Rocking Your World 2020: Week 24

I saw this  the other day. It is just one of many that are around right now, but point number 8 is the reason we are here each Friday, to share the happy moments and things that have made us smile this week.

So here are my happy moments. I think 'Bright and Breezy' best describes our days this week. There has been enough wind to keep the temperature at a comfortable level, though for a couple of afternoons it has got a bit too windy for sitting outside. We even had two days of intermittent rain, but that made me smile too as I didn't need to get the hose out for all my pots of flowers.

They are loving the weather and the front yard is looking good. That hydrangea I showed you in bud a few weeks back is now in full flower.

.. and so are the pinks.

One of the roses decided to flower again and I counted a dozen buds on it, most of which have now opened. The stems can hardly hold them up. It looks much more beautiful in real life.

I saw this wasp on my Crown of thorns. It isn't the annoying common wasp. This one is a good pollinator and not aggressive.

The silk tree we planted out a couple of weeks ago, is much happier in its new home than it was in a pot. It only took a couple of days to settle in, and of course, the rain had helped. It soon had bigger leaves and more of them, though sadly it shows no sign of flowering yet. It has a rather thin stem/trunk right now so we used a sturdy pole to support it, and within a week there were new shoots emerging all the way up it, which are now 
doing well. 

When I bought our Bird of Paradise tree I inquired about a silk tree, and the dealer told me he didn't stock them because they are too expensive, and he couldn't sell them. So I was very grateful when a friend, moving back to UK, dug up this self-seeded baby from their garden for me. It was a tiny little thing then so I am pleased at the way it is growing now.

Back last May, when we were driving our son and his wife back to Almeria airport, we stopped off in Nijar to visit the cactus garden. We bought a few plants there, and one was this desert rose. It had two flowers on it at the time, but once they died, it looked a bit sad, and I wasn't sure it would survive. I have tried moving it to various locations to offer it more sun, and have ensured it has sufficient, but not too much, water. This May it was still not showing much sign of flowering though there were a few new leaves growing, but now it has one lovely flower and several buds ready to open. So I am really happy to see that.

But enough of the garden. I have done some card-making in the afternoons, but my evenings are still spent mostly crocheting, while watching TV or sitting out on the porch with some background music on. This is my current project. It is proving too be very 'challenging', so I won't show you more until I prove to myself that I can do it!

During the summer months I am working mainly with 4ply yarn which is lighter than my usual DK, and mostly with cotton, or cotton mix yarns. Fortunately I can buy this at a local shop, as my favourite online yarn store is still not sending out of UK. This bag has what I need for two other projects. I have the patterns for them, but goodness knows when - if ever - I get around to making them.

This lot I did send for just before lockdown. It will be my 'go-to' project when I am not in the mood for anything more complicated. It requires a lot (over 100) of small motifs which are relatively simple to make, so I can pick it up and make a few more whenever I want something quick and easy to do.

And as if that wasn't enough to have going on, I had some happy mail this week with this big ball of cotton and pattern book. It was from a company that I know takes their time with deliveries, but there was no rush for it, so I took the chance, and actually it arrived sooner than I expected. So that was a nice surprise. I had to buy a big book of patterns just to get the one I wanted, but actually there are several items in it that I might have a go at one day!

The Christmas before last I was visiting my son in Manchester just at the right time for the big Christmas market there, and one of the things I bought was a metal spinner. It is made up of lots of concentric metal rings in blue changing to gold further into the centre, with a gold sun in the middle, and the centre piece is a big colourless crystal. Other crystals hang in a metal spiral under it, and as the wind blows it round there is a lovely effect of circles moving outwards and changing colour. Unfortunately, where I was able to hang it, in the archway of the porch, it is too sheltered to spin very well, so I managed to buy a small motor for it. This week Chris suddenly realised he could realign one of the porch lights so that it shines onto the spinner, so with that and the motor running, I had a beautiful light show. It is quite mesmerising to watch. I took a video of it and tried to collect a few stills from it. I made a strip to try to show the effect. It is not very good but it's the best I can do. I am sure you get the idea.

Time now to link up with Rocking Your World, and Annie's Friday Smiles.

And that, lovely people, is it for this week. Take care everyone, and I'll see you next week.

(P.S. A message for Virginia on Celtic House. I cannot get my comments to publish even though I do send one every week. I think the problem may be in your settings as others can see my comments. Is there any other way I can contact you? Via WhatApp etc, so you can cut and paste it in yourself. I understand your desire for privacy so the lack of contact details on your page, but I don't know how else to do it.)

Rocking Your World 2020: Week 23

Well it is week 23 so we are almost half way through the year. It is day 85 since our lock-down began, and Spain is slowly returning to some sort of normality, though we have a way to go yet. There are certainly more people on the streets and beaches, but most are being sensible and keeping their distance from others, wearing face masks where appropriate etc. 

One thing that I am grateful for is a big improvement on postal services. I have just been interrupted by our postman, (he sounds his car horn and shouts from the gate these days) and he had not one, but four packets waiting for me. They were mostly small internet orders, but some were dispatched a month ago, and I was beginning to wonder where they were. One was the new SIM card for my phone because I changed provider to one called Lobster, which is specifically for English speaking people living in Spain. I have just activated it but, because I want to keep the same number, I may have to wait for 24 hours before  can use it for calls.

Last week I showed you the yarn I was using and several of you have showed an interest, so here is what I made as I posted it on Facebook earlier in the week.

It is a really warm shawl/wrap, that I will enjoy using next Winter. The design is called Lost in Time by Johanna Lindahl. It was a 12 row repeat pattern and I did eight repeats. I finished it with just yards of wool to spare. On my post I said I was waiting for some special yarn to arrive and if I liked it, I would add the border. It wasn't essential but does give it a nice finish. Well the next day the purple wool arrived, and the following day I also got the rust lurex yarn, so I did add the border and I am happy with that.

So what to make next? well I have the yarn ready for not one, but four smallish projects. They are all using cotton yarn, which should be easier to handle in the Summer. I am not sure which I will do first, but knowing me I will be dabbling in all of them, and see which I enjoy. There is no point in doing it if I am not enjoying it which explains why I have two other projects on the back burner because I was finding them dull to work on.

One other order that arrived this week is a personal space - neck fan. I have to say this is more efficient than I had expected, and it will be really useful for me. I am a bit of a 'hot-bod', and often want the fan on when Chris is still in a jumper. I particularly get a hot face, so this will be perfect when it is just me overheating!

We had an unknown visitor this week. I was sitting on the porch and when I looked up this was on the outside of the fly net.

It was quite big but I had no idea what it was so I went out to get a closer look. (Not too close I might add. It looked quite fierce). So I took another photo from the front and posted it on the Wildlife in S.Spain Facebook group that I belong to.

I was soon told that it was a robber fly, more commonly known as an assassin fly! I am not sure why it has that name as it is relatively harmless, at least to humans. I google it and apparently it is very fast and can catch insects in flight. It does not have a sting, but it can give a nasty bite 'when seriously provoked'. I wasn't about to provoke it; I just left it alone and after a short rest it flew off. I am grateful to the people on that site who have identified various beasties for me, and occasionally I have helped them too. I do like to know who or what I am sharing my space with. This one eats a lot of garden pests so he is a welcome visitor as long as he keeps his distance from me!

I had another welcome visitor this week, and it was a truly magical moment. Since showing you the elusive Hoopoe bird a few weeks ago, I have discovered that there is a nesting pair somewhere nearby. My bird app. has picked up their call on several occasions, but I had never seen one again, until this week. I was in my craft room using my computer, which is near the window, and I saw a bird fly past quite close. I looked up and there he was, sitting on our back rail, just a few feet away from me. I said 'hello' to him and he sat looking straight at me for a minute, but I couldn't move to reach for my camera, so sadly there is no photo. Since then I have been on Youtube and found a recording of its call. I went out the back and played it and sure enough I got an answering call. Twice it flew past but much too quickly to photograph it. Very soon they will be moving on to their summer home, but I am hoping they will return to nest again next year.

This week the sunshine has brought our oleander out in bloom. It is a more ornamental one than the common one that abounds everywhere. It has variegated leaves and a double flower, and it is so pretty. They are almost like little roses. Fortunately it grows behind the back railings so I can keep cutting it back as it is poisonous to animals, and the sap irritates human skin, so I try not to let it invade the garden. It has grown quite tall, and towers above other plants so we get to see it without needing to touch it.

Just below these is the railing that we are training the bright pink bougainvillea along. There is a small gate that divides the back and side yards from the main  one, and we keep it closed to keep the dogs safe. This bougainvillea is not such a robust grower as the more common purple-pink one, but every now and then it send out a long shoot which we usually cut off if we can't weave it along the railings, just to keep the gateway clear. But one reached across the small opening with the gate and got as far as our bedroom window, so I attached it there, just high enough to duck under if we need to. It is now even longer so I am going to try to train it up over the top of the window railings rather than across the bottom as I don't want to shut out the light, and we do need to raise and lower the fly screen and blinds each day throughout the summer.

And finally to some sky scenes. We haven't had any of those for a while, but last night, after a lovely day, clouds started to gather and I said to Chris that if we were lucky we might get a nice sunset. I started off looking more to the East, where the clouds were coming from, and they were picking up some reflected colour from the West.

Then suddenly they parted a little and I saw the full moon rising.

The clouds were moving back and to across it and soon it disappeared, not reappearing until well after dark.

Meanwhile, behind me, the sun was slowly sinking behind the hills, giving us a beautiful golden sky which soon turned fiery and then disappeared. 

I've included this last photo because if you look very closely you might be able to see at least eight little birds having a final feeding frenzy before going back to their roosts for the night.

A few minutes earlier they had been swooping and diving in the green zone. The insects are busy in the evening and it is a feast for the  house martins and swifts - the acrobats of the sky. They are amazing to watch. I am very grateful for where I live, and the moments of joy that I get watching the wild life all around our house.

So now I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World.

There were several comments on the new blogger last week. Chris went on to their page and it was just one complaint after another about the problems of adding photos, so I am hopeful they will resolve the problem before we are compelled to use it. Otherwise I will have to investigate Word Press, but I would rather not change if they can make it more user friendly.