Rocking Your World 2021: Week 47

Well here we go again and I am starting this post with a photo from a week ago. Last Friday was a beautiful day and we sat out on the porch all afternoon, enjoying the sun. But by sundown the clouds were gathering and I was just there at the right time to catch this lovely photo. A beautiful end to a beautiful day! (Sorry to those who have already seen it on Facebook).

We have had some chilly days this week (I even got the duvet out last night!), and some wet evenings, and the cats have had the sense to stay in more. Tango came in very wet on Tuesday night so I rubbed him dry and he soon settled down in his usual place on my lap. Then Tolly came crashing in. He also needed a towelling but is not as cooperative about it. He insists on jumping up a bit higher than Tango, but that night he put his head in my hand and went to sleep. It was so sweet, I just had to let him.

He doesn't stay in one position for long, and soon he was trying to groom Tango who just ignored him, so he just laid down with one arm across him and dozed again. But he was soon up and away again and I was able to do some more crochet, because Tango just sits there among my wool and lets me get on with it.

Last night was even wetter and this time they both decided to jump on me and stayed there. They are really very sweet when they cuddle together, and although I wouldn't say they are best buddies, Tango does tolerate Tolly's overtures now. You can just see the two dogs on the settee across the room from us, also seeking shelter from the rain. Needless to say I didn't get much work done last night!

Chris has done some sterling work outside this week. We only have one small patch of plantable land but it had become very overgrown, almost a mini jungle. The jasmine that is so lovely in the spring had completely overtaken my Bird of Paradise tree, and the roses had shot up taller than me, to find some light. So Chris has now cut the jasmine almost down to ground level, and has pruned the tree hard. The roses will continue to sway above the space until the flowers are gone, but they took a bit of a beating in the storms last night. 

It always amazes me how much debris there is from even a small plot, and we had a mountain of greenery and vine stems. I bagged up as much as I could so we could put it in the big bins out on the street, as we have no-where suitable to have a bonfire. Then Chris helped me do the rest in the front yard. Most bags have now been binned, and just these two remain...

...plus a small pile of sticks that need to be chopped before we dispose of them. 

The little garden patch looks so much better. The jasmine will shoot up again in the Spring, but we will keep a closer eye on it and not let it get quite so out of hand again. We will probably give the wall behind it a protective layer of paint before then.

Unfortunately there is almost as big a heap of rubbish on the other side of the wall which we haven't had time to bag up yet. It has been well soaked now but as soon as it dries out a bit we will dispose of that as well.

We had a laugh yesterday when I gave Chris a Kitkat with his cup of tea. When he bit into it, he found it was solid chocolate all the way through. Somehow it missed the biscuit altogether.

We had big storms all last night but this morning there was  watery sun and Chris called me out to see the long wall that runs along the front of our swimming pool area. It was covered in tiny snails. I have often found these tiny conical shells on the ground, always empty, and it was only last year that I first saw one with a snail still in it. Well there must have been a nest of eggs in the ground here, and the rain woke up them all up. I have never seen so many snails. Our green wall had loads on and next door's crazy paved wall had even more. The snails are small and almost black and they carry their shells on their side. I think they are quite cute. We have never been aware of much snail damage to our plants so we just let them slide away. (I have now looked him up with google and apparently he is a Decollate snail, a fierce preditor who eats other snails and slugs and their eggs, and only causes minor damage to plants. It is most active in rainy weather).

Another visitor that is not quite so welcome is this spider. I have an outside sink by the kitchen door with a small black plastic bowl in it. It had filled up with water overnight and this fellow was swimming across it. He was struggling to get out, but as long as he doesn't come in my house, I have no desire to kill him, so Chris picked the bowl up and threw the contents, including the spider, over the railings into the green zone. Hopefully he will find somewhere else to hide away for the Winter. He was big and I am pretty sure he was a wolf spider, so he is capable of giving someone a nasty bite, but only if he is disturbed, so we try to leave his sort well alone!

This morning (Thursday)  we drove to Huercal-Overa (in heavy rain) for our booster vaccines. There was no queue this time so we weren't away for long. We also had our flu ones earlier in the week, at the health centre in the village. So that is something we are both grateful for.

Now my son Ben has just sent a messege to say he is free if  I want a chat, so that will brighten up a dull evening too.

I have one sky photo that I took last night when the storm clouds parted briefly. I think you will see why I took it. Can you see it?

And now I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and leave you with a thoughtful little meme that I saw this week. Something to consider.