SUNSET (Marie - from her patio)
This week's blog comes with a motley collection of thoughts and photos, including this beaut from Marie (above). As usual, Slavic and I did our best on Saturday morning to make Valapena look like a model property. I worked hard and felt good afterwards. My back has been exceptionally well behaved for weeks. Long may it last!
Sunday morning my back threw a double wobbly as I was sitting in my (especially designed for backs) chair in the study. Felt like I'd been tasered, not that I've ever been tasered. That afternoon I chose to stand for the football final, an excellent match that we enjoyed in the company of Lennart and Annchen. Vive la France!
Monday brought a visit to Alte for a healing massage from Jodi. I felt much better afterwards, or would have if Jodi hadn't called me outside to confront the GNR. Two officers were there to inquire why I was parked in Jodi's disabled-parking zone without the necessary badge.
MELLO, CLUTCHING HER NEW PIG (HAVING DEMOLISHED HER OLD ONE)
I was subjected to a lecture on the need both to obtain proper authorisation to park in a disabled bay and to avoid leaving dogs in the car, albeit in the shade with windows half-open. Sometimes, humble pie is the only dish on the menu.
The craziness is that the council zoned a single bay outside Jodi's rooms specifically for the benefit of her patients, few (if any) of whom possess invalid badges. The GNR often check that a car parked there belongs to a patient receiving treatment but have not previously insisted on the badge.
BRAVE-HEART AND NOT-ROBBIE, DEEP IN THOUGHT
Tuesday we went shopping before lunching with friends at Apolonia's delightful snack bar and hearing Donald Trump's explanation of why, when he said that he fully trusted his supportive Russian friend and ally, what he really meant was...... (fill in as required!)
DEAR-HEART SUNNING HERSELF ON THE IRONING BOARD
In-between the usual walks, plant tending, plum picking, outings and Jodi visits, I have spent hours preparing for my part in Anne's funeral next week. If Ryanair works to schedule after two days of disruptive strikes, I ought to be back next Friday. But I'm not counting on it. Either way, there will not be a blog next week.
Concerned to avoid any last-minute rush and the burden of hold luggage, I carefully packed essential items of clothing for the trip into two small bags, an artful exercise if I say so myself. Anxious on my behalf to avoid excessive creasing, Jones has since unpacked them, with a promise to repack them in good time. It will be the first time I've worn a jacket since my last funeral several years ago. (Jones, who can be as pedantic as I can, wonders how many funerals I've had!)
Wednesday we worked out how to adjust the duration of the multiple wash settings on the new washing machine. (I think that my wife is gradually becoming reconciled to its presence.) We are getting to the stage when one wonders whether the appliances will outlast their owners or vice versa. We await a quote for the repair of the old one, which she misses.
As ever, she has spent much of her week in the garden. She sprang back while picking plums at the sight of a snake in the grass. Closer examination showed it to be just the sloughed-off skin. We've been eating lots of plums in the nightly salads. There's a certain satisfaction about consuming one's own fruit, even when it's a mite tart.
BIRTHDAY FLOWERS FROM MARIE
Thursday Ana from the washing machine suppliers phoned to say that the old machine would require a completely new interior at a cost of some €350. The quote did not come as a surprise as we'd been warned. Regretfully, no! I confirmed that the machine should be dispatched to the knackers' yard for recycling.
Jones has summoned me outside several times to behold the planet, Mars, sitting big, bold and red in the sky. That's the dot you can see upper middle in the photo above. If you're not impressed by this, you may be by close-up below that I managed to capture with the camera. (No, it's not an orange; it's the real thing!)
We don't have a tripod to stabilise the camera. Even when one leans against a wall or rests on the railings, body tremor is such as to reduce extended zoom pictures to streaks of light. So I'm quite proud of this one.
It's time to water the garden and walk the dogs. Back in a fortnight.
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