35. Teeth!!!

I have over the years had hundreds of friends but no-one knew me as well as my dentist, I reckon I have spent as much time in a dentists chair as I have in my computer chair, I liked my Dentist Paddy Flynn and had used him for nigh on 30 years. That was until last year when he had a heart attack it was his second one so he retired from work to spend ma more relaxed life at home with his family. So last year I had to find a new dentist which I did immediately of course so in August I went to a new dentist in Penge, Lorni had done her usual extensive research into find the best one that was possible to get too in a reasonable amount of time. So off I went to see Max he told me that my  gums needed sorting quick or I would lose all my teeth, he made an appointment for me to see a specialist in London who uses lasers to kill of the bacteria. The specialist told me that it was one of my Blood Pressure pills that was causing the problem and the cleaning process would cost £1600 on its own, after which Max could start to sort out my other dental problems.

I tried to get the laser treatment for early December but then had a call to say the earliest they could do this would be in January...we moved to Spain mid December...so yesterday Lorni came back from town to let me know that she had booked me an appointment in Gandia to see a dentist, so this afternoon off we trotted to see this new dentist, well what can I say talk about efficient, I was taken straight in to see a radiologist who x-rayed my teeth then in to see and English speaking dentist who showed me what needed doing, two extractions, three implants, three crowns some fillings and a deep clean, Then we waited to see the money person who was going to detail what options we had and how we could pay. So you can imagine I was so worried about the tens of thousands this was going to cost but, the total price for all of the afro mentioned work was around a third of what I was quoted in the UK so very happy...at the moment. And on top of this I get 6 monthly check ups and cleans for the rest of my life...free. Really customer focused practice, put me at ease straight away and guaranteed it would be painless,hmm not so sure about that..we will see.

On another front both Lorni and I have just about agreed that Harry needs a little friend to keep him company when we are out, he never had a problem in the UK but his separation anxiety is not at its worse ever so maybe another doggies would help keep him calm? After all it is our job to look after him properly and I really want him to feel at home here.

24. Bedtime!!!

Another couple of days have gone by and we have kept busy, yesterday we went out for lunch to meet up with a fellow Drag Racer from America who has also retired over here Eric and his wife Janet, we had a long chat about Drag Racing, knee replacements, Brexit and Trump. On the subject of knee replacements Janet had hers done in the States and it cost her $143000 how the hell do they come up with those numbers it is dam ridicules.. Anyway we spent a few hours enjoying a really great lunch which didn't cost the earth and my god the size of the Tuna steak,,,I  take back what I said about sea food. Both Janet and Eric have to take s Spanish driving test to continue driving here in Spain the car test can be done in English but not the motorbike test I'm told, best I get my driving licence exchanged quick then. I have driven around 40km now in the new car and I am surprised at how quick the transformation has been I have no problem at all now with driving a left hand drive car even the reverse gear pattern has proved to be a simple learn, if only the language was as simple to learn!!!!!

Harry has taken longer to settle in he has really missed his doggie friends back in the UK and he doesn't get off the lead now as there is no-where near where I would trust him as there are too many roads and other dogs and loads of cats, But he is now getting into a bit of a routine and seems a lot happier than when we first arrived.

He does keep getting told off from Lorni about using our bed as his rest place but it doesn't stop him LOL This morning I slept in a wee bit I heard voiced looked out of the bathroom and saw strange men in the house I shouted at Lorni who informed me the beds had arrived. Great another double and two single beds for two of the bedrooms, still got to find a bed/settee for the office bedroom downstairs.

I know a bit bare still but it's a start I need to decorate a wee bit and we need to buy some pillows and a bit of furniture abut at least we have somewhere for nay visitors to sleep now. The  problem we are having is finding any wardrobes etc that are good quality and are also flat packed as it would be a impossible to get a wardrobe up the stairs we have found cheap and nasty or wayyy tooo expensive there seems to be nothing in between, oh well keep looking.

After the bed delivery I took Harry out for his rather late morning walk and even though I know that it is freezing in the UK it's not been too brilliant here today either there was mention of rain at some point in the next couple of days.

Lorni has gone into town to sort out some banking issues and drop some more cardboard off at the tip and left me to look after Harry and get the fire going, I must admit I'm getting rather good at these log fires, anyway she just rang to let me know that she has just made an appointment for me at a dentists...damn here we go then..toothless!!!

23. A walk in the countryside

After dragging my backside out of bed this morning I noticed, hard not to, that the sun was still shining so I had this idea that it would be great to take Harry for a walk along the same route that Lorni had walked with her friend yesterday, So this is going to be mainly pictures for a change. I reckoned it would take me around an hour if I didn't take any detours or get lost. So I packed my camera with just the 24-105 lens in put the lead on Harry and of we went.

Just down from our house is this, what I thought was just part of the storm drain system but no it is in fact a trail so there. This is the start of our little walk this  morning.

What I thought was very narrow path was in fact just the top of a terraced field and not a path at all, just a lot of people walking that way has made it so.

Part of the old irrigation system 

Path widens out a bit on the map this is classed as a road!

The views are incredible

And even more incredible

 I could get to like it here

 I wonder how far away those mountains are?

 Harry is loving it too

So many abandoned houses

More old homes 

 This worried me a bit

Castle on the hill

 More dereliction 

More wonderful blue sky's

I took me and harry around an hour and a half to get round this little jaunt around the neighbourhood and when we got back he still gave me grief as I hadn't taken him around his usual walk around the village so.... back on with the trainers and around we go again. I know but he's worth it.

22. Getting colder

I woke up this morning turned the radio on and yes it is an English language station here in Valencia, where I listened to the long range weather forecast and it looks like we are definitely getting a cold snap here, with temperatures dipping to freezing point over night all this by he weekend, thankfully Winter is not too long here in Spain having said that we were out and about in Gandia today had to go to the Yamaha dealer and sort out my bike, if I had wanted a black one I could have had it in a couple of days, but I think black is a boring colour so my bike is in Barcelona at the moment so now its going to take 10 days..oh well anyway we sat at a cafe after the visit and you wouldn't have thought in a million years that Winter was upon us.

On the way home Lorni got a message from her new friend Andrea so we got back via the doggie shop, we had run out of poo bags, and Lorni went out for a walk with her new friend, which was interesting as Lorni told me they had walked up an old road which I thought was nothing but an old storm drain so tomorrow weather permitting i will take harry up there along with my camera. When we got back I carried on with sorting out the office, OK it's an office one bedroom in so much it will have a bed settee in it once it's finished.

While I was busy doing all this Harry had taken himself back to bed, he seems to have fallen in love with our new bed,I don't blame him it is very comfortable but please use the sofa Harry.

He would so be in trouble if Lorni caught him LOL, so new car on its way new bike on its way still got to sort out wardrobes, the electrics in the downstairs bedroom and some light fittings, the gas supply tot he rear burner on the cooker, and I want the floors replaces and the tiles in the bathrooms re-grouted and I wnat to look inot solar panels, that will do for this year. LOL we will see.

21.Still getting there

A couple of things have come to light over the last day or two and that is we need an electrician to look at our electrics a couple of time the main trip has gone when something like the oven or washing machine has been turned on, Also the gags hob one of the burners doesn't seem to work so that needs looking at as well. All small things I know but I would like them sorted as soon as possible. I am also going to look into solar panels for electricity as I am thinking about future proofing myself and Lorni, It has got cold here over the last day or two I know we are in the middle of Winter but daytime temps are now down to around 14 degrees but night-time temps drop dramatically down to around 4 degrees so I need the chimney checking and then I can get the log burner going. I want to get the house working right then I will take each room one at a time and sort it all out, having said that I do have some tiling that needs some instant attention. 

My old reliable Citroen that I kinda bashed a bit on the way down is making some seriously weird (expensive) noises and doesn't feel right so yesterday Lorni and looked at cars, now they are more expensive over here and there is a purchase tax on to of the price to account for as well so we looked and looked and the only car we both thought would world for us and the dog without spending 30,000 Euro was the new Dacia Logon ......

This new version has the uprated petrol engine and comes with air con, reverse sensors, blue tooth etc and even daylight running lights wooo, anyway we needed something big enough to get the dog in and big enough for suitcases etc if and when we get visitors and has to be small enough to get up and around the very narrow roads we have here in our village, so we will take delivery in about two and a bit weeks and then the Citroen will sadly go to the breakers yard.

Next job is to find wardrobes and chest of drawers for our bedroom, we have enough furniture for another bedroom and one big wardrobe for a third, trying to keep costs down we also need some book shelves and a bed settee for my study/ 4th bedroom. We also still need to register with a doctors (not as easy as you think..more red tape) and get Harry registered with a vet and I need to find a dentist.

This all sounds like a lot of work but it's not much more than anyone who has moved house has to go through but the difference is when you get up in the morning and are greeted with this view.

Spectacular sunrise yesterday morning I just couldn't resist running downstairs and grabbing my camera, the day before I stuck my 600mm telephoto lens on my camera and took the following photo, not too bad a view again I think you will agree.

Not too upset with this considering the lens has only got an F5.6 lens so reasonably sharp considering, again if you get up to this most mornings who can complain eh? right so time to get dressed and get harry out for his walk while I hand the PC over to Lorni to look for bedroom furniture.