Week 3

Sunday 15th December.
There is a local charity, Akira, who rescue and regime dogs. They have a shop in the town and organise money raising events. This afternoon they had a candlelight carol singsong with mince pies and mulled wine from 5pm to 7pm.
It was held at the El Martillo bar just out of the town centre so near enough for us to walk up to. We got there on time and there were already a lot of people there. We sat with a couple from Newcastle who are staying in Calpe for 6 months. Very chatty. Sang some carols, partook of the mince pies and mulled wine and had a very pleasant evening.
Walked back into town and went to the Chinese for supper.

Monday 16th December.
Canasta in the afternoon. 2 teams of on our table, Anne and I played in the same team. Another good afternoon.

Tuesday 17th December
Big event of the day is the 2 of us going to the Scrabble group for the first time. It’s held at the Martillo bar so an easy walk up there for us. Plan is to play one game, have lunch and then play for another hour or so. Clive, the group leader, was very welcoming. There were another 3 people there. N and I played with Clive. He had said they are a very friendly group and just play for fun and we soon discovered that was correct. I won the game and then we broke for lunch. Another lady arrived, Carolyn, who goes for a Spanish lesson until 2pm so usually joins the group at 2pm. After lunch I moved to play with Jan and the 2 other ladies whilst the men played on another table. One of the ladies, another Carolyn, is quite crotchety(!) but Carolyn and the other one whose name I forget were nice. I won 2 games and crotchety Carolyn and the nameless one left so Carolyn and I played another game. A very pleasant afternoon, we shall go again.

Wednesday 18th December.
Mid morning a couple of chaps came to set up the tv in the sitting room so that we could use the google chromecast with it. We have been able to use it with the tv in the bedroom  but wanted to use it whilst in the sitting room. As the tv is affixed to the wall we didn’t want to risk trying to move it. The two of them soon had the job done so we can now watch Netflix whilst relaxing on the sofa.
I took myself off for a walk and had a coffee and a read at the Chinese. It was quite hot in the sun.
After lunch we went to do a shop at Mercadona.

Thursday 19th December.
We took our laptop to the computer shop. Not the one I used previously, won’t go there again! Our laptop has been running very slowly and has not been a pleasure to use for quite some time. This shop is by the park in town, next to Fishy Fishy, and the chap there was very helpful and promised to sort it for us by tomorrow. We walked back through the park and sat by the sea for a while.

Friday. 20th December.
A dull, windy day. I went to market, not as many stalls as usual.  Bought a gilet as some days are too warm for a coat but not warm enough for just a sweater. Waited for N and he was late, as usual(!) so I bought some fruit and veg and he eventually caught me up. Went to PC shop and picked up laptop.
Laptop working much better so spent some time on it in the afternoon getting to grips with it again.
Had FaceTime chat with Steve, he’s been home all week with a really bad dose of flu, not man flu! I’m going to go over for 10 days at the end of January. I can fly over to Bristol from Alicante. Easier than the Bordeaux route. Went for walk, very high seas.

Saturday 21st December.
Settling into a routine here! Spanish conversation 10.30 -12.00. Always an enjoyable time, lots of laughs. Went down to sea afterwards and met N. Big seas again. Another walk later in the afternoon.