I had not been doing my weekly update this year and had decided to continue it this week. It helps with my memory and gives me something to do when I have my morning coffee.
Monday, 2nd May.
I woke up around 7 this morning and after moaning to myself about an aching back I decided to get up for a coffee. I got myself a coffee and then sat down at my computer, which I do most mornings, to check my email and work on my website. After my coffee, I get myself a lemsip with honey in it. I have had flu for over 3 weeks but the lemsip cocktails do seem to be helping, and I just have a bit of phlegm and a small cough left now.
Lemsip cocktail.I have a new kettle being delivered today, is it just me or does anyone else find that kettles in Spain don't last very long? This is about the 4th kettle I have had in the last 4 years I have been here, I can only remember having one kettle in the UK. This time I have given up trying the electric plug-in kettles and I am trying a free-standing kettle that can be used on an electric hob. It's cheaper than the other kettles I have bought and I hope that as it has fewer electronic parts it may last longer. I just hope that I don't have to wait until 10 tonight for it to be delivered.
This morning I cleaned up my kitchen and then arranged to send back a toilet seat I bought from Amazon. It is a nice bamboo seat but the fittings on it can not be changed to fit the toilet bowl I have. After arranging that I set Peggy, my robot hoover, off to vacuum the apartment. It has been fondly named Peggy after my dear mum, who used to, it seemed, enjoy nothing more than cleaning and dusting her little boy's apartment whenever she visited.
For my lunch today I made myself fish and chips in my air fryer and washed them down with a lemsip cocktail to try and shift the last remaining bit of phlegm from my chest before I go away at the end of the week. Just as I was about to sit down for my lunch, Amazon arrived with my new kettle. I will place it in my new kitchen this afternoon and test it out later when I have a pot of tea and watch tonight's football.
This afternoon I was feeling well enough to decide to go out to get myself some ice cream. Off I went on my disability scooter to my local supermarket but when I got there it was shut. I couldn't remember it being closed before and went to another shop. It was only when I got there and found that it too was closed that I remembered that today is a bank holiday and that the shops would all be closed.
This evening was spent watching the Manchester United v Brentford football match, before having another Lemsip cocktail and going to bed.
Tuesday, 3rd May.
I woke up around 7:30 this morning. I got myself a coffee and then sat down at my computer. I have an email from Correos telling me to expect a parcel delivery in the next few days. I am expecting a small parcel today from Amazon and can only assume that is what it is. Rather than wait all day for it, I will risk going out and if I miss it I can pick it up at the post office later in the week.
My mobile phone has been playing up again so I went to Avatel to see if they could fix the problem. Luckily I was seen immediately as there was no one waiting. Quickly they told me I needed a new sim card, it would be my 4th one this year. They put a new sim in my phone and tested it assuring me it was all fixed, my fingers are crossed it lasts longer than the previous ones.
I then cycled on to meet my friend Martin at the office, La Sombra, where we meet once a week to go over some paperwork and to discuss any problems. After discussing 2 or 3 good points Martin went to pick his daughter up from the bus and I went on to La Zona Terraza. I see a friend that I haven't seen for a while, Terry, and sit down with him for a chat and a pint. We are joined by Martin, who has just done his shopping and is stopping off for a quick beer to stop him from dehydrating on his way home and Jim who joins us when Jo arrives to work at the bar.
I leave my bike locked up at La Zona whilst I get some shopping for my dinner at Mercadona and then cycle home. After having my dinner I settle down to watch the Villarreal v Liverpool football match on the television. Villarreal is 0-2 down after the first leg but plays very well and after a poor performance from Liverpool in the first half of this game, the score is 2-2. Jurgen Klopp must have read Liverpool the riot act at halftime because they play a lot better in the second half, scoring 3 goals and win the match 2-5 on aggregate to get to the final.
Wednesday, 4th May.
I woke this morning with a blocked nose and decide to stay in and continue taking the lemsip to fight off the remnants of the flu that I have been suffering with for weeks. When I sit down at my computer with a lemsip I notice that it is raining and that there are dark clouds overhead, staying in will not be a discomfort today.
I spend the whole day working on my website. I am updating the photo albums so that I can add extra information to the photos in the future and make it easier to navigate around the photos.
This evening I watch the Arsenal ladies beat Tottenham ladies 3-0 before switching over to watch Real Madrid make a stunning comeback against Manchester City, beat them 6-5 on aggregate and go on to meet Liverpool in the European Champions Final.
Thursday, 5th May.
When I woke today it was overcast and raining, a good reason to stay indoors with a lemsip, stay warm and hope that this flu will soon be gone.
I settle down at my computer and continue to adjust the way my website shows my photos. It involves a lot of work on the backend that no one ever sees and means a lot of the photos have to be reloaded to the site or moved around on the server to be used by the new pages I am designing. I do enjoy this and when I look up and think about getting some lunch t is nearly 7 in the evening. I stop work, make a few sandwiches and move to the lounge to rest and watch some of tonight's football on the television.
Friday, 6th May.
I woke up this morning and make my coffee before checking my email and message on Facebook. Afterwards, I take a shower and then get the Sharky mobile out to go and get some drugs at the pharmacy.
I am nearly out of Sintrom and Omeprazole and have run out of lemsip. I go to the pharmacy to get my tablets and get a lemsip replacement that is sold in Spain called Frenadol. It doesn't taste that good but I put some honey in it and a splash of spiced rum. It tastes better, and hopefully, it works as well as lemsip and I am soon feeling ready to run a marathon. Please note I said feeling ready not that I would run a marathon. On the way home I stop off at a local bakery to buy a cake to help me take my medicine.
When I get home, I sit down at my computer to make some adjustments to a menu that I am designing for my friend Shellie who has a local bar called La Playa. After finishing it, I go to the bar with a printout of it to show her. I leave it with her to make any notes about changes that she may want and head home for some lunch. For my lunch, I have some beef stew that I made last week and that I had put a few portions of in the freezer.
This evening I go to Rocco's bar to take some photos of my friends, Matt and Jo's, engagement party. I stay around 2 hours before heading home.
Saturday, 7th May.
I woke up early and work on Matt and Jo´s photos from last night. After selecting the best ones I edit them, resize them and send them to Matt. I also print a few off for Matt and Jo and drop them off at Rocco's bar along with a photo I printed for Rachid. When I get back I make the changes Shellie wanted to be made to her menu and email the finished file to her.
I then go out to pick up my delivery of two pairs of shorts which will be just in time for my trip to Cordoba. When I get them home I try them on. They are so small they will not get much further than my knees, so they will have to be returned and it looks like I won't have new shorts for my trip away.
This afternoon I watch football on the television, I watch Chelsea draw 2-2 with Wolves, before then watching Liverpool draw 1-1 with Tottenham. Neither result was great for Arsenal but neither was that bad either, we can get two points closer to Chelsea if we beat Leeds on Sunday and move further away from Tottenham if we win.
Sunday, 8th May.
I am woken by my alarm at 6:45 am this morning. I quickly have a shave and a shower and finish packing my case. This morning I set off for a trip to Cordoba to see the Patio Festival. One of my neighbours had said she would take me to catch the coach at The Arches in Los Alcázares, we were to leave at 8:20 am. I messaged her at 7:45 am to say I would be down soon, at 8:15 am I knocked on her door and couldn't get an answer. I called through her window and still could not get an answer, I knocked on her door again and fearing she was out, and at 8:25 am I knocked on my other neighbour's door, panicking that I would miss my coach.
Luckily for me, he took me straight away and as we were leaving, the coach company called me to tell me they were already there but would wait as they were a bit early. Thank you John you saved the day.
When I got to the coach my stuff was loaded on and we set off. As we were driving down the motorway I got a message from my neighbour who was originally taking me to tell me she was sitting in her car in the garage. I messaged her back to tell I her I had already left, and as I couldn't get a reply from her my other neighbour had taken me. I soon got a rude reply in return that I will treat with the response it deserves and ignore it.
We stop off about an hour and a half into the journey for a comfort break before continuing on. As we get back to our seats the guide asks me if I would move to the front of the coach so that a lady at the back can stretch out. I move to the front seat where I can stretch out a bit myself and actually see where the coach is going. At around 1 pm we stop for another break to get a drink and food but I don't fancy eating, we are back on the coach within the hour and head off towards our hotel in Cordoba.
We are dropped off around the corner from our hotel, the Hotel Selu, as it is on a back street which is too small for the coach to get down. We walk a short distance to the hotel. I have stayed here before and am hoping I don't get the same room as before as it was horrible. After trying my key several times it opens to let me in and I am pleased to say it is a nice room with everything I need.
After unpacking my case I listen to the 2nd half commentary of the Arsenal v Leeds game, Arsenal won 2-1 and they are getting closer to qualifying for the Champions League again next season. I then walk around the corner for something to eat at Mercado Victoria. I get a plate of rice and chicken at the local food court. I wash it down with a beer and as I am still hungry I get a burger on the way back to the hotel.
On my return to my room, the key card for my door is not working again so I have to go back to the front desk to change it for a new one. With a nice new shiny door key, I return to my room. Once again the new door key will not work and I have to get it changed again. This time, 3rd time lucky, I get into my room.
After a long exhausting day doing very little, I update my website then retire for an early night with a bottle of water and my kindle. I am in bed by 9 pm, I must be getting old, last time I was in Cordoba was for the Flamenco Festival, shows did not start till midnight and went on till about 6 am the following day.