Rocking Your World 2020; Week 44

Well here we are at Friday again. It wasn't quite the week we had expected as we thought the house would be ringing to the tones of workmen stripping out the bathroom. Unfortunately the work could not start on Monday as planned because much of the new items had not arrived, and they didn't want to start ripping it out until they could put the new stuff in. Of course it is Covid causing delays in the deliveries. We were not even sure whether the workmen would be allowed to come but apparently they are.

When we checked today, we learned that the wall tiles had arrived, but not the ones for the floor, which are expected to arrive early next week, and the other items were sent out from Murcia on Wednesday so they should manage to get here, and may be delivered today. So we are hoping the work will begin by the end of next week.

Our village is not in the best situation right now with 59 active cases of the virus, but the rest of Spain is not doing too well either. The country is in a "State of Alarm" with a nationwide curfew, and each authority has the power to close its area borders. We haven't gone quite that far but police are often seen on the roads in and out of the village to make sure your journey is an essential one.

So once again we are mainly staying at home, but that hasn't been all bad. The weather has been lovely and we are grateful for that. We have been able to eat our midday meal outside on some days, it is pleasantly warm to sit out on the porch with a book or tablet, and on Wednesday I did a lot of washing which dried really quickly.

This morning we decided to do a 'big shop', making sure the larder and fridge were well stocked, so hopefully we will not need to go again during November. I will, of course need milk, bread and vegetables in that time, but they can be bought much nearer to home. The shops were quite quiet, with very little queuing, and there was little traffic on the roads. We went to the big Spanish supermarket Mercadona, and then went on to Iceland - Supermarkets Overseas, for the English items that I really wanted. Marmite was at the top of my list. I eat it regularly now as I try to eat less of the sweet spreads like jam and marmalade, and it is something that they just don't have in Spain. Mercadona was well stocked but there were a lot of empty shelves in Iceland so maybe they are also having problems with deliveries. They may have just been running down the cold counters before the long weekend closure but that would be unusual. Anyway, we got most of what we wanted so that was fine.

It was a good morning's work really, but I am happy not to need to do it again for a good while.

Two things I am constantly running out of is cat food and cat litter. They are both bulky and heavy items so I tend to only buy them when I know I am parked right outside the store. But yesterday I took my son's advice and ordered enough from Amazon to last us until Christmas. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. The first lot arrived today and the rest is coming on Tuesday. Monday is a bank holiday or red day here so there won't be any deliveries then.

I have been busy finishing off a crochet project and a photographic one but I can't show either of them here just yet. Now I am back working on my pocket scarf. I think I will need to use it soon for sitting at my computer. The evenings are decidedly colder.

So the only photos I have for you this week are of a lovely sunset. I saw this sky when I went out to feed the dogs their tea.

Then the sun broke out below the clouds and lit it up more.

Chris came out and said "What are you standing out here for. It's quite chilly?" and I said, "I am waiting for that sky to turn red. I am sure it is going to". And I was right. Before long it was a fiery red but it only lasted for a few minutes before it faded away completely.

So now it is time to link up with Rocking Your World on Virginia's blog, and Annie's Friday Smiles. Hopefully I will have a more exciting week to write about next time