The Carnival is over.. and the last post.

 After 570 posts and almost 15 years Greyrocks is administering the coup de grace to this blog, but will leave it available as a record of travels in retirement.

March has been yet another month with little to commend it. We are still suffering with our skin complaint, the weather has frequently been unpleasant - particularly the  cold evenings and dramatic winds - much of the month was in Level 3, so indoor bar space was limited, the carnival had no public events nor processions, and the news has been utterly depressing!

We have spent a lot of time at home, and there is a something positive to report in that the apartment we have bought in anticipation of our reduced mobility has been let on a long term basis. It took less than a week to engage an agent, show it to ne couple and accept their offer at the asking price. The nightmare clearance with all its consequences and the renovation are behind us

But we are still working - with a lot of help from Chloë - on remote furnishing of the new place in Paleochora, and we are faced with a logistical problem over Yvette. She still sits in the parking at Girona airport - full of belongings including two bikes and our warmer clothes. This year we would have expected to pick her up for her last drive back to UK, but it makes more sense in terms of time, money, Spanish law and mental health to dispose of her in Spain and somehow get the most significant contents back by another means. How we resolve this might be worth relating in a post, but no!

For the foreseeable future our years will be divided between a maximum dollop of Crete, ditto Corralejo with a trip to Goa, a bit of UK and no touring!  There's not enough there to document. Thank you, Brexit!

So - best wishes to our follower(s)

Hors de Combat! Why February is low on posts

 .... Well, it has in fact been worse!

Bet there are fleas and other pests in there, too!

There has been little to amuse or intrigue, We have been almost nowhere interesting and life has been a round of cleaning, with a fortune spent on pharmaceuticals. Poor fare for a jolly "happy retirement" blog! And much of this is self-inflicted! So a single report from the Slough of Despond this month, and we hope that normal service will soon be resumed!

So first those aspects of the month that all living or holidaying here have experienced: weather and Covid! 

Greyrocks has long considered February to be the worst month for Canarian weather; but this one has had everything. Winds and high seas have led to ferry cancellations, the calima has been so drastic on occasions that flights were delayed, and - whilst there have been quite a few sunny afternoons - the evenings have been bitter:- relatively, of course! There was one week which led to remarks that if this was the week chosen by tourists for some winter sun there would be great disappointment, and probably no return! But tourism has been substantial. There was until now an absence of British kids, owing to the vaccination rules, but they are here now for half-term. Down at the marina water-based leisure is booming, and the surfer numbers are huge, so the economy is doing well.

That is a double-edged sword! Some of the "tribes" that abound are those least likely to comply with the health norms! This month has seen staggering Covid data.

Since the festive season it has been normal to see a number of new daily cases over 100. Admittedly the number of recoveries has frequently exceeded it, but at one stage the number of active cases was near 1500, which with a population of 123 000 led to us being the "dirty island" of the archipelago. February also saw both the best and the worst days for hospitalisation, and the number of deaths reaching 30. We both felt that -at last - we were over the filthy colds we had harboured since November, and felt our fairly cautious approach to going out/out had been wise in that we were still clear of Covid. 

What we did suffer, however, was in some ways worse, and is ongoing as we approach March. It all revolves around what could be called a "rash purchase"! Steering clear of naming, blaming and shaming, and of excessive detail, we report that we have been infested and forced into a run of urgent expenses because the apartment we bought just before Christmas in preparation for our very old age and will be letting out in the interim was left in a state of chaos and hidden nasties. In clearing it out we have both been attacked on two pest fronts and in both properties! At one stage we were waiting for new mattresses for own home and had to spend a run of nights in the emergent new place. As icing on the cake our own cooker - twenty tears old - gave up the ghost so we were also coping with the wait for that too be replaced.

 A grim period! We still have to undergo messy skin treatments, and uncomfortable nights. with no certainty as to when we may be clear! Watch this space for news of a more upbeat Greyrocks! 

The Two Faces of Janus

..... neither of them particularly smiley! Normal January for Greyrocks means Goa, but of course neither 2021 nor 2022 can be regarded as "normal". Rather than a lotus-eating tropical sojourn we have been beset by obstacles and bad news, with nasty surprises and time spent on necessary but tedious tasks. Even this blog had to go well down the list of "to-do"s so that this post will be started in January and updated in calmer moments! 

Muted Celebrations:

The month (and year) started pretty well, with a very Covid-aware New Year's Eve. In contrast with the previous one the town was very busy and the infection rate on the way up. We saw what happened last time around midnight, and had no desire to be anywhere near "that sort of thing". Also our favoured restaurant was not offering lobster, so we had dinner early and arranged to see in 2022 in a roof-top assignation between terraces with the nice neighbours. The meal was much lower key than normal - not least because in spite of our pre-order there was no lobster, so we had to have several cigalas instead, and we under-ordered :- a very rare event! Later we watched "Later" with Jools Holland, and then took our fizz up to the roof, which gave a great view of the fireworks

 

Spanish thoughts at this point turn to Kings, which of course was a trimmed back Covid affair, with the kids' visits to Their Majesties by appointment only and somewhat out of town. Our dealings with them were a surprise. Around midday on 5th we were resting at one of our regular haunts at the top of the High Street when there was hooting and general kerfuffle. It was the "procession" that traditionally travels round Corralejo and the villages. This year it consisted of a king in each of the open-top cars - no wives, no pages, no sweets, no camels!

Infection

January was the month in which the Covid story was rewritten in Fuerteventura. As predicted the numbers were up after all the festivities, but we somehow escaped the tightest level of restrictions, and indeed hospital pressure with the Omicron variant taking its time to arrive.  

and Infestation

This is a sad story of wasted money, time and sleep, which will be followed up in due course.  February has got to be better for Greyrocks....