This week I was able to do a lot of swimming, more than 7 km over the 6 days I went swimming. I also went on a trip to see the Algar Waterfalls in Alicante.
Monday, 11th July.
I woke around 6 am today but turned over & went back to sleep. I woke again, just after 9 am & went for my morning swim at about 10 am. After my swim, I got ready to go to work at the office & remembered that I had to go to the Garden Bar to pay for a trip that I had booked. I went to the Garden bar on my scooter to pay for my trip but the lady who collects the money for trips hadn't made it. Somebody else sent her a message for me & I will try to catch up with her on Wednesday.
I left the Garden bar & went to Pizzeria La Sombra for my business meeting with my friend Martin. We spent a few hours chatting before Martin went home & I headed off to La Zona Terraza. I was sitting at the bar when Martin came in with his daughter Aria. We sat at a table & were soon joined by friends of Martins & a little while later by his wife. We sat enjoying the sun but couldn't get anything to eat as the kitchen didn't open until 7 pm. Martin & his family left to go home & I headed home to get myself something to eat.
When I got home I had a Spanish omelette for my tea & spent the rest of the evening watching television.
Tuesday, 12th July.
I woke at 7:30 & checked my computer for messages & then went for my morning swim at about 8:30 am. After my swim, I cooked myself bacon, sausage & scrambled egg for breakfast & washed it down with a couple of cups of coffee.
After my swim, I go online & find that Amazon has a good deal on CBD oil that you can have on a repeat order. I make an order for it & hope that it will help me with my leg pain, & weight loss, aid my memory, make me more attractive to women, assist me in picking winning numbers for my lottery ticket, make me funnier & help with hundreds of other day to day problems.
At lunchtime, I go to Pizzeria La Sombra to meet Martin for a drink. When I arrive Martin is not feeling too good & does stop for as long as normal, his dad, David stays until we finish our beer & then we both head home. For lunch today I made a pizza which was very nice & very filling. After lunch I fall asleep, waking a few hours later.
I decided to go for a swim in the early evening & when I got into the sea, the water was warm. It is not as refreshing as it is in the morning. I manage to swim out to the rocks & back just once this evening but it is another 400 m to add to my daily swim.
This evening I sit on my balcony for a while reading my Kindle, but it is very hot out so I move inside, shut all the doors & windows & put the air conditioning on. The rest of the night is spent watching television until I go to bed.
Wednesday, 13th July.
This morning I woke around 8 am & went for my swim at about 8:45 am. I managed to do an extra repetition of my normal route this morning rather than just the two. This may have been due to the Spanish ladies that swim at the same time & in the same place as me most mornings, they are all older than me but are so fit, that one or two of them put my swimming attempt to shame. One of the ladies, in particular, looked as if she may have been a competitive swimmer at some time, she switched from breaststroke to the crawl & the back crawl effortlessly & swam quicker & further than me with ease. We finished our swims at around the same time & whereas I was a bit puffed out, she looked ready to go again.
After my swim, I returned to my apartment for a coffee & a rest before I go out later this morning. I did notice that the new Chiringuito by my apartment, owned by the Estribor restaurant chain, opened for the first time this morning. I hope it may encourage the other one to open earlier & to lower its prices.
In the afternoon I go to La Ola bar. The lady running the trip I am going on in a couple of weeks will be there teaching Spanish & I can pay the money I owe for the trip when the lesson finishes. I wait in the pub courtyard for the lesson to finish & when it finishes I go inside & pay for my trip & find out what time the Bodega trip is. It will be an early start for me as the coach will be picking me up at 7:15 am near the Arches in Los Narejos.
After paying for the trip I go home & cook myself some turkey fillets & have them with some salad for dinner. I let my dinner go down & then early in the evening I walk back down to the Mar Menor for another swim. I swim out to the rocks & back but I find it harder in the afternoon heat, the water is so warm it is not comfortable for swimming in.
Tonight I watch some television & wait for the Mo Farah documentary to come on television, I watch it & go to bed straight after. I set my alarm so I don't oversleep tomorrow & miss my trip to Algar Falls with Diane.
Thursday, 14th July.
I woke up before my alarm went off at 6:45 am today. I have a shower, shave & a coffee before I walk to the local bus stop where I am meeting my friend Diane for our day out at Algar Waterfalls.
When I get home from my day out, at around 9 pm, I find that my delivery from Amazon has been left outside my apartment. I am pleased about this as it is my CBD oil & I want to start taking it again to help with the pain in my legs. I am in a fair bit of pain when I get in so I get a large glass of water & collapse in front of the television for a few hours before going to bed.
Friday, 15th July.
I woke this morning after having a really good night's sleep, either all of yesterday's travel or the CBD oil helped me sleep right through the night. At about 8:45 am I go for my morning swim in the Mar Menor, the water is so much more pleasant earlier in the morning than it is in the afternoon. I get out of the sea feeling much better, I go back to my apartment, have a shower then get some cornflakes with greek yoghurt & a coffee.
When I was showering, I noticed the water pressure wasn't very good. A bit later my neighbour Christine knocked to ask about the water. I went to her apartment & sat with her & her husband having a cup of tea. Their landlord confirmed that water was off to the building & that he would contact the water company about it.
After returning to my apartment I set up a photo album on my website for yesterday's trip & added a blog about it to the Short Trips section of my website. Just after I finished working on my website my friend Alan messaged me to meet him for a drink, he had been going to La Playa bar but it was closed so we met at the Alaska bar. I had a beer or two, & a good chat with Alan & his wife Diane & then walked back to my apartment.
When I got home I cooked myself a pizza & then retired to my sofa to watch the England Ladies play Northern Ireland Ladies in the 2022 Women's European Championship finals. England won 5-0 & I got to rest my legs before going to bed.
Saturday, 16th July.
This morning I woke feeling quite refreshed after a good night's sleep. At about 8:45 I went for my swim in the Mar Menor & because the water was so calm & I felt good I managed to swim out to the rocks & back four times. My legs felt a bit tired after so I went back to my apartment had a shower & then sat at my computer for a while.
My friend Alan told me about a website he ordered some clothes from that was pretty good. I had a look at the website today & ended up ordering two pairs of shorts & three shirts, I hope they all arrive & are the right size.
I watched the Wales vs. South Africa rugby match today. It is the final game of 3 with the test being drawn 1-1. Unfortunately, South Africa proved to be too strong for Wales & won 30-14. I felt Wales played well again but seemed to lack something going forward in this game.
Tonight I wanted to watch the Arsenal v Everton friendly game that was being played in the USA but was unable to find it on television. I will have to wait to see the score in the morning.
Sunday 17th July.
I woke up around 7:45 am today. I logged onto my computer to see how Arsenal got on against Everton last night. Hooray, good news, Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 with new striker Gabriel Jesus scoring again & young centre-back, William Saliba, making an appearance to help Arsenal keep a clean sheet.
After seeing last night's football results I go for my morning swim in the Mar Menor. When I have finished my swim I go back to my apartment for a coffee & some scrambled egg on toast. After breakfast, I strip the bed linen off of my bed & put it in the washing machine & get a second load ready for when it has finished. I then have a good clean-up of my kitchen & also empty out my robot vacuum cleaner. I am glad I did as it had picked up a USB lead from the floor somewhere. The USB lead had tangled itself around the inside mechanism & if I hadn't removed it good have easily broken the vacuum. When my bed linen has been washed I stick a second lot of washing in to be washed & retire to the sofa to watch the final games of The Open golf tournament.
There was some very good golf being played but eventual winner Cameron Smith put in a monster display to come from behind to win the 150th Open. This evening I have turkey fillets & salad for my tea, turn on the air conditioning & watch the film The Shawshank Redemption. It is one of my favourite films with one of my favourite actors in it, Morgan Freeman.