Rocking Your World 2019; Week 27

Last week I started my post with a photo of my great-grandson Alfie with his football trophy. Well I just couldn't resist starting with another one today. Here he is all ready for his induction day at primary school.

Next to him is his brother Isaac on his induction day back in 2015. They are wearing the same pair of shorts! Good old M&S. I understand, as I too had a family of all boys and was able to pass down the clothes. (At least until the youngest outgrew his older brother!) Today's fabrics are so hard wearing, even for little boys in the playground!

And here is another smiler, big brother Isaac, now almost 8, who came third in a 'Voice' competition. He said/sang his own rap in front of the whole school, staff and visitors. So much confidence.

These two had a big surprise this week when Mum and Dad fetched them from school and took them to their new house! They had managed to keep it a secret while all the negotiations were going on. They now have separate bedrooms, a bigger garden to play in, and a nice playpark  just a few doors down the road, so I am sure they will enjoy settling in over the summer holidays.

And now for my week which started last Friday night at a fundraiser for my church. It was a "Curry and Country" evening. There were around 32 people there and when we arrived we sat around two long tables on a semi covered patio. It had a roof and the sides were netted which we were happy about as the night midges can be a nuisance. We were served with an excellent chicken curry followed by trifle or fruit salad.

Our hostess was Kath Clayton, who is our church pianist. While we were waiting for our meal to be served, and again after we had eaten, her husband John played his guitar and sang some well-known favourites. They were well know to us anyway, as Chris and I used to listen to a lot of country and folk music back in the day... A friend of John's, Billy Curtis, who plays and sings for a living, also came along to sing with John, and they were very entertaining. It was a good evening and raised 400€ for our church funds.

This is our thermometer which lives outside on a wall of our porch which never gets direct sunlight. We always think it gives a more accurate reading of the temperature than the very exposed ones on most farmacias (Chemist shops). This was ours read just as the sun was going down. It had been higher in the day and must have been several degrees more outside the porch even at that time. I am finding it a bit harder to cope with this year, but we don't complain as we are both in the enviable position of not having to do anything unless we want to. I have had several dips in the pool, and the water is just perfect now, but apart from shopping, hanging washing out etc, I spend much of my time indoors during the day. But I have now put our big, industrial strength fan out on the porch, and with that on, I have managed to sit out some afternoons and evenings.

The rest of my post features local 'wildlife' so skip it if you want to. But you know me by now. All the little creepy crawlies fascinate me. So we will start with these little creatures. I went out to water the front yard on Monday night, ending up at the bird of paradise tree, and I couldn't believe how many bugs etc I found on it. Most of them are harmless and I try to just let them be, but I do like to know what they are. I belong to a Facebook group called Wild life in Southern Spain, and there are some very knowledgeable folk on there who help us to identify our finds. I loved all these colourful little beetles, especially the green one with a red fringe and patch on its back. It later turned out they all are nymphs of the shield bug (bottom right picture), in various stages of development and moulting. What a shame they will all end up plain green!

The tree is part of the bean family, and it has long pods of seeds. One of these was covered in tiny flies with red bodies, and then I found one of the spotted beetles feasting on one of them. But I soon found the little flies were feasting on me, and decided it was time to move indoors.

I also found the long green fellow on the right and at first I thought it was a praying mantis. Now I now it is a type of cricket, probably a bush cricket, also know as a Katydid. At night we hear the crickets take over the singing when the cicadas go quiet. Today I went back out to our tree and the cricket was still there, but I did also find a praying mantis (left hand photo).

I also found this almost white spider. There is something far less menacing about a spider that is white rather than black.  It was moving all over the place but I soon realised it was catching bees and paralising them in its web for dinner later.  I was a bit sad to see this as we need our bees, but for now I have left them to do what nature designed them for.

And finally I found a caterpillar. It was already quite fat and had its head well and truly buried in the bud of my tree. Again I left it to enjoy its meal. The tree has masses of flowers on it so we can spare a few. I hope to find out what it will turn into later.

And now for something more amusing. Chris goes out into the yard each morning and cleans up around the pool, and while I popped to the shops this morning, he discovered this little fellow hitching a ride on a foam 'noodle'. It looked a bit stranded out in the centre of the pool, and I don't think they can swim, so he encouraged the noodle to drift to the side and lifted it out so the little gheko cold climb off. I'm not sure how grateful he was as it looks as though he is considering jumping back into the water. I don't think he is just after a drink as we have numerous bowls of water around the yards that are always kept topped up for our cats and dogs, and he could always drink at those. Maybe he was just hoping to cool down a bit.

Now I must away and prepare for our final choir appearance before the summer break. It is not quite a concert. We are calling it an open rehearsal, to which we invite friends and family. I am not sure how many will turn up on such a hot evening, but I am sure our 'regulars' will be there.

So I will get linked up to Annie's Friday Smiles, and Rocking Your World, and if I haven't melted away completely, I will be back again next week.