Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia, Spain.
Summary: A week of leg cramps, rugby drama, digital art inspiration, supermarket adventures, emotional news, and the excitement of seeing my face on an Arsenal banner.
Friday, March 26th
A swollen leg, rugby drama, and a late‑night film marathon.
My leg was a bit swollen after the extra walking I had done recently, so I rested it. After finishing my book, I binge‑watched some American TV and flicked between channels to keep an eye on the France vs Scotland rugby match. I was pleased to see Scotland beat France in another close game, helping Wales win the Six Nations.
Late that night and into the early hours, I ended up watching La La Land again before finally going to bed.
Saturday, March 27th
An Arsenal banner appearance, a disastrous music event, and a painful cramp.
Despite going to bed late, I woke up early. I received an email from the Arsenal Disabled Supporters Association, they were hanging huge banners at the training ground and stadium featuring images of supporters, and my photo on the Great Wall of China was included. On the “Always Together” banner, I was directly below the first letter E in “Together.”
I walked to my friend Mark’s house for a lift to a music event in Las Lomas. After a magical mystery tour, we found the bar and took our reserved seats. Unfortunately, the service was dreadful, after 2½ hours and four attempts to order, we had only received two drinks. Even someone who joined our table couldn’t get served and left. I paid for the one drink I did get and headed back to Los Alcázares for food at Pearl’s Plaice.
The fish and chips were excellent, and the service was brilliant. After dinner, we went to Rocco’s bar to chat with my friend Matt and arranged a pitch‑and‑putt golf game for the following Friday. Lots of people from the earlier event turned up later, all saying the same thing, great entertainment, terrible service.
Luckily, Keith gave me a lift home as my leg was aching. Unfortunately, later that evening my leg went into severe cramp, and I collapsed on the floor in agony. After about 20 minutes, I managed to stretch it out on the cold marble floor, which helped. I knew I would need to take it easy for a few days.
Sunday, March 28th
Virgin River, Vancouver dreams, and researching leg‑cramp remedies.
I woke feeling better. My leg had cramped a few times in the night, but nowhere near as badly as the day before. I spent the entire day binge‑watching Virgin River. I loved programmes with beautiful scenery, and this one, filmed mainly in Vancouver, made me want to visit.
I also looked up natural remedies for leg cramps. Dehydration, tendon issues and exercise were common causes. I drank plenty of water, but the tendons in my bad leg had been damaged years ago, and the extra walking plus the short course of diuretics had probably triggered the cramps. I read that ginger and chamomile tea could help, so I planned to order some that week.
Monday, March 29th
Tea shopping, goat and lamb deliveries, and website admin.
In the morning, I ordered chamomile, mint and green citrus tea from Amazon. Around lunchtime, Reindeer brought me some goat and lamb meat he had bought for me. Later in the week, I planned to attempt a goat curry and either a lamb stew or a lamb curry.
The rest of the day was spent resting my leg and doing admin on my website and Google accounts, deleting trash files and organising others so I could find things more easily.
Tuesday, March 30th
Early‑morning energy, a big meat shop, and sad news from home.
I was up at crazy o’clock and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I browsed digital art websites and training videos. My health seemed to be improving; my “get up and go,” which had got up and gone, seemed to be returning.
At 08:30, I went to the bank, then hurried home for my Amazon delivery, which arrived at 10:00. That meant I could go food shopping. My friend George took me to San Javier so I could go to Campillo. I bought enough meat to run a restaurant, then stopped at Aldi in Los Alcázares for bread, fruit, vegetables and other bits. Back home, I unpacked everything and had a pot of tea with two doughnuts that must have flung themselves into my basket.
In the evening, I received sad news: my friend Graham Moss from Fareham had died. He had done so much for me over the years, whether I was fit, ill or disabled. He had always been a good friend, and it was a shame he never made it out to see me in Orlando or Spain. RIP Graham.
Wednesday, March 31st
A Mercadona adventure, a pizza, and a World Cup qualifier.
I slept well until 08:30, lazy sod. I realised early on that I had forgotten a few curry ingredients the day before. Am I the only person who goes shopping, buys loads of things they didn’t know they wanted, and then forgets the things they actually needed?
I visited the new Mercadona supermarket and was impressed by the spacious layout, unlike many Spanish supermarkets, which feel cramped. The bakery smelled lovely. I bought one of their pizzas for lunch to test it. After getting what I needed, I went straight home. I couldn’t get warm that day. The pizza, with a bit of extra cheese, was lovely and better than others I had tried locally.
After dinner, I cleaned the washing machine with a 60° cycle. The rest of the day was spent working on my website before watching England vs Poland. England won, but it wasn’t terrific. They should have won every game in that group, but it was an inferior group.
Thursday, April 1st
Goat curry, Mexican tacos, lemon gifts, and digital‑art inspiration.
I slept well again and didn’t wake until 09:00. Still sleepy, I made a pot of chai tea before preparing a goat curry for the slow cooker.
At lunchtime, I visited Frouk and Reindeer to drop off the money I owed them and stayed for lunch, fantastic spicy Mexican mince tacos made by Reindeer. I admired the plants' colours in their garden, and they told me where to buy them near my apartment. They also gave me lemons from their tree, so I considered making lemon curd, something I had loved as a boy but hadn’t had in years.
When I got home, I realised I had forgotten to give them the €20 I owed, the whole point of the visit. Luckily, they had forgotten too, and the next day, as they passed my apartment, they planned to pick it up.
Tonight I ate half the goat curry with pasta, it was fantastic, and I had to stop myself from eating it all. The leftovers would be tomorrow’s lunch. After dinner, I watched a Photoshop tutorial on creating an artwork in which a person’s head splits open to reveal another version beneath, as if a second person were living beneath the skin. It gave me great ideas for my next digital art project, which I planned to try the following week.
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