Rocking Your World 2021; Week 10

Another fairly peaceful week has passed though it hasn't been the best weather-wise. The sky has been grey most days and there have been a few 'very dirty' showers of rain. We have given up cleaning the black glass table in our porch until the sun comes back. Right now it looks like another patch of garden!

The sun does break through occasionally but most evenings this is the only sunset we see.

(I still like looking at it, and watching to see how it changes).

I did manage to grab the two sunniest mornings to do two big loads of washing, and got it dry outside, so I was grateful for that. I do not own a tumble drier, and have very few places to hang washing indoors, so I need to make the most of any chances of outdoor drying. We have a very good weather app on our phones/computers, which is usually very accurate and that helps us to plan our weeks.

Our new office chairs arrived, one day later that expected, but the company did write to warn us and apologise for the delay. They are good sturdy chairs with a comfortably padded seat that slides backwards and forwards, as well adjusting to the required height. The back lifts up and down as does the head rest, as well as reclining and locking in one of three places. There is also a pump to increase the lumber support which I like. Even the arms can be raised or lowered, so they fit under the top of my desk. All in all we are very pleased with them. So I hope they last for a nice long time.

I decided to do some more baking but checking my cupboards I found I was down to enough strong flour, and enough spelt flour, for one loaf of each. I also only had one small portion of my preferred fresh yeast, and a small amount of dried yeast that was a month out of date so I wasn't sure how well it would work. But I went ahead using the dried yeast with the spelt flour and made a 'tin' loaf that worked really well. I like the spelt flour. It makes a nice even textured loaf without any huge air holes, and it rises well if I am patient and leave it long enough.

Then I used the strong flour and the fresh yeast to make a fruit loaf, using my Hot cross bun recipe. It also worked well, but I turned it out of it's tin a bit too soon which flattened it a little. But it still tastes fine. I love a slice toasted for breakfast or tea.

I was in the sitting room the other day, playing around with the settings on this phone camera, and I caught Tango sitting on one of the lower platforms of the cat tower, just staring at me. It is rare to get a picture of him actually looking at me. He is around ten years old now and is beginning to look his age. His fur has lost some of its colour, and is harder to keep looking nice, but he is still gorgeous, and a real comfort lover. He often sits on my lap because he  knows I won't let Tolly torment him there.

Tolly is a born tormenter. He really just wants someone to play with, and he goes to Tango because the others will fight him off, while Tango is so laid back, and he tolerates him until he gets a bit too wild!

They take it in turns to rest on the tower platforms, but don't often both lay on at the same time. But that night Tolly was up on the top platform. It is right by our big mirror, and although he doesn't react much to his reflection, he seems to prefer laying with his back to us, so he can keep an eye on what 'that other cat' is doing.

He is ten months old now, bigger than any of the other cats, and is developing his full colours. He has a very dark face which is typical for his breed, but still has beautiful blue eyes. His feet still have their white mittens, and he has one black heel, and is getting darker down his back towards his tail. He has the most full, fluffy tail I have seen on a cat, and he often carries it high above him. I am slowly weaning him off kitten food and introducing a little adult food in each meal, so when this lot is all gone, he can eat the same as the others, which will make life a bit easier.

We do have an adequate internet in the village, but it sometimes let us down and just drops for a while, and the speed could be faster, so we were pleased to see workmen outside the house this morning. They were laying cables for a fibre network system, and when I talked to one of them, he said it should be up and running in two to three weeks time. When they remade our road, back some ten years ago, we knew they built in the potential for underground cables instead of all the overhead ones that are everywhere, so it is good to see that being put to use.

Another thing we are very grateful for is that the number of virus cases here is dropping, not only in our village, but all over the province and most of the country. We are now well below the cut off point of 500 cases per 100,000, so when the next level of restrictions is announce tonight, we are very hopeful that we will no longer be confined to the village. We will be able to move around within the boundaries of Andalucía, go to larger supermarkets for a wider choice of goods, and drive down to the beach for a sea-front walk, all of which will be most welcome.

So now I will just link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your world.