Friday Smiles 2022: Week 6

 Here it is as promised...     Ta-dah!

This was truly a challenge. It is a very thick and heavy blanket which exactly covers the top of our king-size bed. The pattern is Downtown by Astrid Shandy, a very talented designer. She has several patterns I would like to try but we'll see. I found this very heavy to hold and the bigger it got, the harder it was to handle. At times I had as many as twenty balls of wool all hanging from it, so keeping them all from getting in a tangle was a constant trial and turning round at the end of the row was quite a mission. But I am delighed with the end result. It is probably too colourful for some folks taste, but I love it.

Needless to say I have not stuck to my plan for moving on and have, instead, worked on something quite different this week, so watch this space!

We did some serious shopping this week and on Wednesday we took delivery of two big items. The first was a large screen smart TV. Our old one has served us well, but our sight and hearing is not what it used to be and we are enjoying having a large, clear screen. Chris is still installing some things on it, and the new table and bracket we have ordered for it have not yet arrived, so for now it is free standing on a too low table. But it will all be sorted out soon.

The second item is a tall freezer to replace the old one in the garage. When our kitchen was redesigned we had a smallish fridge freezer built in. But the freezer was inadequate so the tall fridge and freezer from the old kitchen, were set up in the garage. The fridge is mainly used for cold drinks in the summer, and for storing milk, butter etc. Our supermarkets are all a distance away so I try to only shop once a month except for fresh veg and bread, so on shopping day I need the extra fridge space. But the freezer is my main food storage. We don't eat big meals and it is difficult to make some things in small enough quantities, so I tend to batch make and freeze meal size portions for use later. And again, I buy meat and prepared items monthly so the freezer is well filled. Unfortunately the old one had just four big, deep drawers and items tended to get lost at the bottom and forgotten. The new one has eight shallow drawers which I have made labels for, (using vinyl cut on my cameo machine), and it should be easier to keep it more organised. I shall do my best anyway!!

When we did the February shop last week, in Lidls I bought a rather sad looking baby hyacinth. It was in a tiny 2" x 2" pot, and I didn't hold out much hope for it, but it only cost 1€ so I took a chance.  I already had one in the kitchen which flowered last year and then I just abandonned it by the outside sink. I thought it had rotted inside, but I noticed a tiny leaf pushing up from the bulb last week, so I brought it inside to see if it would develop at all. So I put the new one in the same pot, and within a few days it had grown and produced a lovely flower. The scent greets me as I go into the kitchen each morning. I know some folk don't like the smell but I love it. It became top-heavy and I had to add a stake to try and hold its head up. It is still going strong. The old one has not progressed much yet, but it hasn't died either, so I live in hope.

Today, Thursday, dawned rather dark and chilly but the clouds soon disappeared and it turned into a beautiful sunny day. I was waiting in for a parcel but fortunately it came nice and early so mid-morning we popped to the campsite near the village for their monthly craft fair. It is only a small affair with stalls selling hand crafted cards, jewellry, soap etc, and I wasn't really into buying anything, but I spotted a cute little pin cushion in a pretty ceramic pot, so I bought that. It is smaller than it looks here and only stands a bare three inches high.

We didn't stay long but it was such a lovely morning with little puffs of clouds in a deep blue sky, so I suggested we drove down to the sea front for a nice walk in the fresh air, and then some lunch. 

We went down to Mojacar and it was very quiet. It was the first day we had been allowed to go outside without a mask on, but I noticed a lot of folk were still wearing them. The sea was very calm. I took this picture showing the indalo man in a wrought iron fence, with the smooth line of sea beyond and no white tops to the waves at all. Also no traffic to stop me taking a photo from the far side of the road. 

It was nice to see the cormorants are back on their favourite rock. They come to it each morning, and spread their wings to catch the suns rays, and just rest in one anothers company. We did quite a long walk along the sea front and back. The further we went, the quieter it became. The far end is mostly hotels and apartments owned by the 'swallows', the foreigners who come over for a few months of winter sun and then go again. But Brexit and Covid have between them made it much harder for people to come over, so many shops and most of the bars and cafés were still closed. Hopefully things will pick up soon. From Easter the tourists should be back, as long as Covid remains low.

We ended up at our usual café, which is near the Parque Commerciál, and is always open throughout the year. We had a lovely lunch. Mine was a 'Sandwich Koi', Koi is the name of the café, and it was three tiers of bread each loaded with beautifully fresh salad and slices of mozerella, and served with a small, portion of chips. I managed to eat it all except the top slice of bread! Needless to say, with fresh air, exercise and food, I was soon enjoying a snooze at home, but I am sure it did us good to be out and about for a change.

Now  I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles, and see who else has found things to smile at.