Well it seems like ages since I was here, but although I have only missed two weeks, a lot was going on during that time. I returned home on Tuesday and am slowly getting back into my routine.
When I left for UK I had an early flight and after a few days of heavy rain, it was good to see the sun slowly emerging from the clouds as we approached the airport.
This was the first time we had been to the new airport at Corvera, though it has been in use since late autumn last year. All our summer visitors managed to get flights to Almeria which is much nearer to us. Corvera is now known as Murcia International Airport, and the old Murcia airport at St Javier is no longer in use. It was not too busy, but the main holiday season is over now and the winter schedule has kicked in. But there was of course a small Duty free shop, a café and a few small independent shops there, plus a wide open area with seating. One side of the departure lounge was all glass and while I was queuing to board, I looked out over the runway as folk from UK were disembarking, ready for us to get straight back on. Ryanair operate on a very fast change-over time!
It was a straight forward flight and Ben was there to meet me. He is coping well most of the time. Understandably he doesn't like the empty house so he has adopted a little rescue cat to keep him company. So introducing Bobby.
He has a lovely nature and has settled in well. However, he did go walk about one day and we searched all the surrounding areas with no luck. Fortunately he arrived back three days later, with muddy paws and very hungry. We think he got trapped inside somewhere. But he was happy to be home, and settled back in his favourite spot, on the arm of the sofa right next to Ben.
After a few days of sitting around waiting for important phone calls and keeping appointments we felt we needed to get out of the house, so went for a walk all around the estate where Ben lives. It is really lovely there with loads of tall trees, just getting their Autumn colours, and plenty of open green areas. Round the back of his house there is a small lake with ducks and moorhens on it.
The ducks tended to stay under the shade of overhanging branches but occasionally one moved out across the water.
I just love the reflections of the trees in the water so here is another one. As you can see, it was a lovely day. In fact it only rained on one day during my two week visit, and I never needed to wear a coat. We walked on around a narrow track to what is known as the Italian Garden. We have no idea where its name came from as it is just a big open space with mounds all over it, all grassed, with the occasional shrub. It made me think of Telly Tubby land. (I don't know whether this children's TV program has reached other countries but it was, and probably still is, very popular in UK). It was a lovely place to take a picnic, walk a dog, or just sit with a book for a while.
At the end of the road was this magnificent horse chestnut tree. It must be very old. It was surrounded by a fence, maybe to discourage 'small people' from trying to collect conkers from it. There were plenty of smaller trees around to raid for such treasures. It is hard to think that we are right near the centre of the busy city of Birmingham. It was like a walk in the English coutryside.
As a child I learned the poem 'The Village Blacksmith' by Longfellow and the first verse immediately came to mind when I saw this tree:
Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
I loved the poem and this verse so exactly makes a picture in my mind of rural England, that I have never forgotten it, though I can't recite any more now.
Ben had just received his new phone the week before. It is a Huawei and is known for its very high grade camera, so he wanted to try it out. We saw a full moon rising above the tree outside his house, and he did get excellent photos of it - as good I have got with my Cannon camera. I now have Ben's cast off Samsung phone which also has a very good camera, but not the zoom that his new one has. So I couldn't get the close up picture, but I rather liked this one.
Dave's funeral was arranged for last Thursday and it all went very smoothly. We met up in a large hall afterwards and there were over a hundred people there. All our boys were able to come and we did manage to get a quick shot of them altogether. I am so blessed to have such a lovely bunch of boys.
Chris came over on Tuesday to be with us, but he nearly didn't make it as our car broke down on the way to the airport. Fortunately he had left in plenty of time, and our insurance company sent a break-down truck to tow the car back to village, and they also provided a taxi for him, so he made the plane with very little time to spare.
On Sunday, Ben, Chris and I, went to Manchester to visit our son Jonathan who moved into his new house a few weeks ago. I was already down to visit him when I go back to UK in October, but Chris will not be with me then, and he was keen for his dad to see the house. He and his wife have lived in a rather dismal basement flat for several years, because it was relatively cheap and enabled them to save up a deposit for a house. So they are very proud that their dream has come true. Sadly on the way to collecting us from the station, an old problem to do with the cartilage in Jonathan's knee, resurfaced and he couldn't even stand. So he spent most of the day in A&E But they have now referred him to the knee clinic, so hopefully it will be dealt with sooner rather than later. His wife cooked us a lovely dinner, and we still had a good day there. His house is really nice, just perfect for a young couple. It needs some decorating but they will soon put their own stamp on it. It has a really lovely garden, and although it was the one day we had rain, we sat in the conservatory with the doors open, and watched so many different little birds coming to a feeder. They have a Staffie-cross dog called Rudy, and she is delighted with her new garden, and was in and out all day.
Chris and I came home together on Tuesday, leaving Ben very early in the morning. It was nice to see the sun was still shining in Spain. Because of the drama with the car when Chris came over, we had no car at the airport so we had booked onto a shuttle bus that took us all the way back to our village. It was only half full so we didn't have to make too many stops. It is the first time we have used it, but it really was very easy, and we will consider it again if there is one coinciding with our flights both ways.
The air here is very 'soft' and our visitors are always tired for the first few days they are here. Well it hit me this time too, perhaps because I stayed away a bit longer than usual. I have been falling asleep all the time, but I have managed to unpack and do all the washing. All the animals were pleased to have us home, and Charlie decided to help me sort the laundry!
The weekend before we went away, Spain was hit by the 'Gota Fria', a time of storms, thunder and lightning, strong winds and much flooding. The worst hit was an area just North East of us, and although our area had some very heavy rain, we escaped most of the damage. Sadly many homes were destroyed and people lost everything. There has been a huge effort to raise funds, and provide food and clothing for those most affected. I am glad to say it has passed over now and we are back to warm sunshine. Let's hope it stays away too.
