The best laid plans...

See this?

 Snow. Snow outside our window. It's snowing here today in Alcala la Real. And today is Carnaval Day! Or it was supposed to be...

Serious ladybird

The children got up and dressed in their attire this morning. It was overcast but not raining. We had forebodings that all would not go to plan though. But they looked gorgeous anyway.

Testing the wings

Ready to fly

Serious soldier - from Lilliput, remember

Draw swords

By the time the parade was due to start, thick rain was falling. It wasn't quite snow but it was definitely thicker than just water! And no children emerged from the school gates, though a few game parents were waiting for them there. Some gamer than us - we were sitting in the car (having been to look at yet another house we didn't want to buy).

The weather didn't improve - indeed, it got worse!

Never mind, we'll see what Monday brings, though I feel it won't be quite the same dressing up for a second time....

In praise of beans.

Wonderful things, beans. People often love them or hate them. FR and I are in the former category but the children are in the latter. This means that we don't eat them as often as we (parents) would like. And we'd like to eat them for reasons as varied as the types of beans themselves.

They are healthy.
They are cheap economical.
They fill you up are satisfying.
They contain protein, iron, fibre and complex carbohydrates.

(They have side effects too, as we all know, but that shouldn't put kids off, should it?)

I really wish my children would eat beans but as yet, all my attempts have failed to encourage them - I hope that one day, their father's genes will out and they'll get the taste.

FR adores beans - frejoles - so today, I made some, just for him and me. And he has been raving about them since lunch time. They are, so he says, the best frejoles he has ever had. And he's had some good ones. Praise indeed.

All that's needed is some beans - any type - left to soak overnight. Change the water for fresh and make sure there's enough to cover the beans by an inch (or a couple of centimetres). Put to boil with a little salt - even better, put a bay leaf in with it as well.
Meanwhile, chop an onion, a big clove of garlic, a green or red pepper (whichever you might have) and fry gently in a good glug of olive oil.
When softened, add a good tablespoonful of hot paprika - and then add a bit more, go on, be brave! Stir that in then add a small tablespoonful of flour, together with a couple of spoonfuls of the water from the beans, which will be hot, if not boiling by now. Stir well and put the lot into the beans pot. At this point, if you have a piece of chorizo (we always have chorizo in the kitchen), throw that in too - it's not essential but it helps.
I use my pressure cooker to speed things up - around an hour or so - but if you don't use a pressure cooker, just boil for about 20 minutes then reduce the heat a bit and continue cooking til the beans are soft and the sauce is rich and thick - probably about 2 hours

The only thing I am worried about is that FR has over-indulged in the eating of these beans - and definitely without due care and attention to the likely after-effects.

I may not blog about those - in fact, I promise I won't!

No don't start the Carnaval!

Friday is Carnaval Day here in Alcala la Real.

The children have to dress up in costumes and will parade around the town. I have none of my usual spare wardrobe pieces, bits of cloth or familiar shops to visit to ensure that my children are dressed for the day. Eeek!

Ruy has to be a Lilliputian soldier from 'Gulliver's Travels' - this is the only picture we could find that seemed remotely achievable, bearing in mind where most of our things still reside.....(barn in Leon). And today I found a little green hat and some black felt 'boots' that will go over his trousers and cover his shoes - I was pleased with these. Ruy bought himself a sword within a few days of knowing he was going to be a soldier. And we have an old green cardigan and a belt - I think he'll be fine. I hope so.

Romy has to go as something from a fairy story. As we found a set of ladybird wings that I'd made for Romy when she was in Nursery School in one of the suitcases we brought - as you do - we decided that we could put them to good use. We haven't yet thought of a specific fairy story that has a ladybird in it but then no fairy story would be any good without a little ladybird somewhere in the background, would it?


Last Saturday, whilst we were again in Orgiva, I was peering into the window of a lovely second-hand shop when I heard Romy exclaim - 'here are some shoes for being a ladybird!' They were a pair of flamenco shoes - red with white spots, but we might just colour those in - and they were exactly Romy's size. It was meant to be. I might look out for a pair in a bigger size...

And today, I got some antennae, a black t-shirt and black leggings (always useful) and so now I'm feeling just a bit more sorted.

I'm looking forward to snapping the parade on Friday. All the children are excited and the shops here are full of fancy dress costumes. I have been told that this town takes its festivals seriously, so we should be in for a good show - and I still have tomorrow to put things together to try and ensure that the various bits we have look OK when they are put on for real on the day.

Walking Uphill

Alcalá la Real is a place surrounded by mountains and the town is dominated by the Fortress called ´La Mota´. Whilst walking around in the town itself is easy and flat, the moment you deviate from the main street, you are faced with old cobbled streets that seem to rise vertically in front of your eyes, making your knees shake just at the thought of walking up them.

Last week, Mateo and I summoned up the courage to walk up to La Mota and decided to go the most direct way from our apartment - which at first glance almost made Mateo change his mind - straight up!
And even when we got to the 'top', La Mota still towered above us.

Way, way above us.

It was a glorious walk, enhanced by the intense smell of rosemary that was in full bloom around us as we walked.

 Isn't rosemary the most gorgeous herb?












Today is Andalucia Day, so the children are off school - it's like a bank holiday in England - and so after lunch, Mateo and I set off again to go up the hill at the opposite side to La Mota. Just as steep, just as worth it to get to the top.





Looks like the path is relatively flat, according to this signpost - but don't you believe it! We'd already done the 'up' bit from the historical centre

I wasn't lagging behind, I was taking pictures.

Looking south across the town to La Mota from our vantage point to the north.

Lots of wonderful almond blossom out on the trees here - and all the houses had gardens. Perhaps this is where we should be looking.

And when we reached the top, the countryside became quite wild, rocky and windy and we could see where stone had been taken from an ancient quarry.

And here we have my beloved Sierra Nevada in the distance. These mountains are overwhelmingly wonderful - some days they look like candyfloss, others like pure ice and on others, they seem to be the clouds themselves. I love these mountains.

Looking a bit windblown - but feeling on top of the world

This is Safa - or La Sagrada Familia - the school Mateo attends. He was so pleased to see it from the top of the hill that I knew he was feeling happy there - and that made me happy too.

And it was lovely coming down the hill too!

What a lovely place is Alcala la Real!

How many lovely walks there are around us and what a joy it is to discover them.

Lovely.

Made me laugh

Who doesn't know Harry Potter? I suspect that most people with access to the cinema, a television, the internet or a magazine would recognise the face of the boy with dark hair, glasses and a serious expression.


Those of you who know him, his face is the face of my son, Mateo. He's not the actor who plays Harry Potter, he is Harry Potter. If you have seen photos of him on my blog, you will know that he bears more than a passing resemblance to the character.

So imagine our mirth! When my sister was over visiting last December, we were wandering around Valladolid and came across a stall that was selling Mateo masks! Lots of little Mateo faces hanging from the kiosk, together with Spiderman and Batman. How we laughed and laughed and had to buy one. (We cursed a bit that we didn't have the camera with us too, but never mind!)

This is where Mateo would like to be most of the time... bit creepy but better, I thought, than the disembodied face hanging freely!

But this is the real Mateo - lovely boy!

How can it happen?

We live in the middle of olive growing country. We are surrounded by olive oil producing mills and factories. Olives are what this place does!

So, I ask you, what sort of a person runs out of olive oil whilst living in a place like this?

Well, a me sort of person. Actually.

Happy talk

Today has been good.

I've really enjoyed my Spanish conversation classes.
I've had a one to one session with a kinesthetic learner. We went to the local supermarket and touched things and smelt things and named things and I think some of the learning will stick as result. We enjoyed each others company and the hour flew by.
I've had a conversation class with several ladies, many of whom have lived here for a number of years. They've all tried classes of Spanish before and given up because the focus was on learning verbs and grammar. So today, we chatted. Mainly in English this time but linking in the Spanish for much of what we were discussing. The hour flew by (for me!) and they're ready to come again next week.
I have met two lovely Spanish people who want to come and have English conversation classes. And they want to bring a friend too.

So I spent the morning talking to people, which is what I like to do and I got paid for it as well.


And when I got home, my bestest friend (sounds better than oldest!) has joined Facebook and asked me to be her friend. And she was online so we could have a chat.

Happy talk; happy talking.