In week 22 of 2021, I met with different friends and did some Photoshop training.
Friday, May 28th.
I didn't sleep well again last night, I didn't drop off till around 5:30 this morning & was back up again at around 9:15. There was light rain this morning so I just lay on the sofa & surfed the internet for a few hours. At about 11:30 I walk to the chiringuito for coffee but Andrew is not opening this morning because of the rain, he is there for a delivery & we chat for a while before I walk to La Playa bar for a coffee.
I chat with Shellie for a while & talk about the Guinness Book of Records walking event that she is taking names for in September. It will be an attempt to get the most people all exercising at the same time, worldwide, be it either walking or running 10 km. She has a number of official entries for it & I will be taking part by walking the 10 km, I have to laugh at my friend Ady when he hears I have signed up to do it, he tells me that he won't sign up to do it but he will walk the 10 km. with me. Whilst I am talking with Shellie I suddenly remember I have an Amazon delivery arriving today & leave quickly, hoping I get home before the delivery arrives.
When I get home there is no missed delivery note so I log onto my account at Amazon to track the delivery. It is then I realise my mistake, the delivery is tomorrow. I cook myself some chicken livers for lunch & after eating them I promptly fall asleep & don't wake up for around 2 hours, I obviously need to catch up on lost sleep. For my tea tonight I have curried salmon with rice, one of my favourite meals.
This evening I catch up with my sister in the UK over Skype. We haven't spoken for months & spent about 1½ hours chatting, laughing & generally catching up on what the other has been up to. It was great to see her & talk to her after so long. Skype & such programs certainly make living long distances away from each other a lot easier.
Saturday, May 29th.
I slept well last night for the first time in a few days, thanks to a friend who sent me kind words & happier things to think of, rather than last week's sad events. I have two chocolate pancakes for breakfast & sit & wait for my new watch to arrive from Amazon.
At midday, Amazon delivers my watch & I charge it & work out how to use it. I then go to the chiringuito for a pint where I see Andrew & John. After a quick pint, I move on to La Playa bar for a pint & to watch the football. Unfortunately, they are unable to put the football on for me so after a pint & a chat, I go for a walk around, eventually stopping off at Piramide bar to have a chat with my friends, George & Yvonne. Whilst I am there my friend Alan Bond messages me & we arrange to meet & to watch the Manchester City v Chelsea Champions League Final at La Zona bar tonight.
Alan picks me up from my apartment around 8 pm & we go to La Zona bar. I order myself a pizza to eat & we sit down to watch the football. I enjoyed the evening & having some banter with my friends Jayne & Ben who are both Chelsea fans. After the game finishes, we head off to La Playa bar for the last beer before heading home.
Sunday, May 30th.
I laze around this morning, I watch the swifts flying around outside. They fly around catching flies in mid-air & it is amazing how quickly they can change direction.
After lunch I walk down to La Playa bar to see a group called La Cantinas, who are playing live, they are a really good band & I always enjoy listening to them. Whilst there I see my cousin Jill & her husband, Peter, pop in for a quick drink to celebrate their anniversary & to see the band. Unfortunately, the pub runs out of beer so I only have a couple of pints before leaving & walking home.
On the way home I see my friends Gerry & Lorraine who tell me that they are leaving Spain & going back to the UK. I have a quick chat with them before walking across to the chiringuito outside my apartment. I see quite a few of my friends there & enjoy the evening.
Monday, May 31st.
This morning I laze around & at midday, I cycle up to La Sombra bar to meet my friend Martin who has got me a large pack of bacon. We sit there for a couple of hours chatting & when he goes to collect his daughter Aria, at the bus stop, I cycle off home with my bacon. When I get home I split the pack up into six different packs & put them in the freezer.
This afternoon I watch a couple of photoshop tutorials before reading a new murder mystery book on my kindle. I also finally, after telling myself for ages that I will do it, purchase a set of 50 Spanish lessons.
Tuesday, June 1st.
This morning starts off cloudy & rainy. I strip my bed off & wash the sheets, then I shave, strip myself off & jump in the shower to clean myself off. After my shower, I have a 20-minute massage & then have a breakfast of scrambled eggs & bacon. I view the introduction to the Spanish lessons I purchased yesterday & as cloudy weather is forecast this week, there is a good chance that I will start the online course very soon. I check my email & am horrified that my sister has remembered to send me a pinch-punch message, she got me this month, oh the shame.
I take my recycling rubbish to the bin & then continue to walk round to the Tuesday market. As I go I can hear loud thunderclaps among the rolling black clouds overhead but there is no rain. As I walk through the market many of the stalls are starting to pack up early because of the storm that looks like it will bring heavy rain. I stop at a fruit & veg stall & buy some oranges, apples & potatoes then walk home.
Just after I get in the rain comes down & the workers drilling holes in the outside of the building opposite take cover. The rain comes down quite heavily for a short while but soon leaves off & the clouds move away to allow the sun to come out. I am sitting at home when my friend George rings, he is having trouble ordering off of the Amazon website & asks my advice. I offer to go round to look at it for him, unfortunately, I forget to take my glasses & can not read the screen. It appeared that he needed to ring Amazon as he had a problem logging in to the website to make his purchase. I send myself a link to the items he wanted & tell him I will order them for him when I get home.
I get home & order one of the books George wanted to but am unable to order one of them through the Spanish Amazon site. I call George to let him know & he has meanwhile called Amazon & they have fixed his logon problem so he can order the second book through his English account.
Wednesday, June 2nd.
I slept well last night & get up around 8:30 to bright sun & a blue sky. The birds outside are singing & flying around catching their breakfast. I have a pot of tea & then go out on my bike to the bank. After going to the bank I go to La Encarnacion for breakfast but they have taped off the side of the building that has bike racks. With no bike rack to safely lock my bike to, I instead cycle to get the gears on my bike adjusted & have a basket attached to the front. When I drop it off at the shop in Los Narejos the man whose shop it is, tells me to come back in an hour so I walk to Café Prensa for coffee & a tostada.
Whilst having breakfast my friend Mike turns up for a chat & asks for help with his mobile phone. After having my breakfast I walk back to the cycle shop, collect my bike & then cycle to Mike´s & connect his mobile phone to his home network for him. I am rewarded with a cup of tea before I cycle home.
A few weeks ago when I got my new bike, my friend Jim, in England, had mentioned padded cycling shorts made it more comfortable to ride. He didn't just mention them, he sent me two pairs. Thank you, Jim, they did help & I did as you suggested, I wore them under my normal shorts. I must say though if you have never worn them before it feels like you have just put on a full nappy & is very disconcerting. It will take me some time to get used to them but I will continue to use them.
As I was resting on my sofa contemplating the meaning of life, my friends George & Yvonne shouted up to me from below my balcony. I joined them at the chiringuito for a drink before we all walked along the beach to La Playa. After a drink there we walked back along the beach & back to the Piramide bar where we sat for an hour or so chatting before I went home for something to eat, I made myself a ham, salami & cheese pizza & watched television, including the last 20 minutes of the England v Austria friendly football match. If the last 20 minutes were anything to go by I am glad I forget it was on & missed the first 70 minutes.
Thursday, June 3rd.
My sleeping patterns seem to be very hit & miss at the moment as I slept really badly again last night. This morning I can rest up as I have to wait for the book I ordered for my friend George to be delivered by Amazon. I hunt around my apartment & find the dustpan & brush I bought a little while ago, I had put it somewhere 'safe' had couldn't find it, but this morning I discovered it hiding under the sink in my kitchen. I leave it on my balcony so that I can find it tomorrow when I want to clean the balcony up.
I get a message from my friend Donna today saying she is going to the quiz at La Zona bar with my friend Debbie this afternoon & asked if I want to join them. I tell them I will as long as the Amazon delivery gets here before I have to go. At about 1 pm the delivery arrives & I arrange to drop it off to George this afternoon before going to the quiz. I make myself a pizza with cheese, ham, salami & banana for my dinner. Lots of people think it's weird to put banana on pizza but it's lovely, try it yourself.
After eating my pizza I cycle round to meet George to drop off his book. After dropping the book off I cycle on to La Zona bar to meet Debbie & Donna so that we can attempt the quiz. We did terribly, I think we were joint last, I blame this on a combination of not hearing the questions when they were read out, the fact that we were talking more than concentrating on the quiz & probably the biggest reason, we didn't know the answers.
Once the quiz has finished I cycle home & have a curried salmon fillet with rice for my tea, followed by mixed fruit & yoghurt. I then stretch out in front of the television to watch television before having an early night.