Friday Smiles 2022; Week 34

Hi all. I am starting this week with a photo that made me smile. This is my son Mike, modelling my newest apron which he 'borrowed' to cook another barbecue this week.

The week has gone so quickly. The family went out each day, though Chris and I generally opted to stay at home, as it was too hot for us to sit on the beach for hours, and we could still enjoy long evenings chatting together, having a drink together, and watching the boys having fun in the pool.

They made a rough plan of what they wanted to do each day, and managed to cover most of it, including paddle boarding in the warm sea .... 

... using Mike's waterproof camera phone to take funny under water photos ...

... and a favourite for them all - jumping off scarily high cliffs into  the sea!

I did go up to our lovely municipal pool with them a couple of times. The two younger boys were in the water before we had even found a spot to settle down.

The pool is kept so beautifully clean and the site has been improved this year with almost all the open spaces beng covered with artificial grass, and several new covered areas to provide shade. The pool is big and the water is very deep, (I am out of my depth even at the shallowest point), but also very warm and relaxing.

Just before the pandemic they finished some very well done dry stone walling on the terraces, and then they built some small circular 'huts' just at the end of the pool. This year, this opened as a small bar which was surprisingly well stocked, and also a double toilet block (we used to have leave the pool area and walk around to the sports stadium to use the services so this was a big improvement). Here you can just see the bar through the red pepper trees that abound in the area.

One morning Mike and his partner with her two boys, all got up at 6.30 and went down to the beach to swim as the sun rose. (The teen chose to stay in bed!). The forecast for that morning was cloudy for the first hour or two, so I decided I wouldn't join them this year - I did go last time they were here. This ticked off another thing on their 'to do' list, and when I saw their photos I wished I had got myself up and gone too!

Mike and I were usually the first two up each morning so we took our first cuppas out to my new little garden corner and had a little peaceful half hour before the chidren all emerged. So one day I decided to take a selfie of us. I did two and I looked aweful on one of them, and Mike was not at his best on the other one, so I had a play in my photo-editing apps and managed to combine the best of each one to make one I was quite happy with.

Mike loves Spain and has brought his family out to us each year during the summer holidays, with the exception of the pandemic years. Each visit ends with us all going out for a meal and taking a group photo of course. The restaurant we have alsways gone to decided not to reopen after the pandemic, so last night we went to a bar in the village. We had a lovely meal and enjoyed being all together. We almost forgot the photo, but just before we left we asked Ana, the proprietor - to take one, and she actually managed to get us all looking at her at the same time!

Just before we left Ana offered the four adults a shot 'on the house'. This used to be fairly common but it doesn't happen very often these days. So here we are raising a glass to happy memories and many more to come.

And my final smile was when we got back home and there were two little geckos running around the top of our front porch. It is a good time to see them because the porch light attracts insects and the geckos come out to catch them. Mike's partner Lucy was so excited, because she had just told me that she hadn't seen one out here. So I zoomed in and took a couple of photos for her. This one has lost one of his back toes and it looks as though he also lost his tail recently and it is just growing again.

This morning we waved them off and they are sitting in Almeria departure lounge as I write this. So it will seem very quiet here now. I have plenty of bedding and beach and pool towels to get washed, but happily the temperature has dropped a couple of degrees and it already feels a bit more comfortable, so I will be getting those done, and then maybe I will get some crafting done again.

Meanwhile I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles. I hope you all have something to smile about too.

Friday Smiles 2022: Week 33

We had one more fun filled week to bring the summer season to a close. It doesn't officially end until the last day of August but I think we have had all the special events for this summer.

As I mentioned before, last week was Theatre Week in the village, and one evening we went over to the plaza for a Flamenco concert. Although it wasn't quite what we had expected it was a very enjoyable evening. It took place on the out-door stage so we all sat on chairs set out on the big plaza at the front of the theatre. We had flood lit palm trees to the right of us, and on the left a reluctant full moon struggled to escape from slow moving drifts of cloud. It did break through in the end.

The concert was just three people; an excellent Spanish guitarist who played non-stop the whole time, a man singing in the special flamenco style with such passion and emotion. I wished I could understand him better. And thirdly a lady who danced so elegantly. 

She made such perfect shapes with her body and her hands, and she managed four changes of costume with only brief moments when she left the stage.

Sunday was the last night of Theatre Week and this is always marked by some form of family street entertainment. This year it was a group from Vera called Monocle. They consisted of two huge puppets sitting on 'sort of' tricycles which were steered by young people from the back. They looked quite hard to control but they managed to get them round some narrow streets and tight corners.

A third trike was motorised and was driven by one man. It had a huge 'blimp' on top and another man ran ahead to warn him each time they were approaching an overhead cable so he could deflate the blimp and re-inflate it after they were through! 

He had a small metal box beside him and every now and then he pressed a button and it shot up bright flames followed by billowing smoke. I tried to keep just ahead of him!

They took the usual route from the lower plaza, up through some of the side strets, past the Town Hall and ending at the church, and then returned by the parallel road so lots of families could enjoy the spactacle from their own balconies. Every now and then they would stop and the group members not manning the trikes would engage the children in a dance up and down the street, or throw their huge inflatable balls at them to head back.  

Of course there was a man prancing around on blades. It always amazes me how good they are at moving on them. He had one of the cannons that blasts out paper streamers and the children love collecting them up to see who can get the most. 

It was a really fun time for everyone.

Wednesday I found I had some strange fish in my pool! Our son Mike and his family arrived around 10.00pm. After a long day of travelling, of course they wanted to cool down in the pool before going to bed.

The boys have grown up so much since their last visit so I can't bundle them into the same bed anymore, and we decided the oldest lad would be cooler and more comfortable if he slept on the fold-up bed in the hall. Mike was up just before me and had opened the porch door so when I came out this is what I found!

Finlay and Kim are deffinitely best friends now. They have a house full of dogs and cats at home, so they are quite at ease with our animals.

Tango, who we think may have damaged kidneys, drinks a lot of water, on and off all day.(He has had a urinary tract condition ever since we had him which is controlled by a special diet). He mainly uses his water fountain in the hall, but we caught him taking advantage of the glasses of water left on the ground by the youngsters.

Last night was family barbecue night with Mike doing the cooking I am glad to say. 

The others were sitting at the table, probably thinking "Why are we waiting?". But we were all well fed and enjoyed a jug of sangria. (which is why I didn't get this post written  like I normally do!)

They are here with us until next Thursday, so we have more fun to come.

They have gone out for a while so I am grabbing a peaceful hour to write this, link up with Annie's Friday Smiles,  and hopefully get to visit each of you.

Friday Smiles 2022: Week 32

Well I am starting this week with a picture of the moon.  It was only half a moon as I took it last weekend, but now it is almost full. I was again testing the settings on my new camera, and I was smiling because it took this so well, and I wasn't even steadying it on a tripod.

We had another fun evening on Monday as it was again time for Noche Blanco, (white night). These happen twice a year aiming to promote the small businesses within our village. Cards are printed showing which shops are taking part and we are encouraged to visit them and get our card stamped, and have the receipts for any purchases made stapled to them. If you get enough stamps and receipts you can enter your card for a prize draw.

This year they made it a bit more of an event by hiring a tourist train to make continuous circuits of the village, stopping outside each participating shop. It was free to ride, and you could hop on and off whenever you wanted to. 

We actually saw it arrive as we were sitting up behind these gray railings having an early evening drink as it pulled up, and like a magnet, it attracted people from everywhere. 

Whenever we saw it during the evening, it was chock-a-block with chatting excited children and their families. It was certainly a good idea to encourage folk to turn up.

Of course we had a little ride but we only stayed on for a few stops as there were lots of children waiting to get a seat. (We are on the far side of this coach).

We visited several of the shops. All those taking part had some sort of display of white balloons outside which was helpful as many of the smaller shops are really only the converted garage of a house, so it is hard to spot them sometimes. The balloons could be seen from the end of each road. Here is a clothes shop down at our end of the village. The lights and music stand on the far left were ready for a man who played lovely mellow music on a saxaphone later in the evening.

This is our bread shop, which is only five minutes walk from our house. I often go in and buy "dos barras" and if I am lucky they are still hot when I get them home. We always have to have a couple of slices with a cup of tea before it cools right down!

We din't visit all the shops that night, nor buy a great deal, but we do like to do our bit to support local businesses so we went to a children's clothes shop run by a Spanish friend, and bought two little outfits for the newest babies in the family. Hopefully our son who is arriving next Tuesday with his family, will be able to take them back for us.

This event officially kicked off at 6.00pm but didn't realy get underway until nearly 8.00. It was due to finish at midnight. It is amazing how many very young cildren are still around so late, but most of them will have had a siesta in the afternoon, and they had no school to get up for the next day. Anyway, the highlight for the tinies didn't start until 10.00. We were hot and a bit footsore by then so we were pleased to find a little table for two available by the window of one of the bars. We sat down and orderd a cold drink each and a plate of chips to share. While we sat there we heard loud music again, and it was different from the train music we could hear whenever it came near us. So I went to the door just in time to see a car pulling a trailer and on it there was a little car covered in red glitter, with Mickey and Minnie mouse sitting in it and waving at the crowd that followed them. 

Then came several more Disney characters on foot, and a huge crowd of young families  following. (It was like the "Pied piper of Hamlin" if you know that story.)

The children loved it and kept stopping by the characters to talk to them or just touch them.

It was quite dark by the time they got down to the main plaza, where they did a short entertainment for the children and this photo was taken of them all with their young fans.

This made the whole event so much more fun and brought lots more families into the village to join in. I just hope the businesses did good trade too, to make it all worth while.

The rest of the week has been fairly quiet. The heat drains my energy so I only leave home when I have to. Noche Blanco was the start of Theatre week so there has been something happening each evening, with a film one night, and the children's theatre last night. Most things happen at the  plaza in front of the new theatre which isn't far from here, and we can listen to them from our porch! But tonight there is some flamenco dancing so we may wander over to watch that for a while.

On Tuesday night they were showing the film 'Emma', in Spanish of course, and our grasp of the language made it more sensible to sit at home that night, but those who went, got rather more than they bargained for. About half way through the film we heard the rumble of thunder rolling around the hills that surround us. It wasn't too close, but then the lightening started, and we were treated to an amazing electrical light show! The flashes came every few seconds and some were right above us. Of course each flash was followed by thunder, but before each rumble had finished the next flash came and so it went on for about an hour. Sadly very little rain came with it. I only felt a couple of drops. But at around 3.00am we woke up to hear quite heavy rain, and even got up to move the new cushions and chairs under the shelter, but again it soon stopped and was not enough to do the ground much good. 

Of course I tried to take photos of the lightening but it is almost impossible to be quick enough, even with a very fast shutter speed. In the end I took a few very short videos, and the next morning I manage to get one or two stills from them.  

The sky really did look lilac and purple, and I could hear the crackle of static electricity  down where I was standing.

When we bought the planters and fountain for my little corner garden, we also bought a butterfly and fish as hanging ornaments, but we never got around to putting them up. But this week Chris bought a lighter-weight drill as he was struggling to use his old one that is very heavy, and to try it out, he hung my ornaments and also a long trailing plant that I liked.

Then he put up some solar lights we chose as the yard can look very dark at night. Buy day they look like little black boxes, but they come into their own at night when they cast light patterns on the wall. He put three of them at the top of the wall behind the new furniture and plants, and three down on the front wall, one on each of the three green columns. It is next Autumn's project to get that area sorted out, but we still put the lights up for now. I think they look really good.

And that my friends is how another week has flown by. So I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles, and come and join you all there.

Friday Smiles 2022: Week 31

This week has flown past. It was our son Tom's last week with us but it was too hot to venture far from home. But there was still plenty to smile about. He helped us with a few little tasks in the yard and did some shopping for me, and most afternoons he took himself off to the beach for a swim in the sea and a spot of sun bathing. Some days he had a meal with us before he went out, and others he cooked for himself when he got back. It was good to see our big barbeque getting some use. We don't often light it up just for us two.

In the evenings we usually sat in the porch with citronela candles to keep away the bugs that were small enough to get through the netting, gentle music on one of our devices and several stops to dip in the pool. I even went in it at 2.30 one morning (I know I should have been in bed!), and the water was still 30º. We made a big jug of sangria, and Tom and Chris enjoyed a good few bottles of wine. It is way too expensive to buy regularly in Denmark, where he lives, so Tom like to take advantage of our cheap, but apparently good wines when he comes here. I really don't like wine so I can't comment on how nice it is, but they enjoyed it. 

Mid-week Tom went to the recycling bins with me as we had a lot of empty bottles and soda cans to get rid of!

On Monday night we wandered into town late evening to check out a free concert of music on the plaza. There was a very good turn out, even though it didn't start until 10.00. We manage to find a bench on the edge of the plaza as all the seats were filled when we arrived, but we only stayed for an hour. The music was very good though not really our style, and it was still so hot and sticky. So it was back home and a last dip in the pool before bed. In fact we could hear the rest of the concert from our garden almost as well as we could when we were over there.

A few weeks ago I finally edited and cut down to size, all the family portraits I took when I was in UK, ready to update my family clock. It still took me ages to get around to actually doing anything with them. Each photo is just 10cm (4") square and the frames are very light wood with acrylic instead of glass on the front. I knew I would be taking them down regularly to change them, so they needed to be light and easily fixed. These are light weight enough to stay up with just blue-tak, but it was old and getting a bit messy so I went to a little shop in the village and was pleased to find they has small packs of white-tak. So now the photos are up to date, and their fixings are clean and tidy, and my clock is looking good again. I even managed to photoshop our newest great-grandson Reuben into his family group, and made a space for our two step grand-sons who weren't up there before.

Whenever Tom comes out I have always enjoyed a day out with him, but this time he came a bit earlier than usual, and driving too far in the heat didn't appeal to either of us. But yesterday afternoon we decided to have a little trip out. We drove along the coast road to the very end of Mojacar Playa. It then turns inwards a short way and passes through some newly built complexes, and the plans for these always include upgrading the roads and lighting in the surrounding area. So we went round two new roundabouts, and at the third we took a small turning back towards the coast and drove down what soon became just a gravel track, leading to Torre Macenas. This was built in the 18th century and had living quarters in the central level and big cannons up on the top. You can only view it from the outside but I believe you can book to have a tour inside.

From the grounds I took this view back along the coast towards Mojacar.

Then we got back in the car and joined the dirt road again and drove on along the coast towards Carboneras. The road was bumpy but well enough used to be hard and compacted. There was a small drop at the side onto a rocky slope but there was plenty of room to pass another car if needed. But gradually it narrowed and there were a couple of places where we passed under overhanging rocks, and took blind corners so I was happy to reach our intended stop, the rather impressive Torre Pirulico, also know as the Watchtower of the Rock of the Devil. This was built in 12th-14th century and formed a part of the coastal defense system. It is built from naturally hewn local stone directly onto the bed rock of the coast, and has a small archway at the base that takes you through to a railed verandah overlooking the sea. 

Then a long, steep, metal ladder takes you up to the only solid floor in the tower - a very tiny round room with no other openings except a little archway covering winding stone steps. Then you are on the 'roof' which fortunately has a high wall around it, and gives amazing views all around. 

From the car park there are lovely views along the very rocky coastline in both directions.

Then to reach the base of the tower you walk up some rough, irregular stone steps. Every now and then they turn a corner and you can look down into a little gully where the sea eternally laps the rocks, but I am happy to say there was a sturdy hand rail all the way. In places it was a taut, thick wire but mostly it was metal rods. They looked rusty and corroded by salt, but they were very firm and made you feel completely safe.

Of course we ducked through the archway at the tower base. It felt several degrees cooler in there and it was worth it to look out over the shades of blue in the sea. 

I took a quick picture of Tom leaning on the rail.

And I tried to lean back far enough to get one of the top of the tower.

Back though the arch we faced the ladder. Tom wasn't sure I would risk climbing it but I wanted to give it a go, so he stayed close behind me as I took it one step at a time, not looking around until I got to the top.

Then I had to negotiate the spiral stone steps up to the lookout. These were more difficult even though they were enclosed. This picture was looking back down them. I banged my knee on the wall going back down but apart from that there were no mis-haps.

I loved the views from the top, but as you can see, we were cooking in the sun so we soon made our way back down. 

The ladder was much more daunting when it came to going down and I decided I was safest going backwards. Tom went first so I knew he was right behind me, and I just took my time planting both feet firmly on each step and soon we were back on terra firma. I think Tom was quite impressed that I had done it.

Then it was on down the rough stone steps to the car park. I took these very carefully as my legs were feeling like jelly by then, but soon we were safely down.

Just in time I remembered to grab a selfie with Tom with the tower in the background.

This is one of the 'blind corners' we had to get round as we drove back towards Mojacar. Fortunately we didn't have to pass anyone all the way back.

We stopped along the playa for a swim to refresh us. Tom was soon in but after a few yards I realised the waves were much too strong for me, so I moved back nearer the edge and sat down, allowing each big wave to wash over me and turn me around, before it retreated and the next one rolled in. The currents can be dangerous along here, so I wasn''t taking any risks, but Tom had a bit of a swim before we got dressed and headed for home.

It was a lovely trip and I am glad we managed to do it.

I have two other little pictures from this week that made me smile. This little chap ran up the wall when I was hosing the plants in the front garden. It must have been newly hatched as it was only about an inch long from its nose to the tip of its tail. I don't think I have seen such a small one before.

When it is hot and it is hard to find a spot of shade to rest in, I guess when you do find somewhere cool you just curl up in it. Tolly settled on the old outdoor sink. He looked perfectly at home there, so I left him to it.

Sorry this has been a bit of a ramble. I hope you at least enjoyed looking at the photos. It will be quiet here next week with Tom gone so I will be back to briefer posts I expect. For now I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles.