Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 51

So close to Christmas and the end of another year, but on Sunday we had a sunny, mild day that would be welcome in any British summer. On the spur of the moment we decided a walk along the coast would do us good, so off we drove with no real destination in mind. I remembered that Villaricos, a short drive beyond Vera, has a market on Sundays so we headed that way.

We had to park a short way outside the village as the market is very popular and draws folk from all around and village parking is very limited. But we took our time wandering down to the coast and walked along a quiet harbour side. It was quiet because just above us, atop the grey wall to our right, was a thriving, very busy market. 

After a quiet stroll along the water edge we went up into the market and joined the throng looking at clothing, handbags, phone accessories etc. At the far end there were several fruit and vegetable stalls and it was lovely to see the array of fresh produce in all shapes, sizes and colours.

And I couldn't resist a photo of this little chappie made from old tyres.

The only thing we bought was a beautiful bright red poinsettia to go in our front porch.

I read an interesting article in Facebook that said that Almeria is the main producer of poinsettias in Spain, this year growing 3.5 million of them. I borrowed this photo from the article, showing just one of the nurseries getting their plants ready for sale.

As we left Villaricos I looked back and took this photo of the bay, with the sun shining off the water.

We were a bit 'peckish' by then so we decided to drive on to a little village called Esparto del pozo, where we used to go to a lovely restaurant right on the sea wall. When we first came to Spain we lived in a tiny hamlet on the coast called El Calon, and the restaurant was just a short drive beyond that, so it was interesting to revist old haunts, and see the new developments along the coastal road. As we turned one bend the little village of El Calon came into view. The big hotel at the start of the road down to our flat, was still unfinished, but there was some new housing there too. 

A bit further on and we could see the lovely resort of San Juan de los Torrores, with the blue sea flanked by hills on either side. 

But we weren't going as far as San Juan, because we soon came to the turning down to the beach labelled Esparto del Pozo. We didn't know whether the restaurant would still be there but it was and fortunately it was open too. They had tidied it up a bit. There were still several tables squeezed onto the sea wall but they had also opened up a big plaza at the side for more seating, and we chose a table up there as it was a bit more sheltered. The service was good, and as we were quite early, we did not have to wait long. By the time we had finished our meal this plaza was almost full. 

We had an excellent meal - we have never been disappointed there, and how lucky were we to sit in sunshine, watching the sun on the water, and eating our Sunday lunch in such lovely surroundings.

On Tuesday I quickly got the sheets out on the line, did a quick whizz round the market to get fruit and veg, and then we went to the big supermarket to do a bit of last minute food shopping. That evening I managed to finish off this little blanket. Originally an unfinished shawl which I didn't need another one of, I decided to work some more motifs and turn it into a small lap or pushchair blanket, and on Wednesday I took it to my sewing group to donate to one of the 'about to be a mum's who use the food bank we support. Apparently they have "three ladies with bumps" attending at the minute so I am sure one of them will love having it.

The yarn I used is 4ply cotton and I have a lot of it left over so now I am making some fairly simple squares which will eventually make a further blanket. I can't just sit in the evenings. I need something to keep my hands busy, and these squares are relatively unchallenging, so I can work them while watching some of my favourite programmes coming up over the Christmas season.

And while I am on my crafty makes, I have made a collage of the laser engravings and cuttings that I have made recently. Most of these have been gifted in with Christmas cards, and now they have reached their destinations I can show them on here.

My son sent me a little video of my grand-daughter Aisling, hanging her dancing fairy on their tree.

Today I have had a lovely time visiting  a friend who lives in Huercal-Overa. She has a mutual friend who now lives in France, staying with her, and we spent a great couple of hours all catching up with one another, sharing photos and enjoying some festive nibbles. Needless to say we were so busy chatting I forgot to take a photo!

Anf finally it wouldn't be like me to publish a post without a couple of sky photos. So here is one I liked because of all the layers of colours in it.

And this one I spotted from my craftroom window and ran out just in time to catch it with an interesting skyline of trees silhouetted against the orange sunset.

I shifted my position and took this one at the same time without realising that I had caught the top of the Christmas tree light on the plaza. I can actually see that through my window, as I sit here writing this tonight.

And that is it for this week. And it is, of course, our last blog meet-up before Christmas day, so I will close by wishing you all a very Happy Christmas with lots of fun, joy and hopefully friends or family to enjoy it with.

I may manage a brief post on Boxing Day, but in case I don't, here's also wishing you a very good New Year and may at least some of your hopes and dreams come true.

And with that I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles ready to publish this tomorrow.

Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 50

Once the hustle and bustle of Christmas decorating, card writing and baking is done, there is often a couple of quieter weeks, (unless you are a busy mum with last minute present buying and wrapping to do), but I like these quiet days when I can curl up with a book and read for hours, watch some nonsense TV and if I am lucky, find a sheltered spot and sit in the sun for an hour. We have had a few quick hours of sun on the porch before it drops, earlier now, and hides behind the corner of the roof.

But it hasn't been all quiet and restful.

Saturday a very Equadorian tradition arrived in our village. There is quite a large group of folk from Equador who live at the top of the village, and when it is one of their celebrations, other groups come from the towns and villages around. So this week it was the celebration of the Niño de Isinche. As far as I can find out, centuries ago a pack of mules brought bales of straw to a big hacienda in the village of Isinche, Equador. While 'processing' one of the bales, a small wooden statue of a baby was found. The rich owner of the hacienda had a vivid dream which led him to build a glass enclosure for the statue which became known as Niño de Isinche, and every year, close to Christmas, the Equadorians hold celebrations in its honour. There are several parts ro the ritual which involve various costumes, and of course, food elements, but here it seems to be a day for doning colourful clothes and playing loud music, while dancing, eating, and having a good day. They start with a big mass in the church, and then they dance to a nearby ground donated to them for sport and recreation, where they have a huge party, with music and loud fireworks, that continues late into the night. I often go up to watch them leave the church. I have to admit some of their masks and costumes are a bit scarey, but I love all the girls bright coloured skirts and shawls, and white embroidered shirts.  But this year I was busy in the kitchen so I didn't go but I have made a collage of some photos posted on the Town Hall facebook page, to give you a feel for what it was like.

Why was I busy in the kitchen, and what was I baking...  mince pies of course: six dozen of them and a little jam tart to use up the left-over pastry. They are the only Christmas sweet cakes that we both enjoy so many of these will eventually be eaten by us, but some will be given away too.

Yesterday was my sewing group Christmas party at a nearby hostel. There were about twenty of us, and this year we had one long table so it was relatively easy to walk along and chat to one another. We had a lovely meal in good company so it was very enjoyable. This is a photo taken from each end of the table. I was sitting next to Liz in the bright pink jumper, about half way down.

My skin condition has been getting slowly worse over the past few weeks so today I had another appointment with my dermatologist. She confessed she couldn't find the cause but I now have different medicines to try, so here's hoping they will at least help a bit.

We did get the forcast drop of 10º this week, but it has still been quite sunny and warmish out of the bitter wind. I still managed to get washing out and dried which is always a blessing. But the nights are chilly and the fire is on every evening. One day we watched this bank of storm clouds rolling towards us, but again they rolled away and we did not get the promised rain. We still could before the end of the weekend though.

Chris managed to get a morning working hard in the garden. He has cut down the two trees that threatened to overcrowd us, one by the gate and one over by the little square of garden in the corner. He uncovered our two poinsettias that we planted out after Christmas, the red one was four years ago and the pink one the next year. This year it is the pink one that has shown its colours, It is looking really good. The red one only has a few red bracts but I remember last year, it didn't really turn until well into January, so we will have to wait and see.

I was pleased to hear from my sister yesterday that my parcel of cards had reached her safely, and she has now posted them on. They travelled fast this year.

Tonight there is fairly benign face in the clouds. I am glad Iris could see the same face as I did in last weeks photo, so I am not the only one with paradolia in this little gathering.

Now it is time to prepare this for publishing tomorrow and linking up with Annie's Friday Smiles, and then I can feed the cats who are all around me meowing pitifully as though they haven't seen food for a week!

Friday Smiles 2024 # Week 49

When we get to week 49 we know the end of the year is fast approaching.

I don't do much baking these days but I felt inspired this week so I made a boiled fruit cake. I used a different recipe from my usual. It is one a friend gave me, and it is delicious. It is rich enough to be a Christmas cake but has nothing to preserve it so I am not sure it would keep that long, so we are enjoying it now!

I am seeing faces again. Can you?

It has been lovely weather this week with days just warm enough, and bright blue skies. But they have forecast a drop of ten degrees after the weekend! However this week we have had several red skies at night, fairly solid colour with no clouds to break it up, but this one just caught my eye because of the three little grey clouds hovering in front of it. They soon broke up and disappeared but they were rather cute. It looked as though someone was sending up smoke signals.

This morning we went down to Garrucha because I had an early dentist appointment. We parked on the sea front and there was more wind than I had realised so it was whipping up some big waves. (Sorry no photo this time). We then went to the post office and posted a parcel of Christmas cards to my sister. She will put English stamps on them and post them on. In case you are wondering why I do it that way, it actually saves me a lot of money. I am a bit late sending them this year, and both Friday and next Monday are bank holidays here. One is a secular holiday (Constituion day), and one is a religious holiday (Immaculate Conception). This means that many shops, schools etc with have a long weekend off, so I wanted to make sure my parcel was posted today.

I have just finished putting up my Christmas decorations and it all looks so nice. I normally do it on the first, but December sort of crept up on me and took me by surprise, and writing cards seemed more important. But it is all done now. I have sorted out one pile of nice decorations that I do not need so they will go down to the charity shop on Saturday if it is opening this week. A lot of older items will be discarded after the holiday but I have many decorations that are part of our family tradition, and I can't part with them.

I may get a few pictures taken by next week. In the meantime, our street lights were switched on tonight. The angel at our gate is gold and white this year.

The ones across our street are very pretty. Aren't they bright colours? You can see there are swaithes of them all the way up the street. I haven't been over to the plaza to see the other ones lit up yet.

As a chnge from red skies, on Monday the sky was covered in little powder-puff clouds. Aren't they pretty?

And they were even prettier when the setting sun caught their edges.

And that is it for today. I will now go down to the warm sitting room to watch TV, and in the morning I will publish this and link up with Annie's Friday Smiles.