It is hard to believe that it is already one week since I had my cataract operation, but this morning we set off for the hospital again for my next checkup. The consultant was pleased with the actual condition of my eye but seemed a little surprised when I said I could not see much better with it as yet, and in fact my distance vision is rather worse than it was, so he tested me and I was unable to read any of the letters on his screen. I explained that my eyesight has been poor for many years, but as long as I use my glasses I can still see enough to get by, though my eye is constantly a bit sore because I am straining it with everything I do. He told me to go on using the drops and has given me an appointment for 16th December to have a test for new glasses. I am assuming he will then give me a prescription to take to an optician to have made up. I will need to do that quickly if I am to get them before everything stops for Christmas!
It was a beautiful day, much better than even we hope for in November, so when we came out of the hospital, we decided to go for a drive, and took the road that leads down through Pulpi to San Juan beach. For the first part we were driving along a fairly narrow, bumpy road, with a new road, under construction, running along side it. Then we joined the part of the new road that is completed. The views were stunning. The hills and mountains seemed quite green, with long, dark shadows running down them, the sky was bright blue, and as we broke through the mountain range, the sea was sparkling in front of us. All the way we passed huge areas of farm land with long, straight rows of bright green lettuces growing, fields of workers cutting some for marketing, and planting new ones, and then orange groves where the early crop of fruit was also being picked. We passed through sleepy villages, and stopped for goats to cross the road in front of us, and we felt we had seen the real Spain that w
e both love so much. As we drove down into San Juan we stopped to look at the mountains behind us, and the golf course, (new, and still not looking ready to use) in front of us, and across the other side o
f that was the mass of coloured houses and flats that make up the town of San Juan. We have a soft spot for this little town as it has one of the best beaches in the area, as well as beautiful mountains all round it. We did look at a property there when we were house-hunting, but like so many towns, it has suffered with over development, and the houses are bunched up close together, and the town lacks the amenities to supply the growing population. But it is still a lovely place to visit on a sunny autumn day. We sat at a beach café for a coffee and then drove along the coast road, passed the flat at El Calón that we rented for our first six months here, and on to one of our favourite restaurants at Villaricos where we stopped for lunch. We were able to sit out on a sunny patio to eat which is a real bonus this late in the year. I then spent the afternoon on a lounger in the garden until it was time for my Spanish lesson. That's life and it's great!
We are in the throws of seriously reducing the size of our bouganvillea 'hedge' outside the kitchen door. It is a big job and we don't really have the best tools to do it with, but we are gradually getting it done. Then we have to prune the roses right back, and generally sort out the garden for it's winter rest time. So it is nice to see that not everything is dying off and we have two plants showing signs of bursting into bloom. They are both cactus/succulent type plants and they were both gifts from a friend at church. One is a big rosette of spikey, spotted leaves and it has flowered several times before, but this time it has four heads of buds on its stem, and it is the first time it has had that. The other one is a not very striking plant but Jasmine told me that the flower is very interesting. She gave me a cutting last year and the dogs, who were still really only pups then, promptly ate it! This year she gave me another small cutting that didn't look very promising, but she thought it had rooted. I put it in a little strip of soil in the front garden (well away from the dogs) where I had dug up the 'rabbit-ears' cactus that had grown too big. It hasn't done much in the months it has been there, but it now has a bud on it that is swelling daily so I am really looking forward to seeing it open. No doubt you will be seeing it too in my next blog.....
It was a beautiful day, much better than even we hope for in November, so when we came out of the hospital, we decided to go for a drive, and took the road that leads down through Pulpi to San Juan beach. For the first part we were driving along a fairly narrow, bumpy road, with a new road, under construction, running along side it. Then we joined the part of the new road that is completed. The views were stunning. The hills and mountains seemed quite green, with long, dark shadows running down them, the sky was bright blue, and as we broke through the mountain range, the sea was sparkling in front of us. All the way we passed huge areas of farm land with long, straight rows of bright green lettuces growing, fields of workers cutting some for marketing, and planting new ones, and then orange groves where the early crop of fruit was also being picked. We passed through sleepy villages, and stopped for goats to cross the road in front of us, and we felt we had seen the real Spain that w
e both love so much. As we drove down into San Juan we stopped to look at the mountains behind us, and the golf course, (new, and still not looking ready to use) in front of us, and across the other side o
f that was the mass of coloured houses and flats that make up the town of San Juan. We have a soft spot for this little town as it has one of the best beaches in the area, as well as beautiful mountains all round it. We did look at a property there when we were house-hunting, but like so many towns, it has suffered with over development, and the houses are bunched up close together, and the town lacks the amenities to supply the growing population. But it is still a lovely place to visit on a sunny autumn day. We sat at a beach café for a coffee and then drove along the coast road, passed the flat at El Calón that we rented for our first six months here, and on to one of our favourite restaurants at Villaricos where we stopped for lunch. We were able to sit out on a sunny patio to eat which is a real bonus this late in the year. I then spent the afternoon on a lounger in the garden until it was time for my Spanish lesson. That's life and it's great! We are in the throws of seriously reducing the size of our bouganvillea 'hedge' outside the kitchen door. It is a big job and we don't really have the best tools to do it with, but we are gradually getting it done. Then we have to prune the roses right back, and generally sort out the garden for it's winter rest time. So it is nice to see that not everything is dying off and we have two plants showing signs of bursting into bloom. They are both cactus/succulent type plants and they were both gifts from a friend at church. One is a big rosette of spikey, spotted leaves and it has flowered several times before, but this time it has four heads of buds on its stem, and it is the first time it has had that. The other one is a not very striking plant but Jasmine told me that the flower is very interesting. She gave me a cutting last year and the dogs, who were still really only pups then, promptly ate it! This year she gave me another small cutting that didn't look very promising, but she thought it had rooted. I put it in a little strip of soil in the front garden (well away from the dogs) where I had dug up the 'rabbit-ears' cactus that had grown too big. It hasn't done much in the months it has been there, but it now has a bud on it that is swelling daily so I am really looking forward to seeing it open. No doubt you will be seeing it too in my next blog.....
1 comment:
I love these photos,they remind me of the day I was there with you. No lovely blue sky here today, only a dismal grey one. Jean
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