In Week 44 of 2024, I met some friends for a curry, did lots of work on my website, did some genealogy research and booked my next holiday, an escorted tour of India.
Monday, 28th October.
Today, I woke up at 6 am, and because I could not get back to sleep, I got up at 6:30 am. I put some bed linen in the washing machine. It is stuff that I no longer want and will donate to a charity shop of some sort, but I like to wash anything I donate before taking it anywhere. Then I got some cereal and a coffee before sitting at my computer and doing the Wordle puzzle.
I worked on my website and my family tree this morning, and at midday, I walked to the main road, where Dave picked me up to go to the office. Martin was already there when we got there, and we sat talking and catching up. It started to rain while we were there, but it wasn't too bad. We were under shelter and didn't get wet. I was still glad I hadn't gone there on my disability scooter. Aria arrived on her bus from school, and after greeting her, we all left to go home. David dropped me off at my apartment, and we arranged for him to give me a lift to our curry night tomorrow.
I got myself some toasted cheese and ham toasties for lunch, and after eating them, I fell asleep in front of the TV. I woke up about 40 minutes later and spent the evening working on my genealogy research.
Tuesday, 29th October.
I slept very well last night and got up at around 7:30 am. I got myself a coffee and some cereal before sitting down at my computer and selecting and editing photos for my photo album from Tokyo, Japan.
This afternoon, I had another delivery from Amazon. Last week, my fitted bed sheets arrived, my regular sheets arrived today, and tomorrow, I am expecting the pillowcases. It is incredible how Amazon manage to deliver everything on different days, even when you agree to have them later to make one delivery.
This evening, I walked to the main road at 7 pm and was picked up by Dave. We drove to pick Martin up from the office and then went to the Massala Cottage restaurant in Los Alcazares. When we arrived, Paul and Mike were already waiting for us at the Trebol bar next door. A short time later, Bernard arrived with Colin, and a bit later, Bob arrived. We sat outside Trebol under the awnings, having a beer and chatting until just after 8 pm when we all went into the restaurant.
As we went in, we saw our friends Dave and Julia and said hello to them before sitting down at our big round table. I like the round table because no one feels left out of the conversation because they are sat at the end of the table. We ordered drinks, and after reading the menu, we ordered starters and our main courses. I had a fish pakora starter and a lamb Rogan Josh curry. We ordered a selection of different rice and naan breads to share between us, and the restaurant gave us some popadums to share.
The meal was delicious, as usual, and the conversation was great and flowed backwards and forwards. The time flew by, and it was soon time to leave. I want to say thank you to Martin, Dave, Bernard, Colin, Bob, Mike and Paul for their company. We all said goodbye to each other outside before heading home. Dave dropped Martin off at the office because he had some late-night faxes to check on, and then he took me straight home.
I had a great evening and won't forget that Mike offered to take me out for a drive in his Cougar, which used to be made by Mercury but, I believe, is now owned by Ford. I got some water and watched TV for half an hour and then went to bed, full and happy.
Wednesday, 30th October.
I woke up late for me this morning. I had a good night's sleep and had slept through till 8 am. I am pleased that I am sleeping better now that my cold has cleared up. I am getting back to a regular sleep pattern, and I have gotten over my jet lag from my travel to Japan. As I get older, it takes me longer to get over the travel. This was the furthest I have ever travelled on one trip. Because of the flight pattern, I actually managed to circumvent the entire world on this trip.
I worked on my website photos all morning, and looking at them reminded me how much I love travelling and how many places I still have left on my bucket list. I sat at home looking at some of the places I wanted to go to while I am still able to. I loved my trip to Japan, the people and the places I went. What I didn't enjoy was the lousy organisation of Logitravel, Smytours, Europomundo, and Green Apples, the four companies that all had something to do with the planning and organisation of the trip. While thinking about the trip, I remembered how well-organised the China trip I went on in 2014 was compared to the Japan trip. I went on the JustYou website and started looking at their holidays for next year.
One of the places I have always wanted to visit is India, and they had a trip on the website that appealed to me and included many of the places I wanted to visit. I noticed that the Spirit of India tour with Amritsar add-on had one space left for February 2025. My passport will expire in September 2025, which means I have to renew it in March 2025. This meant I could go on the February trip, and after thinking it over, I decided to book it. I went through the booking page on the website and mentioned on the booking page that I walk with a stick. When I went to finalise the booking and pay the deposit, a provisional booking was made. They wanted to make sure I was fit enough to do the tour before taking my deposit and said they would call me.
A short time later, JustYou did call me. They asked me questions about my health and mobility to make sure I would be able to make the trip, and when they were happy with my replies and that I could get on and off an aeroplane and a coach, they booked it but didn't take a deposit until they made sure the flights were available. They said they would call me back tomorrow.
This evening I watched the Preston vs Arsenal football match on the TV. Arsenal gave some of the younger players a game and mixed them up with other older players who were short of game time. Arsenal won the game 0-3, and everybody came through it unscathed. As soon as the game had finished, I went to bed.
Thursday, 31st October.
I woke up this morning and checked for email messages before doing the Wordle puzzle. I was hoping JustYou had got back to me already, but they hadn't. I had a coffee, and while I was sitting at the computer, my friend Jim messaged me to see if I wanted to meet for coffee. I met him at Buena Vista restaurant.
We had coffee and a tostada and sat chatting till 11 am. When Jim left, I went home and collected some recycling that I had to take to the bin. I got on my disability scooter and took the recycling to the bins on my way to the Mercadona store to get my groceries. I got quite a bit of shopping and immediately took it home. Before I put my shopping away, I emptied my fridge and cleaned it thoroughly before putting all the shopping away. As I was putting it away, my friend Lottie messaged me and asked if I wanted to get lunch with her and Alison. She invited me to meet them at Buena Vista at 2 pm. I agreed to meet them and then did some more work on my website.
At 2 pm, I walked along to the restaurant, got a beer and waited for Alison and Lottie. After a short time, they joined me, and we had a drink. It became a bit cold sitting in the shade, and before we ordered any food, we moved to a table in the sun. We all ordered something to eat, and I had a chicken korma with rice.
The curry was very nice but not very warm, and it came so quickly that I had to assume that it had been frozen and reheated. It tasted good, and I did enjoy it, but I would have preferred it hotter. We sat chatting for a few hours and had another drink while we talked. As we talked, my phone rang, and it was JustYou again. I told them I was out, and they agreed to call me back in an hour. I went inside and paid for our meals before sitting back down and having an Asiatico coffee, which Lottie had bought.
I walked home and had only been in for a few minutes when JustYou called me back. They confirmed that my place on the trip had been booked and that the flights had been confirmed and took a deposit over the phone. I had only been home from Japan for eight days and had now booked my next trip. I am determined to see as much of the world as I can before my legs give way entirely or my health stops me from travelling. This will give me something to look forward to as the winter draws in and it gets colder.
This evening, I organised everything else for my trip to India. I booked a train to Madrid and a hotel for the night. I booked a hotel for the night in Heathrow because I will arrive the day before I go to India. I want to make sure I am rested before I begin another long journey, and I think sleeping well before I fly will help me get over any jet lag quicker. I also booked a night in the same hotel in Heathrow for my return trip. When I fly back to Spain from Heathrow, I will be able to get the train for the homeward journey on the same day that I arrive in Madrid, so I booked a train for the last stretch.
Once I had confirmed all my travel arrangements, I watched a bit of TV before going to bed at around 10 p.m.
Friday, 1st November.
I got up around 7 am today. I got myself a coffee, did the Wordle puzzle online and did some work on some photos for my website.
Because of all the floods in Valencia this week, the local council in Los Alcazares are organizing collections of clothes, bed linen, food and other items for people affected by the flooding in Valencia. I had been meaning to clear out my wardrobes for quite a while, so I sorted through my clothing and got three bin liners full of clothes to donate. I also bagged up two bags of bed linen that I will no longer use and two pairs of trainers that I don't wear. Unfortunately, because it is a red day today (a national holiday), I can't take it to a collection point yet, but I have it sorted and ready to go by my front door.
I then decided I needed to get some fresh air, so I took a bag of rubbish and some paper recycling to the bins. I went on my disability scooter, and after dropping it off, I continued to my friend Vinces' house. I saw him working in his garage as I approached, and after chatting for a short time, we walked around the corner to an Italian cafe for a drink. We both tried a non-alcoholic bottle of beer. It was very nice, and I was surprised at how good it tasted. As we sat talking, another man joined us and began talking to us. Boy, could he talk, but he was pleasant enough, and as he now lives locally, I will probably bump into him quite a lot. Vince paid for our beer and left to go home. I left, going home along the beachfront to my apartment.
Once I got home, I cooked myself some lunch. I had a bit of steak with mushrooms, fried potatoes and a fried egg. It was lovely, and as the steak was only tiny, I was tempted to eat the second bit as well but decided against it. After eating lunch, I worked on my website for an hour and then sat in my massage chair for a massage and a siesta. When I woke up, I watched some TV before cooking the remaining steak and having it in a salad bowl for dinner.
I went to bed early tonight at 10 pm but was kept awake by the screaming kid in the apartment above me as its parents attempted to bathe it. Either the kid gave up and let itself be cleaned, or they held it under the bath water for too long because it became silent at about 10:30, and I managed to drop off to sleep.
Saturday, 2nd November.
I woke up around 7 am today. I got myself a coffee and sat down at my computer. I checked my email, did the Wordle puzzle, worked on my website for a while and then put some washing in the washer.
For breakfast, I got a protein shake with banana and blueberries. After breakfast, I stripped the linen from my bed and remade it with my new linen. It all matched and looked great, but for some reason, making my bed wore me out, and I had to sit down for a rest afterwards. As the bedroom floor was clear, I cleared the floors in the rest of my apartment and set Peggy off to hoover all the dust up from the floors.
This afternoon I watched the Newcastle vs Arsenal football match. Newcastle deservedly won 1-0, and I think it was the worst game of football that I have seen Arsenal play in years.
This evening, I added more photos to my website for the Japan holiday photo albums.
Sunday, 3rd November.
I slept well again last night and woke up at about 7 am today. As usual, I had a coffee while I did the Wordle puzzle. I got myself some breakfast of bacon, beans, mushrooms and a piece of Spanish tortilla. It was lovely, and I washed it down with a pot of green tea with peach and jasmine.
I spent all morning adding more photos to the Japanese photo albums on my website and stopped around 2 pm for some lunch. I had a chicken thigh with a bowl of salad.
This afternoon, I watched some football matches on television while doing some research on my family tree on the Ancestry website. I cheered on both Tottenham and Manchester United in the hope that their results would help Arsenal out. Tottenham did help, but Arsenal dropped from third to fifth. Come on, Arsenal put some effort into it.
I watched a bit of TV in the evening but went to bed at about 10 pm. I seem to be going to bed early a lot lately. I hope I soon get my mojo back.