This week was spent mainly in Los Alcazares, but I did quite a lot. I made some videos, including my first attempt at underwater filming with my mobile phone. I ate out with friends, met other friends for a drink and watched a parade in Los Alcazares.
Monday, 14th August.
Salema Porgy fishI woke up at around 6:45 am today. I had a coffee and checked my messages before going to the Mar Menor at around 8:30 am for a swim. The water was beautiful today, and there were not too many jellyfish as I swam out to the rocks. As I swam around the rocks, more jellyfish started to appear. They were all quite small, and I assumed they are all younger ones. There were some nice big fish swimming around today and quite a few shoals of the yellow stripey fish, Salema Porgy, that are abundant in the sea here. I wasn't sure of the name of these brightly coloured fish so I looked it up and was surprised to find out that eating them causes hallucinogenic trips.
When I finished my swim, I went back to my apartment and had a shower. I was a bit fidgety and decided to go out early to have a look around Los Alcazares on my way to the office this morning. I went through some of the housing near me that I don't normally travel through. I like to see any new builds going up and it seemed there was some building work underway near the Garden bar as I passed by. I carried on through the estate coming out near Consum and going past the fun fair. The fun fair was all closed up and quiet, I wonder how much money the people running it must have to make to break even with the running costs for it. I wouldn't want to be living in one of the small cramped caravans that they use, in this heat.
I met Martin and Aria at Pizzeria La Sombra and we sat talking until about 2:30 pm. I then went to La Petit Bistro for a beer and saw a few friends there before I moved down to Harry's bar for a beer in the air-conditioned bar. When I had cooled off I went to the Asia Star Chinese restaurant and got myself a takeaway.
As I arrived home I found my parcel from Amazon at my door, I had forgotten it was coming today. I went inside put the air conditioning on and ate the prawn crackers from my takeaway. I put the Manchester United vs Wolves football match on the television, intending to eat the rest of my meal during the game. I then fell asleep, waking up in the second half of the game. I decided to have the takeaway tomorrow so I put it in the fridge before watching the remainder of the game. I didn't have a real interest in the game but I do have Manchester United's goalkeeper in my Fantasy Football team and was glad to see him keep a clean sheet in Manchester United's 1-0 win over Wolves. The extra points I got from this kept me at the top of the Fantasy Football League I am in.
Tuesday, 15th August.
I woke up at 7 am and got myself a coffee. As I sat at my computer listening to Radio 2, I could hear the very loud bangers going off, marking the beginning of the 51st International Garden and Sea Week, a week of celebrations held in Los Alcazares every year.
The parcel that arrived yesterday was talcum powder, I had read somewhere that it is very good for getting rid of ants. Something in talcum powder plays havoc with the ants' ability to find their way home so they can't lead other ants back. As a bonus, it kills any ants that eat it. Once the coffee had taken effect and I had woken up properly I spread talcum powder in all the areas of my utility room, balcony and kitchen where I had seen ants. It certainly smells better than ant powder or ant spray, and it is a lot cheaper. My 200g tube of talc cost me €1.60.
During the day I did a lot of research on my family tree. I had previously discovered some court records for my great-great-grandparents, Daniel Morris and Maria Davies, along with three other members of their household, including their sons, Benjamin Morris and James Lewis Morris. They had been sentenced to prison for between 18 months and three months for fraud. This week I discovered newspaper articles for the court case and more about the crime they committed. I started to transcribe the newspaper articles and will add the details from these articles to the pages about my relatives.
I sat on my balcony in my reclining deck chair today, reading my Kindle. After a while I must have dosed off but when I woke up the sweat was dripping off of me, and I could feel my heart racing. I decided to go in out of the sun and closed all the doors and windows to my apartment and put the air conditioning on. My balcony faces southeast and is in the sun all day. It is protected from any wind or breeze on three sides and is like a little oven. When I looked at the temperature on my new digital thermometer, that I have got sitting on the table on my balcony, next to all my cactus and succulents, the temperature had risen to 55°c. It was no wonder my heart was racing and that I was sweating. The location of the balcony makes it great in cooler weather because the sun keeps it warm, but in the height of summer, in the extreme heat we are having at the moment it can be dangerous.
This evening I checked where I had put the talcum powder down, and it had worked. There were a lot of dead ants everywhere I had spread it. I had intended to go out to see some of the celebrations in Los Alcazares tonight but I still felt drained from earlier, and as I had a day planned for tomorrow I stayed in and had an early night.
Wednesday, 16th August.
I woke up at 6:45 am today. I got a coffee and updated my website, removing old and out-of-date web pages from Google Index. At around 11 am I popped out to take some rubbish to the bin and some plastic to the recycling bin. It only took a few minutes, and a short time later, my friends Reinder and Frouk came to my apartment so that Reinder could fit some shelves for me.
Bookshelf in my dining room.Reinder fitted 3 small shelves for me in the utility room and a large shelf in my dining room. Whilst Reinder fitted the larger shelf I cleaned up the utility room. I mopped up the talcum powder and all the dead ants and then cleaned the floor again with some floor cleaner. It looked a lot better, was ant-free and now smelt better too. I was going to mop and clean the kitchen floor as well but the heat and small amount of exercise in the heat had made me feel a bit ill so I decided to leave the kitchen mopping until tomorrow.
Reinder, Frouk and I were all going to dinner together but the heat had got to me. I asked my friends if they would mind waiting whilst I had a shower to cool off before going and they said they would wait and go down to the Chiringuito El Lobo for a drink whilst I showered. As soon as they went I jumped in the shower and cooled myself off in a cold shower. The water brought my temperature down and I soon felt and smelt a bit better. I put fresh clothes on and went down to the chiringuito to find my friends.
Spicy Pork and Noodles.When I got down to the bar, Frouk and Reinder got up and we walked to their car a couple of roads away. The beach was packed and there were no nearby parking places for them to park. We drove to San Javier and went to Yamami Kitchen Chinese restaurant. I have been there a few times and always had great food. If you've never been there I recommend it, the Menu del Dia is a great deal. We all ate from the Menu del Dia, I had Mongolian pork skewers for my starter, spicy pork with noodles for my main and a very nice lemon ice cream/sorbet for my dessert.
After finishing our meal my friends dropped me home. It was very hot again and when I got indoors I was pleased I had put the air conditioning on before I left earlier. My apartment was lovely and cool as soon as I walked in. I sat down on my sofa, switched the television on and was very quickly asleep.
At around 8 pm, I got myself a few chicken nuggets and cooked them in my air fryer. I ate them and watched a bit more TV before tidying up my lounge. Now I have a nice bookshelf fitted I have no excuse not to tidy up the rest of my belongings. I won't try to do too much at once in the heat we are having at the moment, I will do a little bit at a time.
Thursday, 17th August.
I woke up later than normal today at about 8 am. I slept well last night, and after performing my morning ablutions I was ready for the day ahead, and I got myself a coffee, took my tablets and ate some cereal. I sat at my computer working on some graphics for my website until around 10 am and then went to the Mercadona superstore to get some shopping. As I left to go shopping the postman delivered a parcel, it was the package I was expecting tomorrow.
I got most of the shopping I wanted and then went straight home. I will have to get the things I couldn't get at Mercadona in Economy Cash tomorrow. It was already getting hot when I got home so I stuck the air conditioning on before opening the package from the postman. It was the waterproof phone holder and lanyard I got for my mobile phone. It should enable me to go swimming with my mobile phone and use it to shoot videos of jellyfish or fish underwater. To test it I filled it with tissue paper and put it in a sink full of water, weighted it down and left it there. I then continued to update the graphics on the genealogy section of my website, adding logos to each person's page to graphically show what country they were born in.
This afternoon I continued to mop the floors of my apartment. It hurts my back to sweep or mop so I can only do a bit at a time. I mopped the floors in the kitchen and cleaned up the talcum powder I had put down to kill the ants, it seems to have worked as there don't appear to be any since yesterday. After cleaning the kitchen I mopped the floor in the bathroom and gave the shower floor a good clean with some disinfectant which helped to clean some of the stains that were on it. I have a stool in the shower in case I need to sit down and it leaves rust spots on the shower unit floor, but I managed to clean most of them up or make them a lot harder to see at the least.
When I had finished mopping the floor of the toilet and kitchen, I went back to the bathroom. I took out the phone bag from the water in the sink to see if the tissue I put in it earlier had remained dry. It worked, the tissue was completely dry and I now feel confident to use the bag and lanyard in the sea with my mobile phone.
For my dinner this evening, I made myself a salad of beetroot, cucumber, and grapes. I made a honey mayonnaise dressing for it and cooked a chicken thigh in my air fryer to go with it. It all tasted fantastic and I did enough salad to last a few days. This evening I received a letter in the post telling me that I have got another embargo put on my bank account for an unpaid bill from the town hall. All of my bills are made by direct debit, and I haven't missed a bill since I moved in 8 years ago. I think the town hall must have changed the day they take the money as every month recently I have noticed all the apartments seem to be getting the same letter in the post where previously no one has had a bill by post. I will try to get to the town hall tomorrow to discover what the problem is.
Friday, 18th August.
I woke up today at about 5:45 am and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up, got a coffee and some orange juice and sat at my computer doing some genealogy research until around 8:30 am when I went to my Doctors surgery for my INR blood test.
The nurse had real trouble finding a vein this morning. She first tried the right arm and couldn't find anything and moved to the left arm. She had no better luck with the left arm and moved back to the right arm. With her third go and the third needle stuck in me, she managed to find a vein and got enough blood to send to the blood laboratory. She called me to the computer screen and typed an apology into Google Translate because she had trouble finding a vein.
When I left the Doctors surgery I went along to the Economy Cash supermarket and got some Green Tea with Aloe Vera, a couple of bits of chicken and some pastries to treat myself with as I had been such a brave boy when the nurse stuck three needles in me this morning. On my way home I passed my friend Martin and said hello as he cycled off to work. When I got home I got myself some cereal and another coffee before settling back down at my computer to continue my genealogy research.
At about 12:30 pm, I decided to take a break from my research and decided to look at some of the places I will be visiting on my upcoming cruise to Brazil. After looking at the excursions available through the cruise company, Costa Cruceros, I booked several trips.
- A panoramic tour of Cadiz in Spain.
- A cable car excursion to Las Canadas del Teide National Park on Tenerife.
- A tour of Recife and Olinda in Brazil.
- A tour showing the history and traditions of Salvador de Bahai.
- A trip to Ilheus and the Tijuipe waterfall.
It is fair to say that I am now getting quite excited about this trip. It won't be the longest distance I will have travelled to my destination for a holiday, which was my trip to Peru at over 6300 miles when I lived in England, but it will be further than my trip to China from England, which was over 5000 miles. This trip, leaving Barcelona and going to Rio will be the most Southerly place I will have visited on our beautiful planet.
The afternoon and evening were spent back on the computer doing more family tree research and adding details to my website.
Saturday, 19th August.
I woke up at around 7:30 am, got myself a coffee and an orange juice. I checked my computer for messages and then went down to the Mar Menor to see if I could video some fish and maybe some jellyfish.
I put my phone in the new waterproof pouch I had bought and already tested for water leaks. Although I had tested it I was still nervous about trying it out for the first time with my phone in it. I swam out to the rocks and swam around and over the rocks shooting video as I went. I swam back to the beach and went to Chiringuito El Lobo for a coffee and Tosatado. I checked to see if the waterproof pouch had protected my phone and if it had, if the camera had managed to shoot anything through the plastic case, that I could use.
I ate my tostado and was pleased to see the pouch had indeed protected my phone from the water. Unfortunately, without my reading glasses, I couldn't see if the video or photos had come out clearly through the plastic. I returned to my apartment and began to download some of the videos and photos to my computer to look at. At first glance it looked as if some had come out okay, some had not come out at all and some of the videos had been shot at double or triple speed, Im not sure how I managed that, it will be a learning curve. I left the videos being uploaded to the computer, one of them was around 25 minutes in length, and returned to the chiringuito with my Kindle, I had to pay for breakfast, so I might as well have a pint and read for a while, while it is updating.
Video clips of my morning swim and the jellyfish.
I sat at the Chiringuito reading, and the book I was reading took my mind off the time. I sat there a bit too long without any suncream on. I got a bit sunburnt. I returned to my apartment and had something to eat before carrying on working on my website. At around 7:45 pm I stopped work and walked to the main road through Los Alcazares to watch the ¨International Festival of the Garden and the Sea Parade¨ as it passed close to my apartment. I found an empty spot to sit and wait for the parade to come past.
It was not a huge parade, and it passed by without too much fuss. It was good to see my cousin Jill and her husband Peter on top of one of the floats, even if Peter did hit me with some of the sweets he was throwing at the children. I liked to see the parade with people all dressed up and I liked that a lot of the parade floats gave away fruit and vegetables to the adults and toys to the children. What I didn't like was the way a lot of people seemed to be following the parade grabbing everything they could get their hands on. Bigger children were literally pushing smaller children out of the way to fill sacks up with sweets and toys, whilst some adults did the same following the fruit and vegetable floats. I saw one woman grabbing anything and everything as she filled a full-size shopping trolley with stuff. I expect much of the stuff will be resold at markets or taken away by people from out of town. I did shoot a bit of video of the parade, which you can see below.
Video of the 51st Annual Parade of the Sea and The Garden.
After the parade finished I walked down to the beach and went along to La Playa bar to watch the Manchester City v Newcastle United football match. I watched the game and sat talking to my friends Bob and Connie until the early hour of the morning and then I walked back along the beach to my apartment. As I got to the chiringuito, I noticed all the tables still out and people sitting drinking and talking, so I stopped for a beer. They served me a beer, and as I sat down, I realised I was the only person there. The other tables had paid their bills and gone. The tables used to be put away, and you had half an hour to finish your drink before they closed. Now, they do not put the furniture away, and they had finished up for the night. I quickly finished my beer, went back to my apartment and went straight to bed.
Sunday, 20th August.
I woke up late after yesterday's late night, at about 10:30 am. I got some cereal and a coffee and sat down to edit the videos I took yesterday.
At midday, I stopped work to watch the England ladies play Spain ladies in the Women's World Cup Final. Some of the play was good, and I enjoyed the game. I think Spain deserved to win the game 1-0, but I have to give credit to the English ladies who never stopped trying until the last minute. After this game, I watched some of the Premier League games that were being played today. Aston Villa beat Everton 4-0 and should have won by a bigger score as Everton were terrible. I watched bits of the West Ham Chelsea game but not a lot of it as I binged watched more episodes of the Alan Davies series Jonathon Creek until I finally went to bed at about 11 pm.