Rocking Your World: Week 4

Well here we are at Friday again, which means we are looking back at the week and finding what has made us smile. Some weeks that is easier than others, but I hope I can manage a cheerful post for you today.

My first picture will have you thinking, 'OK, a dish of lemons. What's so special about that'. Well  the answer is they are our lemons!

Yes, this is the total harvest from our own little lemon tree that we planted three years ago. We only have one small patch of plantable earth in our garden and all the rest of the yard is tiled, which makes it very easy to hose down after the dogs, but anything we want to grow has to be in pots. We inherited a lemon tree in a pot with the house, but it never thrived. So we cleared a tiny patch of earth where the crazy paving by the kitchen door was lifted, and planted a baby tree in there. It will never be able to grow very big, and it needs a lot of watering and spraying to help it survive, but it has given us just a couple of small lemons each year, and this year it had five (plus two very tiny ones). So I put them to good use and made a lemon meringue pie for Sunday, which we both love. I haven't got a photo of it, because we ate it, and very nice it was too!!

Well, as I mentioned last week, I was hoping to collect some bitter oranges from a friends house, to make more marmalade, and I arranged for us to go round there on Saturday afternoon. It decided to start raining at lunch time but we went anyway because my friend works every day and I didn't want to wait until next weekend for them.  Sadly when we got there, we couldn't find any bitter oranges on her trees. She has only lived there for a short while and is not very interested in the fruit trees, but she knew there was a bitter orange tree there, and so did I as the previous owner had offered them to me last year. But the house had been standing empty during the summer so the trees had not been watered, and since she has lived there, her dogs have enjoyed exploring their new home and chewed on the trees and dug the ground around them, so I had to go home empty handed. There was one bright spot to the visit though, as we got to meet her great dane, and also the second one that I had not seen before. She has seven dogs, mostly rescued through the vet where she works, but while we were watching them through the kitchen door, something moving behind me caught my eye and I turned round to see a dear little 'micro pig' running around. He was so cute. Apparently he thinks he is one of the dogs, but as these tend to do, he is growing faster than they expected and I am not sure he will 'micro' for very long!

My next idea for oranges was to pick some from the trees that line the street in Turre. I don't really like doing this, but I had to resort to it last year when I had not been able to get any elsewhere. So I asked Chris to drive us home that way, but as we reached the spot where the trees are, I was really sad to find that the council workers had got there before me and stripped the fruit and cut back the trees! They don't usually do this until well into February.

So I was back to square one. My only other hope was to try the now disused golf course at Cortijo Grande, a valley on the way up through the Cabrera mountains. Someone had said I might find some there, and I remembered seeing some when we have walked up there before, so as Monday morning dawned clear and sunny, Chris said he would drive up there with me. We parked the car and started to walk. It was really warm and we were soon shedding one layer of clothes. We had dressed up well knowing we were going higher than the village so we were expecting it to be colder. The views up there were wonderful.

As you can see, the local snow soon melted, but there is still plenty on the higher mountains further inland.

It was very peaceful up there, and all you could here was the birds singing, and an incredibly loud buzz from all the bees enjoying the blossom on these almond trees.

In the distance we heard an occasional bleat from a herd of goats coming down the grassy slopes, and the odd command the goatherd shouted to his dog.

Because the golf course has been abandoned for over a year, it is not in a very good state now. We were amused to see the goats come right down there and they were doing a good job of cropping the grass! It took us a while to find a gate that wasn't locked, but we did eventually get onto the course and we followed the footpaths to a small group of trees, but as I had feared, there was very little fruit on them, and what there was, was like tiny marbles, hard and dry because there had been no irrigation all last summer. We saw one tree that looked hopeful and Chris went over to pick an orange from it as they were too high up for me to reach, but when I cut it open, it was a sweet one, so no good for what I wanted.

Accepting that I was out of luck, and there would probably be no marmalade this year, we still enjoyed a leisurely walk in the sun. I spotted this little vine climbing up a fence. It was covered in flowers just like the big pitcher plants you see in tropical gardens on big estates in UK.

So we went home empty-handed again, but I am fairly philosophical about these things. If it is not meant to be, then it is not. And it is no use getting upset about it.

We are now back into our usual routine so Tuesday saw me driving over to Cucador for my Home group which now meets in the church as we grew just too big to meet any of our homes. When you turn off the main road to approach the church, you drive through some open campo, some agricultural land and along the side of a rambla. There are very few houses by the road and I always enjoy the wildness of it, and am on the lookout for interesting flowers and other wild life. Just lately I have had several glimpses of birds hopping along the ground, each with a crest sticking up from their head. I am always hoping I will see a hoopoe, as I know they are seen in that area, but so far one has never crossed my path. I knew these birds were not big enough or flambouant enough to be hoopoe, and I think it is still too early in the year for them, but I wanted to find out more, so on the way home I pulled just off the road and parked up and waited. Sure enough, very soon several of these little birds appeared quite nearby, and  I managed to get a few photos of them.

Now this probably will make you smile. I wanted to know what my little bird was so I put one of these pictures in 'Google search' and asked "What is it?" Their answer; "Our best suggestion is a bird" !! However, I didn't give up, and after putting every key word I could think of into image search, I eventually found out it is a crested lark. Apparently they are fairly common in this region, but rarely stray as far as UK, which is why I hadn't seen them before.

That brings us to Wednesday, when as usual I went to my sewing group. I normally drive there myself but this week Chris wanted the car to run some errands, so he dropped me off and collected me later. We stopped off to have some lunch on the way home, and when we finally drew up at our gate I found not one, but five carrier bags full of oranges on our porch. And I was delighted to find that they were true Seville oranges. Marmalade was back on the menu.

I had no idea where they had come from, but luckily there was a note tucked into one of the bags. They were from a lady I have not seen for many months, who moved away from our village early last summer. One of her neighbours had given her the oranges and asked if she knew anyone who could use them, and she remembered me. I rang her up to thank her, and arranged for her to come after the weekend to collect some marmalade for herself and for the lady who owns the tree.

For every kilo of oranges I use, I add four lemons, which helps it to set, so I was very happy when another friend offered me a bag of lemons from her tree.

Lemons are plentiful here, and quite cheap to buy, but when I get given both lemons and oranges and my marmalade only costs the price of the sugar, it means I can make a good profit for the charities I sell it for. So yesterday and today I made a pan full, so that is fifty jars so far. That's about halfway for what I want to make, but there is still plenty of fruit to make more. I quite like making it and I love the smell in the kitchen, but standing preparing the oranges, and slicing the peel is hard on my hands and my back so I can only do one batch each day. But a couple more sessions should see my cupboard shelves full again.

Before I leave the subject of oranges I have to show

you this picture that a friend of mine posted on Facebook to advertise her brother-in-laws green grocery shop. It is a satsuma trying to escape! It just tickled me and certainly made me smile.

We have had a mixed week of sunshine, grey clouds and chilly winds, but there have been several days when it has been warmer outside than in, and we have been able to sit out to eat our lunch. I often take my morning cup of tea outside, and wander around the back yard while the dogs are eating their breakfast. Yesterday I was just looking around and thinking about all the really little things that make me smile, and feel so very blessed to be living in this lovely area. So I got my camera out and recorded a few of them.

I love:   the way the sun shines through the leaves of my little succulents, making them almost glow...

...the way the oleander is opening its new round of blossom, before last years has properly died away...

.... the way this ancient almond tree that has almost died from neglect and lack of water, has still managed to produce a few flowers this spring....

...the way this succulent cutting I took last year, is sending up its first flower bud this week...

...the fact that while there may be a shortage of bitter oranges, the trees of sweet oranges are bowed down with the weight of fruit on them...

...the fact that the beautiful chumba next door has again proved resistant to the plague of cochineal flies that have killed most of the plants all around here, and is looking really healthy still...

...the vibrant patches of green that can be seen all around. It is the greenest spring we have had since the first year we were out here.

So many little things to be grateful for.

I have no striking sunsets to end with this week, but I do have one of the sunrise this morning. It was a lovely light in the sky but I haven't done it justice with my photo. I stood watching the patch of light struggling to banish the bank of clouds, and saw all the little birds flitting across it. I couldn't decide if it was promising a good or bad day, and in the end it turned out to be somewhere in the middle; not sunny enough to sit out, and with a very cold wind keeping the temperature down, but at least it was dry, and I had my own little cloud of orange scented steam to keep me warm in the kitchen.

And with that I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World, and I will leave you with some updated verses of of some very old Nursery Rhymes. So hopefully I leave you smiling too.

Rocking Your World 2017: Week 3

Hi folks. let's start with a smile. I saw this during the week and it really made me smile.

Be honest. Did you glance at it and see a fried egg? I know I did. It was only when I read the caption that I looked again and saw what it really was.

It reminded me of my very special cat Misty, who I had in UK for fifteen years. She was a Persian cross, and had a beautiful nature. She was my shadow and my friend, and I was so sad when she died. She would have stayed still enough for me to take a photo like this too. Here she is, sitting on the rabbit hutch, waiting for me to hang the washing out. Then she would have followed back indoors again.

It has been a funny old week, with not much happening at all. I went out a couple of times at the start of the week, to take a friend to some appointments, because she had a problem with her eyes and couldn't see to drive. But apart from that, it has been the sort of week when you stay indoors unless you have to go out. They were right about us catching the edge of the cold snap, so as well as chilly winds,and a fair bit of rain, yesterday, we did see some snow!

We are lucky in our village of Los Gallardos. We are in a sort of a hollow and the weather fronts hit the surrounding mountains and dissipate, so the snow didn't land in our streets. But I have often shown you the view of the Cabrera mountains that we get from our back yard, and from the front gate, and normally they are bathed in sunlight. But when we got up yesterday morning they looked like this.

The temperature did drop to zero in the night, and it didn't rise much all day. But we still got off lightly. All along the Mediterranean coast, there was a good layer of snow on the beaches, which is almost unheard of. This photo was taken by friend who sings in our choir. He only lives a twenty minute drive along the motorway from us. He was reassuring us that he and his partner had cleared the drives and their restaurant is open for business as usual. I'm not sure he will get too many customers though.

Because it is so unusual to see snow around here (it is thirteen years since any was recorded this low), my Spanish friends have been quite excited by it. I have seen photos of them on Facebook, where they have driven their children to where they can make a snowman, because if they are twelve or under, they have probably only ever seen it in pictures before.

Of course it isn't likely to stay for long. It has already gone from the Cabreras today, as we had some watery sunshine after a night of steady rain. But I will be happier when it warms up just a little. With stone floors and draughty windows, our houses don't lend themselves to being cosy, and if the sun shows its face and you can find a spot out of the wind, it is often warmer outside than indoors. But I am grateful that we do at least have the gas fire in the sitting rooms for the evenings, and little halogen heaters in Chris' office and my craft room. Roll on summer! I'll soon be complaining that I am too hot!

Evenings by the fire means that I have made more progress with my blanket. The cold gets into my bones so I haven't wanted the weight of my blanket pulling on my shoulders this week, and instead I have made a start on the squares that I was saying last week, will go around the blanket to make it big enough, before I work the nine rounds of border. There are two designs, each using colours taken from the main blanket, so I think it will look quite good. Here is one of each. They will alternate all around the blanket. I have made five so far, but I think it will take quite a few to do all four sides.

Don't ask me why, but each square pattern has a name. The one on the left is Lydia and the one on the right is Jack! At least it will brighten up my evenings as I make them, and our bedroom when it is finished.

And now to share a heartwarming story that has made the headlines in local papers, and caused a stir on Facebook this week. On Tuesday a lady walking in Vera Town saw a galgo (Spanish greyhound) who was seriously underfed, foraging for food amongst the bins, despite having a broken front leg. She managed to gain the dogs trust enough to capture her and brought her to my vet in Turre. They fed her, and as an X-ray showed the leg had a clean break, Ellen was able to set it and bandage it up at the surgery. She noticed that the dog was producing milk and was anxious that there may be puppies somewhere who wouldn't survive long in the cold. So as soon as she was able to walk, they put her on a long lead and took her back to where she had been found. She set off straight away and they followed her for 3 km, when she led them to an abandoned building. Behind it there was an old car with cardboard across it windows. She slipped in through a slightly open front door, and when they looked inside, they found not one or two, but ten little puppies, still with their eyes closed, huddled together in a nest their mother had made from rags, on the back seat. They were still all alive so they were collected up and taken back to the vet's clinic with their mum. All are doing well. The mother has been called Vera after the town where she was found. She is being well fed, though it will be a while before she gets some meat on her bones again, with all that litter of pups to feed. I popped into the vets yesterday to see them, and she looked very contented with her babies all nestled around her. Two of them had opened their eyes over night.

It is amazing that after such a short acquaintance, she trusted the two ladies enough to take them to her babies, and now she is being rewarded. The vet is working with the galgo rescue society in Madrid, to find homes for them all when they are old enough to be separated.

Another little thing that cheered me up this week, is when I noticed that the almond blossom is appearing. The trees in the green zone behind our house are very old, and not looked after at all, but every year they produce blossom, usually a week or two earlier than most trees because they are in a sheltered hollow. And the flowers don't seem to have been affected by the cold winds and rain either. So it is a sign that Spring is just around the corner.

Needless to say, I have found myself in my craft room most afternoons this week, so I finally managed to make my third and last calendar. I know it is only just over a week before I turn the January page over, but at least it is on show for that little while. The original calendar I made, that I sold so many of this year before Christmas, is hanging on my craft room wall with all the birthdays marked that I make cards for. On the other side of the room, above my computer, is my all year on one page calendar that is such a useful reference resource, when I am typing or talking to people on Skype. But the third one I need is down in the kitchen to put reminders of events on. I usually wait to see whether I am given one at Christmas, before I make one, but this year I wasn't, and it has taken me a while to find time to do it. I had a template pack ready that I bought from a scrap-book site. Every page is ready to go with different numbers and shapes of frames each month to put photos in. The rest of the pages are in layers so you can personalise them in Photoshop with your own choice of papers and embellishments. So I used photos each month that were taken in the corresponding month last year, so I can look back and remember what we were doing a year ago. Then I had fun searching through my rather extensive collection of digital scrap-book kits, to find ones that matched the photos. Here are a few of the pages to show what I mean.

I enjoyed doing it and it made a change from cards. But the rest of my gold vinyl has arrived (I ordered the correct one this time), so now I shall be concentrating on making wedding invitations for a week or two.

Yesterday morning I was invited to meet with a couple at a coffee shop in town, who had been given my name by a friend. They wanted to give a donation to ASADIS, the charity for disabled children in our area, so this week I will be talking to the founder Cati, and helping to make that happen. I am always warmed by the generosity of people who give to local causes, without knowing the people or having any personal involvement. They just hear of a need, and feel they can help, which is so lovely. I am just glad I can help in some small way.

So now here are a couple of pretty skies. By tea-time yesterday, the sky was clear and as I looked at the darkening blue sky I thought "Oh well; there won't be any sunset tonight"

Then as I turned to go indoors, at the front of the house, I saw the sky was a lovely apricot orange.

The sun behind me was gone from sight, but the clouds in front had managed to pick up some colour from it. I stood looking at it, and while I watched, it quickly changed to a pink and then purple, and within a few minutes it had gone.

I hurried through the house to front door, and a bit further round, the shifting clouds made this 'stag beetle' shape and then that died away too.

I love the way it changes in colour and shape even while you are watching and I was so pleased I chose just that moment to go and look, or I would have missed it.

Now I shall surprise them over at Rocking Your World, and Annie's Friday Smiles, because I am linking up a few hours earlier than usual, so I can go down to a warmer room for the evening. Followers of these blogs will know that Lisca usually posts quite early in a Friday. I expect she will have some snowy photos today too as she lives higher up and further inland that I do, so she will have got much more snow that us.