As the week started & I didn't have any real aches or cramps in my leg & I intended to swim every morning. I managed to do this every day except for one, over the week I swam a distance of over 5.2 km.
Monday, 4th July.
I woke around 7 am today & worked on my family tree for a few hours before going for my swim around 9 am. I swam to the rocks & back twice before returning to my apartment for a shower, coffee & breakfast.
I left to go to the Office early today as I want to look in the nearby charity shops for a key ring. The ones in the Chinese shops are so thin they twist out of shape very quickly & I want a thicker one. I head to the charity shops at the Arches in Los Narejos on my disability scooter to look for a key ring but they don't have any. I look in the Cafe there to see if my friend Mike is there but there is no one there at all so I go round the corner to the Office. Although I am there early, my boss Martin is already there, cracking the whip.
After 1½ hours of light work, we both head off home. On my way home, I stop at the Mercadona store to get some pate for my lunch. As I head home I see my friend Colin at Le Peti Bistro so I stop off for a pint & a chat with him & it's nice to see my friend Jane is now working there as well. After I get home, I cook some turkey fillets, I spread the herb patè over the turkey fillets & have them with some salad. It tastes fantastic.
This evening I binge-watch episodes of ´Hart of Dixie´ before going to bed early.
Tuesday, 5th July.
I woke around 8 am today, after checking my emails I walked down to the Mar Menor for my morning swim. The wind & waves are a bit stronger today but I still manage to do my normal swim even if it takes a bit more effort swimming against the wind.
When I get back from my swim I take a shower, have a couple of coffees & then head out on my mobility scooter to head to the office. Work was cut short today as the boss was looking a bit worn & decided he would have to pull a sicky. Just as I was leaving Dave turned up & we had a quick pint as the boss had already gone home. We chatted for a bit before heading off on our own way home.
The swim this morning must have worn me out more than I thought, as soon as I got home I fell asleep on the sofa. I woke around 4 pm & cooked myself some chicken thighs & had them with salad. I notice on Facebook that this weekend the town hall will be putting on another show, outside my apartment on the stage at Plaza de Espejo. This week it will be a Flamenco show, something different & something to do at the weekend.
This afternoon I ordered a stamp for my Eurobilltracker notes & this evening I waited for an Amazon delivery & binge-watched ´Hart of Dixie´ before going to bed.
Wednesday, 6th July.
I woke up around 7 am this morning & I went for my swim in the Mar Menor at around 7:45 am. The wind has dropped since yesterday but there are some ominous-looking black clouds hanging over La Manga in the distance, I hope they are not headed this way.
After my swim, I take a shower, work on my computer & have a coffee. I have some cornflakes for breakfast before washing up & deciding what to do with my day. I decided that because of the heat, another salad would be needed for dinner in the next few days so I went to Mercadona to buy one. When I get there I decide on a seafood salad for a change, I also buy a piece of fish in a sauce that I can heat up to have with it. I buy 12 small bottles of beer for €3.48, they will go in my fridge & be taken out ice-cold just before the concert starts outside my apartment tonight.
As I leave Mercadona I put my shopping in the box on my disability scooter & I am just about to leave when I realise I haven't got my apartment keys in my pocket. I know I had them when I came out because I locked my door & used them to get out of the garage & get the lift to work. I walk back into the shop to look for them, the man at the till helps me look for them & I retrace my steps in the shop. I can not find them anywhere, luckily I have the keys to my scooter.
My neighbour who locked themselves out last week has keys to my apartment, I call them to make sure that they are home & can let me in. I retrace the route I went to the shop on my scooter & I look everywhere along the road for the keys. When I get home my neighbour tells me he will let me in through the garage lift door so I can put my scooter away, I go to the side of the apartments & wait. As the door opens I enter the lift on my scooter & my neighbour John is holding the keys I had lost in his hand. When I had used them to operate the lift from the inside earlier, I had left them in the lift mechanism, he found them still in the lock as he came to let me in. Panic over, I return home pleased that I don't have to try & get keys cut for about 6 different locks.
For my lunch, I have chicken thighs wrapped in bacon & stuffed with herb pate, it's the first time I've tried it & it was very nice. After eating I log on to my computer, do some family tree research & then pick my Fantasy Football team for the coming season. This season I will try not to chop & change my team as much as I normally do so my first draft is an important choice. When I finish it is 7 pm, when it is so light outside you don't realise how quickly the day goes by.
Thursday, 7th July.
I go for my swim at about 8:30 this morning. The wind is strong again this morning & swimming against the wind takes a lot more out of me than when it's calm. I finish my routine & go to my apartment for a shower, a shave & some breakfast.
After breakfast, I am sitting at my computer working when there is a knock at the door. The stamp I ordered on Tuesday has already arrived, I can now mark my Euro bills for the Eurobilltracker website more easily. For anyone who hasn't seen my notes with the website name on them, it just allows me to track my bills across Europe if they are reentered on the website. It is something I started doing many years ago in America, on the WheresGeorge website for American dollar bills. It is a harmless bit of fun akin to train spotting but without the need to go far or look at trains.
By lunchtime, I am going a bit stir-crazy in the apartment & decide to go out on my scooter just to get a bit of air. I stop off at Rocco's bar for a pint. I was enjoying my beer & reading my Kindle but the wind was blowing a terrible smell from somewhere through the air. I finish my beer & as I go past Le Petit Bistro I see my friend Colin so I stop to have a chat with him. Also there I see & have a quick chat with my friends Wayne & Marie. After a swift pint, I leave & go back along the beach. The heat is getting too much for me, so rather than stopping anywhere else I go straight home & have a large glass of pure coconut water. If you've never tried coconut water, I can highly recommend it. It hydrates you very quickly & tastes very good as well, you can buy it in most supermarkets in litre containers.
I looked on Facebook & saw a Bodega trip advertised at the end of July. As I have never been on a Bodega tour & it is a good price, I reserve a ticket & mark it in my diary for July 28th.
This afternoon the heat got too much sitting indoors so rather than turning the air conditioning on I went & sat at the Chiringuito outside my apartment. I sat there for a couple of hours reading a new mystery book on my Kindle before returning to my apartment for some food. For my tea, I had a pasta & seafood salad with a piece of white fish with garlic. It was very nice & made a nice change.
This evening I binge-watch episodes of ´Quantum Leap´, probably my favourite TV program. I remember when I was a kid I used to enjoy watching ´The Six Million Dollar Man´ with my dad & I can just imagine the two of us sitting down watching ´Quantum Leap´ together if he was still alive.
I think I must have been bitten by something this evening as I have pain around the ligament area of my left foot, before I go to bed I take a painkiller in the hope that it will stop the throbbing & help me sleep.
Friday, 8th July.
I slept quite well last night, probably because of the painkiller I took before going to bed & don't wake until 8 am. I wait until I am fully awake & then walk across the beach for my swim in the Mar Menor. As I start my swim I am aware of a Spanish man talking to me on my blind side. In my best Spanish, I explain that my Spanish isn't very good but wish him a good morning. As I turned to see him, I realised it was Yuan, my Spanish friend who I normally see fishing, because he was swimming rather than fishing it was a few seconds before I realised who it was. He tells me how clear the Mar Menor is & I agree & continue with my swim. The sea is very calm today, ideal for swimming & because of this, I do an extra lap to the rocks & back. Altogether I swim 1200 m & do three lots of water aerobics, by the time I leave my legs are beginning to tire, & I go back to my apartment, take a shower & get myself a protein shake for breakfast.
At lunchtime, I walk around to D´Pollos around the corner & get myself a stuffed aubergine for my lunch. On hot days I don't always want to cook for myself & this little takeaway place near me is really good for cheap, quality food.
Most of the afternoon is spent doing family tree research & listening to the sound of the Flamenco singers setting up outside. This evening I take some cold beer from my fridge & go to watch the Flamenco show. I did like a lot of the singing but disliked the wailing that goes along with some of them. The best part for me is the guitar solos which are fantastic. After the show finishes, I walk past the Chriringuito on the way to my apartment & see my friends Matt, Willy & Rosemary, it would be very rude not to stop for a chat & I end up sitting chatting & having a beer until 2 am Saturday morning before I eventually go home to bed.
Saturday 9th July.
I woke up around 8 am today even after a late night last night. My knee is sore, my legs ache & the tendon in my left foot feels like it's about to split in half this morning. I don't know if it was the extra swimming that did it or the dancing around on the spot whilst listening to the Flamenco last night that did it, but today I will be taking it easy & foregoing my morning swim.
At about 9:30 am I head off to the Tipsy Thistle for a large English breakfast. I really don't feel like cooking much today & this should keep me going until this evening.
After my breakfast, I continued to the Mercadona supermarket to get some food for next week. I quickly get everything I need, load my bags onto the arms of my disability scooter & head home. After getting in I put all my food away & because it is already uncomfortably hot, I close all my doors & windows & put my air conditioning on. It soon cools off in my apartment & because my knee is still aching I take a pain killer & retire to the sofa to watch some television.
I am just getting comfortable on the sofa when my friend Paul messages me & I go to the Chiringuito to meet him for a quick beer. I take my Kindle & sit in the sun reading until he arrives. We sit chatting for a few hours & are joined by our friend Diane, & we have another beer just to keep hydrated. Sometime in the afternoon, Paul leaves as he has to walk home before he goes to work later. Diane & I continue chatting, it is great to chat with her on our own as we haven't caught up for a long time. She tells me about a day trip she wants to go on next week & by the time I leave her in the early evening she has booked me a place to go with her next Thursday.
When I get in I have some chicken wings for my evening meal. The tendon on my ankle is aching quite a lot again so I take another pain killer & promptly fall asleep in front of the television. I woke up at about 10:30 pm & as I was still tired I turned the TV off & went to bed.
Sunday, 10th July.
I am woken at around 3:30 when the street sweeper comes past. Because I went to bed so early last night I can't get back to sleep so I get up to work on my computer for a while. At about 7:45 am I go for my swim in the Mar Menor. It is beautiful in the sea, there is no wind & the surface of the water is very flat, the water temperature feels like a warm bath & is warmer than the air this morning.
After finishing my swim I go back to my apartment, take a shower, have a coffee & have some cornflakes with yoghurt & banana for my breakfast. Once breakfast is finished I strip the bed linen from my bed & put it in the washing machine to wash. Whilst the washing is on I work on my website, setting up the pages, photo albums & menu system that will appear, later in the year, & show the details of my Mediterranean cruise. Whilst working on my website I put on three more lots of washing & emptied my washing basket completely.
It is very hot today & I don't feel like eating much, for lunch, I have some Spanish omelette with salad & in the evening I just have a protein shake.