Week 18 of 2021 started with a walk along the beach to my favourite place for a tostada, La Encarnacion.

Week 18 of 2021.

Friday, April 30th.

This morning, I walked along the beach to La Encarnacion for a tostada with tomato, coffee & orange juice, before continuing on to walk around 3km. On my walk, I stop off at the Dr to make an appointment for my regular blood test, then walk back to the chiringuito by my apartment to read, enjoy the sun & have a drink of water. For lunch I again have my new favourite meal, curried salmon with rice, I then have a siesta before returning to the chiringuito in the early evening for a cheeky Gin & Tonic.

At night I watch the Southampton v Leicester football match & I am again disappointed by the refereeing & VAR decisions. How Southampton had a player sent off for a tackle that clearly was not a foul is beyond me & for VAR not to rule in the defender's favour is a travesty.

Saturday, May 1st.

Today starts very early as I am awakened at 3:45 am by some drunks arguing on the beach. They do disappear around 20 minutes later but I can now no longer get back to sleep.  I pottered around on my laptop for a while, waiting to see what sort of morning we will have. 

At around 9:30 am I took my kayak out on the Mar Menor for the first time this year. I really enjoyed being out on the water again even if the young girls racing up & down on their paddleboards, all around me, did give me eyestrain. How can these beautiful creatures be so strong as well, I thought I was motoring along until they raced past me & left me in their wake. I paddled along slowly for around 3km. When I finished my kayaking I pulled my kayak up onto the beach & jumped straight back into the water & did a half kilometre swim. The water was lovely & very clear, I could see fish swimming around me & jumping out of the water.

After my swim, I took my kayak home, showered & then returned to the chiringuito for a bottle of water & some marmalade pancakes. I sat there reading until my friend Mike arrived so I could show him how to post things on Facebook. Something I have done hundreds of times & he has not listened to hundreds of times. I run through it with him & he correctly learns to post something, I guarantee I will hear from him in the next few days saying it isn't working.

This afternoon I go for a walk & meet my friends George, Yvonne & Jim for a beer at a local bar. We sit chatting until the bar closes around 5:30 pm then go for an Asiatico on the way home at a different bar. In this bar they will switch out the cognac in the drink & replace it with baileys, it is absolutely gorgeous. After 3 of these, I am ready for food & bed, I get home sit on the sofa for 5 minutes & promptly fall asleep. I woke up later in the night & go to bed without eating.

Sunday, May 2nd.

I woke up this morning & arrange to meet my friend Lottie at La Zona bar. I have some of her Spanish books & will meet her there to return them so she can pass them on to someone else. I go for a 6km bike ride & arrive early so I can have a big breakfast. Midway through breakfast, Lottie arrived & ordered herself some toast & coffee. We sit chatting for a while & caught up. I find Lottie a fascinating lady who has travelled all over the world. Her father owned the building that made way for the apartment I now live in on the beach. As a young girl, she lived right where my apartment is now & has shown me some lovely old photos of the building as it was when her father owned it. 

After seeing Lottie I cycle home & rest for a while before meeting George at   La Playa bar on the beachfront. We are meeting to watch the Rangers v Celtic football match & then the Newcastle v Arsenal football match. After the two games, I am much the happier of the two of us, Celtic lost & for a change Arsenal played very well & won 0-2. After the games, George heads home & I stay to chat with Shelly for a while before heading home & having something to eat. 

After my dinner I settle down to watch a film, someone must have sprinkled sleepy dust on my food as I am soon fast asleep, I miss the film but wake up in time to watch Arsenal on Match of the Day before going to bed.

Monday, May 3rd.

I am up early this morning, I have a shower & then walk to the Dr for my regular blood test appointment. I am the first person there & the nurse does my blood test whilst the receptionist is still checking me in on the system. After my blood test, I continue my walk into Los Alcázares along the main road before walking past the town hall. The town hall is currently having a lot of work carried out on the courtyard at the rear of the building & I walk past the workmen on my way to La Encarnacion.

I sit inside the covered area at La Encarnacion as the wind is quite strong along the beachfront this morning. I have my regular café bonbon, tostada con tomato y Naranjo. All for less than 2€, they threw in the fantastic view of the Mar Menor for nothing. I sit & read whilst I have my breakfast then afterwards walk along the beach promenade back to my apartment.

I arrive home & receive a message from Mike telling me Facebook isn't taking his posts again, it took less time than I thought for him to forget what to do. I also receive a message from my friend Theresa asking for help with her printer, I agree to help her this afternoon when the wheelchair I loaned to my friend Janet has been returned.

The wheelchair is returned at lunchtime & my friend George calls me to see if I want to go to the garden centre today rather than tomorrow. I walk to Rocco's bar to meet him & then set off for San Javier to the garden centre. I Pick up a bag of compost, 4 flowering hanging plants that have nice colours & that I have seen growing everywhere so I know they will be ok in the heat, 2 lavender plants for the smell & their ability to ward off mosquitos & two other plants that I have never seen before that have labels on them saying they repel mosquitos.

I don't know if it is all the walking I have done or just lifting the compost & plants but I don't feel so good so George drops me off at home & I settle down on the sofa for a rest.

Tuesday, May 4th.

I go for a bike ride this morning & go to see my friends Mike & Theresa for coffee. After our coffee I take a quick look at Theresa's printer but am unable to fix it, I think she will buy a new one. After leaving Theresa I go to Mike & show him, once again, how to make a post on Facebook, it won't be the last time.

This afternoon I planted the flowers I bought yesterday. Unfortunately, the weight of the wooden planters is too much for the flimsy hangers I have them on & I have to place them on the floor. I contact my friend Wayne to ask him if he can suggest & build something to get them raised up off the floor. He will pop in tomorrow to measure up to make a stand for the planters.

I spent a few hours at the chiringuito by my house, reading my kindle & enjoying the sun. 

Wednesday, May 5th.

Wayne contacts me this morning & reschedules his visit to come around tomorrow. Theresa comes around so that I can print off her travel documents for her. We sit chatting for hours & she goes home with all her tickets printed off, like me she likes to be prepared for her travel, I always like to have copies of everything I need even though these days everything you need can be kept on your mobile phone. I once travelled to America with just electronic documents on my phone, the battery on my phone ran out because of flight delays & I would have had a lot of problems if I hadn't kept paper documents as well.

I had a very late lunch today, I had homemade lamb curry with basmati rice & chips. It was lovely & after I had cleared up I went to the chiringuito & had a Pina Colada cocktail & a chat with my friends, Jo & Michael, as well as my neighbours, Russ & John. 

Thursday, May 6th.

Wayne popped in this morning & measured up for some trellis tables to raise my plants off of the floor & for two shelves for more plants on my balcony. After Wayne has been, I have a shave, put some washing on then update my shopping list before I pop out for it. I get my shopping at Mercadona before returning home & having a pizza for lunch.

This afternoon I walk to La Playa bar & have a few beers chatting with friends before the quiz starts. When people arrive for the quiz I leave & walk back to the chiringuito for a beer before going home to watch the football tonight. It is Arsenals most important football match in years, they have to win to play in European competition next year.

Arsenal hit the post twice but do not manage to score & the 0-0 draw means that they lose 2-1 on aggregate & will not be playing in Europe next year. It is the first year in 25 years that they have failed to play in European competition. The team needs a big overhaul of players, there are still too many overpaid players that are no longer performing being put in the team because of their history. I hope with the remaining four games of the season that players like Willian will be dropped, & sold, to allow youngsters like Folarin Balogun the chance to have a few games in the Premier League matches. It no longer matters about results it should be about giving the youngsters a chance to prove they can play at this level.