Mercadillo morning

We were out of the house and on the way to Malaga airport at seven this morning, for Geoff and Carole's eight o'clock check-in. As we departed, an assortment of white vans were arriving to set up stalls for the Tuesday mercadillo in the  large open space between urbanizacion Almihara I and II. It was lovely to see the early sun lighting up the peaks of the mountains to the south behind Malaga bay, and the roads were fairly quiet in both directions. Driving back facing the rising sun was somewhat challenging, as I was re-acquainting myself driving Geoff's car. I had to settle for the the relative safety of the slow lane with the lorries on some steep gradients of the autovia Mediterraneo. 

Anyway, I got back to Nerja safely, and headed straight for the nearest supermarket to stock up on fruit and veg for the week before returning to church house for breakfast. The weather is bright and clear, cool and sunny, not too hot. It feels more like spring than summer, and apparently winter and spring were cold cloudy and wet throughout, just as in Britain. Only in recent days have conditions improved. Straight after breakfast and morning prayer, I went the mercadillo, where I bought myself a decent straw hat and a pair of shorts for five euros each. The XXL shorts fit OK, though I'd have preferred them to be a less perfect fit for comfort - added incentive for losing a few more kilos.

After siesta, church warden Judith came and collected me to attend a Messy Church planning meeting with three others for next Tuesday's session, in the church hall of San Miguel parish church, which is host to Anglican pastoral activity as well as worship. Recently a couple of young families with children have started attending, and whilst this challenges the retirement age congregation, its pastoral leaders are keen to welcome them and provide for the younger generation in an admirable way.

I went for a sunset stroll around the periphery of the urbanizacion and glimpsed the new moon for a second night, hovering above the shoulder of the valley through which the rio Chillar runs beside the hill on which the housing area is set. Sadly the moon is too small and faint to show up in a such a small image as this.