Rocking Your World 2020; Week 15

Has your world rocked this week? I wouldn't say mine has rocked but there have been plenty of times when it swayed and made me smile, so here goes. 

What a strange Easter this is. I do miss the Easter services at my own church, and the excitement on the streets as the Spanish celebrate this very important season with processions from the churches around the villages. But there have been plenty of short 'messages' on social network to share. I have watched some from our own vicar and some from my son for his church in London. I think some channels such as Facebook are struggling to cope with the increased use, but so far so good. 

I have also watched live concerts by my friend Shaz who sings on the local circuit here, and also by my youngest son Ben, who does a session some evenings. So I have plenty of entertainment.

Sometimes I manage to 'entertain' myself too, but not in an intentional way. Because I have arthritis in my neck, and also have a very short neck, I struggle to find a comfortable pillow, and for the past few weeks I have been using a small horseshoe shaped neck pillow for support. It was looking a bit grubby so I thought I'd put it through a gentle wash in my machine. Bad idea! A seam split and I found micro-beads everywhere. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg! They were in the machine, on the floor, in the towel I washed with it, they are still all over the path outside, and I had to use an old toothbrush to clean them out of the filter in the vacuum cleaner! I had to laugh, or I might have cried! Fortunately, the very next day I had a parcel which contained a new pillow. I had ordered it back in February, and wasn't sure I would get it.

It looks an odd shape but it is very comfortable, and I have had two good night's sleep using it. It is also filled with micro-beads and the label says it is machine washable, but I am not sure whether I shall risk it.....

After three weeks of staying at home, I was finally running out of some basic items so I needed to go shopping, and also needed to collect my monthly prescription from the Farmacia. We have decided to try and only use the shops in the village. The supermarket has a very limited range of stock, so this means keeping our meals fairly simple, but I am not ready to drive to a big supermarket yet. So I donned my facemask, (made by  ladies in the village and distributed by the Town Hall), and off I went. It seemed quite strange to actually be out on the street. We have stricter rules than UK and are not allowed to just go for a walk.

Normally the folk in the village rely mainly on the street market each Tuesday to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, and they have very little in the supermarkets, so I was pleasantly surprised to find crates of them stacked at the end of a counter, presumably supplied by local farmers who cannot sell in the usual way. In fact I got most of the things I wanted.

These two pictures come from the Town Hall site. The first is their counter with a collection of full-face, acrylic masks. They went round the village and handed these out to everyone who has contact with the general public, such as those manning the check outs in the shops. The second is the lovely lady who runs our little supermarket where I went shopping this week.

I have also been quite productive with various crafts  this week. I recently made a little box card of a church, as a Christmas card. I liked it so I cut out three more and they have been sitting in a tray ever since. So one afternoon I decided to put them all together. So I now have four little churches all ready to go in my 'finished Christmas cards' box. These fold flat to go into envelopes for posting, and will help me build up my little stash of cards.

I have also continued to crochet, mostly in the evenings, and I have completed several more blocks for my next blanket. This seems to have been hanging around for a long time, as it was a project to fall back on when my hands couldn't cope with a big blanket. And also I needed to work on small items at my Wednesday sewing group, where we do a lot of chatting and it is easy to make mistakes. I'd rather undo a little row of a block than one right across a blanket! I then ran out of the dark blue wool I am using to edge them all, but last weeks parcel brought me enough to hopefully finish is. I just have a few more blocks to make and then I must start the jigsaw puzzle of fitting them all together. There are 53 blocks in all - a large one in the centre, and two each of 26 designs.

I took a break from making these one day, to make one of these little squares. It is called HOPE. The designer Tinna Thorudottir Thorvaldar, wanted to give us something positive and happy to focus on during these difficult days. I made mine with 4ply cotton and it is so sweet. I may make a few more, enough to cover a cushion perhaps.

I have also been busy in the kitchen. The day I went shopping, the queue down the street from our little baker's was so long, Chris didn't want to wait in it, so I decided to make my own. Back in the day, when I was recently divorced and managing on benefits, with two small boys to feed, I made all my bread, but these days the kneading is hard work and the local bread is too good to bother with making it. But I was glad to find I hadn't lost my touch. I managed a lovely loaf which we enjoyed, and I am sure I will be making more in the coming weeks.

And of course, I couldn't let Good Friday pass without some hot cross buns. These I do make most years as they are not something the Spanish have, and although I can get them frozen from an English shop, you can't beat the smell and taste of home made ones. So yesterday afternoon I was back in the kitchen making these.

I have continued to spend a little while each morning (weather permitting), enjoying the silence and watching the birds and insects keeping busy in the green zone at the back of our house. One day this week I sat out there with some bread and when I finished I dusted the crumbs from my lap. Soon I noticed an ant coming to collect a big crumb to take home. It was bigger than him, and he was struggling to move it, but he didn't give up. Then I saw another ant approaching it and thought "Oh good. He is getting some help". I have seen them work together to move larger items before. But when he got close, the original ant fought him off, then picked up his precious meal and ran home with it. He managed to carry it a good 20 meters and then struggled, but eventually managed to pull it through a small crack between two crazy-paving stones. We could learn a lot from ants!

And finally, Thursday was a full moon night. It was described on the internet as a pink moon, but as usual I forgot to look for it as it was rising, and by the time it was right up, it had lost its colour. It was a cloudy sky that night but I tried to get a picture anyway. Now I only use my phone for photos, they are not as good as I used to get with my camera, but here is what I managed.

I do hope you are all keeping well, and finding ways to entertain yourselves during these strange times.

This may not be like any Easter you have experienced before, but I still wish you all joy and blessings, and patience to stay strong until we come out on the other side.

Time to link up with Annie's Friday Smiles, and Rocking your World if Virginia does a post today.