Friday Smiles 2022; Week 22

I seem to have been busy this week, yet I have very little to write about.

I am pleased to say that the cushions for the outside furniture are finished and the planters are filled. 

We returned to the garden centre on Saturday to buy some bags of medium gravel to line the base of the planters and help with drainage as they only have one central drainage hole, and while we were there we bought a pretty red rose to go in one of them. Then we set to and got them all planted up. Everything has settled in nicely, and hopefully we will have some colour there for many weeks to come.

As an extra bonus we have ordered two 'Poang' chairs (IKEA's iconic S-shaped wooden frame chairs). We have had ours for many years, back from when we had our first two pups who chewed the arm rests quite badly. They have been extra seating in the main room for much of the time, but for the last few years they have been our comfortable seating out in the fly-free area, where they have been rained on, suffered a few sand storms, and been beds for most of the animals. But we sit in them every day. It is the one place I can relax in the shade, so it is my 'go-to'seat.  Sadly a couple of weeks ago the seat strapping gave out on Chris' and then a few days later the same thing happened to mine. We did consider restrapping the bases, but really the cushions are almost worn through too, so it seemed reasonable to just replace them. It helped that IKEA have removed their delivery 'zones' which we used to be just outside of, and will now deliver to any postcode in a much wider area. The new ones are due for delivery on Monday. Our nearest IKEA is in Murcia which is a longish drive for us now, and even dismantled, we would have struggled to get two chairs and two matching footstools into our car. We may still have a go at repairing the two old ones as extra outdoor seating when the family come to visit in August.

On Sunday we had planned an afternoon out in Vera for the Lions Club annual Party in the Park. We have been a couple of times before and have always enjoyed it. However it was even hotter than usual and was almost too hot to enjoy wandering round the stalls and sitting in the main area to watch acts on the big stage. So we ended up going to a smaller courtyard labelled 'The Chill Out Bar'. Here we could at least sit down with a cold drink, and we soon found a table under the shade of big sails stretched across the area. For once the mojito is mine, and my chilly bottle of cold water was Chris'! (Other cups and cans were from previous users of the table). When we arrived there was a good small group of country/folk singers and we enjoyed listening to them.

Later it was the turn of Fusion, a community charity band who covered some Irish songs,and songs from a few years back so we actually knew them! and they put on a good hour's entertainment. The lady in red in the centre is our vet's assisstant so we know her quite well. 

Soon after that we went home to feed Kim and the cats, and to cool down in the pool. I am glad we went despite the heat. They are the one charity that we have seen help so many folk around here, both English and Spanish, so I like to support them when I can.

Amazingly we managed to visit all the bars on the Tapas Route, something we don't usually acheive. It took us to a couple of bars that we don't normally go to, and one was very nice. I knew they had changed hands and the name had changed, but we had not been there since the takeover. It has been really well decorated and the staff were friendly and helpful. Their tapas were also very good! Unfortunately it is just too far outside of the village for us to walk to it, but we could still visit it sometimes, maybe at lunchtime, as I drink very little so am still good to drive us home. But neither of us choose to drive at night now unless we have to. We sat in the outside area of the bar where there was  a small additional bar, a children's play area and a huge covered patio with an interesting roof. You can see part of it in ths picture.

To one side of this area there was a tall rock face which has some intersting green plants growing up it and a high waterfall adding a pleasant relaxing sound.

Today I spent the morning clearing our bedroom. It tends to get a lot of 'stuff' dumped in it as we don't have a lot of storage space and often can't think where to put things. But now it is all clear which will help me feel more relaxed tonight. I have one bag of 'very good' clothes that are going to the Lions charity shop tomorrow, two bags of 'well used but wearable' clothes that have gone in the Red Cross dumpster at the edge of the village, and a big bag of general rubbish to go out to the bin tonight. So it was a good morning's work but it left me feeling in need of a rest.

It has continued to be extraordinarily hot all week. We have been glad of the pool to slip into for a cool down most days. When it is so hot, it really pays to get going as early as possible in the mornings and getting what needs to be done, done and dusted by lunchtime, so you can relax in the afternoons.

Unfortuantely, just as were going out on Saturday I noticed a wet area on the path outside the kitchen door, and we soon realised that we have another underground leak. So we have been turning the water off whenever we can, as we are on a meter, and once you have used a certain amount, the bill rises quite steeply. That is understandable as water is a valuable commodity out here, but we had trouble contacting our insurance company, so the man only came to fix it today. However he soon located the leak and mended it, and in a few days time, when the ground has dried out, he will be back to repair the hole in the path! The insurance will only pay for a reapir, so we have found another plumber who will be round soon, to estimate replacing all the pipe from the house, as it is getting old now, and has needed to be repaired three times in the last few years. But he is pretty busy so we may have to wait a while for that, but for now it is fine.

In order to fix the leak we had to move a plastic chair that is Tango's favourite place to snooze in the mornings. He was not impressed but I had to smile when I went out again and found him curled up unter a stool that we had left on top of a cupboard. Anywhere for a bit of shade!

And finally I have two family photos that I have been sent this week. This is our great-grandson Isaac. He likes doing cross country and over the past month he has been involved in the inter-schools competion and after four races he finished in second place for years 5/6 boys, so helping his school to come out on top over all. That is quite an acheivement.

And here he is with his parents and his younger brother Alfie. Baby boy number three is expected to put in an appearance in just four weeks time!

And this is our youngest grand-daughter Aisling with her daddy. Jonathan sent it to me. She is looking so tall and straight, and so much older than when I saw her a month ago, because she has found her feet and is now walking everywhere. 

And with that I will pop over to link up with Annie's Friday Smiles. I hope I managed to visit everyone this week. Apologies if I missed you. Some days when it is too hot, I don't come down to my computer at all.