I started this week off slowly, not doing much, but by the end of the week, I had started doing a little bit more walking, probably too much, as my legs got very swollen again. I ate out in four restaurants this week, two on one day.
Monday, 20th March.
I woke up at around 7:45 am after a good night's sleep. Amazon said that the delivery I missed yesterday would arrive today, so I have to wait until it arrives before I can go out.
I picked, edited, and added over 30 photos to the photo gallery for my visit to Tangier. After adding the photos, I then get the GPS location for as many of the photos as I can and add it to each photo. This will allow people to click on the globe icon below the images to show where a photo was taken. It will show the location in a map or satellite view and allow people to zoom in or out on the photo's location. This is a very time-consuming job; doing it for these photos took me over 7 hours.
The delivery I was waiting for finally arrived around 7:30 pm. The egg poacher was used immediately, and I poached eggs to have on toast. The new grater was proudly placed on my kitchen worktop, but the measuring jug was too big. I misread the description and ordered a commercial-size jug with a capacity of 2 litres or 4 pints. It must be returned. Half the size would have been enough.
Tuesday, 21st March.
I woke up around 7 am this morning and felt very good and ready for the day. The first thing I did this morning was to try to return the oversized measuring jug I received from Amazon yesterday. I went through the return procedure, which was easy, and was surprised when it told me that the money had immediately been returned to my account, that there was no need to return the item and that I could keep it. If anyone needs to make gravy for around 5000, I can now lend you a measuring jug.
After adjusting my website slightly to allow titles and descriptions of images to be shown correctly, I turned my computer off and showered. After my shower, I had a pot of jasmine/peach green tea before going to the new restaurant near me on the beach, Buena Vista, for a cooked breakfast.
I had a great breakfast. They made three different sizes, and I had the medium-sized one with two sausages, two bacon, two eggs, beans, tomato, and two pieces of toast. I washed it down with a lovely cup of coffee and then just sat in the sun, watching the world go by along the promenade. I left at about 11:20 am and set off on my disability scooter to see my friend Martin at the office.
As I went slowly along the promenade, I met my friend Dan. He said he would walk with me, and we carried on along the promenade and then up towards the office, where I always meet Martin. We were nearly there when Dan realised he didn't have time to keep going and turned round to go and meet his mum, who had the car. I continued, but it was closed when I got to La Pizzeria Sombre. I got my phone out to message Martin and saw I had missed a message telling me that the bar was shut and that he had gone to La Zona bar. I quickly set off again and met him there.
Shortly after getting there, Dave arrived, and we sat chatting in the sun before splitting up and heading home. I popped into the Mercadona store, got some milk and a couple of rolls and then went home. When I got home, I realised that I had got sunburnt and would have to find my suntan lotion before returning to the sun.
This afternoon, I took a nap in front of the television before getting some soup for my supper and going to bed at about 10 pm.
Wednesday, 22nd March.
I woke around 7 am, got up, got myself a ginseng coffee and some muesli for breakfast, and then did some work on my website. Whilst on my cruise recently, I met a nice lady, Jean. She was 93 and on her own on the cruise. I spent the day with her in Casablanca and took a photo of her outside the King Hussein II Mosque. I edited the photo and emailed it to her. I hope she liked it.
One of my neighbours, Maj, has asked me to take a key for some guests renting her apartment out this weekend and is dropping it off to me this morning. We met and chatted as we have both recently been on different cruises. When I left Maj, I jumped on my mobility scooter and went to see my friend Stuart. He had many lemons from a tree in his garden and offered me some. I go to see him, and we chat and have a cup of tea before I head to the shop for something for my dinner tomorrow. As I left, he forced me to take a couple of hot cross buns that he makes, all very civilized Stuart, tea, lemons and hot cross buns. Gone are the all-day beer sessions that we used to do.
When I got home, I had some news that worried me. Apparently, the builder, Aluse, built the apartment block 85 cm too close to the sea, and there is a demolition order for the whole block of apartments. The management company has said that lawyers are dealing with it, which may take years to resolve. It is a bit worrying, but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it, and I will have to leave it in the hands of the lawyers, builders and authorities. I wondered if it was 85 cm too close to the sea, but my apartment at the back wasn't, if it might be left standing. It could become a frontline beachfront apartment in the future.
This afternoon, I watched television, looked at different recipes I could make with lemons, and placed a food order with the company my friend Stuart told me about. I ordered lots of goodies and now have to wait for delivery. I do like having so much stuff delivered to my apartment. I don't have a car and shopping is always a bit difficult if it is more than a shopping bag full of stuff from a local store. The only thing I don't like is waiting all day because the deliveries are never given a delivery time.
Thursday, 23rd March.
I slept well last night, but I had some strange dreams. I am always amazed that I have such vivid dreams in full colour and that I am always aware that they are dreams whilst they are going on. I have always been able to change what is going on in my dreams as it happens and interact with the different people in them. Many of the places and people in them are from my past, although they are not always as they should have been. People may appear in places they have never been to, and places may have moved to join other places in different countries or areas. It is strange that I am aware of all of this in the dreams, but my character continues and takes it all in as if it is a natural occurrence. Some nights, I wake up during a dream to go to the bathroom, and when I go back to bed, the dream continues as if I had just hit the pause button and restarted it where I left off.
When I got up around 7 am, I got myself a coffee and sat at my computer to work on my website. While editing photos from Casablanca, my friends Frouk and Reinder messaged me and asked if I wanted to meet them for lunch, and we decided to meet at the Royal Bar and Restaurant for their Menu del Dia.
I walked to the restaurant at about 12:45 pm and sat in the sun while waiting for my friends. We had the Menu del Dia. I chose chips with cheese and ham scattered over them for a starter. I had lamb bhuna with rice for my main course, and the dessert was tiramisu. The Curry was lovely, and I will be going back. It is so close to my apartment that it will become used a lot when I don't want to cook for myself. It was great to see my friends again and to catch up with what they have been doing. After dinner, I returned to my apartment by going back along the beach. When I got home, I settled on my sofa and napped.
I watched the Italy vs England football match tonight. England was very good in the first half, and Italy was very good in the second half. The game finished Italy 1, England 2. I wonder how Gareth Southgate ever got a job as a manager. He is so biased toward his favourite players that it is ridiculous. He had at least two players on the team last night who could not get on their league sides, but he continually puts them on the national side. Why? Harry McGuire is slow, passes backwards constantly, and always seems to be berating other players for his shortcomings. Kalvin Phillips hasn't played 90 minutes the whole season in the league but still gets his place in the team. In my opinion, Southgate must go. On a good note, it was great to see Harry Kane, the Tottenham player who supports Arsenal, get his 54th goal for England and become England's leading goal scorer. Well done, Harry, you are one of Arsenal's own.
Friday, 24th March.
I woke up at around 7 am and got a coffee before continuing to edit photos and add them to photo galleries on my website. At around 10 am, I walked to get some bread. I walked along the promenade to Rio Nalon and the Economy superstore. I like the bread there. I probably shouldn't have walked that far as my ankle was throbbing, and I felt a bit puffed out when I got there.
When I left the shop, I walked along to Punto y Coma, a coffee shop on the strip. The coffee was amazing and was served in a nice big cup. The staff are always very friendly; it is my favourite coffee place. When I left, I had a slow walk back towards my apartment. By the time I had slowly walked back, it was around 12:30 pm, so I stopped off at the Chiringuito El Lobo for a pint and sat there for an hour, enjoying the sun and reading my Kindle. I think today was the first day of the chiringuito opening. It is certainly the earliest in the year it has opened up after closing over the colder months.
I had chicken with some salad for my tea this evening before having an early night and going to bed at about 10 pm.
Saturday, 25th March.
I woke up earlier than normal today, probably because of my early night yesterday and the exercise and fresh air. By 5:30 am I was already sitting at my computer with a coffee and some porridge. After breakfast, I went to the garage to charge my mobility scooter because I had forgotten to do it the previous night.
At around 9 am, I decided to go for a coffee. I walked along the promenade until I got to the hotel Narejos Costa. Then, I turned and walked up to Cafe Punto and Como for coffee. I sat there reading my Kindle for a while and had a second coffee. As I sat there my friend George phoned me and asked me for help setting up his new phone. We arranged to meet at the chiringuito outside my apartment, and I walked back along the promenade to meet him there. I sat at the chiringuito with a bottle of water, reading my Kindle until George arrived. Unfortunately, I could not see his phone screen clearly in the sun, so we went to my apartment.
I couldn't set his phone up as George hadn't got the passwords we needed, so we walked back to his apartment, where his wife, Yvonne, found the passwords for me to set up his phone correctly. I then changed his laptop so it synced with his phone correctly. After getting everything working correctly, we walked around to Cafe Avenida for a couple of beers. It was around 5 pm, and the temperature on the sign above the pharmacy next door increased to 37°c before quickly dropping to around 33°c. We sat chatting for about an hour before I left them there and headed off to La Playa bar.
I stayed in La Playa bar the rest of the night, talking to some friends, Simon, Ady, Matt and John. Luckily for me, because my legs were swelling up after all the walking today, my friends Bob and Connie gave me a lift home when the bar closed.
Sunday, 26th March.
I got up at around 10:30 am today. I sat at my computer working on photos until 11:45 and walked outside to meet my friend June, who picked me up for Sunday dinner at Campbells Bar and Restaurant in Roda.
We ate our beautiful dinner. I had the roast lamb and then sat chatting until around 4:30 pm. After leaving, June said she would go past another restaurant called Otomatua so that I could see where it was. When we arrived, it was open, so June said we should go in to say hello to Marco, who owns it and with whom she is friends. When we went in, Marcos´s wife said hello to June and let Marco know we were there. We sat at a table inside, and Marco came to see June. June introduced me to Marco, and he shook me by the hand. He told June that he already knew me and asked how I was. He remembered me from the few times I had been to his old Los Alcazares restaurant. We sat down, and Marco got a bottle of water for June and a beer for me. We sat and talked for a while. As we sat there, Marco reappeared with two bits of steak on bread for us. It was beautiful, and as June didn't want her bit of steak, I ate hers as well. We finished our drinks and asked Marco how much we owed for the food and drink, we were told that we owed him nothing as we were friends but to remember him next time we wanted to go for a meal and to make a booking with him. We will be going back.
June drove us back towards Los Alcazares around 6:30 pm. I decided to go to La Playa bar to see if the England game was on the television, and June dropped me off there. As I walked in, I saw my friend Alan Bond, who was there to do his version of Karaoke later. We sat with other regulars and watched the England vs Ukraine game. Which England won 2-0. After the game, Alan did his karaoke show and was joined by several singers. I sat talking to my friends Gary, Ady and Simon before another friend, Linda, came in. While sitting there, more friends came in, and we all had a great night chatting and listening to each other sing; some were very good singers, and others were not. Once Alan had finished his Karaoke set and packed everything away, people became very disappointed when they realised they hadn't heard me sing my party piece, "I got a brand new combine harvester". I believe this was planned so they could all leave with their eardrums still in one piece, but I didn't mind. I don't like my singing voice.
Alan dropped me off at home, and I watched a little television before going to bed at around midnight. I´d had a great day again, but my legs were very swollen, and I was in a bit of pain.