Something to Smile about.

Hi Folks. I am starting this week with something to really smile about. I have mentioned before that we have a lady in our village who has set up, and runs almost single-handedly, a charity for the disabled children in our area. I help where I can, by making my jams and pickles to sell, and this year I was able to introduce Cati to the Vera Lions Club, who adopted ASADIS for their annual charity. Between the Lions, my jam sales for the year, and donations from the concerts that our choir held, we were able to buy a special walking frame for a little girl with cerebral palsy. Well this month the Lions have also funded the purchase of a special touch-screen computer, mainly for one twelve year old boy, but there will be special workshops set up so all the children from ASADIS can use it. As neither of the officers from the Lions speak any Spanish, I was asked to go to the shop with Cati and the boys mother Fina, to act as interpreter for them. My Spanish is still far from fluent, but I was able to help and I was pleased to be involved. All went smoothly, so here we all are, looking very pleased about everything! As soon as it is set up and in use, I shall go to take some photos of the children using it, and share them with the Lions.

I shall link this to Annie's Friday Smiles.

So what else has rocked my week?

I have been getting into the Christmas spirit,

wrapping up lots of tiny boxes of smarties, and bars of chocolate, to make these jolly fellows. They are for our vilage's little art and craft open day in a couple of weeks time.

I also made a Christmas pudding; not something I

have done for years. Now there is only the two of us, and Chris is not fussed about it anyway, it doesn't seem worth it, so I usually buy a tiny one just for me. But this year he said he would probably eat it if it was home-made, and also my son and his partner are coming over for a couple of days, so I ferreted around in the garage-cum-store-room, and found my old steamer, and set to. I got to the part in the recipe where it said, "Now is the time to gather the family, have a stir and make a wish.." so we each had a go.

Last week my life Group met at a house I had not visited before. It was up a steep hill at the side of Turre - our nearest 'town'. As I reached the top there were such lovely views that I knew I must return with my camera. So I did!

The whole of Turre, nestling below the Cabrera mountains. It is only a very small town, but it has a good supermarket that I often use. I also go to Turre for my Wednesday morning sewing group.

The view just around from the village. It shows what I mean when I say I live in rural Spain! There is a lot of empty land, though there is more agriculture going on than you see in this photo. I love these mountains. They are smooth and rounded with no jagged edges, and they ripple with light and shadows. They look as though someone has dropped a piece of soft fabric and it has had landed in deep folds.

Looking down the hill beyond Turre, you can see the white Moorish village of Mojacar. Beyond that is the sea.

On Tuesday we had our usual choir practice in Huercal-Overa, and as Chris has a 4.00 appointment at the hospital there, we did not have time to go home, which is a half-hour drive away, so we went into the town to find a late lunch. It was a lovely day and we found a nice bar/restaurant at the side of a patio. It was hidden away from the main road, and was surrounded by elegant apartment blocks. It was a real sun-trap, and with an arched pallisade to shield us from the wind, we were able to sit and eat our meal 'al fresco'. 

And then, for the first time ever, there was no queues at the hospital so we saw who we needed to and were home again an hour later!

This week I embarked on the mammoth task of sorting and re-arranging my craft room. Here is what it looked like before.                                                

And here it is now! Suddenly there is so much more floor space. My chair has moved away from the draughty window, and I can swivel between the work area and the computer. I am so lucky to have this room just to craft in, even if I do share it with a furry friend, which means I have to tidy up every time I leave the room!

And just to prove I do get in there to do something

most days, I was commissioned to make a card this week. You may remember that a few weeks back, a lovely Romanian couple from our church held a 'second wedding' ceremony, that we did our best to make special for them. Well yesterday Florentina was safely delivered of a baby girl, a little sister for Andra, so here is the card I made for everyone at church to sign on Sunday.

And finally, there is, of course, another sky photo. The weather has become rather more wintery this week, with a sharp drop in temperature, high, chilly winds, and lots of clouds. I saw this sky just before it was properly dark, and I loved the contrast between the deep blue sky, the brightness of the setting sun catching the edge of a bank of cloud, and the darkness of the coming rain.

Well that is all my news for this week. I am just off to link up with Virginia's blog, Celtic House, and then I shall go down to the sitting room and do some more of a knitting project I am trying to get finished.

Rocking my World Friday.

With the awful news we have been watching all week it is perhaps difficult to stay positive, but it should at least make us all very thankful that we have sufficient food and  drink, clothes to keep us warm and a roof over our heads. We are blessed!

I was also very pleased to read blog posts from two ladies (sisters) who live in the north Philippines, and to hear that both are safe and well, though, of course, traumatised by what has happened to their fellow countrymen. Our love and prayers go out to them all.

While I know many are struggling with the results of flooding, I was actually quite happy that this week we had some significant rain. We really needed it. You could almost hear the ground greedily drinking it. It rained steadily all yesterday evening and into the night. I had done washing in the morning and got it all dry by lunch time, so that was another blessing.

I did some late afternoon food-shopping yesterday, which is unusual for me. I like to get those sort of jobs done in the morning. Friday is my normal shopping day but I knew I was going to be busy this week. As I loaded up the car I looked down the road from the supermarket, towards the beach and there was a pretty, pearly, lilac haze across the sea. I tried to catch it on my phone camera, but it didn't take very well. But by now you know I can't resist taking photos of the sky, so here it is. (It was probably the clouds roling in ready for the rain that came later!).

Each Sunday morning I go to my church in Huercal-Overa which is about a half hour drive from home. It is almost all on the motorway so it is fairly straightforward, but just look at the traffic I have to contend with!

And it was much the same behind me as well. I think everyone else stayed in bed! It is a little busier mid-week and picks up as you approach main towns and cities. But on my Sunday morning run, there is never much at all.

I have had a fun crafting week this week, making Christmas decorations. I was making two different sorts of decorated glass baubles. Here they are, but if you want to know how they are done, you can read all about it on my other blog by clicking here.

I had lots of fun making these, even if I did make rather a mess with all the glitter. It made a change from making cards anyway.

I finished my week on a high note as I spent this morning among friends at a coffee morning to raise funds for our church. One of our group holds these two or three times a year at her house, and they are always good social occasions. Indoors there were tables of home made jam, cards, knitted items and this time - cakes! There is a fly free area attached to the house and there we could browse through lots of books, bric-a-brac, plants etc. There was some beautiful hand-made jewelry on sale outside.

As you can see, it was a sunny morning, so I took my cup of tea outside and sat at a table out there to drink it, but there was a chilly wind. Jasmine's house is a lot higher than our village and there was a noticeable drop in temperature as I drove up to it, but as yet, there is no visible snow on the distant mountain tops.

I did buy a very pretty necklace but look what else I came home with!

Two Cornish pasties, two Eccles cakes and some chocolate chip shortbreads, and two yummy raspberry pavlovas. These suffered a bit on the journey home but they still tasted great. So that was today's lunch sorted and I won't need to bake for a few days.

I also came home with these. 

Another friend arrived with a big box of limes and pomegranets. I don't eat a lot of these but I do like to have one or two each season. They have such a lovely rosy colour, inside and out.

But I wonder if you know what the other fruit in my photo are. A few years ago I wouldn't have done, as they are not seen very often in England. Well they are quince. Jasmine took me into her garden to pick them from this tree.

It is only a small tree but see how many fruit it has on it. And they are very solid and heavy too. They are difficult to peel and cut, but once stewed they taste very like apples. They are very rich in pectin, and I use them mainly to make a traditional jelly called membrillo. It is a very stiff, fruity jelly that you can slice, and it is usually served with cheese, though it it also goes well with cold pork etc.

So that just about sums up my week. I will will link this up to Virginia's blog at Celtic House now, and I'll see you all next week. Have a good one!