Something to Smile about.

Hi Folks. I am starting this week with something to really smile about. I have mentioned before that we have a lady in our village who has set up, and runs almost single-handedly, a charity for the disabled children in our area. I help where I can, by making my jams and pickles to sell, and this year I was able to introduce Cati to the Vera Lions Club, who adopted ASADIS for their annual charity. Between the Lions, my jam sales for the year, and donations from the concerts that our choir held, we were able to buy a special walking frame for a little girl with cerebral palsy. Well this month the Lions have also funded the purchase of a special touch-screen computer, mainly for one twelve year old boy, but there will be special workshops set up so all the children from ASADIS can use it. As neither of the officers from the Lions speak any Spanish, I was asked to go to the shop with Cati and the boys mother Fina, to act as interpreter for them. My Spanish is still far from fluent, but I was able to help and I was pleased to be involved. All went smoothly, so here we all are, looking very pleased about everything! As soon as it is set up and in use, I shall go to take some photos of the children using it, and share them with the Lions.

I shall link this to Annie's Friday Smiles.

So what else has rocked my week?

I have been getting into the Christmas spirit,

wrapping up lots of tiny boxes of smarties, and bars of chocolate, to make these jolly fellows. They are for our vilage's little art and craft open day in a couple of weeks time.

I also made a Christmas pudding; not something I

have done for years. Now there is only the two of us, and Chris is not fussed about it anyway, it doesn't seem worth it, so I usually buy a tiny one just for me. But this year he said he would probably eat it if it was home-made, and also my son and his partner are coming over for a couple of days, so I ferreted around in the garage-cum-store-room, and found my old steamer, and set to. I got to the part in the recipe where it said, "Now is the time to gather the family, have a stir and make a wish.." so we each had a go.

Last week my life Group met at a house I had not visited before. It was up a steep hill at the side of Turre - our nearest 'town'. As I reached the top there were such lovely views that I knew I must return with my camera. So I did!

The whole of Turre, nestling below the Cabrera mountains. It is only a very small town, but it has a good supermarket that I often use. I also go to Turre for my Wednesday morning sewing group.

The view just around from the village. It shows what I mean when I say I live in rural Spain! There is a lot of empty land, though there is more agriculture going on than you see in this photo. I love these mountains. They are smooth and rounded with no jagged edges, and they ripple with light and shadows. They look as though someone has dropped a piece of soft fabric and it has had landed in deep folds.

Looking down the hill beyond Turre, you can see the white Moorish village of Mojacar. Beyond that is the sea.

On Tuesday we had our usual choir practice in Huercal-Overa, and as Chris has a 4.00 appointment at the hospital there, we did not have time to go home, which is a half-hour drive away, so we went into the town to find a late lunch. It was a lovely day and we found a nice bar/restaurant at the side of a patio. It was hidden away from the main road, and was surrounded by elegant apartment blocks. It was a real sun-trap, and with an arched pallisade to shield us from the wind, we were able to sit and eat our meal 'al fresco'. 

And then, for the first time ever, there was no queues at the hospital so we saw who we needed to and were home again an hour later!

This week I embarked on the mammoth task of sorting and re-arranging my craft room. Here is what it looked like before.                                                

And here it is now! Suddenly there is so much more floor space. My chair has moved away from the draughty window, and I can swivel between the work area and the computer. I am so lucky to have this room just to craft in, even if I do share it with a furry friend, which means I have to tidy up every time I leave the room!

And just to prove I do get in there to do something

most days, I was commissioned to make a card this week. You may remember that a few weeks back, a lovely Romanian couple from our church held a 'second wedding' ceremony, that we did our best to make special for them. Well yesterday Florentina was safely delivered of a baby girl, a little sister for Andra, so here is the card I made for everyone at church to sign on Sunday.

And finally, there is, of course, another sky photo. The weather has become rather more wintery this week, with a sharp drop in temperature, high, chilly winds, and lots of clouds. I saw this sky just before it was properly dark, and I loved the contrast between the deep blue sky, the brightness of the setting sun catching the edge of a bank of cloud, and the darkness of the coming rain.

Well that is all my news for this week. I am just off to link up with Virginia's blog, Celtic House, and then I shall go down to the sitting room and do some more of a knitting project I am trying to get finished.