natjtan I hope you had a great week! I’m still catching up from our day trip to Madrid on Wednesday. My one day holiday this year. Both cats are on medicine twice a day and while I’m happy to let people look after them when I’m away, administering medicine’s different. Even more if it’s meant to be given 12 hours apart. So for the foreseeable future no holidays for me. It’s something I’ve accepted and am fine with. I’ll for sure recap Madrid over the next few weeks as I took a ton of photos while we walked a half marathon exploring. My feet were so happy to relax on the train back!
Parc de Buen Retiro, Madrid
Anyways, this week’s Weekend Friday Favourites. Things that have made me smile or caught my eye this week.
Parque del Buen Retrio 
One of Madrid’s many parks. Being surrounded by palm trees and mostly plane trees only a few trees change with the season and they’ve still yet to change (late Autumn/December’s when they do). It was so refreshing to see horse chestnut trees and a few other deciduous trees I don’t know the names in their autumn foliage. 
Fog
Fog’s been lingering around all day nearly every day this week. Monday and Tuesday started off sunny only for fog to engulf everything later. While it’s pretty to look at, nothing dries and everything feels damp! During the day all year I have the balcony door and windows open. I can’t stand the way a closed off room makes my skin feel hence open windows and doors (in the cold months they might a be ajar) with the consequence dealing with the rooms feeling damp. 
Waves
The sea’s been so pretty this week. Though I was away from it for one day I missed seeing it. I don’t think I can ever live inland again.
I got these around the end of September to replace my Nike Air Max Theo’s that were beginning to hurt my feet by leaving painful red marks were the tongue was. As they were my 2nd pair with the same problem of also making my feet hurt after a few hours I didn’t want to get them again. I couldn’t find any other Nike non gym trainers I liked or at nice price, I went of Adidas ZX Flux trainers and they’re so much more comfy! Plus being €50 less is a bonus too! While they don’t go with shorts as they’re not a slim lined as the Air Max’s, with leggings running errands they’re perfect! The only con no matter how I tie the right lace or tighten the lace further down, they always seem to work themselves feeling loose after a while. I retie them and maybe it’ll happen once more then they’re good.
AJ and D
They aced their vet visit this week. D’s stable with his hyperthyroid and Aj’s showing signs of remission of irritable bowel disease. D’s medicine stay the same while AJ’s dosage is being reduced to see how he goes. My suspicion however that AJ’s got arthritis was confirmed. Over the summer he’s been licking his wrists to the point he stained them with salvia. I know when animals are in pain they lick that area. The vet confirmed it and in a month introduce a joint supplement to see how he goes. As the dosage’s being reduced, the vet didn’t want to introduce anything new immediately so if there is a problem it’s more identifiable which medicine.
My beloved yoga mat of 2 years has had to be retired. It was starting to fray and peel apart. I was convinced I purchased it from Amazon though I couldn’t find it in my order history. It took ages scrolling through Amazon finding one similar or the same. I thought I’d found an exact colour match only to find out when it arrived it was blues not lilacs. Initially I didn’t like it, but now the colour’s grow on me, I prefer it more than the previous lilac one. I didn’t want a pink or a loud coloured mat when practicing which is why I was so picky.
In terms of technical use I went for the 6mm thickness which I love and so far I haven’t had any issues with it during my YogaGlo.com classes (if you’re after a class that challenges to core, try Kathryn Budig’s Counter Balance flow. I did it this week and between the giggles of bird dog planks my core was on fire. During savasana I was seeing yellow, the 3rd chakra located from the navel to solar plexus. That’s how fired up the class was!). I can tell the difference in sponginess between the two. This one’s springy! Plus it’s eco friendly and recyclable (so it says), non-toxic, PVC-free, latex and phthalates free, chloride-free and is hypoallergenic. I did realise however with the lilac one I was using the wrong way up. As I preferred the lighter colour I was using the grippy non slip floor side up for 2 years. Opps!
Toucan Street Art
3 Little Ducks, Barcelona Zoo
Internet Finds
The world’s largest marine protected area was set up in the Antartica Sea this week. Fingers crossed it’s for longer than initial 35 years.
Lady Gaga Carpool Karaoke. That girl can sing! And she’s like me getting in a new car for the first time. Windshield wipers? Indicators? Reverse? (I don’t like it when it’s near 5th or 6th and you have to lift the gearstick for reverse. I may crunch the gears the first few times. And yes being British I drive what Americans call stick.)
Brazil boy regains smile after loosing all his teeth.
Mexico hosts its first ever Dia de los Muertos Parade and it’s all thanks to 007 James Bond Spectre.
Sixth mass extinction? 2/3 of wildlife could be gone by 2020.
What’s been making you smile this week? Have a great weekend!
Hi Nat
I’m glad you enjoyed your weekend in Madrid, I shall look forward to seeing all your pictures, it will bring back memories for me when I worked there, I think I must have been 20, it was so different in those days, Franco was still a dictator, and I had to get a work permit. I remember now, I worked in an office during the day and in a restaurant in the evening. I had more energy then!!!!
Lots of love Jan xxxxx
Sent from my iPad
😃 Ha ha! So did I! Gran Via was packed! I hadn’t faced crowds like that since Oxford Street on a Saturday! Have a great week 😺
Can’t wait to hear about Madrid!
I’ll have to split it into parts. I was only there for 12 hours! Took way to many photos 😬
I didn’t know that about cats licking their wrists. I also didn’t know your two were on meds. Mine are, too. It does make trips of any sort hard.
They’ve been on meds for a year. Aj also gets grumpy when brushing his hips/back legs. The vet says most senior cats don’t like being brushed there due to arthritis. Most animals try to like away pain. Maybe helps ease the pain or is comforting as their mums used to kick them. Hope yours are doing ok!
We’ll see after Ginger goes to the vet next week. Fingers crossed.
I got my fingers crossed!