Moody Seas.....A Small Light And Long Tunnel!

 Once again, the carrot was dangled and we were told that as soon as carnival period was finished we would go in to level one on the Covid restriction scale. If I´m honest I wasn´t really bothered about going in to level one, yes the restrictions would be less but there would nobody here to enjoy them so why not just leave us where are? As it happened we are still in level two, 6 people to a table and 11pm curfew, its not so bad.

I have started walking to Alcala. I don´t know whether its a midlife crises but I´ve decided I need to get fit, or at least a bit fitter than I am, either that or I have too much time on my hands, I don´t want to commit to either. The walk to Alcala takes me from Puerto Santiago where I live, all along the rugged coastline down through playa De La Arena and Varadero where the coastal path starts, and finishes in the square in Alcala. Its a lovely walk, mainly flat and the views are stunning. Its a good 5k walk, good for both the body and the mind.

Today, the sea was particularly moody and I found myself stopping every now and then to take photos of the high waves and the few surfers that were out.

I thought I would throw back today to my Mallorca days as just the other night I got talking to someone and it turned out that she had worked in one of the same hotels that Eddie and I had gigged in while living in Mallorca. The conversation only came about when I was talking about stand up paddle boarding or SUP in Mallorca last year, something I long to do again soon.

Eddie and I sang in the Playa Mar hotel every two weeks for two seasons while we lived in Mallorca. The resident entertainer was a Dutch man called Edward and at the end of our show he would set off fireworks from across the pool, all very showbiz, and the audience loved it.
During our show, Eddie would go off and I would sing a couple of songs alone and on one particular night whilst stood on stage giving it my all to Whitney Houstons I will always love you, I had a visitor! The most enormous bug I have ever seen (A giant locust or a Praying Mantis) had decided that my shoulder was a comfortable safe place to land and sit for a while. Like the consummate professional, I somehow managed to carry on singing and made it to the end of the song to a rapturous applause from the audience. shortly afterwards the bug flew away and I was left completley shell shocked, I´m not keen on small bugs let alone these prehistoric looking things that look like they should've died out with the dinosaurs!!

I look forward to the day when we can return to Mallorca and take holidays and being back to some kind of normality that was taken away from us almost a year ago.

Its a year since we had an almighty Calima here in Tenerife, we had so much dust from the Sahara desert that we all felt like we were all in Sepia. We had a Calima a few days ago, fortunately it wasn´t half as bad as the one we had last year!!

Apart from the Calima and a bit of cloud here and the there the weather is amazing.

Wherever you are and whatever the weather stay safe.
Until next time

H x

Finding Things To Talk About And Feeling The Love

Its a conversation I have with people on a daily basis. We speak to our families every day either on the phone or by video call. When lockdown first happened we could be on the phone for hours talking about all sorts of random crap, and reminiscing about the better times. Most people I speak to, including myself, have simply ran out of things to talk about. There's only so much TV we can watch and so much food we can talk about and we can't talk about where we´ve been all day as most of us have been nowhere. In the UK people are lucky (or unlucky) if they´ve been to the supermarket. My parents have now had their first Covid jab and I imagine they enjoyed the ride out, for all the wrong reasons!

I´m not going to lie, I´ve felt a little bit deflated this week, the cheese has slipped a little if I´m honest. More of our UK swallows have left this week to avoid the new restrictions in the UK, and then we were hit with more restrictions here.
We have actually been promoted to level 1 because our figures are very good. That said, its also carnival period here and because the government don´t want people out celebrating and partying we are now back to a 10PM curfew until Carnival period has ended. Live entertainment was also cancelled but then a few hours later we were told it was allowed, sometimes its hard to know if we´re coming or going!! We soldier on but some days are harder than others to wear the hat of positivity!

We went out for a drive yesterday and we ended up in Chio. We stopped for coffee at a restaurant called Casa Sira, it was pleasant and the change of scenery and the slightly hairy drive lifted our mood. There were some vintage cars on the car park and before Covid hit, it was probably a place where coaches full of tourists would stop on their way to Mount Teide. Yesterday there was just a small trickle of locals.

Its Valentines Day today, so where ever you are, and who ever you´re with, give a little love and have a great day!

Until next time

H x

Who Says You Don´t Need A Coat In Tenerife!

Its cold, I am currently sat at home wearing warm jeans a thick jumper and my DMs and its cold.
As cold as it may be, I still have the window open. I guess I´m so used to living with the doors and windows open it just seems the right thing, I´d rather put more clothes on than shut the windows! 

This poor weather reminds of a time, many years ago, before the days of weather apps on your mobile phone, maybe even before smart phones (that makes me feel old)

I was working at the Island village pool bar in San Eugenio Alto near Aqualand. These days its better known as Iceland although the real name is Overseas. Its where we go to indulge on all our favorite British products, although rumor has it they are a bit low on stock at the moment. I´m unsure whether its to do with Brexit, Covid or maybe both. Anyway, I digress.

I was singing at the BBQ that was held for the guests every other week on Thursday evening, if my memory serves me right.

This particular night was somewhere around July or August time and as the evening progressed, the clouds in the mountains got thicker and thicker. I made jokes about how the clouds came over to tease us and lull us in to thinking that it might just rain, something that we loved when it was baking hot in the middle of summer. The clouds continued to thicken and I promised the guests that it wouldn't rain. By the time Eddie returned from his gig to pick me up it was beginning to spit. We packed away the speakers and returned home. 

The next morning we woke up to torrential rain and localized flooding across the island, along with regular power cuts. 

I remember being relieved that I didn´t have to return to that gig for another fortnight as most of the guests would´ve returned home by then. I bet they were cursing me that next day!!!

This was probably about 16 years ago and weather forecasting has moved on since then, along with mobile phones. I´m a bit of a weather geek to be honest, I love the weather, I probably have an anorak and flask lying around somewhere as well. I can´t help it, it just fascinates me.

It is very cold here at the moment, some are saying its the coldest they´ve ever known it, and i still wonder whether its due to the lack of pollution. Who knows, I´m sure that before long we will be complaining that its too hot and longing for more cooler days. Me personally, I´m enjoying the brief cold spell. I love snuggling under the duvet at night, and enjoying winter food, we had Corned Beef Hash last night, lovely!!

Until next time, keep warm, and keep safe

H x

The coat is on!

I like a bit of Lenticular cloud

I cannot take credit for this one, it was taken by Cliff Jones. A rainbow in the cliffs!