Lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Yes, the song sung by Nat King Cole that I remember so vividly from my childhood. His voice, so easy, so hypnotic and smooth was one that my father, in particular, loved to listen to. My dad was not musical but I have two clear memories that relate him to the music he obviously loved and that we often heard at home when I was young - up to me being about 8, after which the fish and chip shop they bought and worked in wore my parents out to a frazzle and left them little time for listening.

The first of these memories is the singing of Nat King Cole. We had only a couple of his records but they were played a lot and I knew them all. At the time, I wasn't a fan of any of them, apart from the title of this post - which I thought was great fun and I loved those three rhyming words - lazy, hazy and crazy. The second memory is his love of Mario Lanza and his permanent regret that he missed going to a concert by him as he had an ear infection. I've done a bit of research and I think this must have been the concert in Sheffield in 1957. It would have been amazing and most memorable, I am sure. However, I never really grew very attached to this voice, although his power is undeniable.

Nat King Cole, however, has, in the intervening years, become utterly irresistible for me and I love just about everything he sings.

All this is totally irrelevant preamble - because this is my blog - to sharing a few photos and thoughts from our home and lives during these incredibly hot weeks we've been having. I know it hasn't been the same everywhere - some of you have been feeling damp or chilly at times - but it's been so very hot here for so long that I cannot remember what it's like to get up and not see bright blue sky and know that the temperature is going to be well into the 30s.

So - what do we do all day? Well, I have had a couple of weeks where I've been up early and off to work before the sun really starts to hit. It's been fantastic to arrive home and have a dip in the pool - even the little plastic one that we are still using. But the afternoons are when we have to have all the windows closed to keep the sun out, stay as cool as possible indoors and basically wait until around 7 or 8pm before we can start to do anything useful.... Afternoons here in Andalucia are for eating a very late lunch, watching silly films, having a siesta and probably doing some drawing.

Here are some of my Mandala/Zendalas - apologies if you've already seen these posted on Facebook but on here for posterity, or as long as there's a web and because I scanned some of them so the colours are truer to real life. A mandala is a circular drawing, often done in sand or rice, the process of creating it is partly spiritual and partly meditative. A Zendala is a combination of the circular format and the use of specific Zentangle patterns. I am absolutely hooked on creating these at the moment and can confirm that they really do focus the mind and help relaxation and concentration.

I had to laugh recently as I have another blog, Annie's Tangles, where I usually post all my drawings, Zentangles and challenge entries. I had a comment left on one of my posts from a blogging friend from this blog, who'd popped over for a look. I laughed because she said she thought I was speaking a strange language and was there a glossary? And looking at my other blog from a non-tangling point of view, I absolutely understand how she might have wondered what on earth we were all on about! Annie, for your information, it definitely takes a while to get to know all the right words, descriptions and technical terms...but hope you liked what you saw!

This was the first one I did and it took me ages because my usual pens didn't like drawing on top of the acrylic paint. I also wasn't sure what to do about the bit of canvas that the zendala didn't 'fit' - it being round and the canvas being rectangle. I decided to leave it as it was.

Then I found a canvas that I'd had for a while that was square. It is actually quite white in real life but as the canvas is 50 by 50cms it was too big to go in the scanner, so this is a photograph, done without any real photographic help - ie. taken on my phone in the kitchen! I also tried using a permanent marker, rather than my special Zentangle pens, plus white and gold gel pens . It is very finely detailed and quite pretty, I think.

Then I went and bought a couple of smaller canvases - 20 by 20cms - and prepainted them and I got on quite a roll....

I ran it through a Photo Editing programme to put the frame round it - but the scanner reproduced the colours really well - this is pretty much how it looks. What has impressed me is that I started with just three concentric circles in yellow, green and blue. The patterning makes it look more complicated than it really is. 

In this one, I painted and blended related colours - yellow/orange, yellow/green, green/blue, blue/red and red/orange on the canvas to begin with. Then I added a Zentangle 'frame' which you can see around the edge before doing a Zendala starting from the middle and moving outwards. 

And then, utterly inspired by colour, I decided to add some to a tangle I did quite a while ago, just for practice. Here it is in a photo edited frame. I have decided to go and get them framed in town and then I shall put them somewhere in my bedroom and enjoy looking at them.

OK - enough about drawing, painting and Zentangle....or is it????

There are three of mine just about visible in the sea...

Last week, we went to the beach for the day - all together - and decided to go left at the coast, rather than the usual right. We ended up in a lovely place called Calahonda - or rather a little area just before Calahonda called, very appropriately, La Perla de Andalucia - where the beach was clean and long and quiet and the sea was divine.

We wanted a pebbly beach as we had a plan....and the pebbles were spectacular - smooth, round, lots of white ones, lots of sparkly ones. Perfect pebbles.


I had a couple of pens with me, of course, and so now, someone sometime will probably find a smooth, round Zentangled pebble!

During the course of the day, we gathered three big bags of pebbles to put in the garden. However, when we got home and unloaded them, we only filled a quarter of the space - so we have to go back at least another three times!

And after a day on the beach, what did our children do when they got home? Went in the pool! I swear they'll grow fins and flippers before long.....

And our garden? We're definitely learning to live with the ugly floor. We have to, so we are doing. I bought some little mosaic solar lights and love them so much that each evening, at about 9.45, I go outside to count them all as they light up.

A close up of the colours and patterns - bought from Amazon, of course - and Amazon UK at that. How can it be that they are cheaper and the postage is less from there than buying them from Amazon Spain?? And not a bit less but a lot less!

I have them lined up along the terrace and also all around the curved part opposite and they do look lovely, although difficult to photograph with my phone. I may try and get some better shots with my proper camera - if I can remember how to use that... I'm very out of practice.

A few people around, 
but a quiet Paseo de los Alamos.

Did I say 'lazy'? Well, a bit of that, but quite a lot of 'crazy' too. We've had visits and sleepovers and Etnosur in the past couple of weeks. Etnosur, a big music festival held every year in Alcala la Real, seemed more subdued this year. Many local residents leave the town during this weekend but many others have opened their doors in the morning to find someone asleep  or cooking their breakfast on the doorstep...and perhaps have got a bit fed up of finding evidence of a lack of toilet facilities outside the houses. For the first time this year, a lot of wire fencing went up to protect park areas and streets from the visitors who come in camper vans or on the bus and doss down anywhere. They have been directed to designated parts of the town instead - but on the morning and evening when I went into town, the places that are usually packed with people, were very empty.

The shops and stalls around the edge of the park were also fewer than usual and without much custom.

The fountain is always a fun place to go
 and these are not locals, but there aren't many there.

The music was apparently quite good. Mateo went on Saturday night and was out all night. He said there was a real mixture of styles, including rock and African and he enjoyed it. However, we got there at about 2am, with Romy, Ruy, Jasmine and Isabel and there was some really awful music that we didn't like at all. This year, as usual, on the Friday night, we'd heard the distant sound of music in Villalobos. But the organisers had changed to position of the stage to face away from the town, instead of towards it and I was amazed as we walked down from the Paseo de los Alamos, at the top end of town, to the stage area as we simply couldn't hear anything at all! It must be such a relief for the local residents - it's one thing to have a free concert in town, but to not get away from it is quite stressful. I couldn't believe the difference it made. Wonder why it has taken 18 years for someone to think of this solution?

And so the summer continues and the 'hazy' comes from the rolling of one day into the next and then one week into the next. The children have already had one month of holiday - another six weeks to go. There are plans, not quite in place but in mind, to send the children up to their grandparents in Valladolid at the beginning of August, but first, there's the Medieval Festival at La Mota, here in Alcala this weekend and this year, our neighbour, Sergio, has succeeded in convincing the local council that an Archery competition is just what is needed to add authenticity to the event. So he and Ruy will be donning their costumes and taking on all comers...although actually, I have no idea what is planned. Maybe it will be a proper competition and maybe it will be the chance for visitors to fire a few arrows themselves. I will report back! Should be fun either way. Do come along if you're in the area, won't you? There is always some good fun activities for the children - last year organised by a friend of ours - and the food is excellent. And there could hardly be a better setting than the wonderful fortress castle in our historic town.  If you go in costume, it's free entry too!

A photo taken from a previous event that I found on the internet.

So - lazy, hazy or crazy - we definitely feel like it's summer at the moment.
What's the weather like where you are?

In lieu of autumn...

I may have mentioned how cold I felt whilst I was back in England in my last post, but I was conscious (when the mist and fog lifted) of a wealth of beautiful autumnal colours in the surrounding countryside. Being back home again (said so easily - this really is my home now) the weather has definitely changed from successive warm and sunny days to a noticeable nip in the air from early evening through until the sun is fully risen. We've had a few days of damp drizzle too. The colours are different though.

Surrounded as we are by olive groves, whose colour - a lovely soft, silvery green - is pretty constant all year round, I have already realised in previous years, that autumn is not much more than the name of the season - it doesn't conjure up rich reds, yellows and oranges, nor crispy piles of fallen leaves (there are some...don't let me overstate this) nor the promise of Bonfire Night coming soon. And whilst the schools do now talk about Halloween and the shops are trying to make us buy costumes, maps and bags of sweets, here, it's All Saints' Day that is really celebrated and florists work hard to supply bouquets for families to take to their dear departed ones.

Having a place on the land this year, we might be tempted to have a bonfire on 5th November with some homemade toffee, some parkin  (a traditional Yorkshire cake made with ginger and treacle...) and maybe baked potatoes - and marshmallows to roast. It won't be the same without sparklers and Roman Candles and Catherine Wheels....I used to so love Bonfire - or Plot - Night as we used to call it. Anyone not entirely familiar with this will have to wait til next week when I shall write a bit more about it all. (You'll have to wait because I shall have to check out a few facts before I start with 'A few hundred years or so ago...')

This week has seen me walking more. I used to walk a good hour and a half a day - though not all in one go - when we lived in the Calle Bolivia. Now, I hardly walk anywhere even though I rarely sit down. It's obviously not quite the same and my waistline - well, it's disappeared is what it's done! So, whilst at my sister's, I plotted a couple of circular walks that I can do. So far, when I have taken Darwin out for a walk, we've gone for about 20 minutes or so in one direction, then turned round and come back and I don't like doing that. On Monday, we did a 5.8km route along the river towards La Pedriza, across the bridge before arriving home on the other side of the river. And we did it again today.
And today, it was really hot! I was quite sweaty when I returned and really felt as though I'd been exercising - Darwin made a dash for his water as I opened the gate! I only had my phone with me, but want to share some of my photos of Andalucia in the autumn.

A bit blurry, but blue skies and empty fields

Trees following the river and a big, ploughed empty field in front

Lots of green still...and blue...
and the blurry bit in the foreground is yellowy, frondy asparagus

Again, rather blurred...but this may just shows signs of autumn next time I pass...

I have noticed some lovely posts on some of my favourite blogs about autumn - how is it looking where you are?

News from my small blogging world

Blogging has increased my circle of friends in a wonderful way. Today, I want to say a special hello to Perpetua, who I know is becoming rather nervous about an approaching eye operation. It's not a little thing to have to face but I know there are so very many people thinking about you, Perpetua, and hoping that all goes smoothly for you. Those nerves won't go away, I know, but at least it will very soon be all done. You are in a lot of people's thoughts right now.

Gaynor, I'm still waiting to hear back from the Notaire in Tournon St. Martin as I start formal proceedings to sort out my house in Lurais. I just wanted to say a huge thank you for making the trip out to Les Basses Granges to check out the state of the property these days. It amused me greatly that you and Tim and your friend were on that little lane leading up to my house there and was delighted with the photos you took, especially to see the little shrine infront of the house again! It was absolutely above and beyond the call of a blogging 'contact' to do this for me but I feel it was done out of genuine friendship and I'm so grateful. Did Tom receive his birthday cake in Japan?

And in just about a week's time, I shall be waiting for the phone call from Janice (not in Caunes at the time of calling, I hope!) and Mark to say that they have made the long drive down and have arrived safely in Alcala la Real. I know they've had a busy few days - a new grandson made an appearance a couple of weeks early - and so, before setting off to Spain, they flew back to the UK to visit him. He hasn't made it onto the blog yet, but I've seen a few beautiful photos posted on Facebook, so I know he's absolutely gorgeous and worth the trip back to see.

I understand Janice has a friend who lives just north of Valencia, whom she and Mark will be visiting before heading south. She only just missed the opportunity to visit Helen, of Venomous Bead blogging fame, who has a house nearby but who has now returned to Costa Rica. That would have been excellent fun - except I would have been dreadfully envious - how I'd love to spend some time with Helen - and it would have made the wait for her to arrive seem almost unbearable!

Not much more than a year ago, Janice and I decided that at some point in 2013, we must meet up. After working in the same local authority for many years, it's been blogging, not working that seems to have brought us really close and in tune with each other. Our work circles didn't overlap that much which in retrospect seems such a shame. We had much greater opportunities to get together in the past. It's not quite so easy now. And Janice has had quite a year. Those of you who have followed her journey through illness and recovery must agree that she has been absolutely incredible throughout. I have said it before, but I am filled with admiration for her approach.

We met at Christmas when I came back to spend a few days with family. It was a very special hug we shared - if ever a hug spoke words, that one did. For my part, it was a 'thank goodness; you're doing so well...now be brave and strong and get completely better' sort of hug. And now for that meet up! Hurray!!

And now she is and will be here in just a few days time. I'm pretty sure we'll be sharing our days together with those of you who are our shared blogging pals...who will be next for a meet up??

See you soon!
Axxx

Yarn bombing

Google 'Yarn Bombing' and you will be amazed at the fantastic examples of this community art form - also known as guerilla knitting, graffiti knitting or yarnstorming. It began in the early 2000s and was originally focused on making sterile public places look a little more homely and warm - 'leg warmers' for telegraph poles and 'tea cosies' for telephone boxes...that sort of thing. Then it blossomed into more extravagant examples of really rather wonderful knitting - with cars, statues and even tanks being given the woollen treatment.

Catching up with Mia, an old blogging friend recently, I found something that delighted me. She had been to visit her parents near Saltburn by the Sea earlier in the year and was lucky enough to see some fantastic yarn bombing along the pier - on an Olympic theme. I think it made the news in the UK at the time but I really think I'd like to share it again here for those of us that missed it.

All photographs are taken from the Telegraph who ran a photo article at the time - there are more photos here and I urge you to look at them and appreciate the subtle humour as well as skill that runs through the little creations. Love it!

Possibly my favourite!

The jolly green gymnast

Inclusive of paralymics

Not sure this is the best position for weightlifting...

Do you think they'll remember this?

Just wanted to share - made me smile so much. Thank you Mia! Well done mystery knitter.

Magic, maths and colour

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow blogger had a 'ta-dah' post. The post had the most wonderful title of 'The Cloak of Outrageous Power' - and I whizzed over to have a read straightaway.

I was more than a bit wowed by her creation. A rainbow realta of a blanket. She said I could share one of her pictures here on my blog - so here it is, modelled by Allyson herself - though the blanket is for a friend, one very lucky friend I would say.

It was not long after I read this that my mind started wandering off towards entropy and fractals and I am sure the complexity of Allyson's cloak had something to do with it.

I was equally fascinated by her latest post, in which she confesses that the arrangement of her crocheted octagons was less than random - indeed, it would appear that a fairly sophisticated mathematical approach was taken both in the creation of the octagons and in the positioning for sewing up.

I found it most interesting and also loved the opportunity to see a few more photographs of a very beautiful blanket in its new home - looks just right.

Read the creation post here and the science behind its creation here. Well done Allyson!

A rainbow for Annie

There is a lovely blogger called Annie, who I have followed for some time but have missed her recent posts as I've been so busy.  She has recently found out that she has breast cancer and is currently in hospital.  Her bloggy friends have all painted their toes in rainbow colours for her.  Some of them are here:

Annie at Knitsofacto

Anna at Shiny Happy Art
Carmel at Make Mine Mid-century, and another very funny one.
Justine at I found you just in time
Rachel at Happy Panda
Mel at Coal Valley View
Marjan at Cow Road
Sonia at Raine and Sage
Fiona at Cattle, Kids and Chaos
Emma at Frog, Goose & Bear
Jo at Daiseylea
A Farmer's Wife at Life in the Country

As I only read about this just now and don't have any nail polish in the house, I didn't want to lose any time in sending her my positive thoughts. I will be out to buy nail polish tomorrow and will paint my toes and Romy's - and the boys' too if they'll let me - to show whatever support I can to this very special person.  

By word of blog and colour of toe, let's send her lots of love.

Acceptance Speech

I've just been listening to the the radio via the internet - Radio 4, one of the few English things we really do miss, especially lying in bed either late at night or early in the morning. We were talking about this the other day and Cesar had the excellent idea of setting the laptop up on the bedside table next to him just for this purpose - still to be put into practice - I'll remind him when he's finished vacuuming. (Wish he'd hurry up, I can't hear the radio!)

The Golden Globes. I am going to state here how much I dislike Ricky Gervais - not even going to give him a link - always did  and always will. That he hosted the Golden Globes again bothers me not in the least because I couldn't give a hoot for the Golden Globes either! Ha!


This post is nothing whatsoever to do with either the Golden Globes (despite having mentioned it four times now..) but is about making my own 'acceptance speech' for an award that I have been given by the lovely Ayak, over on Ayak's Turkish Delight. Thank you Ayak!

Unlike some awards, this one doesn't require me to tell you anything; no little fetishes, no quirks or strange habits I might consider I have - nothing (- so I shall have to find another excuse of my own to do that!) I have only to accept it, which I do most graciously, and to pass on the award to five of my favourite blogs that you might not know about yet. There is only one requirement which has required a little research on my part.
I am delighted to have 35 followers, some I know personally, some I have come to know as fellow bloggers and some I have no real knowledge of at all - thank you all! For this award, only blogs with less than 200 followers are eligible. A lot of the blogs I read regularly fall into this category and I have, in the past, nominated them for one of the two other awards that I have been given. I would love to renominate them all again this time round but I think it would be more in the spirit of the award to nominate another five blogs.

So, I would love you to pop over sometime and enjoy the words and pictures to be found on the following blogs:
Janice in Caunes - a personal favourite as I know Janice from a previous existence. I was delighted that she was bitten by the blogging bug at an exciting time in her life as she and her husband, Mark, begin a balancing act between their two homes - one in southern France, the other in northern England.

The House - I found this blog early on in my blogging period, whilst we were still looking for a house in the north of Spain. This is a 'warts and all' account of what it has been like for one blogger - really honest, often comical, often quite scary, very personal - and I just love how she writes, which is very much for herself, I think and very unsentimental.

A Life More Ordinary - I may have mentioned that I like knitting. I read quite a lot of knitting and crochet blogs - it's amazing how many people who knit and crochet also blog - in fact, I think there could be a significant correlation between the two and I may well investigate this one day. When I first read her blog, I could have sworn that Allyson was based in England, probably just round the corner from my sister - but no - I think she's in Australia. The world feels very small sometimes and Allyson feel very near. One of the reasons I love blogging!

Knitsofacto - this is not only a fellow blogger and fellow knitter (though in a league way, way beyond me) but also a fellow Annie. I love Annie's words and pictures and I love how she has set her blog out - with the Coffeehouse a place to visit to read her own favourite blogs. It's a lovely idea from a very creative and talented lady. And she actually does live just round the corner (well, comparatively!) from my sister and would have waved to me had she known I was recently visiting Chester Zoo. I like that too!

And finally, my wildcard - Cojones del dia - which I guess will translate as 'Balls of the day'. This is not someone who blogs regularly, more the shame, but whose blog has made me laugh out loud, appealing as it does to my northern sense of humour. It is three months since the last entry, so perhaps if you visit and enjoy, perhaps this comic will write a bit more often - he has a way with words that really does remind me of people at home in Yorkshire!

And there we have it. Thank you Ayak; thank you readers; that is all my acceptance speech needs to include.

I hope you enjoy my choices and that they in turn will help to keep that world wide web spinning so beautifully.

The Versatile Blogger

Oh joy of joys! I've been nominated for something I confess to hankering after for a while now - a Versatile Blogger Award!! 

Thank you, Perpetua for this lovely nomination - I am so pleased you thought of me. Perpetua is that most wonderful of bloggers who makes you really feel you know her - through her posts, her comments and her responses to comments left for her. She makes the world wide web vibrate in a delightful way and some of her beautifully written posts have moved me intensely and deeply as well as made me laugh and chuckle, in the same way I do when talking to a close friend.

Those nominated have to tell you five quirky things about themselves and then pass the award on to five more bloggers, so that's what I'll do!

Except, of course, it's not so easy to pick just five blogs. I have thought long and hard and whilst I could have made a very long list of very versatile (and quirky) blogs because those are exactly the sort I love to read, this is my choice today.

My name is Kirsten not Kristen -  Kirsten takes the most wonderful pictures and has a fantastic eye for detail. I can't remember who we found each other but we enjoy each other's blogs and share a sense of humour (though not the spelling!) and make each other laugh.


Avoid the jellyfish - who wouldn't want to read a blog with this title!? Even better that it's written by my quirky friend, Celia. A beautiful mix of atmospheric Scottish views, memories of childhood in Ireland, random thoughts and stories of family - all from a lovely person.


The Doll House - Anna, who is English and lives in Norway, lives in a gorgeous house from which she posts gorgeous pictures with gorgeous words, with enviable elegance. I sometimes visit her to find a little calm and tranquility when things get a little chaotic here. It always helps.


A Quiet Corner - Karen is another blogger with whom I find I have a lot in common. I love how she writes, her joy in her surroundings and all the things that happen to her and her family - I feel that if we'd ever met, we'd be friends and I find that very comforting! 


And the hardest of all is who to put in the spot that's left. Or rather, who to leave out. I would love to include everyone on my blog list - and even that's not everyone I would really like to include! However, my final choice today is ..


Imagination-Chariot - a blog I have only recently discovered and which is absolutely fascinating. Hita is an inspired artist who now lives in southern France and she tells wonderful tales with beautiful illustrations as well as showing glimpses into the lovely region where she's made her home.  There is such a strong sense of creativity in her posts, her art and her photographs and I am always delighted to visit her blog. 


There - I've really enjoyed that bit, apart from the people I didn't include. Now for the hard bit.


After the initial excitement at having this super (and coverted) award, I began to realise the difficulty of identifying five quirky things about myself. 

I lay awake last night (honestly) thinking what was quirky about me and whilst I could possibly describe myself as a 'quirk' (even though I don't really know what one is) I can't think of quirky things about me. 

So this morning, I googled 'quirky' and read up on what it might mean to see if this helped me identify any particular habits or mannerisms I have that could be described as such.  Nothing much helped as I really do think that the quirk is in the eye of the beholder, though Wikipedia suggests that quirkiness could be synonymous with eccentricity and that sort of helps. 

I also like Harriet Beecher Stowe's comment that "every man had his own quirks and twists".

So on that basis, my quirks are:


i) I have a bit of a phobia about ...damn it... have to say it... lolly sticks.  So bad it is sometimes that I have insisted that a complete stranger throw away their stick quickly once they'd finished eating the lolly. I just can't bear it if I can see someone with one in their mouth.
 

ii) Plastic carrier bags - I can't throw them away. A long time ago, probably about 25 years ago, I lived in denial about this particular quirk; I used to stuff the bags out of sight, usually down the back of radiators until my partner at the time found them and decorated the whole house with what he'd found. I came home one day and there must have been about 200+ of them hanging from the light fittings, dangling from the banister, draped around the furniture... it sort of brought the problem into the light and from then on, I've had a special dispenser/container bought from IKEA which keeps them (and me) under control. And of course, since then, this particular problem has been addressed by the government - who now legally prohibit the mindless pushing of these addictive items by shops and supermarkets. This has helped me enormously and I'm grateful for the now international programme of support.

iii) A proper coffee every morning. Not sure if this is a quirk or a necessity but mine must be drunk with due reverence and preferably in solitude.

iv) Whilst in some of my earlier posts, I have mentioned that I am not a completer/finisher, I didn't quite give the full picture. (Ah, I wonder why that was?) I have a bit of an aversion to perfection (or aiming for it myself) and I think for this reason, I have the quirky habit (one could call it something else, but I call it a quirk) of always leaving something when I do the washing up. As with the plastic bags, it started off unconsciously but when it was pointed out, I realised I finished one bout of washing up by preparing for the next one - setting a teaspoon or a cup aside for the next time. Washing up is like that - it never ends so I don't like to pretend it does.

 

v) My final quirk borders on a confession and I hesitate before sharing it with 'the world' but what the hell. I hate wearing tights under a dress or skirt. I wear boots as soon as the clocks go back and as long as there's only a minimal gap between hem and boot, I don't bother with tights. That's not the quirk. The quirk is that I wear odd socks under my boots - always.  Not pretty; but I get a strange pleasure in knowing that everything looks quite normal on the outside but things are a little quirky 'underneath'.

And this is an analogy for how I look at life in general and why certain blogs appeal so much - because I know I'm not alone. I look forward to hearing how my nominees express their quirkiness.

 

A year of blogging

Today is the first anniversary of my little blog.
I really never dreamed - when I took my first scary and hesitant step into the world of blogging - that it would come to mean so much to me and become such an integral part of my life in the way it has.
I do believe it has made me watch and listen to the world more closely and to hear and see things that I might otherwise miss or ignore. Whilst most of what I write is about me, my family and what we are doing, I am conscious that every experience we encounter is potential blogging material. The children often say "will you put that on your blog" if someone does or says something they find amusing or interesting so I know they are conscious of our little patch of cyberspace. And whilst initially very sceptical about the process and the product, Cesar is warming to the concept and has even suggested a couple of subjects for me to include.

Yes, the blog is part of our lives.

But it has a life of its own too because it changes and grows - it really does feel like a thing alive. Each time I open it up, I can be surprised, delighted, amused and heartened by things I didn't write. I suspect this feeling will never dull.  I read a lot of other blogs and without doubt, it is the comments that others leave that makes blogging so very special and exciting. Contrast my initial fear of being read when I first published a post, compared to how I feel now, when I check my statistics and see that as well as the readers (who are people I know) in the UK, the States, Australia and Spain, I now have readers I don't know - also in the these countries - but in countries as far away as Iran, Costa Rica, New Zealand and China, to name but a few. It really is quite mind-blowing!

And I am loving it!! It's wonderful to me - to us as a family, to my family back in England and to my close friends who want to know what we are doing - to be able to keep a record of our daily life, our big move, how we are coping with the decisions we make; to have lovely photos of all the places we've been able to visit and to have a 'place' to come when I want a bit of time to myself. All of these things would be a good enough reason to have a blog. But to have readers as well, who talk back to me, who also blog - and write wonderful, funny, sad, interesting, philosophical or just plain dippy things in their own blogs - who visit regularly... well, I guess bloggers - certainly the ones I have 'met' - are special people. All the blogs I follow are written by people who like to communicate, who see things in the world in a way that casts a new and brighter light on them, who like to share.

I was going to write about the history of blogging but it's really boring! I'll simply tell you that it started around 1997 - with the term 'weblog', which in 1999 was written thus: 'we blog' and from there, just 'blog'. In February of this year, there were around 156 million public blogs according to Blog Pulse. (Only go here if you are seriously interested in blog stats!) We do indeed blog!

I crave really appreciate your comments; I desire your readership; I welcome your advice; I want to know about your blogs. Let's hear it for blogging!

Hip, Hip, Hurray!!

Labels: retired, expat

The other day, I created a link to another website where I was asked to 'label' my blog. Amongst other things, I found I had put 'retired' and 'expat' and it made me think....


A day in the life of a retired expat.

7.45am - never an early riser, I get up after Cesar and Mateo to get the two younger ones up and ready for school
8.50am - kids washed dressed, fed, packed for school, kissed and waved off. Cesar does the morning school walk so I have half an hour to dress, have coffee and read my emails.
10.00am - leave home with a book Romy left on breakfast table. Off to my Spanish conversation class.
10.15am - deliver said book to classroom, trying not to disturb ongoing lesson...but am welcomed in and Romy called over to kiss me before I eventually extricate myself. On leaving the school grounds, hear my name called and see two of my language school pupils waving at me. Wave back and say 'hello' .. and 'hola'!
Listen out for snippets of conversation that I hear as I walk along. Pick up a few really good comments to share with my group.
10.35am - arrive at Conexiones to meet my Wednesday expat group for a Spanish conversation classes. I am the teacher!  Everyone has tried Spanish lessons but found they got bogged down in verbs and grammar, so I'm teaching them the sort of things that they hear on a daily basis, explaining how to listen for 'gist' and helping them to say things in a Spanish way, rather than just translating English words in an English way.
11.00pm - start class minus two members - one having a mammogram and one returned to England for a period - and go over the basics again. This helps to build up confidence and to improve pronunciation. Every week, I add words and phrases - this week concentrating on phrases that will allow continued conversation, rather than simple answers. They are pleased with their progress using this method and tell me of their little (and sometimes big) linguistic successes from the previous week. I am delighted.
12.10pm - class ends, having overrun a bit. Bump into a (Spanish) friend, (Toñi, from the estate agents, who is now definitely in 'friend' category) on way home and stop for a chat. Invite her and her son for supper next week. She says they'd love to come. Wonder what to feed them as I walk back home.
12.30pm - arrive home and help Cesar bring chest of drawers in from car, which he brought back from recent trip to parents' house. Move bedroom furniture around in children's bedroom then and start to put their clothes away.
1.15pm - Put leg of lamb in oven - gift from my in-laws - nice for lunch! Nip to the supermarket in our street to buy some potatoes and onions
1.45pm - walk to school to meet children. See more pupils from language school who almost fall over trying to get my attention. Romy very happy because tomorrow her class is going to the theatre to see 'Where the Wild Things Are'.  The sun is shining and La Mota looks wonderful today - we all comment on it.
2.15pm - return home and prepare lunch - lamb smells divine - we wait for Teo to arrive at 3.15 before we eat. The lamb is delicious. No time for siesta for me...
3.40pm - back to Conexiones  - an English conversation class with Spanish people this time. I get them to say difficult words like 'crisps', 'wasps' and 'unbelievable' - really funny! We visit the English food store in the centre and talk about the different foodstuffs there - like piccalilli, mincemeat and peanut butter. Elena buys peanut butter - she liked the sound of it. We also try some white stilton with mango and ginger - Rafael loved it and bought some; he's a chef and thinks most Spaniards don't have very cosmopolitan tastebuds...he has a point. The hour flies by with much laughter and exchanges of questions, information and knowledge - I really enjoy this class.
5.30pm - back home to take Ruy to his friend's house to do a homework project. Hear my name in the street and see more pupils from the language school waving at me. Later on, he learns a piece on the recorder and practices diligently - his first piece! Romy does her maths and is then really excited to discover Cesar has brought 'Winnie the Witch' back with him and reads it to us beautifully. Mateo studies for his music test tomorrow.
8.30pm - pasta supper for the children then start to get them ready for bed. Ruy seems glued to his recorder and is playing with a very nice tone. Mateo stays up to watch a documentary.
10.00pm - all children in bed, if not yet asleep. Cesar and I sit down to watch a film (in English)

Is this a typical day? Well, with young children in the family, many days disappear in a blur of getting out of bed, getting ready, preparing food and eating, washing (!) and washing up, doing homework and finding time to play, reading and going to bed again. Nothing to do with being retired or being an expat or living in a different country - but quite simply, a typical day in a family's life. I don't feel retired - not at all - and it was a premature sort of retirement - nor do I feel like an expat as I find speaking Spanish now comes very naturally and I'm not hankering for other Brits to talk to - though nothing will take away the pleasure of chatting in English. However, I have discovered a site that provides links to many expat blogs and find we are a very varied and interesting group on the whole. I've really enjoyed reading some of them and will continue to do so.

How my life has really changed is that everyday, I am meeting new people, pushing my language skills further - in both Spanish and English  - working on improving communication with others. I am finding this a very exciting challenge, much more so than I had imagined when we set off on this journey. Add to 'day in the life' the task of looking for (should that be finding) a new home, making where we are as home-like as possible, keeping in touch with friends and family, lots of walking up hills and you get a better picture of what it's like for this retired expat living here in Alcalá la Real.

Must find some new labels!

Use of '''s ( or should that be ''''s?)

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NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

This year, I promise I will try and (to?) be more accurate in my use of the apostrophe in 'it's' and 'its'.

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I do know that it's is only ever used as a contraction of 'it is' but I have just reread (re-read?) one of my blog entries and I have found - shock, horror - that I used 'it's' as a possessive pronoun. I am so ashamed and so very sorry to those of you who have winced on seeing it. How many more entries have been published with the same mistake??

I have spent hours trying to drum this particular rule of the English Language into Mateo. Even his Spanish English teacher has had to remind him about the Saxon Genetive ....though I admit until we came to Spain, I didn't know Saxon Genetive was the formal description for the rule.

All the more reason to get it right in future - every time I am tempted to write 'it's', I will think...hmmm... 'Saxon Genetive' or 'contraction'? .. and will try to (and?) make sure I make the right choice.

I probably need to edit my posts more carefully - or rather, I actually do need to edit my posts before publishing - but, you know, I think that might stilt my flow - and that would never do.  So I offer my apologies for mistakes already made and I promise to try and avoid the same ones in future.

(I'm off now to see if any of my fellow bloggers mistake their saxon genetives for contractions from time to time.)

The small world of bloggers.

I am feeling so jolly pleased that I started a blog.  I began in April this year following the big decision to leave work early and 'retire' (such an inappropriate word for what I did) and for about a month, I didn't dare go public. I really wanted to write an online 'diary' designed for others to read - anywhere in the world - but when it came to it I was afraid of sharing it; it felt silly somehow to publish my thoughts; and worse - someone I KNEW might read it! Heavens, it was such a nervous moment when I eventually took the plunge and pressed the buttons to share. I think I only did it because a friend had done it as part of 40 things he wanted to do in his 40th year - and we're sort of kindred spirits (eh, Andy) so if he could, I could. And I did!

To start with, I only confessed to a few people and still felt rather embarrassed to think that someone was reading anything that I had written, despite loving the act and art of writing. I think part of the embarrassment is from having kept a diary from the age of 14 to 19 that was very personal and very confessional - I know I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to read any of that. 

But a blog isn't a diary - and that's something I have learned since starting. It's a wonderful communication tool - and it's not just one way. I am starting to get comments on my blogs, which is THE most exciting thing ever. And comments from people I don't even know! And there's a whole community of bloggers out there with similar interests to me, who write about the things and people that are important to them and with whom I feel I share a small part of their lives. And it's because they blog.

And since June, here on 'Blogger', it has been possible to track how many visits I've had and from which countries and it's fascinating! Why, I'm positively famous all over the United States as well as in the UK, Spain and Australia. And now I have had readers from Latvia, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Israel, Russia, Canada, Taiwan and China!! Wow - that's just amazing.

I love stats! I really do - my job prior to my 'retirement' (that word again) was in management information and statistics and I do enjoy poring over the details of my visitors. But I am not an inhuman 'numbers' person - oh no, I like to get to know my numbers personally!  When I worked in a hospital doing various statistical returns such as counting all the different procedures that patients underwent, I noticed one poor man - a heart patient - had gone through more procedures than anyone else and was still on the ward. So I went to visit him. Bless, he was half blind, totally deaf and very, very poorly. He had no clue who I was or why I was there and I couldn't really explain, so I just held his hand for a while and then left again. And when I worked in Education, analysing the results of examinations, I can still remember names and results of individuals (though I confess, only those who did extremely well or those who really did not.)

And whilst I don't know all of my visitors, if you've left me a comment, I will check out your website or find out as much as I can about you. And if you blog, I will follow you (if I like the look of what you write, of course) and then, by looking on my little map, I might be able to imagine when you visited and read my blog. And it makes everyone seem so much closer somehow.

THANKS FOR READING!