go right through me.I thought how different it is in Arad where we do not have very much rain and so therefore it is not as damp here.It was lovely to see everyone even though I got a bad chest infection and had to visit the Doctor but had some very nice times in between.I saw my friend Janet a few times and old shcool friends Maureen and Cynthia , we talked of the teenage years we spent together (good times) and how we went dancing and walking and of course getting up to mischief. We certainly had a lot of laughs and said how things have changed, ( must be getting old ha ha !!)

I had contemplated may be going back to live in the Hyde area as I had been getting home sick and intended looking at accommodation and asking some questions but as the time went on and the more I saw and heard about muggings, drugs, vandalism etc etc. I decided this would not be a good idea , I thought what a nice apartment I have and not much crime here , also how peaceful it is where I live and how lovely the people are and all the friends I have made. So I came back home with a different attitude and have really enjoyed being back in Romania which I can honestly say is now my home.

Today is Saint Nicholas (Sfantul Nicolae) day, last night the children would have polished their shoes and put them out on the window sill or outside the front door. If they have been good they would get small gifts from Saint Nicholas of fruit, sweets or candy sticks. Today people will take gifts to friends, children and those in need.

I called at Kathy's day centre on Tues. for an hour and spent an hour colouring in with the children, Kathy was busy giving out hot soup and bread which was much appreciated as the weather is turning cold. She was also giving the poor, clothes , boots and shoes so they were very happy they had dropped in. It is lovely now at the centre and very homely and as most of them have no homes probably the only home they have. How lucky I feel when I see them in such need , thank goodness there are folks like Kathy and Ken who care!!! Amy was home from University and was helping too and putting up decorations which the children had made themselves.So it looks very festive now.

Well Christmas is nearly here , the tree is up and looking good outside the town hall and little stalls all in the square selling mulled wine and lot's of goodies . Soon there will be the carol singers too on the boulevard , Christmas is always really nice here and definatly not as commercial. You get the real meaning of Christmas which is very nice. Must get some more preparations done now ready to celebrate the holiday so will go now and get moving.

Clinic Eva / Arad

I had to go back to see Doctor Patru at the Eva clinic as I was in a great deal of pain. I have had six treatments of electrosis and massage and infiltration and gosh!! I feel so much better. Doctor Patru is wonderful and so proffesional , she knows after one consultation exactly what you need and she is so kind to me as are all her staff.It is a pleasure to go there and the patients are also very kind and patient with me and include me in thier chats whilst we wait for treatment.

I would recommend anyone with problems of Sciatica , Herniated disc , Arthritis etc. to go here . Last year when I first attended the clinic I was so bad I could not walk and was in severe pain and discomfort but in four weeks of intensive care and treatment I was fine and cannot thank Doctor Eva Patru enough.

Thanks to all the staff at the clinic , I know I can always count on you all for help, I wish the care and treatment was so good in Britain !!!

Clinic Eva, Nr, 8 Octavian Goga, Arad, Romania.

Four Generations

There are four generations here. Great grandma, Granny, Mummy and Baby. We are all first babies and all girls. Rose, Kathryn, Johanna and Rafaela.

More of baby More

An assortment of photo's, some are of Johanna's last week of being preganant , Philip, Johanna and me having a nice meal before Rafaela was born ...













































...and more of my lovely Great Granddaughter - alone, with Johanna and me and then the four generations of us ... all first born girls!

Rafaela Alisa More

I would like to introduce you to my Great Granddaughter, Rafaela, Alisa. She was born on the 7th September, weighing 8lbs 6ounces.Johanna had a natural birth with no pain relief and had a pretty hard time of it but it was worth it. The baby girl is beautiful as you will see from the photo's and I am delighted . She is going home today and both Mother and baby are doing well . Philip is so pleased and glad it is all over as she was well over due and we were wondering if she would ever appear.


Thanks to everyone who sent messages of congratulations, and for the lovely gifts and flowers. I would like to say a personal thank you to Philip and Johanna for calling the baby Alisa after my mother Alice that was a lovely thing to do.

Waitng for Baby!!

Well we are on countdown now , Philip and I and of course Johanna. The baby is due on the 25th August but think he may come early. Johanna is well , she is tired now especially in this hot weather but she is bearing up well and never complains. I am so excited !!! I shall be Great Grandma Rose and Kathy's Great Grandma was Rose too which is rather nice. I am on standby waiting for a phone call so that I can go to the Hospital to be there for the birth.

I am so pleased for them as they now have internet, TV and landline phone in Dorabants now and the bathroom is finished , all in time for babies arrival. Their house in a lovely village will be a nice place to bring a little one up. They have baby chicks too , and they brought me fresh eggs last week that taste lovely.

I am still knitting and have quite a collection of nice clothes for the baby now. Johanna has got very organised and everthing is ready , her bag is packed too so we wait !!!!!

HOTEL CORVUS AQUA/ Oroshaza Hungary

Oroshaza

Yesterday I went with my friend Helen to Oroshaza, Hungary. It was very hot but in the car we had a breeze so was not too bad. We went to look at a Hotel there, I had seen it on the internet. We wanted to go to the Wellness centre there where there are Thermal pools, swimming pools and all kinds of treatments for Rhumatism etc. etc. or you can pamper yourself and have a pedicure, manicure or a hair do. It is in a lovely setting and you can just go to relax, if thats what you would like.

We arrived at the" Hotel Corvus Aqua", it looked really nice and has it's own lake. At reception we asked about special offers and decided on a three night stay with a lovely room and including breakfast and evening meal for £100 each this also included two passes to the spa and wellness centre which is right next door to the Hotel. We then had a superb lunch overlooking the lake - it was delicious! We then got talking to a very nice young lady, Erika who turned out to be one of the directors. She was absolutley charming with excellent English. I am sure we will enjoy our break there in the second week in August, the staff were great and very polite, they showed us the room and evrything is perfect and spotlessley clean. I would recommend this Hotel to anyone who wants a calm relaxing break. They also have conference rooms and cater for groups and children. If you would like to view the Hotel go to www.hotelcorvus.hu They have all kinds of special offers and are most helpful.

Assorted pictures

Just some pictures of my Geraniums etc etc !! They have done very well , but everything is growing quickly with all the sunshine.

The goats in the field across the road from me, some of Johanna's garden, barbecue at my place

Hot, Hot !!

Well at last I have found time to do my blog. and it is a little cooler today so I feel much better for that. It has been in the 90's F for weeks now and some day's reaching 100F which is far too hot for me but we must not complain as a lot of people in UK would love all this sunshine and no rain.

It was Kathy and Kenneth's silver wedding anniversary this month , gosh it just does not seem that long since we were all in Scotland to watch them get married and what a lovely day it was. We all went to the Hotel Arad on the Terrace for a lovely meal. Dave and Beryl were over ( they do spectacles for the poor people and the street kids) and their son Mark was here too doing all kinds of jobs to help . So they came too and Helen ( who helps with the charity) and another friend so there was quite a big sitting and we all had a very nice evening.On the Sunday Mariana (Kathy's best friend here) wanted to do something for the anniversary so we all went for a meal at her house in the village.

I have had to refuse alot of outings as I did not feel too well but some of it is because of the heat, I am getting more used to it now and do venture out a bit more on hot day's and the excercise is good for me any way. Hajni is back at work now and she passed all her exams so the pressure is off. Amy passed her exams too so will be joining Kenny in Timisoara to go to Uni. there in October. Johanna and Philips baby will soon be here now , I am really looking forward to being a Great Grandma. I wonder what it will be I would like a little boy as we have nearly all girls. Rosie came to stay with me for a weekend and we did all sorts of things togather. Some baking , gardening , cleaning and of course playing. Little Yasmina is growing up fast and is talking very well now , the two girls both have good english which I hope will stand them in good stead for the future.

Well having read this through it seems a bit boring but sorry folks it's just my life story really !!!! I have booked flights to go to UK in October to see my Sister , Brother and all the family so that will be nice and I got a really good price from Lufthansa because I booked early. I will include some pictures and sign off for now . Hope you all are well and have a nice day.

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.