A night of laughter

Do you remember the comedy duo Cannon and Ball? Well 'Ball', Bobby Ball that is, came to our neck of the woods last week, at the invitation of our church. Chris and I went, and we took my friend Sylvia so she didn't have to drive in the dark. It was in the tennis club near to where we meet, and there was a good crowd of church members and their friends there. Bobby was so funny; he had us all in stitches. And in amongst the jokes he gave a very powerful testimony which had quite an effect on a lot of the people there. In one joke he gave an interesting mnemonic for the Bible - Believers Instructions Before Leaving Earth. I asked him if I could have a photograph taken with him in return for posting his message on my blog, so here it is. The message was simply that Christianity has little to do with going to church, which is just the fellowship side of it. It is all about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I can't argue with that!

The saga of our road in turmoil continues. We are no longer fenced in by a mountain of broken asphalt, but we now have a mud mountain instead. Up until Friday afternoon we had a very deep trench down the centre of the roadway. At first we assumed they were laying new mains sewerage, but we now know it is flood drainage. There are several large round holes with a mesh cover, evenly spaced down the road, which lead to huge pipes. So next time we have a real Spanish downpour, there should not be the usual river right across the street; just the gurgle of water rushing down below, presumably being carried to the rambla at the side of the village. The men do not work at the weekends, but fortunately they filled most of the trench in before leaving on Friday, and they flattened a 'pass' across the mound of mud to give us better access to our gate. There was no work today either as this is a national bank holiday, but no doubt they will resume tomorrow. The sooner the better as far as we are concerned. We won't be sorry to see an end to all the noise and dust.

There are a few interesting things happening in the garden. Several plants that bloomed in the spring are having another go now, which is an unexpected bonus. The roses are still in bloom. We've had continuous flowers on them for six months now. Early in the year I bought a tiny rosette of prickly, spotted leaves, at a friend's coffee morning. I put it in a patio tub, and the prickles were ferocious enough for the dogs to leave it alone. It is now a big rosette of leaves, with a tall stem of flower buds coming up from the centre, that gradually hang down like slim orange bells. The oranges are beginning to ripen and I have bought the first of the new season's fruit in the market. This lovely bunch of oranges is on a tree in our neighbour's garden, but as it is hanging on our side of the fence, we reckon they have our names on them. I am trying to be patient and leave them for another couple of weeks, but they will be on top of my fruit bowl very soon now.

This is also the season of bugs! The dogs go mad chasing gerasshoppers in the field where we walk them, and several dragonflies have been hovering over our pool. When I got into Sylvia's car to go to church on Sunday there was the biggest, brightest green, grasshopper on the car door handle, that I have ever seen. It was at least four inches long. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me at the time. But I did have it handy when I found Destino investigating this beetle yesterday. I have no idea what it is, but isn't it amazing? The false face is quite something. Each foot was covered in tiny hooks so he could hang on tightly to most surfaces. Funny how I can handle fellows like him quite happily, and he was a a good size too, but a spider that size would have had me running for cover! I rescued him from the cat and set him on the wall to make good his escape. He hadn't hurt me so I saw no reason to hurt him. I took Destino indoors, so I presume the beetle lived to see another day.