Rocking your week 2016; Week 6

Wow. It feels as though I have been away for ages, though I've only actually missed two weeks. I have had a busy time but I will try to keep this fairly short as it is getting late and my bed is calling to me. First here is my smile for the week.

It was actually taken a couple of weeks ago and it is the official photo for a pantomime that was on stage in Wolverhampton, and it depicts my son Ben as Baron Hardup (father of Cinderella), and my grandson Marcus as Buttons. They were on stage with Marcus' mum, and his sister and brother, and the show was excellent.

I have missed a couple of weeks on here as I went to UK 'undercover', so I was unable to use Facebook etc as the family would have know I was there. Only Ben and one other person were 'in the know', as I wanted to surprise the rest when I turned up at the pantomime. I knew that my other sons, including the one who lives in Denmark, would be in the audience on the Friday night, and I had a seat right next to theirs', and the look on their faces when they came in and saw me, was worth the few days of hiding. Then the show began and I saw the ones on stage suddenly register that I was there. It was great fun. After the show we all met up in the bar before moving on to our son James' house for a party.

The next night was Marcus' 21st birthday so it was the start of a long weekend of partying!

It was lovely to just sit and chat, and catch up on everyone's news. 

My daughter-in-law Jo had saved another great surprise. She had made The Snowman. Many years ago I had bought small gifts for everyone intending to make crackers to put them in, but the crackers didn't get made, so in a last minute rush, I put all the tiny parcels into a cylinder box and made a snowman around it. The first time that everyone was together at our house after Christmas, I opened up the snowman and distributed the gifts. It became a tradition, and every year there was great excitement when it was Snowman time. Then, when I packed up to move to Spain, I handed my snowman on to Jo and her family have continued to enjoy it. Sadly his life came to an end, but Jo made a replacement and I was delighted to see him make an appearance at our party.

There were fourteen of us altogether, and when we had drunk and talked ourselves into the ground, we all found a space somewhere to get our heads down for a short while. The next morning I had to be on a train at 11.00 and they all got up to see me off. That's when we realised we hadn't taken the obligatory group photo, so dressed in an assortment of PJs, slippers, jumpers etc, we stumbled out into the sunshine where we persuaded an innocent passer-by to take this photo.

It is a bit 'morning after the night before', but a great momento of a great night. I also got this photo of our five boys. I love them all to bits!

I had actually arrived in Birmingham on the previous Monday, and stayed at Ben's house, so I could have my eyes tested and some new glasses made. The health care out here is great but I have not been happy with the eye tests I have had, and my poor eyes need all the help they can get! So the test out of the way, I then took the opportunity to do some shopping. Ben had the week off work because he had a pantomime performance every night, so in the mornings we did a tour of the Bullring shops, and one day we went to Hobbycraft in Coventry. I  love the look of New Street station now it is more or less finished, especially the undulating panels of shiny metal that distort the scens they are reflecting.

And beside them, up high, is the red eye, carrying a welcome, and a serious of changing adverts.

It is all really impressive. I did a quick walk through part of the new John Lewis' store, but I didn't have time to really look around in there, but there will be other visits, and I am sure I will see it properly another time.

The real purpose of this visit was to see all my sisters who live down on the south coast, but as there are no flights from here to Bournemouth during the winter, I had to fly to the Midlands and go down by train, so I was really pleased to fit in a trip to the optician, and then to the pantomime as well.

So on the Saturday I just made it to my train and was met at the other end by sister Jean (Jean Straw of MyCrafty Corner).

I only had a few days with her, but she had organised visits to each of our other sisters, plus our usual trip to the Range and Lakeland. So on the Sunday we started off with lunch down on the sea front, and we decided to have a walk along the prom before we ate. It was a grey, misty day but there were loads of folk walking dogs, teaching children to use new bikes and skateboards, or just out for some fresh air like we were. We ended up walking further than we had intended because we could see a new structure on the end of Bournemouth pier, and wanted to find out what it was. It turned out to be a tower from which a zip wire stretched across the water to a platform on the beach. We walked along the pier and stood watching people who had spent (a lot of) money to ride down this wire. Rather them than me!

I made Jean stand with me to take a selfie.

As you can see, we were enjoying seeing one another again, and we had worked up a good appetite for a very enjoyable lunch.

When we had eaten, we drove to my sister Brenda's house. She is well into her eighties, but despite having had a very nasty fall just before Christmas, she was looking really well, as was her husband. Their daughter was also visiting them so I was able to see her and it is many years since we last met. This is Brenda with Jean and I.

She suffers with the same drooping left eye as I do, so we are a pair well matched. 

She showed us this lovely blanket that she has crocheted. Mum taught us all to knit and crochet when we were very young, though both Jean and Brenda were really good at sewing too, but I didn't inherit that part.

The next day Jean's husband was off to his bowling club so we visited our sister Dorothy who only lives a short walk away. She was also looking very well, and she had her daughter visiting her, so I was having a really good family catch-up week.

Jo always brings her black labrador, Bomber with her when she visits, so it was nice to meet her as I have known her on facebook since she was a tiny puppy.

Then it was Wednesday, and we drove over to Weymouth to see our oldest living sister Evelyn. She and her husband are both nearly eighty-eight, and they are managing very well in their lovely flat that overlooks Weymouth Bay. We had a lovely chat and shared lunch together. Before we left, she gave me some gorgeous teddies she had knitted, for my Africa project.

Aren't they beautifully made? She had made several more but they were for her daughter who is making regular visits to Calais to help the refugees.

Jean had arranged to come back to Spain with me for a visit, and we were due to get the train back up to Birmingham on Thursday, so we were a bit anxious when we saw on the news that no trains had left Bournemouth on Wednesday due to severe flooding at Brockenhurst. They showed film of the water flowing right over the rails. But fortunately the rain stopped that night, and by the next morning they were able to use a diesel train, though the electric ones still couldn't pass through. So we got our train just fine, and the water had receded in most places though the ground looked very soggy. I took this through the train window as we sped through the end of the New Forest.

The rest of my stay was uneventful. I was able to collect my new glasses on Friday morning, and in the afternoon Ben took us to the airport for our flight home. 

Jean is supposed to be having a relaxing time to recouperate from a bad bout of flu over Christmas, but I have had a very busy week, and seem to have lurched from one project to the next, sometimes carrying her with me, and sometimes leaving her to soak up the sun and read her book. She must think I have a crazy life-style! I am grateful that the sun has been kind and has shone on us most days.

I did have one event on our first day back that I had tickets ready for both of us for, and you won't be surprised to know that it involved food! It was another fund raiser for our church, held by one of our members at her house. It was an A-Z of tapas, so there was a small taster of twenty-six different dishes! It was another lovely sunny afternoon so when we arrived we sat outside and 'mingled' while sipping glasses of sangria.

Then we moved indoors where the tables were laid out for fifty guests. There was a list of all the dishes on the table, and a small group of helpers waited on us, bringing one delight after another. 

As I knew I would not be back in time to do any cooking for it, I opted to provide the Q for queso course. Queso is cheese so it was an easy one to do. It was a wonderful afternoon, with lots to eat, and plenty of time to enjoy it while chatting to old and new friends. As we left the sun was just setting behind the misty mountains.

In between all my meetings, choir practices etc, Jean and I did manage to get down to the sea front and walk all along the prom. It was quite sunny when we left home, but by the end of our walk, the clouds had gathered and it was looking like it might rain. But it held off, and we managed to stop for some lunch, and then get home in the dry.

There seems to be a shortage of oranges, both bitter and sweet, this year, and I was beginning to think I wouldn't be making any marmalade. But on the way home from the beach, we stopped in Turre where there are some orange trees growing along a walkway. Trees like these that are planted just to provide some greenery and shade, are nearly always bitter oranges, and I have often been told to pick those if I need them. So we took a big bag and picked enough fruit to fill it. A Spanish man across the road called out to tell us that they were not nice, and no good, and I tried to explain that I wanted them bitter to make marmalade. They don't use them themselves, and always say they are no good, but when I insisted they were what I wanted, he gave a typical Gallic shrug, and went back indoors. So today I have made the first batch and have nineteen jars to start off my stash. I need around two hundred if I have as many customers as last year, so I may have to go scrumping again!

Also yesterday, Jean helped me to get out all my wool and knitted items for Africa. We counted it and took photos, and then bagged it up ready to go to UK. We found there were twenty completed blankets, and a few more that just need some finishing touches.

Then we spread all the little jumpers and cardigans on the table and had a count up, and there were a hundred and thirty of them. People are so amazing and generous. I am so proud of my team of knitters, and grateful for all their hard work.

I think I had worn Jean out by last  night, so we sat down in front of the fire with our knitting, and before long Paco and Tango both jumped up onto her lap. She doesn't fidget like me, so they like sitting on her. Tango is so relaxed, and he just sort of spreads out when he lays down. It makes him look huge.

Well that's about it for this week. Jean is here until early Wednesday morning, but it should be a bit quieter this week, and maybe we will manage to have some craft time together, though if the sun shines we will more likely be outside, making the most of it.

Now I had better get this linked to Annie's Friday Smiles, and Rocking Your World, and then get some much needed sleep.

Rocking Your World 2016: Week 3

Hi folks. Here is my Smile for today. This is my second

eldest son Mike. He works as Fund-raising advisor for the Severn Hospice, in Shropshire, and this week he took part in a promotional photo shoot for their sponsored colour run, coming up on the 12th June, in Telford Town Park. (If you live in the area, do make a note of the date and go along to support them, or join in if you fancy it. It is a 5k run). This is a new event and it looks like lots of fun. The photo makes me smile because he is so obviously in his element. He may be in his forties now, but I have a feeling Mike will never grow old.

Well it has been a good week, but a fairly uneventful one, and as usual the days have flown past.

We had a good day on Sunday because it was the first birthday of our new church. Our very first service was on 11th January last year, so on Sunday, after a lovely service, we had a bring and share lunch.

These lunches always amaze me, as we are asked to bring something along, and no-one confers to see what is needed, but somehow there is always a good variety of food, and there is plenty for everyone. We set up an 'L'shaped table and everyone added their plate as they arrived. Here it is, still mostly covered up, but ready for feast.

There was even a third table of cakes and strawberries for dessert.

While some folks made cups of tea and coffee, and others uncovered the food, another group moved the chairs from the main church and set up small tables with wine, water and flowers on them. It looked so pretty.

One of my friends, Pat, is a very talented cake maker and decorator, and she made a beautiful anniversary cake.

Here she is with our vicar Pauline, getting ready to cut it up so we could all take a piece home with us, because we were too full to eat it there. We enjoyed our pieces at tea-time.

I am always pleased when we, (meaning the English) manage to bridge the gap between us and the Spanish people, and this week we had two such occasions. The building where we hold our Sunday services is actually a small Spanish church, which originally held Catholic services, and is still used by the local villagers for funerals, and fiestas. There is an elderly Spanish lady (aged 94), who with her daughter-in-law, occasionally come in to our Anglican service. It is so lovely that they enjoy coming, and although it is all in English, they recognise some parts of the liturgy and join in with us in Spanish. Well, they must have known that it was our anniversary and on Sunday they brought us a gift of altar linen, beautifully embroiderd by Rosa and her friends. Wasn't that lovely?

Then later this week we were invited to a memorial mass at the catholic church in our village. One of our English friends had died suddenly last week, and as is usual out here, there was a short service at the chapel of rest the next day. However, he had lived on the edge of the village for 21 years, and was very fond of it, so his wife wanted to put his flowers in our village church. While she was doing this, the local priest came along, and he offered to say a mass for him on Monday night. We went along to support the family and it was a lovley service. The priest apologised that he didn't speak much English, but again we managed to follow most of the service, and he did read some of the prayers in halting English. He hadn't been asked to do this, and I think it was so nice that he had volunteered his time, and made us feel welcome in his church.

So, two occasions in one week, where we have managed to find a real connection between our two very different cultures.

On Tuesday I spent a lovely afternoon at a friend's house. I was there for two meetings; the first to decide what day we would be meeting for our Home Group this year, and the second to work out the details for a fund raising event coming up at the end of the month. Despite the serious content of the meetings, it was a lovely social afternoon, and nice to catch up with everyone after the Christmas break.

Wednesday saw the return to weekly meetings of our sewing group. I was able to help a new lady get started with some crochet work, and I was given lots of knitted items for my African charity.

In the evening it was the first choir practice of the year, and we had a look at our music for the new season. We have some lovely pieces to learn, and I am looking forward to getting stuck into it. We also have a couple of provisional bookings for events to sing at, so we are getting known in the area, and people obviously liked what they heard over Christmas.

Over the week I have managed to get all the Christmas decorations put away properly, (they had only got as far as being dumped in the garage last week), and some of my ornaments etc are now back on the shelves. I was determined to have less stuff around, because everything is a dust trap, and I fully understand why the Spanish folk don't go in for lots of decoration. It just isn't practical. So I am a little less cluttered, but I love all my things, and they all remind me of special people and events, so it was really hard to decide which ones to leave in storage. I couldn't bring myself to actually throw any of them away!

I am grateful that we had another lovely week of sunshine, and a few hours of real warmth each day, so, despite being quite busy getting the house back in order, we were able to sit outside each afternoon, to relax, and we even ate our lunch outside on several days. It is hard to remember that this is January.

However, I am also grateful that there is a 'winter-weight' duvet tucked away in the cupboard, and it is coming out this weekend, as the nights are getting decidedly chilly!

This week I saw my first tree full of almond blossom, which makes me happy as it is a sign that Spring is already on the way.

Today took a downhill turn as we woke up to grey skies, and soon there was a prolonged shower of rain. But we didn't mind too much as the water is greatly needed in what is a very agricultural area, and for many families, their crops are their livelihood. It cleared for a while but by tea-time there was another storm rolling in down through the village.

As you can see, the sun was shining on us, but the clouds were gathering and moving our way. But in the end it just rolled over us, and by the time I went out to feed the dogs, there was a rather half-hearted sunset.

This eventually turned into a really pretty sky, though some of the clouds were still around us, and I am expecting some more rain in the night.

Although the sky was quite dark, because of the clouds, over to my left it was still clear and light, and the Cabreras were reflecting the setting sun and looking so lovely.

We are indeed a country of contrasts!

And now I will close with a couple of sky photos that I took a few days ago. Is it a long pink fish gliding across the sky (sorry I cut his nose off!), or is it a flying saucer coming in to land? I'll leave it for you to decide.

For now, I am off to link up with Annie's Friday Smiles, and Rocking your World at Virginia's blog.