Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Just pictures

There was a Riding Festival in Jimena

Caballero Feira

We visited Cadiz

Cadiz


then canos de Mecca
Canos de Mecca


and back at home,, the wildlife on the river is pretty cool
Campo Creatures

Monday, May 18, 2009

TRUST ME he said

Famous last words or?

Two weeks ago Harry and I went to Tarifa. The goal was wind surfing (his) sleeping in the sun (mine). We drove out with the Merc on Saturday morning, found a great spot to park, and spent the day watching others surf. The weather was too cold, in fact I think it even rained for awhile, something the dog can attest to far more than us, as she refused to get back in the bus, despite the rain, but rather sat under it, until the rain stopped. She doesn't like driving, or anything associated with driving. She is also not a big fan of water, so the whole beach thing was more of a nightmare for her than a holiday, but Harry and I had fun, trapped in a small space together is always nice.

In the evening we went for a "romantic dinner", we drove to a little restaurant further down on the beach and watched the sun set on the water as we ate. We drove back to our campsite and Harry had the idea, that if we back up to the side of the cliff we will be able to wake up with a sea view even better than we had at the restaurant. I was against the idea, driving backwards up hill to the edge of a cliff in the dark in a bus with limited peripheral vision. I saw so much potential for problem. He told me it was hormones, and note to all men reading this, never tell the woman you made pregnant that her reactions are due to hormones...

Trust me he said.

Then he proceeded full gas backwards, up the side of the small hill and over the side of the cliff. I actually felt the front wheels go off the ground first, surprising, but natural physics I suppose as the back wheels fell down the front ones came up. With two wheels off the ground and hanging in mid air, I said I told you so, one of my rare moments of full pregnancy charm I admit. I refused to get back in the bus dangling over the cliff and Harry tried to get us out of the mess. His response,,, umm well yeah, I guess we did drive a little too far backwards and he laughed. Fifteen minutes later as he realized his hormonal girlfriend wasn't kidding when she said she wasn't sleeping in the van, and that van wasn't going anywhere without a tow, and that no one in their right mind was going to tow us at midnight, and that no matter how much he jumped on the rear bumper to show me it was safe I still would no longer trust him, he stopped laughing, looked at me in despair and asked, "well what can I do then to make this OK"

Looking at him, and his desperation to make amends, I managed to pull myself together. We were in the middle of no where. I weighed up options of sleeping in the front seat to counter balance....

Then we decided to stack rocks under the tyres so at least it wouldn't rock so much and I would have the FEELING of security. Stacking job done, we went to bed exhausted and the entertainment for the hippie colony was over for the night.

Tarifa

Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Big news

So I haven't written here in a long time. I haven't done much of anything PUBLICLY for a long time. It's because INTERNALLY I have been really busy.

Baby Pictures


Anyone who tells you pregnancy is a wonderful time of your life is an idiot. Or still pumped full of those delusional "happy hormones" that I have clearly yet to receive. Let me sum up the first trimester with one word. VOMIT. AND to point out that it is one evil trick on the part of mother nature that your sense of smell increases phenomenally just as you enter this phase. Enough said, trimester 2 is much better however I am not "glowing" (unless you count the sunburn of last week, I didn't know my skin is now hypersensitive to sunlight) as everyone says I should, my skin is worse than it ever was during puberty acne days, and my hair is not thick and lovely, in fact I have discovered GRAY. The walk up the hill from my car to the house, requires a resting station about half way up, luckily in front of a kiosk where I can purchase an ice cream if I time it well. As for weight, I don't want to discuss it, 16 weeks in, I have gained 8 kilos (the doctor initially predicted 12 overall, now hes shooting for 15 plus). I have come to the realization that the leech inside me is probably ruining my body for life. I have low blood pressure, which the doctor says is not wonderful, but much better than high blood pressure, but it causes me to have ringing in my ears and feel faint most of the time that I am standing, lying down all the time isn't an option because Im supposed to be working and carrying on as if everything is normal. How can anyone think the entire reorganization of your skeleton (30% less calcium), circulatory system (30% more blood) and internal organs (all now apparently located under and stuffed into my breasts) is normal?

Plus, I live in constant fear that I am doing something WRONG, to the leech. Clearly it can fend for itself, I experience this daily, and although the doctor says it is still too soon for me to feel the baby,, I tell you the fluttering and goings on in there is not gas, but the leech doing gymnastics. So far the sport cannon is great, passed every test with flying colours, what a relief, but I suspect this is only the beginning of a lifetime of worry about a little life that I might be helping to build at the moment but clearly have absolutely no control over and never will.In fact I suspect as far as control goes, the leech has all of it hands down, over both me and Harry. Another thing to accept. We are just around to help build and will probably get kicked in the stomach a lot of times in the process.

What I am reading

  • The Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett - this book is great for someone like me who knows nothing of history, I have only just started but have learned a lot about Franco and why the people in my village are the way they are.
  • The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - it was good but I cried, I have decided not to read anymore sad books. I used to love Booker Prize books, but they are all sort of sad, I need to find a new reading list.
  • Vedanta-voice of freedom by Swami Vivekananda - everytime I open this book I find something for me for the day, it is like the book knows what I need to get through the day, the chapters are short and each has a message about the universal human expereince and I suppose in my egocentric world I make believe that the messages are written for me. I know they are not, but it still amazes me everyday, that we all have the same problems even hundreds of years later.