Rocking Your World 2019; Week 4

Here we are, almost a month into the new year, and how time is flying by. I have had a relatively easy week, even though I was out and about each morning. We have had a week of blue skies, and warm days, and we made the most of this on Sunday afternoon with a walk along the sea front at Garrucha, the next beach along from Mojacar. It was fairly quiet along the promenade though there were a good few Spanish families in the bars and restaurants enjoying a late lunch. Although it was warm, the sun was quite low so we cast long shadows on the sand.

Half way along the promenade you have to leave the beach at the entrance to the fishing harbour. Garrucha is still very much a fishing town, and the fish is brought in each morning and auctioned in a shed at the end of the harbour, much of it going to local restaurants, but also to the big hotels etc in the cities, of Madrid, Almeria and Granada. Their most famous catch is the Garrucha red prawns. As this was Sunday afternoon most of the boats were docked, and we picked our way between huge mountains of nets, laid out to dry or be repaired.

At the end of the harbour, a short walk through the car park and round a couple of bars, brings you to the new marina, where many fancy yachts and cruisers were bobbing around in their berths. Beyond them is the industrial dock, where all week there is a steady flow of large lorries bringing gypsum from the mines at Sorbas, to be loaded onto long barges for distributions to far away places.

We also saw this very old 'pirate ship' in dry dock. It looked strange sitting among all the modern vessels. It would have been fun to watch it being lifted out of the water.

I took this picture walking back to the car. It looks like a beautiful tropical island doesn't it?

This commercial photo from the internet, explains our walk much better than I can.

You can clearly see the industrial dock front left, with a barge waiting to be loaded. To the right of it are the neat rows of berths in the marina. Beyond that, the small rectangle of water is the fishing port with the long auction shed at the far end. Then comes the lovely stretch of golden beach, which has a sharp turn inland and then continues for several kilometers of Mojacar Playa. We are so lucky to live in this beautiful place.

On Tuesday we had a very interesting House group discussion about the life of Jesus between the age of twelve when he got 'lost' in the temple, and the age of thirty when his real ministry began. It is not a time that we often give much thought to, but it brought up some good questions and lively discussions.

On Wednesday I went to my sewing group, and easily sold my lemon curd and two more batches I had made. I was given a big bag of grapefruit on Sunday, so I will be making marmalade with some of them next. Now I no longer take statins, I can eat grapefruit again, and I love them, so they won't all be going into marmalade!

On Thursday Chris and I were down at the sea-front again, in Mojacar this time, as Chris had an appointment for an eye-test. They were very thorough so we were in the opticians for quite a while and as it was lunch time when we came out, we decided to stop for a drink and snack. We were not at our usual end of the beach, but it is nice to try out a new place sometimes, instead of always going to the ones we know are good. The place we chose was called Reina mora, which translates as Blackberry queen, but here perhaps Black Queen is more likely. It was a cut above our usual coffee stop, with a patio covered in artifical grass, smart furniture and very well dressed waiters. But they brought us very good tostadas as ordered, plus a freebie slice of tortilla and bread, Chris had coffee and I asked for té ingles - English tea. It actually came in a china pot with a jug of cold milk and a decent size cup. It used to be a risky thing to order in a Spanish café and I have had all sorts of awful brews. I think the worst one was in Lorca when they gave me a cup full of hot milk with a tea bag floating it. In fairness to our Spanish friends, they usually drink camomile or mint tea, but they are gradually learning what the British like, and I was impressed with my drink this week.

It looks a bit empty in this photo but there were actually quite a lot of folks on the tables behind me, and we chose to go there as was busy, usually a sign that the food etc is good.

Today I went to Turre market. I haven't been there for quite a while, as the parking in Turre is dreadful, especially on market day. But I managed to squeeze into a space in one of the back streets today. It was lovely to walk around the market without needing a coat or even a jumper. As usual the fruit and vegetables were fresh and colourful. It always gives me lift to take in the sights and smells of the local markets.

I put a load of washing on the line before I went out and it was all dry by lunch time - another thing to be grateful for.

Then we went for our usual Friday Fish and Chips at the local camp site. It was such a perfect day we opted to sit out on the patio to eat. We usually go inside for the air-con when it is too hot outside in the summer, and then to escape the flies and wasps as the seasons change. But today the temperature was just right, there was no wind to cool our food too fast, and just cool enough for the bugs to stay away. We were so comfortable there, we even stayed long enough for me treat myself to a slice of White chocolate and ginger cheesecake, with butterscotch sauce. Very naughty but very nice! Normally we just have our main meal, and then have ice-cream out the freezer and a cup of tea when we get home, so it was nice to have a change.

As there is no choir practice tonight so I knew I could write this post later, I spent an hour or more sitting out on the porch this aftyernoon, doing some crochet. I wanted to try the second test piece in the new technique I shared last week. It was a challenge, but with much undoing and redoing, I managed the first nine rows. Hopefully I will have succeeded in making it by next week so I will show it then.

Of course, now it is night time it is much colder again, though I haven't felt the need to put my little electric fire on down here yet. Chris is watching the football in the main room, so I expect the fire will be on in there when I join him later. The dogs have been coming in for a while in the evenings. They don't stay for long, but they like to climb onto the sofa and have a bit of fuss sometimes. Usually it is Kim up there, but Foxy has decided there is room for her too if she doesn't make a fuss. They even made a space for Chris to sit between them.

The warm weather is bringing lots of flowers out ahead of their usual time. This week it is the bright, acid yellow oxalis. The oxalis in England are usually pale pink to white, and they are grown as garden plants, but out here they are all yellow and they grow like weeds everywhere. I saw a field this week that was as yellow as the fields of rapeseed I have seen in UK in the summer. They are quite delicate little flowers, but very pretty, so I was happy to see this patch pushing up through the fence from next-door.

Although the sun is out in the day, each afternoon the clouds begin to gather which means there is often a nice sunset. We had a stunning one on Wednesday which I sat and watched for twenty minutes at the most, and in that time if changed from a bright line of gold, through orange to fiery red, and then almost purple before it disappeared. Apologies to those who have already seen these on my Facebook post, but they are too beautiful not to show them again here. In the order they were taken...

So now I will link up with Rocking Your World, and Annie's Friday Smiles, and then have another go at my crochet trial piece.