Loom

I have been discussing with Ian the fact that what we really need is a loom. Mishearing me, he said we already one loon in the house and didn't see why we needed another.

Sadly, I think the sun has got to him. We've patently not got a north American aquatic bird living here.

Anyway, three cheers for ebay. We are now the proud owner of a 4 heddle loom. Hoorah.

It is coming from Holland and I guess will arrive when I am away. The picture is what it should look like. We'll see...

Hail

Admittedly, Ian would have preferred that instead of wandering around with the camera I helped bail the house out - particularly as we were doing it for the second time in 3 hours, however I felt that this jumbo hail deserved a pic.

Moral of the story: Ensure drains are kept clear and that guttering does not provide home to half the bird population in the area.

New Project

We're working on a new project - the aim is to collect together all the free needlework patterns and projects on the internet. The site is not ready to be launched yet - but we'd welcome feedback.

Foot and Mouth

I cannot imagine how we would be feeling now, if we were still living in the UK on our smallholding. Well that's probably not true. I think I know exactly how we'd feel.

The imagination comes in when thinking about how farmers must feel. Whose livelihoods are once again in the hands of something completely out of their control. Whilst financially farms are protected perhaps by insurance and by compensation payouts - there is the horror of facing mass culls, seeing years worth of breeding and bloodstock lines wiped out at shot. Literally.

We were living in the centre of the outbreak in 2001/2, and even without animals it was a pretty bleak existence. Our cars were hosed down when leaving and entering the area, there were many students at the school who were either not able to leave their farms, or if they were at a critical school stage, were staying with friends off the farms. The country side was absolutely CLOSED.

We heard horror stories of culls, saw the funeral pyres the other side of Penrith, saw acres of fields which were empty of livestock.

The thought of someone coming onto our land and culling our animals is desperate, I hope that consideration is given to vaccination, and that culls are a last resort.

House for Sale

A house in Villagarcia is up for sale. Details can be seen here. This is in a pretty position, it is quite close to where we went asparagus picking during the spring.

Peanut Butter Recipe

I didn't realise how easy it is to make peanut butter. Quite simply whiz up a handful of peanuts in a blender with some oil and voila - instant peanut butter. Not quite as nice as Sunpat (in the same way as I can never make tomato soup quite as nice as Heinz) but it was certainly on the better side of OK.

So ticked this off the list of things to learn to make. The theory being, if we try to make what we miss from the UK, it will save using up all 20kgs of baggage allowance with food....

Kittens

The kittens are getting bigger now, and are playing. We have quite a houseful.

We've put a sign up saying we have kittens looking for homes, and so far, not particularly encouragingly we've been told that it is normal to kill unwanted kittens.

Obviously, that wouldn't happen here, so we've been thinking of names....

Siesta

It is important not to underestimate the importance of siesta here. Everything slows to a standstill in the afternoon. If you visited a village in the afternoon you would think it was empty, just a few dogs flopped in the shade. However a few hours later and it is a very different situation - and of course in the early hours of the morning things are just warming up. This program from a fiesta at Jerez de los Caballeros and shows how quiet things get in the afternoon!

Arabic Dancing at Luna Al Fuego

Luna Al Fuego - Some clips of the day

We've had kittens

Well, more accurately our cat has. So we've 5 kittens looking for homes.

Unlike their owners they are bi-lingual.

Cat Ops

Our two lady cats went to the vet on Tuesday to be neutered. Needless to say this wasn't entirely smooth running as due to a mix up we took them the week before. The cats weren't desperately happy as they had been starved for 12 hours before their non-existent op, and Ian was equally grumpy as he got up at 5 in the morning to take their food up (the ops take place at 5 in the evening so the animals recover during the cool of the night).

Oh yes - how did we get the date muddled up for op? Quite simple. SI is the word for IF and YES, with the subtle difference of a ' which can't be seen if typed in CAPS. So we thought they were saying 'yes it is possible' and in fact he was saying 'if it is possible'. Sigh.......

Guiness Marmite

marmite.jpg
Originally uploaded by Marchena.

This little beauty found its way through the post to me.

Interesting moral dilemma - Eat or Ebay....?

We ate!

Busy few weeks

We've had a busy few weeks with visitors and trips back to the UK.

I've been using the ClickAir flight from Seville to Gatwick and then coach to Bournemouth. The door to door trip takes 10.5 hours which includes the ferry from Poole to Swanage so I guess that's not too bad. The ClickAir flight is well timed for a short trip with day time flights - none of this having to bunk down at the airport nonsense that the early flights entail.

The internet has been very haphazard - down for several hours a few times a week. This - of course, always happens when deadlines loom. Most annoying.

I've at last finished the capelet project that I have got going in the Autumn edition of Interweave Crochet. After waiting weeks for the wool I went ahead and bought it direct - only for the wool to arrive from the manufacturers. So I went from no wool to an abundance of the stuff!

Basil gets a haircut

We trimmed Basil over the weekend. Well, it is probably more accurate to say scalped.

We have hidden mirrors from him.

Incredible Hulk

This green monster was working his way across the yard today. The dogs barked, I screamed, Ian screamed, but we still managed to get a quick pic.

Curry, festering Private Eyes and squatters

I am certain that we were the only group of British people sharing a curry this side of Zafra on Saturday night. Luckily there was enough left for Ian and I to have another curry feast last night.

Sadly my plans to become rich from my Private Eye collection crashed and burned at the weekend. Well rotted and decomposed is probably nearer the truth. Having religiously never knowingly thrown a Private Eye away for what - 20 years, I found that most of my collection has rotted. OK - whilst these might not have been my pension - but I certainly would rather then hadn't disappeared in a heap of rotting dust.

We kept it on the floor in one of the spare rooms and the condensation got to it. We experienced this last year too with bedding - so need to remember to get everything off the ground. So this morning we were at the builders merchant at the crack of dawn - well sort of, and bought a couple of units so we can move all remaining boxes off the floor.

We also have a family of house martins (or are they swallows?) squatting up under our roof. Hence the reason why people who know better keep their shutters etc closed so they don't give home to selected wildlife. We have enough wildlife downstairs with the animals and Ian without encouraging new additions upstairs. Of course we won't knock the nest down - just have to make sure we move it out when the little ones have fledged.

Sock Tops - The Movie

New Layout

I've rather cleverly changed the layout of this blog. I'd like to say it took hours of programming - however I just fiddled with a couple of doodahs and it all happened automatically. Magic!

Return

I arrived back from the UK relatively in one piece and on time. Yet again I arrived at the airport with my baggage being overweight - and as this time I was without powdered milk, lime pickle or brown sauce I was a little surprised. Probably a trip to a car boot sale was not a good idea - and Ian seemed less then enamoured with the glass lampshade that I lugged back for him.

I think the butchers rub their hands in glee as I head off back to the UK. Ian drops me off at the airport and then stocks up on as much meat as he can eat. Ian then turns this into a carnivorous curry feast, and from what I can see eats this for breakfast lunch and dinner.

I left Spain in glorious sunshine and returned to grey and cold. The weather forecast shows much of the same over the next few days. Boo.

Ankle update

I’ve not mentioned my ankle recently – which is probably good news. There is only so much you can say about an ankle, and I was getting close to the limit.

I am now walking unaided and I don’t think I am limping much. The only problem that I have at the moment is that because the swelling has now gone completely my ankle really hurts at night as the pins hurt when I sleep on my side. However I am sure I will find a way around this (perhaps crochet an ankle pillow perhaps) and this will be sorted when they take some of the metal out in a few months.

I don’t think I’ll be doing the 22 km walk this year – although saying that, it is really Ian’s turn. Talking of that particular horror – for the first time since that dreadful day last April my big toe nails needed cutting. If you remember they fell off in shock and are only just now back to normal. You won’t believe how similar “short stroll then breakfast” and “22 kilometre extremely hard hike” are in Spanish….

ASAPARGUS HUNTING

ASAPARGUS3.jpg
Originally uploaded by Marchena.

The campo in spring, is full of people acting strangely. People walk along the roads and paths, suddenly to leap over a wall and pounce on what appears to be a blade of grass.

Closer inspection however will show that they are hunting asparagus, and from the end of February to the end of April or early May it is open season on asparagus throughout southern Spain.

We went out asparagus hunting and as the picture shows, it is more difficult to find these pesky spears than one would think.

We sadly came back to the village carrying our three pieces, whilst other villagers had so much that they had filled three bags!

Homemade Cottage Cheese

MmmMmmmm, I hear you murmur.

One thing that I miss is cottage cheese. Strange as I never really knew that I liked it so much! We've not seen it in any shops - and admittedly I've not been on a complete mission to find it, I can pretty confidently report that it is not available within a 50km radius.

So I thought I'd make some, however milk is really difficult to buy. UHT milk with vitamins, soya, rice milk, added calcium etc falls off the shelves, however pure un-UHT'd milk is neigh on impossible (within local s/markets anyway) to find. This isn't really a surprise. This is not a dairy area, and whilst there are one or two cows wondering around the fields, it is certainly more normal to see sheep.

Ignoring instructions which clearly stated that making cottage cheese with UHT milk won't work, I pressed on. I found myself presented, instead of a saucepan of lovely fluffy cottage cheese, with saucepan of slime.

I referred again to my how-to-make-cottage-cheese instructions, and saw that powdered milk would work - as long as it wasn't UHT.

Therefore my last visit to the UK saw me returning, struggling with a case full of powdered milk, and this weekend I experienced milk alchemy as I turned the powdered milk into something which, with eyes shut and not smelling it, might in some small way resemble cottage cheese.

Ian, bless him, has kindly offered not to eat any so there is all the more for me. I am sure that this is what he meant when he said 'no ^%$$% way' when offered some.

50% of our lemon harvest.

DSCF0059.JPG
Originally uploaded by Marchena.

We only had three lemons, however one appeared to have disappeared so this picture represents half of our entire harvest.

We've picked our oranges and are making 'lime' pickle with them. It is sure to be delightful (?). The theory is that Seville oranges are so bitter that they might replicate the taste of limes when salted and seasoned. We've got them salting away now - so keep a look out for updates!

Went for a walk yesterday to celebrate that I am crutch free and no more physio. We saw lots of processionary Caterpillars which are poisonous to dogs so we had to keep an eye on what they were eating. Need to watch that none appear in the yard.

Discharged from Physio at last!

After 4 months and 70 sessions, I have been discharged from the tender clutches of the Physio team. I have almost normal movement - although apparently I still walk like Quasimodo - I do hope they were exaggerating in their mime.

I now have to spend the next 6 months jumping up and down to build bone mass before another op next autumn. At this stage they will take out what ever plates or pins aren't necessary so I need to jump up and down to strengthen the bones prior to this. I will keep my bouncing within the privacy of our own home - as this is not something I would inflict on neighbours.

Ian is pleased too as this means he no longer has to do the return trip twice a day to drop me off and pick me up. So hurrah all round!

The weather seems to be warming quite rapidly now, it is 4 o'clock and 25 in the shade. Even my workshop is in double figures. It is noticeably lighter in the mornings and evenings too - at 8 when I started at physio it was like the middle of the night - however this morning the sun was just up.

storks fighting

storks fighting.jpg
Originally uploaded by Marchena.

Two storks fighting in Trujillo.

Foot rot

For a couple of weeks now I have been aware of a hideous smell following me around. I naturally thought it was something to do with one of the animals – or more likely, Ian. However it was with great distress that I found out that the evil smell was in fact coming from me - or, I hasten to add, my walking boots.

So bad was it that I had to investigate further and check that nothing nasty was contained within them. One of my all-time most horrendous life experiences todate (and lets face it there’s a few to choose from) was putting on my Wellington boots one day and finding that my big toe had speared a rotting mouse.

Amazing – 6 months of my boots being forcibly rested and you’d have thought that the fresh air might have done some good – but instead my boots seem to have suffered from fester fast-track.

Well, good old internet – quick search for ‘smelly walking boots’ (which reminds me I do hope we never have to take out computer in somewhere to be mended as I am sure that they will have no end of fun looking at our search history!) showed that what I required was a spoonful of Bicarb.

Of course!

This is a magical, wondrous material. Do you have any idea what it can be used for – well besides removing nasty niffs from walking boots? Whitening marble, cleaning shower curtains, taking stains from socks, removing nasty taste from vacuum flask, to strengthen nails, to soften the skin of new potatoes, to ‘freshen’ the fridge……

Unfortunately I did not have any bicarb but I did have a bathbomb which is 80% bicarb so I dissolved that and popped the lovely lavender liquid into my boots. The lavender would only enhance the new found freshness I thought. I forgot about the lavender flowers however and think I will be spending the next few weeks removing bits of lavender from between my toes. hey ho.

Response to 'Trip to the UK'

Well, having written about my flight with Clickair - I was surprised and extremely impressed to receive a comment from the md. I have posted it below.

Dear Kate, my name is Alex and I am the MD of clickair in Barcelona - I am sorry about the delay and the change of plane; after our maintenaince provider informed us of a repair required, we decided not to cancel the flight and rather, find a replacement aircraft as soon as possible. Ultimately, all booked passengers travelled.

Drop me a line anytime if you have any comments - we hope to be able to see you on board soon.

Sincerely,

Alex Cruz
MD, clickair

Trip to UK

I have just returned from a trip to the UK. I booked the flight through the Iberia website and was surprised to find that the flight was not an Iberia flight but operated through Clickair - a budget airline which Iberia have a 20% stake in. The flight was a good price €160 all in, so I wasn't too worried.

Until the flight was delayed.

There was apparently an indefinite delay at Seville. After 4.5 hours, at 6 o'clock, they told us the flight would not go till 10.00 so a lot of people left the airport for something to eat. About 5 minutes later they said the flight was going NOW, and we were rushed through. Well, those that were left.

Rushed not onto the plane, but onto a bus and then driven around Seville Airport for 20 minutes! People who appeared to know about these things said it is common practice with delayed flights to do this. Compensation is payable after 5 hours and this is timed not to the time of take-off but the time you are checked through the final check at the gate. Therefore although we didn't take off until over 5 hours over the scheduled time, our trip round the airport meant that we didn't qualify for compensation. Hmmmm. I don't know about this - but it did seem strange to be going quite so many times round the Seville airport perimeter!

I also wonder about the message we were given about flight not going till 10, as surely the plane must have been at the airport when this was given. Was it happy co-incidence that the plane that they replaced the broken plane with was much smaller than the original and that there were many less people to go on it as many people had left the airport?

Obviously this meant that I missed the last coach to Bournemouth, however luckily have some friends who have just moved near Heathrow so I was able to give them a call. Needless to say I had not paid any attention to where I was - not even knowing which terminal I had come in at so they told me to stay where I was and they would find me. I was by the arrivals section and I noticed that a man with exactly the same suitcase as me kept sidling up to me and looking at me in a meaningful way. I kept thinking that he was going to tell me that red-fox was running or something equally spy-like. I ignored him, thinking that if he was a spy he was pretty rubbish - and how unlucky that they picked on a case like mine for the 'drop'. All of a sudden another man with the same case poked his head out of the Arrivals hall and started bellowing at the first man. At this stage I any thoughts of them being spys went out the window - I am sure even the most inept spy would not shout across heathrow for the man to come and change the b****dy case.

What had happened I guess, was man 1 had taken the wrong case and was told to come back and change it. He thought he was supposed to swap with me and I ignored him. Man 2 was patiently waiting for his case to be returned and finally cracked with impatience and decided to make his presence known in no uncertain terms.

Anyway - sucker for punishment that I am I have booked another flight with clickair for later this month. I wonder how eventful that flight will be!

Snow!

neckwarmersnow.jpg
Originally uploaded by Marchena.

I've been working on a design for a neckwarmer and although it's not finished - when it started to snow here I asked poor Ian to stand out in the snow (no, it's not him in the picture) to take this pic. I thought it was probably a better picture to show the neckwarmer than in bright sunshine!

The snow has now gone, but still awaiting the return of the sunshine!

I've never been able to touch my toes.

A fact which I have managed to live with for probably half of my life and one which I feel I will quite happily live with for the rest.

However I appear to be alone in this, as the latest quest of the physio department is to return me to a state of bendiness previously unattainable. Until I am able to fold myself double I believe I will remain in the vice like clutches of the physio department.

I am also being taught to walk with a deportment which would please even the most finicky of finishing schools. Happily to help me with my walking they mimic how I walk currently - my broken ankle appears to have turned me into Quasimodo.

Quite frankly I'd be happy to have a small limp - but no. When they have finished with me I will be able to balance the most precious of faberge eggs on my head whilst lurking around the belltower.

Lady Luck boycotts Carefour

Even by our supreme unlucky standards, we've had an excessive run of bad luck at Carrefour. Indeed I believe it would be safe to say that every visit has been doomed in some way or another.

Here is our list of doom and gloom.

Toaster worked twice then gave up the ghost.
Coffee grinder which works intermittently.
Paella pan worked for 3 weeks.
T Shirt in sealed pack different size to that stated.
Gas heater - oh yes, 90€'s worth - kaput after one gas bottle

and to top it all - Samsung speakers bought this week sealed was found to be an empty box when we got it home!!!!!!!!!

This isn't necessarily any worse than anywhere else - (as I have alluded to at best we get grimaced at by Lady Luck) and indeed we became on first name terms with the manager of B&Q Penrith after a run of problematic purchases and most family and friends coming to visit us would break their trip at the store to pick up missing pieces; it is still frustrating. We've not yet tried customer service - however it is getting beyond a joke now (let's hope our customer service experience also has no resemblance to a joke).

Annoyingly we were in Seville last week and I made a joke about getting the speakers in Zafra Carrefour so it was 'closer when they went wrong'.

I hate being right.

New Year and Macs

We didn't go out on New Years Eve - Basil is scared of fireworks and 11 stone of quaking Pyranean Mountain dog is not a pretty site. For Ian and Basil think Scooby Doo and Shaggy.

Ian has been like a bear on a hot tin roof this last week (and I have mixed my metaphors wisely). He has bought a new mac -computer not raincoat, and it was due for delivery some time after the 28th. This means that everytime someone walked past the door both Ian and Basil raced to throw themselves at the gate. Unfortunately this spectacle also added extra spice to knockout ginger, the popular village game of ringing our doorbell and running away, and meant that the bell rung more than usual. One time our young knock-out ginger friends did not run away and wanted to see Basil - they also offered us 50 euros to have a party in our back yard, an offer which we declined. I am glad that the mac has arrived, the old pc takes quite a long time to start up which meant that, in the same manner as Reggie Perrin's daily reporting of his trains 11 minute delay, I have enjoyed Ian sharing with me the daily start up times of the pc, which is tedious for both of us - but for different reasons.

Anyway new mac has now arrived and disappointingly it looks like the old one. No flashing lights or anything, but it has a super-dooper spec and will be beneficial for Ians design work. I have his old one so we are a mac household. Unfortunately the keyboard didn't arrive with it - so a quick trip to Carrefour was required before the new mean machine became usable.

New Year - new projects: Bellaonline Crochet more information than you ever wanted to know about crochet and not forgetting 10,000 Great Ideas.