Friday Smiles 2022; Week 23

As Friday rolls round yet again, it is time to look back at what has made us smile. I am certainly smiling at our two new seats in the fly-free porch. They arrived, as promised, on Monday, and soon Chris had them assembled. They are very comfortable and it is nice not to worry in case you fall through the seat! To be honest the matching foot rests are a little bigger than we had expected, but I do need to put my feet up whenever possible, so they are a real bonus. They are also very sturdy and will double as two extra seats when the family visit in August.

On Monday we needed to visit an office in Garrucha, so as soon as the chairs had been delivered we set off, only to find the office in question was closed all week for staff holidays! So we wandered back to where we had parked the car, and on the way we saw this huge barge being towed into the port by tugs. There is usually one of these moored at the port, taking on vast loads of gravel that is brought from a quarry near Sorbas by a continuous stream of lorries, all day every day, except for Sundays, so we are used to seeing them, and often there are three or more moored out at sea, waiting for their turn to come in and load up, but this is the first time we have seen one being towed in for the last stretch, and it made us realise just how huge they are.

Tuesday was market day and I went over to it to see whether they still had any strawberries. Our strawberry season is much earlier than in UK where they are just getting plentiful now. I realised that as I have been buying fresh aprecots, nectarines and cherries the past couple of weeks, the strawberries must be almost over. Sure enough the first two fruit stalls did not have any, but I did find one stall that had a few and I bought up four trays (1 kg each), in order to make some jam. I haven't done much jam making for the past two years as I was wary of selling from my home kitchen while everyone was being so health conscious, and also I had no real market to sell the surplus. But I am now going to my sewing group and sometimes to church, plus strawberry jam is the one that Chris will eat so I like to have some in the house all year for our own use, so I was pleased to get a few fruit.

So this morning, out came my big preserving pan and soon I had rich red brew bubbling away. It set really fast and I was able to make seventeen jars of jam. 

I think one ploy of the retailers is to make the jars a little smaller than they used to be, rather than raise the price per jar, so maybe that is why I got so many out of my mixture. I was only expecting to get about fourteen jars. Of course they need labels now. I keep a file of labels for any jams and pickles I have made, as I took time to make sure I had the ingredients in correct Spanish, and don't want to do it again every time I make some. So I soon had a page printed off. I just need to write a tiny date on them and add them to the jars, and they will be good to go.

I saw this photo on Facebook today and thought it was quite interesting. I often talk about Mojacar Playa, and sometimes about the Pueblo, but this is the first time I have seen them together on one photo. It is viewed from just off the coast so I suspect it was taken by a drone. The front part is the sea and then the main road that runs along it, and then all the white apartments and holiday houses that make up Mojacar Playa.(They go back further than I has realised).  Beyond that the ground rises steeply until you come to the little white town of Mojacar Pueblo, which has been listed as one of the most beautiful places in Spain. It is a warren of narrow streets, steep rises and falls, pretty patios and cafés, and a small touristy-type shops. Only the outer edges can be reached by car, so it is a good place for a quite stroll through the streets and a refreshing drink on a shady plaza.

I have done a bit in my craft room this week. With the fan on gently behind me, it is the coolest spot late morning and early afternoon, before the sun gets round here. I had a lot of cards to make before the Summer holiday season starts and everything becomes such hard work! So I have been busy with those.

We watched quite a bit of the Jubilee celebrations on TV and enjoyed seeing everyone so happy. I was quite glad I wasn't in the middle of those crowds though. 

I managed not to watch too much of the political shennanigans that have been going on this week. I am not very into politics, but the current situation just makes me mad, and sad for my home country. I just hope the right leader comes along to sort it out soon. 

I have also had long chats with son Ben and my sister Jean, and have dipped in and out of the pool to cool down between tasks.

It has been very hot all week, in the upper thirties most days, and the sky has been mostly clear, so there haven't been many nice sunsets to enjoy, but I did just spot this out the corner of my eye, as I sat here at my computer one evening,  and I rushed out to take a picture.

It didn't last long, and soon settled down into a lovely golden glow.

And with that I will head over to Annie's blog and see what has made you smile this week.