Week 5 of 2024 started slowly, waiting for a delivery, but it soon got exciting when I booked my next adventure. I hadn't planned to do anything, but I still went out to eat on four different occasions.
Monday, 29th January.
I woke up around 8 am and went to get myself a coffee before sitting down at my computer to work on my website for a few hours. At about 10 am, I took a break and got some porridge for breakfast. I had it with a banana, blueberries, honey and yoghurt, and it was lush. I could eat this every day.
I had a message at about 1 pm to say that the parcel I was waiting for had been delivered to Tecnyshop, so I went to the shop on my disability scooter to collect it. The lady in the shop recognised me, and I had collected my parcel and was back home less than 10 minutes after leaving. I unwrapped the parcel and tried on the T-shirt I had ordered. It fitted very well, and I was thrilled with it. It will be perfect for the Six Nations rugby competition when it starts.
It started to get cold again this afternoon, and I had to put the heat back on. After getting over the cold I'd had since returning from Brazil, I felt well again, and I started looking for a new adventure. I looked at a cruise around Japan, but it was expensive, and travel was complicated. The cruise started in South Korea, so I had to get a flight to South Korea, stay there for two days before the cruise and get a visa for South Korea. The cruise finished in Japan, and the flights from Japan to Spain are extortionate. I decided to give this trip a miss and continued to look for a new one.
The other trip I had been interested in was a two-week escorted tour of India, but it meant going via the UK, which would have added more expense to the trip. It would also mean getting a few different jabs at least eight weeks before travelling to India for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, rabies, polio, and tetanus. This put me off the India trip.
While looking at different trips, I found a cruise with NCL that I liked. I would fly from Madrid to Honolulu and cruise around the Hawaiian Islands for five days before sailing to Alaska. I would then cruise around Alaska for five days before returning to Vancouver in Canada to fly back to Madrid. The deal included the flights, the cruise, all food, all drinks, entertainment onboard and discounts on any excursions I take that I want to go on.
I have always wanted to visit the Hawaiian Islands, so that was one more thing off my bucket list. I have always wanted to go whale watching around Alaska, so that would be a second thing off my bucket list. I made a provisional booking and then went onto the US government website to apply for an ESTA to allow me to visit America. The ESTA came back within 15 minutes and had been granted, allowing me to visit Hawaii and Alaska. I went straight back onto the NCL website to book the cruise, and I am now officially excited and looking forward to what will probably be my only trip this year.
This evening, I got one of my homemade stews out of the freezer, defrosted it and then heated it for my tea. After eating, I wrapped up under a blanket and watched TV before going to bed at 11 pm.
Tuesday, 30th January.
I woke up at 5:30 am today and could not get back to sleep. I got up, got a coffee and some porridge and then settled down at my computer to work on my website until around 12:15 pm. My friend June had arrived at around 11:30 am, and she waited whilst I finished the work I was doing. We went to Buena Vista restaurant at about 12:30 pm.
June bought me breakfast as a belated birthday present, and we sat inside the restaurant chatting until around 2:30 pm. My knee had been aching while we were in the restaurant, and June insisted on dropping me off at home to save me from walking.
In the afternoon, I began to watch a film, but I soon fell asleep, waking up about an hour later. When I woke up, I worked on my website until the Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal football match came on the TV. Arsenal had a lot of possession and were deservedly winning 0-2 with around 10 minutes to go, but Nottingham Forest scored a goal to make the last bit of the game nerve-racking for any Arsenal fans. Arsenal held on and won the game 1-2.
Excited about my newly booked holiday, I made several attempts to pay the deposit online, but it wasn't working, so I emailed NCL for help before I went to bed at around 11:30 pm.
Wednesday, 31st January.
I woke up at around 5 am but was able to get back to sleep and woke again at 8 am. I got up, got myself a coffee and some porridge, and sat at my computer.
I had a reply from NCL and they sent me their bank details so I could pay my holiday deposit by online transfer. I made the transfer, emailed them the details, and then waited for confirmation they had received it.
At about 11 am, I went to see some friends for coffee in Los Narejos. After chatting with them for half an hour, I went to Mercadona for groceries and then returned home.
This afternoon, I added more photo albums to my website. I made photo albums for my visit to the Needles Rock Formation in Custer State Park, South Dakota and Devils Tower in Wyoming in 2011. After doing this, I noticed that my friend Ali was selling some terracotta flower pots. I said I would buy them and arranged for June to take me to pick them up tomorrow.
This evening, I got confirmation for my cruise, including its flights. Once I had the details, I added them all to my diary and then booked overnight stays in Madrid the day before I fly to Honolulu and the day I get back into Madrid on my return. Once the hotels had been booked, I booked return train journeys to Madrid.
I finished working on my website and went to bed at 11 pm.
Thursday, 1st February.
This morning, I woke up around 6 am. After getting up and getting a coffee, I sat down to work on my computer. I looked up how to get a Canadian Visa and after discovering the correct website to do it on, I applied for the Canadian Visa I would need for my cruise. It was easy to do, and I worked on my website once I had done it.
At 11:30 am, my friend June picked me up and took me to pick up some terracotta plant pots from our friend Ali. I bought 12 pots from Ali to repot some of the plants on my balcony. I want to move some of the Dracaena trifasciata I have in a wooden trough into separate flower pots and keep them inside. The plant, aka Mother-in-law tongue, helps to purify the air by exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide using the crassulacean acid metabolism process.
After we had collected them from Ali, June dropped me at home and I took them all indoors. I was surprised at how much effort it took to get all the flower pots into my apartment. I had to put them all outside my apartment block, open the door, move the pots inside, and then carry them up a flight of stairs to the lift. Once I had the pots outside the lift, I had to prop the lift door open while I put them inside. I moved them to the floor I live on and propped the door open while I took them out of the lift. After getting them all out of the lift, I opened my front door and moved them all into the hallway of my apartment. Once I had done this, I was puffing like a steam train and had to rest.
As I sat there, my friend Bob arrived. He had a look at a foot massage unit that I have that has stopped working. I had wondered if it was just a break in the power lead and Bob was checking it for me. The lead appeared to be okay, and Bob took the unit apart. He did get it to work, but it was nowhere near the power it used to be. I will try it out for a few days, but if it doesn't work correctly, I will throw it away.
This evening, I carried on working on my website and put lots of photos in my photo albums. All I have to do now is add the descriptions of the images to each one. I stopped work at 11:30 pm because my eyes were sore, and I went to bed.
Friday, 2nd February.
I woke up at 6 am, got my coffee and cooked myself a full English breakfast: bacon, sausage, beans, eggs and toast. After breakfast, I sat at my computer and checked for any messages. I was happy to see that my Canadian Visa had been authorised and that I was now ready for my cruise to Hawaii and Alaska.
While working on my computer, I messaged my friends George and Yvonne. I hadn't seen them for a while, so I asked them how they were getting on. After chatting for a while, we arranged to meet at 1 pm in Buena Vista restaurant just along the beach from my apartment. At 1 pm, I walked to the restaurant, and after having a coffee, we decided to have lunch there. I had a meat samosa starter and a chilli garlic chicken curry with pilau rice. It was beautiful, and I was glad that we had gone there. We sat talking until 3:30 pm before leaving to go home.
Once home, I got a drink and then had a siesta before starting work on my website again. At 5 pm, I had a message from Amazon telling me the Welsh flag I ordered had been delivered to Tecnyshop, so I walked to the store and collected it. When I got home, I worked on my website before having a burger for my tea. I finished working on my website at 11:00 pm and went to bed.
Saturday, 3rd February.
I woke up at 7 am, and after getting a coffee and some porridge for breakfast, I sat at my computer and uploaded more photos to my website. At around 10:30 am, I got on my disability scooter and went to the Economy Cash store for groceries. On my way home from the store, I went to the local Chino store to buy cable ties to hang my new Welsh flag from my balcony. When I left the Chino shop, I went to the local Indian spice and grocery shop and bought some potatoes and garlic for a soup I wanted to make.
Once I got home, I put my disability scooter on charge and took my shopping to my apartment. I made myself a bacon and egg roll and got a cup of tea. After I had finished, I set about hanging my Welsh flag on my balcony. This was harder than it should have been because of the heavy table I had on the balcony with large cacti all over it. I moved the table and many plants and attached the new Welsh flag to my balcony. Pleased with the job, I moved to my spare bedroom and attached a new Save the Mar Menor flag to the Juliette balcony in that room.
This evening, I sat down to watch the Wales vs Scotland rugby game in the Six Nations competition. It started evenly, but Scotland soon took the lead, and the young Wales team crumbled. At half time, the score was Wales 0, Scotland 27. At half-time, my friend Pat messaged me to see if I wanted to go for dinner. As I hadn't eaten, I said I did and went to get ready. I had a shave, cut my hair and had a shower. As I got out of the shower, I could hear lots of cheering from the TV in the lounge. When I returned to the game, Wales had come right back into the game and the score was 26-27. Unfortunately, Pat was outside, and I couldn't watch the last couple of minutes of the game.
After Pat had picked me up, he drove us to Roldan, where we went into The Rustic Grill. I had the Amazon ribs cooked in spicey honey sauce. They were very nice. We talked until around 10:30 pm. Pat insisted on paying for our meal, saying it was my late birthday present. When we left to go home, Pat dropped me off at my apartment, and I was soon tucked up under a blanket on my sofa with the heat on.
I intended to watch MOTD but fell asleep before it came on. My snoring woke me halfway through the program, and rather than watch the end, I went to bed.
Sunday, 4th February.
I woke up just before 7 am. I got myself a coffee and sat down at my computer. I like to do the Wordle word puzzle when I first get up each morning and today was no different. I got a second cup of coffee, sat down, and did today's puzzle before checking any messages I might have received overnight.
I worked on my website for a while, stopping when MOTD came on. I didn't see many games as I fell asleep during the second game and woke up at 10:30 when the program had finished. I got washed and dressed, got myself a cup of tea and then worked on my website until June was due to pick me up for Sunday lunch.
At 12:45 pm, I walked to the place where June would be picking me up from. I sat on the wall there for a few minutes until June arrived, and we went to Campbell's bar in Roda. The lovely Lauren served us with our dinners, and we didn't stop laughing with her. For some reason, my acid reflux started as soon as I began to eat, but I stopped eating for a while, and my hiccups stopped. I didn't get heartburn and could carry on eating my dinner. My dinner was excellent, and I had a piece of Bailey's cheesecake for my sweet. As I have stopped drinking alcohol for a while, I had a couple of coffees with my dinner. It did feel strange having Sunday dinner out and only having coffee for a drink, but I was pleased I didn't succumb and have a pint.
When June and I had finished our dinners, June drove me back to my apartment and dropped me off. I went back inside and worked on my website for a while before sitting on my sofa before the Arsenal vs Liverpool football match came on the TV. The game was great, especially for the neutral fans. Arsenal were winning 1-0 until the end of the first half when they scored a bizarre own goal, and the first half ended 1-1. In the second half, it was Liverpool's turn to make a significant error, and they gifted Arsenal a second goal. Before the game finished, Arsenal scored a third goal, and the game finished Arsenal 3, Liverpool 1. I was pleased Arsenal had won and cut the gap between themselves and Liverpool to two points, but the happiest fans will be the Manchester City Fans, as it now means they can go above Liverpool and Arsenal if they win both games in hand.
I worked on my website after the game, working until MOTD came on TV when I turned my computer off. I went to bed at about midnight, setting my alarm in case I didn't wake up early to go and get my regular blood coagulation test tomorrow.