The Last Day of the Year

And this will more than likely be the last blog that I'll compose in the year 2008. Maybe some of you who knew me on 360 might remember some of the customs which are observed on this special day. If not, here's how people in Spain celebrate New Year's Eve.

The photo shows cava and grapes. 'Cava' is Spanish champagne, but, of course, because 'champagne' comes from France, what is produced in Spain has to be called cava. That doesn't stop people from calling it 'champan' though. First when the clock in the Puerta del Sol is nearing midnight, everybody gets ready to eat their 12 grapes, which signify good luck. Actually, this hasn't been a custom for a long time, but was begun as a way of selling a bumper crop of grapes one year. For every dong of the clock before we're officially in the new year, you must eat a grape. In theory each dong is one second, but I'm sure it's a bit longer. I might add that it's not easy to find seedless grapes in Spain, so people do whatever they think helps to get the 12 grapes down. Some people take out the pips; some peel the grapes; me, I choose the smallest ones. Then after the grapes, a bottle of cava is opened, or, as in my case, a bottle of delicious cider is opened and we toast to the new year and one another.

The dinner itself is more or less a repeat of the one prepared for Christmas. Most people prefer lots of seafood though I'm allergic to most, and, at my age, have three zits from Christmas Day to prove it. Fish and lamb are also very big and, in recent years, turkey. Just to be different, I'm going to serve chicken.

After, the meal, the grapes and cava, lots of young people go out to parties or cotillions. Another custom is to wear red underwear. Well, I'm going to wear red socks and a new scarf. Then the next morning, it's chocolate and churros time. I'm not going out and won't go out just to have chocolate. Besides, it's a night of fireworks and annoying bangers which my poor dog hates. Christmas holidays are nice for the chance to rest and blog a bit. However, it's not a good time of the year for lots of animals. I always wonder how the animals in the circus that is in the Plaza de Toros fare.

Well, I'm off to start the ball rolling and hopefully have time for a short siesta. Can't fall asleep before the new year. LOL. Have an enjoyable and safe New Year's Eve. Happy 2009!

P.S. The video that I posted yesterday speaks of celebrating the 31st in the Puerta del Sol, celebrating with family and also missing those who are no longer with us. Today is my mother's birthday and, needless to say, I miss her a lot.
 

Super Kid

 

8 Year Old Shredder @ Yahoo! Video

Need I elaborate?

Greetings From Aliens

This is the first time I've ever made contact with E.T.'s. I mean this is the first time I've received a Christmas card from them. Last night I opened my e-mail and found this. Actually, the message was sent twice because they forgot to attach the card to the first one. Mr. Heric (pronounced Eric) is a true Man in Black - always chasing after some alien. The synopsis of the film is 'Two tough guys, brothers, in crisis. But at Christmastime they share the bride'. Heric is the father of one my students and aliens are his favourite topic of conversation and he sure can talk. A couple of years ago, he wrote a TV ad for a car and, of course, there was an alien in it similar to the 'bride' in this 'Men in Black' film.

Hope you enjoy this 'Christmas' card as much as I did. Well, I'm off to do some more preparation for New Year's Eve dinner. Hope everybody has a good send off of the old year and a wonderful start to the new one.

Firefox Woes and All's Quiet on the Western Front

I know just about everybody has complained about having some kind of posting problems here recently. On the 22nd I think it was, pages were loading so slowly that I gave up trying to read or comment on anybody's page. That's the day that the newest version of Firefox, which happens to be 3.0.5, decided it didn't like any of my add-ons and crashed. The only way I could open a page was using FF in safe mode, so what I did in the end was to go back and use a beta version which I haven't done since Mozilla came out. Knocking on wood, so far so good. I lost all my bookmarks (don't know if I can get them back, but that's not a big loss). I was able to re-load some of the add-ons like AdBlock Plus, McAfee Site Advisor and the StumbleUpon toolbar. However, the Multiply toolbar isn't compatible. I've sent a report to Mozilla but who knows when the incompatibilities will be fixed, so if you haven't upgraded your version yet, I'd advise you to wait or maybe you'll be lucky and won't have any problems.

It's very quiet on here. Hope that means that everybody is recovering from Christmas or very busy. For Christmas lunch, which we don't usually have until about 5 PM, we had a de-boned turkey. To tell you the truth, it didn't taste that much like turkey and all the meat looked the same. Oh well, we enjoyed ourselves and the rolls I made turned out nicely. I've also posted the recipe that I used. It's one of the easiest and stickiest bread recipes I've tried.

I had to clean the windows before I decorated them and naturally we've had rain in the forecast for the last two or three days. Today we're supposed to get a snow-rain mixture. Can you believe on Christmas Day it was beautifully sunny in Madrid? Anyway, hope everybody has a good week ahead.

Icebox Rolls

Description:
Despite being extremely sticky to handle (and I added a bit more than the 6 cups which the recipe calls for), these rolls came out lovely and light.

Ingredients:
1 package dry yeast
1 3/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup melted shortening
6 cups sifted flour (see my introductory note)

Directions:
Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, eggs, salt and shortening (vegetable oil may be used for shortening). Mix well and add flour. The dough will be sticky. Knead for a few times on a floured board, keeping your hands floured. Put dough in well-greased bowl and cover with waxed paper and a damp cloth. Place in fridge. Let stand at least two hours before using. Shape into rolls and let rise about 1 1/2 hours; bake at 400º F for 15 minutes.

Twas the Week Before Christmas

And I live in a big city, so it was anything but quiet. There's always something going on to make me use one of my grandmother's favourite 'what is this world coming to'. The police evacuated a department store in Paris earlier in the week, and on Wednesday the American Embassy in Madrid received a suspicious package containing some type of powder which turned out to be just flour. One of the most expensive streets for shopping in Madrid was closed or over 4 hours as police, fire brigade and all kinds of emergency services were called out. The persons who had come into contact with the mysterious substance were taken to hospital. As I said, it turned out to be nothing more than flour. However, several other embassies and places have received similar packages. Is this a warning or just a sick joke? The Spanish version of April Fool's Day falls on the 28th of December.

I'm a bit late posting today because I was out most of the afternoon yesterday celebrating Christmas with my former workmates. A few people couldn't make it this year and they were missed. We sang our traditional carols. The food and drink were good and plentiful, but I think more subdued than past years. I imagine the same will be true in lots of places.

As for Post Secret, I didn't copy any of the secrets this time either. There was one secret that reminded me of Donna though. I was visitor 202,316,696 - an even number for once.

Today is our beloved friend Kath's (angelcakes) birthday. She is missed by so many. Tomorrow is the Christmas Lottery in Spain - a day of illusions, which is commonly called the 'Day of Health'. I've already resigned myself to continue giving classes and just hope that I can continue doing so.

The graphic with this post is dedicated to all those under the snow. We had an almost springlike day today - not too cold. Hope everyone who celebrates it has a wonderful Christmas. The mother of my friend from New Jersey is gravely ill in hospital, so please keep her in your prayers.

Advice From DogAge.com

I thought this might help our furry friends have a good holiday too. I've added a comment here and there.

DogAge® Tip of the Week Table-Scrap Scares    

 Sure, you'd like Fifi to share in the joys of the holiday table, but resist the urge to be generous.  Foods and drinks you digest easily, like the following, can cause trouble for your pooch:

Dinner rolls -- Dough expands in the stomach, creating distressing gas.(also distressing for those who are in the same room as the poor animal)

Onions and garlic -- These flavor enhancers contain a compound that could damage a dog's red blood cells, causing anemia.

Rich sauces -- Gravy upsets the stomach and may lead to pancreatitis.

Bones -- Sharp pieces of bone can choke a dog or pierce or block her gastrointestinal tract. (I would never give my dog any type of bone - large or small. Bones kill dogs so if you love your dog don't give him/her bones) 

Alcohol -- Even slightly spiked eggnog can be toxic, so don't leave any drinks unattended.

Molida

'Molida' (molido, the masculine form) is Spanish for 'beat', 'wiped out', 'to pooped to party', 'bushed' or whatever you say in a polite way when you feel like you've been run over by a cement mixer.

 My beating began on Friday evening when I went to help my friend Chris set up her stuff for the annual Christmas Fair of the Madrid Handcrafters, of which I used to be a member but had to give up because I just didn't have the time and still don't. It took us nearly 4 hours to get everything set up, and that was that we had another person helping us a couple of those hours. We didn't get home until about 12.30 AM. I quickly took my dog out, drank a glass of milk for dinner and crashed so tired that it took me ages to fall asleep. Once I finally did, I woke up with horrible leg cramps. Chris said she did too. Then yesterday afternoon I went and stayed until the fair finished and helped her pack up the stock that she hadn't sold (BTW, Chris knits and beautifully). Despite the pouring rain the whole day long, most everybody did fairly well. I got some 'different' Christmas cards for my friends and students. And, of course, the brownies that I made for everybody were a hit. Now I've told Chris I'd make her some more 'buckeyes' for Thursday. Question: Where am I going to find the time?

Another one of those bittersweet Sundays on Post Secret and I had to copy a few. Loretta, and probably others, aren't sure what this site is about. It's been around for at least 4 years that I know of. People send in, preferably homemade, postcards with their secret on them. Diana (dianahopeless) said she has sent in a secret. I've already said that I'd love to slip a secret of my own into one of the books and buy another with the hope that a secret or more fall out when I open the book. It was the first link I put on my page here, and it's a Sunday habit for me to read the secrets just as I usually post something on this day - probably so I can mention that I'm visitor such-and-such. LOL. Today I was number 200,846,967.

Hope everybody has a good week. I'll post my recipe for brownies whenever I have time. I also have a Spanish dessert that I want to post.   

Traditional Sugar Cookies For Christmas

Description:
Here's the recipe that I use for making sugar cookies. The only change I make is that I use butter as shortening is difficult to find in Spain. This is a little package I'm giving a friend for a Christmas basket in the photo.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening (part butter)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (I prefer vanilla)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt


Directions:
Mix thoroughly shortening, sugar, eggs and flavouring. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover; chill at least an hour.
Heat oven to 400º F. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured cloth-covered board. Cut into desired shapes. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until very light brown.

* I roll my dough out on a Tupperware board. I think that's much cleaner than a cloth, but this is the recipe that I've used for years. I also like to use photographs that I've taken of the food too.

P.S. As seen in the photo, I also decorate with coloured sugar.

Another Black Week and Apple Butter

This time because of ETA, the so-named Basque Separatist Group. Every time any members of this infamous band of cowards (not to say anything stronger) are caught there is always some type of retaliation. It was the director of a company's turn to die this time. His company is (was?) involved in the construction of the railways for the high-speed train to the Basque country. Now some more members have been found and arrested, so who will be the next victims?

On a lighter note, this past week we had a long weekend which I spent cleaning (all except the windows), decorating and cooking The weather was lousy - rain the entire three days. Well, it also rained yesterday, but it was back to work as usual. I really didn't mind the rain as I had lots to keep me busy inside. This blog I had planned to write and post on Monday. Wouldn't you know there were problems on Multiply most of Monday until it was too late for me to think of writing anything. I did enjoy the extra day off though, because we haven't had a holiday since September.

I just wanted to share some of the things that I'd made like some apple butter that you see in the above photo. I got the recipe for the jam from my friend Joann. It turned out lovely. The only problem is that I'll have to make more as I'm giving these as gifts. I suppose either later on this evening or tomorrow I'll make some more brownies for a Christmas fair I'm going to on Saturday. I'm going to help my friend set up the tables on Friday after work.

If you think the news is depressing, well so was Post Secret on Sunday. There were numerous messages posted about how if sales of the books don't pick up there will have to be paid ads on the pages. I can think of worse things than ads (at least I think I can). I was visitor 199,275,825.

For once, I'll have to say that I'm not ready for Christmas meaning that I haven't bought all my presents yet. At least I hope to get some Christmas cards for my friends here on Saturday. Have a good rest of the week all and good luck with your preparation for the holidays.
    

Not Only a Black Friday

Hope this is the only understatement I make for a long, long time.  Earlier on in the week, the possibility of a terrorist attack on the New York transit system was announced.  At the time of writing this no such attack has happened and we can only pray that it never does.

So imagine my surprise when I turned on the TV on Thursday afternoon and saw the President of the region of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, speaking outside her office wearing what looked like white pop socks and sandals.  She had been in one of the hotels that were attacked on Wednesday in Mumbai - not that I knew she'd gone to India.  It was a harrying experience she told of how she and her contingency escaped from the hotel.  She had been wearing a pair of espadrilles at the time of the attack and she lost one and kicked off the other one so that she could run.  All the while she was running, she said she realized she was stepping in blood.  The white pop socks were the socks given on flights, but I have no idea where she got the sandals from.  Of course, she was criticised by the opposing party for having fled India before everybody else got out of India safely, but isn't that one of the things that the embassy is supposed to take care of?  Besides, a couple of years ago, Esperanza (Hope, in English) suffered a helicopter accident that everyone watched live in horror.  She only broke the heels off her shoes, but she went directly to her office and to work in her broken shoes whereas the head of her party who suffered a broken finger was off for two or three days. Anyway, she says she's not travelling by ship.  I'd suggest she take care in choosing her shoes if she does - preferably rubber boots.

We're always criticising gatherings such as pilgrimages where people, usually women and children, are trampled to death and wonder why people put themselves in such danger when they know that there's a possibility of something tragic happening.  Crowds make me nervous, especially after hearing that a person was knocked down and killed in a Wal-Mart so that someone could buy a 50-inch plasma TV for $400.  I can't express in words how disgusting I find it that someone is murdered for a lousy $400.  I know that justice will be served in the end, but if the people who participated in this atrocity have even a little bit of decency in them they'll come forward.  I have nothing else to say about something which for me is incomprehensible - only that if we value material things more than human life, this is the end for us.

Post Secret was even black today - no funny secrets.  I was visitor number 197,657,500.  Hope everyone has a great week even if you don't possess a 50-inch plasma TV.

Conspiracies and Mysterious Stench

I know many of you remember what happened yesterday, the internet tells me, 45 years ago - the assassination of President Kennedy.  I recall that day perfectly.  I was at school, of course, in English class.  We were drilling some irregular verbs (who would have thought that 45 years later I'd still be doing the same), and we were laughing because our teacher had just said 'he shit' instead of 'he, she, it'.  There was a knock at the door and the principal (headmaster) came in to tell us that the President had just been shot.  The rest of the day was a blur although I do remember that we weren't let out early.  However, I doubt that we studied anything else that day.  The next day was my birthday.  When we were little that was the only time we had cake in our house.  I'm sure I was happy to have cake, but it was a sad time for all of us.  If adults have difficulty understanding these senseless acts, children understand even less.  It's funny really how years later you remember exactly how you felt on a particular occasion. And what about those delicious smells that you remember so well that come back to tantalize you?

This past week I joined a new old group on Multiply called 'Conspiracy Theories'.  I initially joined to help get the group started a second time under a different moderator.  The old Conspiracy Theories group had, according to rumour, a very bad reputation and, for one reason or another, all its members had disappeared (maybe in a spaceship?).  So far I'm pleased with the way it's going as I've seen some interesting videos, which I wouldn't probably have seen otherwise.  If this kind of stuff is your cup of tea, come over and join us.  I'm always up for a good conspiracy theory.  I have one of my own.  The other day I picked up my handbag to remove it from the table where I'd parked it when I came in.Gosh, was that thing heavy, and it's not that big and I swear I didn't have that much in it.  My theory is that there's a hidden magnet or magnets or even E.T.'s inside which attract weight especially when the bag is picked up or carried for a distance.

For over a week I'd been complaining about an awful stench near my building.  On Friday it was unbearable and I asked one of my neighbours if she'd noticed the smell.  She said she hadn't, but when she opened the door to the street she agreed that yes there was something definitely rotten somewhere.  I thought it was coming from the next street because my dog and I pass this street every day on our way back from the park, and that's where I began smelling it.  Well, at about 2 p.m.  I looked out the window and saw these men in white suits and wearing masks (the sanitation department) going into the building across the street.  I'm sure I've commented before that it's usually quiet in my neighbourhood unless there's a wedding celebration on a Friday or Saturday night.  Part of the building is used for banquets.  Apparently the owner had closed the building to go on holiday and had unplugged the fridges leaving food inside them.  I don't know how many bins for organic waste were taken out.  When I returned from my classes in the evening, they were still inside - disinfecting?  How stupid can one be to go off and leave food to rot? Most people if they switch off their fridge empty it out first.  Thank goodness the stench is gone, but for over a week I had imagined all sorts of things.

Last Sunday was a day of rest for Post Secrets.  Today, more than any other day, I'm convinced that anyone who reads them won't come away feeling indifferent.  I was visitor 196,051,272.

I have other things to write but I'd better cut this short as I've got other things to do.  Today is my birthday though I'm not celebrating it until next week.  I was thinking about opening my guestbook to HTML.  I've decided not to for several reasons, which I won't go into now.  I suppose if anyone wants to send me a graphic, they can do so here on this blog or I'm going to put it on the calendar.  I'll try to get around to everyone's page to wish those who celebrate Thanksgiving a very happy and safe one.

Camping for Housing

                                                 
In this order they are: the Colón Towers, better known as Los Enchufes; El Mirador de Sanchinarro; El Pocero Bueno

Here's one of my few and far between 'cultural' blogs.  The other day I was reading about the 10 ugliest buildings or monuments in the world and, to my delight or disgust, saw that the Colón Towers (Colón = Columbus) was down at number 6.  Here they're called the 'Enchufes' or 'Plugs' because of that green construction on top which resembles a plug.  Although these aren't the tallest buildings in Madrid, they're tall and are included in the list of skyscrapers.  I'm sure I've already mentioned that buildings in my area are only permitted to go up to five storeys.

Next stop is a building which is part of a new urbanisation in Madrid, which until recently didn't have any type of amenity.  The people who live there had to go outside the neighbourhood to do their shopping, banking, etc..  Our answer to Harrod's got in there quick.though.  Anyway, I think this building was designed by Dutch architects.  I couldn't find a photo of the finished building that I could use unless it would be the Google map one.  This one was taken in 2004 while it was being built.  You can see though that it's constructed with different materials and colours and fortunately the finished product looks better.This building is called the Mirador (lookout) of Sanchinarro because of that big hole in the middle of the building.  When the building was first opened, the public was permitted to go up to this lookout.  Apparently it has a good view of the mountains.  However, people started going there and having picnics and even beer parties, so the Association of Neighbours decided to close it off.  It's a block of flats (apartment building) and therefore not a public building.  The only thing I would like about this building would be the view.  It certainly goes against the norms which are that blocks of flats must be homogeneous. They can't have different architectural designs or materials or windows or anything else that makes one part of the building different from another part.

The last stop is to visit this man.  His name is José Moreno I think though he's called el 'Pocero Bueno' ( a' pocero' is a person that digs for example, wells and sewers).  He's a constructor and has already built a block of flats in which the flats had three or four bedrooms for between 80,000 and 90,000 € (euros).Sorry I don't know the exchange rate at the moment but believe me that is cheap for a flat in Madrid. So when he announced that he was going to build 1,200 more for young people between the ages of 18-35 and people who are divorced (with papers to show they're divorced), you can imagine the excitement and people camping out in the cold for over a week to make sure they get one of those 1,200 flats.  One person who was interviewed on TV was a grandfather who was there on behalf of his grandson.  He must love him very much( or perhaps can't wait to get rid of him) to spend countless hours in the cold.  El Pocero Bueno does this to show that yes housing can be built cheaply and still offer profits to the constructor.  The only catch to this modern-day Robin Hood story is he doesn't have the land to build on - yet. Hope that soon becomes a reality too just to spite all those pessimists out there.

Happy week all.

Tidings of Comfort and Annoy

I'm going to try and be brief today, because as I've consistently demonstrated, with the acception of one week when I participated in an 'Appreciation Week', I don't post something every day. I usually save up anything that I have to say for Sunday, which is the day my beloved Post Secret usually has new secrets and the day that I sometimes have a bit more time.

The annoy part is annoyance at myself because I forgot my brother James' s birthday on the 30th of last month. I can only take comfort in the fact that he probably doesn't remember when mine is either, and also none of my sisters on here posted his birthday. So happy late birthday to a brother who growing up was more often than not a big annoyance to his older, and sometimes younger, siblings. Well, that's out of the way anyway. Oh, but I forgot to mention how envious I always was of his lovely, long dark eyelashes. Anyway, on to comfort in two parts.

Most of us nowadays attempt to be green and respectful of our environment. In being green and recycling as much as possible, we also save ourselves money, and everyone knows saving money with today's prices is a trick that even the great Houdini would probably fail at . In our hemisphere winter is fast approaching. Our government has announced something like a 35% increase in the electricity bills for the first quarter of 2009 - that's with the unemployment rate in Spain at nearly 12%. Now there's not much I can do about unemployment, especially if the government isn't doing that much, but I can try to be as frugal as possible. I never leave the heating on at night. As a matter of fact, I don't like having it on. However, I'm never cold because I sleep under a down feather comforter/duvet. The following is a description of these quilts that I found on Deals Direct.com (and it's true though they're describing the material used in them): "Duck down is the soft under coat feathers without the quill shaft.  Being light and fluffy, it is superior in keeping warmth in while at the same time has a breathable quality so you wont have that sweatiness that you would get with polyester. Durable, warm and comfortable". In other words, I recommend sleeping under one of these, which uses your own body heat, rather than several blankets or even an electric one, which can be dangerous. We called one of my sisters 'Smokey the Bear' because she used to burn the blankets and we even changed the words to the song about Smokey to "She can burn a blanket before you count to ten..."

So much for being brief, but I can't not say anything about Post Secret, and yes I controlled myself and copied only one. Post Secret was censored on MySpace. There are several theories as to why, but I would imagine the most logical reason would be a question of bandwidth. On the Post Secret page I was visitor 192,543,473. Hope everybody has a warm week, and tell me how true is this quote that I've read this morning?

"People want the front of the bus, the back of the church and the centre of attention."
 

Friday Five - Kitchen Gadgets

This is my first attempt at participation in this sort of thing, but this is one subject I know a lot about.  As a matter of fact, I'm a gadget freak just like the famous cartoon character Inspector Gadget.  Now to decide on which 5 to list.  Even though some of them I may not use every day, they're some of my favourites. 


1.  Any idea what that gadget is in the photo?  It's one of my few non-electrical handy tools.  In Spain most tinned foods don't require a tin opener.  About the only food that I buy in tins which doesn't have the ring pulls is Campbell's Soup. However, the ring pulls can be dangerous.You'll know if you've ever cut yourself trying to open a tin. So the purpose of this strange-looking artifact is to help you open your tin of whatever safely and without the ring breaking off.  By the way, I got it from Avon which I no longer buy as my Avon lady has retired.

2.  My electric tin opener for when I have to open a tin of Campbell's soup to put in a casserole that I'm making.  Oh, I know it's not useful if the electricity goes out three or four times like it did yesterday, but I fear tin as I once stupidly decided to mash down the rubbish with bare hands and got cut.  Please note that this happened before we started recycling.

3.  My electric knife.  Now this is something that I don't use every day either, but it's one of my most useful.  Not too long ago, I made a loaf of banana nut bread and used my knife to make perfect slices with very few crumbs much to the disgust of my dog.  They're great for carving meats too, even frozen foods.

4.  My omelette pans.  I could eat Spanish omelette three times a day I think - that's an omelette with eggs, potatoes and onions fried in olive oil (please).  When it comes to flipping it over, people use a plate or a lid.  I usually end up with runny eggs on the counter or the floor.  With my omelette pans that fit together, flipping is a cinch.

5.  This is one of the most convenient I think if you have electricity and not a lot of time - the slow cooker.  At the moment I don't have one, but my birthday is coming up soon and it's on my wish list.  With the prices of food, it's certainly worth having because you can buy 'tougher' meats and they come out delicious.  Well, I think everything made in a crock pot comes out delicious.  The last time I was in the US my sister made soup beans in hers.

Brenda's Favourite Banana Bread

Description:
Instead of putting on the heating yesterday, I decided to do some baking. Besides I had some overly-ripe bananas. I tried to convert this recipe to the metric system for those of us who use it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine (100 g)
3/4 cup sugar (175 g)
3 mashed bananas, or 4 if they are small
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour (350 g)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped (100 g or less. I usually put about half that)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 300º F ( I preheat my oven to 160º C)
Cream butter and sugar. Add bananas, eggs and dry ingredients. Mix well. Fold in nuts. Pour into a greased and lightly-floured loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 1/4 hour.
I cut into slices with an electric knife while the loaf is still warm. If you use a normal knife, I suggest a serrated one.

Mea Culpa

While I'm confessing, or will be, let me say that this Maxine was pinched from Donna's page.  She has some other great ones too - all directed at the elections and politicians.  I also took a couple more for a rainy day.

Rain is the subject of my confession.  Last Sunday because we had an extra hour for the weekend I decided to wash my dirty windows.  It's not like when you wash the dishes that you expect to see them dirty again soon afterwards.  When I wash the windows, I expect them to stay clean for longer than they did, which was less than 24 hours.  The rain started and the wind helped paint dirty spots all over my windows again.  So until I can be guaranteed good weather (ha, ha), they'll stay spotted.  After all, I only need to see if it's raining out.  The day that it didn't stop raining - Tuesday - I finally went to pick up my new residency card, the card that I had to cancel my holiday plans for and I can't blame the rain on that.

As I'm posting one of Donna's Maxine graphics with this, I didn't save any of today's secrets.  I know I have a strange sense of humour, but I laughed so much that my stomach hurt about the Richard Simmons postcard.  If you have a minute, go look at this one on Post Secret.  I'm still chuckling because I can still see it in my head.  I think I'd better forget it though before I go out to the street.  There were other really weird secrets this week.  I was visitor 190,984,857.

Even though this is election week and a serious matter, I hope everybody can find something funny to laugh about.  Have a good week.

Another Use For Window Cleaners Like Windex

With all this rain we've been having I decided not to waste my time washing the dirty windows this weekend. While surfing the net, I came upon this bit of information:

I haven't checked ' snopes.com' to see if this actually works, but they say

If you ever get the sudden urge to run around naked, you should drink some Windex first.

It'll keep you from streaking.

Daily Om Reading

I know Donna will like this one.

October 28, 2008
Intertwined Fates
We Are All Connected

There are times when we may feel disconnected from the world. Our actions can seem like they are of no major consequence, and we may feel like we exist in our own vacuum. Yet, the truth is that our simplest thought or action - the decisions we make each day, and how we see and relate to the world - can be incredibly significant and have a profound impact on the lives of those around us, as well as the world at large. The earth and everything on it is bound by an invisible connection between people, animals, plants, the air, the water, and the soil. Insignificant actions on your part, whether positive or negative, can have an impact on people and the environment that seem entirely separate from your personal realm of existence. Staying conscious of the interconnection between all things can help you think of your choices and your life in terms of the broader effect you may be creating.

Think of buying a wooden stool. The wood was once part of a tree which is part of a forest. A person was paid to fell the tree, another to cut the wood, and yet another to build the stool. Their income may have had a positive effect on their families, just as the loss of the tree may have had a negative impact on the forest or the animals that made that tree their home. An encouraging word to a young child about their special talent can influence this person to develop their gift so that one day their inventions can change the lives of millions. A poem written “merely” to express oneself can make a stranger reading it online from thousands of miles away feel less alone because there is someone else out there who feels exactly the way they do.

Staying conscious of your connection to all things can help you think of your choices in terms of their impact. We are powerful enough that what we do and say can reverberate through the lives of people we may never meet. Understanding that you are intimately connected with all things and understanding your power to affect our world can be the first step on the road to living more consciously.

It's That Time of Year

This title could mean any number of the things, like the Christmas decorations are going up in Madrid, which I've heard that in some areas they've already started.  But that's not it.  It could mean that we've put the clocks back an hour so we've got an extra hour and I have plans for my extra hour.  That's not it either.  It's that time of year when the sun feels wonderful - my sentiments when I was taking my dog out for a walk earlier.  How good the sun feels and how it will warm things up today!  Gone are the horrible memories of this past Wednesday when I had no choice but to go out in near-hurricane winds and freezing rain.  Oddly enough, I didn't get too wet because I think the rain must have swept over me.  I was also using an umbrella, which luckily only almost lifted me off my feet a couple of hundred times but didn't turn inside out like so many others that I saw abandoned in the bins.  Yes, indeed this is one of those times that I appreciate being out in the sun and not getting burnt to a crisp.

I swore this week that I wasn't going to save any secrets.  I swore that if I included a picture with the blog it would be a photo of my dog, the pot of beans that I'm going to put on to cook or my dirty windows (that's where my extra hour is going - cleaning them in anticipation of the next rainstorms).  I saw this postcard and couldn't resist, because I have a thing about TP too.  Only I overstock it, fearing that I'll somehow run out.
There were lots of other wonderful secrets, and I was visitor 189,502,190 (one of the first times I've got an even number).

Hope everybody has a nice sunny week, or if it does rain that it's a gentle rain and not an umbrella wrecker.

Vegetable Lasagna (requested by Sandra, the New Jersey girl)

Description:
Here's the vegetable lasagna that I once mentioned in a blog. Actually I haven't used this recipe since the first time I tried it. I just throw everything together and I use a substitute for the ricotta cheese. If you wish , you can use cottage cheese instead. What I really like about this dish (and similar casseroles) is that it tastes even better the next day and it's low-calorie. I always freeze a few portions to have another day.


Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 zucchini, chopped
2 cups (16 oz.) reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 tablespoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 jar (16 oz.) spaghetti sauce
8 ounces no-cook lasagna (about 9 sheets)
10 ounces frozen broccoli, thawed (I chop up fresh broccoli)
1 can (28 oz.) chopped tomatoes
¼ cup (1 oz.) grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup (1 oz.) shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Coat a 13" x 9" baking dish with cooking spray.
Warm oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini and cook 5 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, egg, basil, salt and pepper. Set aside ½ cup spaghetti sauce.
Place 3 sheets of lasagna in the prepared baking dish. Evenly spoon half of remaining sauce over lasagna. Top with half of ricotta, half the broccoli, half the zucchini, half the tomatoes (with juice), and half the Parmesan. Repeat layering with three more sheets of lasagna and remaining ingredients.
End with remaining sheets of lasagna. Spoon reserved sauce over top, and sprinkle with mozzarella.
Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Happy Anniversary, Happy Day

One of the saddest days for cyberspace me was the day I decided to leave Y360 after it became all too apparent that Yahoo cared nothing about what their customers wanted or needed.  Not knowing where to go but knowing where I didn't want to go, I signed up on another site and on Multiply.  I'd heard some people were migrating to Multiply, but they weren't people that I was in contact with on 360.  Still, this is one rumour that I'm glad I listened to.  In one of the first blogs I wrote on Multiply, I expressed how lonely I felt not knowing anyone here - at least for a short time because I soon found one person that was on my friends list from 360, and I discovered that the author of one of my favourite You Tube videos was an admin on the group 'Those who blogged or blog on Y 360'.  It was also through this group that I found some people I knew and met others.  In the days and months that followed more and more people flocked to Multiply, and I'd like to hope that we're all here to stay.  I'm also happy that three of my sisters, a brother-in-law and two nieces have pages on here though they're not as much a booger, I mean blogger, as I am.  LOL

I began blogging on Y360, so that much I have Yahoo to thank for.  In all the time I've been blogging, I haven't really introduced my fabulous family, which is what I intend to do now.  I'm only going to name my brothers and sisters, because if I name everybody it's going to be like in Genesis who begat whom - my family is that big!  I've got 4 sisters: Diana, whom I used to fight with all the time when we were little.  She's 4 years younger, but she had sharp nails and always won those fights.  Then there's Jackie, Karen and Kim.  My brothers are Roger - the one who stuck his head in the snow drift - James - I always hit him on the head - and Timmy, the silent one.  Me, I'm the eldest and the nicest - joking, of course.

Seriously, I hope everybody is as happy as I am on Multiply.  Not so secretly I think Yahoo did me a favour.  I won't speak for anyone else, but as the Daily OM always asks: 'What do you think?' I sure hope being in the lead early on is prophetic because right now Multiply is ahead of the other sites which have been nominated for the 'Best Blogging Host'.  Voting has started for 2009 as I've already mentioned.  You can find the link to vote on any of the group sites.  Here's wishing everybody who made the switch around this date a happy anniversary and to everyone a happy day.

Long and Winding Week

As some of you know, I usually go out for Chinese on Thursday nights with my friends.  For a long time we were a regular foursome until one of my friends decided that Chinese food didn't agree with her. So now, unless there's a special occasion, it's usually just three of us like this past Thursday.  Here's part of our conversation, and I honestly don't know how we got our wires crossed here.  I had just commented that I'd seen part of the tennis match (Masters Series) earlier on in the day.

Friend 1: So who do you think is going to win?
Me: I'm not sure.
Friend 2: Well, it's obvious.  Nadal.  After all, he is number 1.
Friend 1: No, you wallies!  The Presidential election in the US!

I'm sorry if it seems that I'm more interested in who wins at tennis than who wins the next election for President.  I don't usually talk about politics in my blogs, but I do find it sad that there are still people, both black and white, and other colours in between, who are racists.  After all, aren't we in the 21st Century and doesn't everyone have red blood (except maybe University of Kentucky fans)?  I would have put UK fans like I normally do, but I'm afraid McCain might think I'm talking about England.  LOL.  Anyway, I hope the best candidate wins ( and, of course, I hope Rafa wins the tennis later on today).

This also happened during a stressful week in the life of Brenda. I know some of you, like Ed, can probably say if something is an urban legend because you've seen it on snopes.com. How about the one where cell phone numbers are being sold to telemarketers? According to snopes, the story is false and I hope it is in the US. I received a letter from my land-line telephone company which is Telefonica. Other companies are always trying to get me to change companies, but my philosophy in some matters is better the devil you know. Anyway, in this letter they were asking me for permission to send advertising messages to my cell phone, which I have with Vodafone - another devil I know - and my cell phone number was included in the letter. My conclusion? Well, it's obvious that Vodafone has provided Telefonica and who knows who else with our phone numbers. What happened to the privacy of data? At least Telefonica sent a letter asking permission. The text messages I receive from Vodafone are sufficiently annoying, and if one day (like they've talked about), we're charged for incoming messages as you are in the US, I won't be a happy camper. To make a long story short, I denied permission.

Now to make a long week short I give you two stories in one. Are you aware that Multiply placed third in Blogger's Choice Awards for 2008? Voting has already begun for the 2009 awards. I was voter number 6. You know my thing about looking at visitor numbers and such. Disappointing. Still, Facebook and MySpace didn't make the top three. Recently Multiply has had an influx of people from MSN. It's incredible how quickly they've been welcomed and arrangements have been to accommodate them so that they can bring over their groups, etc. Although I know most of you voted in 2008, I encourage you to repeat in 2009 and to spread the word. The other story is Post Secret, what else? I enjoyed today's secrets and I was visitor 187,997,565. Need I say more? No, except this postcard was among them.

Hope everybody has a good week. I'll be posting something short later on, because the 22nd is my first anniversary on Multiply.

Happy 16th Birthday!

Today is my nephew Aaron's 16th birthday, and this is Aaron when he was three and having a bad hair day.  It's one of my favourite photos of him.

What can I say about Aaron?  He's intelligent, but that's something you'd expect to hear from a family member though, wouldn't you?  He likes the computer, and the last time I saw him he was really into 'Second Life.' He's a good guitar player and has been known to play with his father.    Who knows, maybe we'll have a famous guitarist in the family? He has the right surname for it. This year he decided he wanted a vegetable garden (good move!).  However, I've heard someone else has done most of the work in it.  His newest hobby is tea.  According to my sister, he has all kinds of tea and knows a lot about it.  He'd probably enjoy some of Diana's blogs about tea.  I hope he's learned to prepare something better to accompany his tea, because I once saw him make a grilled cheese sandwich in the microwave.  I'll have to say something funny about Aaron and that is he can tell a lie to anyone except his mother.  He can't lie to her without laughing!

So happy 16th birthday, Aaron.  Hope it's a happy one and I hope you're not expecting a car for your birthday!

Have You Decided Yet?

If not, maybe this secret from Post Secret will help you. I had to copy at least three that I thought were cool secrets for this week. As always there were all kinds of secrets - sad, funny, informative, some that I've wondered about myself. The visitor counter said that I was number 186,542,247. BTW, I can't really relate to the reasoning of this person who sent in this particular postcard, but if it helps someone decide...

We had storms all night. Okay, the thunder and lightning weren't that close but enough to make my dog stay under the bed the entire night. I didn't even think about getting up early this morning and going down to the bullring. I'm not such a dedicated photo taker. I do have one photo of the bullring that was taken this past Wednesday afternoon. I'll post it when (and if) I take some more to go with it.

On Friday evening in one of my classes that I give just around the corner, we could hear music coming from the bullring. I asked my student, who's 14, if he knew who was playing and of course he didn't. I told him it was 'Los Secretos' - a group he'd never heard of because they were popular 30 years ago. They supposedly were going to sing 30 songs with the help of other singers and groups like Amaral, Miguel Bosé, David Summers, etc. I sat outside for a while listening, because, although we may not have ringside seats, we can hear the concerts perfectly.

I think the sun is trying to break through the clouds - at least for a bit. However, I wouldn't go far without an umbrella. Hope everybody has a great week. I'll be doing a special post on Friday.

Guess What?

It's raining again and I'm not referring to the Supertramp song. Looks like autumn has come to Madrid. It's a light rain though. Sure hope we don't have any more floods like last week.

Funny thing isn't it how things we say make us think of songs or even groups? For example, someone says 'village' and I think Village People and the YMCA. We also all experience coincidences in our lives - some of us more than others. Years ago when I was going to the Supertramp concert, one of my friends didn't finish work until late so I waited for her. We arrived before the concert started and everything, but wouldn't you know we met up with other friends who were at the concert! With all the people there and we ran into them, and let me add that we hadn't arranged to meet there. That was a fantastic concert. Supertramp is one of those groups that sounds just as good live as they do recorded.

Last Sunday at this time the last tennis match for the Davis Cup was being played in the bullring. That night was when some parts of Madrid were flooded. If any of you have ever been to a bullfight, you'll know that the ring is covered in sand. Of course to convert the ring into a tennis court, tons and tons of sand had to be removed before the tennis court could be laid.. This was done in record time and, although I can't be sure that the sand has been replaced, they held a concert there this past Thursday night and again on Friday. R.E.M. is going to be there this Wednesday night.

Another WOW week over on Post Secret - from sad to tender to a little sick to frightening... I was visitor 183,711,275 - always seem to get the odd numbers. Anyway, here's wishing everybody a fantastic week.

Borrowed from Lanie's Page

LOOK UP YOUR BIRTHDAY AND SEE WHAT YOU ARE....

  January 01 - 09 ~ Dog
  January 10 - 24 ~ Mouse
  January 25 - 31 ~ Lion
  February 01 - 05 ~ Cat
  February 06 - 14 ~ Dove
  February 15 - 21 ~ Turtle
  February 22 - 28 ~ Panther
  March 01 - 12 ~ Monkey
  March 13 - 15 ~ Lion
  March 16 - 23 ~ Mouse
  March 24 - 31 ~ Cat
  April 01 - 03 ~ Dog
  April 04 - 14 ~ Panther
  April 15 - 26 ~ Mouse
  April 27 - 30 ~ Turtle
  May 01 - 13 ~ Monkey
  May 14 - 21 ~ Dove
  May 22 - 31 ~ Lion
  June 01 - 03 ~ Mouse
  June 04 - 14 ~ Turtle
  June 15 - 20 ~ Dog
  June 21 - 24 ~ Monkey
  June 25 - 30 ~ Cat
  July 01 - 09 ~ Mouse
  July 10 - 15 ~ Dog
  July 16 - 26 ~ Dove
  July 27 - 31 ~ Cat
  August 01 - 15 ~ Monkey
  August 16 - 25 ~ Mouse
  August 26 - 31 ~ Turtle
  September 01 - 14 ~ Dove
  September 15 - 27 ~ Cat
  September 28 - 30 ~ Dog
  October 01 - 15 ~ Monkey
  October 16 - 27 ~ Turtle
  October 28 - 31 ~ Panther
  November 01 - 16 ~ Lion
  November 17 - 30 ~ Cat
  December 01 - 16 ~ Dog
  December 17 - 25 ~ Monkey
  December 26 - 31 ~ Dove

  
If you are a Dog :
A very loyal and sweet person. Your loyalty can never
be doubted. You are quite honest and sincere when
it comes to your attitude towards working. You are a very simple
person, indeed. Absolutely hassle free, humble and down-to-earth! ! That explains the reason why your friends cling on to you! You have a good taste for clothes. If your wardrobe is not updated with what is trendy, you sure are depressed. Popular and easy-going. You have a little group of dignified friends, all of them being quality-personified
  
If you are a Mouse :
Always up to some sort of a mischief! The mischievous
gleam in your eyes is what makes you so cute and attractive to everyone. You are an extremely fun-to-be-with kind of person. No wonder people seek for your company and look forward to include you for all get-together' s. However, you are sensitive which is a drawback.
People need to select their words while talking to you. If someone tries
to fiddle around and play with words while dealing with you, it is
enough to invite your wrath. God bless the person then!
  
If you are a Lion:
Quite contradictory to your name, you are a peace loving person. You best try to avoid a situation wherein you are required to fight. An outdoor person, you dislike sitting at one place for a long
duration. You are a born leader, and have it in you how to tactfully
derive work from people. You love being loved, and when you receive your share of limelight from someone, you are all
theirs!!!! Well, well..hence some people could even take an advantage,
flatter you to the maximum and get their work done. So be careful.....
  
If you are a Cat :
An extremely lovable, adorable person, sometimes shy,
with a passion for quick wit. At times, you prefer
quietness. You love exploring various things and going into depth of
each thing. Under normal circumstances you're cool but when given a reason to, you are like a volcano waiting to erupt. You're a fashion bird. People look forward to you as an icon associated with fashion. Basically, you mingle along freelybut don't like talking much to strangers. People feel very easy in your company. You observe care in choosing your friends.
 
If you are a Turtle :
You are near to perfect and nice at heart. The
examples of your kindness are always circulated in groups of people. You, too, love peace. You wouldn't like to retaliate even to a person who is in
the wrong. You are loved due to this. You do not wish to talk behind one's back. People love the way you always treat them.You can give, give and give love, and the best part is that you do not expect it back in return. You are generous enough. Seeing things in a practical light is what remains the best trait of you guys.
  
If you are a Dove :
You symbolize a very happy-go-lucky approach in life.
Whatever the surroundings may be, grim or cheerful, you remain unaffected. In fact, you spread cheer wherever you go. You are
the leader of your group of friends and good at consoling people in
their times of need. You dislike hypocrisy and tend to shirk away
from hypocrites. They can never be in your good books, no matter what. You are very methodical and organized in your work. No amount of mess, hence, can ever encompass you. Beware, it is easy for you to fall in love....
  
If you are a Panther :
You are mysterious. You are someone who can handle
pressure with ease, and can handle any atmosphere
without going berserk. You can be mean at times, and love to gossip with your selected group. Very prim and proper. You like all situations and
things to be in the way you desire, which, sometimes is not possible. As a
result, you may lose out in some relationships. But otherwise, you love
to help people out from difficult and tight spots when they really need
 you.
  
If you are a Monkey :
Very impatient and hyper!!! you want things to be done as quick as possible. At heart, you are quite simple and love if you
are the center of attraction. That way, you people are unique. You would like to keep yourself safe from all the angles.
Shall your name be dragged or featured in any sort of a controversy, you then go all panicky. Therefore, you take your precautions from the very
beginning. When you foresee anything wrong, your sixth sense is what
saves you from falling in traps. Quite a money minded bunch you people are!!

Go Directly to Gaol (Jail)

This past Tuesday I spent over four hours waiting in a long, long queue outside what used to be the Provincial Prison of Carabanchel (in the Southwestern part of Madrid) where many prisoners on the losing side of the Spanish Civil War were held.  No, I wasn't waiting to buy tickets for a concert or anything like that.  I was waiting to hand in the required papers to renew my residency, which I have to do every five years.  Every time I have to go through this process I swear I'm going to apply for Spanish citizenship.  Now that I've put in my papers I have to go back and pick up my permit in 40 days.

In theory, they're going to start demolishing the prison in October to build more flats, a hospital and a school.  However, there are organizations and some of the political parties who are against the construction of the proposed new housing.  They want the prison to be converted into a type of civic centre and monument to those who suffered during the era of Franco.  A demonstration has been organized for the 27th though I doubt if it will make one bit of difference, because the decision has been made to build I think I heard over 700 flats.

Post Secret was WOW this week from beginning to end.  I saved about 5 postcards, including the one I'm posting with this.  I can't say that my dog is weird.  At least I've never caught her sleeping on the table or even on the table for that matter. She just doesn't like the rain and guess what?  I was getting ready to take her out earlier when it decided to start sheeting it down.
Luckily this time we didn't get any hail, but it is so dark and cool outside.  I was visitor number 182,215,259 today.

Well, I'd better see if I think Madam will go out and then decide what's for lunch.  Hope everybody has a good week.  

Almost Missed Today's Secrets

I've chosen this secret today not because it's anything profound or that it's one which I could have written but because I like the message and it's colourful. I was almost convinced that there would be no new secrets today. I checked at least three times before they came up, and I finally got to the visitor counter to see that I was number 180,992,978. If you ever read a secret about the visitor counter, you'll know I wrote it. lol
We had an emergency meeting of the flat owners of my building yesterday. Nine showed up including myself. If you've read my 'About Me', you'll know that I've lived most of my adult life in Spain. I have yet to become accustomed to how they can shout and throw out insults at one another. It was a bit funny because a young couple attended for the first time as she had inherited the flat from her father. The young man couldn't believe how everyone agreed to disagree and rudely at that. He'll learn! Two hours of torture and I came away with a headache. This has to end somewhere.
Hope everybody is up for a good week. I might get the chance to post again in the next few days, but I don't want to leave before saying what wonderful weather we've had this week. Jacket weather! Take care everybody.

No Words Can Ever Express

Remembering the 11th of September, 2001.

Rain in Spain Again

As I've stated recently, I'm not an expert on the weather in Madrid during the month of September. I do know, however, that the violent storms we had last night are more normal for the end of June or the beginning of July. By the time I got off the phone last night (wasn't my choice to be on it for over an hour), it had started to sprinkle a bit and we could hear thunder in the distance. I've said many times that my dog doesn't like the rain. She likes storms even less, but she did manage a quick pee. Rain is always welcome here although a map posted by Had in one of her blogs doesn't show Madrid as lacking in water. Rain is one thing; the heavens opening up and 'showering' us with all the rain that we'd missed out on at the beginning of summer is another. Maria is always talking about boomers. We didn't have any of that. Instead, it was just one continuous roll of thunder interspersed with lightning, and I sure don't remember hail lasting as long as it did last night. As a matter of fact, we got the same storm twice! I even got hit by hailstones bouncing off the windowsills as I was closing the windows. And here I was thinking what a great night for sleeping.Who can sleep through such violence?

Goodbye Chicken Tuesday

Some friends and I have got together to wish a fond farewell to the Internet famous Chicken Tuesday. I was never one to participate in the event, but let me tell you I have a whole file full of chicken recipes from Chicken Marsala to Tarragon Chicken, Chicken Salads and somewhere in a blog I did an Angry Chicken.

This was a good excuse to gather up some of my not really feathered bibelots and dust them off. The big mother hen with chicks under her at the back on the left was my grandmother's. My Portuguese roosters are pointing to the door as they should.

Tomorrow is a holiday, and I know it sounds silly but I don't know which holiday it is. I don't think it's usually a holiday - probably it's in place of another one that fell on a Sunday. I plan on making a curry on Chicken Tuesday and hope I'm permitted to do so.

P.S. I like the term bibelots. It sounds more sophisticated than plain old dust collectors.

Stress and the Rest

STRESS 
I don't know how many times during this past week I've wished I were invisible or that I had a secret passageway out of my house. It seemed that every time I opened the door either to enter or leave the building there was a neighbour, who also happens to be the president of the building and I, unfortunately, am the vice-president and all-round gofer, waiting to pounce. If it wasn't to help her go through some old papers or to complain about this or that, it was to tell me the neighbours on the second floor had got locked out and were trying to open the door with a credit card. What makes things worse is that she owns two flats (apartments) and both offer excellent views of everything.  Sometimes I think I could climb out the window as I live on the ground floor, but, with my luck, she'd be in her flat upstairs, hanging out the window, and catch me.When we're in her flat on the ground floor, every time someone enters the building she gets up and looks out the peep hole to see who it is. I know we all have our faults and vices, but I hate being controlled and I sure crave some privacy. At one time we were considering installing cameras in the building because we had a spate of vandalism, and, although we knew who the culprit was, no one actually caught him at it. Next Saturday we're having an urgent meeting of the flat owners. I could bore you with the details but I won't or at least not yet.

THE REST
We've had a pleasantly cool week here. This past August was much hotter than last year's. As this is my first September staying in Madrid for a long, long time, I can't really say, but I imagine being this cool is abnormal. On Thursday afternoon when I was going to an organic supermarket to get my dog some biscuits, I could hardly walk because the wind was so strong. Then we had some nice rain yesterday morning just as I was getting ready to take the dog out, and naturally had to wait until it stopped because the little madam doesn't like rain. I think the cool weather is my fault, because I had my hair cut short on Thursday. If I want to change the weather, I have my hair cut.

INTERRUPTION
Can you believe she (the president) has come down, plunger in hand (guess she was cleaning the toilet), to tell me there were some papers that she forgot to show me. Upstairs I go again.

THE END (I hope)
The Post Secret visitor counter is working this week; I'm number 179,335,364. I had to pinch one for later use.  It's one which I almost could have written. Hope everybody has a good week without too much stress. If you'd like some, my neighbour sure can arrange it.

Roger's Birthday

Today is my brother Roger's birthday.  The photo shows what he looked like in the first grade.  Too bad the photo is a bit worn.  I suppose he still looks  more or less like the little boy in the photo with some years added on, but I don't think his ears stick out so much any more.

We used to have to walk quite a distance to get to the school bus and walk the same distance to get home after school.  There was an old abandoned house on our route, and everybody knows that old abandoned houses are haunted so we always hurried past that.  However, in the afternoon little Roger was tired and used to fall into deep ditches and couldn't get out.  Not too long ago he told me that it wasn't true - that he could get out.  Well, I knew that!  I just wanted to get home, get my homework done and watch the Mickey Mouse Club.  Another time we found a big bag of groceries that we thought some hunters had left, and on top of the bag was a bag of chocolate drops, which we loved.  We didn't see anybody around and were just about to help ourselves when somebody jumped out from behind a tree.  We took off running as fast as our little legs could carry us.  The person, who turned out to be our father, quickly caught up with Roger, but I was almost home before he caught me.

And here's one of the most stupid things Roger did.  This time our sister Diana was with us.  There was a big snow on and he asked me if I dared him to stick his head in a snow drift.  I answered that I didn't care what he did.  If old abandoned houses are haunted, then all snow drifts are hiding a sharp rock.  He was wearing a cap, which didn't protect his silly head from such a sharp rock, because when he took his head out of the snow there was blood everywhere.  We didn't know that head wounds, even small cuts like he had, were more scandalous than dangerous.  We thought he was bleeding to death and took off running home again.  That's one time we all got home early.  I think he learned his lesson about snow drifts.

On Roger's birthday, I'd like to think he'll be celebrating it with his grandkids.  He probably doesn't see them often enough.  Hope it's a very happy day and somebody remembers that his favourite cake is chocolate with caramel frosting.

Fantastic Video

                Amazing Female Voice (2nd Song) - video powered by Metacafe

Kentucky Ghost Story

This happened about a month ago just outside of Owensboro , Kentucky , a small town on the banks of the Ohio River , and while it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's indeed real.

An out of state traveler was walking along the side of the road hitchhiking on a dark night in the middle of a thunderstorm.  Time passed slowly and no cars went by.

It was raining so hard he could barely see his hand in front of his face.

Suddenly he saw a car approaching, moving slowly and appearing ghostlike in the rain.  It slowly and silently crept toward him and stopped.

Wanting a ride very badly, the guy jumped into the car and closed the door; only then did he realize that there was nobody behind the wheel, and no sound of the engine to be heard over the rain.

Again the car crept slowly forward and guy was terrified, too scared to think of jumping out and running.  The guy saw that the car was approaching a sharp curve and, still too scared to jump out, he started to pray and beg for his life.  He was certain the ghost car would go off the road and into the river,and he would surely drown!  But just before the curve, a shadowy figure appeared at the driver's window and a hand reached in and turned the steering wheel, guiding the car safely around the bend.  Then, just as silently, the hand disappeared through the window and the hitchhiker was alone again.

Paralyzed with fear, the guy watched the hand reappear every time they reached a curve.  Finally the guy, frightened nearly to death, had all he could take and jumped out of the car and ran through the storm to the nearby town.

Wet and in shock, he went into a lighted tavern and with voice quavering, ordered two shots of whiskey,and then, shaken, he told everybody about his supernatural experience.

A silence came over those listening and everybody got goose bumps.
They realized the guy was sober and was telling the truth.
And the sounds of the storm continued outside.



About half an hour later, two guys walked into the bar and one says to the other, 'Look Billy Bob, there's that idiot that rode in our car while we was pushin' it.'

Wearing White

This will be the first Labour Day in many years that I won't be spending it with my family in the US. As a matter of fact, I only skipped one September in order to go home at Christmas. My mother's birthday is on New Year's Eve and nobody who was still living at home (a younger brother and two sisters) wished her a happy birthday until my brother James came to take her out to dinner. At first we were wondering why we hadn't been invited until we were reminded it was her birthday. How thoughtless of us and how horrible we felt!

'Wearing White' is my choice for the title of this week's blog, because I'm always wondering about something and this is something I've always been wondering about. Why shouldn't we wear white after Labour Day? Does anyone know? Wikipedia? lol. Sounds a bit ridiculous to me. I remember distinctly at the end of September last year when I was leaving to go to the airport to return to Spain, it was 90-some degrees, and don't they say you should wear light colours to deflect the heat? I can't think of a logical reason why wearing white after Labour Day is a no-no. I mean I wouldn't buy a white coat for the winter simply because it would get dirty immediately in Madrid, but I sometimes wear white hats (something easy to wash).

As for Post Secret (my secret reason for a Sunday blog), the visitor counter is definitely broken, and I didn't see any secret that especially grabbed my attention. Anyway, if anyone knows the origin of not wearing white after Labour Day, let me know and hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend. I'll let you know how many people I see next week still wearing white. Have a good week all.

Voting Closes Soon

This is just a reminder for those of you who haven't voted yet to do so if you think Multiply is deserving of this award. Although Multiply still holds the number two spot, there's not a big margin of difference between Multiply and Wordpress, which comes in at number three. I, for one, think it would be fabulous if Multiply came in first, don't you?

Loosing It

Everywhere I go on the Internet I come across the term 'loosing' as illustrated in this postcard I've borrowed from this week's Post Secret.  I've even gone as far as to look up 'loosing' in several online dictionaries, including the mighty Encyclopaedia Britannica.  As of this moment, I've yet to find in any of these dictionaries an example such as I found on a Canadian website talking about a baby beluga.  It read: 'She's filling out her fetal (my spell checker says it foetal) folds and loosing her wrinkled look'.  Please note that I haven't said that 'loose' cannot be a verb, because any half decent dictionary should give numerous examples of 'to loose'.  But as an ESL teacher, I'd put a big 'WW' for wrong word, both on the postcard and the sentence from the website.  Is this evolution of the English language we're seeing here or am I loosing my mind?
And for you is it 'a lot' or 'alot'?  This is one that the spell checker tells me which is correct.

BTW, it seems the visitor counter on Post Secret is broken so I can't record my visitor number this week.  I did get an invitation from someone who already has 1253 contacts.  What do you do with so many contacts?  Just imagine the number of posts there would be on your main page!
Recently I deleted a contact because he flooded the Inbox with news articles that anyone could have found on Yahoo, and sometimes he would post the same article twice.  Sorry but I don't want to be contact number 1254.  Some of us have already earned a gold 'P'.  However, I'm going to put a link to the page of one of my contacts.  She writes lovely poetry and takes professional photographs, so if you like what you see, you can invite her into your circle of friends as she's just getting started on here.  Have a nice week all. Here's that link:

http://mimi29827.multiply.com/

Finally Got a Little Rain

Yesterday evening at about 7, I went to meet one of my friends, who as I'd said earlier hadn't abandoned the city. It was cloudy, but the weatherman said it would clear up so that we'd be able to see the partial eclipse (I saw it, did you?) and, according to him, the only places that would get any rain were Asturias and the area around the Pyrenees. I thought since it hadn't rained at all this summer that it probably wouldn't even though the clouds said rain. We've been having fantastic weather so I decided to walk. It's about a 20-minute walk there, and, if you go use public transport in August, you can easly wait that long. Just as I was getting close to where she lives I could see and feel drops of rain. I'd been in her house for 10 or 15 minutes when it started raining hard. Unfortunately it was just a short shower. We went out a bit later to sit out on the terraces near the park and everything was dry,dry. That's probably our rain for the summer.

I was visitor 160,303,651 over on Post Secret today and I've 'borrowed' one of the secrets to put here. I know my sisters and brothers would agree that our mother was our best friend. Later on this month marks the 5th anniversary of her death. We still miss her.

Hope it's a good week for everybody and that your weather is nice.

  

Chocolate Mint Brownies, original from Joy of Baking website

Description:
In my circle of friends and acquaintances I'm well-known for my brownies. Sometimes when I meet someone for the first time, they say, "Ah, you're the brownie lady." I haven't tried this recipe, but will do. I like the fact that this recipe includes measurements in grams too.

Ingredients:
Brownie Layer:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces (114 grams) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (70 grams) all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mint Layer:

2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (115 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon nonfat Greek yogurt (this was heavy cream in the original recipe)
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract or 1-2 tablespoons crème de menthe
green food coloring (optional)

Chocolate Glaze:

3 ounces (90 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon (14 grams) unsalted butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Have ready a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) square baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper across the bottom and up two opposite sides of the pan, like a sling. (You can also use buttered aluminum foil for this) Set aside.

Brownies: In a stainless steel (heatproof) bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (with a wooden spoon) after each addition. Stir in the flour and salt and beat, with a wooden spoon, until the batter is smooth and glossy and comes away from the sides of the pan (about one minute). Pour the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the pan and the edges of the brownies are just beginning to brown. A toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies will come out almost clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to completely cool.

Mint Layer: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat all the ingredients until smooth. Add a few drops of green food coloring if you want the frosting green. If the frosting is too thick, add a little extra cream. (The frosting should be just thin enough to spread.) Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled brownie layer. Place in the refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes or until firm.

Chocolate Glaze: In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread over the mint filling and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the chocolate glaze starts to dull.

To Serve: Remove the brownies from the pan by lifting with the ends of the foil and transfer to a cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut into 1" squares (this makes 81 squares in the 9"x9" pan... in the original recipe she says 30, but unless they are bigger squares, it's 81). I rinsed off my knife with hot water after each cut, which made the cutting much easier and the glaze less prone to cracking during the cut. These brownies can be stored in the refrigerator for several days or else frozen.