Las Palmas Carnaval 2011

First of all teams battled their way (in fancy dress of course) over fences, ramps and giant cotton reels, under netting and water, through tunnels and foam over a 6 km It's-a-knockout-meets-army-assault-course built in sand on the beach.

Then there were (numerous) parades of Carnaval Queens and marching bands through burning heat and torrential rain... The floats competed with each other to see who could play the loudest music and therefore attract the biggest following of dancing Carnaval-goers in fancy dress.

The Senior Carnaval Queen (AKA Glamorous Granny competition).

The Carnaval Drag Queen.

One of the marching bands.

The dress code for the Carnaval appeared to be:

1. You must dress up

2. Your fancy dress should preferably be the same as your mates' or at least on a group theme, so that you can find each other easily in the crowd (which led to swarms of bees, hosts of angels, troupes of ballet dancers, diablos of devils, flaps of nuns, decks of sailors, murmurs of mermaids, Little Red Riding Hoods by the basketful, etc.)

3. Boys must dress in drag if possible, particularly tights and high heels, and preferably have accessories such as wings

4. Your dog must wear fancy dress too.

Octo-pussydoggie and her handler.

Robo-dog.

Fireman Pooch meets Flamenco Retriever in the final line up of the Dog Show.

Bethany Cat being interviewed for Spanish TV at the Sunshine Carnaval.

The Carnaval ended with the Funeral of the Sardine and Burial of the Sardine on Las Canteras Beach.

The Giant Sardine at its Funeral (we reckon, with lips like that, it died of botox poisoning).

Beth's birthday

For Beth's 13^th birthday, we drove down to Maspalomas in the south of the island in search of a day out and steak with blue-cheese sauce.

A steak-and-blue-cheese-sauce-stuffed, teenage Bethany.

It's hotter and drier at the south end of the island, and is famous for being where all the tourists go; especially the extensive sand dunes which are a nature reserve and nudist area.

Maspalomas beach with the start of the famous sand dunes in the distance.

Being on a volcanic island, we had a chocolate volcano birthday cake.

We had pizza followed by charades and other party games for the birthday party.

Pizza, and the eating-chocolate-with-a-knife-and-fork game.

The music...

...plays on. Derek and Ali (GREEN FLASH) joined us for a session on PAX, adding fiddle, flute and bodhran, and some music theory for David, Bethany and Bryn. Bryn has bought himself a new guitar with his savings, and has sold his old one on. Bethany has bought herself a big recorder (alto recorder) with the profits from selling her jewellery.

Derek and Ali, Pete (MAID OF METTLE) and Paul playing on PAX.

Jon (Pete's mate) did a photo shoot one music practice and took some great photos; the sort of stuff we're looking forward to using on our first album cover...

Pop art from Jon (thanks Jon!).

We have a music gig booked in at the Sailor Bar in a couple of weeks' time, so it is full steam ahead getting the playlist sorted and everything polished to performance level.

School

In between the maths and English, B&B have been learning about electrics with Dave (HEYMEDE), and have been testing the polarity of the pontoon electricity supply and replacing old light fittings on CAPE. I am now, officially, the only crew member of CAPE who doesn't know how to use the multimeter.

After-school activities

Current after-school activities for the girls involve buying high heels, swapping clothes, fashion shows on the pontoon, and learning to crochet with Taryna (HEYMEDE) to use in their jewellery making. The boys have been practicing their cricket batting and bowling on the beach and flying tiny Chinese-shop helicopters. Everyone is now using the walking/running track and exercise machines, as well as doing self-defence with Dave on the beach.

Beth, Kara and Marjolein strutting their stuff on the catwalk pontoon.

Visit to the UK

I went back to the UK for a week to spend time with my Mum as she'd just come out of hospital after having a knee replacement. The week turned into quite a little holiday for me, as Mum was mobile enough to do coffee and lunch out, etc. I even managed to go dancing one night with Jenny (French Jive in Chester) and caught up with Ger, Vicky, SÅ, Jackie and Stu, as well as my sister, Catherine, and her brood. I bought a Kindle while I was away, but haven't been able to get my hands on it since getting back as Beth seems to have adopted it. I got back from the UK to find that my galley sinks had been sealed in (after 4 years of nagging...); I must go away more often!

Photo finish

It's a while since I've inflicted a photo of a lighthouse on you...

Sardinia de Galdar Lighthouse.