Week 40 of 2021 started with an unexpected visitor calling to me from below my balcony.

Week 40 of 2021.

Friday, October 1st.

This morning I had muesli for breakfast & was just going to go to the chiringuito when my neighbour, Elizabeth, called asking if I wanted to go for a coffee. She had to walk to the pharmacy so we had a coffee at the little cafe next door to it where they do the best Asiatico coffee. We had our coffee & then walked along to the Dia supermarket as we both needed a few things. After doing our shopping we walked home & Elizabeth returned to her apartment with her shopping before coming to see my apartment & to have a cup of tea.

Just as Elizabeth was getting ready to leave we both heard my name being called from below my balcony. I went outside & was amazed to see my good friend Jimmy standing there. He had flown in from Scotland to his house in Los Narejos. Elizabeth went back to her apartment & I went down to the chiringuito to catch up with Jim over a pint. After chatting for a while, Jim & I, moved on to Galin´s restaurant in Los Narejos where we had a beautiful menu of the day. I had a soup starter, pork fillets & mashed potatoes in a beautiful sauce followed by a wonderful bread pudding & washed it all down with a pint. If you have never been there I can highly recommend it.

My friend Alan Bond was appearing in a restaurant next to the Town Hall at 4:30 pm so after we finished our meal Jim dropped me off to save me the long walk before he went home. Alan does a music video bingo game which is great fun, unfortunately, there were only a few people there but fortunately for me, I won the first competition & the restaurant gave me a nice bottle of red wine as a prize. This is a new restaurant to me but after being here for this event I will definitely be going back for their menu of the day & happy hour.

When Alan finished I took my bottle of wine & began to walk home. As my path home took me past La Playa bar, I popped in for a quick pint. Whilst I was sitting inside talking to some locals, Alan who I had just left, turned up to join me for a pint & we ended up stopping & chatting with Shellie, the owner until she began closing up at 10 pm. Alan dropped me off home & worn out from all of the days socialising I was soon fast asleep.

Saturday, October 2nd.

This morning I woke up, updated my website, checked my emails & got myself some porridge with grapes in for breakfast.

This afternoon was spent watching different football matches including Arsenal´s hard-fought 0 - 0 draw at Brighton. The arsenal attacking display was pretty non-existent after the first 10 minutes but I was proud of the way the defence held up under constant pressure from Brighton, something they didn't do last year & at the start of this season.

Sunday, October 3rd.

This morning I spent a few hours working through the photos on my computer, deleting around 1500 that I didn't like the quality of or were not of anything that I could use in my artwork.

At about 12:30 pm, I set off on the Sharky Mobile to go to Campbell´s bar in Roda for my roast lamb dinner, once again it was fantastic & I really enjoyed it. On my way home I stopped at Los Alcázares new sports bar ´Boochies´ in Rio Nalon. My friends George & Yvonne had gone there to watch the Celtic football match & I went along to meet them. I watched the second half of the game with them before heading home for a well-earned nap.

At about 5:30 pm I set off to La Playa bar to see the wonderful Diana singing live. I joined my friends Jo & Michael for a chat & after they had left I spent some time talking to six people from Newport in Wales. They knew Porthcawl where I have a lot of cousins & even knew some of the pubs one of my cousins has run over the years. I ended up staying a lot later than the 2 hours I had intended but was rewarded with a lift home at the end of the night.

Monday, October 4th.

I was supposed to be replacing my residency card with a new TIE card today but the lady who was taking me & doing translation for me was ill & had to cancel, I hope she can rearrange for a new appointment soon.

My friend Jim called this morning, he has to go to La Manga to a bank & asked if I wanted to go for a ride. I jumped at the chance to get out of town for a few hours & to just see somewhere different. Not having a car means I can't get too far & I look forward to the occasional outing somewhere else. After Jim had been to the bank we stopped for a coffee & tostada at a cafe called Ninos, the tostada & coffee were good but the service was very slow, although it did give us time to catch up.

We left the cafe later than we had expected & drove back to Los Alcázares where we went to A Estribor restaurant for a menu of the day. I have been here several times, sometimes it is great other times not so good. Today was a good day & I enjoyed the stew starter & the pork knuckle with chips for my main before having a melon plate as my pudding.

After our food, we popped into one of the local Chino shops & I bought a hosepipe with a spray gun combo. I want to run the hose from my sink in my utility room to my balcony. Currently, I have to make frequent trips through my apartment carrying a watering can to water my plants, by using this it should cut down on the chance of me spilling water in the apartment & walking dirt through it as well.

Tonight I watch several films starring Tom Selleck as a drunk detective called Jesse Stone. They are very easy to watch & as there are about 7 of them I will probably watch the rest of them over the course of this week.

Tuesday, October 5th.

This morning I get up & make a pot of tea & then settle down at my computer for a few hours, updating my website, checking my emails seeing what has been going on in the world.

At lunchtime, I pop in to see my cousin briefly on my way to today's business meeting with my friend Martin. Unfortunately, this makes me late getting to the office & I am reprimanded for being late without having a note from a Doctor. The meeting with Martin lasts around an hour before breaking up,  I then go to Mercadonna on my way home to get myself some ribs & potatoes for lunch.

When I get home I eat the ribs but the potatoes are not quite cooked enough so I leave them for breakfast tomorrow, I will fry them with some bacon, egg, sausages & beans for a large breakfast before the day begins. This evening I watch the last of the Tom Selleck series of films that I have been watching & then retire to bed.

Wednesday, October 6th.

Today starts off with a large fried breakfast that I cook at home, 2 sausages, 1 rasher of bacon, fried potatoes, baked beans, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms & a pot of tea. After my breakfast, I walked down to the chiringuito for my coffee before returning to my apartment & my balcony to read my kindle.

At just after 3 pm my friend Jimmy arrived in his car to take me, along with some of his other friends, to Murcia where we were all going to see the latest James Bond film, No Time To Die 007. We drove to Balsicas, picked up his other friends & continued on to Murcia to the Cinesa cinema. We arrived early with plenty of time to get our tickets & have a coffee. The price to see the latest James Bond film was 5€, an absolute bargain.

I don't want to spoil the film for anybody who has not seen it yet but it is very good & I enjoyed it all the way through till the end. As in all good Bond films, there are plenty of great stunts, beautiful women, ugly villains, great scenery & a good storyline. One thing I can tell you about it without giving any of the storylines away is that the makers of the film have sprinkled lines from previous Bond Films & previous Bond film titles throughout the film. See how many you can spot if you watch it.

After the film, we went to one of the small restaurants at the shopping centre the cinema is in. We went to The Good Burger & everyone in our group had a good burger, even if the huge burgers in the pictures turned into small ones, in reality, they still tasted very good. After Jim had dropped me home I watched an episode of CSI Miami that I hadn't seen before then went to bed.

Thursday, October 7th.

This morning I update my website, then head down to the bank to draw some money out at the ATM. When I get to the bank there is a queue so I wait my turn outside till I can withdraw some money. After waiting for about 15 minutes I get to the ATM just as the bank decides to reload it with money & it becomes unavailable.

Rather than hang about longer I head to La Encarnacion for a tostada but when I get there it is very full so I decided to go to a little place near my apartment called Bar Espejo for my coffee & tostada. I sit having breakfast there whilst reading my kindle before heading back to the bank to withdraw my money. Thankfully when I get there the machine is working again & there is only 1 person in the queue for it. I withdraw my money & then head home along the beachfront.

Jim picks me up at around 1:15 pm & we head off to wherever we are meeting his friends for lunch. I am quite enjoying the conversation & the magical mystery tour when Jim realises that we are actually on the wrong road. We are miles away from where we should be & Jim turns us around, heads back in the direction we had come from & gets us back on track. We are soon going the right way & arrive at the   Restaurant San Marino in Campoverde. We are cheered by our table as we arrive late & the waitress quickly takes our order.

I had salmon pasta for the starter, fish in a white sauce for my main, a cheesecake-type pudding & coffee to finish it off. The meal was really good, the service was great & it was worth our extended journey to get there.

After our meal, the group decides to head to an Ice Cream shop at Torre de la Horadada & I am forced to eat a large pistachio tub of ice cream whilst looking out over the sea. We all sit chatting for an hour or so before we all split up & head off our own way.

Jim needs to go to Media Market at La Zenia so whilst we are there I spend some time looking at the huge TV sets. I am amazed at the quality of the picture on the new televisions. I particularly liked an 85-inch set with a surround sound system at 8600€. Watching a film on it would be great & watching football or golf would feel like you were at the event. Not having won the lottery yet I leave without buying one but I can dream.

After Jim drops me at home I watch an episode of ´Medium´ on television, then go to bed.