Rocking my world Friday.

My how the weeks are rushing by! I seem to be busy every day trying to finish one project or another. But I did manage to finish one this week, and that was the making of Fatty Lumpkin.

He is made from crocheted African flower motifs, which are then crocheted together. You may remember that a few months back I also made a hippopotamus in the same way. They are firm friends now. Here they are chatting together in the garden like two old folk on a park bench!

It almost seems a shame to separate them, but they will go in my Gallarte sale next week, and I doubt they will both end up with the same owner. (I have already shown these pictures on my craft blog, but I make no apologies for showing them again, as this blog tends to have a different readership).

I finished making the pony sitting out in the garden earlier this week, in a lovely sunny sheltered spot, and it was really warm. But winter has suddenly come with a vengeance since then, with heavy rain and a big drop in temperatures. I have even had my fire on in here, and I only did that about twice last year! But the rain is something most folk around here are truly grateful for. This is an agricultural area, and the water was badly needed.

What else has rocked my world this week? Well last Saturday our choir made their first public appearance of the season. We were invited to attend the British Legion Christmas fair, and we sang about half of our concert programme which was very warmly received. The fair was in this somewhat unpromising building.

It is in the village of Alfoquia and is a part of the old railway buildings. The wide open space to the left was the track, most of which is still there, and over the other side of that is the station building. There was a good crowd at the fair all looking very festive. 

There were a variety of hand-made products on sale, from jewelry to jams, and fudge to flower arrangements. We bought some lovely baked goods which kept our tea-plates filled for a few days. We have five more concerts to fit in between now and Christmas, as well as one early in January.

When the sun was still shining earlier this week, Chris decided it was time to cut the roses hard back for the winter. Before he did, he rescued three beautiful flowers for me, and two of them are still looking good today.

Late roses give me a real moment of nostalgia. Mum

used to save little quotations she saw and pin them to picture frames or stick them to the fridge. And the one that I have never forgotten said "God gave us our memories that we might have roses in December". We hardly need our memories for that now as many of the modern roses go on blooming late into the year, but seeing my vase of flowers there, brings Mum straight back to me. As does the calendar you can see hanging behind the flowers. It is an Apples of Gold calendar, so named from a verse in Proverbs that reads " Words aptly spoken are like apples of gold on settings of silver". Basically it is a picture, (which always used to be a basket of apples, but they no longer adhere to that), with a block attached that gives a verse of scripture for every day of the year. Mum had a very good friend whom she kept in touch with all through their lives, and every year this friend would send mum an Apples of Gold calendar. When my sister and I were small, we would fight over whose turn it was to pull the page off each day. And Mum's motto being "Never take a day until the Lord has given it to you", woe betide us if, in our enthusiasm, we tore two off. It would be put back on until the next day came. So that calendar has been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. When we all left home, mum started to send us our own calendar every year. She passed away in her ninetieth year, some twenty years ago, and then one of my sisters continued the tradition, and she now sends our calendar every year. If a verse particularly struck mum as being apt at the time, she would pin that up along with her other quotations, and I do just the same! So that little picture behind my roses is very special, as it keeps alive one of my memories or my 'roses in December'. Family rocks my world.

Well that is enough sentimentality for today, so I'll end with this photo that rather tickled me. I was out shopping this morning and I went to a supermarket that is difficult to park right outside, so I usually park in a lay-by and walk up to it. This involves walking across a wide strip of rough land, I suppose it is an empty building plot really, but it is covered in rough scrub and wild flowers. If you cross it on a hot day you are surrounded by a cloud of grass-hoppers. I have never seen a small area so densely populated with them. But as I crossed it today I was amused to see this white bird wandering around ahead of me.

I don't know what it was. it had a long neck and looked more like a young goose than anything else. I couldn't get close enough to have a proper look, but I did just get this quick shot on my phone. It is mostly a very built-up area, with lots of housing and a school right by, so I have no idea where it came from, but it seemed to know where it was going!

And now I am off to link up with Virginia's blog at Celtic House. See you all next week.

Something to Smile about.

Hi Folks. I am starting this week with something to really smile about. I have mentioned before that we have a lady in our village who has set up, and runs almost single-handedly, a charity for the disabled children in our area. I help where I can, by making my jams and pickles to sell, and this year I was able to introduce Cati to the Vera Lions Club, who adopted ASADIS for their annual charity. Between the Lions, my jam sales for the year, and donations from the concerts that our choir held, we were able to buy a special walking frame for a little girl with cerebral palsy. Well this month the Lions have also funded the purchase of a special touch-screen computer, mainly for one twelve year old boy, but there will be special workshops set up so all the children from ASADIS can use it. As neither of the officers from the Lions speak any Spanish, I was asked to go to the shop with Cati and the boys mother Fina, to act as interpreter for them. My Spanish is still far from fluent, but I was able to help and I was pleased to be involved. All went smoothly, so here we all are, looking very pleased about everything! As soon as it is set up and in use, I shall go to take some photos of the children using it, and share them with the Lions.

I shall link this to Annie's Friday Smiles.

So what else has rocked my week?

I have been getting into the Christmas spirit,

wrapping up lots of tiny boxes of smarties, and bars of chocolate, to make these jolly fellows. They are for our vilage's little art and craft open day in a couple of weeks time.

I also made a Christmas pudding; not something I

have done for years. Now there is only the two of us, and Chris is not fussed about it anyway, it doesn't seem worth it, so I usually buy a tiny one just for me. But this year he said he would probably eat it if it was home-made, and also my son and his partner are coming over for a couple of days, so I ferreted around in the garage-cum-store-room, and found my old steamer, and set to. I got to the part in the recipe where it said, "Now is the time to gather the family, have a stir and make a wish.." so we each had a go.

Last week my life Group met at a house I had not visited before. It was up a steep hill at the side of Turre - our nearest 'town'. As I reached the top there were such lovely views that I knew I must return with my camera. So I did!

The whole of Turre, nestling below the Cabrera mountains. It is only a very small town, but it has a good supermarket that I often use. I also go to Turre for my Wednesday morning sewing group.

The view just around from the village. It shows what I mean when I say I live in rural Spain! There is a lot of empty land, though there is more agriculture going on than you see in this photo. I love these mountains. They are smooth and rounded with no jagged edges, and they ripple with light and shadows. They look as though someone has dropped a piece of soft fabric and it has had landed in deep folds.

Looking down the hill beyond Turre, you can see the white Moorish village of Mojacar. Beyond that is the sea.

On Tuesday we had our usual choir practice in Huercal-Overa, and as Chris has a 4.00 appointment at the hospital there, we did not have time to go home, which is a half-hour drive away, so we went into the town to find a late lunch. It was a lovely day and we found a nice bar/restaurant at the side of a patio. It was hidden away from the main road, and was surrounded by elegant apartment blocks. It was a real sun-trap, and with an arched pallisade to shield us from the wind, we were able to sit and eat our meal 'al fresco'. 

And then, for the first time ever, there was no queues at the hospital so we saw who we needed to and were home again an hour later!

This week I embarked on the mammoth task of sorting and re-arranging my craft room. Here is what it looked like before.                                                

And here it is now! Suddenly there is so much more floor space. My chair has moved away from the draughty window, and I can swivel between the work area and the computer. I am so lucky to have this room just to craft in, even if I do share it with a furry friend, which means I have to tidy up every time I leave the room!

And just to prove I do get in there to do something

most days, I was commissioned to make a card this week. You may remember that a few weeks back, a lovely Romanian couple from our church held a 'second wedding' ceremony, that we did our best to make special for them. Well yesterday Florentina was safely delivered of a baby girl, a little sister for Andra, so here is the card I made for everyone at church to sign on Sunday.

And finally, there is, of course, another sky photo. The weather has become rather more wintery this week, with a sharp drop in temperature, high, chilly winds, and lots of clouds. I saw this sky just before it was properly dark, and I loved the contrast between the deep blue sky, the brightness of the setting sun catching the edge of a bank of cloud, and the darkness of the coming rain.

Well that is all my news for this week. I am just off to link up with Virginia's blog, Celtic House, and then I shall go down to the sitting room and do some more of a knitting project I am trying to get finished.