Rocking Pool

TripAdvisor have just sent me their Top 10 Amazing Hotel Pools.......
They're Okaaay....... yeah, so that one in Singapore is pretty impressive but my absolute favourite pool of all time is the one at Jameos del Agua in Lanzarote, designed by the genius Cesar Manrique. The blinding combination of smooth white concrete and turquoise water set against the craggy volcanic boulders really rocks my boat. It's stunning. 

Sadly you have to admire the serene pool without even dipping your toe in. The place is a national treasure and they don't want a bunch of tasteless Brits cluttering it up. Awww.... but don't be disappointed! My Stoke Newington mates, Tarnya and Richard, moved out to Lanzarote a few years ago. Go and stay at Finca Malvasia, their chic boutique guesthouse, set in the heart of the La Geria wine region. It has it's very own Manrique pools that you CAN swim in (and sunbathe around and have a barbeque next to watching the sunset, sipping the best local wine).

Finca Malvasia

Model Behaviour

The models this week have been perfectly behaved! (Unlike Blogspot which has been down for the last 24 hours and has taken all yesterdays entries off - temporarily they say.) Romo have been shooting part of their 2011 collection here and have brought in a few well-chosen pieces of elegant furniture, upholstered in opulent, silky-as-a- whippet velvet. Gracious and undemanding, they have adorned our reception room for the last few days and we will be sorry to see them leave.

Excuses

Me: 'John, why didn't you do that maths homework last Tuesday?'
John: 'Wadda ya mean, I did my homework last Tuesday, wadda ya talkin' about?'
Me: You did it last week?
John: Yeah, I did it last week. Why, wadda ya sayin'? You sayin' I didn't do it?.....

Summer Shoes

I like my new slip-on Converse All Stars - will be wearing them all Summer.

Brian says (in pathetic voice) 'That means I wont be able to wear mine. You know that's my Summer footwear of choice. We'll look daft walking round in his 'n' hers matching shoes.... and you've gone and bought the same colour. Selfish.'

Downstairs, Upstairs

John: 'So when are they going then? I wanna chillax'  (without looking up from Family Guy on his laptop).
Joe: 'Innit' (without taking his finger off the trigger as he wipes out another innocent bystander in Grand Theft Auto IV).
Ed: Silence (as he lays on sofa, wearing headphones, watching Come Dine With Me from 2007).
Brian: 'We've got to pay the mortgage.' He rushes past again with two more tightly tied carrier bags dripping water. 'Do you want me to bury him or throw him in the bin?' 
Sucker has just died and B is dismantling the fish tank as that's it. No more fish. Ever.

There comes a point in the evening when you want the Brazilian super-models that have been wandering around the house in their undies all day to get dressed, call a cab and go home.

Private Candy shot their lingerie catalogue here yesterday but due to the models' hair taking an unexpectedly long time to coiffure they were running late, so that meant us all being trapped in the tiny basement office for hours.

They asked us to set up the Venetian bed - see photo of Enzo on said Venetian bed and in your mind replace dog with two models, candelabras, lots of feathers, flowers, fans, fruit, mounds of silk eiderdowns, a champagne bucket and an elaborate arrangement of cup-cakes with glitter icing. It all looked fabulous and they have promised to send me a photo for the blog. 

Rex

This time next month Brian will be crawling on his hands and knees in the pitch dark loft, feeling around for the dog 'cage' that came with the Volvo. (We've had no need of it up to now, as the whippets prefer to ride up front on our laps). Then we'll be on our way to Dover to take collection of a German Shepherd, Labrador, Doberman crossbreed from Athens. 
No one knows precisely when the happy event took place but the vet in Greece reckons Rex was born sometime in May 2010. Sometime in August 2010, I was sitting with Joe, Ed and their friend Cosima, outside a cafe in Lavrio - a town by the sea just south of Athens. We'd been in Greece for three weeks and were getting to know most of the local strays. They spent the hottest part of the day lying around in any shade they could find. 
The 'Don' - as Joe called him - always took the best spot; on the cool marble steps outside The National Bank of Greece, enjoying the little pockets of air-conditioning that escaped every time a customer went in or out.

The Don

Lesser dogs usually hung out at the port until the cool of the evening, when they were drawn to the busy restaurants and cafes around the square.
We were chatting to the Don and feeding him chips, when, from between two parked cars, another dog approached. I could tell straight away that he was young; he still had that fluffy look. Then we saw that he had the most ghastly wound to his front leg and could barely walk. Well, you can imagine the commotion at the table - wailing children sobbing into their food pleading with me to do something.... so, before I could speak to the voice of reason (Brian had stayed in London to mind the whippets, the house and the celebs) I had agreed to adopt the dishevelled beast and bring him to the UK.

That night we took him back to our tiny apartment. Over the following two weeks the vet showed us how to bathe and treat his wounds. We passed many hours lying under a palm tree in the gardens, removing ticks, lice and fleas. He came with us to the beach, the ice cream parlour and on nocturnal picnics to watch shooting stars.

Mates

It's taken 9 months for the rabies injections, blood samples, passport and all the other documents to be ready and now, finally, with an enormous amount of help from the vet in Greece and her friend Katherina (who has been looking after Rex all this time) he's ready to make the trip. Friends of the Strays of Greece are organising his transit. They are dedicated to improving the lives of strays in Greece and, whenever possible, rehoming dogs in the UK and other parts of Europe. Their website is both heart-rending and uplifting.

When we went back for a visit him in December we found he had grown somewhat..... and his leg is completely healed!

Essential Viewing

Had a quiet Sunday. Boys watched the football on TV (not good). Ed and I went to Pineapple.

This evening John had few friends over. With A levels just a few short weeks away and their university places dependent on getting the right grades they settled down in front of the laptop to catch up on a few educational videos.