I started this week feeling much better, the swelling in my legs had gone down & I was no longer taking painkillers.

Week 11 of 2023.

Monday, 13th March.

I woke early at around 6 am after a good night's sleep. I worked on my website for a few hours & had some muesli with kiwi yoghurt for breakfast. At about 8:45 am I went around to my doctor's surgery to get my regular INR blood test taken. I did not have to wait too long today, I saw a new nurse who took a little while to locate my vein before painfully extracting the required blood from my arm.

When I left the doctor's surgery I went to the Economy supermarket for a few groceries. After taking my groceries back to my apartment I worked on some photos for a while, getting them ready for my website before I left to meet my friend Martin at Pizzeria La Sombre at midday. I did not feel quite ready to have a beer at the office today but sat chatting with Martin, Kate, Dave & Lesley until around 2:30 pm. I did enjoy my bottle of water but I guess Martin enjoyed his beer more.

When I left I went back to my apartment & had a couple of chicken rolls for my lunch. The afternoon was spent watching television with my legs raised up on the sofa & after having a rest I did some more work on my computer. I downloaded the results from this morning's blood test & sorted out my tablets for the next four weeks before going to bed.

Tuesday, 14th March.

I woke up around 6:30 am & carried on working on updating my website. I set up the navigation for my photo albums on my website. The navigation has to be changed for all the albums so that they show in the new navigation system I have made for the website & hopefully over the next week or so all of my photo albums will again start to show up correctly.

At 9:15 am I went out on my disability scooter. In May 2021 my friend & neighbour Russ died & for some reason, mail arrived for him at the apartment block this week. The people in his apartment now obviously didn't know who he was & placed his mail on top of our mailboxes in the apartment block. I didn't open the mail but crossed his name & address out & wrote across the front & back of the letters that he had died & that the letters needed to be returned to the sender, circling the senders' address on the back of both envelopes, before putting them back in a local postbox. I hope they find their way back to the originating senders.

After putting the letters in a mailbox I went for a ride on my disability scooter. The sun had come out & it is getting warm earlier now. I went along the seafront before heading towards the Los Alcazares indoor swimming pool. I have put an awful lot of weight on since I stopped swimming every day & the sea is still a little cold for me to swim in the mornings. I go inside & ask how much the swimming pool costs to use & am told it is €3 for a ticket to swim once, €23.40 for a 10-ticket book, & €36 for a 20-ticket book that can be used over a 3-month period. Happy with these prices I tell myself that I will start to use the pool every morning until it is warm enough & vow to go back soon to get a 20-ticket book.

On the way back to my apartment I make my way along the main road & stop off at a pharmacy to collect the one tablet that I did not have enough of. The tablets I had to buy are called IDEOCalm & are supposed to help my tinnitus. The only problem is I have to take them for about 3 months before I should expect to see any sort of change & they cost me €27 for a box that will last me 30 days. This means I could end up paying €81 for tablets that have no effect on my tinnitus whatsoever. Tinnitus does stress me out & prevents me from getting to sleep easily & at this stage, I will try anything to get rid of it.

After dropping my tablets off at home I head to La Sombre Pizzeria to see Martin. I arrive & Martin is already there working very hard, his sister Lesley & dad Dave arrive shortly after I do & we sit having a drink & chatting. Martin leaves to pick his daughter Aria up from the school bus & just as I leave I notice he has left a set of Bluetooth earpieces on the table, I pick them up & take them across the road to his home. I drop the earpieces off & then head home via the beach.

When I get in I have something to eat before having a nap on the sofa. This evening I watch some of the Manchester City v RB Leipzig football match on the television. Manchester City was fantastic & Erling Haaland scored five goals before he was substituted with half an hour still to go. I hope Manchester City don't continue this form into the Premier League as it will make it very hard for Arsenal to win the league.

Wednesday, 15th March.

I woke around 6:45 am, I got myself a ginseng coffee & some muesli before sitting down to work on my website for the day.

Whilst I am working on my website I remember that today is the day that tickets to see Bob Dylan in Alicante in June go on sale. I quickly log onto his website & very quickly manage to buy myself a front-row ticket. They are not cheap but I have always wanted to see Bob Dylan live & this will probably be my one & only chance to see him live. I decide to stay overnight in Alicante & book into the Hostel la Lonja overnight & book a bus to get there at lunchtime the day of the concert & to come home the following day.

I worked till around 11:30 am when I received a message from my new friends, Kathy & Tony, who I met on my cruise recently. They were in Los Alcazares in a store near my home & wanted to meet for a drink. They were in ATimeForAChange where their son Chris works, who as it happens I am already friends with.

I walked around to the store & met them there. We decided to go to a new bar/restaurant near my apartment on the beachfront, Buenavista. We walked to the beach & along the promenade. As we passed by my apartment I pointed out my apartment to them & then showed them around inside. After showing Kathy & Tony my apartment we continued onto the Buenavista Restaurant, a short walk further on. Kathy & Tony both had something to eat but I just had a drink. The menu looks very good & I will definitely be coming back, it is my closest bar & restaurant.

The small walk seemed to have worn me out, my legs feel fine but I am tired & have a nap for an hour on the sofa. This evening I watch television before going to bed around 10 pm.

Thursday, 16th March.

I woke up around 6:15 am today. I got a Ginseng coffee & some muesli before sitting down at my computer to work on my website. I prefer working on my computer first thing as I find I can concentrate better than I can in the afternoons.

I worked my way through the editing of lots of my holiday photos today. I did leave the apartment to get a bit of shopping at the local Dia supermarket in the afternoon. On my way back my friends George & Yvonne called to me from the Pyramide bar, as I crossed the road. I walked over to see them & had a small beer whilst we chatted for a half hour. I then took my shopping home & got myself some dinner of chicken & salad.

Tonight I watched the Arsenal v Sporting Lisbon football match on the television. I was elated when Arsenal took the lead, amazed when Sporting scored an absolutely fantastic goal to equalize, disappointed when the game finished level & depressed when Sporting won the penalty shoot-out after the game to knock Arsenal out of the Europa League.

Friday, 17th March.

I had intended to go out for a pint to celebrate St Patrick's day today but my legs still ached a little bit & the wind that had picked up along the beach was quite cold so I stayed home all day. I did do some work on my website, typing up my holiday blog pages & working on more photographs but other than that I did nothing.

Saturday, 18th March.

Once again today I didn't leave the apartment, I continued to rest my legs & work on my website. I did go on the internet & ordered a few bits for my kitchen on Amazon. I ordered a new glass measuring cup, a new egg poacher & a new cheese grater. I love poached eggs & I have tried all the different ways of poaching them but found I couldn't get them as nice as my old egg poacher used to make them. Unfortunately, when I moved to Spain my new kitchen had an induction hob which my old egg poacher wouldn't work on. 

I had an early night tonight & was in bed by 10 pm.

Sunday, 19th March.

I woke up at around 6:30 am & continued to work on my website as soon as I got up. My friend Jacqueline had messaged me to ask me to meet her & her partner Michael for a coffee this morning at 11 am. I was just getting ready to walk down to the clothes charity bin with some old clothes when at 10:30 am she messaged me to tell me they had already arrived at La Encarnacion.

Not wanting to keep my friends waiting I got on my disability scooter & dropped off some rubbish in the recycling bin, & some clothes in the charity clothes bin, then continued to La Encarnacion to meet them for a coffee. It was good to see both Jacqueline & Michael again & after we finished our coffee we went to my apartment. I showed them both around before leaving my disability scooter there & walking to the Buenavista restaurant around the corner from the apartment. We sat chatting there for an hour or so whilst having a drink before we all parted & I went back to my apartment.

When I got in I received a message saying that my Amazon delivery had been. I had missed it, but the message said it would be delivered tomorrow. I got some dinner & then sat down to watch Arsenal v Crystal Palace on the television. Arsenal played some great football & won the game 4-1 with some terrific goals by Bukaya Saka, Granit Xhaka & Gabriel Martinelli. It extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to 8 points as Manchester City won't play until after the International break.

This evening my friend Alan Bond is playing at La Playa bar so I walk down to the bar to see him. Unfortunately, Alan was not feeling well & had to cancel his appearance, there were thousands of disappointed people who were all sad that Alan hadn't appeared but who all wanted to wish him well & hope he recovered quickly. Whilst I sat in the bar having a quick pint I received a phone call from Amazon & they told me that they were at my house trying to deliver my parcel again. I explained that because they had said they would try tomorrow I had gone out & they agree to try again tomorrow. I finished my beer & head straight home. There is nothing to say Amazon had called & no parcel on the doorstep so I hope they come back tomorrow.

I sat up & watched MOTD & the highlights of the Arsenal game before going to bed, happy that Arsenal is top of the league with an extended gap in points over the rest of the chasing football teams.