Rocking YOUR World 2020; Week 45

So, has this week had some golden moments for you? I do hope so. If it has, why not follow me to share them on Annie's Friday Smiles or Rocking Your World on Virginia's blog.

I think the highlight of my week was being told I could now share some exciting news. Our fourth son, Jonathan and his wife Ella, are expecting their first baby in April. It is not the best world to be bringing a new life into, but they are so excited and so am I. I have known for a while, but I promised not to say anything until they had had their next scan. That happened last week and they were told the baby is fine, Ella is healthy, and it is a low-risk pregnancy, so now they are sharing the news with their friends, and have said I can talk about it too.Let's hope we are in a better place by next April. Her next scan is on 20th of this month and then we should know whether it is a girl or boy.

On Wednesday we knew rain was forecast for late evening, so we weren't surprised to be woken up in the early hours by thunder and lightening, and heavy rain. It continued on and off all day though only as intermittent light showers. It is the first proper rain we have had for months so we are expecting the green zone to suddenly become green again. It was very much needed.

It was not perhaps the weather we would have chosen as yesterday the men arrived to start on our bathroom. This is a picture I took the day before when I had stripped it of all but essentials.

It was impossible to take one of the whole room from the doorway, so this is the corner in the front left of the one above, showing the bit that I couldn't see from the doorway.
The first thing the men did was remove most of the 'furniture' and strip the tiles from the walls and floors. Apparently when they work in newer houses, the tiles almost 'jump off the walls'. Well ours weren't jumping at all, and it took a lot of work with hammers and drills to get this far. Sufficient to say we had a very noisy day.

I took this one when they went off for some lunch. By the end of the day they had just about cleared the walls and floor, and removed the patches of cement, so today they are filling the floor holes from the new plumbing, replacing some badly worn pipes, and putting in the shower tray, and tomorrow morning they are coming back to tile the walls. I admire the Spanish work ethic. When they start a job they crack on and only stop for a short coffee, and then a lunch break. The tilers are two Spanish men who work for the English company contracted for the whole job. It is run by a lovely couple we have got to know quite well. The wife, and her father draw the plans and work out the estimates, her husband does all the plumbing, and a second English man does any building, assembles cabinets etc. They must be a good team for three of them to mange to work together in our fairly small bathroom. It is good to see it getting done.

My only other photos are from the garden, taken on a greyish day, but before the rain came. I just happened to notice that the bright pink bougainvillea that we cut back quite hard a few weeks ago, is now growing again, and has some lovely new flowers on it. Rather like the rhododendrons in UK, the one with mauve flowers is the common one and grows like a weed all over the place. This is the one we have finally got under control, outside my kitchen window. But I always wanted one of the bright pink ones, and one day I saw a sad little cutting in the corner of the garden centre. It was really only a bare stick, with a couple of leaves on it and I think we paid 1€ for it. I took it home and gave it lots of TLC, and when I was fairly sure it would survive, Chris planted it just beyond our back railings so I could encourage it to grow up a fence there, and along the railings, which it has now done. And for most of the year it now has flowers on, and is a riotous patch of colour even on the grey days.

I am happy to say the number of active virus cases in the village has almost halved, so hopefully the outbreak is now under control. Of course we are still taking great care. And our province , along with major cities, have closed their borders, so I thought I would show you how this is enforced!

Of course this is only possible because we have far fewer main roads leading in and out of our towns and cities than you do, and it is an extreme measure,only used in the worst affected areas. Usually a policeman waving you down to check on the reason for your journey is sufficient.

And to end on a happy note, here a picture that caught my eye when  a friend posted it on Facebook. Those who know me well will understand why I like it. I wouldn't want to make it, but I understand it was a joint effort. I don't know the location. I believe I saw it, or something similar, last year, but I just had to have a second look.

So I will link this up now, (links at top of post), and see you all next week.