Weather back to normal.

Here we are, weather back to normal. The humidity has gone and we are now at a respectable 12% and the temperature a comfortable 103f (39.4c). Pool is a perfect 89 and looks very inviting! Clear blue skies, not a breath of wind. Oh to be in Palm Springs now that summer is here!

Re previous blog .... we made a telephone complaint about inappropriate use of our Knox Box and guess what? Couldn't care less. As our dear friend DG said .... does having a key to a Knox box give them the right to enter any business at any time without permission?????  We will be bringing  this up with our elected representatives.

What do you think?

We had a Palm Springs police car parked in our parking lot last night for at least a couple of hours. Parked horizontally and looking up towards Indian Canyon watching (it transpired) a car parked on the side of the road. (No doubt our local drug ring).

Stuart and I were getting ready to eat dinner when suddenly, as if from nowhere, there was a police woman standing on our deck. We were a little suprised to say the least and scrambled to find clothes! She wanted to use the 'restroom'! "How did you get in" asked Stuart. "Oh, you have a Knox box so I used the key" she replied. A knox box is a secure locked box attatched to the outside wall containing a key to our front gate for use in emergencies which the fire department insisted we have.

Well, here's the thing. What constitutes an emergency? I don't think that wanting to have a pee negates the usual politeness of asking before coming on to our property. Even the fire department on their annual inspection call from the gate and ask to be let in. We don't want to make a fuss or get onto the wrong side of the law, but really, how would you feel if a police officer suddenly 'appeared' without ringing your doorbell first?

It's a dry heat, right???

WRONG!!! This morning at 6am we had a humidty level of 60% which is extremely unusal. It dropped to 30% by 8am but is back up to 42% at 11am. I'm so pleased we bought a barometer!

The forcast for today is a high of 107f (41.6c) It certainly feels like it might get up there. Currently (11am), 97f (36.1c) We're not complaining, we are just glad we're not on the east coast. Misters are working and the pool is inviting!

Nearly forgot!!!

I meant to say, we finally got the gardeners in to chop down the trees which were overhanging the walkway outside 9 and 10. What a difference! We can see the sky and the trees are no longer banging onto our roofline or getting stuck in the wind underneath the eaves! Well done, Alex and your 'gang!'.

It's going to be a hot one!!!!

Heat advisory warning have been issued for this weekend for San Bernadino and Riverside counties with temperatures expected to be up to 10f (12.2c) degrees warmer than usual. Bring it on!! This morning at 7.30 we were already at 84f (28.8c).
I just put the misters on at 11.30am and we are at 94f (34.4c). More later ..... we love it.

Well, how disappointing, by 4 pm it only got up to 102f  (38.8c). Mind you, that was ITS (In The Shade) with the misting system at full bore. Ho Hum, tomorrow is another day!!!!

A busy weekend

Can you believe it? Here we are, August, one of the hottest months in Palm Springs and we are 70% full! Despite the fact it was at least 110 on Thursday. It has cooled down a bit since them. We only had to call out the air-conditioning people to one room  but that was fixed very quickly. People in from France, Spain, England, California, New York and Georgia!!! All slings have been rented so a good time being had by all!!!

More about our trip

You know when you meet some people you just have an instant rapport and a love of friends and you feel you've known them all your life? Well, that's how we feel about Kev and Ian, long time guests at Chaps Inn living in Soham, England. We spent a delightful lunch with them. There they are, delightful company and we love you guys!!!!

15 ASSOCIATION 2012

The dates for next year's 15's 'meeting' is August 10th thru 12th. Mark it in your diary. It is a date not to be missed!!!

Welcome to the 15 Association!

We welcome back members of the 15 Association. Lovely to see familiar faces thanks to Peter, Dennis and AJ. We had a bit of an accident earlier this evening when one of the members attempted to stand after sitting in one of our patio chairs and managed to get his PA caught in the mesh seat ... ouch! He is at the emergency room at the Desert Regional right now. Yanked it right out .. blood ... tears ... fainting ... vomiting ... (OK I'm exaggerating, but there was blood, plenty of blood and I washed down this morning!!!!). And so the weekend continues ........ fun, fun, fun (until my daddie took the flogger away)!!! LOL. I told you it would continue ... Stuart just dropped the remains of an apple pie on the kitchen floor. Oh Boy!!! Blood AND apple pie cleanup!

More about our trip!

As I said, Stuart's youngest sister Rachael had just bought and opened a tea shop in Stratford upon Avon called 'Fourteas', a Forties theme with forties music and lots of war time paraphernalia and propaganda on the walls. A lovely space and a very good pot of tea!!!! Here's a picture of the full Ivor Novello English tea!! Yummo!!!

And here's a picture of our friend Jane (who drove 200 miles to spend some time with us, Jane and Ian shared a flat during the '70's!!).

And our friend Pegi underneath the Union Jack enjoying a cuppa!! (Love the poster ... "Keep Calm and Carry On!". How British and how appropriate for these days of riots!!!!).

Here's Ian. (right) Rachaels husband with their daughter, Alice who we remember as a very small child! Stuart, Pegi and I took a open top double decker bus tour of the Shakespeare 'properties' ending up at Mary Arden's house outside Stratford, left opposite. We didn't go in to visit as we preferred the local pub for a liquid lunch!!! What a lovely afternoon we all had!

We're B A C K

We had a wonderful time visiting friends and family and there wasn't a drop of rain which is highly unusual for England at this time of year. Where to begin? Well, we flew United Airlines Palm Springs to San Francisco to London Heathrow. Here's a picture of Stuart in business class just about to enjoy a glass of champagne before we took off. It was 1pm after all! The flight was uneventful thank goodness and we managed to sleep for a few hours and arrived feeling quite rested and on time. We had arranged to rent a car at Heathrow which can be a bit daunting if you have not driven on the left for some time as neither of us had. It's not so bad and we soon got the hang of it. Stuart drove the first 100 miles or so with the aid of GPS or, as they say in England, SatNav! (Satellite Navigational System!).

We met my mum, dad, sister and nieces at a restaurant for lunch in a town called Kettering, midway between London and Stratford  arriving there 11am ish. Fairly horrible experience due to there being a wedding party and not enough staff. My turn to drive the next leg of the journey ... about 80 miles from Kettering to Stratford, motorway (freeway) nearly all the time. We arrived in Stratford around 4pm. Exhausted!!

We had rented a 2 bedroom apartment in the middle of Stratford Upon Avon. Here's the view from the 1st floor (2nd floor in America), of the canal connecting Birmingham with the river Avon. After settling in and paying our rent for the week, we set off to Stuarts sister Rachaels' new tea rooms in Stratford called Fourteas. More about Fourteas coming up later.