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SOME
CLIPS FROM
SUNNY SPAIN ... |
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Spring 2011 |
remember, to
find any entry from our Newsletter, just click
DIARY DAYS IN SPAIN
... read on ...
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LATEST NEWS ENTRY... |
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Mike´s
News and Comment ~ Jan to end of February 2011 |
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The first two weeks of January we experienced
glorious sunshine... |
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No doubt that pleased the Brits on their annual
migration ,which takes place when the airfares fall from their
peak and they come to visit family and friends, their second
homes, or to look for a second home ...
and probably to enjoy a bit of more clement
weather than that in the UK.
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 The
result of this, this year, was that Michael was able in a suit
of shining armour to ride to the aid of a damsel in distress.
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Well she wasn’t a damsel really, more a 50 year
old woman in tweeds who was creating a stoppage in a bar in
Albox when a friend and I went in for a cup of coffee.
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As I couldn’t be served until she had finished I
asked if I could help and she told me that all she wanted was a
“Lahtee”. This took a few seconds to sink in as I realised that
she probably came from a rather exclusive part of Surrey! I
repeated the request to the barmaid asking with hard vowels un
Cafe Latte and a relieved barmaid immediately served it.
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Spain does not do soft vowels! I was still
chuckling over this on my way to the bank and the difficulty
many Brits have with foreign languages when I walked past a bar
with a black board on the pavement pronouncing that they served
“lids” for only 1 Euro. This created further mirth as I
realised that the literal translation of tapa is lid and some
poor Spaniard had got the dictionary out to aid his or her
advertising. Its not only the Brits who make mistakes but it
can be great fun trying to work out what is actually being said.
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You probably all know Giles and Ffiona the tweed
clad young couple with the Labradors who go into the village pub
for a pre-prandial libation on Sunday morning - when Giles
requests in a loud voice, a Tio Pepe and a Tia Maria please
landlord. This is of course duly served but how much less
sophisticated when translated from the Spanish as “an uncle Pete
and an aunt Mary please”. |
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The start of the New Year was marked by 2 signal
events .. |
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The one that we took delivery of a new spring interior with
memory foam which being “state of the art” ...cost an arm and a
leg!
Still this has proved to be cheap at the price
for we are sleeping much more soundly and comfortably.
However, we are not allowed to luxuriate in the
arms of Morpheus after 6.45 a.m. for that is when the dustbin
men arrive with the usual bangs and clatters every day except
Sunday ~
unlike in England once a fortnight, if you
are lucky!
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Mike cuddling Zoo-Zoo
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The second event was that Zoo Zoo (our ex feral
dustbin cat) suddenly decided he could be touched, stroked and
cuddled,
not just that he could, but he positively enjoyed
it and became more and more demanding as time wore on.
It has only taken us 2 whole years to be allowed
to stroke him!
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We felt rather privileged in the middle of the
month mostly from the air. The first event was to have a
glorious Golden Eagle circling over our house and the Arroyo
obviously searching for a luncheon opportunity; naturally we
ensured our cats were safe inside until he left.
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Next, came a couple of friends from the UK who called in
unexpectedly for a surprise
(and very welcome) visit.  |
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Whilst sat outside enjoying a glass of wine
...there was a croaking and rasping sound, which
none of us could identify;
half a minute later we looked up to the skies and
saw a beautiful flight of Griffon Vultures pass overhead. This
was a first for us but by heavens they are noisy little
blighters.
(Actually they are not little they are quite big)...click
PICS
for
more photos
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click
ALMERIA
WEATHER
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February began once again with glorious sunshine
but still with early morning frosts.
However during the course of the month we moved
from polo necks to brushed cotton a sign that the hot weather is
on the way!
The middle of the month was dull and dismal but
with very little rain, however the wind got up a bit and as we
have been wind free for nearly a year we are unused to the
battering.
We are having a very gentle winter although other parts of Spain
are suffering.
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The Town Halls are inundated with planning
requests for patios where possible and bar owners are seeking
compensation for the cost of installing separate air-conditioned
rooms where smoking was allowed.
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Meanwhile the pc lobby is still fighting it's corner by
demanding that smoking be banned on terraces and patios on the
ground that non smokers like these chairs, and smokers are
taking them up.
Mind you some bar owners (mainly further north)
have completely ignored the ban, much to the consternation of
the authorities.
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I am sure some sort of compromise will ultimately
be reached but the heat of the argument will probably dissipate
as the summer sun encourages everyone to sit outside in any
case.
Well, down here in the south anyway).
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MID JANUARY 2011 |
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and Mike comments... |
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Well the season of
mists and mellow fruitfulness is over for another year. To be
fair we tend not to get the mists as we are too high for the
coastal mist and too low for the mountain mist- All in all a
happy medium.
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The mellow fruitfulness
was once again super abundant with local produce being exported
all over Europe but it’s even better here because it is sold “a
point” and is ready to eat straight away. This can take a bit
of getting used to for the British who are more used to bullet
hard imported fruits which then need keeping for some time.
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Surprisingly perhaps
for the British is the lobbying of the Spanish Government by
the Spanish pornography industry, who complain that their
profits are being severely affected by the amount of free
pornography available on the internet!
Pornography is of
course, perfectly legal over here.
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January saw the
introduction of the draconian Spanish non smoking law--
which has created
further lobbying of the Government as bar owners complain that
their takings are markedly down.
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Whilst smoking has been
forbidden in bars, as always it seems it is allowed in
prisons. I believe this is the case in the UK also. What
privileged people the miscreants are.
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Of course a major
factor over here is that most bar customers sit outside for the
bulk of the year and so are unaffected by the ban, however, when
the weather is inclement we now have only one bar in the pueblo
where smoking is allowed.
When the ban was mooted
a couple of years ago Antonio, one of our more astute business
men, had his patio covered and screened and even went so far as
to have a log fire built in preparation for the ban and winter.
He happily had the land
to do it whereas most bars have to get by with tables on the
pavement.
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The result
of this is that Antonio´s bar Las Palmeras is thronged with
inveterate smokers including even the staff of other bars in the
neighbourhood!
Good luck to him.
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+ Sue says... |
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Well folks to make you
all feel a little better we are having weather that is more in
keeping with the UK than Spain.
We have had
temperatures down to -4 and -5 in the mornings and it has done a
great deal of damage to the more tender plants in the garden.
This has only happened once before in the last 10 years we have
lived here.....
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All we can do is cut
back and hope that when spring comes there will be new growth
and things recover.
Finding plants which
can take the very very hot summers and the occasional bad night
of frost is always difficult and you have to accept that
sometimes you have to replant.
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Our houses are not
geared to the cold either and even with fires and radiators the
cold strikes up through the tiled floors.....
so, its socks and snug
boots and layers of jumpers......
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Everyone is moaning of
course, but then come March and April everyone will start
complaining again but about the heat, so it is a no win
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Personally I would
rather put up with our brief winter and enjoy the usual ten
months of sunny weather.
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MID JANUARY 2011 |
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Sue's comments
mid Jan ...
Went on my usual
walk into the village this morning - and it has been beautifully warm
this afternoon, so spent most of the afternoon sat out on the
terrace with short sleeved tee shirt on, just enjoying it.
We are supposed
to have at least another week of this.... but some local older
men say that we will have another cold spell before spring
arrives.....
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We will
see, but sometimes these older men know what they are talking
about.
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At the minute you
cannot imagine that it will get cold again... but not going to
put anything that is tender out in the garden just in case.
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BIT LATER
. Sun shining
here so went for an early walk as will probably get too hot
later to really do it justice. Has left my face tingling and I
feel really invigorated......
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Maggie and I have
decided that we are going to Lubrin on Thursday 20th as it is one of
their famous festivals where bread is thrown to some saint or
other.....
and lots of
people go and there are lots of activities going on. |
 psst...Will
take the camera again, so our Girls Outings 2011 will have some
good pics with our interesting items
(click
Girls Getaways
menu) |
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Sue says
remember to click
for more in her
Spanish Garden:
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REMEMBER! To find
a DIARY ENTRY from our Newsletter,
just click
DIARY DAYS IN SPAIN
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And
see more recipes at
MIKE'S TAPAS BAR |
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©
PLUS
keep looking ...
2006