Cooler

 

It is a bit cooler early mornings now so I put my Sketchers on and....

 went for a proper walk,first one since the end of June. What do I call a proper walk... a walk for exercise and not a stroll,stopping to chat to neighbours or window shopping. I still have aches and pains and I don't feel my normal self yet so I did half of the "The Road" (link back to my post about the "road") for starters. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see  "The Road" has improved scenery wise since June. 

The start of the road

It is still surrounded by factories,warehouses and other ugly buildings typical in an industrial estate but the vegetation has grown considerably and it hides many of the ugly bits.

I was going to take more photos of the scenery but I met up with my neighbour C along the way and her adorable dog Syla, the Schnauzer. 

Such a friendly little girl!  It is so lovely the way she wags her tail as she sees me coming and gets excited that she sees a friend. You can see from her body language that she is eager to come up and greet me but no she is well trained and waits beside her Mum until I get beside them and then she snuffles up to say hello,for a pat and a scratch under her chin.  She doesn't jump up at all either just nice and proper. After her welcome she then gets down to business and she brings her ball up and drops it at your feet.

 

 

 

She will love you forever if you throw her ball for her again,again and again!

 

Arabella's jumper 

 My great niece's baby Arabella in New Zealand has finally received the jumper I crocheted for her which I posted about here.   She isn't two years old yet but it seems she is a big girl for her age and although I calculated for a 24 month old it only just fits her. Next time I shall make sure it will be too big for her as sleeves can be rolled up. 

I so love her sunglasses and her red wellies!

Arabella's Mummy has given me permission to use these photos she has sent me.

I so love to see that my crochet travels the world. 😀

 

 

Catching up

or...trying to!  

I feel I am very behind with responding to comments received and posting on your blogs. I will put it down to the heat as I feel decidedly lethargic these days. 

I have also had to go in and remove numerous "rubbish" comments that have been posted on several posts throughout my blog...sigh! 

All your comments on the post "Together" have finally been answered should you wish to have a peek.   I am now going to start answering comments received on my recent post "What next"before I send in my new post and then I'll give into the urge to read new blog posts which I so enjoy but have had to restrain myself from doing. Well more or less as I couldn't resist Kathy at Compassionknit's latest post "Is this a theme" which was about bathing and grooming her cats and I had to post a comment. 

 

 A Recipe

This is called Ensaladilla Murciana (Murciana salad) another dish my MIL taught me how to make. It is unbelievably easy to make and it is a delicious summer salad. It does have to be served really cold.

 

 

Sr P loves it but I do have to make sure there is plenty of crusty bread on the table.

 

 Ingredients:

1 tin chopped tomatoes 

Chopped onion (about a quarter)

1 tin of Tuna chunks in olive oil (depends on the size of the tin. I sometimes add two)

2-3 boiled eggs chopped

6 Olives approx

Olive Oil 

Salt

Pepper

Apple Cider Vinegar 

Water

Method:  Mix all ingredients together in a glass bowl . Season with a little Olive oil,salt, pepper and vinegar. Add a little water if it looks too thick.   

Leave in the fridge for several hours to cool. Add a few ice cubes if you don't think it is cold enough and enjoy!

 

 Happy blogging

Amanda :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rediscovering

It is such a lovely lovely spring day!!!

This morning we went for a bit of a walk downtown........wandering around with no purpose really which is such a relaxing feeling and returning to some favourite old spots,the port,Town Hall square and the old quarter of the city where my husband was born and grew up.
They call Alicante the city of light and it lived up to its name today! I was thinking as I took some photos that Alicante must be a photographer's paradise because the light is incredible. Then I thought of June on Catsdogs and eiderdowns and her hobby, as I am sure you know she always delights us with some really impressive photos of different places in the Uk and of her family.
If your ears were burning this morning June than I am the culprit, as it was me talking to Sr P about your photos and also we both agreed that you would be sure to love the light here.:-)

WARNING ......image heavy!

The surfer ...in Alicante harbour

Alicante Harbour and Hotel Melia in the background. Personally I think that is an eyesore as it blocks the view of the Postiguet beach and sea.

 Carbonell House which faces the harbour

The Town hall.....some lovely weddings are held here.

The other door!

Alleyway leading from the Town Hall to Mayor Street....sometimes people just don't remember to look up ....there's some very interesting ironwork under the balconies and lovely ceramic tiles under the eaves of the roofs.

On the other side

front view of the Town Hall .....the balcony where public proclamations are given from. I wouldn't mind one of those door knockers on my front door!

  walking up into the old quarter where Sr P is from.

 

up ,up,up huffing and puffing   into Santa Cruz 

 a bit more.... still huffing

jeez!!! I forgot how far it is....

 

Looking back down!

Having a bit of a rest!

The castle...nearly there!

At the top!

 and ......... now I need a nice cold cold glass of white wine and some tapas :-)

Welcome welcome to my new followers!  I haven't been able to find out exactly who you are on my friend connect lists. Its getting a bit confusing now there are 178 followers. I really don't know how those bloggers who have 500 or more manage!  However when you have the time please pop in to say hello. I always love to receive comments on my posts. 

Keep well

 Amanda :-)

Sunny Vale

Here's officially saying hello to my swap partners for the two swaps I am participating in, Kimberley in Bobo Bun's Four Happy things swap hosted by Lisa at Mrs Bobo Bun and Debi in Daisy Row Easter swap hosted by Joy at Daisy Row.
I'm looking forward to getting to know you and once again thoroughly enjoy the fun of preparing and sending swap gifts out to other craft bloggers.

After the storm comes the calm....and then the gale force winds come back again. We have had gale force icy winds for nigh on two weeks now.
A couple of weeks ago when this windy weather started I had a bit of a scare;the cold sweat type of scare. I was on my way to work driving along the motorway when I discovered that my sturdy little Suzuki Ignis is not gale force wind friendly, as I was nearly blown into the crash barrier on the side of the road.

In truth I don't really think that its the fault of the model of car that I use because I saw larger cars clearly swaying as they battled against the wind too. I do think though as it has a high box type roof this doesn't help stability in such a fierce wind.
I hold on to the steering wheel really tight now and have dropped the speed down to control the car better.


However we did have a couple of days of calm and the warmth of the sun was more apparent ,temperatures rose so we went for a long walk along Los Arenales Beach( That would be the Sun Dunes Beach;such an attractive name) to breath some fresh sea air and enjoy a few hours in the sun, at the same time not having to battle the wind to be able to walk along the beach.

However others had the same idea and the promenade was quite busy:

 Something for everyone!

 

In all a relaxing couple of hours just sufficient to blow the cobwebs away.

Enjoy your weekend

Amanda :-)