Flat out

I woke up earlier than usual this morning and posted today's Morning Prayer link to WhatsApp an hour before 'Thought for the Day' - my regular target time. After breakfast, I worked on next week's biblical reflection, ready to record later.

It wasn't too hot and there was a fair breeze, so I decided to go for a walk before lunch, and headed for Avenida Juan Carlos the other side of the port from here, where a new Ajuntamiento is under construction in what we'd call the 'central business district' in UK, where the main banks and other commercial offices are to be found. 

Walking there in the shade of side streets for the first time in the morning revealed what small shops there are in the barrios that side. In the afternoons only the supermarkets stay open, and some of the bars. a long lunch at home, or a siesta is normal and the streets are far quieter.

On the way back along the paseo, I stepped into a water puddle to cool the soles of my feet, which get very hot walking on pavements. I slipped, both feet and gently landed on my back in the puddle without hurting myself, perhaps because I was relaxed and my muscles were warmed up. Half of me was soaked as a result, quite cooling for the rest of the three kilometres I had to walk. Then I had to put all my clothes through the washing machine. With 30C heat and a wind, they won't take long to dry. 

Slipping like that was such a surprise I didn't have time to stiffen up or react, Or maybe my body remembers how to survive a sudden backwards fall into snow without getting hurt. Or just lucky. It could have been worse. One lady who herself had just walked through the same puddle asked me if I was OK in Spanish, and I was able to reassure her. Then another lady asked me in French, and I replied to her in French automatically. Makes a change from being speechless, I suppose.

When I got back to the house, I machine washed everything I'd been wearing, which took an hour, then hung out in the fierce afternoon sun, everything was dry and ready to wear in just two hours. That's a rarity in the UK. I had a snack lunch followed by a salad supper later on, as I didn't feel really hungry, and didn't want to cook. In fact, all I wanted to do was laze in front of the telly, with a succession of restoration and renovation programmes on More Four. 

Clare and I chatted for half an hour. It seems the worst of the nose and dust from number eleven's building site works is just about over. Reconstruction of the back section of the house is about to begin. All should be complete by the time we return at the end of this month.

I went to bed early, and recorded next week's reflection in the bedroom, which is probably the quietest room in the house, except when the toilet flushing tank isn't working properly, as it does from time to time for no apparent reason. It's a matter of cutting off the water supply to curb the noise and hope that it will sort itself out once the water supply is restored. Like the one in the downstairs loo at home, such a nuisance.