I have called this page Friends, Old and New.
I am going to start by mentioning and showing you photos of our New friends in Spain, specifically our neighbours.
El Portón is a small development, with only four families living here currently, plus the developer, Manuel and his wife, Lourdes. Next door to us are a Spanish couple, Nacho and Verónica, who got married on October 12th 2008, in Torremolinos. This photo was taken at the wedding of our other neighbours' daughter, Samantha. For photos of Nacho and Verónica's wedding day, see my 'Latest News' page.
Samantha's parents are Brenda and Clive Griffiths. They come from the same part of England as I did as a child and strangely enough, Clive and I went to the same school! This photo is of them at Sam's wedding -
Brenda and Clive live here with their dog, Rocky.
Our other neighbours are Diane and Roger McClelland. As you may deduce from his name, Roger is Scottish. Diane is English.
This is Diane and Roger, with me, at Samantha's wedding.
Di and Roger have a dog, Harry Potter, shown on the El Portón page, but they also have a cat, Sarah.
So, in our development we have four Spaniards, three English ladies, one Englishman, a Scot and a Welshman. An Argentinian family are currently having a new house built here. We could do with someone French and someone German and then we'd be United Nations!
As I have stated on a previous page, one of my biggest regrets about living abroad is the fact that my children and their families still live in England. Another thing I miss is my friends in England. My ex-colleagues I number as friends, and several still keep in touch with me, which is wonderful. This photo was taken at the school's Centenary in 1998, when the whole school dressed up as Victorians and the school was transformed into a Victorian one! It was very enjoyable. In this scene, I am about to slit the throat of Sweeney Todd, alias Justin Pugsley.
On the day I met Phil, I also met his friend, Len. Len and his wife, Gill, have been our friends for many years.
This photo was taken at their daughter Rachel's wedding. Rachel has since had three children - Amelia, nearly four, and twin boys, Elliot and Reece, born in January 2007. Their other daughter, Claire, had her first, a son, Finnlay James, in February 2008.
Other friends who visit regularly are Merril and Roger Pitblado. Merril and I were both interviewed for jobs at the same time, in 1970. She got the Maths post and I the French. We have been firm friends ever since and I was Matron of Honour at their wedding in 1974.
They run a hotel in Llandudno, North Wales and visit us regularly.
These photos of them were taken on my birthday in 2006. We were in 'El Jardin' in Torre del Mar for a birthday dinner. This was an excellent restaurant, which has unfortunately closed down now. They also surprised me by coming to my 60th birthday in 2008. More photos of that occasion can be seen in my 'Latest News' page!
Merril and Roger and nearest to the camera, Phil and I being the next two up next to Roger. Diane, our neighbour, was 40 the same week, so it was our joint 100th celebration! She is the blond lady on the left of the picture.
Other friends who warrant a mention are my friends from Kingstone, Herefordshire. Paul and Sue have visited three times and are arriving again soon! The second photo, on the right, is of us, with Sue and Paul and another friend, John who visited a year ago. He is a very keen bird-watcher and delighted in our local ornithology! Unfortunately for him, we didn't see an abubilla while they were here. (for abubilla, see page entitled 'Why Spain?')
Another good friend is yet another Gill, although as she was a Prison Officer, Phil calls her Screwella. Her husband John, also a Prison Officer, is Screw! Phil is Druid as he is Welsh, and I am now Ex-Teech, formerly Teech!! (Deliberate spelling mistakes) They were our next door neighbours in Herefordshire. When they got married in 1990, Phil was Best Man and I was Matron of Honour.
John and Gill took early retirement from the Prison Service and have had a house built near Paphos in Cyprus. Gill visited us here in June 2007 and John came in December 2007. One of them had to stay at home to look after their cats!
This photo is of Gill at our house one Christmas when John was on duty. As she was on her own next door it seemed sensible to invite her in for her Christmas Dinner and this is a photo of the occasion:-
