In week 2 of 2021, Epson collected and repaired my printer. I did a lot of Genealogy research and made some soup.
Friday, January 8th.
After my shower this morning, I weighed myself to see how the diet was going. I hoped it was going and not piling on. The figures from my weigh-in are 17 stone 9 lb, a BMI of 28.6 and a BMR of 2252 Kcal. A loss of 3 lbs in my first week, so I am pleased.
Today I spent time in the kitchen making soup with the chickens I cooked yesterday. I made a chicken and mushroom soup that I have not tried before. The soup turned out nice but the ingredients make it more expensive to make than any other soup I have made and I won't bother to make it again. I did make enough to put one in my stomach and three more in the freezer.
The rest of the day was spent doing genealogy research and watching films on Amazon prime.
Saturday, January 9th.
I woke early this morning and was washed and dressed quickly as I have a delivery arriving from Amazon, two objects that my life currently can not do without, a hand warmer and a new kettle. People who know me well will know that even in warmer weather my hands get very cold so the electronic hand warmer I have ordered would help with this. Most people also know how much I love my tea and as my kettle broke two days ago I had to make an order from Amazon to get a new one.
I spent the morning cleaning up the data in parts of my family tree and waiting for my Amazon delivery, it finally arrived at about 3:30 pm. Tea was consumed in large quantities and I settled down to watch football on the television. Arsenal played Newcastle in the third round of the FA Cup and it wasn't the best game I have seen but it didn't matter as Arsenal won 2 - 0 after extra time to go through to the next round.
Sunday, January 10th.
The day did not start well as I found out that one of my Aunties had died in a UK hospital from COVID overnight.
My friend Jo has helped me translate and fill in a document that I need to take to the local Town Hall as I have received a bill for a car I sold about 14 years ago. It was sold to my then neighbour, here in Los Alcázares, but he died a few years later and I do not know what happened to the car after he died.
This afternoon I make Chicken and vegetable soup, it is very good, I have some straight away and put another six very large portions in the freezer.
Monday, January 11th.
This morning I go to make an appointment for my regular blood test. This is to control how much Sintrom I have to take to stop my blood from clotting. I am lucky that they do it straight away and I don't have to wait at all. Afterwards, I walk to the Pharmacy to get some more pills whilst I am out. I then walk for a bit longer before returning home for a pot of tea.
When the local shop that frames artwork and photos opens, I go back out to collect a photo and a piece of Chinese leaf art that I bought in Chongqing in China. I now have a pile of framed photos and art ready to hang in my apartment when I can borrow a drill.
When I return home I try to print off the document that I have to take to the town hall. Unfortunately, my printer does not work and after spending time searching online for Epson support they give me an email address to contact someone else to pick it up for a repair. The printer was bought in November 2020 and has printed less than 10 pages, it breaking down so quickly is not a good omen, luckily I got an extended warranty to go with it. I email the repair company, cross my fingers and hope for a quick reply.
Tuesday, January 12th.
I went for a walk this morning and ended up stopping off at A Time 4 a change and buying a coffee table and a reading lamp which will be delivered later today.
When I get home I have an email telling me that my printer will be collected tomorrow and taken for repair. The only problem is that I have to print off copies of paperwork for the collection people to take with them, oh the irony. I call a few friends to see if they will print the documents for me and my friend Keith can do it and supply me with a cup of tea and good conversation as a bonus. Unfortunately on my way to Keith's, I realise that the battery on my mobility scooter does not have enough charge to get there, let alone get me home as well. Luckily I see a sign in a small Spanish shop I am close to that does copying inside. I ask them if they can print my documents off and they do it on the spot and all it costs me for the 4 printouts is 40 cents. I jump back on the mobility scooter and just get home as the battery finally dies.
For lunch I have some of the soup I made yesterday then I wait for my delivery to arrive. My table and lamp arrives on time and they take measurements to give me a price on a new headboard that they can make from recycled pallets for me. They are very helpful and put my new furniture exactly where I want it. They had a display of some of the things they make from pallets in the Los Alcázares shop and they looked really good.
I have never liked liver, probably due to the smell of when my dad used to cook it, or should I say overcook it, the smell and texture made me gag. I did see a pot of chicken livers on sale for €1.50 a few days ago though and purchased it thinking I would try it and if I didn't like it I wouldn't have spent much and could throw it away. I cooked it for my tea tonight as it is supposed to be good for my diet. I cooked it with bacon, mushrooms, onion and cream. It was lovely and there was enough liver left for me to have it again tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 13th.
I am up early today as my printer is being picked up and taken away for repair. They say it will be picked up between 10 am and 2 pm but I pack it all up early in case they arrive early.
The printer was picked up at midday and I spend the whole day working on my family tree.
Thursday, January 14th.
I woke up really early today at around 4:30 am and as I was unable to sleep I got up to start working on my family tree again. At 11 am my stomach was demanding I had a break so I quickly whipped up some bacon, fried mushrooms, fried tomatoes and scrambled egg to go with a pot of chai tea. After my break for food, I get back to the family tree whilst listening for today's deliveries.
Today my delivery didn't arrive until about 6:30 pm. I was a bit annoyed waiting in all day for a delivery driver that refused to ring the doorbell and phoned me from outside to make me go outside to pick it up. Anyway, it arrived and I am really pleased with my new beach chairs and mini table. I just need the sun to warm me up enough to go sit on the beach with my kindle, hopefully in the next few days.
To end off what was a remarkably ordinary week I watch Arsenal struggle to get a 0 - 0 draw with Crystal Palace on the television, its a terrible game and I am surprised I stay awake through to the end.