Rocking your world 2015: Week 47

My smile today is actually a photo of me. I don't do that very often as I don't often like what the camera shows me!

Anyway, here I am around 9.00 this morning, enjoying a cup of tea on a beautiful sunny day, and look out over a really green, green zone. 

It is really hard to believe that it is mid-November. We have had a lovely week weather-wise and today is the warmest with a temperature of 26º, so we are making the most of it as it is due to drop around 10º on Monday, and send some rain our way as well. But it is lovely to still be comfortable in a summer dress when my home town in UK is expecting snow this weekend!

In keeping with enjoying the last few days of sunshine, I have sat out on the porch to eat lunch and then done some of my crochet most days, so I just have one more round to do on my second blanket square for this week. Hopefully I will get that done tomorrow, ready for when Lucy posts the colour order for the next two squares on Sunday.

Apart from that it has been a funny old week because we have the painters in now, so we had to get the main room, and the hall and passageway, cleared ready for them. Anyone who has visited me will appreciate that that is no small task. I have far too many ornaments etc and out here, where everything is so dusty, it is not a good idea. So for now, everything is in boxes in the garage and spare room, or piled under dust sheets in the main room. Even the ceiling fan is wrapped in plastic.

The poor man's first job was to fill all the holes where the hooks were removed, (including at least thirty six right up at ceiling level where I had my collectors plates hung!) When the painting is done I shall select just a few pieces to go back on the walls and shelves. That's the theory anyway!

It is quite fun in a way because the painter, who came highly recommended by a friend, is Moroccan, though he has lived here for a long time and is fluent in Spanish. His name is Racheed and he has brought a friend to help him who is French, but who has worked in Algiers for many years. So he talks to Racheed in Arabic while I talk to him in Spanish, and my husband Chris talks to the friend in English! Somehow we are all understanding what is going on, and we are impressed with their work so far. 

As most of the house is out of action, I have spent my mornings in the kitchen and my evenings in my craft room, so I have made my Christmas cake and today I mixed up the puddings. 

In the Anglican church, the collect for this coming Sunday, starts with the words "Stir up we beseech Thee, O Lord,.....", and this has led to it being known as "Stir-up" Sunday, and is traditionally the day for stirring up the Christmas puddings. So I am a couple of days early, but here is Chris having his turn with the spoon.

I had to smile because when I turned Facebook on this  morning, it reminded me that  I posted this photo today-two years ago.

Same place, same bowl, but at least he is wearing something different! I guess I am a bit of a traditionalist, especially when it comes to Christmas.

I have also managed to get most of my 'overseas' Christmas cards written and addressed. Some are left open ready to have a news letter added when I have written it. Maybe that will get done while the hall and passageway are being painted, especially of the rain comes. Normally I am rushing to do this at the last minute. We have two bank holidays here just at the beginning of December, and they throw the postal service into disarray, so I like to get my cards posted before this if I can, and I might just achieve it this year.

One other thing that pleased me this week is to do with our choir. We are hoping to do a concert of our own next summer, but this Christmas we have been invited to sing at a few local events, so we needed to sort some stagewear so that we all look more or less the same. The choir colour is purple which is very hard to find this year, so the men are wearing black trousers and white shirts, hopefully with a purple bow tie. The ladies have opted for black trousers and a black top and we were hoping to have something purple to lift it. Well I was up at a big open market near Albox two Saturdays ago and one stall had one purple scarf. It was glittery and just the right shde of purple, so I asked if she had any more as I needed twenty of them. She agreed to travel to her supplier in Murcia to try and get some and a few days later she phoned to say she had them. So this Saturday I went over to collect them and took them to choir practice on Wednesday. I was happy because everyone loved them. 

They are lacy and sparkley and very pretty, so I am

glad they met with everyone's approval. Here is Chris acting as a scarf-hanger for the purpose of the photo. It doesn't show the sparkle, but you get the idea. As we are singing outside at some of the events, we have also ordered a purple fleece for everyone to wear, with our logo on the left side. Hopefully they will be ready for our first singing session on 27th.

Apart from that there have been some nice long chats with some of the boys on Skype, which always make me happy, and a little parcel of some new craft materials in the post. I also received a prize from one of the blog challenges I entered, so I have some nice new dies and stamps to try out soon.

Now I have just got three lots of sky photos to show you. This one was taken on Sunday morning on my way to church. It was a bit overcast at first although sun was forecast for later, and suddenly the bank of cloud in front of me opened , and rays of light shone down. It was so lovely I had to stop to take a photo.

The next two were taken earlier this week. I love it when the sun's rays can be see quite distinct from the clouds and sky.

It gets dark soon after 5.30 now, but when I had taken the photo above, I turned around and behind me the sky was still almost blue, and there was pile up of little fluffy clouds, catching some of those dying rays.

 

And this last set were taken this evening. At first the sky was particularly clear and so pretty. Then the light and colour deepened, and gradually the low cloud started to turn pink. Eventually there was just a bright light low down and above it a line of red with wind-whipped grey lashes all along it. I just had to stand and watch until it had all faded away. The Master Painter sure has a way with colours!

Now I will be off to link this up at Annie's Friday Smiles, and Rocking Your World at Virginia's blog. Then I shall have an early night, as Spanish workers are used to an early start, so we need to be up before they arrive. I'll be back tomorrow to do some visiting. 

Thank you to all the lovely people who have continued to visit me regularly and leave lovely comments. I really do appreciate them all. I feel I am back in circulation again now, so I will make sure I return the compliments, and visit you all too.