April Into May

April has come to an end and left us something to remember her by. We haven't had a whole lot of rain these past couple of weeks, and for some crops it's already too late as this has been the driest season for quite some time. I remember one drought year in particular when I got really bad gastroenteritis from drinking the water and was off work for 3 days. I know most people who travel, especially to other countries, are careful about drinking the water, but I can vouch for the water in Madrid and say it's usually good and safe. Anyway, on Friday evening it was raining enough so that lots of puddles formed in the streets, and, just like in the movies, along came a car and I got splashed. The bottoms of my jeans got a bit wet but my shoes and socks got soaked. It wouldn't have mattered so much except that I had an extra class on Friday evening. Fortunately I'd told the student I might arrive a bit late so was able to return home and change my shoes. There's nothing more uncomfortable than sitting around with cold feet even though the heating is still on in most places.

Tuesday and Wednesday are holidays for us - May Day or Labour Day and Wednesday is only for Madrid. Some people, like students, also have tomorrow off so they have a nice long break. I'll be putting up some more photos hopefully of Lilly and her baby sister. My sister told me that their puppy (the one whose photo I put up last week) had parvovirus, poor baby. The vet showed Leslie how to inject him. As I said if anyone can pull him through, it's Leslie. She's doctored and saved other animals. I just got a message from her saying he's eating and drinking. That's a great sign, but prayers are never amiss.

It's been a while since I shared a secret from Post Secret. This one made me laugh. Hope you think it's funny too. I'll never buy (or use) brown wash cloths though! Have a good week all.

The Week That Was

Guess my week was quite boring, because I don't have anything very exciting or unusual to write about. It was a long one, for me anyway. I'm happy to say though that the neighbour who's always ringing on my door didn't bother me too much. Maybe that's because she knew how angry I was when she started to sweep the street with what I use to clean my floors, or it could be that I got an e-mail from the administrator asking me to explain a debt which hadn't been included in our last meeting and which the neighbour had told him she and I were going to appeal. I wrote back that I had no idea about any debt and that she hadn't said anything to me. So far, she hasn't mentioned anything, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Don't you love it when someone includes you in something without your knowledge?

I found out that the father of two of my students suffered convulsions again last Sunday. Several years ago, he was operated on for a brain tumour, which was successfully removed. He was doing well until last year when he had another tumour. I think his head has been opened at least twice since. It's obvious that he can't be left alone now, and I can see how much suffering this is causing everyone. Your prayers for him and his family are much appreciated.

Tomorrow is national Give a Book, Get a Book Day in Spain. Apart from all the free kindle books I've been getting and enjoying, I got 'Chasing Fire' by Nora Roberts after reading Lanie's review. I'm not a big Nora Roberts' fan but I got the book at a good discount to celebrate Book Day. Carol, or anyone else who is British, according to one of my friends because we live in Spain we can't get books from amazon.co.uk. She says she's read complaints to that effect on the web page. I got a couple of freebies from co.uk that Carol posted on facebook the other day, and hopefully can continue to do so. 

We had some more sleet on Wednesday, I think it was, while the mountains got more snow. Again I was safely inside and having lunch. One of my students told me it was raining again at about 11 AM on Friday - that's when they have their morning break. If it rained in my street, I wasn't aware. At least yesterday and so far today the temperatures are quite pleasant. Still, we can't put away our winter things until the 40th of May. 

Last week both Lilly and her mother had birthdays. I'm hoping to be able to post some more photos one day. For now this cute little puppy will have to do. He's one of the birthday presents I imagine. 

Here's hoping everyone has a good week.

Leap Before You Look

I really have to laugh at myself sometimes at how I give my heart a big leap without cause. The other day I opened up my Hotmail account where I found a message from facebook advising me that an unknown computer had logged onto my account. Apparently this is a safety feature on facebook. So I go through all the steps of changing all my passwords on any e-mail account associated with facebook - these, of course, being passwords that I seriously doubt I'll be able to remember in the next month or so. I never use the same password for two different sites and I marvel (not the exact description of my reaction) at people who use the same simple password for everything. After I'd wasted all that time and my heart had slowed down some, I realized the IP address in the cry-wolf message had been my own - my account had been logged onto from my computer! I need to follow my own advice to the students: read the instructions carefully! I'll try and use this incident as a training exercise. Nevertheless, I'm not one of those who can be complacent about questions of security.

Don't believe everything I say about learning a lesson though because the other day I had to remind myself that I must remember to look through the peephole before I open my door. Twice recently I've opened to sales people. In this matter I'm so used to the neighbour who constantly uses me as a resource centre ringing the doorbell. Then when I don't open immediately or shout, she always says the same, "Oh, I thought you weren't at home." The other day apparently I didn't get to the door quickly enough, because I was having lunch in front of the TV and needed to put my plate up so Zara wouldn't eat my food before I answered the door.. When I opened the door, there she was already heading upstairs. She didn't tell me what she wanted, just continued climbing the stairs and closed her door. Such rudeness puts me in a black mood! She had wanted to record a telephone conversation with the administrator, whom she's not happy with (she's not happy with most people), and probably wanted me to show her how to record on the cassette recorder again for the umpteenth time - not that I mind explaining things numerous times. I do that naturally. I haven't seen or heard her since. My name must be mud, but so is hers!

I suppose I can't have all bad experiences. Yesterday I'd just got back from my usual Saturday afternoon food shopping when the heavens opened up and it started sleeting. It pinged against all of my windows for less than 5 minutes. Rain doesn't usually hit the windows in the dining area or the bathroom (photo taken from bathroom). Now I can say all my windows are dirty again! When I went out this morning dressed for cold weather, the first person I saw was someone dressed for a marathon, minus the number.

Oh, I spoke too soon. The doorbell has just rung and she's asked for my brush to clean the leaves and pollen that the wind has blown in. I think, or hope, in the future if she wants to clean the hallway, she'll get her own cleaning materials. I just knew she was going to start cleaning the pavement with the brush that I use on my floors! She would have too had I not shouted. She had the cheek to say that it had rained. Maybe I'm too particular, but I find the streets disgusting. After I'd returned from shopping yesterday, there was a dog turd near our rubbish bins that hadn't been there when I went out. 

I sure didn't mean to go on so and hope everyone has a good safe week without any severe weather.

The Girl With The Smoothie Moustache

I missed last Sunday's blog due to the start of spring cleaning. I'm not going to list all the tasks that got done, but let it be known there are outstanding chores like going through old papers. However, I did manage to chase quite a few dust bunnies down, so I'm pleased with the results. I also made two more round cushions. This time I made my own pattern as round cushions don't seem to be in fashion in the shops where I looked - not that I've tried that hard to find round cushions, mind you. Sewing isn't one of my favourite hobbies, and, since I don't have a sewing machine, everything I make is done by hand. These cushions aren't nearly as flashy as the first one I 'made', which was basically a square cushion that I tried to make into a more or less round one and wrapped in a satiny material. I think a shiny material is probably the best type to use. I'll post a photo or two when I get the chance. 

While reading Tiina's photo blog about 'losing' a memory stick and searching everywhere for it only to find it in the most unlikely place, I was reminded of the needle I'd lost after making the first of the two cushions. I'd stuffed the cushion and was contemplating finishing it off when I decided I was too sleepy and was going to bed. I put everything away except a needle, which I couldn't find but imagined I'd probably stuck in the pin cushion and not remembered doing so. The next day when I looked for the needle, I couldn't find it where I thought It'd be or anywhere else for that matter. I'm sure you know where this is leading. So just to be sure, I took all the filling out of the cushion and there was my missing needle! Finding a needle in a haystack might be difficult, and I definitely count myself lucky for finding one in a cushion or at least thinking of looking before sewing. Can you imagine if I'd just got another needle and sewn up the pillow! My grandmother used to tell us she'd put pins in the bed so we didn't sit on it. She never told us she'd put needles in it though!

The most notable thing about this past week is what I refer to as our typical Easter weather - rainy and cold. On Tuesday, especially, Spain was hidden under clouds on the satellite map. The processions on Thursday had to be cut short because of the rain. I did get to see one of my favourites from the comfort of the TV. I find the processions very emotional, because the 'floats' are carried by men and not pulled by vehicles. This one in particular is my favourite because the 'float' is taller than the church door, so you can imagine what they must do to carry it out. There is a procession led by women that I didn't see. I can't imagine having to lift and carry so many kilos. As for the rain, I can't have washed my windows very well either because we didn't get a whole lot of rain or as much as necessary.

I'll post some more photos like this one of Lilly (and her baby sister) when I get the chance. For now it's back to the grind. Have a good Easter Sunday and week.