Wednesday - Friday, November 1-3 2017 (page 322)

Saturday - Tuesday, November 4-7 2017 (page 322)

Saturday
Finally some rain. It started last night late with a thunderstorm which continued intermitted until this morning. Then alternating periods of overcast, some sun coming through and rain.
I am starting to feel more at home in my apartment. It is a cosy place, good to remain when the weather is bad.

Shown above the Tuk Tuk electric driven vehicles which, besides the horse drawn carriages and donkeys, provide the third mode of tourist transport in Mijas Peublo. You find the tuk tuks and horse driven carriages also in Fuengirola and other places, but the donkey taxis are unique to Mijas.

Sunday
As forecast I wake up to a bright and sunny day with no clouds at all. However the temperature is gradually getting cooler here. Although still just below the 20° C, it is out off my tropical comfort zone weather.
We will have to see over the next 4 or 5 months or so, but at present I believe they get more sunshine here than on the Australian Sunshine Coast.

Monday
I am a real coward as far as electronic devices are concerned. Too scared to press the wrong button and stuff everything up. But I did have a few wins here.
After several visits on-line I now get around fine on my new mobile phone, a Nokia 3310.
I also read the instructions for the brand new front loading (ZANUSSI) washing machine, connected it properly and completed my first wash.
On Jane's advise I purchased a box of Ariel washing capsules, so called '3-in-1 pods' (shown on the right). They are popular in the UK, but I have never seen them in Australia. You just throw one of these plastic gel coated capsules in the bottom of the washing machine, throw you clothes on top of it and off you go. The capsule slowly dissolves and releases first cleaning liquid, then softener, then something else.
The washing looks OK when I take it out this morning.

Later this moning I call a taxi with my mobile, which arrives within 10 minutes. I get dropped off at the Plaza Virgen de la Peña, have a delicious Gaspacho at Bar La Piedra, followed by a glass of Soberano. Fortified I do some shopping and get a taxi back home. This all works fine for me and I am happy.

Tuesday
First morning light starts here around 8.30am at this time og the year, However it is a full hour later before the sun bathes the upper part of the mountain in bright sunshine.
As I sit at my breakfast table in the lounge, around 10am in the morning, I hugely enjoy the view across countryside and sea with a clear blue sky above it.
The Wifi was suddenly turned off yesterday morning, perhaps inadvertedly by the cleaners. So I have to get my own sorted soon.

Wednesday, November 8 2017 (page 322)

14 crt gold plated French jewelry in El Taller Handicraft shop, Mijas Peublo

Vista Mar is a string shaped complex of some 80+ apartments in the western part of Mijas Peublo, overlooking (as the name implies) the Mediterranean sea.
My apartment is on the Eastern end of the 2-story complex and located right underneath the overhanging La Muralla Botanical garden.
I share the entrance portal (locked with electric security gate) with 3 other apartments. Jane & Kevin and I occupy the two upper apartments. The Apartment underneath J & K is empty, while the one underneath mine is occupied by a Spanish nurse, Rosie (Rosollo ?), with her 87 year old mother. A carer is looking after the mother as Rosie still works.

Yesterday I finally managed to catch up with Rosie to introduce myself. She invited me in and we shared a scotch & coke at the dining table, while Rosie's mum was gently moving back and forth in her rocking chair watching TV.
At first impression Rosie is a remarkable woman, small, blond (?), attractive and intelligent. She grew up in Lausanne she tells me, lived in India, spent 4 months in Japan learning karate (to strengthen her lower arms) and toured around Australia. She is looking after her mother now, but in time she may do anything or go anywhere.   We have a great chat and immediately get on well together. It is good to have such a person nearby, and she ensures to call on her if I do need help.

Having found a good spot to live I find myself now in a similar situation as the fictional character Antoine Roquentin in Jean-Paul Sartre's novel La Naussée.
Although 50 years older and not as rich I have, like AR, as yet no friends here and no sense of purpose.
But I am working at it.
Tomorrow I will visit a gathering of a social organisation Age Concern in the Oasis Bar at the eastern end of Mijas Peublo.
It provides advice, support, help and friendship for the over 50s (in age) of the local English speaking community. They have a weekly lunch at the Oasis Bar.
If suitable I may be able to offer some volunteer work of some kind. They have a Charity shop down the coast and I would not mind at all to help out there, provided I can get there easily enough. They also organise social activities and lectures, so there may be scope there as well. We will find out more tomorrow.

Thursday & Friday, November 9-10 2017 (page 322)

A small number of the 'Age Concern' social group in Mijas at Bar Tomillo Limon.
('Tomillo Limon' translates into 'Lemon Thyme')