Rocking Your World 2021: Week 26

I am starting this week with this happy picture. Who can resist smiling back at this bright little face. My great-grandson had every right to feel pleased with himself as he had just scored the winning goal in the final game for his club.

My week has been busy but not very exciting, and my photos reflect that, but I am sharing them anyway.

On Sunday we went over to the plaza outside the 'new' theatre on the edge of the village, for a music occasion. We knew it was a special event to pay homage to an elderly gentleman who had devoted his life to promoting music in our community, but we hadn't realised that there would be quite so much talking. There were personal tributes from his life-long friends, people he has taught to play an instrument, folk from the band which he led for so long, the village Mayor and others. Of course we didn't understand much of it though we could get the gist of what they were saying.

However we were sitting in a lovely place on a warm summer evening. This was our view looking over to the Cabrera mountains.

This rather blurred picture was taken looking the to the other side, where the sun went down leaving the row of palm trees silhouette against the darkening sky.

The gentleman who's life they were celebrating, (Miguel Cánovas), was apparently very fond of the paso doblé, as are most Spanish folk, so the band paraded passed where he was sitting, playing some tunes with this timing.

We stayed to the end, sitting towards the back where social distancing was better observed, as it was very pleasant there, and though it was not a proper concert, there was some good music played, and it was lovely to see the warmth and love of the village folk for this elderly man.

On Monday Chris drove me to Huercal Overa, about a half hour drive from us, for my CAT scan. I was surprised to get the appointment so quickly, but our Covid numbers are very low here now, so the hospital is trying to do some catching up I think. I had an iodine contrast intravenously, which meant I could not take my diabetic medicine for three days, but I have been checking my sugar levels each day and they have not soared as I had feared they would. And I had no other side effects from the injection. The actual scan was over in minutes, so now I just have to wait for a follow-up appointment from the hospital. But I was told it was nothing to worry about so I am not!

At the weekend I called Chris to see the ground outside the kitchen door because it seemed to be constantly wet, even more than recent rainfall could account for, so he checked the meter regularly for a while and we decided we had an underground leak. We tried to phone our insurance head office but apparently they have changed their number recently and hadn't gotten around to informing us! So we turned the water to the house off for most of Sunday and all that night, and the next day we went up to the local office and were given the new number. Water is a valuable commodity here, so we knew they would send someone as soon as they could, and by mid-afternoon he was here. He took up some of the crazy paving and found a fairly serious leak which he repaired straight away. So we were left with a hole in the ground which he will return to fill in when it has had time to dry out.

However, we soon realised that the meter was still whizzing round even though no appliances etc were in use, so we came to the conclusion that there was another leak. I think blocking the major leak put more pressure on the smaller one, causing it to run faster and by the next day a damp patch was forming a short distance away. We were expecting a private plumber to come for an unrelated job so we waited to see what he said, but he is super busy right now and couldn't really stop to help us, and suggested we call the insurance company again. So we had another couple of days keeping the water to the house turned off except when we really needed it, and on Thursday the insurance company sent their plumber back. He took up another slab of paving and found a smaller leak, this time going down into the ground, so he also repaired that one. So now we have two holes in the path and a longer wait for it all to dry out before it can be put right, but at least the mains water is now on!

The reason the private plumber was coming was to fit a new filter and tap in the kitchen. When we came here we inherited a five-way osmosis system under the sink which enabled us to have drinking water on tap (from its own little tap at the side of the sink). This was quite exciting as most people use bottled water for drinking and the big bottles are so heavy and difficult to pour from. But the five filters and main pressure tank took up most of the space under the sink, were expensive to replace each year, and wasted a lot of water. Chris says it takes up to 10 litres of water to produce 1 litre of drinking water. So when we had the chance to buy a new single filter we jumped at the offer. Now we have one small filter, which also needs to be changed annually but is much cheaper, and all the mains water coming to the kitchen sink is now filtered and drinkable, so we only need the one tap. We had a new tap fitted when I had my new kitchen around three years ago. It had the osmosis tap on the same stem as the mains tap but I never liked it, so I am very happy with my new modern line tap which is all we need now, and we are looking forward to considerably lower water bills!

And while on the subject of water, I also have a new 'toy' given to me by my friends who are leaving for UK soon. Before they came here, they owned a big car-recovery and maintenance company and had two of these for their workers. They have used one out here but the other has sat on their patio unused. So I was very happy when they offered it to me. They know I drink a lot of water and will make good use of it.

Because it had stood empty for a long time we bought some of the Spanish equivalent of Milton steriliser and added it to the water bottle, and then we ran it into the tank and left it overnight in there. The next day we emptied it, and ran clean water through it several times. Then we put a bottle of fresh water on it and I now have chilled water to drink at any time. It is nice, because it is cold but not too cold to drink. The water bottle holds 19 ltrs and was incredibly heavy to upturn onto the machine. Originally we were going to buy bottled water for that but now we have the new tap and filter we can fill it from there, and I can take out all the bottles of water that take up all the space in my fridge through the summer. (You might wonder why we still need the filter on the sink, but I also use 'unchilled' drinking water for things like taking medicine, cooking rice etc that will absorb the water, and various other things, and also to drink in the winter when it doesn't need to be chilled, so it is still good to have it on tap.).

As you know, I have been working on some other little projects along side my blanket squares and I recently finished this little summer jacket, and the hat and cardigan set for our new grand-daughter. I posted them off with the little Miffy rabbit I showed a few weeks ago, and they have now arrived safely so I can show them on here.

It is usual in S.Spain for cities and some villages to put up shades across the street where most of their shops are, but this little village just down passed Malaga, went a step further. They must have been working on this as a community all through the winter. How bright and happy is that!

And with that I will link up with Rocking Your World and Annie's Friday Smiles.