Rocking Your World 2017; Week 17

Hi folks. I am starting today with a photo of my 'little' lap-dog Kim. He used to only be able to get his front feet up on me and kept his back legs on the floor, but we have changed our furniture this week, and the new settee is lower so he has discovered he can climb right up now! He just wants cuddles all the time - such a softie! With all 40Kg of him on me, I can't let him stay there for long, but we usually have a little cuddle time before I turf him off again.

So the week had a good start when we took delivery of a new set of furniture for our sitting room. This is what it was like before.

We had two big, leather, recliner chairs which had cotton throws on them because of the animals, only hubby can never sit on one and keep the throw in place! I find the chairs too big as I am only short, and last year he bought me a smaller recliner which suits me much better, but we really needed a couple more seats, so we have ditched the two big chairs, moved the little extra one out onto the porch, and replaced them with two two-seater settees and one recliner for Chris.

It does look a lot better and is very comfortable to sit on. I still need to cover the seats and for now I am using two cotton single bed spreads which seem to stay in place better. I have kept my little recliner which I really like, but now I have the option of putting my feet up on a settee; win-win.

It also suits me to have my little chair right by the patio doors so I have plenty of light when I sit there to do my crochet etc.

I was pleased when Saturday dawned bright and sunny, because that afternoon we had a new initiative by the Town hall, to run a trade market on the plaza to promote local businesses. There were stalls from a wide range of businesses from clothes and shoe stands, to baby-wear, books, and even heavy machinery and car repairers.

Plenty of village folk turned out to support them, and as many stalls were offering a discount for the day, they were doing a good trade. 

It was an opportunity to meet with friends for a chat.

Here I am greeting  the mother of one of my Spanish friends. She lives in Barcelona but visits her daughter several times a year, and always remembers me and greets me with a hug.

There was a cordoned off area where Town Hall staff provided entertainment and then table activities for the children.

I love the needlework this young man was doing. He was working with gold thread on beautiful red velvet.

And there was a stall where you could sample locally brewed beer.

The market was officially open until 10.00pm but business was slowing down before then, but early evening a group arrived with their instruments and played for us until well after it was dark.

I think it was a very successful day for the little shops etc that operate from the village. They are always in competition with the larger stores in the towns so it was a welcome boost for them.

The rest of the week has been fairly quiet. On Monday I went for an extra alto choir practice and on the way home my car 'died'. I managed to coast onto a garage forecourt where a nice young man helped me enough for me to make it home, but now it is not going anywhere until our mechanic friend has given it some attention. Unfortunately he can't look at it until Monday, and as that is a Bank holiday, he will not get any parts until Tuesday, so it could be later next week before I am mobile again. As there is no public transport from the village we are very reliant on our car, and it is hard being without it. Fortunately I keep a well-stocked larder and freezer, so we won't starve until I can get to the supermarket again!

I have arranged a lift to our choir concert tomorrow and for church on Sunday. Today we had the technical rehearsal for the concert so again I needed a lift from a friend, but normally I take her to our practice every week, so I didn't mind asking her. The concert is in a theatre that is part of the Town Hall in Albox. We started by unrolling our new banner, which is very smart.

Then there was some discussion about seating, and placement of risers for the back line to stand on. The man in the purple jacket is David, our Musical Director. At least everyone is smiling, so I guess it went well.

Finally we did some singing so we could do a sound check. It was hard at first because we practice in an big, open room. Here on the stage, we were surrounded by a lot of layers of curtains which deaden the sound so we really had to sing out, but we soon got used to it. I am in the photo below, sitting on a chair, dead central, so I am completely hidden behind David. We have some members of the choir who are unable to stand for  the length of the concert, so they have a row of chairs at the front. Being one of the shorter ladies, I was asked to move forward to keep the altos in a block, so I now have to sit with the others as I can't be the only one standing in the row. It is much harder to sing sitting down, but as our MD always says, "If you are sitting down, you are sitting up", so I have to stretch myself, and do the best I can. I love taking part in the concerts and am looking forward to it tomorrow. We then have another concert in Mojacar on Friday night and a matinee performance next Saturday, so I will have to try and do my post a bit earlier.

We have ended the week with two days of steady rain, and a severe drop in temperature again. I don't know what is happening to the weather. Half the world seems to have been unseasonably cold and/or wet this week. Fortunately the sun is supposed to be shining again next week, so here's hoping!

So for now, I am off to link up with Rocking Your World and Annie's Friday Smiles, and hopefully I will manage to visit some of you to share your happy moments too.