A moment to myself

I wrote the following before the enormity of what was going on at the other side of the world reached me. I have been watching with absolute horror at the devastation that is hitting Japan and where other areas of the world are on alert as the Pacific Ocean belies its name. It makes all other things pale into insignificance. This is being described as the worst earthquake for many, many years.

Our own lives here go on as normal, but elsewhere in the world, it will never be the same again.

FR has left to go to Valladolid this morning. He's going to do some work on the car and he will go to Leon to bring back some more furniture and belongings that we would find useful to have here with us. Most specifically, our rugs. Soft flooring. Romy is desperate for soft floors again.

My gorgeous boy (one of them!)

Ruy has gone with his school on an outing to Granada today. He was excited but in a cool, quiet way -  unlike Romy, who talked about her school visit for weeks beforehand - no, Ruy keeps his thoughts more to himself and whilst he is not a quiet child - indeed, he is noisy - it's not chatter or thoughts that he expresses. He makes the noises of battles - he acts out imaginary games with gusto. But he doesn't say much about what he thinks. So his big day has crept up on us and suddenly - it is the big day!

Bye Ruy, have a wonderful day.

In addition to going to listen to a concert in the concert hall near the Alhambra, the class is going to visit some caves near Granada, which should be very interesting. Mateo has lent Ruy his camera so that he can take some photos to show us.







Mateo and Romy are at school as usual, but the house piso seems even more quiet than I had expected with all my family away.

So, I have spent the morning cleaning the living room, with no one around to
a) interrupt me
b) follow me making a bigger mess than the one I've just cleared up
c) get in the way or
d) giving me a reason to stop cleaning... which doesn't take much.

I don't like cleaning. I don't really think I am very good at it either.

However, I do like the house piso to be clean, so I've swept the floor - in true Andalusian style - and gone into all the corners with my good old British 'vac'. I've dusted and polished. I've removed clutter and toys.








However, it's not home.
We're still looking for that.



My lovely tidy living room is a metaphor for my state of mind. I get one bit sorted; something becomes clear and I know what I want and what to do.........






........and then I discover all I have done is move mess from one place to another. And there's still more stuff to sort.


And I will have to start on that now.
Soon, I mean.

(How come some people can keep all areas tidy at the same time? Do they always know what they want as well?)



It's akin to finding the right house - get the main priorities sorted; be clear about what you want - work on the bits that don't quite match the requirements afterwards; accept that compromise is vital.....

I thought we'd found the house we wanted this week - in fact, I was sure. It might still be 'the one' but then the very next day, we saw something else. Something rather exciting.

When FR returns, in a few days time, I think we might be making a very big decision.

Four and half hours later...

Just survived my first session teaching at a Language Institute here in Alcala.

I've had six consecutive classes of 45 minutes each - no break - and with groups aged between 9 and 19.
On the whole, all went well.
I'll be better prepared next week.

I am exhausted!

Pet hates

If the definition of a phobia is an irrational fear of something, causing avoidance or panic, I guess the post should have been called 'phobia' but I prefer to call my irrational fear a 'pet hate' .  It's something I can live with and manage on a daily basis - it rarely gets the better of me though it is worse in the summer months and has been aggravated by having three children who do not share the problem.

It's not that writing about it will be cathartic. I have had this irrational fear for as long as I can remember. Even thinking about explaining it is making my skin prickle a bit. Soon, my tongue will start to dry and swell.. it's starting now...

But I've started and so I'll finish. I have to tell you now, though I doubt there will be any understanding of my problem. I have been mocked by friends and family alike for many years now and at times, the lack of sensitivity that, on occasions, has been shown by people who maybe should know better. But I have dealt with it.

It's like this - the main problem is... oh gosh...now I have to say what it is... what it is that makes me feel so dreadful...it's....wooden lolly sticks. I said it!

(No, I don't feel any better).

The pet hate extends to wooden spoons if they are badly made, or made of cheap wood - you know, with a few splinters just beginning to sprout at the edges. I manage these with the aid of a tea towel when I'm cooking although after much searching, I have now got just one very 'nice' spoon that I can use without too much of a problem...until it comes to washing it up. I don't like the sensation of touching it when it's wet. Oh no. Not at all. Horrible.

Moving swiftly on before nausea overwhelms me completely, there is a bit of a list of offending items.... those flat wooden stick things for stirring coffee; those things the doctors (try to) use to look down my throat when I'm ill; toothpicks; little forks for eating chips ... you probably get the picture now and I can no longer continue.

But during the process of writing this, I looked up 'lollystick phobia' on the internet and I found a Facebook page of fellow sufferers. And reading their comments, I know they understand.

Now that makes me feel better!

(If you too suffer from this problem, join this Facebook group.)

Carnaval in Alcala la Real

Today, Saturday, it's Carnaval in Alcala - we've had our first taste of how the people here love to dress up and enjoy themselves. It's been great fun! I don't think I have a clear shot of any of it - which only adds to the sense of movement and vitality of what was going on around us.
This isn't the school parade, this is the whole town parade, where various groups get together and chose a theme for their costumes. We missed out on when all of this was decided but in the end, we got to see everyone from our vantage point(s)!

The town band - Pharoahs?

Some of Ruy's classmates

More of Ruy's classmates

The Pitufos or Smurfs!

No idea what this group but they were WILD!

The Wine Connoisseurs

Start 'em young!

Ants

The Corpse Brides

Not sure but they had wonderful costumes

in all sizes!

and amazing shoes too.

Hilarious 'piggy back a pensioner' mob!

Los incredibles

My personal favourites - the mops.

The gymnasts

Whizzed past a bit fast

but I caught them as they posed.

The view from our balcony was fantastic

but can't quite capture the atmosphere.. or the noise!

Oh, look, more mops!

What a fantastic evening! And the children should be able to parade on Monday too!

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.