Category Archives: Journal of Elaine Spires

Signed, Sealed and Bittersweet

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We. Have. Completed.

Finally.

The story of the Sale of Avocado Cottage is a book in itself, spread over possibly the longest, most stressful year of my life. I have written about some of what happened – much of which you couldn’t make up. And many things went on that made this possibly the longest sale of property in history!

For example; when the buyers went to the Loans Officer at CUB to apply for a mortgage in December she told them they don’t usually do mortgages in December, only car loans. And this certainly seemed to be the case … Read the rest »

The Longest Piece of Antiguan String

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I am determinded to at least start this post with positive news. Yesterday Veronique and I had the most productive writing day. Hooray!! We worked solidly on our latest project and are both thrilled and satisfied with where we are with it.

I can hear you asking, “What is it?” And my answer is……. You’ll have to wait and see!

Re Singles Series Book Five, well, things are not moving, I’m afraid; or on The Banjo Book Two. Sorry. There are too many things whizzing round in my head for me to be able to sit down and give both … Read the rest »

Brenda Lee Brown’s London Rocks

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Today I am wearing my Book Reviewer’s hat. And I am delighted the book I am reviewing is London Rocks by Brenda Lee Brown. It is the story of Dante Brookes, a young man growing up in the London of the late Seventies/early Eighties. Sound systems ruled the flourishing party scene for young Black-British youths of Caribbean heritage.

Our hero deals with a lot, including the death of someone close, constant stop-and-search and teenage fatherhood. He isn’t always 100% likeable…and yet… I liked him.

BLB brings Dante’s world alive. She writes convincingly, envoking all our senses in her descriptions effectively … Read the rest »

Could Be

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Well. I have news. Both my buyer and I have executed the Agreement of Sale for Avocado Cottage!! As the Daughter would say, “Woo hoo!” I am still pinching myself and as I lay in bed at night my brain whirls with the fifty highly-unlikely scenarios that might, just might, happen to stop us completing. Crazy, isn’t it? I think I’ve become so disillusioned with the whole, slow process that I am finding it hard to believe we are at this stage. And I certainly don’t want to put the mockers on myself.

And that’s not all.

In the last … Read the rest »

Still Waiting…

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Yep!  Still waiting for Caribbean Union Bank to come up with a decision on my prospective buyers’ mortgage application.  In the age of technology and instant decisions it’s taken them since 12th December.  Last week the loans officer decided the bank needed to see the Sale Agreement.  She couldn’t have said that two months ago?  Anyway my very capable solicitor pulled one together almost immediately.  I agreed it.  She then sent it to the buyers who had a query and by the time they tried to get back to her it was after 5pm on Friday and she’d gone home … Read the rest »

Finally

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Finally! After leaving her here ten months ago I’m back in Ibiza with the Daughter. And it’s bloody lovely! She’s made a life for herself here; her Spanish has come on in leaps and bounds; she’s made friends and not only has she got a great job that she excels at, she’s also got a beautiful little flat that she’s made into a home. This is the view before me as I write this:

It’s overcast today with no breeze, so it’s pleasant and the sea is calm. Every night since I’ve been here I’ve fallen asleep to the sound … Read the rest »

I ❤️My Feral Heart

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I had wanted to see it for such a long time but was thwarted at every turn, not helped of course by being abroad. And then, My Feral Heart came out on DVD. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Feral-Heart-DVD-Suzanna-Hamilton/dp/B076HBYY2B/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1509816497&sr=1-1&keywords=my+feral+heart
So, it went straight onto my Christmas List and as I was a very good girl, Father Christmas – aka the Brother – brought it for me.

And it turned out to be worth every second of the wait.

It’s a long time since I’ve enjoyed a film so much. I don’t want to give anything away (the Daughter calls me the Spoiler Queen) but I … Read the rest »

Toasting With Lemsip

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Happy New Year!

Goodness me, it’s been a while since I put fingertips to keyboard and posted something for you. Sincere apologies! But there are two fundamental reasons for my extended silence.

The first, it’s all been bad news really and nobody wants to read about other people’s problems; most have enough with their own without having to listen to mine. 2017 was a tough old year – three hurricanes, the sale of Avocado Cottage falling through four times, banging my head against a brick wall against so many people and things in both Antigua and UK, finding myself with … Read the rest »

A Little Bit of Deja Vu

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I am so sorry for the delay in posting again. I’m really just treading water waiting for the sale of Avocado Cottage to go through. And I haven’t been too well lately.

So, to give you something to be getting on with here is an article I did for one of my favourite authors and a very special woman, Barbara Copperthwaite.

https://www.barbaracopperthwaite.com/elaine-spires

Enjoy!… Read the rest »

1899-2017

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1899-2017.
A hundred and eighteen years.
That’s the length of time since Antigua was affected by three hurricanes in one hurricane season. On Monday night – Tuesday morning we had the third hurricane in the space of thirteen days. So what’s with the talk of Global Warming? If we were having three hurricanes in one season a hundred and eighteen years ago it’s not a new phenomenon.

But whatever the reasons – it’s harsh, it’s brutal and it’s scary. Antigua has been spared the worst of it. This third hurricane – Maria – was the worst of the three. We … Read the rest »