Wednesday Afternoon: Clear and sunny 18C, but the strong winds we have had for a week continue to blow from the north, so it feels cooler than it is......

Today was our first "Wednesday off" but that didn't stop everyone waking up on time to go to Valencia! I went to town this morning on the scooter, but we did the supermarket shop yesterday and this time it's wiped me out more than usual.... Shame because it had been a week since I last went into one and was feeling quite good, but what alternative is there, they  don't do internet shopping here so we have to go.....

I have only managed to have one flight in the last 8 days and that was Friday because the wind has been relentless.

We have been carrying on with the clearing and weeding, the drive area looks really good now compared to a few days ago with all the workmans stuff strew everywhere.

The pool looks really sparkling clean, such a difference and the rain has washed a lot of the dust away too.....

Last weeks rain softened the ground as well as makng everything suddenly grow faster, so I have been mowing what is now almost a lawn and digging out more of the algarve cactus plants that are popping up all over the place....

Tammy Lyne

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UPDATE: Beccie wasn't very well this afternoon, she had a very high temperature and dificulty breathing, so at 4-30 pm we took her to Denia Hospital emergency. We waited for Antony to arrive to help explain in Spanish, then when she was called inside, we waited in the car. Turns out she has the start of Pnemonia - good news is they can fix it at home with antibiotics - it took 5 1/2 hours to sort it though.... but she was well impressed because they gave her all sorts of scans and tests and at least now she is back on "Denia's books" which is 1/3rd of the way to Valencia - We got home at 11-15pm. We hate Wednesdays.

Thursday Afternoon: Today has been sunny but with a cool wind.... 17C. It rained hard Monday and Tuesday and it didn't get above 8C, yet the weekend was in the low 20's, we did reach 23C on both Saturday and Sunday.

Last Thursday we had to go to denia hospital for an early appointment, but they kept us waiting for 2 1/2 hours, nobody needed that for a second day.... Then we did the shopping. We did do a little gardening work Friday.

The good weather had continued all of the previous week, getting warmer each day.

Yesterday was the last trip to Valencia for Beccie's chemo, although we still have to go again for tests and scans in the comming weeks, this is the first big hurdle passed.....

We got home by 4-30pm, the record, but we were only an hour later than that the previous Wednesday too.....

Monday Morning: Clear and sunny, it will be at least 20C later... The good weather continues. I have been able to fly most days and have also done some work on the Spanish street........

Thursday and Friday we stayed here and sat in the Naya in the afrternoon, I added the first clay finish to the front of the Spanish street bar....

Saturday we went to the market in Benissa but the plaza was in use so parking was over a km away, which is a long way with bags full of several kilo's of produce!

Sunday was another nice day, I had 3 nice flights with Lady B, (which has just passed it's 6th birthday) and a couple with the big Hughes, I also did some more work on the Spanish street

Wednesday the 7th March was a horrendous day for poor Beccie with a full 10 1/2 hours of chemo, so instead of me sitting in a car car for upward of 12 1/2 hours Chrissie suggested that I go to Javalambre skiing. At first I felt like a traitor, but it made sence as Valencia is half way to Javalambre, so I got my yearly day skiing.

The snow was good, I did 28 runs during the day and estimated that I had probably skied 60km. I thought I did really well, no falls this year, in fact I was skiing with confidence and kept going until they closed the piste at 4-30pm. I was back in Valencia at 6-15pm but still had a long wait and we didn't get home until gone 11pm....

The previous Wednesday was the first week where everyting had gone to plan and we were home before dark for the first time. Also it didn't seem to make Beccie feel too bad, so she was much happier.

The next day, Thursday 1st March was a really calm and sunny day and I flew a lot..... It's also the day the sun comes out from behind the mountain.

Friday we went to town and to get notorised copies of our passports to save us carrying the real thing.....

Saturday Beccie and Antony went to stay at their flat for the weekend, it's the first time Beccie has stayed away since she got sick. Chrissie and I went to Maria's for lunch, also the first time in ages....

On Sunday Chrissie sugested that we go to Suzies, it was kind of our first "weekend off" in a while too so we did. That was really nice, we both had the steak, they do steaks really well there..... The music and atmosphere were good and

Monday and Tuesday were spent in anticipation of the horrendous Wednesday..... We did go to town on Tuesday afternoon to get some nice things to eat for Wednesday.....

After the marathon chemo session Wednesday Beccie has not been feeling too good this week....

Thursday morning: Clear calm and sunny, mild 16C. We didn't go to Valencia yesterday with Beccie as Antony took her, but it was the shortest time ever and they were home even before it got dark. The result of the scan was that the tumor has reduced by 70% so that was great news for everyone!

Today it's so nice I wanted to take the opportunity to get the flying pictures of the Hughes 500 MD. Because Chrissie is still unable to walk very much, she wasn't able to come out and take the pictures as previously planned, so I devised a way that I could take them myself.

I placed the tripod with the camera pointing in the direction I wanted the picture, then set it on automatic, this gave me 10 seconds to take the helicopter off and hover it in front of the camera..... easier said than done, I got a lot of tail and nose shots at first but then I got better at hover in the rght place and the 5th picture was fabulous!

The Hughes 500 MD looks very realistic flying against the backdrop the Bernia mountain.....

One of the other pictures cropped to centre the helicopter.....

I heard a rumor yesterday, I can't believe the utter gornlessness of the person who started it but I have utter contempt for the people who beieve it..!  You don't know us so you choose to beieve a twisted compulsive twat of a liar who continues to conjure up yet more outrageous and obsurd alligations tantamount to slander! What are you? f***ing James Bond fans?

Monday Morning: Cool and cloudy. Got woken at 8am with the arrival of workmen who are going to give the pool a face lift. Been a full on week....

Chrissie had an accident on Thursday, Lucy the cat ran between her legs and sent her flying, straight onto the marble steps in the gold room and on into a marble wall. She wasn't quite knocked out, but banged her head hard as well as her hips, knee, ankles, shoulder and wrist so she couldn't move becaue of the pain. We have private health insurance so I took her to a new medical centre that has recently opened much nearer to us than any of the other hopitals and wow, what a contrast to the public hospital! We were seen within 10 minutes, then she had a immeadiate X Ray, then back down to the doctors where they gave her a pain killer and further examination, the whole thing took less than an hour. Fortunalty nothing is actually broken, but it's certainly pulled, bruised and twisted to the extreme, so she can't raise her arms at all and can hardly walk....

Friday was clear but windy most of the day, I did have a flight late after the sun went down with the SE5A but the air was cold and it wasn't as enjoyable as before....

Saturday morning I went to town to get some shopping and pick Antony up. Beccie was having a very bad day with her mouth and wanted to go to the hospital to see about it btu Anotonys car wouldn't start again, so we took them and waited in the car park. I realise that the waiting is very tiring, mainly because the car is so uncomfortable, I can't get my legs straight. We went to Monroes for a quick lunch after Antony told us there was a 2 hour wait to see the doctor, but it had the usual effect of giving me heart burn, god knows what shit they put into the english food!

Yesterday was partly cloudy, but warm when the sun came out. There was a medium northerly wind and by late afternoon it had dropped to almost nothing so I took the oportunity to fly all of the models. I had two flights with the Tiger Moth and one each with the SE5A and Lady B. The air was so still and thick by the time I flew the Tiger Moth for the second time it was perfect and the model virtually flew itself around on 1/3rd throttle.....

I see the oil price has gone up again, consiquence of comments made by Haig provoking Iran to cut off thier oil to the UK... FFS keep your trap shut!

Wednesday Night: Valencia day..... 1C when we left (slight improvement) it was warmer in Valencia today and for the first time the sun was above the building, so the car got quite hot in the afternoon, but I sat in the bar in the sun for an hour with a couple of beers and people watched...plenty of them in Valencia!

Beccie has said about feeling like it's going down the hill now. Next week she has a short 2 hour session of chemo, Lucky for Antony - because he is supposed to be taking her next time, but then there's going to be radiotherapy to follow and that could be up to every day for four weeks....

All we can do is stand by her and support her, this was the first week without tears, probably becaue it went smoothly, but then I noticed today there were a lot of new faces and she seems to have moved up the "pecking order" so to speak, we have also noticed that the "regulars" have formed a sort of bond and even include Beccie.

One lady complemented her on her hat today and asked where she got it, well it was from a website in the UK, but we gave her the URL anyway... Beccie was chuffed that the first time she wore her hat she was complimented on it. I got Chrissie a Kindle for Christmas, it has sure has come in useful, she reads a lot and today she took some stitching and apparently some other lady was asking her how to do stuff.... She was making a dolls house bed quilt, but I think they got by Ok with the language.

I sat with them for all the appointments, then when they go into Chemo I go and sit in the car. If we get there before 8am, we can usually park opposite the ambulance bay where all the bars are, it's full of life there too and I guess I sit and people watch a lot of time, I even read a bit, had a sleep and of course as I said I had a beer in the bar for an hour, but those last two hours really drag....... and then we have to drive home... it was gone 10pm again tonight......

Monday Evening: Cold clear and sunny, I think we got to 7C today, the wind was blowing for most of the day but died down after the sun went behind the mountain. I had to take Antony to Javea for work because his car wouldn't start again this morning..... on the way back I went to the post and the Mecadona.......

Saturday was really cold, I don't think we got much above 3 or 4C and it was very windy, we did go to Maria's in the afternoon with Jim, Angela and her Mum. The sun was warm through the windows and we had a nice afternoon.

Sunday wasn't much better, It was very windy until late afternoon, I think we got to 6C and I did have a little fly with the Tiger Moth just before the sun went behind the mountain but my fingers froze so it wasn't all that enjoyable.....

 

Today when the wind dropped I finally plucked up the courage to test fly the SE5A, it was also the first aeroplane flight using my new Turnigy 9X radio. I gingerly opened the throttle and the model began to roll, all my doubts about it disapeared halfway down the runway when it gently lifted into the air and climbed steadily away looking every part the real thing....

It flys absoloutly beautifully and looks really good in the air. The main reason I bought this model in the first place was because I thought with the bigger wheels it wouldn't nose over on landing, so when the time came I gently guided it in to a perfectly controlled toughdown with a gentle nose over free roll out. Everything about this model has exceeded my expectaitions, I love it, I would have to say it's the nicest biplane I have ever flown!

Friday afternoon: Clear and sunny, not feeling so cold today with light wind from the south east....11C. I have been able to have the bonfires today so the lower terrace looks a lot tidier now, especially as I also cut down the long grass with the mower.....

Wednesday was really cold, it was 0C when we left here at 6-15am and it was -4C on the way to Valencia. It was a long day, but not so much of a wind up as other times, 6 down- 6 to go.....

Yesterday was sunny, but very windy and that made it feel very cold...... 10C.

Here is the Hughes 500E posing by the mountain, I did have a little fly with it out the back for the first time too. Being higher off the ground than the T Rex, the grass isn't an issue and it's a nicer place to fly than in the plaza!

Monday Afternoon: Clear, sunny cold and windy , 10C. It has been a very cold weekend, we didn't get above 3C on Saturday and it was even colder for most of the day despite the sunshine, yesterday was also very windy, cold and sunny.

The SE5A arrived on Thursday and I built it Saturday in front of the fire in the lounge. These days the models come almost ready made, with the gear installed and in a couple of hours with a screwdriver you have finished it......

The SE5A definitly looks the part, In New Zealand in the 1980's I built one almost exactly the same as this from scratch and won the South Island Champs with it.....

The model is highly detailed being moulded from expanded foam, so it's also easy to damage, but at the moment it looks great.....

I took this picture last week when it snowed.......