Would It Be Enough ?

It is an odd sort of feeling, one day we feel as if we have lived here for ages and settled in to normal daily life, but then there are other days when we still feel as if we have to pinch ourselves. It was a pleasant sunny Sunday morning, quite warm, we had gone out for our usual daily walk into our local town, which was relatively busy for a Sunday, with parents sat around the play park chewing the fat with other parents, whilst their charges burnt off excess energy on the various pieces of play equipment, the more elderly folk sat on benches just enjoying warming their arthritic bones in the warming rays of the sun, and the usual array of dog walkers, and joggers, and cyclists, just strutting or pedalling their stuff, all seemingly without a care in the world, it felt nice to be out and about amongst them.

Our usual Spanish Cafe was still closed for its festive break, but we had another that we also regularly use, just by way of a change and one that had taken full financial advantage by remaining open, whilst its competitors were taking their short festive break. It was a good decision by them as almost all of the outside tables were occupied, some enjoying a late breakfast, others with ‘Tapas’ and enjoying a beer or even a glass of wine, although it was still far too early for me to partake of that kind of Anti-Covid Vaccine, or was it, surely their is no bad time to take a precautionary dose of health medication 🤔 We were fortunate that one table was just being vacated as we approached and, as a bonus, it was front row with a good beach and sea-view and so we were able to sit with our sunglasses on, not just to protect our eyes from the glare but also to conceal our eyes from our people watching targets 😂 The lady owner was busy serving the hoards, but when she glanced over and saw us sit down she called across “Hola, Y Feliz Ano Nuevo, Dos Cafe con Leche ?” (Hello and Happy New year, two coffee’s ?), I responded with “Si Gracias, Y la misma para ti” (Yes thank you and the same to you), there is a nice feel good factor in knowing that you are treated as regular customer’s, although I have to say that I noted a few frowned expressions coming from some of the people on the tables that had arrived before us, and who were obviously still waiting to be served. We sat, trying to listen in to some of the conversations, there was too much of a mix though, Spanish, English, Irish, German and some with a Scandinavian sort of twang to them, although I didn’t know enough about the different languages to discern which part of Scandinavia they were from. There was just too much jibber jabbering taking place to really tune in to any one specific conversation, however, the ambience was good. Whilst we sat enjoying our coffee there were times when Shazza and I would just chatter amongst ourselves, nothing specific just small talk, as you do, and then there were periods of silence between us as we each just enjoyed the moment, people watching, as you do, it would have been rude not to when people had gone to all the effort of promenading up and down in front of us 😁 This was also another one of those ‘pinch me’ moments, how many times over the past few years had we sat here, or in a similar position on this seafront promenade, in the sunshine, looking out at the sea and the mountains and said to each other, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually lived here” and then felt sad at the thought of having to return to the UK. We both wondered how long we would continue to keep having these ‘Pinch Me Moments’, personally speaking, I hope we never stop having them, for every time that we do, it just makes us feel so contented with our lives, and that feeling is priceless.

Usually on a weekend we would eat lunch out somewhere on both days, either somewhere in town along the seafront, or in the Marina, or as we had done the previous evening, chose to eat dinner at our local Indian Restaurant. We had forfeited eating out the previous weekend after returning from our recent, and rather over indulgent, week long trip to Munich, as we were trying to get back on the straight and narrow, for we had both put on a few extra kilo’s, although it had not been as bad as it could have been, at least the bathroom scales hadn’t shouted, “Get off you fat t***s” when we got on them upon our return. But we had also decided that for a change, the following day, we would go in to Estepona, as I had discovered, on Facebook, a new 100% ‘Plant Based’ restaurant and so thought that we would give it a go. When we usually go out to eat, Shazza has to make do with what the menu’s have to offer, to suit her more disciplined ‘Plant Based’ dietary requirements, whereas I do not have the same restricted options as I am more of a ‘Flexitarian’. We both tend to eat completely Plant Based meals when we are at home, during weekdays, and so I use the eating out at weekends as a bit of a treat, if I want to satisfy my more carnivorous tastebuds, although to be completely honest, even then it is, more often than not, either Fish or Chicken, rather than what is more commonly referred to as ‘red meat’. We have been on this ‘Plant Based’ diet now for four years would you believe, and we still smile when we think back to the time when we first started, then it was more of a Shazza spontaneous decision and it was only supposed to be for one month, to participate in the annual ‘Veganuary’ event 🤷‍♂️ Strange really, but it only took about 2-3 weeks for our tastebuds to get used to the new ‘Plant Based’ regime and for our digestive systems to adapt to not eating meat, although I can certainly understand why some people never actually get to that stage, or beyond, as lots of vegetables, legumes (beans) and fruit = lots of 💨💨💨 So when people tell me that I am just full of hot air, they are actually correct 🤭

I awoke on the Monday morning and after what had been a very nice warm weekend it now felt unusually cold, I sat enjoying my morning coffee on the balcony, the sun was only just rising so it was still rather dusky with not yet quite enough daylight for the street lamps to turn themselves off. The thermometer though was registering the morning temperature as only being 5 degrees(c) 🥶 which, in itself, is unusually low for this part of the Costa del Sol. I remember thinking how nice it will be to be able to get back to the warmer mornings when I can sit enjoying my morning coffee wearing only my shorts again, instead of my PJ’s, slippers and wrapped in my thick dressing gown. However, once the sun had awoken properly, and rubbed the sleep from its eyes, the temperatures would start to rise and soon reach the more usual daily afternoon winter temperature of around 16 degrees(c), but the chill factor in the light breeze would reduce that to nearer 14 degrees(c), so for our trip into Estepona we would need to dress appropriately.

I checked the morning and weekly ‘Works of Fiction’ forecasts for Spain and could see that the Sierra Nevada area, around 3 hours further north from us, and the Pyrenees, a good 10 hours even further North, were both enjoying some of the usual seasonal snow, which was a good thing economically for Spain as it attracts the winter skiers ⛷️ and snow boarders 🏂 I also routinely check the temperatures in both the UK and in Munich, where we discovered that we had timed our visit to perfection as they were now experiencing very low minus temperatures during both the daytime and at nights 🥶

We parked in our usual place in Estepona, just a little outside the main town at the North end of the promenade, in a car park opposite the large ‘Carrefour’ supermarket. Unusually, for this particular parking area, their were several free parking bays, we parked near the top end as upon our return we needed to pop into the supermarket to purchase a new ironing board as Shazza had broken the old one, applying too much weight on the iron trying to get sharp creases into her knickers I suspect 😂

It was a lovely sunny morning and so clear that both Gibraltar and Africa were clearly visible from the promenade. I don’t know why, but looking out across the sea to another continent always makes me feel pretty happy and puts a bit of a spring in my step, strange but true. We were too early for lunch so we just strolled along the promenade, it was fairly busy with other’s just doing much the same as us, meandering rather than power walking, we stopped at one of the many seafront Cafes, sat outside in the sunshine with our coffee’s, listening to a busker with his guitar, me attempting to guess the tunes he was playing, it wasn’t loud banging pop music tunes, just gentle rhythmic strumming, he was very good and I could have sat there listening for much longer. Shazza and I can often be thinking the same things, without actually knowing it at the time, the other evening I was sat watching the TV when suddenly, for no apparent reason, in my mind I wondered whether we had any spare Oat milk left, as I had noticed that particular morning when I had made the coffees that the carton in the fridge was getting low, but I hadn’t bothered checking. Without me say anything about it, quite literally within seconds of me having that thought, she got up off the sofa and made her way towards the kitchen, “Where are you going” I asked, “Just to check to see if we have any more cartons of Milk” she responded 😲 Now, here we were at the Cafe in Estepona, in a moment of quiet contemplation, just enjoying the buskers tunes, I started to wonder where we would have been in the van in the UK, if we had not chosen to take up residency here, for we would by now have already departed Spain, our ninety day restricted travel period having been used up and not yet quite ready to be permitted to return. As I sat thinking about this, Shazza pipes up with “Isn’t it nice to be sat here in the sunshine, instead of parked up in the van somewhere in the cold, in the UK, waiting to catch a ferry back for our next ninety days” 😲 Cue spooky sci-fi music………👽

We finished our coffee’s and, as we left the Cafe to continue our stroll along the promenade, I went across to the busker and placed some loose change into his open guitar case, he nodded and smiled in appreciation. Right at that very moment I thought to myself, was it about time to get my own Spanish Guitar back out of its case and try to re-learn playing it, perhaps I may get to a level where I could busk enough to pay for our lunches, although in reality, if we waited for me to get to that level, we would both probably starve to death 😂 But quite literally, just a few moments later, Shazza says, “You should start to learn to play your guitar again, you could come and do some busking, earn some money, then take me to lunch” 😲 She laughed sarcastically, a cold shudder ran down my spine……………..

We walked almost the full length of the promenade before turning and re-tracing our steps, we veered off towards the town in the direction of where the ‘Plant Based’ restaurant was located. We were the only customer’s, but was that because it was still a little early ? Was it because the food was not that good ? Or was it because it was 100% Plant Based food with no other ‘more normal’ menu options available ? However, this was a delightful change for Shazza as the menu comprised of several different ‘Starters’, ‘Mains’ and ‘Desserts’ options and she was truly spoilt for choice, it wasn’t a problem for me either, I can and will eat almost anything, Plant Based or otherwise. To be completely honest, it was a little expensive for what it was, both with the establishment itself, which was more a Cafe than a restaurant, seating was only outside, but it was not in the sunshine so it was a little chilly on that particular day, although in the warmer weather it would have been very nice. We both agreed that we didn’t want a full three-course afternoon lunch, just ‘Mains’ and, although it was nothing special, as we both settled for Burger and Chips, the food was actually very tasty and so we agreed that we would be open to returning at some point to sample some of the other menu options, although Shazza has already made many of them herself at home, but in order to give her a break from cooking, and to enjoy a meal out, this certainly provided her with decent ‘Plant Based’ options, rather than the more usual Salads with Goat Cheese. We were both quite full from our lunch so we walked back to the Supermarket, purchased a new ironing board and then went home and enjoyed an afternoon at leisure sat on the balcony, the afternoon sun pouring in through the windows, it had been a nice morning and early afternoon, just being out somewhere different for our more usual walk.

Things were back to normal now that the festive season was at its official end, the steady flow of cars passed on the street below, as people returned to their normal daily habits, going to work and doing the school runs and it also provided me with something else to focus on as a break from reading the morning ‘Doom & Gloom’ in the various International media reports, which can get rather depressing, and yes those ‘Doom and Gloom’ reports do also include some of the less attractive sides to Life in Spain. As we do not live in a Major heavily populated Town or City here in Spain and, due to our fortunate position of being retired, in good health, with a ‘reasonable’ amount of financial security and no family to support, we are somewhat shielded from the majority of the more negative aspects of everyday life. However, as we now begin to spend more and more time listening to the Spanish National News channels and reading the National newspapers, it is fair to say that Spain has very similar issues to almost everywhere else in Europe, Politically, Economically, and with Religious differences, Racism, Crime, Illegal Immigration and Environmental issues, fortunately though, it does have the advantage, in certain areas of the country, of having a very nice climate, most of the year at least.

As far as the climate goes, the short cold snap we have recently experienced down here on the Costa del Sol, has also been much the same in other areas of Europe too, even though some areas in Northern Europe are generally colder at this time of year, those too have been experiencing much colder than normal patterns of weather, it would be easy to jump on the band wagon and blame it all on ‘Climate Change’, a currently very populist theme at the moment, but, reading some news articles and watching a lot of nature and environmental documentaries, it would also appear that for ‘decades’ their have always been freak periods of weather, both with hot and cold temperatures and also with lots of unnatural environmental phenomena that have occurred. I am not saying that Climate Change is not a potentially very serious issue, but my more cynical side also thinks that, and purely from my own un-professional and unacademic lay man’s perspective, the climate change debate could also perhaps be being used to conveniently suit arguments by other’s, for more ulterior motives or purposes, both Politically and Corporately 🤷‍♂️ The truth, whatever that may be, is out there somewhere (no spooky sci-fi music required this time though thank you) and perhaps we will only come to realise what that truth is, when it eventually comes and slaps us in the face, in the meantime, we all have our lives to be getting on with 😉 I will continue to live what life I have left by following my own simple code, which is to respect other’s, no matter what colour of skin they have, what language they speak or their religious belief, to keep as fit and healthy as I possibly can and finally, to not worry about things that I have no power to control or influence, if we all followed these simple, yet basic, principles then I am certain that the world in which we live would be a much better place than it is right now, here endeth my New Year sermon 🤭

One thing that has certainly been beyond my control or influence is the weather, more particularly the rain, which we have desperately needed here in Southern Spain for very many months. Believe me when I tell you that I have attempted to influence it, by singing in the Shower, very very loudly, which, to be honest, at one point I really thought had worked, when I heard what I thought were several loud bangs of thunder, but that turned out to only be the neighbours banging on the walls instructing me to shut up, in a very disrespectful manner I hasten to add 😲 Perhaps they should have suggested an alternative song they would have preferred me to sing 😁 But perhaps now they will encourage me to sing some more, as we have recently had a couple of days of Thunder, Lightning and ‘torrential downpours’ and, there is a couple of more days where the ‘Works of Fiction’ have forecasted even more, but ‘Would It Be Enough ?’, to fill the ‘Embalces’ (reservoirs) and hopefully prevent us from having to collect our drinking water from stand pipes in the street, but much more importantly, enable us to use our swimming pool again, when the weather permits that is.

I have managed to convince Shazza that we should in fact employ the services of a ‘professional’ plumber to deal with the couple of our currently awaiting DIY tasks, for they would require the mains water to be turned off and, should I not rectify the issues satisfactorily, that could entail us being without water until such time as we could then get a professional out to repair ‘my’ repair 🤭 Although I have been ‘instructed’ to watch closely, and take note, of how the repair is conducted by the professional, in case needed for the future, I already told her that there was no need as I already knew how to scratch my head, whilst at the same time sucking my teeth and wearing an expensive looking frown, as you may guess, she wasn’t impressed. But at least now my tools will remain in an ‘as new’ and ‘pristine’ condition until the next time ‘she’ suggests a DIY task needs undertaking. The plumber is coming out within the next couple of days 😉 We have now also just paid the second instalment for our soon to be new kitchen installation, this is the largest of the four instalments and with it they can now go ahead and order the necessary cupboards, drawers, work surfaces and all the necessary appliances as well as obtaining the necessary licences from our local council. These licences are just one of those many quirks with doing any works on property here in Spain that you need to be aware of, as I have probably already mentioned in a previous ramble, but at least that is another thing that is progressing. I have also already managed to pre-book my car in for its annual service, although that is not due until May, but it needs to be taken to the main KIA dealer in Malaga, which is always very busy, so leaving the pre-booking until nearer the time could have meant not getting the required date that I want, in order to fit in with our other plans, have I mentioned that Shazza believes that I suffer with OCD 😂

So yes, I know, it was less than a week ago when I stated that these rambles would probably become less frequent, what can I say, I lied 🤷‍♂️

Hasta Luego mi Amigos, La Vida Es Buena