Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 35

 Please forgive a very brief post today.

There is only one word for my house right now. CHAOS!!

Here is one example - my craft room. I have spent all week sorting through every box and file. I have thrown mountains of stuff away, as well as taking a big box of materials down to my sewing group, donating a second big box of art materials to a friend who likes drawing and painting, and filling several boxes for the charity shop, which, we discovered this morning, is closed for holidays all through August. So it is sitting in the car for another week!

One of my friends said it must be so sad throwing all your things away, but actually I have found it quite empowering. My methods of crafting have changed so much over the years and much of my 'stuff' hasn't been used for as long as I can remember, so it really needed a good clear out. The house move has finally motivated me to do it. But I do wish I knew more folk who would like some of the things I no longer need.

Anyway, between us we have almost cleared Chris 'office' ready to turn it back into a dining room, and set him up a reduced office in the fourth bedroom which was a study when we moved in. And, although my room looks an absolute mess, there is now light at the end of the tunnel and it will soon be cleared.

It will be a lot easier in a week's time. On 6th and 21st of each month we can put large items out beside the rubbish bins and we have one right outside our house. So at the end of next week we can put out three book shelves, two office chairs, a dismantled computer desk,  and several other items, and then we will have more space to move around.

I need to get on and finish my room so I can tackle the garage/general dumping room. I will need some patience to do that!

One small blessing is that it is few degrees cooler this week. There have been grey skies but once again no rain, though areas around us have had a few downpours.

So I will quickly prepare this for linking up with Annie's Friday Smiles tomorrow.

P.S. We had thunder storms in the night and rain. Yay!

Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 34

I am starting with a bit of science for you this week. I am sure most of you are familiar with the saying "Once in a blue moon", meaning very rarely, but did you know that a blue moon is an actual occurence and it is very rare - hence the saying. Blue moon has two meanings. It refers to a full moon when it is the second one in a calendar month,  and it also can refer to the third full moon out of four in any season (between equinoxes and solstices). Well we had a blue moon on Monday night, as it was the third full moon this summer with one more to come.

There is also the phenomena of a "Super moon". This occurs when the moon is the closest it gets to the earth's surface so it appears a little larger and brighter.

This Monday a blue moon occured at the same time as a supermoon, so a Super Blue moon, and this is incredibly rare. I believe the next one will be in 2037! So I hope you managed to see it. It doesn't actually look blue, but it did look huge and bright. I tried to take a photo but when I zoom in enough to get a clear focus, all the colour disappears, but this is a little brighter than I usually manage.

What else have I been doing besides moon-gazing? Well I made this little barrel with my lazer cutter. I guess it is what some people call a 'whatnot' jar, as it can hold any little bits and pieces that are laying around. It was cut from MDF which is not my favourite to work with. It doesn't engrave very well, but as this was only cutting and fitting together, it wasn't too bad. There wasn't a lid with the file I bought, so I made one and added a small wooden bead as a knob.

Someone mentioned to me in a video call this week, how big Leo is now. When you see a cat every day you don't notice how they are growing, but I said "Yes, he is probably the same size as Tolly now", so that evening when they both came to sit near us out on the porch, I decided to take a few pictures to compare them, and as you can see they are much of a size now. But they are very different cats. Tolly is a solid, heavy cat, whereas Leo is soft and relaxed in your hands, but you can see them here together and judge for yourselves.

With long video calls with my sister and the boys, that is how my week has gone.

But it has actually been a very busy week and I will share why here. After a few vague conversations together, Chris and I have decided it is time to pack up, sell our house, and move back to UK. Surprise? Yes! Initially we were talking about in a year or two but everything is moving so fast, it could be a lot sooner than that. Two agents have been and given us provisional, no obligations valuations and we are happy with their quotes. Now we have two frantic months, de-cluttering, throwing lots away, taking piles to the charity shop, and packing the few items we want to take with us. It is quite usual here to sell a house fully furnished and we don't intend to take much back.

Don't ask about future plans etc. We haven't anything definite sorted yet, but no doubt I will let you know when we have. My first task is to overhaul my craft room. There is so much in here that I no longer use but it is hard to part with some things. Unfortunately there are few crafter around here who are interested in taking any of it. Next it will be the garage which has become a dumping ground for anything that doesn't have a proper home! After that the sitting room and bedrooms will be much easier.

Last week Lisca asked why anyone would make a life here and then go back, so no doubt she will be thinking the same about us. Many of my friends have returned home for health reasons, or to be nearer their grandchildren. For us, it just seems like the right time. The summers are getting hotter, and I am not sure I can face another one. Also, if we leave it much longer, we may not be physically fit or able enough to handle the packing, moving, and settling somewhere new.

So this is the start of a new Adventure. When I think of all that needs to be done, it is quite scary. But I know if we are determined to do it, we will. We have given ourselves until the end of September to get rid of enough 'stuff' to have photographs taken, and put the house on the market. We have a lot of points in our favour with the house and its location, so we think it will sell fairly well. Watch this space....

Now I can link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and get back to the sorting out!

Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 33

I have had a very uneventful week so this will be a 'short and sweet' post.

Sunday was the final day of our Week of Culture in the village and it always ends with some form of street entertainment. This year it was a troup of folk, some of whom wandered among the crowd dressed as pirates, and on very high stilts. One of the others was a fire eater - flame thrower, and there was a lady who danced and twirled around holding flaming dumbells. Every now and then a firework would send up sprays of sparks. It was fun, and quite entertaining to watch, but not as good as some groups we have had other years.

After a couple more visits to the nurse, I now have just a very small plaster covering my shoulder wound so I am sure it will be quite healed very soon.

We had a lightening fast visit to the hospital for Chris's eye check-up. He was seen by the doctor, had some tests and we were back in the car and on our way home twenty minutes before the time of his appointment!! We have never known them be so efficient before.

(I have now sat for over an hour after my appointment time, for the nurse to put a new dressing on my shoulder. Not so efficient!)

I spent a lovely morning on Wednesday chatting with a very dear friend. Margie is one of our lay readers at church and a very special friend of mine. Sadly she is returning to UK to live in two weeks time. I will miss her so much. So we had a special time together on Wednesday. We were much too busy talking to think of taking a photo but I have one of her that I will use here.

And finally this was our sky on Wednesday evening, and Yes, we actually had some rain. I cannot remember the last time it rained significantly but it is some months ago. This time it rained for about an hour and was heavy enough to make the ground soak some up. They had forecast warnings of severe storms, but although we heard a few rumbles of thunder above us, we were spared the downpour they had predicted. But this village seems to be protected by the mountain ranges all around us, and many towns nearby had enough flooding to cause some damage. At least the resevoirs will be a little bit fuller.

After the first shower I took this photo. I love the way the water droplets are clinging to the hibiscus petals, ready to slowly sink down through the centre and revive the plant. It made me do my 'happy dance'.

And that is it for this week. I will now publish, somewhat later than usual because of my long wait at the clinic, and will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles.

 

Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 32

Another hot one for us. Some days are a few degrees hotter or cooler than the next, but we just have to get on with life. I have been a bit more comfortable this week as Chris bought me not one, but two new fans for my room. The first is a very strong floor level rotary fan, which sits by my chair and always seems to throw out a cool breeze.

The second is a ceiling fan and light. I used to have one in here but although the light still worked, the fan gave up a few years ago. The design of them is changing with new technology, and they are very different from the original ones we had in most of the rooms. This one is all controlled by a hand held remote device. It has a large round light filled with LEDs that can be set to three levels of colour (warmth), and dimmed if needed. Above that there are colourless transparent fins which fold away above the light until the fan is turned on. Then they uncoil and spin at one of six differnt speeds again set on the remote control. So I am actually able to sit at my desk for a bit longer now, which is a real blessing for things like writing this blog for posting tomorrow morning! This is a picture of the new ceiling fixture, but even though I tried taking it with the light on, dimmed and turned off, you can barely see the fan blades turning, and an added bonus is that it is virtually silent!

As is our usual plan when the new housekeeping goes in the bank, we went to do our monthly food shop on Tuesday. We have two routes to choose from to get to our favourite supermarket and this week we chose the wrong one. We both mentioned that the traffic was heavier than usual, and it soon became apparent that we had a long, wide load ahead, travelling with a police escort. As we got closer we could see it was a huge cement 'trough', on a long wheel base, with an articulated engine pulling it at the front, and a second one attached to the back with a brave man sitting on an open seat between them , and steering from the back.

In this photo he has hopped off his seat to oversee it negotiating one of our smallish roundabouts. You can see the long load and the back 'motor unit', but the front one has already moved out of view. I have to admire the skill of the driver and the partnership between the two men. They made it and we followed them on up the road. (The yellow section is attached and the man in a yellow jacket is steering it).

For most of the time we have been here there has been talk of the long awaited AVE (Alto Velocidad España or high speed train). The original work included hiring huge tunnelling equipment to dig through the mountains and line the tunnels with concrete pipes made on site. Then several bridges and ramps were built ready to carry the rails but it has been a stop-go project as money ran out and the next year the European Fund provided some more etc. Now more lines have been prepared and the next task is to build bridges that cross the motorways both here near Vera and several places near Almeria city. The long load we followed was a section for a bridge like this one just recently placed  on our road up to Vera.

The sections are long and strong enough that they don't need a support column in the centre of the motorway. At this site four bridges run parallel with the two inner ones for the AVE and the two outer ones for normal speed trains. We desperately need a new rail system here but I often wonder whether we will still be around to see it completed.

Last night was a special night as part of the village's 'Cultural week' which always follows a couple of weeks after the fiesta. Each night there is an event, a concert, a visiting theatre group, a film for the children, a set of plays by the local drama group etc, but last night it was the Summer Noche Blanco, mainly aimed at promoting local businesses, but also providing a night of fun and enjoyment for everyone. Participating shops have a bunch of white balloons outside, and often set up stalls of discounted wares on the street. There was also a band playing outside one of the shops, two clowns entertaining families on the small plaza at the top of the village, and a fun little train that was always full as it made its way around the streets, stopping at each shop that was involved.

We weren't really up for the shopping but it was nice to join in and enjoy the happy atmosphere. We watched the clowns for a while and then walked down to the large plaza and sat on a bar terrace at the edge. There was a big stage errected in the centre of the plaza and we watched as a group of young men arrived and set up their musical instruments for a 'Rock'n'Roll' concert Spanish style, that was due to start at 11.00. It was actually 11.30 before they got going but they were very good and we enjoyed sitting there sipping our summer wine, and listening to the music for an hour. Then we were ready for bed and made our way home. The music went on for a while but we had the bedroom windows closed and the air-con on so they didn't disturb us. I have made a collage of a few photos I took during the evening.

My kitchen is not too bad in the morning but it does get unbearably hot in the afternoons so I have been trying to do some batch-baking first thing, and getting food packed away in the freezer for another day. Yesterday I cooked a big pot of mince and veg, and made dinner for us, and put three boxes away in the freezer. Then I prepared a big pineapple I bought at the market and open-froze most of it, though we did enjoy some after our lunch and today some went into a smoothy. Then I made a batch of scones and froze most of them away for Sunday teas. 

Today I prepared and cooked what is probably my last set of yellow peaches for this year. One lot will be served with ice-cream and the rest will be frozen. Then I made a batch of Welsh cakes. For anyone who doesn't know, these are similar to scones, but with more butter and less egg and milk, and they are rolled out thinner and cooked on a griddle. I actually prefer them and making them always make me think of my mum who gave me the recipe and bought my griddle, and who loved having some for her tea during her last years when she lived with us. You have to keep a close eye on them as they cook and turn them before they burn. (I also have mum's old fish slice which is paper thin, and perfect for doing this). They are eaten cold, buttered and with jam if you want the extra sweetness. These freeze very well so a few bags will be packed away before I go to bed. So I feel I had quite a few useful days.

I still have to go to the medical centre for the nurse to redress my shoulder wound, every Monday and Thursday, but it is healing, albeit slowly, and I am hopeful that it will be uncovered quite soon.

And with that I will get this ready to publish in the morning. I am a bit delayed because Chris called me to watch a 'Place in the Sun' that was on TV. It was a 2021 show filmed all around here. The couple were shown houses in Vera, Turre, Palomaris, and Los Gallardos, and they ended up buying an apartment here in the village. It was for a holiday home so they are not here all the time but I have probably seen them around without realising it. Anyway, I will  get to see you all over on Annie's Friday Smiles tomorrow I hope.

Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 31

Another lazy week when I have been too hot to do much. We just about hit 40º again today and tomorrow could be higher. I am very grateful for the more efficient fan hubby has given me for my room, but I can still only sit here for a short while before I head for the sitting room and air-con again.

But Tom and I did venture out on Monday evening for a local night market at an animal sanctuary. It was a fund raiser for their animals of course and there were quite a few stalls there, plus a refreshments area. We went as soon as it opened at 8.00 and there werren't a great number of people there, but I expect it got a bit busier later.

The sanctuary includes a dog kennels and a riding school, but is also home to chickens, rabbits ducks etc. I had not been to any of their previous events so wasn't sure what to expect. It was just off the main road but google soon led us to the gate. As we walked down from the car we saw some stalls and few other people walking ahead of us. (lovely old olive tree on the right).

There were lots of open spaces with shelters for the animals, and several groups of trees. This group has a mixture of  deciduous and tropical trees. 

Sadly you can see how the water shortage has affected the prickly pear. It's leaves should be fat and smooth. Not thin and wrinkly like this, but it still manged to produce some fruit.

Tom caught me on his camera under a nice cactus tree, when I was taking a picture of the chickens in their pen. They were looking a bit hot too, but they did have several trees around them to give some shade.

We did a quick walk around the stalls and I bought a blue mid-season dress from the summer sale rail at my friend's clothing stall. (The lady I often visit to buy my clothes from). But we did not stay around for long. Although it was the evening it was still too hot to linger for long so we went home again to make a big jug of sangria and be lazy again for the rest of the evening.

As we left the sanctuary this tall pine tree stood up above every thing else, and I wondered how deep its roots had gone to find enough water to grow so strongly.

The view from the gate was of the Cabrera mountain range and I tried to get it in a photo, but it was too wide. I am not keen on the panoramic photos I can take with my phone as they tend to be a bit distorted into a fish-eye shape. So I took three photos moving along the mountains and I have now stitched them together into one long one. It is not perfect, but not too bad either.

I have had short sessions of crafting in this room in the mornings, before the sun gets round to this side of the building, read lots of books on my Kindle, and made a couple of dashes to the shop, but nothing more exciting than that.

I find our big king-size bed quite hard to change now, so I am very happy that my nice cleaning lady changes the sheets regularly. Of course, we also change our clothes more often in the heat, so the washing machine is often on, and everything is on the line, dried, and folded away again within a couple of hours. This week Tolly discovered the machine and he sat watching it transfixed by the movement. I have not seen him do that before.

This afternoon we dropped our son Tom off at a very quiet Almeria airport. It was another blisteringly hot day so he spent his last morning in and out of the pool, in between packing a few last bits. (He keeps one set of swimwear here so he never has to worry about packing wet items). Of course I made sure he had a good meal inside him before we set off at 5.00. It is an easy drive and only took us 45 minutes today as the motorway was almost empty. We left him queueing up to drop off his case and were home again by 7.00. His flight was delayed a little but he was soon on his way to London. He has one more day of sightseeing there tomorrow  before flying home to Denmark on Saturday. It had¡s been lovely having hi here for over three weeks. The house will seem very empty without him.

And finally not exactly a stunning sunset, but a lovely golden sky all the same as the evening slipped in on Tuesday.

So now it is time to link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and publish this on Friday morning.