The week started well when I had my TV mounted on the wall. I did a lot of work on my website and edited many photos. I went to Murcia to see the flower festival and went for dinner on Sunday.
Monday, 10th April.
I got up around 8:15 am after a late night watching golf yesterday. My friend and local handyman, David Warwick, came around in the morning to fit the new television wall bracket and my television onto the wall for me. After getting up, I had a couple of Ginseng coffees to wake me up properly before working on my computer for a while.
David did a great job fixing my television and soundbar to the wall for me and left around midday. I went down to the garage and got my electric bike out. It doesn't have a throttle, and it has to be peddled, but the electric battery and gearing system make it easier to pedal, which means there is less pressure on my knees as I cycle.
I cycled to meet my friend Martin at the office. By the time I got there, I was a little bit shaky as I was out of condition, and it was the first time I had been on my bike in a long time. I sat with Martin, Dave and Aria, talking for a few hours before returning to my apartment. When I got home, I got frozen soup from my freezer and added Cumberland sausages. I reheated it and ended up eating it all. I fell asleep almost immediately after finishing the soup and woke up around 7 pm.
I did some more work on my website before going to bed around 11 pm.
Tuesday, 11th April.
When I woke up today around 6:30 am, I immediately got a coffee and sat at my computer to work on my website. After finishing the work I wanted to do, I started moving the furniture around in my apartment.
I could move my computer from the spare room to the lounge where I want to work. I also wanted to move the work table from the spare room to the balcony, but it was too difficult to move on my own. I went to my neighbour's apartment. Val and Richard invited me in, and we sat and talked for an hour or so. After having a cup of tea, Richard returned to my apartment with me to move the table. After struggling to get it out of the bedroom, we had to remove the legs, carry it to the balcony, and reassemble it; we then moved the chest of drawers I had in the apartment entryway into the spare bedroom. I thanked Richard for his help, and he went back to his apartment, probably wishing he hadn't given me the heavy chest of drawers.
I set the computer up in my lounge but had difficulty getting the monitor working. After trying for hours, I realised that the monitor cable was damaged and after replacing it, everything worked well. In the afternoon, my friend June asked if I could look at her phone, notepad and computer. She had been having trouble contacting people on Facebook. I suspected it was a user error, and when she picked me up, I went to her home to look at them.
Her problem was that she had multiple user accounts on different things. She didn't know how this had happened, and I suspect well-meaning people who had tried to help had just set up new Facebook accounts for her instead of fixing the problem. After she told me which account she wanted to use, I ensured the correct account was working on her phone, laptop and computer. I tidied up her laptop, phone, and computer, she had somehow got multiple shortcuts to the same applications, which confused her.
June dropped me at home, and I told her to note any problems she had with the notepad, phone or laptop so that I could fix them for her. June offered to give me a lift to get the coach for the trip I am going on this Thursday, and I gratefully accepted.
This evening Dave and Viv picked me up to go to the Gurkha Durbar restaurant to meet Martin, Kate and Aria. It was Aria's birthday, and she wanted to go to the restaurant for her birthday meal. I had a lovely chicken Rogan Josh curry and enjoyed the company. After the meal, Dave and Viv dropped me off at my apartment. It had been a long day, and I was glad to go to bed.
Wednesday, 12th April.
Today was spent working on my website, the navigation for my website was causing me all sorts of problems. I seemed to take one step forward and two steps backwards. Whenever I thought I had sorted it out, something different would cause me a different problem.
Thursday, 13th April.
After waking up and getting myself a coffee, I did a full restore on my website to a previously saved backup. It was back as it was at the start of the week, but it still leaves the navigation system in two different states.
I walked around to the local pharmacy this morning and purchased some more Sintrom, Omeprazol and IdeaCalm tablets, all of which I have run out of. When I got home, I moved some plants around on my balcony. Unfortunately, one of the wooden plant containers my friend Reinder made for me is starting to fall apart, and I must replace it. It will allow me to add more colourful plants to my little garden and hopefully attract more bees and butterflies to my balcony.
At 3 pm, June picked me up and dropped me off at the arches in Los Narejos, where I will be picked up for my trip to see the Murcia Spring Flower Festival. After a short wait, the coach arrived, and I went to see the festival. When I arrived back in Los Narejos at around 10:15 pm, after seeing the festival, June was waiting for me to give me a lift home. I was very grateful as I had walked too much today, and my legs were swollen and sore. June didn't take me straight home, though. She took me to La Ola bar for a drink before going home. It was nice to unwind, have a drink and see Jose, whose bar La Ola is.
After June dropped me at home, I went straight to bed and fell asleep quickly.
Friday, 14th April.
I woke up around 8 am today, got a coffee and made a small change to my website. I wanted to take a break from the computer, and around midday, I walked down to the chiringuito outside my apartment and got myself a pint. I read my Kindle and watched the wildlife go by for an hour before returning to my apartment.
This afternoon I moved more of my computer equipment into the lounge, putting my printer on the chest of drawers there. I also moved some of the furniture around in my bedroom. The rest of the day was spent with my legs up, resting them and hoping the swelling would go down.
Saturday, 15th April.
I woke up at around 7:30 am today. I got myself my normal ginseng coffee and sat at my computer for a while. I connected my camera to my computer and transferred the photos and videos I took at the Flower Festival on Thursday to the computer. I will sort them out, edit the photos over the next few days, and edit the short video clips of the parade into one longer video before posting them to my YouTube channel.
I put on the first lot of washing that needed to be done and then went to the Mercadona store just before lunch and did a lot of shopping. I probably got enough groceries for a couple of weeks, minus anything I needed that I forgot. When I got home, I had a seafood salad for lunch and put a second lot of washing in the machine before sitting down to watch some football.
Whilst watching the football, I sat messaging a friend in the UK. We haven't seen each other since before COVID, and it was great to talk to her again after so long. Whilst we were chatting, I asked her if she wanted to come over again, and after a bit of discussion she had booked her flight to come over in June to stop for a couple of weeks. It will be really good to see her again and I am already looking forward to her visit as we laugh so much when we are together.
After the football game finished, I continued working on my website. I started adding my photo albums back to the website. They are all there, but they are hidden from view until I adjust them all slightly. I finished work on the website just after 10 pm. I got myself a beer and watched television until I went to bed after MOTD.
Sunday, 16th April.
I woke up around 7 am and got a coffee before working on my website. Just after 9 am, I got myself some breakfast cereal before tidying up the kitchen. I then sat down and edited some photos using Photoshop and Lightroom until my friend June came around to take me to lunch at Campbell's bar in Roda.
I had roast lamb with all the trimmings and washed it down with a couple of pints before June took me back to my apartment in time to see the football today. As soon as I got in, I sat down to watch the West Ham vs Arsenal game. Arsenal started brilliantly, and just like last week, they were 2 goals in front. Unfortunately, just like last week their performance dropped off, and they allowed West Ham to get back into the game and it finished 2-2. They are still top of the Premier League, but with Manchester City still to play, I think they will need to win every game till the end of the season to win the League.
After the game, I walked down to La Playa bar to meet up with my friend Alan Bond. He eventually arrived with his family and we had a chat and talked about things we had planned coming up. He has spare tickets to see Rod Stewart in Murcia later in the year, but I am already going. I told him I would ask my friends if anyone wanted to go and, if they did, to contact him.
When the bar closed early in the evening, Shellie dropped me off at Rocco's bar, and I had a couple of beers and chatted with people there. At about 11 pm, I left and walked home. By the time I got home, my legs were in a lot of pain, and I was glad to get home. I rested my legs for a while before then going to bed.