Rocking Your World 2021: Week 7

 So another week rolls by. I thought I didn't have any photos this week, but I have found quite a few, so here goes.

It has been a mixed week of some sunshine, some very dirty rain that left Sahara red sand on everything, and some very high winds, but most days it has been reasonably warm, and again we have enjoyed sitting on the porch some afternoons, to read, browse phones and doze.

The warm weather at the weekend caused the almond trees at the back of us to suddenly burst into blossom. It is a little bit later than usual, but it certainly approved of the warmth. But a few days later we had really fierce winds that howled around the corners of the house, and the next morning, every bit of blossom on the main tree had disappeared. I hope the bees and other bugs had time to pollinate them. There is one very old almond tree that grows behind our railings, but it is starts right down at the bottom of the green zone, some twenty feet below us, so it is more sheltered, and although it doesn't blossom so freely, it does still have a some flowers on it.

They are so pretty, but very delicate, so it is no wonder they get blown away.

Three weeks ago, my son in UK sent me a parcel, and in just five days it had arrived in Spain. It then took over two weeks to travel from Madrid to me. I realise that every parcel is carefully scrutinised now, and taxes and import duties are added wherever relevant, but it seemed a lot longer than 3 weeks that I was tracking it, and seeing little progress. However, yesterday it turned up and a nice surprise was that I was not charged any extra to receive it. (We have seen some pretty horrendous stories about this, so I was expecting a bill of some sorts). Anyway, I knew what was inside; it was his 'old' mobile, which has a damaged screen but the best camera he has ever had on a phone so he says, and he knew I would like that. The screen is quite damaged but it doesn't affect using it, and the camera is in perfect condition. My old phone (also one of his cast-offs) was failing so I am happy to have this one now. I wanted to try out the camera so here are my first few shots. They are not perfect because the light was failing by the time I got around to it, but see what you think. First, a close up of the pink bougainvillea.

Next a selfie! I don't usually take these, and they always show up my lazy eye that many folk don't normally notice. My grand-daughter spent some time trying to teach me to take better selfies, but I can't hold the phone far enough away, and steady at the same time. This has the feature which mirror images what you take. Selfies automatically mirror images themselves and it doesn't look right to me, but this feature reverses them again so they look more natural.

None of our animals are natural posers and they usually turn and run if they see me holding a camera. But I did manage to get a nice pose of our handsome boy Kim.

This morning I thought I'd try to catch Tolly with his lovely blue eyes, but he wasn't having any of it. But I stood over him and shook his biscuit box and he looked up, and I just managed to get this one before he looked away again.

This morning it has been really sunny and the warmest we have had all week. I think I will even swap my long-sleeved shirt for a short-sleeved one before I take our lunch outside. I stripped the bed as soon as we were both up, and the sheets are now blowing on the line. They will be dry in no time. Then we drove to the bottom of the village, where there is a recently expanded pet food and accessories store. It is a wee bit more expensive than the supermarkets but it is within the zone we are allowed to move in, so needs must etc. We got a couple of sacks of dog food, a big bag of cat biscuits, some of the special dietry food that Tango needs and a bag of kitten food for Tolly. He looks too big now to be on kitten food, but he is only eight months, so when this bag is almost gone, I may start mixing in some adult biscuits to see how he gets on with them. 

The same place also sells bags of compost and a good range of decorated stoneware pots, and we bought a lovely big one to replant our palm  tree that stands at the end of the swimming pool. It had really outgrown the plastic one it was in when we moved here, and it is brittle and cracked from the sun. This one looks so much better, and it will be heavy enough for the tree to stay standing, instead of blowing over like it does now, every time a gust of wind catches it. So tomorrow morning's task will be to get it potted up.

Now I have a lot of sky photos! This wild and windy, and partially cloudy weather does tend to give us some interesting evening skies, and I just can't resist taking photos of them. I had so many and couldn't chose which to use, so I have grouped them together. You should be able to click on each group to expand them a bit. 

So Starting with last Saturday..

It looks as though there is a wild fire blazing behind the hill, but it really is a fire in the sky. I like the way the light breaks through and sends rays up over the greyer clouds above.

Sunday was a calmer scene but still lovely. It's a shame I caught the end of the washing line with all the pegs across the corner of the top one. I thought the bottom one looked like a face, but you know me and faces in the clouds!

Tuesday was the end of the the high winds so the clouds were broken up and each one had a golden lining.

Wednesday was different again. It had been a bit overcast all day and I hadn't expected to see much colour in the sunset, but we were suddenly wrapped in a gentle pink and purple blanket. It was so calm and still, and I just sat on the bench at the back of the house and waited to see how it developed. I wasn't disappointed, as the colours deepened a bright light broke out below them, turning to the vivid purple and yellow of the last shot, and then it was gone!

And a final photo that is not mine but it was posted by the man who runs the local news radio station. His office is on the upper floor of the "Parque Commercíal" on Mojacar sea front. This is what he saw as he was leaving one evening. Wild boar are found in much of the campo a bit further in land from us. They are harmless unless you get in their way or approach them when they are foraging with their young, but Chris and I were only saying earlier this week, that we had never seen any since we came out here. Then this photo popped up on Facebook. I guess the roads are very quiet during the pandemic, and the Parque, which would normally be heaving with tourists and locals alike, is all closed up right now, so they felt safe travelling a bit further from home.

And that is it for this week. I hope I managed to find something to interest you. Now I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World, and think about what I am going to feed us with.