Dragged out of Retirement

Well, back from Naples anyway !!

As I posted on my Facebook ............
"......after 3 full days I felt that would my eyes would bleed if faced any longer with the unrelenting graffiti, rubbish and dog poo EVERYWHERE !! ...not to mention scooters and mopeds being driven on the "pavement"..... BUT we did have a LOVELY time, and there where some truly amazing things to see, and we had some of the best pizzas (in their home town) !!!"

I know I can be prone to being a little melodramatic, but it did make me feel slightly ill for some reason, probably the fact that unless you visited somewhere locked away for the most part from the general public there was not one square inch of anything that could be considered looked after or protected.  It's so strange that people can live in such a beautiful country and treat it so badly....maybe the Neapolitans, whilst keeping their mainly non-smiling faces on the level, don't see what, or who, is around them as they barge through on foot, two-wheels or four-wheels !  

Of course this is a great generalisation as we meet a number of very charming people like the lovely tour guide who took us around the opera house.

It was also a reminder of what can happen when there are no public funds available to pay for cleaning, restoration, etc and makes one wonder what is going to happen as one's own government is slowly (or not so slowly) cutting back on public service !!

So, where to begin................

Today I was reacquainted with (what london1967 calls) my "Pumpkin walk" !!  For anyone who has read Arthur Golden's novel "Memoirs of a Geisha" they will have an idea of what it is like.  I didn't leave the house yesterday apart from clearing some snow from the path, and briefly stepping out into the back garden, camera in hand, but as there was a slight thaw today I ventured out to food shop and run some errands.  Most of the pavements have impacted ice on them, and these were also wet, so I negotiated them with my Geisha-like/Poirot-like steps and eventually returned in one piece and my dignity (almost) intact !

So, yesterday morning this was the view into the back garden..........




It was very quiet and peaceful until mid-morning when a couple of blackbirds and some dunnocks decided to hop from shrub to shrub, disturbing the thick snow from the branches..... little thugs !! LOL    While I was clearing the snow from the path at the front of the house I was joined by a cheeky little round robin curious to see what I was doing.....

What a grey-day !! ...or is it gray-day ?? (it seems LJ doesn't like this spelling, but in English it can be either apparently)  It started off with a bit of a jolt with a phone call from our lovely friend David, checking if Franco was safe and sound.  News was just breaking about a helicopter crashing, he'd heard Covent Garden, and knows it's on Franco's some-times route to work, in the event it was near New Covent Garden near Vauxhall.  Sadly the pilot and one person on the ground died, with several injured, but it could have been so very much worse as it was during the rush hour and in a busy area for traffic, and well-populated with offices and homes.  

Apart from being grey, it has near got above zero-degrees and it's perishing indoors and out !  It's back to Italian class this evening, but I'm blaming the cold for my lack of concentration !! LOL

So, searching for something sunny to cheer me up, I was drawn to my photo sets from our trip to Spain in September (most of which I have yet to post about) and selected these from Day 9 as the memory has stayed clearly in my mind.

Just off the main road, in a very open landscape, we happened across this amazing Roman Temple, well what is left of it, which is spectacularly set overlooking the Valdecanas Reservoir. The water was very low and lent the whole area an almost moon-surface-like appearance.

...so there was just a couple of days after Sue left until we held a little party-ette for my Italian class.  Last year we had a little get-together in the night-class room, but as we've been meeting this term at someone's house it seemed a nice idea to host at ours.  We made a few things, and everyone brought something too.  Everyone must have enjoyed themselves, as they stayed almost three and a half hours...... I'd expected a couple of hours at most !

I don't know why I'm so "Grrrr" about it, but I am !! I probably should have seen it coming, but I didn't expect it quite as soon.....

I'm not blind, so I very well know that I have put on more weight this last year or so, if only by seeing it chronicled in the numerous photographs a certain person takes of me.  But I really like my food and my drink (yes, alcohol), and as I consider it an enjoyable part of life, I'm loathed to give up on it. After all, I don't smoke, do drugs, go clubbing....in fact I'm quite the boring old fart, but I did come to the conclusion just before Christmas that I must make an effort..... and Weight-watchers were/are still vigorously advertising their "services" along with others in a similar ilk, so I thought I would consider joining up in the new year (so, now-ish!).  

Whilst at my mother's over the Festive Season I did mention that it would probably one of the things I would do when questioned on "any new year's resolutions?".  Not much else was said.

Anyway, yesterday afternoon whilst we were out, my mother called and left a message on the answer-machine...nothing urgent just calling for a chat. I'd say I call her 90% of the time, so when she calls I usually expect it to be related to her health unless something unusual has happen. In hindsight I realise she rang because she had my weight on her mind.  So after the usual chat she then asked "firmly" if I'd joined Weight-watchers yet, I half expected her to say "don't, because.....", and when I said not yet, went off into a sermon about how bad the extra weight is for my health, etc, etc....... yes I do know about diabetes thank you, I'm 60 not 16 !! I really didn't say anything in response... I was seething !  Apparently her and my sister are VERY worried... though knowing my mother she will have badgered my sister into agreeing with her in some way so she could use it in the "we" way - I know how she operates !  

I know she worries about me, but please, I'm a big boy now, and don't need obvious things pointed out to me like I haven't lived !! (it's not a one off, as there are all sorts of occasions when I'm treated like a child that I try and shrug off even though it often "gets my goat"!)

Of course, my immediate reaction was/is to eat and drink myself into oblivion (LOL), because I can, but I will do it on my terms, the cutting down that is. Although I know full well that if I do slim down a bit she will take the credit for it !

Rant over(ish) !!

The sweetest man in the world, that is london1967, just says of my weight that there is more of me to love !!! Awwwwwww !!!

Yesterday afternoon a little tea party was held at the Garden Museum for Jess, the museum manager, who is leaving (tomorrow).  It will be sad to see her go, she has been there for over four years (all of my two and a half) and seems to have been a real king-pin in the organisation. Many of the full-time administrative staff have left for various reasons over the last few months and not been replaced, so it feels as if we'll be rudder-less for a while.........

It seems I'll do anything other than my Italian homework (compito), even if it means logging on LJ !! LOL .....actually it's good to catch up on the last few days of friend's posts on here, as I haven't done for some time.

At the weekend we "did" our second Fair of the month with our greetings cards. We did quite well, though could have done with selling a bit more, but the Fair was only for two and a half hours, so not too bad.  The previous one ran from 10am (setting up from 9am) until 5pm, so it was a long day (and poor Franco was still suffering with his swollen face et'al) ! It was well organised, and well advertised on social media, but the hall it was held in is "off the beaten track" and it lack physical advertising so the foot-fall was rather low, which was a great shame for everyone. We did make some sales, and there was a "Palm Court" string quartet playing for a while which was nice but rather gave it an air of the Titanic !!

It's rather an eye-opener standing behind a stall....... it seems there are quite a number of "odd-balls" in circulation !! LOL

Anyway, here's a few images from the first Fair.....