I have very little news this week as Spain seems to now be affected more than UK by the virus. Not all areas have reacted quickly but Andalucía are taking it very seriously and are proactive in trying to slow down its progress. With immediate effect in some places, and from Monday in others, all schools and colleges are closed, all municipal venues are closed and there are no street markets etc. Every few minutes today, the local news station has posted cancellation of another concert, or class. We have no church services, no choir practices, and only Farmacías and food shops will be open. So next week will be even quieter.
On the positive side, I have done my main shop for the month and managed to top up with a few extras yesterday, so food will not be a problem. Chris has new inhalers for his CPOD and I have a full month's prescription for my diabetes etc, so we will keep ourselves to ourselves quite happily for now. I was quite surprised at how busy the shops were. I guess I hadn't realised how much the 'panic' is taking hold. I am really quite perplexed by the rush on toilet rolls. Surely there are other things available if necessary. Here nearly every bathroom has a bidet so it is not a problem, but the shelf was still empty in the shops. The strange thing is that apart from hand-sanitizer, which I can understand up to a point, there didn't seem to be a rush on anything else. I am sure there are lots of things I would worry about more than toilet paper, but as I say, I think we have enough of most things to see us through, so I hope I will not have to go to the supermarket again for a while.
Think of all the paper-crafting and crochet I will be able to do, and maybe even sort a few jobs around the house too!
I am hoping I might have my blanket finished to show you next week. I am working on the border now.
A few weeks ago I showed some new alcohol pens I had ordered online, which I am quite pleased with but they didn't quite fill the gaps in my colour range I was hoping for. So I searched again and found the site in UK that sells individual copic markers, so when my new pension came in I ordered a few more. I had to smile when they arrived. This was my package.
One, extremely well taped up, very full, padded envelope.
Inside, the pens were neatly packed in threes, in small boxes which exactly fitted in the envelop. I bet if they had come from Amazon they would at least have been in a shoe-box size parcel with loads of plastic balloon padding to stop them moving!
I am delighted with the pens and my colour range is now complete. Although most of my pens are copic ciao markers, I also have some from four different makes, so finding a colour match can be a challenge. So I spent most of yesterday and today, starting with my copic colour chart and inserting any others where they fitted best, then printing out the new chart and adding all the colour samples. It will now be much easier to select the pens I want, and I can't explain it, but I get an enormous amount of satisfaction from having done this!
I belong to a Facebook group called Wild-life in Southern Spain, where people post photos of all sorts of bugs, animals and plants for other members to identify, and this week someone posted this picture.
From those who responded I learned that they are Barbary beetles, quite common here, and they eat flowers, and more specifically pollen, so it is advisable to keep them off the citrus blossom just appearing now. One person said they love arum lilies and as my plant has just had its first flower, I went out to have a look, and sure enough there was not just one, but six of the little critters feasting on its stamen. They flew off when I tried to get a closer look. I hope they are not doing any lasting damage.
Now I am linking up with Anne's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World, and hopefully I will be back next week. Stay safe everyone.
6 comments:
Ah your government sounds like it is reacting a little more proactively than ours, fingers and toes crossed that things sort themselves out pronto. I'm glad you managed to get your shopping sorted, I seem to have shopped more over this week than I do normally which is ridiculous. I'm feeling rough at the moment, so i've spent the last two days inside and I must admit I've got an awful lot of scrapbooking done - so that is definitely a positive.
Sending you hugs
We just got word that the schools are closing for a minimum of 2 weeks here in Virginia too. People are reported buying shopping carts full of toilet paper here too (?!) Stay healthy and craft on!
It's all very scary. We are in France at the moment and today they decided to close some of the ski resorts that are close to the Italian border though at the moment the area where we are will be staying open. Just hoping we can do some food shopping when we get home. Take care and hugs, Angela xXx
Oh dear - this TP is a real worry - thankfully I have ample :) (We are not immune to the panic buying here in New Zealand either)
It will certainly be a quiet time for you in the next few weeks Kate - enjoy it while you can and craft to your hearts content!
We are having a family gathering next week to mark what would have been DH's 80th, and to finalize his headstone (I have been very slow in getting that organised) but now there are family from Australia who cannot come, due to our travel restrictions!
Those beetles don't look very nice visitors at all - hope you arums survive
Blessings
Maxine
I wrote my blog on Thursday when no new measures had been proclaimed, but as you say,over the weekend everything kicked into action and we are practically shut down. Everything is cancelled, and I, like you have enough food in the house. I am a cook, so I always have a full pantry.
I did smile at your Corona van with mask. I don't remember the Corona van. I don't think we had those in Holland, but it's funny none-the-less.
I've not seen that beetle, but now I know what it's called, I will look out for it (it might be too cold of course where we are)
I am impressed with the amount of markers that you have. I have about twenty and thought that was a lot. But it is a good idea to make a chart with all the colours. Well done.
Luckily I have enough toilet paper and tissues, so I am not affected by empty shelves.
I think we shall all get a lot of crafting/crocheting/baking etc done during the 'shut-down'.
Stay safe, (and healthy),
Hugs,
Lisca
Hi there Kate, popped over to let uou know that you're in my thoughts and prayers.. all of you there. I've stocked up too, but that's not unusual for me. I haven't bought anymore loo paper, but that's because there is none there. I have enough for present. I also did buy in more essential ie lufe threatening meds though, as they come from Sth Africa. A lot of good snd loo paper are local bug not medicines. Chemist has limit of one only... of non script items.
Sorry for such late visit .. 😊 running around quickly to catch up, I hope!'
Thanks for sharing, and may God bless you.
Hugs, Shaz in Oz.x
{Wonderful Words of Life - Shaz in Oz}
{Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz}
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