Rocking Your World 2021: Week 41

I am starting this week with some more photos of our little footballer. Last Friday night my great-grandson's junior football club was invited to the West Bromwich Albion Academy for the under sevens team to play some matches. They played four games, won two, drew one and lost one. They all look very pleased with themselves. (Alfie is second from the right).

At the end of the evening Alfie was invited to go back the next day to play for the West Brom under sevens. His mum was quite upset that "her baby" was given a new kit including shin pads and boots, and was sent off to strange changing room to get himself ready, but of course he managed. (I am sure there were people there to help them).They played against Sunderland and Bristol Rovers. I don't know the final scores but Alfie managed a couple of goals. They do get some amazing opportunities these days though he seems so very young for all this yet. Emma said the best thing was that he wasn't fully aware of what it was all about, and he just wanted to play more football and have fun, which is the best way to look at it for now anyway.

I did say I wasn't sure what I would be making next after the green jacket was finished, but then I saw a pattern that I knew I had to try. It will be very challenging for me, but I have to have a go. One good thing is that it uses small amounts of quite a few colours so I will be able to use up some of my rather large stash of yarn. But I did need several balls of dark grey. Dark grey? I hear you say. That's not a colour Kate normally chooses. But it was what was needed, and of course it is not a colour I keep much of in my stash so I had to try to find a supplier in Spain, or at least Europe, so I could buy it without the huge tax and import duties I was stung with on my last order from UK. It  turned out to be a bit of a mission, but I ended up writing to Stylecraft for help and they pointed me towards a couple of shops in Ireland and the Netherlands. I wrote to the shop in Ireland but I never received an answer! The Dutch shops all said that they only offered 'click and collect', but when I looked into it further I found one company that did do international orders, so I ordered what I needed staraight away. It took a couple of weeks to arrive but I did smile when the squishy parcel finally got here.

I can see me using them again in the future. I won't be revealing what I am making with it, until I am sure I can manage it.

While waiting for the wool to arrive I decided to have a play with a few smaller projects. The first one I completed was this wind spinner. It was fun to do and it does spin really well in the breeze. Unfortunately, when it was done I tossed it into my knitting box until I had got round to make the tassell it needed to add weight at the bottom, and when I came to hang it I had trouble trying to make the ring spiral neatly, so my spinner is a bit wavy. But it still works and was a bit of fun to make.

Then I saw another pattern on Facebook that I wanted to try. I found two oddments and tried a small swatch and rather liked how it turned out. (I ran out of green. There should have been two more rows to complete the pattern repeat). It was another slightly different technique and I like to try out new ideas.

I had the idea to make a small rug to replace the rather ancient one beside my bed, so I went to the local Chinese bazaar to see if they had any suitable yarn. I wanted chunky weight cotton but they didn't have any and in the end I bought these two. We recently bought new blue and white bedding.

I knew it wouldn't be easy to work with but I got the hang of it in the end. I needed a big hook which I held a bit like a screw driver, as I tried to force it through the stitches, but I got there.The minute I put the finished rug on the floor to get a proper look at it, Tolly leapt on it and just sat there. I have a little bit of yarn left over so I may make a simple little mat for him one day!

I have since done two rows of border using a cone of "T-shirt" yarn, to give it a firmer edge. It proved to be even harder to work with, but has made it more finished.. It has buckled a bit but I think as I stand on it more, the rug will stretch a bit and fit the border better so it lies flatter.

On Tuesday we decided to drive over to the Repsol gas shop in Vera to look for a new fire for the sitting room. The one we have was very efficient and we liked it, but it has been failing the last two winters, and last year it continually turned itself off, so we intended to replace it this year. It turned out that the girl at the gas shop couldn't help us, but directed us to a shop in Mojacar Pueblo, around half an hour's drive away. When we got there we couldn't find the shop, and having asked several people, no-one could tell us where it was. We were just about giving up when a council worker who was sweeping the street, told us there was a shop that only sold 'stoves' in Vera, so back we went again!

But we hadn't been up in the Pueblo for quite some time so we had a little walk around first, and ended up at the Fuente. This is a fountain flowing continually with drinkable water, and many families still go there with a collection of containers, to draw all the water they use in their houses. It is a very attractive place, set up around a large patio area. The drinking water spouts go all along the far end of it, and the water runs off into channels along each side which I believe were once where the women came to do their laundry. The side walls are covered in pots of red and pink geraniums, and it is a very peaceful and cool spot, even when it is invaded by a bus load of tourists, or a group of thirsty walkers, as was the case when we got there.

However, we were soon back at the car and decided to drive all along the coast road to get back to Vera. We stopped at our favourite cafe in Mojacar Playa where Chris ordered a 'café con leche' and I asked for té ingles. I then smiled sweetly at the waitress and said PG tips? (For my American friends, this is a popular brand of tea in UK). So when our drinks arrived Chris had a very generous sized cup of coffee and I had a similar cup, with a glass bowl full of PG tips tea bags, a pot of hot water and a jug of cold milk. Plus we were given a glass of water - often served with a coffee - two small glasses of fresh orange juice, a plate with two mini sugared dough balls and two savoury pastries, and a bowl of mixed nuts, and the total bill was just 3€. You can see why we like going there, and why their forecourt tables are nearly always full!

It was a lovely sunny day, and as we drove along the coast I rolled down my window and tried to take some photos from the moving car. Most were not very good, but I was happy with these ones. The sea was such an incredible blue, with quite fierce white waves breaking on the rocks.

At Vera we found the shop we needed and duly chose a fire. The next day a man came to look at the space where it will go and made sure it was suitable and has promised that the fire will arrive in around twenty days, and he will then phone to arrange installing it, so it will be ready by the time we need to start using it.

Two weeks ago I showed a photo of next door's garden, just a wide space of mud and mostly under water. What a difference a couple of weeks make. With the sun warming the ground after the rain, it is now thick green vegetation. No doubt the men will be back soon to clear it all away again, but it is a battle they will never win. In the meantime it is nice to see some green again after a summer of brown sun baked land.

Once again I am grateful for technology, especially being able to make video calls using Messenger. Youngest son Ben and I chatted for just over four hours on Wednesday evening. It was the wee small hours before I got to bed, ( I am one hour ahead of UK time), but it was so lovely to take time to really talk together. Then the next day my sister and I chatted for an hour and a half, and shared our latest family news and crafty makes. We have similar interests so it is always good to see what each other is making.

And now I will close with a few sky photo. The first is actually a sunrise. I am not often up to see it but on Tueday I opened my eyes to see a sky streaked in gold and orange, and I leapt up, grabbed my phone and ran out to catch a few shots before it all changed. It is a bit blurry because I was still half asleep!

The rest are sunsets - nothing very dramatic but interesting and sometimes pretty all the same.

So now I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles before publishing this.

Rocking Your World 2021: Week 40

Well it is almost the end of the week again. I am writing this on Thursday as I need to do some shopping tomorrow morning. This is the time when we look back at the week and find the things that  have made us smile and that we are grateful for, so I thought this poster I spotted this week was very apt.

The lovely red apples reminded me of Harvest festival which is my favourite service of the year at our church. I had fully intended to go to it last Sunday. It would have been my first time back after the pandemic, but circumstances conspired against me so I didn't get there, but a friend did collect some food contributions from me which I was pleased about as they will contribute to the bags of food made up for Zurgena Town Hall to distribute to the most needy families in the area. We don't usually accept fresh produce at the harvest which is a shame, but there is usually a time lag between the Sunday service and the parcels being assembled and delivered, and then distributed, so it is not practical. But this year the Town Hall did ask for fresh fruit and vegetables for the children in their village school, and seventeen bags full were duly delivered on Monday morning. So that was all very positive.

But when I went to the market in our village on Tuesday I was delighted to see the newly harvested vegetables there, including the first of the new season's oranges and tangerines. Last week the market was washed out by the storms, and as there is little other fresh produce available in local shops, I was down to my last carrot and a couple of apples, so I was happy to stock up again this week. When I got home I spread my purchases out on the kitchen table and had my own little 'Harvest festival' at home. Don't they look lovely.

We have been having problems with the car and on Wednesday we took it down to our mechanic to hopefully fix it. He lives on the campo, through the urbanisation Huerta Nueva which is across the main road from our village, and then on a bit. He did offer to run us home again but we decided the walk would do us good.  It was fairly early still so the sun was low and we cast long shadows as we walked.

It probably took us just over half an hour to get home and the exercise did do us good.  On the last stretch before the main road, the council took out all the rather straggly trees that edged the pathways a couple of years ago, and replaced them with palm trees. They looked pretty 'tatty' when first planted, but we were pleased to see that almost all of them had taken well, and were beginning to look well established. They are Palmetto palms with fan shaped leaves that look like big hands. As the palms die they often stay on the plant but fall down forming a brown petticoat around the trunk. Here they are usaully trimmed away every couple of years by experts who do a fantastic job. As we walked I noticed one in the distance that looked different and had what I thought was dead leaves already falling, but as we got closer I realised that what I could see was big clusters of tiny black and purple fruit, or berries. 

I had never seen fruit on this type of palm before so I looked them up when I got home, and apparently they are quite nutricious and form an important part of the diet for many tribes around the world. They are not juicy, but rather tough and sticky (a bit like a dried date), and each berry divides into two parts which each has a stone in the centre, so you would need to eat a lot of them to fill you up! Now I now they are not poisonous, I will collect a few next time I see them just to try them.

I had a little baking session this week. I am sure most of you will have seen internet adverts for shortbread moulds in a variety of shapes.  We like shortbread, and I did buy one of the rolling pins last year, that is supposed to roll a pattern onto the dough, but I never had much success with it. However, I have always fancied having one of the traditional Scottish moulds that has a plaited edge and a thistle in the centre, but the price of them put me off. So when I saw these small moulds I just had to have a couple to try. Needless to say my first choice was a little cat. Having read up on tricks and tips to use them, I went for my very traditional shortbread recipe and chilled it for a short time while I made a pie for our dinner. Then I floured the mould well and pushed some dough into it, turning it out onto a baking tray. After the first one, which stuck a bit, they turned out quite well and I managed to form seven little sleeping kitties. 

My second mould was more ambitious as it was the shape of a large fircone, which had some deep cavities, and this time I didn't do so well. I only made two with the remaining dough. The first one turned out in three peices which I pushed together and hoped they would join up as they cooked. (They did!), and the second one looked more like a Christmas tree and the edges would not unmould at all. I again chilled them in the fridge for half an hour before baking them and they held their shape pretty well.  But they all tasted good and that is what counts, and the grandchildren will love the cats next time they come over.

I am very pleased to say I have finally finished the green jacket I started crocheting in April. It was quite heavy going and I lost interest a bit half way through, but the yarn was rather special, and hence rather expensive, so I didn't want to waste it, so when I had completed both my blankets I decided to have another go at it, and last night I did the final stitches. I am please with it. It is heavy and warm and will make a good jacket for walking up to the shops etc in the Winter. I don't wear a coat very often but I do like a good woolly jacket.

This is a close up to show the true colours and textures in the yarn.

And because I got told off by some friends for not modelling the last one I made, here I am wearing it, though it does't look its best over a strappy sundress!

This morning we got our car back, repaired and fully serviced ready for its ITV at the beginning of November. So mid-morning we went to the nearby camp site for the first of their monthly artisan markets since the lockdowns began. There was a nice variety of stalls and a good turnout of visitors. I completely forgot to take any photos, but we did buy a few little bits, a couple of coasters with sunflowers on, some rather nice smelling incense sticks and a holder to burn them safely, some tee-shirts and a few other bits. 

And finally, a rather lovely sky that I spotted early evening on Monday. I took several pictures of it, but I liked this one because you can see all the little birds coming in to roost for the night. (Click on it and you should get a larger picture).

And that my friends is it for this week. Hopefully I will be able to publish

this before I go off to shop in the morning. But first I will be linking up with Rocking Your World and Annie's Friday Smiles.