Friday, February 16, 2024

Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 7

Another lovely week has flown by and we have had a few smiles along the way. There was lots to smile about on Saturday as it was our village carnival day. This is always a happy occasion with lots of folk, old and young alike, dressing up as part of a team, a family or an individual. The parade goes all around the village and folk line the streets to cheer them on. We are lucky as they pass our house so we can watch from our own doorstep. Here is a jumble collage of some of the people who were involved. (There are much more elaborate and larger parades at the towns around here, but we do pretty well for a little village).

Leo decided to sit beside me on the path to see what was going on. He never likes to miss anything, and he got lots of admiring comments which he accepted with his usual rather fierce stare!

Fortunately the sun shone on the revellers though, as usual, they were a bit slow getting started so the sun was going down by the time they got back round to the big marquee on the carpark where there is music and dancing for anyone who wants to join in.

I had some happy photos from the family including this one of our great/grandson Alfie who was awarded with a Gold certificate from his teacher. He has had the teacher's award for the week on several occasions, but apparently he had set his heart on winning a gold award this term, hence the big smile. Well done Alfie.

And here is our little grand-daughter Aisling helping mummy make pancakes, and having a wonderful time. At Christmas she had one of the high step-stools like Annie's Louie had, so she could reach the table top to join her mum cooking, painting etc. They are such a good idea.

Our youngest son Ben is setting up his own business offering to sing and play the piano at functions, but also to have local artists come to his studio at home to record and master their songs, and to help them improve their productions. He can make films of occasions using his drone and set the videos to music, and as a sideline he likes making soap to sell! This is his studio with his new wide screen monitor.

We have had some lovely warm days with Almeria region breaking records again for the highest temperature for February on record, but we have also had some gale force winds, and some very grey days. Today we had a very gentle rain fall around tea-time, but it wasn't enough to do the garden any good. All the reservoirs are even lower than they were last year, and we have not had any significant rainfall all winter. So this week we are all on water restrictions, with an allowance of 200litres per person each day. This is actually higher than the average household uses so it isn't too bad, but we are not allowed to water the garden beyond just 'sufficient to keep it alive', and no filling or topping up of swimming pools, so we will be sad if the restrictions stay in place through the summer as we usually top our pool up every week June-September. 

I had a hearing test this week which confirmed that hearing aids would be a good idea. They are very, very pricey out here so we are looking at options for now. I also had laser treatment on my right eye to clean the cataract lens, and everything is clearer and brighter today. Now I will get tested for new glasses.

The wood I ordered for the lazer cutter arrived this morning so I will be having a play again soon.

I have ordered a big bundle of wool for another pattern so I have something else to work on in the evenings. I get bored with one pattern all the time so I like to have a few projects on the go at the same time. This one will be very challenging as it is worked mainly from charts and I like to have a written pattern as well. But I have done a little test piece so I think it is worth a try.

We had to be up early for our eye clinic appointment yesterday so I saw a lovely red and orange sunrise. It cast a rosy glow on the white houses round at the back of us.

The night before had given us a strange funnel shaped sunset. Both were beautiful in their own way.

So now I am off to polish this up ready to publish and link up with Annie's Friday Smiles in the morning.

6 comments:

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Sounds like a happy week for you, family photos and a carnival just brilliant. However the weather is a different matter. You could have some of our water, I have released water from the pond about five times this winter or we would have had fish swimming around the garden. Loving those gorgeous photographs. Take care and have a good weekend. Hugs Angela xXx

Anonymous said...

I’m sorry I was missing this morning. Our internet went down yesterday and we had to wait til lunchtime today for an engineer to come out to sort out the problem….thankfully all ok now but rather too late to start writing my blog.
Well done on all your family’s achievements this week….plenty to smile about.
Hugs,
Annie

Iris Flavia said...

Another post that sure made me smile! Those kid's chairs are great and your son sure is a helper! My friend sent me pics from the Braunschweig carnival.... I did not miss a thing, LOL.
Yes, hearing aids are expensive here,too. Good luck and have a great weekend,hugs

Anonymous said...

Lots of beautiful carnival costumes. Here they are having the big do this weekend.
I don’t know if we have water restrictions. I think not as I’m on the ayuntamiento link and I would have seen the announcement.
Leo is a very handsome boy indeed. I’m not at all surprised he gets a lot of attention.
Well done Alfie! (He’s a handsome boy too). A proud nanny moment no doubt.
Yes, those ‘chairs’ for children to stand on are a great invention. I think they must have been developed during the lockdown don’t you think? When everyone was baking bread and baking with the children.
Have a lovely weekend,
Lisca

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Sorry to be so late visiting. I waited up as long as I could to visit you, then went to bed. I got sick overnight and have just now gotten out of bed.

I love your collage of the parade. Amazing how you got so many photos in one collage.

Leo is charming. My cats would run back in the house if a bunch of people walked by. But my two don't go outside.

Congrats to Alfie. It's wonderful he likes school and his teacher. Kudos to him.

LOVE the sky shots. The colors are fabulous. And so glad Ben has a studio where he can create both visual and audio recordings.

Hope your weekend was enjoyable. I'm off to bed again, dear.

Celtic house said...

I'm having a catch on my blogger today, congrats on your son and his new pursuit - I'm very envious, loving the side hustle of soap making - a very different side line to chosen career but still creative.

The water situation is somewhat worrying, I hope it gets resolved so you can manage the pool in the summer. The village festival looks great fun too so much colour. Loving the shot of your cat outside, such beautiful colouring.

Loving the sky shots as always.

Hugs