Friday Smiles 2022: Week 33

We had one more fun filled week to bring the summer season to a close. It doesn't officially end until the last day of August but I think we have had all the special events for this summer.

As I mentioned before, last week was Theatre Week in the village, and one evening we went over to the plaza for a Flamenco concert. Although it wasn't quite what we had expected it was a very enjoyable evening. It took place on the out-door stage so we all sat on chairs set out on the big plaza at the front of the theatre. We had flood lit palm trees to the right of us, and on the left a reluctant full moon struggled to escape from slow moving drifts of cloud. It did break through in the end.

The concert was just three people; an excellent Spanish guitarist who played non-stop the whole time, a man singing in the special flamenco style with such passion and emotion. I wished I could understand him better. And thirdly a lady who danced so elegantly. 

She made such perfect shapes with her body and her hands, and she managed four changes of costume with only brief moments when she left the stage.

Sunday was the last night of Theatre Week and this is always marked by some form of family street entertainment. This year it was a group from Vera called Monocle. They consisted of two huge puppets sitting on 'sort of' tricycles which were steered by young people from the back. They looked quite hard to control but they managed to get them round some narrow streets and tight corners.

A third trike was motorised and was driven by one man. It had a huge 'blimp' on top and another man ran ahead to warn him each time they were approaching an overhead cable so he could deflate the blimp and re-inflate it after they were through! 

He had a small metal box beside him and every now and then he pressed a button and it shot up bright flames followed by billowing smoke. I tried to keep just ahead of him!

They took the usual route from the lower plaza, up through some of the side strets, past the Town Hall and ending at the church, and then returned by the parallel road so lots of families could enjoy the spactacle from their own balconies. Every now and then they would stop and the group members not manning the trikes would engage the children in a dance up and down the street, or throw their huge inflatable balls at them to head back.  

Of course there was a man prancing around on blades. It always amazes me how good they are at moving on them. He had one of the cannons that blasts out paper streamers and the children love collecting them up to see who can get the most. 

It was a really fun time for everyone.

Wednesday I found I had some strange fish in my pool! Our son Mike and his family arrived around 10.00pm. After a long day of travelling, of course they wanted to cool down in the pool before going to bed.

The boys have grown up so much since their last visit so I can't bundle them into the same bed anymore, and we decided the oldest lad would be cooler and more comfortable if he slept on the fold-up bed in the hall. Mike was up just before me and had opened the porch door so when I came out this is what I found!

Finlay and Kim are deffinitely best friends now. They have a house full of dogs and cats at home, so they are quite at ease with our animals.

Tango, who we think may have damaged kidneys, drinks a lot of water, on and off all day.(He has had a urinary tract condition ever since we had him which is controlled by a special diet). He mainly uses his water fountain in the hall, but we caught him taking advantage of the glasses of water left on the ground by the youngsters.

Last night was family barbecue night with Mike doing the cooking I am glad to say. 

The others were sitting at the table, probably thinking "Why are we waiting?". But we were all well fed and enjoyed a jug of sangria. (which is why I didn't get this post written  like I normally do!)

They are here with us until next Thursday, so we have more fun to come.

They have gone out for a while so I am grabbing a peaceful hour to write this, link up with Annie's Friday Smiles,  and hopefully get to visit each of you.