Diversions and Distractions, Friday 25.09.2015
The day started inauspiciously when we ran the bath and the water was muddy, obviously the result of the road works going on nearby to repair a water leak. It was supposed to be a hair washing day but I decided it would be best to pass on that, though Garrath did suggest that it might add some brown to my greying locks. No thanks Garrath, just accept me as I am!
We have read all the adverts for microdermabrasion treatments, therapeutic mud baths and the like so we had a bath anyway. The silt around here is iron rich and red so I like to think that we emerged from the bath looking a little more sun-kissed. Sadly the muddy water didn’t do much for my wrinkles and saggy bits so those adverts are definitely a con trick.
There is very little ripe fruit in the garden because the gardeners harvested it and put it into the freezer in preparation for our arrival so we went down to the freezer to explore breakfast possibilities. Harvested indeed, our freezer is a big one and it is full, very very full! There are Chillies, Strawberries, Pomegranates, Loquats, Figs, Seville Oranges, Lemons and Limes – lots and lots of Chillies, Strawberries, Pomegranates, Loquats, Figs, Seville Oranges, Lemons and Limes!
In the past I have spent days making jam, a rather laborious process. Chutney, on the other hand, is much easier and it keeps better so when the predicted rains come next week I shall be making copious quantities of ‘Chuck It In Chutney.’ The cheap Chinese shop sells large glass jars at a reasonable price so bottling will be easier than usual. I will, of course, have to supply all our neighbours as I always do, but I will think of a more appealing title for the preserve to put on their labels. Ideas for a more appealing title are welcome.
The weather forecast for next week is rain, rain, thunder, lightning, and yet more rain so photography jaunts are out of the question and beach shots are unlikely. So a week devoted to preserving nature and the gardeners’ bounty will be good use of time. There has been a two year drought around here so the rains will be most welcome. I like the Chinese saying, ‘There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.’ I’m just pleased that Garrath and I are still around to enjoy the rain, though a little concerned that we don’t have any wellies here. What is Spanish for Wellies and where can we buy some?
The first jaunt of the day was delayed because our exit road was closed by the guys who made our bath muddy. There followed the most convoluted alternative exit route done mainly by guess work, one that I forgot to repeat in reverse on the way back so yet another weird and wonderful alternate route had to be engaged in, via the supermarket. That water leak is really challenging my navigation and driving skills.
After the enforced diversion we got to the cheap Chinese shot to exchange a mistakenly purchased charger. That done we parked in Plaza Major, and got some tedious housekeeping tasks done. The mifi widget was topped up at Movistar so that we continue being in-touch techno junkies, Garrath went to his Spanish bank where the staff can give the world a lesson in helpfulness and charm, we went to the solicitors to arrange payment of the non resident taxes, I managed to pop into a shoe shop and buy some shoes, then to another shop to buy a matching handbag. We then had a cuppa at our favourite in-town where we discussed and decided on the big decision of the day – where to have lunch.
Garrath, working on the principle that there are no pockets in shrouds, has determined that no cooking will be done this trip (apart from me preserving a freezer full of fruit that is) and that we will lunch out every day. Mejias Tres was chosen and we got there just in time to beat the queues that characterise their lunch service. The food is simply cooked and good, the service quick and efficient, the price incredibly reasonable and they cater for me beautifully, bless them.
There used to be a common belief, usually among the sniffy English, that the Spanish are lazy. It is utter rubbish. I have never seen anyone work so hard, fast and efficiently as Angel, Eva, Danny and the new waitress whose name we do not yet know, and the work ethic generally here is very good. Our builders are exemplars of that. Every job they have done for us – and there have been some very, very big ones – has been done very well and exactly to the deadline they gave us. The Spanish can give the English a lesson in working hard.
After lunch we took a leisurely stroll in the bright sunshine down Playa De La Fossa again. This is where I started my photographic mission to take photographs that I will post and dedicate to Lifesnapper, a fellow photographer who posts images of scantily clad, pretty, slender young women all the time. I am constantly chiding him and suggesting that he should open his mind and learn to appreciate the charms of more mature and more rounded women, so my photographs are devoted giving him a lesson in this. It is fun to have a photographic mission and really focusses the mind.
Tea and sea at Spasso and photographing scantily clad, corpulent beach belles over, we meandered back home via the supermarket and yet another bewildering, convoluted alternate route only to find that they had opened the road again. AAAAARGH!
Then there was nothing for it but to repair to the local walk-to watering hole for liquid refreshment, sneaky candid photos via the iPad, sketching and people watching. There will be an illustrated verse to follow. Well refreshed we tottered home to a light supper and bed by 23.00.
Its a tough life out here!