Friday Smiles 2022: Week 12

 Well here we go again. At the end of a rather dull week it is important to look for  things that we are grateful for; those things that have made us smile.

So after the "Clima" or Sahara sand storms of last week, we have had a week of rain, rain and more rain. And just to rub it in, our sons have been sending photos of themselves sitting in the garden in shorts and tee-shirts, enjoying the sun! But the rain did get cleaner and helped to wash the dust off the plants. Unfortunately it wasn't heavy enough to wash all the sand away which just turned to thick clay-like mud.

But we did have some dryer mornings so Chris was able to wash the worst of it off the patios and the porch with the power washer. Fortunately our roof does have an over-hang, unlike many of the houses in the village, and they ended up needing to power wash all their walls as well as the floor. At least we were saved that. (See, there's a positive!)

Sadly the 'clima' returned today over much of the province, but here it was much lighter so the new layer of sand on the table, floors and everything else, will soon wash away by itself I expect. The rain on Tuesday was exceptionally heavy and some areas near here had a month's rain in one day, but since the floods of 2012, most towns have improved their drainage and I haven't heard of any real damage this time. This is where the ramblas come into use. Basically a rambla is a dry river bed, but you are not suposed to build in them or plant crops, and if you do, there is every chance they will be washed away. They really are completly dry for most of the year, and make ideal places for dog-walking, wild-life watching, and taking short cuts between two places. But after a storm the extra water up in the hills come rushing down and within minutes a rambla can become a fast moving river. Here is the rambla at Macael, about 40 mins drive inland from us. Taken last night, it is a fast flowing mix of mud and water, rushing down to the coast near us.

So much rain has made my laundry situation a bit difficult as I have no-where to hang washing to dry indoors. But in desperation for clean undies etc, I did put a load on, and that day the new airer I had ordered, arrived. (Another positive).  It took the two of us most of the morning to put together, but now I can hang my washing in the spare room and wheel it into the sitting room in the evening when the fire is on. Hopefully I won't need it very often, but it is good to know it is there when I do.

I went to upload some new books to my Kindle to read on my trip to UK only to find they had not uploaded. Normally I can do this from my computer without having my Kindle next to me and the next time I open it they are all there in my library. However, when I went to check I found my Kindle was well and truly dead! It had no battery and would not recharge, so I couldn't even open it. We tried several cables, and USB sockets, but all to no avail. As I read quite a lot when I am travelling, Chris straight away sent for a new one for me, and it arrived very quickly. So I am all set up again now - another positive, and a big Thank you to hubby.

When I went outside to inspect the garden for storm damage, I found my Easter lily had produced a flower. It is a bit early but of course they like the rain, so maybe that helped it along. Hopefully it wll have a few more soon.

The cold and wet have meant that I have not been out much so I have managed to get some more crochet done. For a start I have finished my Pansy pizza mandala. It is very pretty. I do like it. Unfortunately it is a little bigger than I was hoping for so now it has been blocked it fits into a circle with diamater of 42 cms. This makes it very difficult to find a hoop to attach it to so I can hang it up. They seem to be either 40cms which is too small or 50 cm which is way to big. If I can find a 45 cm one somewhere, I could make that work. 

However I am going to make another mandala called Salutations. I am taking the yarn for it with me which may be a bit optomistic, but I am sure my daughter-in-law will sit and crochet with me some days. When I finish that one I will measure that for a ring and then do a proper search to try and find ones that will fit them both.

The other thing I made is a little bit of fun for my Grand-daughter/mother-to-be in July. I am not very happy with the result but I think it is good enough to give her. It was made from fairly fine cotton and was a real fiddle to make. My sister laughed at the baby with red hair, but as I told her it is actually more orange than red and Emma already has had one baby with very 'orange' hair, so there is every chance she will have another the same, though her second little boy was fair.

As well as crochet I have spent quite a bit of time at my computer finishing off all the cards I need for family members while I am away. Then I finally managed to finish my double page for February to go in my 2022 albumn. It will soon be time to do the March ones but they will have to wait until I get back home in May. Then I can do the April ones as well!

My last hospital appointment for now, was today, and they were quite efficient. Yesterday they phoned and asked me to arrive an hour before my appointment time but we sat around for quite a while when we got there, but we were actually out and back in the car five minutes before my real appointment time, so that wasn't too bad. It all went very well. We had to get up considerably earlier than usual to get there, but at least we still had most of the day to get things done, when we got home.

It is strange to think I should be in UK by this time next week. My flights are booked and the family have my full itinery. I like to be organised and know where I am suposed to be throughout my stay. It was fun trying to sort out who was available when, but it has all sorted itself out now, and I am really looking forward to it. I am still a little bit concerned about the Covid situation, but I realised that if I waited until the virus had disappeared I might never see everyone again. I only expect to stay with each family in their own homes, and am not intending to go out to anywhere crowded, so I will be very careful wherever I go.

Whether or not I manage to post while I am away I an not sure. I am so used to doing everything on my PC and find the phone or tablet quite difficult, but I will just have to wait and see. But for now I will link up with Annie, and see what has given your clouds a silver lining this week.

P.S: Friday morning, and we have woken up to another heavy fall of red sand and steady rain. I wonder whether I will ever get the house properly clean before I go away.

Plus Ryanair's website has been "under refurbishment" for 24 hours so I haven't been able to print my boarding passes yet. Apparently it is causing havoc at airports. Ryanair you have six days to get yourselves sorted!

Fridy Smiles 2022: Week 11

This has been a strange, strange week, but it has still tripped along very quickly. Saturday I knew I needed to go to our local baker's as I was out of bread. The shop is only a five minute walk from here, but as it was such a lovely day I decided to walk around the edge of the village to get to it. On my way I saw an area of scrubland that was covered in wild crysanthemums, so I picked a little bunch to go in a posy vase on the kitchen table. They are so pretty, and as I was able to use the stage of their centres to pick the freshly opened ones, they are still looking as lovely as they did when I brought them home.

I was glad I had the walk and found the flowers because the weather took a drastic turn for the worse the next day. On Monday we were expecting rain but we noticed the sky was turning a rather ominous yellow so we expected a storm was brewing. I said to Chris that when the rain came it was probably going to drop some dessert sand on us. However, no rain came. Instead the sky got more and more yellow, then turned to orange and by tea-time it was a bright red! The weather man called it a 'meteorological phenomenon', and apparently it hasn't been seen here in decades. It started as Storm Celia which whipped up sand from the Sahara Dessert and carried it over to us.

We still expected rain in the night but we woke up on Tuesday to find we had only had 'dry rain', or 'mud rain' as they sometimes call it. Everything had a thick layer of red dust on it. I wrote our initials on the black glass table in our porch to show how much had come down. It is very fine dust so it fell through the fly netting.

The trees and flowers were dull and dusty, the cat and dog drinking bowls had to be washed out and refilled, and there was an almost eerie silence on the street. By Wednesday the rain started to fall but it was not too heavy so it turned the dust to mud but didn't wash it away. This is the table by my outside sink. The blue-grey in the top left corner is my mop which lives there. It is going to need a good wash itself before it will be any use washing my floors. 

One of the cats came indoors and sat on my kitchen stool. I suppose that was better than on the settee! But the dogs, cats and ourselves have all managed to tread some around as it is inescapable. Even indoors the dust has blown in through windows and doors. So once it has settled down I will be having a major clean up inside, and Chris will set the power washer to work outside.

On Tuesday our air quality was described as 'very unhealthy' and we were advised to stay inside if possible, but now it has rained all day today (Thursday), the sky is back to a more normal grey, and the crisis is over, though we are now forecast rain for another full week. Our village carnival was arranged for this Saturday but has been postponed until next week in the hope of better weather by then.

We saw on the news last night that a little of the sand has even reached as far as the South of England. The one positive from all that is that apparently the sand is very fertile and rich in minerals, so this being an area that relies on agriculture, the land workers should be very happy.

I have little other news except that I have finished my Christmas shawl project. This was made with one ball of colour changing yarn in a limited edition colour that was released only for this project. It is called Evergreen. This being St.Patrick's day it seems very apporpriate to be showing off a green shawl. 

It is a lovely light weight shawl that will be useful on Spring evenings.  And I modelled it for you so you can see it is a good size too.

Other than that, despite the sand, we managed to get Kim to the vet for his blood test, and I have now had mine, so hopefully we will have some results soon.

I have had several chats with our youngest son Ben who spent all week finishing packing up his belongings and desposing of unwanted furniture, as today is his last day in his house. Tomorrow he starts a new chapter of his life a bit further north from Birmingham.

And that is about it for this week. We are anxiously watching the charts as Covid numbers in UK are rising steadily, and are hoping they don't get to a level where I need to reconsider my planned visit over there at the end of the month!

So for now I am keeping positive, continuing to pray for a de-escalation of the war in Ukraine, and just hoping that the world returns to some sort of normality soon. Now I am linking up with Annie's Friday Smiles.

Friday Smiles 2022: Week 10

Wow Thursday has rolled around so fast again, but here I am preparing my post for tomorrow. It has been a busy week but I have very little to show you.

But here is my big smile this week.

Aren't they lovely? Success at last. My little tete-a-tete daffs have flowered and sitting among my now planted violas, they make a lovely pot of Springtime on my front step. They make me smile every time I go out.

In the background you can just glimpse my Christmas poinsettias that are still looking quite good!

In other news, having waited over a year for a hospital appointment, I have four in two weeks, (two down and two to go). I am grateful that things are moving. I don't think I have anything to worry about, but it will be good to have all tests etc done and dusted before my UK trip at the end of the month.

Kim has also finally managed his trip to the vet. Again, Ellen was not overly concerned, but he is having a blood test next week just to make sure. Like most German Shepherds he is developing arthritis in his back legs which may have to be treated each month, but that is a decision we have yet to make. He is only eight and a half, but acts much older than Foxy who is thirteen now. Here is my beautiful boy Kim. I had to bribe him with treats. They both hate posing for the camera!

On Sunday Chris and I went to a Red Cross open day. We were hoping to get some information about their red button alarm system but the right person was not there. I am waiting for a phone call to learn more. But we watched a demonstration on resuscitation. I am First Aid trained because I was manager of a nursery for several years, but each time I did my required refresher course, they had changed the number of heart compressions etc, but on Sunday it was still very much as I have been taught. There were also several stalls asking us to become members, and some telling us about how they are helping the situation in Ukraine, so it was quite an interesting outing.

On the crochet front, I made one more little Weebie doll, this time the smallest in the family and they have a mass of curly hair.

Here is it with the other two I made so you can see the different sizes. My sister said I am on a roll, but I think I have probably stopped rolling for now.

We have had a rather wet week, but yesterday the sun came out and I was happy to have a catch-up day emptying my laundry hamper, and getting everything dry outside. Today I stripped the bed and now the sheets are blowing around outside so hopefully they will be dry soon too. That always makes me happy.

Now I am going to turn to my crafting desk and get some cards made. I am trying to do all the ones I will need while I am away. At least I will be able to hand deliver some of them this year.

And with that I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles.

Friday Smiles 2022; Week 9

Well despite the bad weather forecast, this week started quite pleasantly, and Monday which was 28th February, and is celebrated here as Día de Andalucía, dawned 'bright and breezy'. So they decided to hold the starting ceremony outside on the plaza at the front of our theatre, or Esapcio Cultural as it is known, and we walked over to watch. It started with the band of Los Gallardos playing some rousing tunes. As you can see there are member of all ages in the band, and they often swap instruments between songs to give others a chance to play the drums, clash the cymbals etc. When the music stopped a line of people filed out and stood alongside a flag pole, erected for the occasion. The fourth man from the left is Fran, our popular town mayor, and his team are standing to his right. I don't know the man to his left, but after him there are representatives of all the public services such as fire, police, sanitation etc, and then some of the civil protection team. There were there to be thanked publically for their hard work to keep our village safe throughout the pandemic.

The crowd went quiet and the band played the anthem of Andalucía. Then the mayor and his second in command, attatched the Andalucian flag to the rope and hauled it up, and soon the green and white flag was fluttering in the breeze. Those in uniform saluted the flag. It obviously means so much to these people, and it was quite a touching moment.

They then moved inside the theatre for the usual displays of singing by the village choir, and dancing by the children and teens who attend the two dance schools locally. We decided not to go inside with them, as it would be quite crowded and it is very much their celebration, though they have always made us feel very welcome when we have gone to watch them.

I did a quick shop in Lidls on Tuesday and I saw these rather interesting tomatoes, so I bought two just to try them. They were called Mar azul which means blue sea, and one was quite blue, the other a shade of purple. When I cut across one, it had a network of cells inside it and no central core, but it tasted much like any other tomato. We thought so anyway.

I also bought three pots of tiny viola plants. There were several plants in each pot, and I can never resisit their sweet little faces. At the minute they are resting on an empty pot out in the front so they benefit from the rain that eventually did come, but I must try to plant them out this week. I also treated myself to a pot with four Tete-a-tete baby daffodil bulbs. I have not been successful with daffodils here, and they are just not seen down near us at all. But I was pleased to see three of the bulbs have produced buds, so I have put them out in a sheltered spot, and hopefully I will have some flowers soon.

I am plodding on with my two crochet projects which to be honest, I am getting a bit tired of. But the shawl is almost finished and I am over half way through the celtic tiles  squares having finished eleven of the twenty needed. But when I wanted a change of eyesight, I had a go at one of my pansies. They were quite addictive and soon I had made all six of them. I worked round each one to make a triangle, blocked them for a day and then joined them together and did the first round of the edge.  There are still several rows to add, but here it is so far.

I have been trying to make an appointment for Kim at the vet. Fortunately it is nothing that can't wait because I have had to cancel twice, and now I need to change next Tuesday's appointment too.

About eight months ago I had a CAT scan for a lump in my neck, and reading the report of it on our health site I knew it was a small cyst and no cause for concern, but they had promised to call me back to talk about it. I did get an appointment in January but then it was cancelled, so when I finially got one for today, I knew I needed to go to it, so Kim's appointment had to be changed. The hospital visit was fine. My interpretor who comes with me for medical issues, said it was the busiest she had seen the waiting room since before the first lockdown.  They actually moved fairly quickly and when we finally got in she told me what I already knew really, but said that as the cyst was on the thyroid rather than the wind pipe she needed to refer me on to the thyroid clinic. So we went down to the admin desk to make an apoointment for that and we were offered one for tomorrow. I have already arranged to meet with someone who is helping me sort out another small admin. hiccup tomorrow so I said that was no good, and they then gave me an appointment for next Tuesday. So now I have to cancel another of Kim's apointments. But I am sure we will get there in the end!

So this week has been busier than some. We are on red alert for gales, flooding and exceptional waves this weekend so we have a few days indoors now. Hopefully the sun will be back soon.

I have one exciting piece of news to end my week. I have booked flights to UK for the end of this month, and I am going over for five weeks. That time will include my grand-daughter's first birthday, and a show which my youngest son Ben is singing and dancing in, plus visits to all my sons and their families, plus my two sisters down on the South coast. Our son in Denmark is even going to try to get across while I am there too. So I am really looking forward to that.

And I will finish with a little picture that caught my eye this week. it made me think of Tolly and I had to smile. We all need things to smile at in these dark days, don't we.

So I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles.