Rocking Your World: Week 17

Hi everyone. These Fridays sure come round quickly don't they, but Friday is when we think of the good things that have happened this week, so here goes.

I am starting this week with a link to a video of our youngest son. He recently went to see the London stage show 'Book of Mormons', and although he said 'Don't go there mum. You'd hate it!', he thought it was the best comedy he has ever seen, and he loved the music from it. He is a musician who writes, sings and plays his own songs, but also does covers of other people, and he wanted to do one of the songs from the show. Unfortunately it needed two people, so he dug out an old wig and pair of glasses and doubled up himself. He'd never done that sort of video editing so I think he did a good job. But it makes me smile because I just love to see him having such fun  with his music. I shared his video on Facebook with the caption, "My son Ben and my son Ben, having fun together". If you are interested you can see his video on youtube, by clicking here. (apologies Annie. I know you saw it on facebook).

But there have been plenty of other things to rock my world, and make me grateful this week too.

Chris has had his stitches out. His wound is healing nicely and he is beginning to feel more comfortable.

I went to the doctor for myself,  with some trepidation, knowing she is not very easy to talk to and expecting to have to fight for a referral, but I did my homework so I could speak to her all in Spanish, and before I got to ask for it, she gave me the form to apply for a hospital appointment. It's nothing too serious, but I am happy that it is going to be investigated.

On Wednesday it was our 37th wedding annivesary. It passed quietly. We have never made a big 'thing' of anniversaries, though we did make a couple of significant ones quite special, and we are thinking we may do something special again when it gets to forty years!

I spent a very pleasant afternoon yesterday, at a friends house, enjoying a Royal Tea Party. It was done as a church fund-raiser to replace our usual St George's day dinner that was cancelled through the ill health of the hosts. Anyway, sixty guests came to our tea, and those of us on the Fund raising committee all helped with the preparation of food. I have never seen such an array of sandwiches, scones and cakes. Fortunately it was the one day all week we had full sunshine, so we were able to spread around the garden. We had set up tables for eight on every space available, and while folk were still arriving, we worked in teams of four to complete a quiz on the Queen. I have to admit I didn't know many of the answers, but as a team we did OK. 

It was suggested we try to wear red, white and blue, and most people had at least one of those. One or two took it a bit further and wore their 'patriotic hats' as well.

While we took round plates of food, our church organist and her husband, entertained us with traditional English folk songs. Then, when everyone had eaten all they could, Ron did a couple of funny recitations which were well received.

We finished the afternoon with two big birthday cakes and glasses of cava (local name for bubbly). It was a good afternoon, with opportunities to chat with folk we don't sit and talk to very often, and I am sure the final sum raised will make it all worthwhile.

It has been another slightly uncertain week weather wise, with lots of windy days, a fair amount of cloud, and a few showers, but it doesn't get really cold any more which is a blessing. After one fairly grey day, the wind broke up the cloud early evening and I sat around the back of the house watching the sky. You could clearly see where the wind was whipping  up the clouds, and I thought it was really pretty. I think the 'flying sauce' must be a bird flying straight towards me!

On the greyer days I sat indoors to do some crafting in the afternoons, and I finished my bobbin lace bell. It was quite a fiddle to get the filler done but I managed it in the end. It was very small and delicate and would work well as a feature on a Christmas card. But I really wanted a slightly bigger one, so one evening I spent hours trying to enlarge the outer edge of the pattern, without enlarging the filler as that would have made the mesh too big. Eventually I managed it, so I then made it again using red and gold threads. I am quite pleased with it, but I may try another approach some time soon, that could make it a bit simpler to do. Here are my two bells so you can see how they compare in size.

As I mentioned last week, Lisca sent me the pattern, and now she is making it up too, so I am glad we have both managed it.

I have also been busy with my crochet hook. Part two of my Frida's flowers Crochet-along was released on Tuesday. It is another fairly straightforward motif, but I think it is a bit prettier than the first one. I have done two of the new ones, and as recommended, I am joining as I go, so they are each linked along one edge to a purple motif from part one.

The main colour is called petrol and it is a bit dark to work with by artificial light, so last night I made all the central flowers instead. There are six more, two of which will be the centre for two more whole motifs, and four will be on the side of half-motifs. I will easily get these made over the fortnight before part three of the pattern is released, but then we will be working on a much more complex flower motif, so I am not sure whether I will keep up with them. I'm looking forward to it though.

And while on the subject of flowers, after we had been to the medical centre this morning, to have Chris' final dressing removed, we drove to Vera and visited a newly opened garden centre. They had some lovely plants and we came home with two pots, two hanging baskets and this beautiful array of flowers.

That's not quite true as the daisies on the right (osteospermans) were bought up at the Albox market last Saturday. But today we bought a daisy pot to plant them it. (The little one in it now is a filler for the hanging baskets, but it happened to travel home in the car, inside the pot!).

I loved the bright colours of these little beauties. They are a type of Agapanthus lily from S. Africa, and the man promised me that when they have flowered and died down, they will stay dormant until next Spring, and then grow and flower again. I hope so. I guess tomorrow morning will be spent gardening!

One day I had arranged to ring my son Ben using Skype, and it keeps track of your call. It is so good and, when the internet connection holds up, it is just like sitting in the same room with him. We always did chat a lot together, and we suddenly discovered we had been talking for two and a quarter hours. I love Skype!

Another evening this week I sat out the back again just watching the sky, and enjoying the noise and flight of all the little birds looking for a roosting place for the night. It was later and the sky was getting dark, but again there were some interesting clouds.

In this one it looks as though there were some snow-capped mountains in the distance, but it is just the way the light caught the clouds.

I spent ages trying to catch some of the birds on camera, but they are mostly swifts, ducking and diving as they catch the little bugs that always wake up as the sun goes down, and they were just too quick for me. This was my best shot which does show just how fast their wings beat.

And finally, a couple more sky photos taken on an evening when there were still lots of broken clouds, but a slightly stronger sun behind them which lit up the places where it broke through. The first was taken on the same evening as the one higher up in this post, and you can see that the plume of windswept cloud was still there. It looked more dramatic as the sky darkened.

So now I will go and link up at Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World at Celtic House, and I'll try to visit some of you. I was a bit slow visiting last week because we had all sorts of internet problems, but it may have been the weather conditions, because we seem to be fine now. Thank you for stopping by. I do appreciate your comments.

Rocking Your World 2016; Week 16

My smile today is this pretty flower that has just

opened on a little tree in our garden. It isn't the one we have been watching for the past coupe of weeks. That hasn't made much progress so far, but I guess having taken forty years to reach the bud stage, it is going to take its time to actually open as well! This goes by the grand name of Caesalpinia gillesii, or as it is known here, the Bird of Paradise Tree, though it is not related to the Bird of Paradise flowers, and is in fact, a member of the bean family. We bought it in a little pot last year and I nearly lost it because I couldn't keep up with watering it as much as it needed. But later we planted it into our tiny patch of soil and it has flourished. It died right back during the Winter and we didn't know if it would revive with the Spring, but it certainly has, and this is its first flower of the year. I think it is so pretty. It is right outside our sitting room window so I see it each morning when I open up the windows, and it always makes me smile. It has long branching stems of tiny leaves which fold up and sleep at night, and open again with the morning sun. This morning I counted at least ten more buds forming on it so we will have flowers for many week to come.

And here is one more smile from my garden. Aren't these adorable? I planted them way before Christmas and they are still full of flowers. And you really can't help but smile at their little faces.

This week has not been quite my usual list of activities, as we heard at very short notice, that my husband Chris could go to hospital on Wednesday for his long-awaited hernia operation. It was done as day-surgery, and they seem to do most operations here with an epidural now instead of a general anesthetic, so the recovery time is much shorter. It was a long day as we left home at 7.00 in the morning and got back at 9.30 that night, but he is fine, and as long as he is careful what he does for a few weeks, he will soon be right as rain. In Spanish hospitals the nurses only do the medical work and you are expected to have a family member or friend with you most of the time for the care aspects - straightening the bed, helping with food etc. It is quite a good idea as long you have someone who can do it, but I feel sorry for the elderly folk who have lost their partner, and need to depend more on the staff. Be we have great respect for the medical system out here, and are very happy with the treatment we have received.

It did mean I spent a lot of time sitting around waiting but I went well prepared with a fully charged Kindle and my crochet. During the operation the relatives have a special waiting room where they sit until it is over, and then the doctor comes and tells you how it went. I caused quite a stir in there when I sat working on my Sophie's Universe blanket. The older Spanish ladies took turns to come and sit by me and look at what I had done so far. I showed them the pattern and talked about the colours, which all helped to pass the time. The rounds on Sophie are long now but I got four or five done while I was there. I am now on round 69, and have finished part 8 of the Crochet-Along. There are twenty parts altogether but I am missing out a few which tell you how to make rows of matching squares along the two ends before working the border, to turn it from a square into a rectangle. But I am happy to have the square one which will fit nicely on a double bed over the douvet, mainly for show. She is getting quite heavy so maybe after one more part I shall put her away until the Autumn.

I am looking forward to Tuesday when the second part of my Frida CAL will be published and I shall have another set of hexagonal motifs to make. I wonder what they will be like this time. More complex than last week's I think, but still relatively straightforward. The fortnight after that, when part 3 comes out, I will be starting on those lovely dimensional flowers.

But to get me ready for that I have been working on a smaller project to make a Frida's Flowers tote bag, for storing and carrying the wool for the big project. It is a cubic box with a twelve inch square for each side and for the base. Then it is stiffened and lined. It may take me a while to finish it as I only get my sewing machine out when I have to, and will really have to be in the mood to make a bag liner! But here are the sides I have done so far. Two are finished and the other two are on their way. Then I will need to do one plainer one for the base as of course, it will not need to have a raised flower in the centre of it.

It is made with chunky wool and a big fat hook which is very hard for my hands, but this afternoon I sat out on the porch on a lovely warm day, and got quite a bit of it done. My arms will be stiff tomorrow! I never choose to work with chunky wool  but it is the main yarn they sell in our todo shops. It is very thick and I would never wear a garment made from it, but it is cheap and tough and works well for a bag. I had almost enough purples and pinks in my stash and bought a few more, plus some very dark purple to join up the panels and make some handles. It seemed a better idea to use it for the bag rather than my good wool that I buy from UK, and it has kept me busy while I wait for the next part of the blanket pattern.

I will also not be rushing to go out for the next week so I can make sure Chris is OK and not trying to do anything that he shouldn't, so I am looking forward to some more craft time. 

Last week I mentioned that Lisca had sent me some small lace patterns and was translating the instructions from Dutch for me. So when the start of the bell arrived, I decided to dust off my lace pillow and bobbins and have a go. The outer edge was reasonably easy and I have done most of it, but now I am stuck. I don't think I understand the next part of the instructions and neither does Lisca, so we are going to help one another try to figure it out. Here is what I have done so far. There are another fourteen pairs of bobbins wound, ready to fill in the centre, but I have no idea where they go yet.

If I get it sorted out I will show you the finished bell, but don't hold your breath; it could take a while!

Last Sunday after church, I drove to Mojacar for a meeting where I heard some rather sad news. No need to share that with you, but afterwards I wanted to sit and reflect for a while, so I pulled into a little beach at the very far end of the Playa. It was so peaceful and beautiful there, and I took a few photos so I could recapture that feeling later. There was hardly anyone else around. The sky was blue and the sea was a deeper blue. The beach was only recently formed and the seating area where I was, is mostly 'imported' sand which is very yellow. It was windy and I watched a flock of seagulls trying to take off against the gusts of wind, but by the time I had retrieved my phone from the car to take some pictures, they had all gone. I did however take some very interesting cacti flowers or seeds. I'm not sure which they were.

As I went back to the car to drive home, I noticed a wooden pathway winding up the rocks behind me. I have not seen it before though I don't think it was all that new. There was a notice board telling you about some of the things you will see if you walk along it. The whole route was ten kilometers each way, which is a bit further than we could manage right now, but I am hoping when Chris is fully recovered, we can at least do the first half of it.

Finally I have a couple of sky photos, not sunsets this time, but the sunrise as it developed during our ride to the hospital on Wednesday. They are not brilliant photos as they were taken with my phone through a grubby car window, while we were moving along. 

We started out in almost darkness with just a fine line of light in the sky.

Gradually it got brighter and the sky glowed golden.

Then as we arrived, the early morning cloud turned red. In the end it was a lovely day.

Now I will link up at Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World, and say 'Adios' until next week.