General Chat

OH how disappointing no one else sent any mesages today.

I was going to write a piece but if no one is reading what is the point?

Bridget, had my head and shoulder massage, bliss! Felt really relaxed afterwards so had a lie down (okay I went to sleep), this afternoon.

Son cooked tea for me this evening ... his version of chilli, using pork mince (half-price from A--a, and baked beans instead of kidney beans. It was really lovely, especially as I didn't have to cook it.

Will try to write a little about Birmingham by Saturday, perhaps two or three "little efforts" as my concentration doesn't seem to last very long.

Great news about the miners in Chillie, it must seem an extra long wait though, for those at the back of the queue.

I am amazed that they kept going for seventeen days, before contact was made with the outside world. They must have been very determined with a strong will ti live.

Might be too busy to come on here tomorrow, but will be back on Friday.

Tess

I am here, I am here! I might not always write, but I always read.

I think anything you haven't cooked yourself is always nice.

I watched most of the rescue of the Chilean miners on Sky News. Absolutely amazing and truly wonderful that they were all rescued and that all the rescue team returned safely. Whayt a President, to stay there all the time until the last one was safely up. Qujite emotional when he addressed the last miner up and then the National Anthem was sung. I guess it will be quite an adjustment for them all now getting back to sometjhing of normality.

I will write about this area Bridget, but as we say here "Don't rush me I'm a local"!! I just need some time to get the words together - I'm not that good at writing, my essays at school were not my strong point!

It started raining during the night and at the moment, it is 7.30 am., it is pouring down. I sure hope it lasts and that this awful drought can be broken. We do take thongs for granted like switching on the electricity and turning on a tap.

I don't know what happened to my first effort, obviously did something I shouldn't have and it was all garbled so had to start again.

Take care of yourselves.


Val.

Tess, I must try tha Head and Shoulder massage sounds as if it is just what I need.
How nice to have your son cook a meal, I wish my children where nearby, feeling a little lonely with OH now back home, He calls me every evening so I must not complain.
I went to Birminghima two or three times many years ago when a friend and I owned a Nanny Agency, We used to go to a Job Centre near the Bull Ring and they let us use one of their offices to interview people. I recall the was a famous restaurant not far away owned by a rather large lack lady who had become famous as a singer and she was also a fabulous cook and in the end she was more well known for this restaurant, the name of both the lady and the restaurant are on the tip of my tongue but there it stays,,,,

I look forward to reading you piece

As for the Chilean miners what can one say,,,, the determination to survive is amazing

114 days left

Have a good day

Morning all
That restuarant Bridget - was it called Fanny's. I am a Brummie - bord and bred in Birmingham. I must admit the name of the lady evades me - wait a minute - it was not Fanny's but Rustie's !!! The memory can play tricks can't it ?

Like Val I always read this thread even though I do not add all the time - sometimes I think I am boring as I cannot think of anything interesting to tell you all.

I will add later something about Oliva - even might add something about Birmingham as well being as I spent 53 years there.

At the moment I am waiting for a man to come and fit a new water heater - had no hot water since Friday night - it is the little things we take for granted - turn the hot water tap on and expect HOT water.

Take care all and have a good day

Love Mary xx

Now Mary your memory is not that bad as you identified that the lady concerned was definetly Rustie,,,well done. I wonder wht happend to the reastaurant and Rusty her self ???

No one is boring Mary we all have little every day thoughts and experiences and that is what I feel about this thread.
Please DO write about Oliva and also the Birmingham you recall. Also hope you now have hot water.
Val, please do write about where you live, what might seem mundane and ordinary to you will no doubt be very interesting to those of us who have never been where you live nor are some of ever be likley to do so, for example I would love to travel to other parts of the world but my OH is simply not interested in doing so. He is one of the content and as he has supported me in so many ways I respect his feelings.
bye for now
bridget

mary, there was a restaurant in Birmingham (near the Post and Mail Building) called Fanny's. I don't know who ran it though.
I think that the lady in question was Rustie Lee. She was on "Loose Women" a lunch time t.v. programme a few months ago .. I don't know what else she is doing at the moment though.

I am a new comer to Birmingham .. moved here in January 1961.

At first I found the streets dark and dismal. Of course, it was winter, so very short hours of daylight. Plus it was rather smokey, as no central heating in those days, it was all coal fires. A lot of smokey chimneys from industry too, as well as the smell from the gas thingies (can't remember whnat those large round things were called). We still had steam trains too.
No nice clear blue skies, like I had been used to in the tropics, and it was so cold. It really did take lot of adjustment to get used to everything.

Then we discovered one of the "lungs of the city" our local park .. a place of beauty and wonder!

More about that tomorrow.

I would love to hear about your early memories of Birmingham, Mary.

Tess

Hello from a rather cool JBay this morning.
I did write about JBay earlier on here but if you would like me to do so again, I will be happy to do that. Meantime here is something about places close by.

THE GAMTOOS RIVER VALLEY.

The name “Gamtoos” is a very guttural word , typical of the Afrikaans language.. Probably originated from Dutch although some people say it means “the roaring lion” referring to the sound of the Gamtoos river in flood.

There are three little villages in the Gamtoos Valley, namely Patensie, Hankey and Loerie.. There is a mix of citrus, potato and tobacco farming, citrus being the main form of export. It is regarded as the gateway to the Baviaans Kloof Wilderness area with beautiful scenery . Loerie hosts the Naartjie(Tangerine) Festival annually in September, this festival is always a resounding success. Hankey is the oldest town in the valley and claims to have the largest sun dial in the southern hemisphere. It is about 50 kilometers (I think) from JBay and the Hankey Hotel serves a really good Sunday Buffet Lunch – there is a vast choice of starters, meat, vegetables and of course desserts. Well worth a visit. We go out there occasionally.
Saartjie (the diminutive form of Sara) Baartman is buried here.

SAARTJIE BAARTMAN: was born in 1789 in the Gamtoos Valley to a Khoisan family. In 1810 she was sold to a British doctor, William Dunlop, who promised her a fortune if she exhibited herself in London and Europe. Little did she know what awaited her. She was paraded around in circuses and museums. She died in Paris impoverished and lonely. Her remains were finally returned to South Africa in 2002 after former President Nelson Mandela had requested this. She is buried on a hill outside Hankey and her grave is now a National Monument.


BAVIAANSKLOOF WILDERNESS AREA.
This is a World Heritage Site.
The Baviaanskloof(Valley of Baboons) lies about 50 kilometers North-West of Jeffreys Bay. It winds its way through pristine conservation areas and is comprised of unspoiled, rugged mountainous terrain. It is one of the largest wilderness areas in the country and is managed by the Eastern Cape Parks. For the more adventurous it offers a unique wilderness experience, it offers rock and mountain climbing, bird watching, scenic drives and camping. It is a memorable travelling experience with landscapes of a type found only in the Eastern Cape. More than 1000 different plant species can be found here which include the Erica and Protea family. Visitors may see Leopard, Kudu. Cape Buffalo and the Cape Mountain Zebra. While some people are brave enough to attempt the roads with an ordinary vehicle the use of a 4x4 vehicle is best. As I am not the adventurous type this is not for me!!! I don’t like mountain passes.

Taking us back to the 1950s and 1960s a Roadhouse has opened up here. I can remember going to the Roadhouse at the beachfront when we lived in East London. We also used to go to the Drive-In on a Saturday night and take our supper with us, make a bed in the back of our stationwagon for our daughter and when she was tired she would just go to sleep. Those were the days!! Anyway we have decided to give the new Roadhouse a try at lunch time to-day.

To quote Bugs Bunny - that's all folks!


Val.

NUDGE

Val
Thank you for writing such an interesting piece about the areas around you. I have never been to South Africa or indeed any part of Africa, my husband does not really like flying and has no interest in exploring the world.
Therefore I treasure learning about places where other people have been born or where they have lived.

I know what Leopards, Buffalo and Zebras look like but please can you tell me what is a Kudu??

You have inspired me again so I will next write about some of the places around Peniscola as they are also very interesting. I will most likely do that during the night or some time tomorrow as I shall be working the second half of a night shift. I employed someone and spent a considerable amount of time giving her a full induction, paid all the Criminal Records Checks and yesterday she telephoned us about 6pm to say she had changed her mind and would not be coming back to work tonight
It is so difficult to get staff to cover this shift at such short notice however another person is going to work from 7pm to midnight and then I take over until 7am..


I am going to try to have a couple of hours sleep noe , so will look on here again later this evening.
bye everyone.

Bridget

I am sorry everyone you may think that this is not necessarily what this forum is all about...
here I am trying to have a sleep befor I go back to work and all I can hink about is my youngest son, one of the twins...he has been promoted to a captain in the Army and it has been a fast track for him......My heart is bursting with pride and I know that may be rather silly but we are all allowed to be proud sometimes I am sure.

good night, happy dreams

Nudge

Hello

You must be beaming ear to ear Bridget.

And Hello to you too Ken, how are you?

Well done Bridget's son, on your promotion.

Earlier today I was looking at some of my late father's old photos taken during WW11, most of them in India.
He looks so young, at the time he was a corpral, but looks as if he should still be at school (except that he was tall).
Some of the photos were taken in Deolali (Called Doolally) which was mentioned in one of the "Who do you think you are" progs.`

Will be back (sometime soon) to tell you what I have found out about it.

Before that I will tell you about "my" park.

Tess

Hello Bridget, Tess and Ken,

Awesome Bridget! I can imagine how proud you are feeling and congratulations to your son. How is little baby Z doing?

Bridget, a Kudu is a large antelope , the male has long curly horns. Kudu biltong is absolutely the best. In case you haven't heard of biltong it is meat marinaded in vinegar and spices and dried. Kudu billtong is the only biltong which I eat. I don't eat a lot of meat and for no particular reason.

Look forward to hearing about "your" park Tess, are you feeling better?

We did not get much rain after all about 18mm although some parts of the Eastern Cape had as much as 77mm over a couple of days. To-day the sun is shining and I think it is going to be a lovely day.

We are off to the nursery this morning to se if we can get a few aloes, we have decided to slowly replace our plants with things that don't need a lot of water.

Take care.


Val.

Morning all

At last I will add a little about the town I live in
Oliva


Oliva Information

Oliva is located 1 km from the N-332 between Benissa and Gata de Gorgos. Its port of Moraira is situated 6 km from the town centre. There is a stop here on the Alicante-Dénia railway. Located 75 km from Alicante and 31 km from Benidorm.

Oliva was a village populated by 52 old Christian families and dedicated to growing Muscatel grapes and raisins. The villagers built a beautiful late-Gothic church in honour of the patron saint, St Catalina.Prehistoric man, the Iberians and especially the Moors (Benimeit, Benimarco and Alcasar are rural sections of Oliva) all left remains in this coastal area. Oliva became a walled village that was located slightly away from the coast for fear of Berber pirate attacks. As the village was near the coast, it was also a fishing village. Today both agriculture and fishing have given way to the tourism industry.

Let us look at the original section of Oliva town, a picturesque village located approximately 6km inland. Wander in the shade of olive trees, where vineyards lie alongside plantations of oranges and almonds, and the heady aroma of pine sap emanates from the abundant pine trees typical of this idyllic region, and you could quickly lose yourself in the beauty of the surroundings.

Whenever you go walking around Oliva, you will always pass by the Riu-Raus. These are arched constructions where the locally picked raisins are laid out to dry. The dried fruit is used, amongst other things, to make the sweet local drink Moscatel. If you were to suddenly see a donkey and cart accompanied by a farmer with a straw hat pass by a Riu-Rau, you would feel sure that you had stepped back in time.


Oliva Places of Interest

Oliva and its surroundings offer a huge variety of things to do and places to visit. The main magnets for foreign visitors are sun and golf but there's much more to this area which is rich in history and culture and on the doorstep of some of Spain's biggest tourist attractions.

Explore the town's back streets and learn about its rich Roman and Moorish past through the museums, churches and monuments which proliferate in the old Christian and Arab quarters. In Calle Santisimo in the town centre you can see the remains of a Roman kiln from the first century AD. It was once part of a pottery which produced ceramics and building material.

The archaeological museum, a 16th century former manorial home of historic and architectural interest in itself, houses exhibits from prehistory to the 16th century charting the region's domination by the Iberians, Romans and Moors.

At the junction of Calle La Abadia and Calle Las Torres you'll find the 16th century tower which formed part of the old defence wall which once surrounded the town. And dominating the town from the summit of the Santa Ana mountain is the old castle (an impressive sight when lit up at night).

Within easy reach of Oliva there are some wonderful day trips and excursions to enjoy. Valencia is only an hour's drive north with its excellent shops, restaurants, beautiful palm-fringed squares and stylish architecture. The Principe Felipe Arts and Science Centre has become one of Spain's most visited attractions since it opened in December 2001 - with its emphasis on inter-active exhibits, this makes a great day out for children and adults alike.



Oliva town, situated eighty kilometres south of the city of Valencia amid orange groves, offers visitors a taste of Spain’s historical past with its narrow cobbled streets, Moorish castle remains, the blue domed churches of San Roque constructed on the site of a mosque, and the neoclassic 16th century church of Santa Maria la Mayor.

From our roof terrace we can see the church of San Roque and Santa Maria - this means we also hear both church clocks chiming - but not at the same time.


Bridget you must be so proud of your son - congratulations

Will add something about Birmingham next week

Take care all

Love Mary xx

Have I put you all to sleep with my boring reply ????????????

Mary xx

Maryinspain.
looking forward to your next story about Birmingham. Not one on here for a few days. I am covering night duties at the moment and generally to tired then to write anything but I have made a list of places and or people to write about towards the ned of next week. i do hope others keep this going for us for a week or so,

Yes I am proud of my son for serving his country, he really enjoys army life.

Bye for now

Bridget

Sorry it was me who deleted hit submit button too heavy !!!!

Mary xx

Mary, we must have been writing at the same time!!!
your entry is definetly NOT boring

Bridget