Balancing act...

This is a difficult post to write. There are so very many things in the world that are dreadful. So many people in unimaginable situations and the outcome of some of their actions washed pitifully up on the shores of beaches. We are rightly outraged, horrified and terrified by the concept of people taking such desperate measures to get away from their homes.

As the photographs of little Aylan were being published, my family and I were on a different beach, in very different circumstances. I posted a photo on Facebook as we were driving home but I had to take it down again when I saw Aylan's body - the contrast seemed heartless. Like many others, I am hoping that the shocking image will continue to move people to action and that governments acknowledge that we are in a situation that needs a new response. Opinions are polarising and on hearing some of the negative ideas expressed in the media, I have been appalled and disbelieving. Fortunately, there are a lot of people who are doing things to help in big and little ways in many European countries. In posting my photos here today, I am at pains to say how much I recognise the differences in our situations and how I regret so very much that so many are suffering.

And we all have our own trials and tribulations to face and manage even though many of them pale into insignificance in comparison. However, the illness of a loved parent will always loom large in our lives. And right now, my dear, dear father-in-law is facing a gloomy future and probably not very much of a future either. FR went up to visit for a few days earlier this week and spoke to the doctors on Monday, together with his brother. The doctor didn't pull any punches from the sound of things and showed FR the x-rays and the spread of the cancer. The fact is, they are not sure quite how my father-in-law is still walking around, eating and breathing. And the good news is that to see him, he apparently looks quite well - he gets tired quickly and has a nasty night-time cough - but otherwise, he seems fine. We are dreading the day we find out he has pain somewhere...

Anyway, it was a beautiful afternoon and the children and I drove into Granada to meet FR and as we were getting to the end of summer, I decided we should take advantage of being halfway to the coast and that we should spend the rest of the day at our new favourite beach, Calahonda on the Costa Tropical. My plan was decided - collecting more pebbles to paint - and I had little intention of going in the sea. Last time we visited, it was freezing cold and most uninviting. However, when we arrived, Ruy and Romy - always first in - announced it was perfect. So we all swam that afternoon. And it really was glorious.

As well as collecting pebbles, I sat and built a few stone towers in a zen-sort of way. And then the children all joined in and I took some lovely photos of them. So please, enjoy with me, the pleasure of sunshine and stones. They are mindful pictures. We are mindful.

A small tower of balancing stones

Concentration

And more concentration

My various stone towers...

Very satisfying and calming to do

They did this for a good half an hour.....

And then today, FR shared this video with me on Facebook that shows how it's done really....

Please enjoy this - it is something that I find utterly hypnotic and beautiful. He also has a website called Gravity Glue which is worth a visit.

When you find a little time....

Write a post.....

This is the first Sunday in a while that I've had a bit of time. Writing posts during the week is practically impossible nowadays as I am teaching every day, including Saturday morning, and by the time I get home, the computer has been well and truly taken over by one of my three.

Usually, on Sundays, I take Ruy to do archery and have a lovely, leisurely breakfast in a nearby cafe. I suppose I could write my blog then, but it would have to be on my phone and to be honest, this is very difficult. And as I get older and become more a creature of habit, then this time has become my tangling time....I can't imagine not tangling whilst I sip my coffee and crunch on my 'tostada con tomate'.

I'm loving my teaching hours - and now I have plenty - but am very glad to have arranged a week off. I find that I get a lot of energy from the teaching process but when I come home, I find I'm quite drained!  I have recently discovered that my teaching 'technique' has a name - Dogme - which basically allows a conversation to follow in any direction, using the 'journey' as the opportunity for learning. I do usually prepare something for my classes in advance but these are generally things that simply set the ball rolling and I don't feel the need to deliver exactly what I've prepared. This means we often talk about incredibly interesting subjects, even if some of my students find it difficult to express themselves well in English. But they are so keen to try that some learning is absolutely inevitable! And it gives them greater confidence. Even with my basic group, we've covered things like global warming, book and film reviews, solar and nuclear power...in fact, life, the Universe and everything!

Barney is still with us as I write but as it's Easter this week, he may well be missing from our garden by this time next week...

Here he is looking rather majestic, if a little out of focus.

And another of him under his umbrella.

I recently posted a couple of pictures on Facebook and a number of people commented on how big Pip had grown...yes, he's a large dog! He's incredibly handsome and sweet natured but still has a tendency to jump up, particularly at me as he does love me so much. He's fantastic to take on a walk and never goes far from my side, which makes me feel very safe indeed. Here are a couple of him today, hunting a bumble bee in the grass...

And just being handsome in the sunshine.

We have some wonderful blue skies now and the blossom is well and truly out - even on our old and rather unproductive almond tree, seen here. The smell is, of course, wonderful - honeyed and sweet and everywhere. It is a most perfect time of the year.

Tomorrow, we're planning to have a visit to the Sierra Nevada to take advantage of the snow whilst it's still there and the days are warm and pleasant.

And later in the week, I'm hoping to have a trip to the coast, so maybe I'll be able to take photos other than of the sky, Pip and the turkey!

I have no problem whatsoever in the repetition of the days or even my numerous trips in and out of Alcala. I have reached an incredibly settled and happy period of my life and I'm just enjoying each day. Nothing can buy this feeling, I'm sure, and ups and downs do happen, so I don't expect it to last forever.
But be quite sure, my silence in the blogging world is nothing to do with wanting to keep quiet or out of sight. It's a sign that I'm really very busy being here and being happy right now.
(It's almost boring ... but not quite!)

Hoping to get another post in before the Easter weekend and also to start catching up again on all the lovely blogs that I like to follow. Take care everyone and may you have a very happy week - whether busy, sunny or otherwise.

Axxx

Some weeding due...

My blog garden is falling into a state of neglect, I'm afraid. Time for some weeding and pruning, or rather, some devoted attention.

I have hardly blogged this summer and hardly read the blogs of my friends. It's a strange feeling - in June, it seems as though the summer stretches out endlessly ahead and that there'll be time aplenty to do all the things that need to be done or that we want to do. And we do them - without doubt, this summer, we've done lots - but then sneakily, a subtle change comes about.

It starts as soon as the calendar turns to September. We see the odd cloud in the sky for the first time in months. Our evening walks with Pip have to begin earlier and finish before 9 o'clock or we risk being stranded in the dark. The overnight temperature drops low and we have to pull out a fine blanket on the bed for sleeping.

And then school starts and everything changes! No more lazy mornings; now, it's up just as the sun is rising and the air is still very chilly. No more late, late nights when the temperatures drop enough for us to feel able to be active. It's back to work and back to a schedule. And probably no bad thing.

So, to leave my borders tidy and my lawn well mown (figuratively speaking - my 'garden' still has a long way to go before we get to that stage!) I will share some photos from our lovely summer and then I shall start afresh with life as it is in Casa Rosales as we begin the new school term and focus on learning and growing for another year!

Some of our almond harvest

En route to Valladolid

Taking in some amazing scenery on the way!

Something not too nasty in the woodshed...

Cousins' poker school...

And some rain!!

Buying some of the excellent wine from Rueda

And a picnic in our favourite spot above Madrid.

Just back in Andalucia looking for vultures..

A most amazing spot and well worth leaving the motorway for.

Glad to be home again too.

And, back to work!!

For some, it's still back to play though!

Oh, and lots of Zentangle of course!

And a selfie on my new tablet.
Hello!

Hope you've had a good summer too - I shall definitely be reading again soon! 

Axxx

Peaches, pools, tarantulas and thanks.

Just about three years ago, we landed in Spain, having packed up and loaded all our worldly goods at the Huddersfield end and spilled them out into a barn in Leon at the other end. A good third of our possessions are still in that barn - and oh, how we've missed them...(not!)

At least now we have the intention of gathering them up once again so that they can be reunited with the rest of us in our own home. I'm looking forward to doing an impressive car boot sale not long after that!

A quick reflection on the past three years leads me to believe we've settled quite well into our new lives. It has helped that FR is Spanish (even though the locals here are bemused by his accent...it has a bit of Italian, a bit of English and of course, a Castilliano, rather than Andalucian base to it.) It has helped that we have three amazing children who have adjusted, adapted and continued to develop in their own special ways. It has helped having found friends and neighbours who are generous, endearing and welcoming - and who have offered and given us their time and support from the outset.

Having found this lovely house has helped too. That's not to say everything is or has been simple or straightforward - or even easy.

But when friends drop in with a pile of peaches.....

THANK YOU ANTONIO!!!!

And you've 'splashed out' on a bigger and better temporary pool...

What can be more fun than watching your children enjoy it to the full - even when the water is still rather chilly early in the morning!

Various swimming styles...

When you can enjoy these things, then you can just about manage when FR and Mateo find a tarantula* in the garden late at night.

Handsome beast, isn't he? He's REALLY angry and every time we go near, he raises himself up on his legs and acts in a most threatening manner....FR is currently on the phone to the Reptile and Amphibian rescue centre in Alcala la Real to see if they would be able to take him. (I know, he's neither amphibian nor reptile but they take all sorts of things there!) We don't feel inclined to let him out anywhere much closer!!


I said the reflecting would be brief. I still miss friends and family and the easy conversation with lots of people at the same time - I still sometimes feel tongue-tied and unable to express myself in the language of Spain - the former is helped by technology and the latter, well, I can continue to work on it.
And will.

For now, I look forward to what the next three years bring and say a big thank you to everyone who has helped us in the last three!


* We did a bit more research on the spider and it turns out to be a relative of the scary Australian funnel spider - not a tarantula at all. Tarantulas are sweet, furry friends compared to this beasty. The Reptile centre won't take him because he's a protected species so we have to let him out. We may go on a long car ride this afternoon with our new pet safely inside several containers. Who will be brave enough to take the last lid off, I wonder.

Always lovely

As I returned from dropping Ruy and Romy at school this morning, I realised that I was still listening to the same CD as I had been for the past week. And I didn't mind. I was enjoying it as if it were for the first time.
Some things are just like that, don't you think?

It doesn't matter how many times you see, hear, smell, touch or taste them - they are always lovely; always just what you like.

I've made a very small list - because otherwise, I'd be here all morning and there are things to do. These are some of my 'Always lovely' things that are maybe not on everyone's list. (Because some things are undeniably always lovely for most people.)

1. Sting - well, I could listen to him all day and always find something different to hear in his arrangements. I really do think he's an excellent musician and lyricist and he's worked with some of the best around. Here is an smooth jazz version of one of his songs - with saxophonist, Branford Marsalis. Great stuff.





2. Nutmeg - the scent has to be possibly the most exotic, wonderful, sensual, deeply pleasurable and irresistible for me. Oh I do love it! Cinnamon, saffron and Jasmine come a close second - there are some of the same notes in these scents for me - but nutmeg is top of the list! Not a good idea to overdo it though as it can produce unpleasant side-effects...

3. Birdsong. Just about any birdsong is lovely to me apart from cooing woodpigeons. They always sound as though they're complaining and I feel compelled to add words to their complaints - like 'I CAN'T do it, Denise'...or 'Come HERE please, Betty'...over and over. No, not woodpigeons, but having lived in the town for the past two and a half years, I had forgotten how glorious it is to hear birds singing all day (and part of the night now, as we have nightingales!) When we lived in Huddersfield, we had a little wood behind our house, which was full of birds and we loved hearing the  woodpeckers, owls, blackbirds and bluetits. Here in Villalobos, we have SO many that I am still learning which ones they are.

4.Getting into bed when the sheets are newly washed, ironed and crispy cool. Bliss. (And even better if it's someone else who has done the ironing...)

5. Fossils - aren't they always amazing? Not just to think that they come from so long ago but the actual shapes and patterns of things like ammonites... I don't think I shall ever tire of the joy of finding one or the fascination of peering at them embedded in rocks.

6. A fruit I haven't seen on sale here is the lychee but if I saw any, I'd snap them up regardless of cost because I could gorge on lychees all day. They have a flavour like a perfume and an delicious, delicate scent and I can't imagine eating too many! I love the process of peeling them - gently snapping the puckered shell from the super-smooth interior and, the eating over, being left with silky, shiny seeds. How I wish I'd saved a few - maybe I could have grown them for myself...

7. Seahorses! Now I've loved seahorses from being a child. I used to dance a special seahorse dance up and down our lounge when I was about 5 to the second movement of Rimsky Korsakoff's 'Capriccio Espagnole' - a piece that is also always lovely....









And that's my limited little list of always lovely things. It's even been lovely just thinking about them and I am listening to Rimsky Korsakoff now - if you have a few minutes to spare, and if it's only a few seconds, do listen to the clarinet twiddly bit at 7:30 which is a wonderful bit of seahorse stretching if you have that sort of imagination....


Ax

More words...

Courtesy of the Plain English Campaign

Have you noticed a greater intrusion from spammers recently? More is making its way onto my blog, rather than being sidelined by Blogger's excellent 'Spam' detector.  I've got away very lightly compared to some, but it is so annoying when a spam comment gets through.
I shall have to have a dig around to check that I haven't left a crucial box unchecked...






There's a sort of fascination for me in such gobbledegook though; I like to imagine the blog-owner actually typing this stuff into my comment box...

"You actually mаke it appeаr геally easу with youг presentation but I find thiѕ matter to be actually one thing that I feel I'd by no means understand. It seems too complicated and very extensive for me. I am taking a look ahead to your subsequent submit, I'll attemρt tο get the gгasp of it! Take a look at my homepage: "

Almost worthy of a politician!!

It seems like such a lot of trouble to go to to encourage new visitors. Is anyone else vaguely tempted to visit the webpage suggested and leave an equally ridiculous/mysterious/obscure (delete as appropriate or add your own!) message?

Hmmm....just me then?

Words with special powers...

Yes, the Great Wall of China. It's a 'b' word...

Remember Maria in 'The Sound of Music'?

When the going got tough, she thought about her favourite things - seemed to cheer her up no end.

It's a common psychological technique. If you're feeling hot, think about ice-cream and penguins. And if you're cold, think about curry and lying on a beach - or lying on a beach eating curry if that helps. Words, and the images they conjure up are very powerful, are they not?

It also is said to help that if you're a bit down,  you should think about the highs of your life. I hasten to add that at this moment in time, I'm not down - no, this springs in a roundabout sort of way from some discussions with my students. We've been talking about about opposites and attraction and about happy holidays and miserable times. It's been really good fun. Not only have we shared some pretty silly stories but we've really talked, really started to use the English language - and the thing that generated the most conversation was talking about our phobias;  how we enjoyed talking about the things we DIDN'T like.

I don't intend divulging any of their secrets - we did find out some rather strange things about some people - but I was put in mind of some of the non-verbal language that came out on the day...you know, shudders and lip-curls and a waving-of-hands-in-horror sort of thing - when I said a word to FR.

Innocently. I had no idea of the effect it would have on him.

I said I would be loathe to do something. That's all. And at the word 'loathe' he started twitching and said he really didn't like that word...and then as it took hold of his brain, he started shaking his hands and feet and saying 'eurgh' and 'aargh' and 'yuk' and other such sounds of disgust. He stood up and paced back and forth in obvious distress. I was utterly amazed - I don't think I've ever seen such a violent reaction to a word in anyone before.

Other than in myself...

When I was 10, my teacher, a keen musician, had us sing songs on a Friday afternoon. One of the songs, which was written on a huge piece of card high on the classroom wall, THANKFULLY behind my back where I couldn't see it on a daily basis, had a most beautiful tune, one that could send shivers down my spine. However, it contained a word I could not bring myself to say and one that, as we approached it in the song, brought different shivers to my young body. Those of fear and (dare I say it) loathing! The song was 'God Bless the Prince of Wales' - yes, rather an odd choice, I admit but I suspect the teacher liked the tune. The word....well, I think I can tell you ...bulwarks.  There, said it. (Wrote it - easier!) Part of the problem was I didn't know what it meant - and olive branches twined round them - but I thought it was such an ugly and unpleasant word. I never, in all the times we had to sing it, managed to include that word in my own rendition and was always mightily glad when we'd got safely past it. The Great Wall of China is one. Ships have them too, apparently...


I felt equally strongly about the word 'Bletchley' - what a horrid name for any place. However, unlike the other 'b' word, which I couldn't bring myself to say then and still don't like to now, I took great delight in saying 'Bletchley' in an exaggeratedly disgusting way when younger. I don't say it too often these days but if I did, I know I would make the place sound very ugly. It may be a nice place, I don't know. I shall never, ever go anywhere near it. Sounds like a word being vomited to me.
Interesting then, that Bletchley Park, a lovely old house, was the focus for so much work on words and letters and the very special power and information contained therein - in code of course!

And a word that I used as a teenager to cheer myself up - glum! I found if I said 'glum' often enough, it would make me laugh. There's something very comic about it. Glum, glum, glum...still makes me smile!

I must also share an image that has been with me since I was about eight years old when I enjoyed reading the stories of Tove Jansson - 'The Finn Family Moomintroll'. In fact, I still love these stories and if you've never read them, do try and get hold of a copy. They're beautifully written and highly inventive, full of the most wonderful characters - my favourite was the miserable old Hemulen, who always wore his aunt's dress and collected stamps - (and I always suspected that I WAS Little My, the Mymble's daughter...her glare was the one my mother used to plead with me not to use on people.)

In one of the stories, Moomintroll has found the Hobgoblin's magic hat and discovered that anything put inside the hat is transformed. Egg shells turn into clouds that can be ridden around the house, for example. That was good enough but Tove Jansson became my hero when she allowed her characters to throw a 'Dictionary of Outlandish Words' into the hat - and the words come to life as little creatures that escape and crawl over the floor, up the walls and onto the ceiling! What a brilliant, outrageous, uninhibited idea - I absolutely love it.

I am on a quest to see if FR has any other strong reactions to specific words and have discovered one as I write that he likes - SERENDIPITY - indeed, he is muttering it to himself as he walks around the house. Sweet.

Do you have favourite words, or least favourite words?
Which ones can you say with pleasure and which leave you a jibbering wreck?

Heartbeats, life and death

No, I'm not really tackling BIG subjects but commenting on the things I see daily. But when you stop to think about it (really must stop this reflecting stuff) it sort of demonstrates that the myriad little things add up to big ones in the end.

Out for a walk - blue sky - take camera.

I've been thinking of turning the camera southwards for a while now. I've taken all the lovely things that I see as I take Darwin on his regular promenades - the views of the olive groves and the beautiful castle, La Mota, on the top of the hill looking down on Alcala la Real. La Mota is one of the things that really gives Alcala its heart. It dominates the town, giving a character to the place, creating an emotion whenever you get a glimpse of it - which is from so many corners, so many streets - it's impossible not to recognise its presence.

The heartbeat however, comes from another source. It's the large factory whose frontage runs along the main road out of the town centre towards Priego de Cordoba. It's 'backside' is along the road that Darwin and I take when the weather is too damp to enter the pine forest at the foot of La Mota. I usually only photograph the left hand side of this little road as the factory is not pretty.

Closer view of the hospital

At the end of this road, just round to the right, you can see the new hospital. This was meant to open as a fully functional accident and emergency hospital at the end of 2011 but due to 'la crisis' it remains closed to those who are injured, though some specialties do operate from this base - such a shame as 'Urgencias' or 'Urgencies' in the old hospital is such a miserable place that one could lose the necessary will...






The factory makes plastic - bags and wrapping for packaging; laminates and film for graphic arts - which is distributed throughout the world. In a world full of shrinking and closing, this factory made a whopping 25% increase in its production in the last financial year. It is the town's heartbeat. It provide jobs for a high proportion of workers in the town - somewhere between 2 and 5 thousand - and it closes down just twice in the year - on Christmas Day and on New Year's Day. This means there is a constant 'hum' from the works and large trucks entering and leaving more or less on the hour every hour.

This is what I don't look at too much as I walk down my little road - preferring to turn my sights northwards to look at La Mota.

This is how it looked this morning....














The factory is situated in one of the best sites in the town, with views behind it of La Mota and views in front reaching to the Sierra Nevada.
It was very sunny this morning so I had the idea that my sunglasses over the lens would help...not sure it has quite the effect I wanted but it is a bit different and you can see the Sierra in the distance.

To the far right of the new hospital is the cemetery. I have never been in as I'm always with Darwin when I walk there and I feel it's not appropriate to go in when I have him with me. It's a 'busy' cemetery in that there are lots of old people who live - and die - in Alcala la Real. Also, there's a constant stream of people taking flowers to their loved ones at most times of the day. Often when I'm taking Darwin for his 'second' walk of the day, we hear the bizarre sound of a 'DING DONG' (very loud) and an announcement that the cemetery will be closing in fifteen minutes - a bit like in Sainsbury's only less reverential and respectful in tone.

FR's father popped in for a look when they were here and he was most impressed. In fact, he said if there was a swimming pool, he'd move in straight away! I found this photo on the blog of someone local though it has not been update recently - but thanks and acknowledgement for this lovely photo.

As I wandered back thinking about these small but big things, a lady passed me on her way to the cemetery - it looked as though there was a funeral there today as many cars were arriving and I saw a few black coated people on my way. We greeted each other and as I walked where she had walked, I was totally enveloped in a delicious cloud of Chanel No.5.

It's so nice to know the little things in life still matter - don't you think.

Standing in a wonderful smell despite appearances.

The factory gives off very little smell at all - more a sense of heat. I have also read that there are plans to relocate it further out of the town and for the site to be developed for residential buildings. Hmmmm.... now there's a thought

Over one shoulder

I've said many times that I'm not the reflective sort. Yet blogging encourages one to reflect. Sitting down in front of the computer, reading what others have written, noticing with absolute amazement that I have had more than 50,000 visits since I started out and looking forward to a new year, another new year here in Spain and, at the moment, in glorious sunshine and under exquisite blue skies, I feel a quick glance back might not be a bad thing to do.



The first thing that I feel compelled to acknowledge is that for the past few months, we've been in negotiations for a property. Nothing is settled yet. I've resisted writing about it partly because I'm trying very hard to keep it from being a blot on the landscape if we don't get it. If I only see it vaguely from the corner of my eye, then I can cope with it disappearing. And it's always so important to see what is right in front of you.

The other reason for not writing about it has been that the house is not in Alcala la Real. It's on the other side of Granada.
I had not wanted to see it and viewed it very critically when FR insisted it was worth having a look. And despite my negative approach, it worked its way into my heart. We took the children to see it and they were surprisingly very enthusiastic even though we explained it would necessitate a change of schools if we were able to get it. They didn't seem to mind at all, which surprised me; I know that if they'd said 'no way', then we'd have gone no further.
As it is, our offer is going backwards and forwards; we know our limit and cannot go beyond that. So I continue to hold it as a shadowy idea in the corner of my mind's eye. (But I know just what will go in that little nook next to the kitchen door, of course....)
You may, if you will, cross a couple of fingers! It has wisteria too.

I feel I have developed as a language teacher this year, particularly from October when I took on some extra hours and more responsibility at the Academy. I knew I loved language and words but that love is now something I so enjoy transmitting to my students. I enjoy the Spanish/English connections and finding the differences and similarities. Many of my students also like to have 'hooks' to hang their understanding on and it's great fun finding out what works for whom. I'm very grateful to Kirklees Council for the emphasis they always placed on training for employees - much of which helped to develop my own skills and knowledge but which also instilled an understanding of how training works. Helped having a really good friend who is a really good trainer too!

My children have grown tremendously this year - not just in height and age, but beginning to turn into rounded young people.
It hasn't been easy for Mateo and he knows he has to buckle down and address those areas of academic work that he has held at arm's length in his new school. In addition to growing and changing radically in the past twelve months, he's gained in confidence and shows many glimpses of the mature person he is becoming.
Ruy is most anxious to follow in his footsteps and is filling out in preparation for a growing spurt. He really hopes this will come soon as his sister is only a hair's breadth or so less than him in height. Ruy can put so much effort in and at the Christmas performances, he absolutely shone with pleasure and enjoyment as his class sang. Quick to anger and very stubborn at times, he's also the most delightful son to have - cheerful, responsive, responsible and fun - and he flourishing in the Spanish sunshine.
My delightful, clever and funny daughter..is delightful, clever and funny! She loves to entertain, works hard at school, is thoughtful, independent and original. Her drawings are quite amazing - she creates cartoon sequences that tell her stories brilliantly and I am constantly fascinated by and proud of her.

And in reflective mood, I'm so happy to say that FR and I are still very much in love. We are quite a volatile and argumentative couple and our ups are as high as our downs are deep. We haven't reached a stage where we are comfortable companions - maybe we won't - but we are not bored with each other, can still make each other laugh - and cry - and are looking forward to another exciting year together.

Looking back I am amazed, as we so often are, as to how quickly the year has passed. For many in the UK it seems to have been a year of celebration as well as downpour. I saw little of the Golden Jubilee here and not that much more of the Olympics - partly because we were away on holiday and partly because the coverage in Spain concentrated on favourite Spanish sports such as basketball, football and synchronised swimming...so the summer months focused on seeing family for us. It was great to catch up with my sister again albeit briefly. And we were all grateful to be able to be with FR's grandfather for the last time too and, if an old man has to die, then his timing was perfect, allowing us all to get together to celebrate his life with the least possible undue fuss and the greatest affection.

A moment that stands out for me is when, in April, we painted our toes in rainbow colours to offer support across the world when a fellow blogger was diagnosed with cancer. She is doing well and her blog is an absolute delight - she's Annie at Artistica Domestica. Good on you, Annie - you're doing great!

Then, more recently, a diagnosis was made on a friend closer to home - someone I have known for more than 20 years but with whom I have only recently come to view as a real friend. It is always shocking news to hear.

Janice in Caunes and I worked together for the same council and I always appreciated her intelligence and knowledge of the Education Service; her strong views, commitment and level-headed approach were things I really admired. I admit to being rather in awe of her. She left the council a couple of years before I did and went to work at her local hospital and I rather lost touch. However, I remember bumping into her in the carpark at Kingsgate in Huddersfield just before we upped and offed to Spain and thinking again how easy it was to talk to her and how genuine, friendly and approachable she was. It was that chance meeting that kept us in touch via Facebook and then my blog. Janice took to blogging like a duck to water once she decided to do it and those of us who follow her know that she is full of wonderful stories and anecdotes about her family, past and present, and her insights into life in France. She has a tough few months ahead of her as she faces chemotherapy but when I saw her at Christmas, she looked wonderful and I don't think cancer has a chance in the face of her strength and optimism. And we are going to spend some time together as soon as she feels up to it. Janice, you are one of the most precious things of 2012 - here's to enjoying more of 2013 together!

Malala

And as my brain kicks in and I really start to think back about 2012 and think more broadly, I realise that there are things that have happened in the world this year that are almost too tragic to bear. The untimely death of children is obviously uppermost in my mind, but also the attacks on and murder of young girls and  women who are doing nothing more than going to school, travelling together or working in humanitarian roles, as teachers and health workers - I find I'm so angry at this that it is painful; it's overwhelmingly frustrating that all efforts so far in the world to counteract this attitude should be as nought at the end of 2012. Outrageous. I am outraged. And will continue to be so and so must we all.

I will be discussing these issues with my students when I return to my teaching and with my own children too. Changing the world is rather too much for me to take on but damn it all, I will make sure that these things don't go unnoticed by those near by me. And maybe we should all look over one shoulder to see what is going on behind our backs or in places we don't feel we belong to - because whilst we don't feel the threat directly, it's much better to be aware of what is happening than burying our heads in the sand or somewhere cosy and comfortable.

We really should be aware.

Family troubles

We all have them at times, don't we? Some families are really good at hiding problems; at covering up the cracks; at putting on a glossy veneer. Some families work really hard at sorting out their problems; addressing the issues; making things better; learning from mistakes.

Aren't you glad you're not part of a famous, infamous or Royal family - anywhere?

The British Royal Family have certainly had their troubles and many of these have been played out in the public arena with lots of media coverage - sometimes sought, sometimes under pursuit. And not just in recent years. History holds countless examples of naughty, mean and downright bad behaviour from those who should perhaps know better. And we really don't know the half.

And now the spotlight is on the Spanish Royal Family. They've had a very clean image for quite some time but suddenly, the dirt has started showing through. 

The King's son-in-law is currently being prosecuted after allegations of fraud. A former Olympic medallist in the rather esoteric sport of handball, Iñaki Urdangarin married the King's daughter, Princess Cristina and was given a prestige job managing a promotional contract and lots of money to support events in the Balearic Islands and Valencia. Big questions about where all the money went are now being asked. 

And this week, the King himself fractured his hip - an event which might normally arouse some sympathy if it were not that he had the accident whilst in Botswana, shooting elephants. He is, after all, only the honorary President of the World Wildlife Fund in Spain. (His grandson, a 13-year-old, is also still in hospital after shooting himself in the foot with a gun he was not licensed to use - practising for elephants, no doubt.) 

And whilst it was obviously intended to make everything better, the King's apology to the Spanish people as he left hospital was, quite frankly, pathetic. 'I'm sorry. I made a mistake. It won't happen again'.  I wonder what his mistake was - shooting elephants, falling and damaging his hip or thinking he could do just as he wanted and get away with it? 

There's more dirt, of the smutty sort, emerging - claiming the King is a serial womaniser. Allegedly, he and his wife, Queen Sofia (who, by the way, hates hunting and was in Greece celebrating the Greek Orthordox Church Easter at the time of the accident) have not shared a bed for more than 30 years. I suppose that makes things OK for her then. 

Is it all a matter of perspective? I think not.