Here I am again.

 

Villajoyosa...old town

On the mend

Finally...!   

Five months have whizzed by and I have so missed not blogging but even so I just couldn't find the impetus to write. It just wasn't in me!  As I mentioned in a previous blog post. I have a one tracked mind when something is worrying me so there was no room for anything else 😒

All I could think about were the numerous health issues that were bombarding me and the three ops I had pending. 

I am now convalescing from the first and second op and waiting for the date of the third one. I am so relieved that I am on the mend now. As for the op which is pending it is just vascular surgery to get rid of some unsightly varicose veins and I am not worried about that.

All the same I have been lurking quite a bit here flittering from one blog to another keeping up-to-date with what you are all doing. Therefore this will not be a lengthy post as I want to start posting on all your blogs to let you know I AM BACK ✋

Yesterday we finally returned to our Sunday outings routine and we decided to visit Villajoyosa. We haven't been there for quite sometime; years in fact. I call it the chocolate town as it is famous for its chocolate specially drinking chocolate. I am on a diet at present so I couldn't partake of their scrumptious hot chocolate this time but we have promised ourselves we will be going back soon to have some delicious "chocolate con churros".  

Villajoyosa was at one time just a tiny fishing village but it has become very popular with the tourists and has grown considerably due to its proximity to Benidorm, a very busy and internationally well-known tourist resort. 

Park leading down to the beach

The old wall 

Amadorio River 

 Keep well

 Amanda 🌴

 

and... a very happy New year to you all!🌟

I am still here lurking in the background and reading your posts; an invisible presence😀 

Just hoping this bright New Year that is nearly with us will finally sort out the numerous health issues this family has been bombarded with these last eight months and our lives will return to normal. 

Keep well and have a wonderful Christmas 🌲

Amanda xxx

Finally!

 

Well dear bloggers my short break away from blogging hasn't been so short as I had planned! As it is I still have things ... you know life things and family things to be sorted which I really want to get out of the way so I can get back to my comfy routine.   I have a bit of a one tracked mind approach when I am engulfed with things that need dealing with! 

Many thanks indeed for all your comments on my previous post. 

I have just popped back to share with you this our super special day. 

We finally got here!

"You don't love someone for their looks,their clothes or their fancy car,but because they sing a song only you can hear." - Oscar Wilde.

50 years ago today I married Sr P; my latin lover

We have actually been together for 52 years but the first two years was the trial run!

Happy blogging

Amanda ⭐

Tied down

 

Hello to you all

I have decided that I am going to take a short break so there will be no post from me this week. There are numerous personal/family things I have to sort out. I also need to do some catching up and reply to lots of the blog friends who I have neglected of late.

Walking just around the block

HAPPY BLOGGING

Amanda 🌴

The first place that came to mind.

Lazy darning light bulb moment💡

Sr P's old tatty but precious jeans... which I dare not chuck out! 

He has been helping out at a friend's restaurant and somehow got bleach down the front of the left leg. They really need to go into a vat of dye but that just isn't worth the expensive as they are far too old. He won't buy a new pair though he likes his old faithfuls! That man does hate shopping for clothes.Therefore I turned to lazy darning once again and snakes were the only thing I could think of which would cover more or less the streaks left by the bleach.

Sunday outing

As we had no plans to go to anywhere in particular for our last Sunday outing we went to the first place that came to mind (my mind)which was Busot up in the mountains. We hadn't been there for quite some time,years in fact.It is usually a bit cooler up there so I took a cardigan. I didn't need it! The photos will tell all!

BUSOT is approximately 19 kilometres from Alicante City. The name BUSOT means place in the Woods as Busot used to be situated in the middle of a massive pine forest. That,I imagine;must have been quite sometime ago though as there is not much of a forest there anymore ...more's the pity!   All the same it really is a lovely little town and the views are fabulous!  I also have to give it top marks for how clean and neat it is. Absolutely no litter at all. The streets and houses are so well looked after. You can see the people are proud of their little town.

Can you see what I mean about it all being so tidy and so clean?

Looks like Sr P got his skates on again because you can see him way up there nearly at the top of the street. 

At the top of that street we saw this sign and of course we had to go up there.

This is the reason I did not need a cardigan!  

I was huffing and puffing well before we got to the viewpoint. The pathway was well dotted with pine trees...so at least some of them survived.  

The view at the top took our breath away ... the climb up there too 🌞

 

You can see for miles!

On our way back down. 

and there was a castle...the remains of one actually.

Well we weren't house hunting up here even though it is so beautiful and the view is sensational. Our goal is definitely to stick to the coast. We both are very much coastal creatures. Nevertheless it did briefly pass through my mind that I wouldn't mind living here in Busot.

Worth the wait.

It has taken one of my orchids months to show signs that it could produce buds and a few months more to finally see them bloom.

It was well worth the wait.

Yes another suncatcher.

This one is for my sister's bedroom window in her new flat.

As is usual you can't see the sparkly bits in the photo but they should make it twinkle in the sun.

I was told to use various shades of pink and a touch of purple.  I think I have managed that.  

Replies completed for previous post comments.

Happy Blogging

Amanda 🌄

Breakfast

I will pass on the "eating glitter" bit but I am convinced a good breakfast does certainly help me to shine!  I think most of us have heard the phrase at sometime or other that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  I am inclined to agree with that and have always had an ample breakfast first thing before going off about my daily routine ,in fact ,if at anytime I have missed it I found I would begin to feel quite queasy by 10ish.    

When I say ample I don't mean a heavy substantial meal like a typical Full English breakfast(much as I love it!). 

You know... I have always thought...who has the time of a morning (Sundays perhaps) to dish up a full English breakfast before going to work? 😔 Toast,cereals with fruit and of course a mug of tea or two is what I considered ample. 

I tried arduously to instil into my daughter the need to have a substantial breakfast of a morning. While she was under my thumb she had breakfast every morning before she left for school and later college. It usually consisted of a mug of cocoa and a small bowl of cereals with some fruit which she would swished around continuously hence a large portion of the cereals stuck to the side of the bowl. I'd say probably only four spoonfuls would have got eaten.  

As an adult she has slipped into her own routine which is having breakfast and elevenses together and mostly in a cafe.  

I have never had to worry about Sr P's breakfast as he always adhered to the Spanish custom which was to have his breakfast out at a local cafe with one exception that was during the Pandemic national lockdown. He found it extremely difficult not being able to go out for breakfast. There were constant moans and groans about the quality of the coffee I brewed for him! 

Time and the aging body changes things of course! I continue to have an ample breakfast but as I am on a high-fibre low cholesterol diet the buttered toast has gone and the milk in the cereals too. I eat three different types of fruit usually banana,grapes and apple slices sprinkled with oat flakes and nuts and mixed in with a low fat plain yogurt.  I allow myself one mug of tea twice a day. The latter was indeed difficult to reduce as I used to drink easily six cups of tea a day.  It's ok now though I got rid of that habit!   

   

Needless to say when my GD is staying with us I always make sure she has an ample breakfast first thing.😁🍲😋

Relaxing, no rush, casual house hunting again.🏠

Two weekends ago during our usual Sunday outing we went for a stroll along the Albufereta beaches. The Albufereta is a small town very near to Alicante City and its beaches practically link up to the City's Postiguet beach.

Google image. Alicante city Postiguet Beach.

We had heard that there were several apartments for sale at those beaches so we thought we'd go that way and after all as you can see it really is a lovely area.  

Peeking out from someone's balcony.

It was a disappointment though! 

We were quite put off because although the beaches and the coastline is wonderful and really beautiful, the beaches were a mess having been badly hit during the winter storms. Actually the condition of the beaches didn't really worry us because the council will be repairing all that very soon due to the return of tourism. However, the apartment blocks and different housing estates where there were apartments for sale were very shabby and quite dated. I could see why there were so many up for sale! 

In a couple of the housing estates there also seemed to have been some sort conflict with the local council where the council has stepped in and have demolished what we thought looked like illegal private access to certain beaches and also barriers put up impeding public access along that part of the coastline.   

We certainly wouldn't be interested in living somewhere like this!  Our golden years have to be lived comfortably without any stress.

Replies to previous post comments completed

  Happy blogging

Amanda 

🏊🏊🏊

Found

 

Mandala

I have to admit that Mandalas and Suncatchers are two of my most favourite sorts of makes.  

I have finally completed this Mandala (15 inch diameter) for my niece over in Point Vernon OZ. I was thinking that it would look good on a sideboard,coffee table or centre for a table 

This is from a free pattern called April Mandala by Ella  and you can download it from Raverlry.    I used  Cotton Yarn Katia Capri and Anchor Style and  hook Nº 3.

Found

Many thanks for all your help in finding out the name of this little plant that I bought. 

As you can see not such a scraggly looking plant anymore as it is doing very well on that shelf by my mini Christmas cactus.  

Thank you Ellie from Feltabulous ,  Julie from My Threadbear Life , Dee from Pointy Little sticks , Sparklingmerlot, and all of you.  I checked out your suggestions and I initially thought it came from the Coleus family as it has such lovely vibrantly coloured leaves,although I couldn't find one exactly like mine during my online search.Nevertheless I really thought as they are so varied in colours it must be one of the Coleus varieties

Finally it was Linda from Linda's Crafty Corner who found the exact plant and here you have it.  

Commonly known as the Friendship plant and it is from the nettle family... but it doesn't sting!

My blog mascot

As I haven't got a pet of my own I have decided after receiving permission from Lenny boy's Mum to make Lenny my blog mascot!   Congratulations Lenny you will be known throughout my blogworld 🐶 😀.His Mum has sent me some photos of him the first one being when he was a tiny little babe and the others much more recent.

Such a sweet little babe who would have thought he would grow up to be such a cheeky stubborn boy! Definitely a quick learner especially where buses are concerned.   

Do you remember in a recent post I told you about his obsession with buses and how he loves to hug the heater under the seat in the bus. Well his Mum had to apologise to someone on the bus the other day because Lenny decided that it doesn't matter if his Mum doesn't get hold of a seat + heater! He wiggles through and flops himself down beside anyone who is in a seat with a heater! 

One of his favourite haunts to let himself go is up Primly woods in Paignton. Do you notice he is grinning? You don't have to say smile please to Lenny.

Personal hygiene is very important to Lenny most particularly he loves being groomed. 

Yessss just right..."a little to the left please Mum"

and a good roll afterwards

"Whoopee!"  "I feel so good... watch me run!"

Just thought I would finish off with this photo that I took last weekend when we went on another short house hunting excursion.

More to follow in my next post 🌞

Replies to comments on my previous post completed⭐

Happy blogging

Amanda 🔆