The Power of Attraction!

Anyone who has worked with me in a nursery, will know how much I loved playing with the children with anything 'scintific', that would make them ask questions,and want to find out more, and one of my real favourites was magnets. I never missed the opportunity to buy toys that used magnets in some way, and our boys were similarly supplied. The first magnetic building bricks I bought were a a huge success, but when I later replaced them with a more sophisticated kit, I think I played with it more than they did. In fact I have brought it here with me so I can 'play' some more when the grandchildren come out to visit. While searching for these on-line and in catalogues, I have also come across various 'toys' aimed at the adult audience, and bought some of them as well. Among my collection is, what boasts to be, 'The Strongest magnet in the World'. It's actually a very tiny cube, approximately one centimeter each way, and it is very strong. So yesterday, when Chris needed to retrieve a small metal rod that had gone where he didn't want it to be, I thought of my strong magnet. It turned out not to be Chris' solution as the rod was made of the wrong metal and was not attracted to the magnet, but having dug it out of a deep drawer, I, of course, started playing with it. I was using it to pull off some of my fridge magnets, which are a daily reminder of all the lovely places around the world that I have visited, when it leapt out of my hand onto the fridge door, and stuck there. Being tiny, it was hard to get a grip on it and try as I might, I simply couldn't pull it off the door. In the end I had to enlist the help of my young man, and even he had to use a knife blade to lever it off. So perhaps its name was not such an idle boast after all!

Today we needed to visit the bank in Mojacar, and business dealt with, it was such a lovely morning that we decided to have a stroll along the sea front. We drove the first bit, until we reached the point where it becomes Garrucha, because we actually prefer it there. We parked up and started to walk along the promenade. Garrucha is famous for two things, red prawns caught just off shore and sold in all the beach cafes, and the white marble balustrade all along the prom. The marble is quarried at Macel, just inland from here. It was really hot and there were a few holiday makers enjoying the beach, but really everywhere was so quiet. The prom is wide and clean, and we only passed a few other folk along the way. Then we turned up into the village because I had been told that there was a panaderia (bread shop), that will sell its bread flour loose, a lot more cheaply that the supermarkets do. I found the shop and bought a kilo of flour, and then we wandered further up into the back streets. We had never been that far from the beach before and we were surprised at how much more there was. The streets rise steeply and are on many levels, and mostly it was rows of apartments, housing a thriving Spanish community. Before when people have said to me that Garrucha is a typical little Spanish village, I have been surprised, because the bit we usually go to is a tourist town with flats, souvenir shops and cafes, but now I know what they mean. We found a pretty little rest area with a statue of the 'virgin on the rocks' in it, and then we came to the church, know as the 'Iglesia de San Joaquin'. This was quite high up at the back of the village, and it had obviously had some work done on it fairly recently. I stood in the square in front of the church taking photos when a Spanish lady came to her door. She called out 'Señora, señora', and then followed with a long sentence from which I managed to pick out the words 'door' and 'beautiful'. I thanked her and went back to Chris, and I told him that I thought she was telling me that there was a door round the side that we could use. So we went around the corner and there was this beautiful door with embossed metal pictures on it. It was obviously what she had been telling me about. It was part of the renovations, and the wall beside it was made of ridged glass, and from the notices we saw, we think it lights up after dark. I'd like to go and look one night. The church was so high up that all roads leading from it were made of steps. It must be really difficult for those who carry a trono in one of the fiesta processions, as they always seem to start and end at the church. I only took a few pictures but I will make a small folder on my gallery, unless I already have a folder called Garrucha, in which case I will put them in there!