Kindness Turnabout

 

 

As many of you already know I belong to a facebook worldwide group called Random Act of Crochet Kindness or RAOCK as it is known. Please follow the link if you wish to know more about it.

 Mainly we use crochet skills ,knitting or any other craft to make small items and leave them out as a gift for anyone to pick up. The idea is to spread happiness even if it is just a tiny smile or a happy moment. Originally it was just small flowers but now with over 17,200 followers (RAOCK angels as I call them) it has developed into any crafted item you spontaneous like to make and gift to others. 

 

 These are some of the type of tags that usually accompany the RAOCK when dropped off.

 

 

I make two kinds of RAOCKs the ones I spontaneously make and send to members of my family or friends. This is the winter hat I am doing at present for my great nephew who lives in the UK.

 

and then there are the RAOCKs which are dropped off anywhere for anyone to pick up.   In my case the latter I leave on a park bench,at a bus stop,hanging from a front door,in the railway station,in the social centre,in the post office and so on. Along came lockdown and I had to stop momentarily. When we were let out there were again impediments as people were understandably reluctant to pick anything up unknown from park benches or other places.  The big clean up campaign in Alicante city also made it rather risky as a RAOCK could easily disappear into a bin. A few weeks back and thinking that things had calmed down somewhat I thought I would share a RAOCK from my growing stash. I left it on a bench in our new park which is right in front of my residential complex. I could see the bench in question from my kitchen window...a few passer-bys were curious but they did not pick it up. A little girl came joyfully hopping along in front of her mother and she spotted it and picked it up and turned to her mother obviously to show her what she had found. I couldn't hear of course what was being said but the mother's descriptive body language told me she was telling her little one off and not to touch it but to immediately return it to the bench!! The poor little girl was in tears as they walked away. I felt so bad seeing this.. that my RAOCK which had been made to please, to make someone smile had produced such rejection,such  a negative reaction. Understandably I went straight out and picked it up from the bench,put it back in my RAOCK stash and I haven't dropped any of them off since.   This recent experience which really left me a little upset and also hesitate about how I could continue sharing my RAOCKs.                                  I am open to any suggestions!.   

At present I plan to add two flowers with tags to the parcel that I shall be sending with the winter hats I have crocheted for my 18 month year old great nephew Kaylan in  the UK!  I shall ask my niece if Kaylan's two sisters could give the RAOCK flowers to their teachers.

🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼

 

 

I thought I would share with you these two photos that my niece has sent me of the blankets I made for each great niece and nephew before they were born. Looks like the blankets are weathering well:

and this photo shows the hats that I made and sent to my other three great nieces and nephew last year

Makeover amateur:

My daughter has caught the makeover train..at present she is focussing on plant pots and framing. 

This is one of her very first makeovers; converting an old lantern into a flower pot.  Her mini rose bush wasn't doing very well in fact it was very poorly so she thought that re-potting it would do the trick.
All this was during lockdown so she couldn't buy a new pot. She had this old lantern that she was going to throw out and she had seen online that you can use a plastic bag for planting. She therefore cleaned the lantern up followed the instructions online and filled a strong plastic bag with soil and transferred poor wilting mini rose bush to the lantern and put it out on her balcony.

 

Obviously poorly mini rose bush liked the change over because a little green leaf suddenly appeared!!  

Then there was another green leaf and another sprouting up too!!

and glory be lots more little green leaves

and finally......... one gorgeous mini mini rose flowered.

sorry ...the photo is a little blurred

as I tell her a very good start to her makeover hobby!! 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

Now I have to convince her to start blogging !!

🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆

What's on the menu today for lunch?

Home-made main dish chicken soup(Spanish style)!!

 

It is definitely a soup day today as temperatures have dropped and it is pelting down!

 

 I would normally give you the recipe but this is my MIL's recipe and I have not got it written down and some of the ingredients I just don't know what they are called in English. I think the next time I make it I will spread out all the ingredients and take a photo to post here.   What I can tell you is after peeling,cleaning  and preparing all the ingredients you put all the ingredients in the Food Steamer, cover it all with water, add chicken stock, 3 bay leaves,some saffron and seasoning. 

 

 You wait until the little nozzle on the lid starts to wriggle and whistle (my food steamer is an oldie) and turn down the heat and leave it to cook for 20 minutes. I then remove the nozzle and allow the steam to escape and open the lid.I add the potatoes to the soup for 15 mins more and the pre-cooked chick peas I add to the soup the last 5 minutes.The soup is strained before serving.

 

Keep well

 Amanda :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

An invitation

 

 Three months has gone by since the unpleasant incident that I had distributing my RAOC's (random acts of crochet kindness) which you can read about here . I thought it was time to  try again.  

I dug into my RAOCK stash to take two RAOCKs with me on my walk last Thursday along the ROAD. 

 

 This time I placed the flower and the butterfly in eco-friendly plastic bags and also stuck a label on each bag indicating the date that each RAOCK was placed in the bags. I hope this will do the trick and people will pick them up.  

I walk just before lunchtime so there are not a lot of people around where I go. I left one on a bench near the beginning of my walk and the other at the end of it. I crossed the road and returned along the other side where I could watch those benches inconspicuously as possible. Nobody had picked them up

I took the same route the following day for my walk and I checked out the benches and the RAOCKs had gone.

 

I Hope they did produce smiles!

 

 

Shout out!

 

Now for a shout out!  

 Congratulations to a blogfriend; designer and author Sue Perez who  has recently launched her fabulous new Milflores shawl pattern.  An exquisite crochet shawl which is well worth viewing and reading about on Sue's blog Mrs Micawber's Recipe for Happiness . You will also be able to take advantage of the 25% discount on the pattern by following the link on her blog.

 

😊Leggings users unite:

This is a fun invitation to all leggings users:  

 If you are a leggings user I invite you to show your solidarity with my blogfriend Meredith at Mereknits who commented on her last post  "I am obsessed with leggings or yoga pants. I know I am very late to this trend.   ... I am not in the shape to wear them...  "

 Can you show Meredith she is not alone in her eagerness to wear leggings and that it is indeed still the trend, by posting a fun snapshot of your leggings! You don't have to be wearing them if you don't like that idea you can take a photo of them hanging on the line if you like and give a mention on your next post please and also you could comment why you wear them.   

Like so:

Leggings Users Unity 

for Mereknits

I wear Leggings for walking !

I wear my old leggings indoors

In the past ,for casual wear, I used to practically live in jeans but I adapted with the times and fashion to leggings.  I wear leggings even more now since I have retired and do not have to respect a conservative dress code for work. Leggings are one of the most comfortable items of clothing I have ever had and can be even urban smart if combined with the right sort of clothing. My one restriction is that I only purchase leggings in discreet dark colours. I leave the bold bright psychedelic colours to the younger generation or those with slim mid-body contours who are happy to proclaim their attractive slimness wrapped in those vivid colours. 

Do you see my socks (pic 1.)?  I love snazzy coloured socks, the brighter the better! I call them my protest socks...a personal shout out showing a little bit of the rebellious me. I think after yarn,snazzy coloured socks are also one of my addictive buys.

Fey Flowers

A new RAOCK.

My second make in my Fey Flowers collection.

 

 

 

Hook 3.5  Yarn: a mix from the leftovers basket mostly Double Knit. A little fibrefill. Red Embroidery cotton. Silver Antennae x 2.

Pattern :  5 multi layer flower. Japanese Author unknown.  The leaves,edgings and face free-form.

What would I change?   Go back to using cotton instead of yarn for the face!

💖 Counting the days until I can hug my daughter and grand-daughter again.💝

keep well

and 

stay safe 

Amanda 😊

 

The situation at present

 

For the last six days we have had to put up with the Calima! A storm which is the tail end  of that hot,oppressing sand-laden winds and heat blown in from the Sahara desert. Everything gets covered in red/orange dust. 

Sr P is really put out as he cleaned the balcony windows last week.  

I just hate those weather conditions. It is too hot and dusty to do anything except ... yes you guessed right...to soak in the pool! The image below shows the conditions in the Canary Islands which get it much worse than the peninsula. It doesn't last long but it is tiresome.

 

Image from Sky news

So much for soaking in the pool. Sr P has had a summer cold and of course just to keep it in the family I have had it too so at present no dips in the pool to cool off.

 

RAOCKs

It has taken me a little while to finish my latest RAOCK. The weather being one of the reasons for it taking so long. 

When it is hot like this I find it difficult to crochet with sweaty(perspiring) hands. As I write this it has just triggered a snippet of memory of what my Mother always used to tell me Men sweat ,women perspire! I love that expression because it reminds me of my Mother but I think though the best of all is the euphemism "Ladies glow"!   

The other reason for the delay in finishing and posting about this RAOCK is that I made it up myself and had to frog it several times to get it right.

 The little Croft. Front and back views. The inspiration partially came from some images of knitted houses I saw while browsing on the internet.  

FRONT

 

 

BACK

 

 I am thinking I could make some Christmas ones.  

 I shall be sending it out smile searching very soon,once I have worked out how I made it and can do more

The Stand

Sr P brought me this little plant yesterday.  My first flowering plant in the balcony garden.

Unfortunately he didn't ask for any details and he doesn't know the name of the plant or how to care for it.  I am not complaining though!    

I contacted Ms Green Fingers,my sister in Torquay Devon and after sending her a couple of photos she said she thought it was a Petunia although the leaves looked different. She said,I would probably have to water it twice a day. Can any of you gardening experts out there enlarge on this advice please?. 🥀🥀

 

Treasure Tale IV

I was looking for the stamps that I have which belonged to my grandfather's collection. Do you think I can find them...I cannot!  I put them away in a safe place, so safe I can't remember where but I do know they are somewhere in the house. 

 As I haven't found the stamp collection as yet I decided this would be my 4th family heirloom to write about today. As I am sure you have guessed I am doing all the little biddy bits of family treasure first:the gold and ruby tiara and the Picassos I am saving for later. 😊

This was my grandfather's little silver stamp case which was clipped on to the fob of his pocket watch. 

 

He used to mostly wear this when he was in uniform back in the 1935s. I don't know what happened to the pocket watch.  

 

Google images

This is similar to what the fob would have been like and the stamp case would have been clipped to this and tucked in his waistcoat pocket

 I would really like to have the fob and the pocket watch too. 

The stamps would have been placed here.   

I have never cleaned it! In fact I am reluctant to clean it.  I am not sure if I should!

 

 

I have just had a light bulb moment 💡💡 !

I am going to go through all the old photos I have got. I know I have some of my grandad so maybe if I am lucky there is one there where he is wearing the watch.

 

 

 

 

Happy blogging

 

Amanda :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

LoLo the new arrival.

 

 

 

 

 Lets start at the beginning  

a very good place to start.....yes.. I am a fan of the Sound of Music.

 

 

 

 

The new arrival is finally here!! Let me present to you SBB Lorenzo II from the Worldwide renown free range breed of Spanish Bravo Bulls. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His Dad,who you can see in the photo below, is the Great Lorenzo I so as his first born he becomes Lorenzo II .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ....his Mum calls him LoLo! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His Mum and Dad are so very pleased that as he is an exceptionally rare blue breed of Toro Bravo he will never have to go into the bull ring but happily he will become a RAOCK special! LoLo will be transported first class to the UK to live out his days with a new friend and a loving family.

 

 

For those of you who are visiting my blog and this post for the first time RAOCK is the acronym for Random Act of Crochet kindness. This is a facebook worldwide public group that has become extremely popular over this last year and has now over 16,800 followers. It is really amazing how such little acts of kindness and the smiles they produce can brighten people's lives. 

Olivia the creator of this group says:

 "This is a group for anyone that wants to share an act of kindness, it's mainly for crochet but if there is anyone that has gone out of their way to make another person smile, I want to hear about it! Let's build a community of kind acts, and make the world a bit lighter and brighter!"

 

 

Sunday mornings

Last Sunday week we went further afield up into the mountains above Benidorm to the picturesque towns of La Nucia and Polop de la Marina. It is really a lovely area of the Alicante province and we particularly like the markets that are held every Sunday there. 

 

Polop de la Marina

We like to go first to the home grown fruit and vegetable part of the market and stock up. The products are cheaper and of much better quality than down in Alicante city. We also like to buy the local honey and the sausages that La Nucia are famous for:

 

Morcilla black,white and red sausage

 

I prefer the red sausages myself but Sr P likes all of them. I usually use the Morcilla black to make lentils stew.

 

This area is surrounded by the beautiful Aitana mountain range and as it was such a wonderful sunny day I took a few photos.

These photos are particularly for Kathy at Compassion knit. As you can see Kathy it is greener...not Wisconsin green but Mediterranean green.😁

 

 

 

 

Hello to my new follower! 

Welcome to Crafty in the Med my personal blog where I share my love of craft, particularly crochet and anecdotes from my daily happenings living here in Alicante,Spain.     Please feel free to comment.😊😊😊

 

 

Have a great week 

 keep well and take care

Amanda :-)  

 

 

Fresh start Giveaway

FRESH START GIVEAWAY

 

Hello to all my blogger friends!!  Do you remember me ???

I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't!! It has taken a long time for me to return to my blog .
In my last post,ages and ages ago I mentioned that I was turning to Facebook to be able to continue as a presence online. In fact I did find facebook much more manageable than my blog time wise.  Although I have to admit I couldn't talk as I used to here...so I missed that. However today I have removed my craft facebook page and have returned here to old faithful, my blog. I won't go into detail why.... except that FB is too greedy for paid advertising and I was fed up with all the obstruction!


                                                                                     

I had promised myself that I would offer my craft and blog friends a giveaway as soon as lock-down had finished here where I live.  

Today is day 1 for my giveaway.

All you have to do to participate in the giveaway is:

1. Leave your comment here on this post indicating you wish to participate and describe why you are drawn to or prefer certain colours.  

You do not have to be a follower if you do not want to be although I would be delighted if you do become one.

This giveaway is open to crafters world wide and beyond (Klingons, Silvan and Middle Earth Elves are welcome to participate too).

  The draw will take place on 31st July.

The Giveaway and the Goodies!! 

 Colour preferences and the choice of colour is vital to crafters!!! Psychology today states that colour preferences are deeply rooted emotional responses that seem to lack any rational basis, yet the powerful influence of color rules our choices in everything from the food we eat and the clothes we wear. In my case I am always drawn to green and orange!! According to Viewzone , people who are drawn to green do so because it stimulates a restful, secure and balanced feeling. Green is regarded as a great harmonizer, capable of creating a balance between positive and negative emotions. The Colour Wheel indicates that orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation. By now you may be wondering what has this got to do with the giveaway!! It is all involved with the condition to enter the giveaway...nothing complicated I assure you!! As mentioned above post comments here describing why you are drawn to or prefer certain colours.

and now the goodies....   

Well I just couldn't fit anymore on this display! I think there is something for practically everybody!! I have also added as an extra gift my latest RAOCK make (RAOCK = Random act of crochet kindness group).

 



A little of practically everything:buttons and pom-poms, small and tiny. Tassels,buttons,hearts, ribbons,eyes,beads,rings,bells,key-ring clasps,pins,markers and yarn.

The Yarn:4 balls of silky Katia Brisa and 2 balls of Katia Peques;baby soft.

         

 

The contents of the Giveaway parcel will be sanitized before sending! Please take precautions when you receive the parcel set it to one side and do not open for 3 days.   

I now have to get cracking and contact you..........to let you know I am back!!!

so.... best of luck with the giveaway.

Stay safe!

Amanda :-)

Hello OZ

 

Hello Australia 

The ban has finally been lifted as of yesterday I am allowed to send post to OZ!!   Whoopee!

I have been checking this PO list periodically during eleven months...waiting....waiting... and waiting...and finally Australia has returned to the list:

 

The jug cover I had  completed for my niece back in  July 2020 had to be put on hold as I couldn't send it to her because the Spanish postal authorities had closed down all their postal routes to Australia. I wrote about this here .  

It is now on its way to my niece in Point Vernon,Queensland.👏

My family in Australia do not feel so far away now !

 

I try to keep this in mind

 

 Las Puertas de Alicante (The Doors of Alicante) Nº2

One of my twerky hobbies is to take photographs of doors not just any door but doors that have character. Some of you already know this as I wrote about this hobby of mine here.

 As we cannot leave the city due to lockdown,on Sunday morning I suggested to Sr P that we could go for a walk in the old town so I could take some photos of doors. I always enjoy a walk in the old town with him because as Sr P is from there he has so many anecdotes to tell me about when he was a boy running wild (he did too...my MIL told me lots) with his school mates in those streets. 

This door is circa 260 years old! 

Palacio Maisonnave

What they would have called a Town Palace built by a rich merchant family and curiously an Irish family called O'Gorman. It is situated in a very narrow street in a popular area of the old town; nowadays surrounded by restaurants,cafes and souvenir shops. It was built in the 18th century in the baroque style and over the years has been used for many things other than a palace.

This is the other door of the Palace. The entrance for coaches and horses.

These Palaces usually had a centre court in the middle of the building where there was a garden and even a stable.  It is big inside! !

Other than doors I do like taking photos of door knockers. They are splendid but unfortunately the antique ones have become very collectable now and fetch a high price.  This has provoked the theft of many from the old doors in the city and even from the doors in the little towns and villages in the province....such a shame!!  

I found it difficult to take a photo of all the front of the palace as the street is so narrow.   In 2001 the palace was purchased by the Town Hall but due to lack of funds it took them 10 years to restore it to its present state. In 2010 it opened its doors once again housing the Municipal Archives and offices.

 

Image downloaded from Alicante city webpage

 

 

Orchids

 Bless his heart Sr P didn't forget!

My husband gave me this gorgeous pot of Orchids for St Valentine's day. Red roses are fabulous but Sr P knows how much I love Orchids.

 

Latest RAOCK:

Day after St Valentine's day 

I am a day behind with my hearts!  still...never too late...right!

 I used Anchor cotton in Red and a  Hook 2,50     

A Free Pattern from a fellow blogger Anabelia Craft design which you can find on her post Granny Squares Hearts. 

 

I have dropped this RAOCK heart off this morning and placed it on a bench in front of the school which is near our place.  I would like to keep dropping off RAOCKS around the school area so the children get used to these finds and come out of school looking for them. I am being very cautious because I do want to remain anonymous so I have to do it without anyone seeing me!😊

keep well

 

Amanda :-)

 

PS:Lockdown has been extended to the 1st March in this province.