Sunday, 6th July, 2025
Up early even though we went to bed late. We watched a film which was made 20 years ago and features a very young Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen. Closer is about sex and power and I should probably have watched it years ago but what I was left with was the music.
Particularly, I had ringing in my ears a song by an Irish musician – Damian Rice – someone I’ve never heard of. The Blower’s Daughter is hypnotic as it plays in the film
And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her skies
I can’t take my eyes off of you
I can’t take my eyes off of you
So I woke up early, frozen to the bone by the air conditioning and with this song still playing in my head. Outside the temperature was already 29C/84F so decided to do a walk before the real sun began to make it hot.
Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun …. wrote Noël Coward in his song intended as a satire on British colonialism, poking fun at the British tendency to work hard and endure harsh conditions in foreign climes. Well this morning I did exactly that. As the gauge hit 32C/90F, I set off for my 8 mile walk which has to be done. Here, I am walking through suburbia where the heat of the sky is reflected back at me through the concrete …. and it’s not flat.
Still, it was great fun and I lost a stone in weight when I got back and took my shirt off. Amazing how much water the body carries. I have to put on fresh clothes three times a day. The washing machine is working overtime.
And so it is
Just like you said it should be
We′ll both forget the breeze
Most of the time
And so The Blower’s Daughter theme emphasises the sadness of time passing, of loss and regret. Life goes on but only most of the time. There are always painful times of memory and of regret.
Monday, 7th July, 2025
Awake at 5.00 am and listening to political podcasts. I love them. They get me through the difficult times. Up at 7.00 am and out walking just after 8.00 am. The temperature is a cool 27C/81F. I’m wearing my Failsworth Cap to protect my scalp from the already burning sun.
Yesterday afternoon, sitting in the cool of air conditioning, I got a weather alert on my phone for my home village in Sussex. There was a cloud burst. I checked the CCTV cameras and it was bouncing down in the back garden. I contacted my neighbour to thank him for watering the garden for me only to be told he was worried about damage to his car from hail the size of golf balls which I hadn’t seen.
I am gradually compiling myself a chart of Fish names in Spanish so I can recognise them and know what to ask for. It’s doing me good. It’s funny but the first words that come to me after English are Greek, then French and then I have to rapidly readjust to Spanish. I’m so relaxed, that I can’t remember where the hell I am most of the time. In Greek, Cod Fish is Μπακαλιάρος / Bakaliaro and in Spanish it is Bacalao. In Italian it is Baccalà. Of course, the French are awkward as usual and call it Morue.
As the morning has developed, some clouds are in the sky and the heat has turned even more humid and oppressive. My friend, Kevin, arrived in Spain last night. He prefers the more cultural high life of Benidorm and he has clearly brought his Leeds weather with him. I am collecting copies of local newspapers to get a feel for life and language here.
After a gorgeous Lunch of crispy, green salad leaves, huge Spanish tomatoes and home made Tapenade with a bottle of crisp, cold white Rioja, I am anybody’s. I still have to walk another 3 miles before Supper plus do a swim. The clouds have disappeared and the sun is strong and hot. It’s going to be another soaking-wet tee shirt for washing.
Tuesday, 8th July, 2025
Up at 7.00 am. The temperature remain a constant 27C/81F over night. Opening the shutters this morning, I expected to see strong sunshine. Instead, it looked like this:
Was rain coming? Err, no. If you could smell the air you would know immediately that it was the unmistakable acrid drift of burning, of smoke.
I immediately went on the web for news but I could find nothing. I found a webcam of a Benidorm beach some hour away from us and it had the same condition. I know there are wild fires in Greece at the moment but seems quite a long way off to drift.
It will give me chance to do a bit of work this morning. Got to prepare for a meeting soon after I get home. I have to identify Fixed Rate Bonds, Fixed Rate ISAs and Easy Access Cash Savings options. They do change quickly so the decision will be last minute but currently I can get:
Did an 8 mile walk down to the sea. By the time we got there, the smoke had blown away. It is a lovely, slightly wild and deserted cove. We are about 5 miles from Torrevieja town centre but the closer we walk, the scruffier it becomes. Grubby, litter-strewn, chavvy restaurants. Well, not so much restaurants as Fast Food outlets.
Everybody but everybody has a tattoo. They are de rigeur. The uglier you are, the more tattoos you need to have. Huge, fat, old women are covered in them. I really don’t see the point.
Wednesday, 9th July, 2025
Enjoy every condition in every place at every time is an important rule to live by. Mind you, I have not been a hostage, chained to a radiator in darkness for years. Terry Waite probably wouldn’t agree. I am living in the sauna that is Spain at the moment. I am doing much of what I’d be doing at home – walking, blogging, listening to podcasts, reading and writing about politics, following economics both personal and (inter) national. I am constantly trying to learn and improve myself and my position.
Coming to Spain for the first time is a delightful challenge. Learning the Spanish expectations is fun. For example, every couple of hundred yards along the streets in this Urbanisation where our ‘Oasis’ is based there are banks of 6 different waste bins for residents to sort their refuse in to. There are banks of electric scooters on every corner. You just put your smartphone on the handlebars and the app charges you to use them. When you’re done, you just leave the scooter in any street and someone else will collect it.
There are words I don’t know everywhere. I walk everywhere but it is slowing me down because I can’t pass a word I don’t know without looking it up. This is especially true of the street names. I have drunk Manzanilla Sherry for years. It is gorgeous and bone dry best drunk icy cold. Who knew it meant Chamomile? I already knew Toro and I guessed Escorpiones. Perhaps I should guessed that a humid street was a Wetland.
Today, in oppressive heat, I’ve done an 8 mile walk, watched PMQs on the BBC, done a pool swim and now my Chef is preparing a Fish Medley she is cooking with home-made baked beans. Life could be a lot worse. There are still things to achieve and I will but it is important to acknowledge things so far.
I’ve been talking to friends on Social Media this morning. A batch of postcards (old media) will probably arrive tomorrow. Communication channels are open across the Globe. One thing I don’t do at home is have 6 showers a day. Here, at 6.30 pm, I’ve just had my 6th today although two were around the pool. It is so sticky that a shower is delicious.
Thursday, 10th July, 2025
And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
I woke up late thinking it was Friday. Joy of joys! It is only Thursday. Suddenly, it is earlier than you think. Time has slowed down by coming away and not just inhabiting my normal routines. You should try it, Dear Reader. New experiences stretch time.
It was a couple of degrees cooler over night. From 10.00 pm – 6.00 am, the temperature stuck at 24C/77F. I went up on the sun (moon) terrace where there was a hint of a breeze. Delicious to look out over the Urbanisation and the sea beyond. This evening is officially the full moon in Spain
The brilliance of a zoom smartphone camera produced this for me last night. I love it. Were you out looking up, Dear Reader?
We’re going to be back up to the mid 30°Cs today so I’m going out early for my big walk. It’s great to come back from this and relax with a swim in the pool and a pummel in the jacuzzi.
The best walk I’ve found is down to the delightfully homely, slightly scruffy little cove-cum-beach. In this heat, it takes about an hour each way if you build in a rest half way and a few water breaks. It is downhill through residential development all the way to the sea but uphill all the way back when I am hot, wet and tiring. Still, the sense of achievement on doing it is all the reward I need.
Friday, 11th July, 2025
The rhythm of routine establishes itself inevitably the longer one stays in the same place. After 11 days of walking the same route, I have both reduced my time to do the distance from an hour each way to nearer 40 mins and I am on nodding terms with residents I pass each time.
I am beginning to notice the new properties coming on the market each day, the same people having Breakfast in the same roadside café, the same girls running on the same distances along the beachside. It is nice. It is easy to belong. It is nice to belong. I will come back to reconnect.
Back at our villa, sweaty, wet and tired, it is time for a swim. We have two, identical pools with jacuzzis attached for about 20 properties. Neither are ever busy. More often than not they are deserted. I get back, hot and sweaty from my walk. One pool is being cleaned. The other is empty and waiting for me. Swimming, jacuzzi pummelling, swimming and shower. And relaaax. Time for Lunch.
Tomato & Basil with Mozzarella Cheese, Balsamic Vinegar Dressing and cold, white wine. Lovely, fresh, tasty and light. Actually watched a bit of Wimbledon. Not really my choice but found myself quite enjoying it. Mind you, I am watching the Test Match on Sky Sports on my Laptop at the same time. Everyone is happy.
Saturday, 12th July, 2025
Gorgeous, early morning. Awake at 4.30 am and up at 6.00 am. Fresh orange juice from the supermarket juicer. It is delicious and followed by a cup of Yorkshire Tea.
The Consum/Co-op store differs very little from Sainsburys when you analyse it although the signage is obviously different. However, things like the fresh orange juice dispenser and the much wider choice of fresh fish really appeals to me.
Out early on a day which is forecast to be in the high 30°Cs – maybe even 40°C. Not a walking temperature. Virtually ran each way to complete early and returned to fall in the pool. It’s lovely to hear from old friends, isn’t it. Especially when it’s a surprise. You don’t hear from them forever and then they wait until you’re in the middle of a pool to reconnect. Still, I’m not complaining.
Felt a bit sad this evening and made the mistake of watching the Channel 4 film – A Man Called Otto. It is an incredibly sad narrative that finds a widower, Tom Hanks, seeing no point in his life and constantly trying to take his own life because he cannot live without the woman he has loved throughout his life. Throw into the mix that she lost their unborn baby in an accident and the sadness is complete. Otto turns out to be a lovely man for whom life has dealt a savagely, sad ending. He dies alone but much loved.