I started Week 26 of 2024 by seeing a doctor again and finished with me having dinner with a friend before going to watch the England vs Slovakia football match in a pub in Los Alcazares.
Monday, 24th June.
I woke up around 8:15 am today. I had a coffee and got some porridge before sitting at the computer to do the Wordle puzzle. After breakfast, I went to the doctor's surgery to get an appointment to see the doctor with the Doppler scan results and my X-rays from last week's tests. I was told if I came back at 1 pm, I could see the doctor today.
I left the surgery and went to the Economy cash store to get some shopping, and then I returned to my apartment. I worked on my computer and put the final photos in my Marrakech Photo Album. As I finished adding the photos I looked to see the time and realised I was half an hour late for my appointment at the doctor's. I quickly jumped on my disability scooter and went to the doctor's surgery.
When I went into the surgery, I apologised for being late and asked if I could still see a doctor or if I would have to make another appointment. The receptionist said I would have to return at 9 am tomorrow and made me a new appointment. Before she handed it over, though, she walked into the doctor's office. She returned a few minutes later and said the doctor would see me now. I was pleased I wouldn't have to come back tomorrow and went to see the doctor. I hadn't seen this doctor before but was glad she said she would see me. She was gorgeous, and if she were my regular doctor, I would become a hypochondriac and be in to see her every day. Apart from being beautiful, she was also one of the most helpful doctors I have seen. She read through the results I had taken and looked at my Doppler scan results. She explained that I had no blood clots, but because I have inferior veins, my blood was not circulating correctly. This is what causes my swollen legs and the pain, and is also why the wound on my leg will not heal. As she was talking, I remembered being told this before, and when she prescribed a tablet for me to take for a few weeks, I remembered it and how helpful it was last time.
When I left her, she told me to get my leg dressed again by the nurse and to make an appointment to see the Traumatologist again with the X-rays. I went back to the receptionist, and while she arranged an appointment for me to see the Traumatologist, the nurse took me back to the treatment room and cleaned the wound on my leg again. When she had finished, she sent me back to the receptionist to get an appointment to have it looked at again on Thursday. When all the appointments had been made, I left and went back to my apartment.
This evening, I had a bit of chicken with salad for dinner. I watched some football on the TV but was exhausted after not sleeping well last night. Noisy people leaving the square late woke me up, so I went to bed around 10 pm tonight.
Tuesday, 25th June.
I woke up around 8 am and got up and got a coffee. I did the Wordle puzzle, checked my messages, and then took a shower. At around 11 am, I went to the pharmacy on my disability scooter and collected the prescription for the tablets to help open my veins up.
When I left the pharmacy, I went to the Mercadona store to get some salad, but when I went inside, it was packed, and I didn't want to queue for ages. Instead, I left and went to the Aldi store next door, where I got a couple of salad bowls. I left the store and found my disability scooter blocked in by two bikes that people had left across the front of it. Luckily, one of the bike owners hadn't left and moved the bikes so I could get out. I wonder what sort of stupid, inconsiderate person leaves bikes like that anyway, especially when the stores all provide secure bike racks for people to store their bikes in safely.
After leaving Aldi, I met Martin at La Sombra Pizzeria. I arrived before Martin and got a large bottle of water before sitting outside. I was delighted to see Rosa working again; she is much more hard-working and helpful than any other girl there, and I always prefer it when she is working. As I mentioned before, she is beautiful and has a smile that lights up any day. Martin arrived a little while later, and as we talked, Dave turned up and sat with us. Martin had brought Aria with him as she is now on school holiday for ten weeks, and she sat with us, playing with her drawings and pencils. Kate arrived later on. She had been to Arias' school for a parent's meeting and was pleased that Arias' report from her teachers was good.
We all left around 2 pm, and I returned to my apartment. I ate steak and salad for lunch and watched the Holland vs Austria football game this afternoon. Austria won the game 2-3, but I kept dosing off and didn't see much of it.
I watched the England vs Slovenia football match this evening, which finished in a 0-0 draw. England was slow to the ball and didn't seem to have a game plan. The result meant they topped their group after scoring only two goals in their three games. They will have to improve to get through the next knock-out round.
Wednesday, 26th June.
When I woke up this morning, I had a shower and got a coffee before leaving on my disability scooter to go to the bank. I arrived early for my appointment and waited for my turn. At 10 am, I saw the lady who was going to help me. She was very helpful, changed how my credit card bills are paid off, and then showed me how to pay the bill I had from the town hall at the ATM. It was straightforward, and I can do it myself next time. When I left the bank I returned to my apartment but only just made it because my disability scooter battery was running very low. When I returned to the garage, I plugged the scooter in to charge and went upstairs to my apartment.
After being sat down for a few days resting my legs, the swelling has gone down a bit, and I decided to try and start tidying my apartment. I moved Peggy, my robot hoover, to a new position, plugged her into charge and then did some cleaning before working on my computer for a few hours. When Peggy was fully charged, I set her off to remap the apartment so she could find her way around. She did get lost at one point, and I had to reposition her in her new home, but once she had a rest and recharged herself again, she was soon doing what she does best, sucking up the dirt from my floors.
This evening, I watched the football match between Georgia and Portugal. I was pleased to see Georgia beat Portugal 2-0 because they had been unlucky in their previous games. It is always good to see Cristiano Ronaldo lose. He is such a fantastic player and does a lot for charity and his fans, but he is also a petulant person when things don't go his way. I can't understand how the meakest of touches can knock over somebody who is such a powerful player and in such good shape. It seems he has been felled by a feather sometimes, and his complaining drives me mad. The other results tonight meant that Georgia had qualified for the knockout rounds at the expense of Ukraine.
Thursday, 27th June.
I slept well last night and woke up at around 7:30 am today. I got a coffee and then cooked bacon, eggs, mushrooms, and fried potato for breakfast. It tasted fantastic. It was the first time I had used the new stoneware frying pan I had bought myself since seasoning it. I was delighted with the results, and the fried egg slipped out of the pan just like you see them do on all the best cooking programs, rather than having to be pried up from the bottom of the pan.
At 10:30 am, I took some rubbish to one bin and recycled it to another before going to see the nurse at the doctor's surgery. He dressed my leg by putting what looked like a silver dressing on the wound before wrapping it with a bandage. Hopefully, this will help the wound heal quicker and stay on my leg better than the terrible plasters they have been using. When I left the doctor's surgery, I went to the Economy Cash superstore in Rio Nalon to get some green tea and a few cleaning items for my apartment before heading home.
At about 12:45 pm, I walked to the Thai Aroi restaurant to try their Menu del Dia. The food was lovely, and I enjoyed it. The " Menu del Dia" consisted of rice with the chef's choice of three dishes. With my perfectly cooked rice, I had a vegetable dish and two different chicken dishes. All of the food tasted great, and I will be going back on a regular basis. The " Menu del Dia" cost only €10 and was excellent value for money. I was very full when I left.
Photos of my meal at Thai Aroi restaurant.
Rice and separate vegetable and meat dishes.
Vegetable and meat dishes.
Rice, vegetables and chicken dishes.
Tapioca pudding.
When I finished my meal, I returned to my apartment and put my feet up. I spent the evening talking to some friends online and researching places I would like to visit in the future. Places I looked at included Fez in Morocco, a cruise from Lisbon, Portugal, to Miami in the USA via Canada, and a cruise around Japan, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. They all looked great, and when I get the all-clear from the doctor, I will have to do more than look at places to visit.
There wasn't much I wanted to watch on the television, and I went to bed around 10 pm.
Friday, 28th June.
I woke up quite early at 8:30 am but slept quite well last night, besides being woken up by kids playing football outside and constantly blowing whistles until around 12:30 am. I got myself a coffee, took my tablets and did the Wordle puzzle before checking my messages online. I got a message from the company from which I ordered a T-shirt. They tried to deliver it yesterday while I was having lunch, but they will attempt to drop it off again today. I got some porridge with banana, raisins, blueberries, nuts, and protein powder for breakfast. I spent the morning working on my website and finished adding the photos I took when I went to the patio festival in Cordoba in 2022.
The T-shirt I had been waiting for arrived around 2 pm, and when I opened it, it looked great and fitted well. I was pleased as it is an England football T-shirt and I wanted to have it before England got knocked out of the Euros.
This evening, I continued working on my website, and late tonight, I bought myself a new extension for my website, which will help me create some graphic effects for the pages. It probably wasn't the right time to buy it, as I sat there testing it until around 2:30 am.
Saturday, 29th June.
I was up a little later than usual after last night's late night. When I got up, I got a coffee and checked my email and messages. I took a shower and got ready to meet my friend Lisa, who was taking me to Torre Pacheco to go to the market there. At around 10:15, Lisa messaged me to say she was on her way, so I walked around the corner to wait for her. Unfortunately, she got held up at the bank, and I was still waiting for her half an hour later. When she arrived, I jumped in the car and went to the Torre Pacheco market.
When we got to the market, we stopped at a cafe and had coffee with a beautiful ham and tomato tostada. When we had finished breakfast, we walked around the market. While Lisa looked for clothes for her upcoming trip, I got some oranges, tomatoes, a pineapple, cherries, a pot of honey and a chicken from one of the chicken stalls.
Lisa, Martin, Alan and Mike in Campbells bar, Roda.
When we finished shopping, we drove back to Lisa's house, dropped the car off, and went to Roda's bar for a drink and to see some of her friends. We sat chatting for a few hours before going to Campbell's bar. We were only going for a quick drink in Campbell´s but got chatting with friends there and didn't leave as quickly as we had planned. Before we left, we made a reservation for dinner tomorrow, ordering two Lamb roast dinners.
When we left Campbell´s, we walked back to Rodas bar to get something to eat. We sat outside with Lisa's friend and neighbour, Kim. We sat chatting and drinking and never got around to ordering anything to eat. Instead of eating at the bar, Lisa and I returned to her house, where we ate some of the chicken we had bought at the market in the morning.
Sunday, 30th June.
I woke up reasonably early but stayed in bed till around 9:15 am. When I got up, I joined Lisa downstairs and had some mint tea. She showed me the new teapot she had bought since returning from our Marrakech trip. I was very impressed with her pouring skills. I would have spilt it all over the floor. We sat chatting for hours before Lisa got ready to return to Campbells for dinner.
Once Lisa was ready, she drove me to my apartment so I could shower and change. I had ordered a new T-shirt for the England football game and wanted to wear it today. I was soon showered and dressed, and we drove back to Lisa's house, dropped the car off and walked to Campbell's bar. I had a pint of Guinness, and we sat down and ate dinner. As always, it was excellent, and after not eating much yesterday, I was ready to eat some food. It should also help soak up the beer when I watch the football.
After we had finished dinner, we walked back to Lisa's house, and she gave me a lift to Rio Nalon so I could watch the football at the pub. As I walked past Rocco's bar, I saw my friend Colin and stopped to chat with him. I had a beer with Colin, and we talked about how badly England was playing and the upcoming Premier League football. It was sweltering. I sat outside Roccos, and I decided to go to Harry's bar to watch the football, as the air conditioning inside was the best in all the bars on the strip. I said goodbye to Colin and walked to Harry's bar. I sat under the air conditioning unit at a table and ordered a beer.
As kick-off time approached, the bar filled up quickly, and two couples from England joined me at my table. Strangely, the two men weren't that interested in football, and neither was one of the ladies, but the lady who sat next to me was a big football fan. During our conversation, it turned out that she was a big Arsenal fan, just like me. One of the men had put a bet on Slovakia winning 1-0 for a laugh, but when he looked at the betting slip, he had entered a £55 bet, not a £5 one.
England was playing badly like they had in the previous games in the tournament, and Slovakia scored a goal and went 1-0 in front. I turned to the man who had put the bet on Slovakia and asked if he could cash in his bet early. He looked at his phone and discovered he could do it, so he cashed it in and won £110. That would pay for his day out. He kept moaning through the game that he shouldn't have cashed in because England were rubbish, but he was glad he had when England scored a last-minute equaliser.
The pub erupted with noise as all the English fans celebrated, but it got even louder a short time later when they scored a brilliant goal to see them win the game 2-1 and go through to the quarterfinals. England was fortunate to win and did not deserve to, but I'm glad they did. If England goes on to win the tournament, on their current showing, they could be the worst team in the competition and still win it.
After the game finished, I walked to the bottom of the road to get the train back. There was a bit of a queue already, and when I checked the timetable, there were still at least 20 minutes till it was due. I could manage the walk home and returned to my apartment on foot. When I got in, I got a cold drink and put my feet up to watch some of the Spain vs Georgia game, but I fell asleep quickly. I woke up, and Spain led 3-1. They scored a fourth goal before the game finished. I realised that if Spain and England kept winning, they would meet in the final. If that does happen, the local pubs should have a great atmosphere.
I rechecked my messages and saw a post from my friend Bob, who runs the local tourist train. The reason for the queue earlier was that the train had broken down and would be out of action for a while. I hope he can get it sorted and that his business is back up and running soon. At 10 pm, a local drum band started playing outside in the square at an event. It was deafening, and the music afterwards wasn't any better. I was so tired I went to bed at about 10:30 pm and hoped to block the noise out. I did drift off to sleep and when I woke up at 11:30 pm, the music had stopped. There were still a few people outside, being noisy, but not enough to stop me from falling asleep again.