Friday Smiles 2022: Week 32

Well I am starting this week with a picture of the moon.  It was only half a moon as I took it last weekend, but now it is almost full. I was again testing the settings on my new camera, and I was smiling because it took this so well, and I wasn't even steadying it on a tripod.

We had another fun evening on Monday as it was again time for Noche Blanco, (white night). These happen twice a year aiming to promote the small businesses within our village. Cards are printed showing which shops are taking part and we are encouraged to visit them and get our card stamped, and have the receipts for any purchases made stapled to them. If you get enough stamps and receipts you can enter your card for a prize draw.

This year they made it a bit more of an event by hiring a tourist train to make continuous circuits of the village, stopping outside each participating shop. It was free to ride, and you could hop on and off whenever you wanted to. 

We actually saw it arrive as we were sitting up behind these gray railings having an early evening drink as it pulled up, and like a magnet, it attracted people from everywhere. 

Whenever we saw it during the evening, it was chock-a-block with chatting excited children and their families. It was certainly a good idea to encourage folk to turn up.

Of course we had a little ride but we only stayed on for a few stops as there were lots of children waiting to get a seat. (We are on the far side of this coach).

We visited several of the shops. All those taking part had some sort of display of white balloons outside which was helpful as many of the smaller shops are really only the converted garage of a house, so it is hard to spot them sometimes. The balloons could be seen from the end of each road. Here is a clothes shop down at our end of the village. The lights and music stand on the far left were ready for a man who played lovely mellow music on a saxaphone later in the evening.

This is our bread shop, which is only five minutes walk from our house. I often go in and buy "dos barras" and if I am lucky they are still hot when I get them home. We always have to have a couple of slices with a cup of tea before it cools right down!

We din't visit all the shops that night, nor buy a great deal, but we do like to do our bit to support local businesses so we went to a children's clothes shop run by a Spanish friend, and bought two little outfits for the newest babies in the family. Hopefully our son who is arriving next Tuesday with his family, will be able to take them back for us.

This event officially kicked off at 6.00pm but didn't realy get underway until nearly 8.00. It was due to finish at midnight. It is amazing how many very young cildren are still around so late, but most of them will have had a siesta in the afternoon, and they had no school to get up for the next day. Anyway, the highlight for the tinies didn't start until 10.00. We were hot and a bit footsore by then so we were pleased to find a little table for two available by the window of one of the bars. We sat down and orderd a cold drink each and a plate of chips to share. While we sat there we heard loud music again, and it was different from the train music we could hear whenever it came near us. So I went to the door just in time to see a car pulling a trailer and on it there was a little car covered in red glitter, with Mickey and Minnie mouse sitting in it and waving at the crowd that followed them. 

Then came several more Disney characters on foot, and a huge crowd of young families  following. (It was like the "Pied piper of Hamlin" if you know that story.)

The children loved it and kept stopping by the characters to talk to them or just touch them.

It was quite dark by the time they got down to the main plaza, where they did a short entertainment for the children and this photo was taken of them all with their young fans.

This made the whole event so much more fun and brought lots more families into the village to join in. I just hope the businesses did good trade too, to make it all worth while.

The rest of the week has been fairly quiet. The heat drains my energy so I only leave home when I have to. Noche Blanco was the start of Theatre week so there has been something happening each evening, with a film one night, and the children's theatre last night. Most things happen at the  plaza in front of the new theatre which isn't far from here, and we can listen to them from our porch! But tonight there is some flamenco dancing so we may wander over to watch that for a while.

On Tuesday night they were showing the film 'Emma', in Spanish of course, and our grasp of the language made it more sensible to sit at home that night, but those who went, got rather more than they bargained for. About half way through the film we heard the rumble of thunder rolling around the hills that surround us. It wasn't too close, but then the lightening started, and we were treated to an amazing electrical light show! The flashes came every few seconds and some were right above us. Of course each flash was followed by thunder, but before each rumble had finished the next flash came and so it went on for about an hour. Sadly very little rain came with it. I only felt a couple of drops. But at around 3.00am we woke up to hear quite heavy rain, and even got up to move the new cushions and chairs under the shelter, but again it soon stopped and was not enough to do the ground much good. 

Of course I tried to take photos of the lightening but it is almost impossible to be quick enough, even with a very fast shutter speed. In the end I took a few very short videos, and the next morning I manage to get one or two stills from them.  

The sky really did look lilac and purple, and I could hear the crackle of static electricity  down where I was standing.

When we bought the planters and fountain for my little corner garden, we also bought a butterfly and fish as hanging ornaments, but we never got around to putting them up. But this week Chris bought a lighter-weight drill as he was struggling to use his old one that is very heavy, and to try it out, he hung my ornaments and also a long trailing plant that I liked.

Then he put up some solar lights we chose as the yard can look very dark at night. Buy day they look like little black boxes, but they come into their own at night when they cast light patterns on the wall. He put three of them at the top of the wall behind the new furniture and plants, and three down on the front wall, one on each of the three green columns. It is next Autumn's project to get that area sorted out, but we still put the lights up for now. I think they look really good.

And that my friends is how another week has flown by. So I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles, and come and join you all there.