Rocking Your World 2020; Week 14

Here I am on day 21 of our lock-down in Spain. I can't believe how quickly the days go by.

I am still feeling very comfortable confined to my house, and so grateful that, as of now, I am still virus free. I hope you all are too.

Our weather continues to be very unseasonably unsettled with a mixture of sunshine, rain, wind and clouds. Knowing that the fresh air is one thing I am missing a bit, I am taking the opportunity to be out in the yard whenever the sun shows it face. Quite often this has been in the morning, with the wind getting up and clouds gathering by mid-day. But first thing in the morning is a lovely time to sit at the back of the house and drink my morning cup of tea while I watch the birds flitting around in the green zone. We have had enough rain for it to still be really green, and it is so still and peaceful. 

There are some birds that I see each morning which are quite a dull brown when seen from a distance, and it is easy to mistake them for sparrows. But when they fly away you see flashes of bright yellow on their chests and under their wing. They are in fact Serins. I have been watching them through Chris' binoculars, but they are too far away for me to take a photo with my phone so here is one from Google images.

They are sometimes know here as Spanish canaries, and they really do sing. Their songs ring out from tree to tree, and it is lovely to hear them.

As I looked around me I started to think what else, beside the birds, made me happy and here are a few of the things I found.

Early morning rain, caught on blades of grass...

A praying mantis nest, still clinging to an oleander stem, despite the wind and rain...

 

Masses of new buds forming on the chumba that tumbles down the slope behind our neighbour's garden...

 

A patch of yellow daisies defiantly blooming through the dead grass and thistles...

 

The abundant blossom on all the orange trees (even though it plays havoc with my hay-fever!)...

Pretty cotton-wool clouds, which we don't see here very often...

 

And it is always a joy when the day starts with a bright blue sky!

Our days pass peacefully until the road sweeper does his daily drive round. Nearly every day he sweeps the streets throughout the village. I sometimes give him a wave and get a friendly salute in return. Here I just managed to lean over our front wall and get a photo of the back of his little vehicle that has big brushes etc on the front.

In our village he is preceded by a man on foot in full 'space-man' type protective gear, who sprays all the roads, walls and pavements with disinfectant and bleach. Our Town hall is doing a wonderful job to keep us as safe as possible, and I am very grateful for that. Earlier this week, when I heard a bit of a commotion outside, I saw a man doing a very thorough job of spraying inside and outside of our big rubbish bins.

In the larger towns they are using a method know as fogging. Here it is being carried out in nearby Vera Town.

I had a nice surprise this morning when a small packet was delivered by a courier. Inside were a few cutting dies.

I ordered these several weeks ago, before all this madness took off, and I knew they were dispatched at the end of February, so it was great that they have now been delivered safely. It is always nice to have some new craft stash to play with.

I have spent quite a lot of time in my craft room, and made good progress with the blanket that has been 'on my hook' for a long time now, but I fancied a change of activity this week so I dug out my old puzzle board. I used to use this a lot, but it hasn't had a puzzle on it for many years now. I mostly do jigsaws on my tablet, but I can only go up to 280 pieces on there, or they become too small for my failing eyes to concentrate on, and I fancied trying one a bit more challenging. I was having a video call with my sister in the week, and her husband showed me a new puzzle that he was starting, and that inspired me to try one. My board is big enough to hold a 1000 piece puzzle, and you can fold it up and put it away at any stage, which is really useful. I didn't have many to choose from but I found a new, still sealed one depicting Mary Cecily Baker's Flower Fairies, which I have always loved. and I knew it would be complete, so that's the one I chose.

I always start by sorting the pieces out, and I have a set of nesting trays designed for this, so as Wednesday was a nice morning I sat out on the porch and did my first sort. The board can be opened out enough to use on my dining table, so I have made a tentative start. I don't know whether I will complete it or not. It is not proving to be very 'interlocking' so it breaks apart if I knock it, and I can see me losing patience with it, but we will see how it goes.

And that is about it for this week. I fear the news will get worse before it gets better. The death toll in Spain is horrific, but we are told that the rate of new infections is slowly coming down, so maybe we are finally turning the corner.

I am more than tired of all the posts about it in social media, so I thought I would end with a few pictures that are non-virus related that have amused me this week. Then I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World. Stay safe everyone, and I'll meet up with you all again next week.

An overworked washing machine...

A creative butcher....

Feeding the ducks...