Good Morning everyone.
Spamar, glad to read that the AB's seem to be starting to work. You poor thing, to have this on top of shingles! Sending lots of get well hugs xxxx
Carolynp, I also hope that you are starting to feel better too - having struggled trying to manage caring whilst unwell myself in the past, I really feel for you - and if your OH is now poorly too, then its an absolute nightmare. Easy to say, hard to do, but please try and lok after yourself as much as you can, hun xxxx
Re Kingfishes, Slugsta - now, they are on my 'want to photograph' wish list, and have been for a long time. I've seen quite a few, on the Dee and on the Alyn rivers - but have I ever managed to get a decent shot - have I thump! Such beautiful birds - but also extremely fast!
{{{{{hugs}}}}} Imsoblue x I am so glad that I have never had to deal with useless relatives whilst I was caring for Mil. Caring for a pwd is so hard, in every single aspect - to have a relative that hinders, rather than helps, is adding massive insult to inury - I am always blown away by how so many carers have to cope with that situation, and simply can't understand why most of you haven't resorted to murdering the 'invisible' , after some of the accounts I've read xxx
JM - hope the run to London was hassle free - a long way to travel! How did your son do?
As you can see, I am back home, safe and sound. The holiday was wonderful - hotel excellent, and plenty of fabulous places to explore and photograph. Carolynp, beautiful green parots everywhere, with a vibrant blue stripe down their wings, and very noisy (and sometimes) cheeky too! Will add a couple of pics of them at the end
Had a fantastic day on Ronda, and the other days were spent wondering around the local coast, admiring the views, enjoying the heat (lowest temp was about 20c, though there was a little bit of rain on the day we flew home) and people watching. Lots of very chic and smart ladies and gentlemen - but also lots of people with very - er - individual styles too. As OH and I frequently said to each other - "Well, its a 'style', I guess!" Favourite sight was a lady, dressed in skin tight leather leggings, leather jacket and scarf, amazing make up (her eyebrows!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!), immaculately styled blond hair and heels that made my feet ache just looking at them. She was pushing a double buggy (Stroller, for Amy
) - which held two dogs!
Journey home was an absolute nightmare, though, and I am still feeling very tired and sore as a result. Having made our way through security and to the gate, OH received a text alert telling us there was a 50 minute delay. OK - that's par for the course, and happens sometimes. Annoying, but there you go. The new time came and went, no one on duty at the gate still, and eventually a text alert to tell us that the flight - which was supposed to leave at 9.30, would now be leaving at 11.10. No announcements over the tannoy, no updates on the boards, which were still giving the info that the flight would be boarding at 10.08. So - we waited. At 11.00, they let a trickle of people through the gates - but then stopped. No info given as to why. The two staff on the gates were busy going up and down and adding luggage tags to hand luggage - anything bigger than the average handbag now had to go in the hold we were told, not just the cabin cases, which was the situation on the way out. A young Mum was arguing that the 'baby bag' she was carrying, with supplies for the gorgeously chunky 14 or 15 month old child she had with her, could NOT go in the hold, as she needed it for her baby. They eventually let her keep it. We finally got on the plane at just after 11.30. Sat at the front, I watched a man trying to assist his disabled companion, who was using a wheelchair, onto the plane - one of the crew asked him where the 'assistance' was? The chap replied that they had booked it - but no one had turned up. He had to leave the chair at the door, and half carry the young man he was with to his seat. Once everyone was sat down, the Captain then announced that we wouldn't be leaving for another hour and a half. I will leave you to imagine to gasps of horror and outrage. The plane was cramped, with seats so narrow that it was like playing a game of sardines - the extra leg room we had paid for didn't count for a whole lot when once you were sitting, you were so squashed by the seats that getting comfortable was impossible. It was also incredibly hot on there, and the crew could/would only supply us with tap water - no ice, they had run out. No food, no other drink. Very quickly, I was in a lot of pain. I'm the 'average British woman' size (according to what I've read) so not a skinny minnie - but I'm not that huge either, and the seat digging into my hips, and the being forced to sit with your arms more of less pinned to your side, had set off my shoulders, hips, back and neck aching badly. Pain killers (which this time I had managed to remember to put into my camera bag) didn't do anything much. Then the 'restless legs' started - the poor guy to my right must have been driven mad by me twitching and jerking, and I felt dreadful. They eventually opened the door, so that if people wanted, they could stand just outside on the boarding tunnel, which was at least a little cooler. It turned out that the delay was due to an air traffic controllers strike in France - it also turned out that they KNEW we couldn't leave for another hour and a half before they started boarding us. When I asked why, in that case, they had put us on the plane, the explanation given was more or less that it would make things 'easier' for them if they had us all in one place! The young Mum, who also had a little girl of about 3 with her, carried her now screaming baby out to the area outside the door. The poor little one was so distressed - tired, hot and when the Captain appeared at the door, and the poor mum begged that he allow her to take the short walk to the departure lounge, so that the child could stretch out on the setas there and rest, he told her that no, she couldn't - she argued, and he told her that if she went, he wouldn't allow her back on the plane. She asked could she at least have the childs buggy, so he could rest in that?. No, he said, she couldn't. His attitude stank. I was stood outside, witnessing all this. The mum burst into tears and he walked away, so I went and gave her a hug and asked if I could do anything to help? But, there really wasn't anything - baby was too distresed to settle with a stranger, and I culd have cried for the Mum, who was a tiny thing, and the baby was clearly so heavy for her.
Eventually, we were called back to our seats, and the plane took off at 1a.m., Spainish time. After landing, at just before 3 a.m, UK time, we then had to wait at the carousel for our supposed 'hand luggage', before tackling a drive home, through long patches of an absolute pea-souper fog, finally getting home just after 5a.m.
The delay wasn't the airlines fault. But the way they treated everyone was. No need to load us all on the plane and make us wait for another 90 minutes. Talking to one of the cabin crew, she more or less admitted that it was a case of we were loaded on to 'get that job out of the way' (to be fair, she was really fed up on our behalf and she also gave me a bit on an insight into how badly that company - Spamar had it right, btw - treat their staff). The lack of air con, the lack of cold drinks, the cramped conditions - to have to endure that for 90 minutes, for no good reason, was completely out of order. We will be claiming back the cost of the flights, and I'll be adding an email with a few choice comments too. And I will NEVER, EVER use that company again.
And breath, Ann!
I got about 4 hours sleep when we got home, in too much pain for more, and crawled through yesterday in a bit of a fog, though we made the effort to go out for a short run to Llangolen with oldest and her BF in the afternoon. Today - well, this mornig, I have to go and see Mil, and top up her funds, OH is working, but we are planning a meal out tonight, before Dau has to head home tomorrow. At some stage, I want to start sorting the photographs - I discovered that this new camera is probably my favourite camera - ever - and I can't wait to really get stuck in and see what I have captured
Back to work tomorrow, until then, work phone and laptop are not being switched on at all.
To finish - two shots of one of the cheeky parrots
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Hope you all have a good day xxx
