Our new home in the Orba Valley, Alicante

Another week gone and, little by little, we creep closer to 'normality' - whatever that may mean moving forward.  Certainly the seemingly endless football on TV at the moment at least has actual spectators present which surely must make a difference to the players.  It's the same with tennis and it's great to see......and yet we still can't dance and theatres and nightclubs still can't open (here or in the UK).  It's so frustrating but we are getting there.......

So the big news in Spain is that from this coming Friday we will no longer have to wear masks in outside public areas 🥳 of course this will probably mean we're more likely to forget to have a mask with us and get to a shop or bar and be unable to enter but hey, it's a start!  And as the weather hots up I think this is not a moment too soon - a sweaty mouth area in our 30+ degree heat is never a thing of joy and beauty 😂  But it raises an interesting issue: we always wear a mask in my Spanish class and recently one of the other students made some lovely cakes for us to try and so of course everyone removed their mask in order to eat.  I nearly fell off my perch when I realised that our teacher, Antonio, has a beard 😳  Apparently he used to have a fuller one but mask-wearing made him cut it closer for comfort but still, it's completely different to how I thought he looked underneath!  I would hardly have recognised the other students either (apart from one whom I've seen without a mask elsewhere), one of whom looks exactly like a young Queen Elizabeth II and it was all just....well....weird 😝  And if I was a bit discombobulated by seeing people's whole faces, it made me wonder how strange it must be for small children who may literally remember nothing but faces with masks and then ......I mean, can you imagine being happily sat in your pram and then a friendly neighbour who you've known all your life from the eyes and voice is suddenly a whole face with a nose, mouth and face-shape (and of course potentially facial hair like Antonio) - I think I'd be more than a little unsettled!

Of course all this relaxing of the rules is all very well but for those of us still waiting for even one vaccination, well I think it's fair to say I will be keeping my distance from most people.  Because yes folks, computer still say no.  The health authority's own app here tells me that with my year of birth if I have't had a vaccination I should contact my health centre and get a vaccination organised.  So I did.  And it made no b****y different whatsoever!  😡

We've continued working on our garden and it's all starting to look very nice BUT our Alfie (small dog for those unsure!) has decided that he is the self-appointed, all-round super action ..........toad hunter.  Yep, as we live in the countryside at the bottom of a valley there are, especially during the summer, quite a few toads about.  

There is apparently a really large one of around 8" here in Spain which is very poisonous to dogs so not only is that a concern for Alfie's sake (Tally is completely disinterested) but also for me as toads are not my favourite thing and if I saw something the size of a small frying-pan crawling/hopping around my garden I would need hospitalisation 😱  However so far Alfie has mercifully only found common toads and hasn't actually managed to pick one up yet.  His total is currently at 5 (2 in one evening!).  He is completely obsessed and in the evenings roots around the undergrowth and especially on the rockery and then barks hysterically when he finds one and tries to pick it up.  We've spoiled his fun a bit and created a barrier that we put up in the evening to prevent him accessing the rockery part of the garden so he's a bit sulky that we don't seem to appreciate his efforts.  He's the kind of dog who loves to squirm about in dirty washing (underpants are his absolute favourite 🤮), rush headlong into filthy puddles and lie down, or roll in things that I actually cannot bring myself to think about but suffice it to say that one memorable time on a walk in Mallorca he did just that and the smell was so bad we all (both of us and his always pristine 'sister' Tally) recoiled gagging, and on returning to the car he made the ride of shame home on several plastic bags for a cold shower with a hose before he was even allowed anywhere near the actual bathroom.  It's like living with Gnasher of Dennis the Menace.  And spookily he's much the same colouring.

The plant I mentioned last week that looked as if it was going to flower in gratitude for being rescued from the jungle undergrowth that was our garden has now produced this:

And this evening we ate a meal using several of the fresh herbs we're now growing and I've come to the conclusion that the only way to eat peas is with the addition of lovely fresh mint.

Finally, during the past week we tracked down various leads on folding beds for sale via Facebook prior to Ian's son and family coming out in a month's time.  Let's just say that in one instance we truly found that some people have rather different standards of hygiene to us 😱but we now have the requisite number of (nice clean) beds and are good to go!  It will certainly be great to see family again after so long....... 

Stay safe and hasta la próxima semana!