Ever get that feeling that no matter how hard you try it's never enough?

Craig & Kelly have just gone back to a cold chilly UK after spending a few days with us. We did manage a few days of warm sunny weather and on the day they went home they even managed a few hours on the beach and braved the cold sea long enough to take a photo.

They arrived in time to celebrate Valentine's Day with us and we had a fantastic Valentine's dinner and dance at our local Bistro - Danny & Annika prepared a fabulous meal - the starter of salmon and asparagus was even arranged to look like a flower on the plate. We had decided we were going to get glammed up for the evening as there are not many excuses to put on a posh frock and Kevin turned up in full Kilt ensemble - and we have to acknowledge that none of us are in any doubt anymore what may or not be worn under a kilt! I don't think Kelly will ever get over the image!

Sunday was always scheduled as a quiet day due to the anticipated excessive levels of alcohol that would be drunk on Saturday night but Craig had asked if we could do some sight seeing while they were over. Knowing that the waterpark would be closed as it's still too cold, I asked a few people for a suggestion and was told Mini-Hollywood would be worth a visit.

Now for those of you old enough to remember the Spaghetti Western's you may not be aware that they were filmed very close to us in Almeria due to the desert like conditions. About an hour away from us is a Theme Park based on the filming of these westerns - A Fist Full of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad The Ugly, etc and there is a Western Town where the cowboys come out of the salon and have shoot-out's etc. It's said to be a good day out.

So, all recovered from the weekends excesses we decided we would take a drive there on Monday. As we drove inland we came across lots of the Pine Trees which have the problem with Processional Caterpillars and we could see all the nests we had previously only read about on the internet and could see that some areas have a big problem with them.

Anyway, an hours driving brought us to Mini-Hollywood and as we drove into the car park we got the feeling that something was wrong - mainly due to us being the only car there. Yep, it is currently only open at weekends, doesn't open during the week until April. So, we decided to take the road back to Mojacar and have some lunch by the beach. Normally it only takes half an hour to get to Mojacar - this time it was over 2 hours, hey ho - anyone can get it wrong.

We had done our usual tour on Saturday and after the market we had gone to sit in the square at Aguilas for coffee and told Craig & Kelly how busy it is at night and how they may want to come in one evening to try a few of the bars and get a feel for the vibrant night life.

So, Monday having been a bit of disappointment, they decided they would have a night out that night. We took them into Aguilas at 9pm as the Spanish don't tend to go out any earlier and told them to ring us when they were ready to come home, no matter how late!

It was a bit of a surprise to us when they rang less than 2 hours later to say they were ready to come home. But, as we drove into Aguilas it soon became obvious why they were not wanting to stay too late - the town was absolutely dead, it was like a ghost town. With Carnival week only a few days away the locals were obviously all staying at home and saving themselves for some serious carnival partying.

So Monday was definitely a bit of a write off.

Tuesday was a bit grey so I suggested we too a drive down the coast to Villaricos and had Menu del día at El Mar y Mar, where they do an excellent lunch including wine for about €12. As we approached the restaurant I got that deja vu feeling as the car park was empty - yes, it is closed on Tuesdays! So it was back to the villa for one of Neil's currys. We stayed local on Tuesday Night and had a few drinks in La Venta.

I had been promising all week that Wednesday would be sunny and true to form the sky was clear blue and the sun was warm. We were all set for a Barbecue about 5ish before we took Craig & Kelly back to the airport. After a couple of hours on the beach they were chilling in the hot tub when we got a call from friends to say they were going in to Aguilas for Fish & Chips - did we want to go. When I asked the others, Kelly said she really fancied Fish & Chips so we put all the BBQ stuff in the freezer for another day and set off to meet the others at 4.00pm. Now, we've all been for fish & chips a number of times so you would think one of us would know that the kitchen is closed beteen 4 & 7pm, wouldn't you? But did we think about it? No - we all turned up only to find that the BBQ had been the better option. Of course now there wasn't enough time to do the BBQ before going to the airport so it was a quick baguette and off.

So, did they enjoy their few days in Spain? Well, they enjoyed the relaxation, they enjoyed the sun and they enjoyed the Valentines dinner - but they probably didn't enjoy the hours and hours spent in the car for no reason and they probably are firmly of the opinion that they came to Spain, and it was shut.

But we did try, honest!