Friday Smiles 2025 Week 5

It may be colder each day and very windy, but Spring has sprung! Our back railings are well covered with the bright pink bougainvillea now, but peering between that the dull green of an old olive tree, you can just glimpse an ancient almond tree, and Yes, it has blossom on it. 

The trees are in the green zone, an area behind our house which is set aside as "not to be built on". It belongs to someone, but no-one seems quite sure who, and certainly no-one ever looks after it. So gradually the trees are dying off and the ground is more and more impacted where children run through it, and occasionally a herd of goats come to crop the remaining plants. But this old almond tree, that looks completely dead all winter, manages to throw out some blossom each spring. Sometimes a street person will wander through searching for a few nuts to chew, but I don't think it produces much fruit now. The land is too dry.

On our side of the railings we have a tiny square of plantable land where our baby grapefruit tree grows, but it is a bit of a wind tunnel and it didn't manage to hold on to any fruit this year. But next to it I planted a cutting that I took from a shrub in a friends garden when she moved house years ago, and that is prospering. It has grown into a tall bushy shrub which we have to prune back quite hard each year, but at this time of year it is covered with flower buds that are just opening. You can see their spears sticking up from the top, as well as down the sides. The flowers are white with a pale pink stripe and they remind me of antirrhrinum flowers or snapdragons. But after years of searching on line and asking various gardening groups, no-one has been able to tell me its name. I'd love to know, but I enjoy it anyway.

I hope no-one had serious damage with the storms this week. Once again we seem to be right on the edge of it, and the rain passed us by except for a few random drops, but the wind has been ferocious! I was foolish enough to think I could dry my sheets on the line on Tuesday, so I double pegged everything and checked every now and then to see it was still there. But sadly, the sheet was still pegged to the line but the main post of the line broke and my sheets were blowing back and forth on the ground. Chris spent yesterday afternoon trying to fix it, but his drill bits were not suitable. So he had some more delivered today and the line is half fixed. It took a lot of power to drill so now we are waiting for his drill to recharge. It is not a major job but all these things get harder as we get older so they take longer, but thank goodness for power tools to help us. (The sheets have been re-washed and now waiting for a line so I can hang them outside again - if it is calmer tomorrow)

It is much colder this week and I have been curled up in my chair with a book most afternoons. I make good use of my Kindle subscription at this time of year.

In the evening I still turn to crochet while I am watching TV. We enjoyed the Traitors, and I love 'Call the Midwife' on a Sunday evening. I think Tuesday was the end of this set of Silent Witness so I don't know what we will be watching now. But I did manage to finish one of the blankets I showed last week. I went with the 5 x 5 squares in the end and I am peased with  it now it is done. So just the pink one to put together now, and I have reduced a big bag of left over yarn, down to few small balls so that is a good job done. What next? I have no idea.

I am still trying to rehome my lovely cats. I am a bit surprised it has taken so long. I wanted an up-to-date photo of Leo to show, and he obligingly posed for me. Isn't he splendid!

And with that I am going to prepare this for publishing tomorrow to link up with Annie's Friday Smiles.

Friday Smiles # Week 4

Well here we are again. It seems to have been a short week, and looking back I can't think of much to write about. But as promised last week, I did make some picallili and on Wednesday, well over half of it was sold, with people saying they would have another jar next week too. As it is quite expesive to make, I have reclaimed my costs but all the profit will go to the food bank the sewing group supports, and when it is all sold, it will have raised 30€ for them, so that is good.

I have also been busy each evening with my crocheted squares, and now I have used up much of the yarn I decided to count up and see how many I had made. I found I had enough to make one 4 x 5 squares blanket,  and one 4 x 6 squares, though I may change that to a 5 x 5. I did a quick layout and chose the pink squares to make the first blanket with a few pale turquoise to add interest.

The rest were mainly blues, greens and a few in cream, and I laid them out like this for now.

Now I have the job of joining them all together and making some kind of an edge. These are a good size for the little buggies most mums seem to have now, and the bigger one would serve in a cot too. They will again go to the food bank for new mums to use.

I am writing this early as we have to go to the hospital this afternoon for an eye test for Chris, to see whether his injections have had the desired effect.

That's about it for this week so here are a couple of sunset skies to close with.

So now I am ready to post this tomorrow and link up with Annie's Friday Smiles here.

Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 3

This week has been a bright but chilly one. Several days have started out grey but soon the sun is out, and in a sheltered spot with the sun right on you, it is almost warm, but the wind has a nip in it that can take you by surprise. But we have taken the opportunity of any bright ones to have a short walk around the village. We have discovered some side streets that we have never been down before. 

But last Friday we went to our new chosen venue for our fish and chips, which is right along the Mojacar sea front. So after our dinner we drove home the long way round, via Garucha, and stopped off at the marina for a walk around the boats. There are always plenty of private yatchs and small craft moored around the walkways, and little silver fish dart in and out of them, easily spotted as the water is quite clear. The larger fishing vessels moor further along on the quayside where they unload their catch each day.

At the end of the marina you are almost at the working port where the barges come to load and reload mostly gravel and yeso (gypsum or plaster). You can tell how full they are by how low they sit in the water.

On Friday the nearest ship to us was a recue vessel, painted bright red, but apparently resting that day.

Just beyond that a huge barge was fully loaded and ready to set off for the open sea again. We watched two little tug boats attatch themselves to the ends of the barge and gradually lead it safely out of the port.

Then they left it to go on its way and came back until they were needed again.

This morning it was brighter but even colder and I decided to go for a bit longer walk than we usually do. Chris wasn't ready to come out as he was working on something on his computer, so I went on my own.

I crossed the main road at the roundabout and went towards the Huerta Nueva urbanisation, but turned right at the first junction. This is a road we often walked our two big dogs along, and they loved it because the surrounding campo was full of rabbits. Not that they ever caught one, but they enjoyed the hunt and chase. Today it was deserted and I enjoyed wandering along with just my own thoughts for company.

At the end of the road you come to the start of the rambla (dry river bed) that runs around the right side of the village. Unlike the green zone that runs behind our house, which is almost left to go wild with a few wizerned orange and almond trees and a few footpaths where the children play, the rambla is quite tidy and organised now. Except for the first little bit which was still wet, the river bed is dry and worn down to a fairly smooth gravel road, wide enough for a vehicle to access the small holdings in the centre. The scrub all around was brown and dusty despite some rain higher up in the hills.

Further along,on either side there are banks of bamboo which should be lush and green at this time of year. But this, also, was brown and almost dead, though it could revive again if we have a lot of rain. Bamboo has quite a strong root so there obviously isn't much water even deep down.

I walked to the end of that part of the rambla where there is a small road up to the top of the village, so just a walk down from there back to our house. At the end of the rambla there are several paddocks with lovely horses in them, and all were contentedly wandering around or nibbling on their hay. But the last paddock has donkeys in it and today one had a dear little foal, standing close to its mother for protection, while the others milled around them.

This sweet soul came over to say 'Hello' and I scratched her head while she laid there on the wall. She was so gentle and friendly. But then a big brown one came over and tried to eat my knitted jacket so I decided to continue on my way home.

It was nice to get back to my sewing group on Wednesday to catch up with everyone's news. We have our own Facebook page and on Tuesday I posted that if anyone brought in enough jam jars, then I would make picallili. You guessed, on Wednesday I was inundated with jam jars, so you know what I will be doing over the weekend!

I had a nice long chat with son Ben about a new song he has written. It is good to see him getting back into his music.

And with that I had better prepare this for posting in the morning and linking up with Annie's Friday Smiles.

P.S. I prepare my posts on Thursaday afternoons, and yesterday I said to Chris, "I didn't have a nice sky picture for this week's post", and then, we had one! So I will leave you with this. So lovely, and a perfect way to end the day.

Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 2

As you probably expect, my post this week is mainly about the Three Kings celebration in our village. It looked as though it might be a cold damp one but in the end it wasn't too bad. 

I always say these fiestas are the same every year as the Spanish are a people of tradition, but this year things were a little different. On the fourth we ventured across to the main carpark in the evening, where they had set up two rows of trestle tables for the "Roscon Gigantico". This has usually been down a side street at the top of the village, but the carpark was a much better idea. I managed to get near the front of the queue this year, (more by accident than design as no-one was sure which way to go!) and soon I was handed my generous slice of roscon and a cup of hot chocolate which I thoroughly enjoyed. The Three Kings were sitting on the stage in the marquee, and children could go up and either speak to them or post a letter of requests in a post box there.

The next night we went across again for the arrival of the Kings. This time I went up to the Town Hall where the procession starts, and there we were entertained by a dancer and drummer. 

Then the float appeared - a much smarter one than we have had other years. All three kings were on it with their assistants, and as they slowly passed through the village they showered the crowd with jelly sweets (wrapped!). We were all ducking to avoid them as they were coming thick and fast. Then we all helped the children gather them up and some had carrier bags full.

At the main carpark the kings alighted and went into the marquee to distribute any gifts left for children at the Town Hall earlier in the week.

The 6th, which is the main fiesta day, started off very dull and cold but a lot of folk still turned out to watch the pageant. This has been identical every year since we came here, but this year there were a lot of extra elements. It started with Mary and Joseph coming down to the main plaza with a real donkey. They stopped at a house to ask for room, and passed a tableau of shepherds and an angel. At the plaza they sat on bales of hay and suddenly they also had a real baby! After the usual arrival of the kings at Herod's palace, they were sent away and eventually came to the 'stable' to present their gifts to the baby. It made it much more complete than on previous years.

Here ate two simple collages, one of Mary and Joseph, and one of the Kings and Herod's palace.

By now the sun was out and although the wind had a bite, it was pleasant enough walking around.

All around the plaza there were the usual Medieval market stalls, mostly selling items like honey, tea and coffee beans, and olive oil, plus a few hand crafted items and a lot of 'cheap toys' which the children love. I bought a jacket which reminded me of ones my sons have worn for many years. It is a bit stiff but I know it will soon soften.

As well as the market stall, on the plaza and surrounding areas, there were examples of earlier crafts, such as a forge, basket weaving, stone sculpture etc. There were also several simple games that the children were enjoying, all made from wood. (Connect four, draughts, puzzles, air hockey without the air, etc). In one corner there was a giant bowl of migas being cooked but this year you had to 'buy a bowl' to be able to have some. Although we are used to free food at the fiestas, a lot of people were prepared to pay for it. We didn't because we don't like migas.

I had some mulled wine to warm me up, and then we went to a local bar for tapas. Before we went home we sat in the Arabian tent and had delicious sweet, mint tea in a pretty glass that we were told we could keep.

On the way home I ws drawn to the tent making mojitos - my usual fiesta treat so we both queued up for one to take home with us and it was lovely. While we queued we were entertained with another (probably the same) dancer and drummer and then a brass band appeared.

In the end what seemed like it would be a rather disappointing day, was in fact a very nice one.

During the week we were in Mojacar and we stopped in a side street for a quick pop into Consum supermarket. As I got out of the car I saw this palm tree. It was outside a shop that looked as though I might find it interesting! Unfortunately we did not have time to stop and investigate that day, but I shall be going back when I have more time.

I have had a bit of time down here with my computer, so I managed to get my one-page calendar made. I print this out A3 size and have it on the wall by my computer where it is very useful when the boys ring me with dates, or I am trying to make appointments. Chris has a copy on his office wall too. I like to make them interesting so this year I made a collage of everyone in our immediate family. I like to look up and see all their smiling faces.

And of course I must end with some skies. It was on the evening after the Three kings that I spotted this sunset. As well as having a vivid letter 'Z' in them, there were impressive layers of colour, and as the sun finally disappeared there were some little grey fluffy clouds drifting across (and of course I can see a face in that one!)

And with that I will close and link upwith Annie's Friday Smiles in the morning.

Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 1

Greetings to you all at the start of a new year. I hope you have all enjoyed the Christmas season and are now ready to get back into 'normal' routines, what ever they are for you. Of course the holiday is not over yet for us as the big celebration comes next Monday with the Three Kings Fiesta.

We had a quiet, peaceful Christmas and enjoyed it like that. The sun has shone for us most of the time with just a few grey, damp days, so we have made the most of it knowing next Christmas we should be back in a cold, wet UK!

On Christmas day I made our dinner fairly early so that we could sit out on a sunny porch to eat it. It is lovely out there while the sun is on it, but by mid-afternoon it dips behind the corner of the house and leaves us in a cool shade. And once it was all cleared away we had a good video chat with most of the boys, and then settled down n front of the TV for some  Christmas 'Specials'.

The sun has finished ripening the oranges which are hanging low on all the trees, heavy with juice. The trees in our neighbours garden are rather neglected as the owners family only visit for odd weeks during the year, As you can see, some fruit has already fallen to rot on the floor. 

Rather than let that happen to all of them, we pick the ones that hang over into our garden. There are quite a few but I only picked the ones in easy reach this year and still have a crate half full.

To make the most of these I usually juice them but my good juicer was a part of my much too big mixer which I have donated to the charity shop, and as it is no good without the main machine, the juicer went too. But my arthritic hands struggle with the hand juicer even for one lemon or orange, so today I have ordered a small, free standing electric juicer, otherwise we could never use all these oranges before they go off.

My beautiful rose bloomed for Christmas day again. Once again I remember the text my mum kept pinned to her desk, taken from a calender, that read "God gave us our memories that we might have roses in December". here we have the real thing, It only lasted for a few days but there are several pink ones out now.

We have both decided to try and walk a bit more this year and mostly we do a turn around the village or part of it, which is fine though not very exciting. So yesterday I decided to go a bit further and I walked over to the urbanisation across the road from us. It is called Huerta Nueva (New Orchard), and is a part of the village really. The campo was covered in wild flowers, notably this yellow oxalis which is a spring flower and seems to have been fooled by the winter sunshine.

In the centre there is a large pond, (small lake!) which used to have lots of ducks, geese and moorhens on it. I managed to walk to it and could only see six geese and two moorhens. I hope the others were hiding in the greenery around it.

One lovely white goose kept lifting itself up to stretch its wingsand I tried to get a photo of it with wings spread wide. But I was just too late and got this instead! It looks likes its saying its prayers.

The round trip took me exactly an hour which is about my limit these days.

This morning we decided to take a walk along the sea front as it was a bright sunny day. The wind meant we were glad of our thick jumpers but it was a lovely bit of  fresh air. The sea was almost calm and the sun relecting off it was dazzling.

We passed a few other walkers and one or two were exercising their dogs on the wet sand, but the prom was almost deserted.

On one empty beach I saw this array of rather old straw parasols and from a  distance they looked like a flock of ostritches.

Our son Michael and his partner went over to Denmark to spend New Year's Eve with his brother Tom. Tom has lived in Denmark for ten years and is used to jumping in and out of the sea at all times of the year, so he challenged Mike and Lucy to join him for a New Year's dip. Afterwards Mike posted this not very flattering photo on Facebook with the caption "Well that was bracing! NYD dip in the sea. Never felt so alive and so close to death at the same time!"

He was also amazed at the way they set off fireworks for the celebrations with little organisation or safety control. People let them off from crowded streets, buildings, and parkland in a crazy haphazard way, but they don't seem to have accidents with them. Our sons generation are so used to most firework displays in England being organised, that it took them by surprise, but I guess each country has its own way of doing things.

And that's it for this week. I look forward to sharing another year of highs, and a few lows, with you. But for now I will link this up with Annie's Friday Smiles and publish it in the morning.