Rocking Your World 2021: Week 20

Many of you will have seen my post last Friday on Facebook so will know that we did indeed both get our second vaccinations and neither of us had any adverse effects so that is something to be very grateful for.  The system was quite good but we did have a long queue to wait in. It was getting a bit warm and I wished I'd thought to bring a bottle of water with me! I think they were a bit late getting started or else they had given out quite a few appointments before the actual start time, but once we got going we soon moved along. There were six lanes of cars feeding into two treatment posts but the stewards kept things going and made sure each lane had their turn.

The venue had changed from last time and it was much better, as first time around there were long traffic jams which must have made life very difficult for anyone living on those roads, and having to deal with it every day. This time we arrived at the expected park gates and signs clearly pointed us along another road and round into what turned out to be an extension of the same park in the rambla (dry river bed). We had no idea it even existed. It was huge, and well laid out with a big lake that had a water spout in it, playing fields, children's play equipment, seating shaded by trees and much more. When vaccinations have finished I shall try to get back there to have a proper look around. After our vaccination we were told to drive on a little way and wait for 10 minutes before leaving. We were up on the edge of the rambla so we could look down onto the park and I took these photos.

We could also look across the rambla at Vera town and pick out a few places. In the far distance, on the little mound to the left in this picture, we could just make out that it was the hill with the "Sacred Heart of Christ" statue on it. I have walked up to this a few times but it is quite a climb. 

Because I know my phone camera has an excellent zoom feature I tried to take a photo of the statue. However it has to be held very steady when using the zoom, and even when I tried resting it on Chris' shoulder, I still only managed a very blurred photo. I could see it much more clearly than this, so I was frustrated that I couldn't hold the camera. So when I got home I browsed Amazon and have bought a small selfie stick/tripod with a remote trigger, and it arrived today. So hopefully I will be more successful next time; (providing I remember to take it with me of course!).

The weekend passed quickly as usual and this week started off beautifully sunny and warm but very, very windy. Each time we closed a door another one was sucked open, and in the end we had to shut most of the doors and windows. The animals didn't like it, and they all stayed indoors most of the day. Kim knows how to make himself comfortable anyway!

On Tuesday I needed to go to the market so I got ready nice and early so it wasn't too busy. I was pleased to find the first of the fresh apricots were there. They are my absolute favourite of the soft fruit as long as they are ripe enough, so I bought some of them, as well as a kilo of little mandarins. I was surprised to see these as their season usually ends in January or February. But they have obviously bred a later version. The man who served me, in the usual market patter, told me they were beautiful, and the smaller they are the sweeter they taste, and I must say they have a lot of flavour and we are enjoying them.

I love to see all the little birds that visit us for the summer, and right now there are scores of house martins arriving. They return to their old nests and the nests are protected, so you are not allowed to remove them. There is a tall house in our street that has a row of nests under its eaves and I sometimes stand there just watching the birds fly in and out with food for their babies, who you can hear chirping. They never stop. I don't know when they eat for themselves, but it is a constant series of swooping in, and flying off again. It was difficult to get photos because the adults move too fast, and the nests are in the shade, but of course I had a go anyway. Later in the year we will see all the babies lining up on the telegraph wires, practising flying before they all take off for another year. We also have some swallows in the village now and we have seen some of them on the wires across our garden, but I don't know where they nest.

I was in the garden this week and I noticed the flowers on the chumba cactus next door are all opening. They tumble down the side of the green zone so I cannot see them very well, but they are beautiful. They range from creamy yellow to dark red and each one only last for a day, but there are plenty more the next day. The bees love them.

This little one made me smile. The side of our house, outside the kitchen door is really only a path of fairly rough crazy paving, with two small areas cut out for our lemon tree and the bougainvillea. Even on the warmest summer days it can be quite chilly first thing in the morning, and it is also a bit of a wind tunnel, but there in the concrete was this little flower. Its stem and leaves were brown and dry but it still produced a flower to smile at me that morning. As I have said before; isn't nature wonderful!

And finally here are some of the lovely flowers in our garden this week. The roses are beautiful and at their best, and the Bird of Paradise tree is starting to flower. The kalenchoe (bright pink) has been thrown away once because I thought it was dead, but it proved me wrong!

And finally I saw this image this week and it really made me chuckle. It is the front of a tee-shirt, hence the fold shadows. It is the look of innocence on the cats face that caught my eye. "What me?"

So I will now link up with Rocking Your World and Annie's Friday Smiles. I hope you all have plenty to smile about too.