Our son was getting obsessed by video games, so over the Christmas break we insisted that he was only allowed limited time on the computer.

He promptly started drawing - of characters and scenes from his favourite games. But the first few were good, and they're getting better and better. This is Hyper-Sonic and friends with the Chaos Emeralds. (Apparently in the game they're called emeralds whatever colour they are.)

Hungover

The rest of the working week passed in a blur. I finished checking the books on the shelves against the inventory and started on the huge pile of books to add to the database and then shelve. I've done 152 so far and there's maybe 3,000 to go.

It didn't help that I've got a heavy cold, which I think is the one my son had last week.

But last night was the Christmas party in the Three Chimneys restaurant. I was a little disappointed to find out that it wasn't traditional turkey this year, but the steak was delicious. Even so, the best bit was the company. I spent most of the evening chatting to people I've worked with years ago and not seen lately, since I'm rather isolated up on the sixth floor. and the rest of the time I spent getting to know some of the new faces.

It was well worth the hangover in the morning.

Graduation

Well, we haven't got a primary school kid in the house any more. Our son has graduated.

At the end of the school year here, each school has a concert, with the acts mostly being playbacks, performed by the kids. I knew my son had been practising playing the air guitar for his number. But I was a bit taken aback when he came home and announced, "I need to make a pretend guitar for this afternoon."

Eek!

Fortunately we had a large cardboard box I could sacrifice. With more card on top, it came out rather well. And biased though I am, I thought the concert went well too.

And then they had the graduation ceremony for the kids leaving. Boy was I proud.

So in September, out son's off to High School. And it seems like only yesterday that he started infant school, aged three.

Yesterday my son had a great time playing with his new PS game until lunchtime. Then, all by himself, he announced, "I ought to study for an exam."

So we started looking for his school bag. And we looked, and we searched, and we searched and searched, and searched.

And after about nine hours, we admitted to ourselves that we couldn't find it anywhere.

We were all worried sick. Not so much for the cost of the books, as for the looming exams. The best we could think of was to go to the school and grovel, in the hope that they'd loan him some of the books at least.

So this morning, off we went.

And the bag was there, on the back of our son's chair!

To be fair to our son, the day he left it at school, they had a party for Canary Day ofter recess, and his mind was pretty full of the upcoming trip.

But we could have lived without that, we really could.

He's Back!

Our son is home, safe and sound. And the only thing he lost in 12 days and 4 moves was one cap. More specifically, he didn't lose the camera or his ID card.

In the meantime, we got two coats of varnish on the banisters. They were slower going than I expected, because they're all finicky little corners, but they're looking good.

I did a couple opf critiques for the big writing group, and I got a little bit further on with the novel. And I had a morning's guiding work, showing kids around the INT - kids my son's age, on their own end-of-primary-school trip. And of course I gave my son's bedroom a good clean.

And finally it was time to go and meet the ferry. We saw it in the distance and drove down to the port. Only when the ferry got in, it was the Armas ferry, from the other end of Tenerife. So we waited around with all the other parents until the 10pm ferry arrived at 11pm.

Boy was it good to see him!

Even better, because the boat was so late, he doesn't have to go to school this morning. So he can enjoy his new Playstation Game (that he spent his holiday money on) and we can enjoy him.

Baptising the Bodega

My brother-in-law's new bodega is finally ready. Since it was another brother-in-law's birthday, and the day after Canary Day, it was a great time to baptise the place. We stuffed ourselves with salted fish and sweet potatoes. I learned how to make kneaded gofio, which I still think is pretty uninspiring food. Then there were two cakes and some biscuits. And of course plenty of beer and wine.

And then we started singing. They're a musical family, and I enjoy these occasions much more, now that I know the words to some of the songs, and we sang a couple in English too.

All in all it was much more fun than doing hte laundry.

Stretching his wings

Well my son's gone off on a school trip for twelve days around four of the Canary Islands. It's a bit nerve-wracking letting him loose, but it's time for him to stretch his wings a bit. And you know, it's rather niceto tidy up the living room and expect it to stay tidy.

The Great Underpants Emergency

Early tomorrow morning my son goes on his end-of-primary-school trip. He's going to Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuertaventura, La Graciosa, and Tenerife - all in 12 days. He should have a great time. (He'd better! It's good value for money, but it's still not cheap.)

The trouble is, he doesn't have all that many clothes because he grows out of things in three months. And this trip means he'll be away from the washing machine for almost two weeks.

Cue for a clothes buying spree. We've been buying trousers and T shirts for weeks, a couple at a time. Then I realized I'd forgotten to count his underpants. Sure enough, we were short.

So this morning I went on an emergency underpants hunt. The shops have plenty of underpants in other sizes, both larger and smaller, but his size, and the size below, were pretty much sold out.

Then the penny dropped. Something like 70% of Palmeran kids his age are going on similar trips. And every other mother had the foresight to get the underpants good and early. I was left hunting for the dregs.

Eventually I found some that looked about right, but the label said they were too big. So I crossed my fingers and bought them.

Hallelujah, they fit. We don't have to go shopping again!

Canary Day

Friday is Canary Day. It's a big thing here, and the celebrations have started already.

Early this evening, I went into town with my son to sort out some paperwork and a birthday present, and we found they had bouncy castles in the port car park. So of course we stayed for a while.

We were both wondering what the nozzle was for. And then they started squirting foam out of it. My son was so delighted that he dived in with all his clothes on. I'd have been seriously tempted to join in except that I had my expensive camera with me. So I had to stay upwind of the fun.

I drove my son home in his underpants, sat on a plastic shopping bag. In this climate it was no great problem.

Tomorrow most schools will have a party for the second half of the morning. My son's school includes lunch, so he'll be coming home late. And the real celebration is Friday.

Scratch Photo Studio

It's getting busy around here. On Friday, my son leaves on a 12-day trip round four of the Canary Islands to mark the end of primary school. Since he's just grown out of all his clothes again, this meant a frantic shopping spree. And since he doesn't have all that many clothes that fit him, the ones he'¡s got all have to be washed and ironed.

Last night we took a break from shopping and went to see his godmother, quick before he disappears for a while. Somehow this wound up as a photo session for her and her very photogenic daughter.

And now I must go and get the washing machine on again.

Too busy for yogurt.

I can't believe I got everything done yesterday.

I took Julio to school and little Sam to nursery and got home about 9 a.m. That gave me just under two hours at home to mop the kitchen and utility room floors, have a shower and read email. then I took Lou to the doctor, to get the official letter to say her foot's still in plaster. They were a little slow, so we didn't get out until after noon. That gave us just enough time to run around the supermarket before picking up Sam and Julio. I left the yogurt in Lou's fridge, since I wouldn't be home for a while and the sun was quite hot. Then it was straight to Santa Cruz for lunch and Julio's appointment. We got home at 3:30 p.m., which gave us fifteen minutes (brush teeth and dump shopping) before his dentist appointment at 4 p.m.

That was really fast, thank goodness. I even had time to unpack the shopping and update the Ruido website before heading off for parents' evening at school. He's doing rather well lately.

I dropped off Lou's paperwork in the school office, and they asked me to take some to her. Fine by me, since I'd left my yogurts in her fridge, and she'd left her shampoo in my car.

It was rather good timing. Little Sam was just refusing to get into his bath. So I asked him if he had a plastic duck, which got him into the bathroom, and between us we persuaded him into the bath.

I was just leaving Lou's when Theresa rang. Dee's flight was arriving early, so if I wanted to catch her before she disappeared off to Garafia, I'd better get to the airport immediately.

That's when I remembered that the yogurts were still in Lou's fridge. Never mind, they could stay there. I dashed off to the airport.

Dee's flight wasn't early after all, but that gave me chance to relax and chat to Helen and Theresa for ten minutes. And while I was there I treated myself to some UK magazines.

Then I had to get home and cook dinner.

And the yogurts are still in Lou's fridge.

Dying of Embarrassment

Tomorrow is my first day of the summer, tour guiding at the British telescopes, and I want to look respectable. After all, I'll be representing the British Telescopes to nearly fifty people. So I got out my tour guide outfit and checked that it still fits, and found matching shoes, and so on.

I also dyed my hair, because the roots were getting very noticeable.

Now I used the same hair dye for years with no trouble, but recently they stopped making that colour. So I tried another from the same make, but it was rather too loud for my taste, especially at first. Today I tried a different make, hoping for a more subtle effect.

Subtle? My hair looks like a flashing neon sign. It's the visual equivalent of a bl***y air-raid siren! And it's too late to dye it again.

Oh well, I suppose the guide's not suppose to fade into the background.

My little bit of Heaven

I'm not usually big on possessions. I don't find happiness in the "right" designer label on my handbag, or a flash car. But my goodness, I'm happy with my new patio furniture.

Our house has a terrific view from the balcony, but I never spent much time out there because it was a mess, the old plastic chairs were uncomfortable, and we had no table. It was one of those jobs I wrote on my New Year goals several years running, and never seemed to get around to.

Now a shop in the next village is having a closing down sale because the owners are retiring, and the patio furniture is 20% off. This was the kick up the rear that I needed. I spent most of yesterday tidying up the balcony, and this morning they delivered the furniture.

And just to make it perfect, a couple of Woman's Weeklies arrived from my sister-in-law, so I could sit out here and read.

Bliss.

Still Hot

The weather was supposed to have got back to normal by now, but it's still too hot for my taste. All right – it's less hot. In fact it's just about perfect for lazing on the beach.

Me? I've been rushing around again.

I'm still taking little Sam to and from nursery. Actually this is a small job, and a rather nice one. I'd forgotten how nice it is to have one of your fingers clasped by a whole, tiny hand.

So what else did I do this morning? Well, I went to look at the patio furniture in a shop that's having a closing down sale. I saw something I liked, but it's not cheap, so I didn't want to buy it without consulting my husband. I popped into the bank. I did two loads of laundry and one load of the dishwasher. I bought beer at a wholesalers, and I took some more photos of the old manor house. It doesn't look any better by full daylight. And I updated the Ruido web-page.

Surprise, surprise, the wasn't a whole lot of morning left after that lot.

When we took Sam home after nursery, it was the hottest part of the day. Lou had a marvellous bit of lateral thinking – who says the water can only be outside the dinghy? And it wasn't long before Julio got in with Sam.

One thing led to another, and we wound up staying for lunch.

Which means that most of the rest of the afternoon will be taken up with homework. But it was worth it to have some fun.

Hot Stuff

We have the calmina - the wind off the Sahara again. This used to only happen a couple of times a summer, but for the last five years or so it's been happening more frequently, and over more of the year. We even had calima in January this year. To be honest, that was rather nice for everyone except the farmers. We don't often swim in the sea in the middle of winter. (Tourists do: They've just come from sub-zero temperatures after all.)

Now we've got calima again, and it's too hot for comfort. I react badly to heat, and yesterday afternoon I felt ill. Oddly enough, I couldn't face the ironing, especially since the ironing board is in a west-facing room, which was getting full sun. I did some first thing this morning, before it got really hot. That'll have to last us until it cools off, tomorrow or Tuesday.

And apropos of absolutely nothing, here's a YouTube video my husband found this morning.

Living in Ad Land

I cooked stir-fried beef for lunch. After the first couple of mouthfuls, my husband started making "yum-yum" noises and pointing at his plate. (He's far too well brought up to talk with his mouth full.)

I had my own mouth full, so I put my hand over my heart and bowed as best I could sitting down, then held my cheek out to be kissed.

He obliged.

Then our son started making "yum-yum" noises and giving me a thumbs up. So I gave him a bow too, swallowed, and said "Thank you," to them both.

So for about two minutes we were just like the families you see in adverts, where everybody is sweet to everybody else all the time.

It was great while it lasted. (Although I will say, we're habitually much nicer to each other than some families I know.)