Rocking Your World 2015: Week 1

Yes, here we are back at week one again. I wonder what the new year has in store for us, but it is probably for the best that we don´t know. So let´s just face it and takes what comes with a smile.

And talking of Smiles, anyone who has seen the posts on my craft blog this week, will not be surprised to find that this is my Friday Smile for this week.

This gorgeous little bruiser is my new great-grandson, Alfie John, who finally arrived on 29th (ten days later than expected!), weighing in at a bonny 9lbs 7 ozs. This photo reminds me so much of his grandad, my second son, who was also born at 9½ lbs, and compared with all the other babies on the ward, he just didn´t look like a newborn. Just look at this little fellow, with his eyes open, taking it all in, and looking so wise at just one day old! And here he is with Mummy, being introduced to his big  brother. Won´t they have some fun together.

I´ll be linking this up at Annie´s Friday Smiles as soon as I´ve finished writing.

The days just after Christmas can seem a bit flat when there are no relatives nearby to visit, so we were grateful for an event at the back of our house to liven up Saturday morning. The Public Services staged a simulated accident, I think partly as a training exercise, and partly to raise awareness with the people in the village.

The Bomberos were there of course, plus el Cruz Roja, Guardia, and Proteccíon Civil. Several people were filming the proceedings and there was a good crowd gathered to watch it all.There were three incidents altogether, starting with this white van that hit the card in front.

Then the white car which had crashed with the red one in front causing it to roll.

And finally this car which had collided with a motor-cycle.

Various volunteers had been selected to act as the victims in the vehicles, and they played their parts well. One by one they were all assessed, and treated in order of importance. I was a bit dismayed by how long that little baby was left lying on the blanket, but it was eventually ressucitated, and as soon as possible each person was driven off in a red cross ambulance. 

I was particularly interested to watch them deal with the rolled car which had two victims trapped inside. The firemen had to cut the roof off, and although I have watched this on TV, I have never seen it done in real life. (And I sincerely hope I never will have to see it in an actual emergency!). It must have been pretty scary for the casualties!

There were a lot of people involved and we were impressed with the way they handled everything.

Here they are loading the last casualties in to the ambulance. I included this one because if you look between the group of men on the left, and the man by the ambulance, you will see a window in a white wall. Well that is the window of my craft room! This was all taking place on a piece of flat land on the far side of the green zone that I often refer to. So now you are seeing it from the other side.

I am very grateful for some lovely walks we have had with the dogs, over on the campo this week. It is lovely to see them run and play together.

Because of the distance, we do the first bit in the car, and then we can take them far enough away from the road to let them off their leads for a while. That gives me more freedom to watch where I am putting my clumsy feet. The ground is a bit rough over there. 

Foxy runs like the wind and goes much further than the others, but she always come back to us. Sometimes she leads Kim astray because he wants to follow her, but despite his long legs, he is not as agile as her, nor quite as adventurous.

He goes so far, and then he comes back to Miki and they keep coming back to check we are still there waiting for them.

These mornings when it is sunny, but not too hot are just perfect for dog-walking, and good for us too!

While we were over on the campo I spotted some of these flowers. The broad green leaves make fairly close ground cover, but every now and then these flowers pop up from among them. They look like they are sticking their tongues out at us. I really like them.

After a busy week last week, we were happy to see the new year in together at home. Of course we do it all twice, because at 11.00 UK time it is midnight here. The Spanish tradition is to toast with cava, and to eat one grape for each dong of the clock bell. It isn´t easy to eat twelve grapes that fast! At 1.00 our time, we watch Big Ben striking midnight back in UK. I love to see the fireworks, and we probably get a better view of them on TV than all that crowd of people on the river bank do. I took some photos of the TV screen and was quite pleased at how they turned out. Here are the ones I liked best. 

I love the city skyline silhouetted below the blue ones, and the movement that I captured.

Last week I introduced Flat Susan who is staying with us for a while. Of course she joined us to see the New Year in. I gave her a glass of my sparkling rosé, but she wasn´t keen on it.

I also gave her some of our little salty biscuits. She needs to eat this one quick, or I know someone who will eat it for her! Note Miki is totally unmoved by the celebrations, and has gone to sleep on the mat!

I was glad when the village workers came round and planted poinsettias under all the trees that they put in planters on every corner when the road was renovated a few years ago. I didn´t think they were going to put any there this year as time was passing, but we came home on Saturday and found them there. They add a lovely splash of colour to the street. The village is getting its holiday attire on ready for the Three Kings fiesta next Tuesday.

I am grateful for all the lovely sunshine we have had this week. It is true it has been very cold, especially at night. We caught the tail end of the polar wind coming from the north, but when the skies are blue, the cold is much more bearable. 

I just add another layer of clothes, and find somewhere out of the wind to sit. During the day it is usually warmer outside than indoors, so this week I have tried to sit out for a little while each day to do some sewing. I had to put my cross-stitch picture away while I was making Christmas craft items, but I only have the top-sticking to do - there is an awful lot of topstitching! - and it is for my son who is coming out in February, so I really want to get it finished for him.

Today was particularly warm, so, as I needed to go down to Mojacar for some shopping, I took the opportunity to walk along the beach. I was warm enough to leave my jacket in the car, and it was lovely to walk along, briskly because I am trying to do more regular exercise, and to listen to the waves breaking on the sand. There were even a few fool-hardy surfers in the sea. They had wet suits on, but it must still have been pretty cold. But they were having fun and I stood and watched them for a while. 

Before I went out I opened my craft room window for Arwen, and when I got home I found her laid out on the window sill, belly-up, enjoying the sunshine. Can you sort out head from tail? It was taken at a funny angles because if I had stopped to get in a better position, she would have moved. She doesn´t like the camera!

When I walked up through the village on Friday to post a letter, I met my Spanish friend Cati. I had given her the cheque from the Anglican Church for her charity ASADIS, and she wanted to give me the receipt for them. So she took me into a local bar for a coffee so the bar tender could take our photo.

I am so grateful that my Spanish has improved to the point where I can both understand and be understood in a fairly basic conversation with Cati. I wish I had more opportunities to practise. There is a lovely man at out Farmacia who I know quite well because of my regular prescriptions, and this week he carefully told me how much I owed in English. I told him  he should speak to me in Spanish because I need to practise and he laughed. Although I can count well in Spanish, I find numbers - particularly when a shopkeeper asks for money, quite difficult to hear. Some of them sound very similar, but practice makes perfect so they say, so I will keep trying.

With clear blue skies there have not been any sunsets worthy of photographing this week, but I will leave you with the sky as it was on New Year´s Eve, at around 7.00.

When I look at that, the words that spring to mind are Peace and Tranquility, and what better wish could I have for each of you at the start of a New Year.

Wishing you the Blessings of  Health, Happiness and Prosperity, and above all Peace and Tranquility in the year ahead.

Don´t forget to follow me over to Virginia´s blog and share the love. See you next week.