We’re far too hot!

First of all I really need to say we are currently living in a furnace. I’m sure most of you will be aware of the weather reports from the UK and also from throughout Europe – it is very, very hot. There is a sort of tipping point where it stops being deliciously holiday-like and becomes very uncomfortable. We really appreciate being retired as we don’t really have to go anywhere or do anything energetic for the next couple of weeks when the temperatures will easily top 38C, and will in fact reach beyond 40C as happened last year, and the year before…

It must be dreadful for those who have to work in places with no aircon or fans, or who work outside. There is a reason why the siesta is sacrosanct in Spain, usually from around 2pm until 5pm – it gives people the chance to have a rest, a sleep, recharge their batteries and cool down a bit until the hottest part of the day has passed. So the next time you hear anyone nyerping on about how the “lazy” Spaniards snooze during the day you will understand it’s a necessity, not a luxury, it’s essential for health.

This really is what it’s like:

“When southern summers come the air falls fast like a blanket, smothers the breath and wraps itself round us. We long for the cool air of autumn or even the chill of winter’s fingers on our throats. We overheat like cars with faulty radiators. To get to sleep we try lying still, but the air feels like a heavy quilt pressing down, turning breathing into gasping, and making skin shine like dawn dew. We learn in school that most things expand and lengthen in the heat. There is always an exception, of course. Tempers get shorter and tolerance diminishes as the hot days grow longer, generally it seems best to just stay out of everyone’s way where possible.The more caring days of autumn are still some time away so for now we rise early, rest when we can, and wait for the heat to lose its sting, and for the relief that cooler air brings.”

There’s only a couple of places to be in this heat – indoors with the aircon running, or….

I’m sure we’ll survive, we have done before! However it seems that every year we, and everyone else our age, and irrespective of nationality, are finding it more and more difficult to cope with the heat. Stay indoors during the hottest part of the day, find shady places to sit, drink lots of water and very little alcohol to keep hydrated!

Now you know that we are very fond of eating out, and with the prices in Spain so low we tend to indulge a couple of times every week. We do quite often stick to tried and tested where we know we’ll get great food at great value, but it’s also a good idea to try new places. So, somewhere that’s not exactly new, but has moved a little out of town is the Barra de Fortuna. They have renovated and completely overhauled their new premises and, I have to say, the restaurant is really beautiful.

The whole place is very stylish indeed. Of course, there’s no point in style over substance, but I’m happy to report that the food is absolutely wonderful, very tasty and beautifully presented. A big asset is Marianne, who made sure we had everything we needed, she’s just lovely and very, very helpful. We’ll certainly be back!

Just a wee note to let you know about somewhere else we have eaten recently, an inland chiringuito run by Ann and Ray Perkins. There is a big community pool beside the bar/restaurant, which is great for cooling off before lunch.

As you can see, the view from our table was rather good! The food is delicious and Ann serves huge portions – I had to take half of mine home to save for later. As for value, well, between us we had crusty bread and alioli, then starters of pâté and toast, and a big house salad including tuna and beetroot. We both chose the same for the main course, half a chicken with chips and salad. For pudding I had lemon meringue pie with ice cream, and himself had blackcurrant cheesecake with ice cream. Drinks were included , we had beer and a bottle of water, and the total price was €20 – yes, you read that right! It’s no wonder that everyone eats out so often as you just can’t beat the value. We are so spoiled for choice, everything from hale and hearty big food servings, to the more refined dining in very elegant surroundings.

Okay, I have to show you this – it comes under “weird things we have seen”! On the way to one of our favourite restaurants at Guardamar, on the coast, is a huge place which sells furniture, kitchens and garden things. On their flat roof there are about six life-size rhinos. Yes, really, LIFE-SIZE! Now rhinos are fairly huge beasts, so to see these in all their glory, finished in burnished copper, on a roof, at a roundabout, is the most randomly hilarious sight!

This photo was the best I could get as we were coming off a roundabout – I’m in the passenger seat by the way, remember the driver’s on the left over here!

Nope, I have no idea why the company has a clatter of rhinos on a roof, but it certainly draws your attention to the premises! I’m not altogether sure that “clatter” is the correct collective noun for a group of rhinos, but it’s a more than useful term so shall suffice! Oh, I’ve just looked it up and apparently the correct collective noun is a “crash” or “stubbornness” of rhinos – who knew?!

Other living (well, more alive than the copper rhinos!) things here can be either terrifying or delightful. Snakes and scolopendras fall into the former category – I’ve written about these in an earlier blog and hope I never see another of either.

As for those who are delightful, we are being visited daily by lots of little swifts who like to come and perch on the telegraph wires at the house, and who are also partial to perching on our outside lights under the verandah roof. After I took this photo a lot more arrived – we counted a total of 30 on the wires – they dip to the pool for a drink and seem to enjoy keeping each other company. Who needs Taylor, we have our own group of Swifties!

The other utterly enchanting sight around the pool is when we get sometimes one but more often two dragonflies hovering about. One is always red and orange, and the other is always blue and green. I haven’t been able to get a photo yet as they’ve only started arriving now, and I’ve always been in the pool when they fly around us, but here’s one from last summer which seemed to take a real liking to our little grandson Marshall.

Incidentally, the Spanish word for dragonfly is “libélula”, pronounced lee-bay-loo-la. Lovely word!

The garden seems to have gone a bit mad between the rain we had now followed by such firece heat. Over the winter I had cut back my hibiscus shrub so violently I thought I’d maybe killed it, but it is coming back with the most glorious silky blooms. Plenty of water when the soil dries out, a bit of a feed now and again and some music by Leonard Cohen – yes, really!

I had also cut back the bougainvilleas in the tubs, but they too are coming back with a vengeance. I would say that when pruning potted shrubs the motto is “fear nothing!” Butterflies are also everywhere at the minute, as you can see. They are also really big, many are almost the size of sparrows! The Spanish word for butterfly is “mariposa” – it’s also frequently used as a girl’s name here. Rather lovely, I think.

I found some wild flowers recently down the road and had to stop to take a photo they look a bit like thistles but much bigger. I have no idea what they are but they’re absolutely gorgeous, they might be some kind of wild allium?

Next is what I’ve been buying recently. I get lots of free, or almost free books from Amazon via bookbub.com, which is a great site. You just note which genres interest you most, and they send you a selection every day, usually they’re either free or 99p. Since I would buy a couple a day that’s probably where most of my money goes, but as I don’t drink or smoke I don’t care, books are far more interesting! When I first arrived in Spain I was worried about where I might be able to access books. Well, there are always loads in the charity shops, but bookbub is probably my go to place as they download straight away onto the kindle. I read very, very quickly, in paragraphs rather than word by word or even little groups of words. I currently have around 5000 on the kindle and about 1000 on the bookshelves in the house. Love books…can you tell?!

So, other than books my passions are perfume and makeup. Spain produces some unbelieveably good perfumes, at prices to suit every budget. For the summer I like fresh, citrus scents, and I bought this one recently, it smells of bergamot, cut lemons and orange blossom, very heady! It actually looks a bit like a very small version of a bottle of gin – but it’s not!

I also treated myself to a very funky set of eyeshadows – they actually have a sort of sequin effect, so not really suitable for an old doll like me to wear during the day, but at night it’s a different matter!

Next on the list was an electric foot file. How very elegant – not! However, how very useful!

It’s only a weenie thing that fits in the palm of my hand but takes next to no time to charge and is very, very effective. Having bare feet every day for months can get a bit rough, and I’m not having that, so this wee beauty is a real boon.

My other purchases this month have been to do with getting the pool courtyard into shape. We really want to treat it like an extra, outside room, so it needs a little bit more than just squillions of different solar lights. I got half a dozen retro-style tinplate pictures of sea scapes and old adverts, to put on the walls. They measure about 20cms by 30cms and are really funky. Remember HB ice lollies and ice creams? I love this one!

That is going to look fab on the wall by the pool!

Oh, a wee quickie on the bargain buy front… I was looking for baking powder the other day and almost lifted a box of Royal sachets, when I saw Lidl own brand boxes beside the Royal ones. A quick glance showed Royal coming in at €28.88 per 100 grams, and Lidl own brand coming in at €6.99 per 100 grams. Well it’s not rocket science, is it? The difference in price is enough to cover a lunch out for us both!

We had a bit of excitement a week or so ago, when I came outside the other morning and, standing on the terrace, I could see thick, black smoke down the valley, from the direction of Fortuna. When we went out about half an hour later, we saw that one of the warehouse units in the industrial estate was on fire, really badly on fire. Traffic was being diverted and a number of fire engines were in attendance. There were also a couple of helicopters using the huge bags to fill with water from local reservoirs and flying over the building to dump water to control the blaze.

The whole building was completely gutted, along with a couple of vans and cars parked outside. Fortunately there were no human casualties, and the fire officers were eventually able to bring it all under control.

That’s about it for this time, I need to get on with the chores before it gets too hot to do anything. Some people have asked me about making friends in Spain, as friendship is a huge part of everyone’s day to day life. I’ll tell you about my experience in the next issue – suffice to say for now that we have made some wonderful friends here but we have also found very, very difficult people around who have taught us to gently but swiftly back away. More on that next time!

Once again, thank you to all of you who have clicked on the “follow” button, and who have also subscribed directly by email, I appreciate every one of you!