Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia, Spain
Summary: A cold January week filled with small dramas, warm food, long chats, unexpected parcels, football highs and lows, and the steady rhythm of daily life in Los Alcázares. I cooked, walked, met friends, battled the weather, worked on my website and prepared for my upcoming trip to India.
Monday, 6th January
The cold woke me before the alarm did. I shuffled into the kitchen, wrapped in my dressing gown, and made tea instead of coffee, my machine still hadn’t arrived. Wordle was done quickly, but shaving my head was another story. My eyesight betrayed me, and I nicked my scalp more than once. Watching the blood drip into the shower tray, I finally admitted defeat: it was time to retire the razor. I ordered a skull shaver online, hoping it would save my poor head in the future.
By late morning the rain had stopped, so I rode my scooter to meet Martin at Mr.16 Kitchen. The cold bit through my clothes, and I was grateful for my thermal vest. After a couple of hours chatting with Martin and Dave, I stopped at La Sombre for a pizza to take home. The warmth of the apartment and the comfort of the food knocked me out, and I dozed in my chair until the Wolves vs Nottingham Forest match came on. Forest won 0-2, which helped my fantasy team even if it didn’t help Arsenal. I went to bed warm and content.
Tuesday, 7th January
I woke just before seven and made tea. Wordle fell in two guesses , a rare victory. I arranged with Liz to go to the health clinic tomorrow for my health card, then sent more documents to my bank about a claim I was making. A trip to Mercadona followed, my scooter loaded with bags on the way home.
Lunch was carrot soup and cheese and onion chapatis, simple but perfect for the cold day. In the afternoon, my investment company cancelled my online meeting, then reinstated it, then called me early. The news was good: my investments had done well, and the Australia and New Zealand trip I’d been dreaming about might actually be possible in 2026.
That evening, I watched Arsenal lose 0-2 to Newcastle in the semi-final first leg. Chance after chance wasted. A familiar story.
Wednesday, 8th January
I woke early and decided it was finally time to make the cottage pies I’d been putting off. The potato peeler was in the dishwasher mid-cycle, so I borrowed one from Liz. The mince simmered away, filling the apartment with a smell that made me hungry long before it was ready.
Liz and I walked to the medical centre, but my health card still hadn’t arrived. We arranged to try again next week. Back home, I made three large cottage pies, ate one with peas and sweetcorn, and froze the other two.
In the afternoon, I went hunting for a better note-taking app for my India trip. Google Keep felt too limited. I tried OneNote and was instantly hooked. I spent the whole evening exploring it, my mind racing with ideas long after I went to bed.
Thursday, 9th January
I woke at seven and made tea. After watching a few more OneNote videos, I decided to buy a Microsoft 365 subscription. It included 1 TB of cloud storage, which would replace my current backup service and save money.
Lawrence picked me up for coffee at Café Prensa, where we joined Steve and Bev for an hour of chat. When I got home, my new skull shaver arrived. It worked beautifully, smooth, quick, and no bloodshed.
Feeling brave, I applied for my Indian tourist visa. Passport uploaded, photo uploaded, $25 paid. A British man living in Spain applying for an Indian visa with a Spanish credit card , what could possibly go wrong?
Lunch was yesterday’s cottage pie, even better the second day. I spent the afternoon updating the Peru section of my website and adding more details to my Japan photos. In the evening, I cooked a sweet chilli chicken stir fry and settled in for some TV and genealogy.
Friday, 10th January
I woke early and found an email from Indian immigration waiting for me. My e-visa had been approved. A relief. It was cold in the apartment, but Jim in Scotland told me it was -6°C where he was, which made my 14°C feel tropical.
Breakfast was porridge with fruit and yoghurt. My new coffee machine was finally on its way. I finished editing all my Japan photos and published the albums. At lunchtime, I met Debbie at La Casa de Papel. She went to the wrong restaurant at first, but we eventually sat down to a fantastic beef stew, tender pork cutlets and a raspberry mousse.
On the way home, I stopped to chat with George and Yvonne and collected a parcel from Liz, tapioca pearls I’d ordered in October and been refunded for. The evening was spent working on my website, wrapped in a blanket as the temperature dropped.
Saturday, 11th January
I woke at 05:30 and started the day with porridge and tablets, including Diosmina for my legs. After doing some washing, I walked to Economycash for coffee beans, but they didn’t have the brand I wanted. I caught the bus to Café Prensa instead and joined Steve, Christine, Lawrence and the others for coffee.
Christine needed directions to Rainbow Properties, so I showed her the way. Lawrence then picked me up again, and we walked to Buena Vista for breakfast. We chatted for hours without realising how late it had become. I finally got home at 14:45 and immediately fell asleep in my chair.
Later, I made an open cheese and minced meat sandwich and worked on my website. I ordered coffee beans from Amazon using my Microsoft reward points, free coffee for doing what I do anyway. I watched films and went to bed at 00:45.
Sunday, 12th January
I had a lie-in and then stripped the bed and did laundry. Most of the day was spent working on my website. My coffee beans arrived, and I hoped the machine would follow tomorrow.
I spoke to my Uncle Dave on a video call, then did Wordle in two attempts. I checked my Fitbit cardio load, which told me I’d done too much this week and needed rest. Even when I feel like I’ve barely moved, my heart seems to disagree.
In the afternoon, I watched Arsenal vs Manchester United in the FA Cup. Arsenal equalised but lost on penalties. Another match where the lack of a striker cost us.
That evening, I emailed ECO‑DE about my faulty armchair and received a message from Gail saying she and Rob would be here next week. It will be good to see her again, and to finally meet Rob, another Arsenal fan.
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