Friday, August 2, 2013

Rocking my world Friday

Well I am a bit late posting this week, but if I get this done and dusted within the next hour, then it will still be Friday, so here goes!
We continue to have weather too hot to be doing much, so firstly I am thankful that I don't have too much that has to be done! This week we have had late lunches, lots of siestas, and a few nice outings to break the time up. 

On Monday we went across to Cucador (twenty minutes drive from here) to visit some friends. We spent a pleasant hour on their porch, drinking tea (very English of us!), and putting the world to rights.

Most afternoons I sit out on our porch for a couple of
hours. It is shady there, so I let the dogs into the fly-screened area, and I either do some crocheting or cross-stitch. So I am including this photo for my sister. She bought the kit for me in UK and sent it out, so I thought I'd let her see how I am getting on with it. I expect my hot hands are making it a bit grubby so I will need to give it a wash when it is finished. Not that that will be any time soon. It is a monochrome picture. Talk about 50 shades of grey! I need my eyes to be functioning and my brain to be in gear to work on it! You can just see my blue-eyed friend Foxy peeking over the arm of the settee to see what the camera is out for this time!


After my sewing group on a Wednesday morning, some of the girls go on to a bar for lunch, but normally I go straight home because myLife Group meets in the afternoon. But we are having a short break for the summer, so this week I joined them. This is my lunch. Brie and bacon in a ciabatta roll with quails eggs, and red cabbage coleslaw. Isn't it fun? I think it's looking at me!


Here is a little visitor to my garden this week. It is a baby praying mantis. They are very welcome because they eat the bugs, (as long as my cats don't eat them first!). This little one was jumping around on a terra-cotta pot. She measures less than half a centimetre but she's perfect in every way!

When I had finished my shopping in Turre I decided to drive on a futher few kilometres to Mojacar Pueblo. This is a little white, Moorish village set on top of a hill, overlooking Mojacar Playa. (It took me a while to learn this one, but Mojacar actually sounds like Mo-hacker). I always park in a designated area below the back of the village and walk up, but I was very surprised when I rounded the first corner to see this sign.

It is saying that they are sorry for the disruption  caused while they build an escalator to make the village more accessible. I had read about this project, but in the current financial climate I expected it to remain a pipe dream for a few years yet. But the men were hard at work on it for now. 

It will indeed be a real asset. Normally I climb up a long flight of steep, uneven stone steps where this building site is, and then collapse on the wall at the top to recover! The alternative is quite a long walk round the side of the village, which is, of course, what I had to do today.
I had a little browse around the shops. The village is a tourist destination for coach trips, so many of the shops cater for these visitors, but tucked in between them there are some lovely little independent shops which are a treasure trove of goodies once your eyes have adjusted from the bright sunlight to the dark interiors. 

Then I found myself outside Iglesia de Santa Maria. Dating from 1560, it is an unprepossessing square building, not overly sensitively renovated, but I happened to pass just at midday and the bells started to chime. I stopped to listen and they played 'Ave Maria,, which was lovely.

As I left the village to walk back down to the car, I took a photo of this view. It is looking down from the plaza to the agricultural land around the hill, and on to sea at the Playa.


I have done some craft this week and one thing I am pleased about is that I have successfully done my first piece of vinyl cutting on my Silhouette machine. I talked to a lovely Spanish lady from my village who, with her partner, runs a sign making company, from their home. She gave me some off-cuts of vinyl to experiment with and I took my finished card up to show her. She was not used to seeing work on this scale, as they mainly make signage for cars and vans, and I had fun trying to explain transfer paper to her in my limited Spanish. Nuria speaks no English. But I think we got there! This is the card I made which is for my brother's birthday next week.

On my craft blog this week I showed another double-spread for a week in my Project Life album. Lots of people were interested in it, so, to end with, I'll show a different week here. I have picked one at random from my file and it happens to be the week my grandson was out here in May.

I just have to tidy up the last page I made and then I will be right up to date with it again.
Well I have finished with 15 minutes to spare, so I will rush over to Celtic House and link this up. I hope you have plenty of positive thoughts to rock your world too.

7 comments:

Suzy said...

Sounds like another busy week for you and how lovely to be sitting in the shade on your porch doing your sewing

Unknown said...

What a lovely part of the world you live in. I agree with Suzy, lovely to sew in the shade!

misteejay said...

Gosh, what a busy week but at least you were able to be 'busy' at your own pace.
Super photos and wonderful to be able to sit outside and stitch.

Toni xx

Virginia said...

Wow fabulous week, I love the little village and that the independent shops are surviving in amongst the tourist places. The escalator sounds like an amazing idea - we've often jokingly said such a thing when we've visited hard to reach places, didn't think anyone would make it a reality! I love the photo of the tiny praying mantis - how cute is her (or she). Loving also what you did with your silhouette machine - the card is amazing! Your project life book looks fabulous! Hope the next week is as beautiful and blessed! Hugs

Lesley G said...

A great week! Even if that Praying Mantis did eat the bugs I don't think I could bear it around me - creepy! Some lovely photos - wishing you another great week :)

Carmen said...

I so love reading your Rocking Fridays - it's so informative. I thought praying mantis's were so much bigger and I'm so impressed at your living in another culture and getting on like that (and learning the language! it peeves me when people don't bother when they move to another country.)I bet those bells sounded beautiful

Gorgeous card so intricate and delicate and yet perfect for a man card :)

Have a lovely week Kate.

p.s Love the Project Life - I keep wanting to try that!

Shirley-Anne said...

Hi Kate very interesting post .
Love reading about your travels .Thanks for sharing these titbits