Christmas Greetings, Decorations, Treats and Lottery

I haven't had a lot of free time recently, and certainly no time to sit down and blog. Thought I'd better take the opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Christmas while I don't have something in the oven or boiling away.

 I've made so many buckeyes that I've lost count. They have to be one of the most popular things that I make at this time of year. Last week I packaged up a box of them for my friend Chris to take to her family in Wales. I made sure the box was secure with tape but didn't wrap the box because it would probably be unwrapped at the airport. I then put the box in a bag along with the rest of the presents I was taking to meet friends for a quick dinner and gift exchange at our Chinese restaurant. So I wouldn't forget the bag, I set it down next to the door and went out food shopping for all of 15 minutes. When I returned I saw two little Christmas goody holders on the floor. My dog had ever so carefully taken out and eaten 10 buckeyes without destroying the box! If she hadn't taken out those papers, I may not have noticed there were any missing that's how carefully she got them out. Of course, I had to go and make some more and find another box. I couldn't get angry because it was my fault for leaving them there to tempt her. I'll certainly make sure that the packages of bread that I'm going to make for Christmas Day are placed high up. I'm going to use the same recipe that I used last year. It's in my recipe file here. Keep fingers crossed that the rolls turn out as good this time.

I'm a little slow on the decorations, meaning that I haven't put up my little tree yet. I'll probably do that after I return from class tomorrow evening. The Christmas season here lasts until 6th of January anyway. I'm looking forward to having a rest if I'm allowed. The only thing which I'd change about this time of the year if I could are all the bangers going off any time of the day or night. My poor dog spends most of the time under the bed, and it's close to impossible to find a quiet time to take her out.

Today is our National Health Day or Christmas Lottery. People always say at least they have health if they don't win on the lottery. Chris came by to leave a ticket that we got our money back on I believe. Last year I'm sure I didn't get anything. I don't know what Madrid did right this year to win first prize since it hasn't had that honor since 1991. And to top it all off, we've had snow - not much but enough to cause pandemonium. Luckily when I finally got home last night, the rain had melted most of it all except the stubborn bits on cars.

Here's to everyone's having a wonderful safe Christmas.

 

Happy Birthday, Kath (In Memory of Angelcakes)

You will be forever missed and I'll always remember how wisely you spoke to us in your last blog.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Buckeyes (Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls)

Description:
Ever since my sister Diana made these for Christmas so many years ago, I've made them to give as gifts to students and friends every year. Luckily, I can get American peanut butter here (sorry but the British stuff isn't as nice).

Ingredients:
1 (18 ounce) jar creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1 lb confectioners' sugar (about 3.5 cups)
1 tablespoon vanilla
12 ounces chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)
3-4 ounces paraffin wax (I use 1/4 of a standard block)



Directions:
1. Cream peanut butter and butter.

2. Add sugar and vanilla and mix well.

3. Form into 1 inch balls and place in a pan or dish and put in the freezer for at least an hour.

4. Melt chocolate chips with paraffin wax in a double boiler.

5. Dip balls into chocolate with a toothpick about 3/4 of the way covered.

6. Place chocolate side down on waxed paper. I’ve got a vegetable steamer whose holes are perfect for holding the toothpicks, so the chocolate sets quicker.

7. Let set at room temperature or refrigerate.

Canadian Living, Eh?

If you're thinking of moving to Canada, consider the following:

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
1. Vancouver : 1.5 million people and two bridges. You do the math.
2. Your $400,000 Vancouver home is just 5 hours from downtown.
3. You can throw a rock and hit three Starbucks locations.
4. There's always some sort of deforestation protest going on.
5. Weed.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN ALBERTA
1. Big rock between you and B.C.
2. Ottawa who?
3. Tax is 5% instead ofthe approximately 200% it is for the rest of the country.
4. You can exploit almost any natural resource you can think of.
5. You live in the only province that could actually afford to be its own country.
6. The Americans below you are all in anti-government militia groups.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN SASKATCHEWAN
1. You never run out of wheat.
2. Your province is really easy to draw.
3. You can watch the dog run away from home for hours.
4. People will assume you live on a farm.
5. Daylight savings time? Who the hell needs that!

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN MANITOBA
1. You wake up one morning to find that you suddenly have a beachfront property.
2. Hundreds of huge, horribly frigid lakes.
3. Nothing compares to a wicked Winnipeg winter.
4. You can be an Easterner or a Westerner depending on your mood.
5. You can pass the time watching trucks and barns float by.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN ONTARIO
1. You live in the centre of the universe.
2. Your $400,000 Toronto home is actually a dump.
3. You and you alone decide who will win the federal election.
4. The only province with hard-core American-style crime.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN QUEBEC
1. Racism is socially acceptable.
2. You can take bets with your friends on which English neighbour will move out next.
3. Other provinces basically bribe you to stay in Canada .
4. You can blame all your problems on the "Anglo A*#!%!"

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NEW BRUNSWICK
1. One way or another, the government gets 98% of your income.
2. You're poor, but not as poor as the Newfies.
3. No one ever blames anything on New Brunswick .
4. Everybody has a grandfather who runs a lighthouse.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NOVA SCOTIA
1. Everyone can play the fiddle. The ones who can't, think they can.
2. You can pretend to have Scottish heritage as an excuse to get drunk and wear a kilt.
3. You are the only reason Anne Murray makes money.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
1. Even though more people live on Vancouver Island , you still got the big, new bridge.
2. You can walk across the province in half an hour.
3. You can drive across the province in two minutes.
4. Everyone has been an extra on "Road to Avonlea."
5. This is where all those tiny, red potatoes come from.
6. You can confuse ships by turning your porch lights on and off at night.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NEWFOUNDLAND
1. If Quebec separates, you will float off to sea.
2. If you do something stupid, you have a built-in excuse.
3. The workday is about two hours long.
4. It is socially acceptable to wear your hip waders to your wedding.

Pass this along to your fellow Canadians and foreigners who can learn something about the real Canada.

Let's face it: Canadians are a rare breed.

The Official Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart

50° Fahrenheit (10° C)
· Californians shiver uncontrollably.
· Canadians plant gardens.

35° Fahrenheit (1.6° C)
· Italian Cars won't start
· Canadians drive with the windows down

32° Fahrenheit (0° C)
· American water freezes
· Canadian water gets thicker.

0° Fahrenheit (-17.9° C)
· New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.
· Canadians have the last cookout of the season.

-60° Fahrenheit (-51° C)
· Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
· Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door.

-109.9° Fahrenheit (-78.5° C)
· Carbon dioxide freezes makes dry ice.
· Canadians pull down their earflaps.

-173° Fahrenheit (-114° C)
· Ethyl alcohol freezes.
· Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg

-459.67° Fahrenheit (-273.15° C)
· Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops.
· Canadians start saying "cold, eh?"

-500° Fahrenheit (-295° C)
· Hell freezes over.
· The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup

Crock Pot Apple Butter

Description:
This is a recipe that I got from a lady on here last year and decided to make this to give as gifts at Christmas. Since I don't know if we have Splenda here, I used 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of unrefined brown sugar and it came out lovely. I put the apple butter in some nice jam jars that I had rather than freeze it.


Ingredients:
5 1/2 lbs apples, peeled and finely chopped (I use 3-4 different types of apples)
4 cups sugar ( I use 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup splenda, because I do not like it overly sweet.. the recipe calls for 4 cups of sugar)
2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt


Directions:
1 Place apples in a large bowl.

2 Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt.

3 Pour over apples and mix well.

4 Place in crock pot, cover and cook on high for 1 hour.

5 Decrease heat to low; cover and cook on low for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown.

6 Stir occasionally.

7 Uncover and cook on low for 1 hour longer.

8 If desired, whisk until smooth.

9 Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch head space.

10Cover and freeze.

Starting Anew

Just in case, or as we say in Spanish 'if for the flies' (literal translation), I'm not including a photo with this, what I intend to make short, post. With the move of the database recently, I temporarily  lost photos from blogs and a photo album, all of which finally re-appeared for me. What got stuck in the twilight zone was my entire viewing history. It somehow got corrupted according to CS and had to be deleted ; hence, the starting anew. Fortunately, I say, touching wood, that was the only part of my site that is gone forever. I know there are pages with missing photos still, and several people I know haven't got any updates recently. This morning (my morning) pages were loading very slowly, so I figured there must be some kind of maintenance going on. There must have been because this afternoon loading times have been normal on my side of the pond.

Not much going on in my life, except tomorrow I'll be a year older than I am today. I'll be celebrating both Thanksgiving and my birthday on Thursday at a Mexican, which is where I always choose to celebrate my birthday. My friends and I are quite international. For Chris's birthday, we went to an Indian and the next birthday celebration will be at a Greek restaurant.

I suppose the only thing newsworthy, though it's really not, is my phone is still being used and abused. But we all know it doesn't cost me anything. Honestly, when I get old, or should I say older than I now am, and don't forget grumpy, I hope I don't refuse to try some new technology just because. I mean, there are mobile phones which are designed especially for people who have no idea how to use a mobile and with numbers and letters that are big enough for most people to see.

Tonight will be only the second time this season that it'll be cold enough for me to put on a hat and that's because it's a bit windy out. This has been the warmest autumn that we've had since I've lived in Spain, not to mention that we're desperate for rain. If anybody has any rain that they don't want, they can send it this way but forget the floods.

Can't end this without saying something about my beloved Post Secret. Of course, you know there were a couple that I liked so much that I had to save. I plan on using at least one of them later on. Surprise, surprise! Today I got an even number on the visitor counter: 284,788,454.

And I have to add this. I've finally made use of my right rail. Just the other day on StumleUpon, I found a quote that I really liked.

So much for a short post huh? Anyway, I hope everybody who celebrates Thanksgiving has an enjoyable holiday and that the rest of us has a good week.

The Man in the White Suit

Twenty years ago, Erik started writing 'The Man in the White Suit', a novel of fantasy but with fact interspersed, and a clear message that we must respect all living things even the horrible cockroach that almost anybody, except Erik, would crush with his/her shoe, a rolled up newspaper, chase with bug spray, anything to take the life of such a disgusting creature. Because, from what I observed, no journalists or TV cameras were at the presentation of his book (I did see someone with a camera taking a home video), I thought I'd dedicate this blog to Erik and his wonderful world of UFO's and beautiful strange beings from other planets and the man in the white suit with the baby chick in his pocket (the chick has special powers too) who teaches a group of friends everything they need to know, things that they aren't taught sitting in a classroom six hours a day. The book is full of drawings of creatures. As different as these creatures may be, they all have one thing in common and which is illustrated on the front cover - the tender look in their eyes. Looking into these eyes filled with tenderness you seem to see yourself  reflected.

I met Erik (full name Herikberto, which is in itself an odd name in Spain and I like to think there's only one Herikberto. He's certainly odd in the good sense, meaning he's very,very talented) when the company where I'd worked  for almost 27 years closed down. Most people who had known this particular language institute for years (it was opened the year I was born) because they had been students there, or knew someone who had been, were naturally shocked and angry that their children wouldn't have a place in the next course and not due to demand. I mean, I can remember years that the queues (lines) to get a place in our school started even before the institute opened at 8 in the morning. Sometimes I was even accused of queue-jumping and would have to explain that I worked there. Erik's daughter was in one of the children's courses I had that last year. Some of my colleagues continued under a different name in the centre of town. I decided to pay myself to work so I began giving private classes. I'm sure this will be the last year I give Helena classes because next year she'll be attending university.

 Anyway, this is how I met Erik and I fear there will be few people in this neighbourhood who don't know him. He's a fantastic person even if he's a bit mad and doesn't stop talking about - you guessed it - E.T.'s. Once when he phoned, I said I didn't have time to talk as my ceiling fan had shorted out the electricity and I was waiting for an electrician to come before all the food in the fridge spoiled. He said. 'I can fix that' and he did, complete with drawings of how he'd made the ceiling fan stable so it wouldn't cause any more short circuits or worse fall on my head. Of course, I had to listen to his stories. At the time he was trying to get another novel published in the US, which unfortunately hasn't happened. I hope 'The Man in the White Suit' and the others that he has to be published are a big, big success. I certainly enjoyed the evening this past week when his novel was introduced. We laughed a lot. Erik's a natural comedian too. The only distraction of the evening was the child that went berserk when an E.T. entered the room and who continued making noise the rest of the evening. Not a result of a distraction, but I might add that it's too bad the novel hasn't been published in English - at least not yet.

    

Too Funny Not To Post

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Graffiti Long Weekend

I only remembered (again) shortly before 12 yesterday morning while my head was in the oven that this was a long weekend for us. No, I hadn't turned on the gas. My appliances are all electric, and I was cleaning the oven when I realized that I might have to look in on my friend's cat this weekend. I texted her and she texted me back to say that yes they were going away and would I mind checking on Sammie. After taking Zara out this morning, I went to replenish Sammie's food and water and to spend some time with her. Actually I also got some quiet time for myself, which I used to read a bit more on the Sue Grafton novel I'd started. At least at my friends' I know a certain person won't be ringing the doorbell to ask to use my phone. She only made 6 calls from my phone last week. As she puts it, the calls don't cost me anything. I beg to differ here because I know we do pay for those calls and not in the long run either. Besides, having someone in when you're trying to prepare lunch (during the week I eat between 1 and 1.30). One day I almost burnt the stir-fry I was making, because she had to have a complaining session after getting off the phone, more or less what I'm having here. A normal person would have a mobile phone to use, but she refuses to learn how to use one.

It's probably a good thing that we have tomorrow off since I've got a busy week ahead. On Thursday evening, I'm going to a book presentation. The father of one of my students has finally published his first of five novels that he's written about E.T.'s. This past Thursday when I was going to my last class, I heard someone behind me calling my name and naturally thought it was my student and his father. Lots of times I arrive at their house before they do. When I turned around, I saw that it was Helena's father, the one who's crazy about E.T's and has written the novels, not the other little boy's father. He insisted on going with me to tell the other student's family that we would have to change the time of the class because I had to go to the presentation. I told him I was sure they would be going too so there would be no problem as they're all friends. As another mother and I were commenting the other day, there can't be many people in the neighbourhood who don't know Heric (and his obsession). He's a lovely person even if he is a bit strange.

I was debating about whether or not to post one of the secrets that I just had to copy from Post Secret and then remembered this mushroom that suddenly appeared on a building round the corner from my house. A bit of the writing at the top got cut off like one of the secrets that I was reading today. It doesn't matter because I have no idea what it says. I got my usual odd number today on Post Secret: 280,739,789.

Think I'm going to try and find time to write up that chocolate cake recipe that I mentioned before. I still have photos to post from September. BTW, it's finally cold here, so I've put the continental quilt on the bed. How I love sleeping under one! Hope everybody has a good week.

Smelly Week With Fantastic Weather

Incredible as its seems a little over a week ago I was wearing a winter coat and one of my signature hats. This week it's been nothing but summer clothes. Zara and I went to Fuente del Berro Park this afternoon, and I had to take my jacket off. The only thing that is reminiscence of autumn is the leaves on the ground, which I would have loved to walk through but didn't dare in case there was an unpleasant surprise hidden among them. The other day I kept smelling something disgusting and kept blaming it on Zara until I looked at my shoe and what I'd stepped in. I truly understand people who haven't got a dog getting angry, especially when there is no necessity to leave it where someone can step in it. Our town council provides bags with which to pick up the dog's deposits. I always make sure I have a supply, and I think if I can pick it up so can everybody else.

I guess the next smelly thing on my list is all the renovation going on in my building. The other day they were painting with that anti-mould paint, which caused me to have to close the windows since the smell was making me ill. One of the persons having renovations done is my 'favourite' neighbour - the one who drives me up a wall and who has the personality of a reptile. She's been trying to palm all kinds of junk off on me. The other day I encountered a tied bag hanging from my door knob. Inside was a mobile phone that she'd never activated, and which one of her neighbours had tried to activate without success because the phone number had probably been given to someone else. When I told her it was useless, she said she hadn't time to dispose of it properly. And I do? She hasn't cleaned any of the dust and dirt that there is in the building and which we all track into our flats, at least I do. We pay someone to clean twice a week. However, I don't think that person should have to do extra work. To top it off, I've got a nice new scratch on my door. I say a new scratch because I have two other big ones which were made by someone who is deceased but he made our lives more complicated with his evilness. We were always taking him to court.

I wanted to post the recipe for the chocolate cake that I made for my friend's birthday yesterday. It's a chocolate cake recipe that everyone needs to have when there isn't a cake mix in the cupboard, you want a made from scratch cake or there isn't a mix for this cake like there isn't in Spain. Remember this has been a smelly week, so my main computer decides that it won't connect to my wireless network. I tried everything I can think of to repair it. I'm typing this on my netbook, which touch wood has connected without problems. I'm posting this secret from this week's Post Secret(where I got an even number on the visitor counter for once: 278,763736. Looks like a lucky number to me. Sure hope so) to remind me that not everything is smelly. Here's wishing everybody a good week.

For Loretta Who's Under the Weather

Hope this makes her laugh even if it doesn't cure what ails her!

Common Cold
by Ogden Nash
 
Go hang yourself, you old M.D,!
You shall not sneer at me.
Pick up your hat and stethoscope,
Go wash your mouth with laundry soap;
I contemplate a joy exquisite
In not paying you for your visit.
I did not call you to be told
My malady is a common cold.

By pounding brow and swollen lip;
By fever's hot and scaly grip;
By those two red redundant eyes
That weep like woeful April skies;
By racking snuffle, snort, and sniff;
By handkerchief after handkerchief;
This cold you wave away as naught
Is the damnedest cold man ever caught!

Give ear, you scientific fossil!
Here is the genuine Cold Colossal;
The Cold of which researchers dream,
The Perfect Cold, the Cold Supreme.
This honored system humbly holds
The Super-cold to end all colds;
The Cold Crusading for Democracy;
The Führer of the Streptococcracy.

Bacilli swarm within my portals
Such as were ne'er conceived by mortals,
But bred by scientists wise and hoary
In some Olympic laboratory;
Bacteria as large as mice,
With feet of fire and heads of ice
Who never interrupt for slumber
Their stamping elephantine rumba.

A common cold, gadzooks, forsooth!
Ah, yes. And Lincoln was jostled by Booth;
Don Juan was a budding gallant,
And Shakespeare's plays show signs of talent;
The Arctic winter is fairly coolish,
And your diagnosis is fairly foolish.
Oh what a derision history holds
For the man who belittled the Cold of Colds!
   
 

Double Entendre

Today marks my second anniversary on Multiply so Happy Halloween!

My Horoscope for October 18th

Here's my horoscope from My Yahoo for today:

You can expect a ton of invitations, opportunities and special requests to hit your inbox today. Sure, everything will sound tempting, but you can't do it all -- and you shouldn't. In fact, you should do none of it. It's time to slow down the pace of your days. Take on fewer commitments in your life, and remember what it's like to have free time! Too much has been going on lately, and you're in danger of losing perspective on who you really are.

So this has convinced me to get off here and go to the park.

Now here's my horoscope from Mi Yahoo:

La vida doméstica te está pesando eres demasiado bueno y hay quehaceres que debieras dejar a otros que ayuden aunque el resultado no sea perfecto. Los arreglos económicos tienen un chance mayor de éxito si los pospones hasta la semana que viene hay un ángulo de tu carta que es un poco flojo.

Translation: Your domestic life is weighing you down. You're too good (that's true) and there are chores that you should let others help you with even though the result won't be perfect. Your economic arrangements have a better chance of succeeding if you postpone them until next week. There's an angle to your chart that is a bit weak.

So I should leave things lying around until someone picks them up for me? I'm going to the park!

Promises, Promises

It's a lovely sunny day in Madrid though the mornings definitely have a feeling that yes autumn has arrived. I had planned to post one or two photo albums today, but I don't have any of the photos organized and some I haven't even uploaded yet. I've sent a few photos to family that's all. Since it's such a lovely day, Zara and I are going to our favourite park later on. That's one promise I mean to keep. Another promise I'll try to keep is to post some recipes from a cookbook I bought in September for quick and easy dishes. I really like it because the measurements have been converted to the metric system too, which as you know most of the world uses. At the moment I'm still cleaning out things that I haven't used or worn in a long time.

Last week was only the second time since he's been posting them that Frank didn't post any new secrets. This week's secrets made up for that and I'm including one of the ones I liked. Almost 100% of the time I get an odd number and this week's is no exception: 275,081,689.

This is a normal week with no holidays so I'm going to make this a short post today. Here's wishing everybody a good week.   

Happy Birthday, Aaron

Today is my nephew Aaron's 17th birthday. I kind of think he now prefers Starbucks to Yoo-hoo, but I hope you have a happy birthday anyhoo, Aaron. You share the same birthday as the Madrid underground system (el metro). Today marks it 90th birthday!  

BAD 2009

Funny how we're always waiting for Friday (TGIF). Blog Action Day (BAD) is the day that I've been waiting for and here is my contribution to this year's chosen topic 'Climate Change'.



There is a video somewhere that says everything that I believe to be true about climate change and the underlying causes. I've seen it and thought that it was one of the best put together videos that I've ever come across. I'm sure I've seen it on someone's page in our world here at Multiply. Video or no video, and despite what many people would have us believe to be a scam, there are too many indications that we are experiencing climate change, global warming or whatever we want to call it. At least for me this is true, and I have absolutely no training in meteorological matters, and any scientific facts I would have learned at school are long forgotten. In my quest to find the video that I'd have liked to include, I came across an interview on Fox News with the Weather Channel founder who said that the whole global warming thing was a bunch of hoopla (my words, not his exact ones). The interviewer remarked that he was looking forward to the Ice Age (and these were more or less his exact words). Because I want this to be a serious blog and not one of name-calling, I'll keep my comments to myself.

For a long, long I've thought the United States has bizarre weather that I sure don't remember experiencing when I was a child - record high temperatures, tornadoes in areas that are not known for them, hurricane winds in areas where maybe there is some heavy rain but never hurricane-force winds, baseball-size hail, etc. I know many of us are able to look back on our childhood with fondness, and some of us even think it's the best time of our lives. However, I'm convinced that the part of the country where I grew up wasn't so humid and I know it wasn't as hazy as it so often is now. Sometimes when I've heard people there talk about what a nice sunny day it was I've thought it was a rather dull day. Somewhere I read that the sky is getting duller in the United States due to pollution while in Europe it's getting lighter. I suppose that's what I see. Anyway, the climate which I live in now is dry and we're usually blessed with blue skies. Not that Europe doesn't have its bizarre weather too. Please don't think for even a second that any part of this planet we live on is exempt from drastic change or unusual events. Just recently one of my Multiply friends who lives in Scotland posted photos of a terrifying sandstorm that she and a friend had got caught in. A sand storm in Scotland! I'm sure anyone who knows a little bit about geography knows that Scotland is far from any deserts. People who have lived in that area of Scotland for ages have no recollection of any such phenomenon. We can only hope that the experts, especially those who are sceptics about global warming, have a logical explanation for why this happened. From what I understand, the sand storm didn't even make the local news.

If climate change is a reality and not a scam as many detractors claim, what are we going to do to stop it or try to slow down the process? Unfortunately until our governments decide to take action ( by then it will possibly be too late), we must rely on ourselves to do what we can and through our example influence others to do what they can. Ever since I can remember, I've been a no litter freak. I've never been able throw even a minute scrap of paper on the ground although there are those in my adopted country who claim when they do so they're giving someone a job. I recycle as much as I can; I eat leftovers (I love leftovers) because I don't want to waste food; I take showers instead of baths (I've never understood sitting in your own slime anyway), stay in the shower only as long as it takes me to do what I have to, and turn off the water while I'm soaping up; I pick up my dog's solid wastes and dispose of them properly; turn off all unnecessary electrical appliances and never leave phone and camera chargers plugged up all the time like I've seen some people do.

The above list contains just some of the things I do to hopefully make things better for future generations yet this is not enough on my part. I don't like to think of myself as a hoarder, but this past weekend when I was taking out my winter clothes I had to admit that I had too many clothes. I used to think I had an addiction to magazines, especially to home decorating and computer magazines and I 'cured' myself. Now I only subscribe to one computer magazine and buy other magazines once or twice a year. I know some of us tend to love acquiring new clothes and nice things for our home to make ourselves and our home sweet home look better. However, we tend to buy more than is necessary and, in my case at least, have little space in which to store them, so we effectively become 'hoarders'. Oh, I have a good clean out from time to time and have no problem passing on items that are still useful. Nevertheless, I would like for this problem not to exist. I can see another 'cure' being worked out here. I only hope it works as I can only hope that the people whom we've elected to represent us and look after our rights and interests start taking an active part in finding and applying solutions which are beneficial for all.

 http://www.blogactionday.org 

   
 

Happy Birthday, John From Bob Marley

Bloggin' Again

True to form, my holidays have come and gone.  I still have the memories though and a yet-to-be emptied suitcase to remind me.  Most importantly I was able to see almost everyone in my large family - we had an extremely unorganized family get together the last full weekend that I was there.  I have photos to post whenever I get round to it.  Most of my pics are of animals and places we visited because I think sometimes people get in the way of photos.  Right now I feel like poor Riley here.  I'm jetlagged and probably will be for another week or so. (BTW, this shot was taken by my brother-in-law.  I don't have the date stamped on mine).

I started my classes this past Thursday.  I have them more or less organized, I think.  I'm getting a couple of new students this term, which is good as a new language school has just opened up around the corner.  I have no idea how successful it will be in the long run, but it's near quite a few schools.

I got back just in time to avoid a taxi strike.  There would have been no way I could have made it home by bus or underground with the luggage I had.  As it was, when I went to check in at the airport I had to take some things out because my suitcase was over the limit.  For one pound over the limit it's $150!  Anyway, nothing else is new here except Madrid didn't get it to host the Olympics of 2016 and Zara was happy (and fatter too) to be home.

I haven't been over to Post Secret yet.  Will do that later on.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

IKEA Has No IDEA

Every time I move in my small apartment, I think of the song that goes with the newest Ikea ad: 'Where there's room for two, there's room for three'. Maybe this is true if we're talking about humans, but let me tell you when it comes to animals like dogs who are always stretched out in the most inconvenient places, it sure isn't. At least I'm getting good at long jumps, which is good because there are always puddles to avoid in the park or maybe I could try out for the Olympics. Anyway, I'm getting ready to cross that big pond - the Atlantic - and will miss not one dog but two plus a cat. I only hope the dogs get on okay at the kennel as this will be my friend's dog's first experience in one of these places.

On Monday when we were taking a short walk around the block, I saw 45º C (That's almost 115º F) at 6.30 in the afternoon, and, although I didn't look to see the temperature every single day, the days that I did see it it was never below 40º C at 6.30 pm. This has certainly been the hottest August we've had in a long time. I'm just hoping for some nice cool weather in the US minus the horrible humidity. I don't mind sweating so much though I do like to breathe and humidity doesn't help that. 

Thursday, the 20th, marked the first anniversary of the crash of a Spanair flight at the Madrid airport. Memorial services were held here and also in the Canary Islands where most of the passengers were from. A marker is to be built which can be be seen from the air I suppose similar to the one they erected in Lexington (KY).

I'm not sure if I'll see Post Secret next week as I'll probably be suffering from jet lag. At least for me there weren't any that really caught my attention today. I'm not saying any of them were boring - just not unusual or wacky. Guess what? I got an odd number (yet again!) on the visitor counter: 260,215,745.

Hope those who aren't well are feeling better and that everyone has a good week.

 

Summer's Slipping Away

This week has been nothing but routine - no frying pans on my head or fights in the street - at least not any that I've seen. One of the secrets on Post Secret stated that he/she didn't mind seeing the police roughing up people as long as it didn't happen to family or friends. I believe a lot of people are like that and violence excites them - reminds me of my little sister who came running to get a good view of any of us who were bleeding. However, she became hysterical when she saw one drop of her own blood.

I can't believe it's already the middle of August. Usually around this time the temperature starts dropping a bit to make it easier to sleep. It hasn't so far. I'm grateful that we in Madrid haven't had any heavy rainstorms like some of the surrounding towns. However hot it gets here, it's still bearable because, as I've said before, Madrid has a dry climate.

I've already mentioned Post Secret, but now I have to get my visitor number in - odd number once more: 258,492,933. I had a good laugh about the bathroom and famous people, and I can sympathise with the person who can't stand seeing time left on a microwave. It comes back to why people love seeing violence (some people anyway). People who do can't be bothered to cancel the time left on a microwave or leave a public toilet filthy because they have no respect for others or have never had to clean up after themselves or both.

Welcome back Sandra and Diana. I've missed you two a lot. Poor Diana has been really ill, so I hope she gets better soon. Deb has an important doctor's appointment tomorrow and I hope that goes well.

I'm making this short today. Have a good week all.

A Cupboard, a Cat and a Strange Sight

Last week with the excitement of the street fight, I completely forgot all about the lucky accident I had on Wednesday. I was putting a frying pan in the already overloaded dish cupboard which is for drying dishes (a Finnish invention so says Tiina) when a frying pan fell on my head. And why do I consider this a lucky accident? Well, it wasn't a pleasant feeling for my head but this poor frying pan's handle had been loose for ages and it flew off. That obliged me to fix it and so now it's as good as new and so is my head.

The lovely little lady in the photo is Sami, the cat that I'm looking after while her humans are on holiday. Too bad her lovely raccoon tail didn't get in the photo. I was in a real panic on Thursday because one of the keys to the door broke - fortunately not in the lock. The other person who is supposed to help with the cat sitting is still on holiday and I didn't have the telephone number for the other person who had keys. Thank goodness for mobiles. I texted my friends in Wales and got the necessary telephone number from them and finally got keys that work. I was so upset that I couldn't get in initially. Sami is a little sweetie and I think maybe she only eats when I go to visit her. At least I don't see that the level of food has gone down. I'm sure she misses her humans.

I suppose it's because of the weather or perhaps the small size of flats and apartments that invite Spanish people to spend a lot of time in the street. Sometimes it's almost as if they do live in the street. Today is an especially nice day. I've got all the windows open to the coolness that's coming in. Just before lunch I happened to glance at the window in my 'office' and saw the reflection of a person with a chair in one hand and a newspaper in the other. I thought probably that it was an old chair that he was throwing away. No, he'd brought it out to sit on! Okay, my street is too narrow for benches, but there are plenty of benches just up the road. Could it be that his chair is more comfortable?

Strange were some of the secrets on Post Secret today. The one about ghostbusters was cute though the one where the person justified his/her underage drinking by saying he/she recycles the cans is very, very sad. Odd numbers seem to follow me and today I was visitor 256,797,847.

Here's hoping everybody has a great week ahead.

The Other Side of the Coin

Lots of other good stuff on this page.

The Other Side of the Coin
I am thankful....
For the taxes that I pay, Because it means that I am employed.
For the mess to clean after a party,
Because it means that I have been surrounded by friends.
For a lawn that needs mowing, Windows that need cleaning, And gutters that need fixing,
Because it means that I have a home.
For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot,
Because it means I am capable of walking And that I have been blessed with transportation.
Or my huge heating bill
Because it means I am warm.
For the lady behind me in church that sings off key,
Because it means that I can hear.
For the pile of laundry and ironing,
Because it means I have clothes to wear.
For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day,
Because it means I have been capable of working hard.
For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours,
Because it means that I am alive.
And finally.......
For all the e-mails I receive each day, Because it means I have friends who think of me In places far away and near.

*Taken from http://www.thylacineslair.com/MindsRetreat.htm

Sunday Sundries

I've witnessed a few frightening things in my life but yesterday evening almost found myself in the middle of a fight. I was out dog-walking at my usual time and we were doing our usual route. There were a couple of individuals in a small fenced- in area displaying strange behaviour - squatting in a weird way and then getting up. Suddenly two more men came running and shouting menacingly in a foreign language. One of the men in the field picked up a long metal bar, but at that very moment a car came round the corner, brakes screeching, and all four of them took off running and shouting down the street with the car behind them. And no this wasn't a movie although our area is popular for that. Anyway, we quickly retraced our steps and didn't continue our normal nightly routine. I didn't want to take the chance that they would start shooting if any of them should have a weapon. I know I've remarked that not everyone here has a gun. However, that doesn't mean that they don't exist. It's just not like in the US where so many people do own one or more guns. The ironic thing here is there's a police station just up the street where all this took place (and it all happened in 30 seconds or less).

A couple of hours before we went out, we suddenly got a bit of rain which has cooled things off quite a bit. This is probably one of the reasons I didn't see people sitting out on benches in the cool of the evening last night; another reason is one of the bar that has a terrace has closed for holidays.Today, so far anyway, it's still pleasant but should be up in the 90's (35º C +) beginning tomorrow.

I've just now noticed that I got an even number for a change on the visitor counter on Post Secret. If there's only one thing I can say about this week's PS, then it would be that there's variety and at least one memorable quirky secret.

August is a month of birthdays in my family. Today is my nephew Chris's birthday. Hope everybody has a good week with no harrying experiences.

My Life According to...Stolen from Roy's Page

Using only song titles from ONE ARTIST of your choice, cleverly answer these questions.You can't use the band/artist/performer I used.Do not repeat a song title!
It's a lot harder than you think!  
Re-post as "My Life According to (band / artist / performer's name)"


HERE ARE MY CHOICES
Pick your Artist:
Linkin Park
Are you a male or female:
In Between
Describe yourself:
In Pieces
How do you feel:
Faint
Describe where you currently live:
Shadow of the Day
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Somewhere I Belong
Your favorite form of transportation:
Crawling
Your best friend is:
A Place for my Head
You and your best friends are:
With You
What's the weather like:
Cure for the Itch
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
Hit the Floor
What is life to you:
Bleed it Out
Your relationship:
From the Inside
Your fear:
Nobody's Listening
What is the best advice you have to give:
Leave Out All the Rest
Thought for the Day:
Breaking the Habit
How I would like to die:
Easier to Run
My soul's present condition:
Numb 

Bad Milk

Here's one of my more stupid moments.  Earlier this week while taking the dogs out (I'm currently looking after a friend's dog), I saw this homemade sign in front of a building that is being renovated.  I just had to have a photo of this original and funny sign.  It said something like: 'Caution - Men at work - Guard dog on duty' along with a drawing of a chihuahua.  As luck would have it, I didn't have my camera with me, but I decided to go back to the building once I got the dogs home.  Instead of putting the camera in its case, I grabbed a plastic bag, placed the camera inside and took off to immortalize that sign.  Wouldn't you know by the time I got there, the sign had been removed and the area around the building closed off!  I suppose the big boss has no sense of humour or he was protecting himself against a fine or worse in case bits of brick should fall on anyone walking underneath.

So where is the stupid moment?  The plastic bag where I'd put the camera had served another purpose in its previous life.  I'd put a milk carton and an Actimel bottle in it until I could dispose of them properly.  The plastic bag was empty except for some putrid-smelling liquid in the bottom, which unfortunately I failed to notice until I took an extremely sticky smelly camera out.  I'm sure it was the remains of the Actimel, and I swear I could smell that awful odour the entire day.  The button for turning the camera on was glued by the sugar from the Actimel, but I finally got it all cleaned to the point that it turned on easily and no longer smelled.  Every time I take the camera out now I have a sniff.  Thank goodness it still works.

The word 'leche' (milk) is a much used word in Spanish in rude expressions and should be avoided.  LOL.  While getting out of a car once my foot got caught in the seatbelt and I fell and split my lip, my friends said I exclaimed (though I don't remember) '!Qué leche me he dado!' Polite translation: 'I really came a cropper'.  Talking about bad luck: !Qué mala leche!  Or a person who is in a bad, bad mood: !Qué mala leche tiene!

There might have been a couple of bad milk secrets on Post Secret today, These I ignore and remember the ones like the one at the top.  After all, I'm a teacher.  Another odd number on the visitor counter: 253,365,513.

Hope everybody has a great week.  How time flies!  There are four upcoming birthdays on my network calendar today and three of them are for family!  

On the Soapbox

As all of my contacts, friends and family on Multiply know I've been living in Spain most of my life and have fully integrated into the Spanish way of life.  I don't like bullfights, but then a lot of pro animal rights Spaniards don't either.  However, there is one aspect of this society which pains me so much, and I've just heard of a similar incident happening in the US.

This month of July in two different parts of Spain, two 13-year-old girls have been the victims of gang rapes.  The oldest assailants in both cases are just 15.  The law in Spain says that anyone under 14 cannot be held accountable for his or her actions so most of these boys are still out on the street.  One of the families has decided that they can't stand knowing that the boys are free to commit the same crime again if they so desire and seeing them and have decided to move away, but how will their daughter ever forget what happened to her?  In the case in the US the little girl is only 8 while her rapists are between 9 and 14.  The girl's family who are from Liberia say that it's her fault.  At least social services have stepped in.  I hope the family never see that child again!  I don't criticise customs that are different from mine and I know in some cultures young children are married off.  However, to say that a little 8 year-old girl is at fault is a mountain load of bull crap!

Many people in Spain don't agree with the law and want it changed.  The only forward I've ever sent (and I'm sure I mentioned this before) was protesting the release of one of the rapists of a sweet girl named Sandra.  Her rapists ran over her with a car, and then because she was still alive burnt her body.  Can't you imagine the agony she must have suffered and that her family is still suffering?  

As my dear grandmother always said, what is this world coming to?  Haven't these people been taught right from wrong?  Well, I totally disagree that a person younger than 14 doesn't know that crime is wrong.  And here I sometimes think of that turtle that my little playmate and I stomped to death or the baby chicks I fed to the dog when I was 2.

English Made Easy

One of my students found this on the internet and sent it to me.  What is in parenthesis is my addition to the text.




¿¿Quién dijo que el inglés es fácil???  A ver, este curso consta de 3 módulos: Who said learning English is easy???  This course consists of 3 levels)


1 - Modulo básico (Basic Level)


En español: Tres brujas miran tres relojes Swatch.  Que bruja mira que reloj?


En ingles: Three witches watch three Swatch watches.  Which witch watches which Swatch watch?






2 - Modulo avanzado (Advanced Level)


En español: Tres brujas 'travestis' miran los botones de tres relojes Swatch.  ¿Que bruja travesti mira los botones de que reloj Swatch?


En ingles: Three switched witches watch three Swatch watch switches.  Which switched witch watches which Swatch watch switch?






3 - ...y este ya es para masters (and now for Proficiency Level)


En español: Tres brujas suecas transexuales miran los botones de tres relojes 'Swatch' suizos.  Que bruja sueca transexual mira a que boton de que reloj 'Swatch' suizo?


En ingles: Three Swedish switched witches watch three Swiss Swatch watch switches.  Which Swedish switched witch watches which Swiss Swatch watch switch?


Ahora entiendes porque le dicen wachi wachi al Ingles (Now you understand why we say wachi wachi to the English)

¡¡¡¡Bueno, a practicar todo el mundo!!!!

Thought I Saw a Tweety Bird

I'm not on Twitter, which is why this is the first time I've heard this song.

No Beaching

These are the stones that I've collected for one of my sisters who's a collector of such things.  They've all come from the parks near my house because our river beach hasn't been constructed yet (Madrid without construction work would surely be paradise).The stones that Loretta recently collected from the rock pool are nicer though I think one of these 'gems' is special - the one that's pinkish.  I found this particular one in the Fuente del Berro Park, which has to be the nicest park in this area.  I think I've mentioned before that most parks once belonged to royalty and the rich.  As a matter of fact, Fuente del Berro was once owned by a Dutch family I believe.  Anyway, this pink stone is heart-shaped, not perfect but it does resemble a heart.

Ironically the other day I was reading an article about collecting.  Actually it was about things that we waste money on and one of them was adding to our owl collection.  Well, I have such a collection but have no intention of adding more to it.  I've finally got rid of the 'Magic Chef', Chinese bowls and various bibelots (can't understand why the spell checker on here underlines the word bibelot if Dean Koontz uses it all the time).  I cringe every time somebody gives me a new dust collector (bibelot), and I have some that I know I'll eventually get rid of.  I'd much rather receive a scarf, a piece of jewellery or something edible.  How about you?

It's a good thing that I've given away some things because I just found out this past week that our column of the building needs reinforcing so they'll be knocking down a wall in my flat and restructuring it any time now.  One of my friends has found out that her sister has a brain tumour and has to go to England, so I'll be looking after her dog plus I'll be cat-sitting in August.  I've learnt my lesson - no more talking about uneventful weeks!  I only pray that Shona comes through her treatment with a clean bill of health.

Although I have no intention of using it, I had to copy one of the secrets from Post Secret today.  It's only one of the sweetest secrets I've read in a long time.  I was an odd number again on the visitor counter: 251,725,493.

Hope everybody has a good week.  I know some are getting ready for their holidays.  I'll be doing a countdown too soon.  

You Speak English, Do You?

Bill's Gone Fishin'

Lazy Sunday and Brother's Birthday

I have no idea what the temperature is - only that it's hot and hotter. At least that's what this big rock I've got says. This has been another uneventful week in our lives, but many times I'm thankful for those uneventful weeks and not because I haven't had to listen to a certain person fussing about everything like how the cleaning lady doesn't do her job properly. I know, I know! Tell her that if she isn't satisfied with how this person cleans to tell her to do it herself. What? And listen to more fussing? No thanks and I hope today continues being a lazy Sunday and that I can get a few things done around here that need doing.

Our Town Council comes around every third Tuesday of the month picking up old furniture and junk, so I'm trying to separate what is junk and can be thrown out come the third Tuesday and what I can give to my friend Chris. I've already told her that I have something like a Magic Chef that she can make bread in - it's just taking up space and a lovely set of Chinese bowls that I've never used and which I've had for over 30 years. Things that Chris can't use she gives to charity, but these two things I know she´ll keep. After all, if she can't use them here, she can use them in Málaga or in her house in Wales.

Again I enjoyed the secrets on Post Secret and there is one in particular that I could have written but didn't. The more I think about it, the more I'm convincing myself to send in my own secret. LOL. This week I got an even number on the visitor counter: 250,017,040.

Although I've said this has been an uneventful week for me, it hasn't been that really. A 27-year-old runner was gored to death by one of the bulls in The Running of the Bulls Festival in Pamplona. He was from Alcalá de Henares, Cervantes's town. I don't like being in airports, but I wouldn't have minded being in the airport in Palma de Mallorca this past week. A drunk, out-of-his mind Englishman, who the news article said was a double for someone famous, gave away 53,000 euros (a bit less than $75,000)! I'd like to know whose double he was (Prince Charles's perhaps?), and I'd sure like to be on the receiving end of that money. 

Hope everyone has a good week. Today is my brother Timmy's 50th birthday! Peanut, as he's called, is one of those quiet types who if he has a sense of humour it's well-hidden. I remember when dad washed his hands with the dog's flea soap how funny we thought it was - everybody that is except Timmy and dad (two of a kind). Now when Timmy goes to have breakfast at Dairy Queen, he orders two sausage and biscuits - one for him and one for his dog. Happy birthday!

Running of the Bulls

Today begins the famous San Fermin Festival in Pamplona. Here's a cute video from 2007

Another I Can't Believe

At least three of this week's secrets on Post Secret could have been written by me (but I assure you weren't), one of them being losing things in my tiny apartment.  I've 'hidden' my bank books in a secret place that even I haven't discovered yet.  And no, I haven't put them in the freezer. That is where everybody hides things of value.  Post Secret certainly shows us that we're not as unique as we'd like to think we are.  Another odd number on the visitor counter: 248,428,817.  Please note that the post card I've included with this blog is not one of the three secrets.  I just like it and admire its author to no end.

I'm still doing the shopping for the neighbour in the cast, who incidentally is supposed to have it removed on the 15th.  Now I don't mind helping out someone who needs it.  However, I can't say I enjoy shopping for this particular person.  The other day I spent 10 minutes or more trying to find a loaf of bread that was toasted just right.  In the end, they all looked the same to me and I told her so.  Her son has been around to visit her some, but whenever I've seen him arrive he hasn't brought anything, which I suppose isn't surprising.  I remember my mom telling me once when they had been snowbound for a couple of weeks and my brother and his wife finally came bringing a loaf of bread and a package of cookies, which they helped eat.

Did anybody find that pages loaded very, very slowly on Multiply yesterday?  I can imagine some of the problems that you had, Loretta because the slowness was only on Multiply.  I even tried slow, slow IE, and found that the theme that I've been using for quite some time doesn't display properly on IE and not at all on my netbook on IE.  I can understand frustration having to rely on Internet Explorer.  As long as my theme shows up correctly in FF, I'm not going to change it.  I suppose some of the problems may be due to the new 4.0.

Hope everybody who celebrates the 4th of July has had an enjoyable weekend.  Too bad holidays pass by so quickly.  Anyway, relax as much as possible today because the next day is Monday and the beginning of another week - at least it is in Spain since our week begins on Monday.

I Can't Believe

I haven't even at least posted my Post Secret experiences for the past couple of weeks.  I think the last time I composed a blog the new secrets hadn't come out.  I have copied down my visitor number for them, but don't think I'll bother including them here.  What I am including is this secret that made me laugh and not because I've never lost a shoe.  LOL.  No, it just reminded me of a former colleague who came to work one afternoon (no less) with two different shoes on.  One was a boot and one was a shoe; one had a heel and the other one didn't; one was black and the other one was brown.  I'm not joking, and while I'm not always the most observant person, I sure noticed this!  Why didn't she?  The only thing she noticed was that she was walking funny.  Doh!  I find it difficult to believe she didn't get any strange looks before she got to work, and, who knows, maybe some comments.  Oh well, at least she showed up.  Anyway most women have more than one pair of shoes, so I find the excuse of not finding the mate a pretty lame excuse.  At the same time, there'll probably be lamer ones.  Anyway, I was visitor 246,909,315 - the third odd number in a row.

Luckily, my classes are finishing soon and, so far, I don't have anything lined up for July.  This is not to say that I don't have any unexpected work, because I do.  One of the neighbours, who's also the president of the building and never satisfied with anyone's work or efforts and who can't find an administrator who lives up to her standards, has her foot in a cast up to her knee and will have the cast on for the next 15-20 days. Between her next-door neighbour and myself, we're doing her shopping for her, which I don't mind.  I know I've been in the situation of having to rely on others.  She knows not to complain about what I buy either.  I haven't been up to see her today.  I should think her son and family would come round to see if she needs anything.  If she needs anything from me, she has a telephone.  On the funny side, she's suggested that we (she and I) go look for a simple mobile phone that she can use.  If you don't know the story about the phone she blocked and almost threw across the room, let me say the name of the phone was 'Simply', which is meant for people who know nothing of the new technology.  I suggested she discuss this with her son.  I don't want to hear more fussing than is necessary.

On the subject of weather, we've had one beautiful week with being able to sleep at night except when there's something going on at the bullring.  There was a concert there on Friday night with very, very few young fans I would imagine.  I do know that the music wasn't as loud as it is when there's a rock group there.  As a matter of fact, my dog wasn't bothered at all when we went out.

It's been a sad week.  In a way, I feel bad for Farah Fawsett's family because Michael Jackson's death has so shocked and become the most talked about and written about recent event.  Then again, perhaps this is what Farah's family would prefer.  Hope that they both find peace at last.
Have a good week all.

Foiled

Beautiful paintings on aluminium foil (11 pics)

Fantastic work!

Which Nigerian Spammer Are You?

Which Nigerian spammer are You?

Good Start to Monday

Calling All Coffee Lovers

Signs You've Had Too Much Coffee

11.      Scientists are using your bloodstream to collide particles until the LHC is fixed.    
10       Andy Dick tells you to calm down.
 9.      You haven't blinked in 4 hours.
 8.      Drug dealers hide their drugs inside you to throw off the dogs.
 7.      You have sudden urge to ride a donkey in the mountains of Colombia.
 6.      Your urine is black and tarry.
 5.      Those 16-hour shifts feel like 8-hour ones.
 4.      People rub up against you to stay awake.
 3.      Bugs die after biting you.
 2.      You've tweeted 200 times in the last minute, and used all 140 characters each time.
 1.      The vampires are bouncing off the walls.

P.S. This is a coffee, I mean, copy paste job. I know what the LHC is but I have no idea who Andy Dick is. Is he as famous as Paris Hilton or Cristiano Ronaldo?

Not the 40th of May Yet!

So when is the 40th of May? On June 9th. This is the day that, according to the old saying " Until the 40th of May, don't take off your cloak!" Of course, the saying rhymes in Spanish - 'mayo' with 'sayo'. Not many people go around wearing what we call cloaks, but I was wearing a jacket yesterday morning and today too. The change in the weather was a welcome relief, probably not for the swimming pools which only just opened on the 30th of May, so I'll say for me it was. I'm convinced that I caused the change in weather from the upper 90's to the upper 60's (almost 40º C to 20º C). It seems that every time I have my hair cut the weather changes. Too bad my hair doesn't grow more quickly so I can have it cut more often!

Are any of you superstitious like that? I mean, I find there's a lot of truth in those old sayings. On Friday I discovered that I'd put on an article of clothing on that was wrong side outwards. Fortunately, it wasn't clothing that would be noticed and I wore it like that all day, because aren't you supposed not to change it? I'm definitely superstitious in cooking. I don't like anyone stirring the cake that I'm making. There's a logical explanation for that though - not everybody stirs the same way . Oh, and the spilt salt!

Another good day on Post Secret where someone was very excited about turning 18. Happy birthday to that person and hope he or she enjoys being 'of age' and at the same acts wisely. I can't imagine going to prison for whatever reason to be any fun. Anyway, I was visitor 242,167,722 - an even number yet again!

Some more rambling and then I'm off. AC/DC were in Madrid on Friday night. I was surprised to find their 'Thunderstruck' still on You Tube, even if it wasn't the version I was looking for. Too bad they didn't play in the Bullring because we would have had a free concert. On Monday night I couldn't sleep due to the fact that there weren't any bull fights on this evening and it was too, too quiet in the neighbourhood. It's coming up to concert season here, so I'll soon have more noise than I can stand!

Hope everybody has as good a week as life permits. I know there are many who are having a tough time. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Just Had to Post This-Do The Math

Basic Brownies (Microwave)

Description:
This recipe comes from a microwave cookbook that my ex sister-in-law gave me many years ago. She doesn't know what she was giving up - the cookbook I mean. I haven't tried making brownies in the microwave, but I've made lots of cakes. Most of the recipes can be made conventionally. As a matter of fact this, minus the nuts, is the recipe that I use when I make brownies, which I'm famous for.


Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:
POWER LEVEL: High
MICROWAVE TIME: 6 to 8 minutes, total

In a small bowl at medium speed on mixer, beat together eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla, about one minute until light.

Add melted butter, continue beating until thoroughly blended.

Mix in flour and cocoa at low speed.

Stir in nuts. Spread evenly in 8-in. square dish.

Microwave at high 6 to 7 minutes. When done, top looks dry and will spring back when lightly touched. Cut when cold.

Do Unto Others

Everyone knows how 'Do unto others' continues, right? Isn't it called the golden rule with good reason? Is it so difficult to understand and follow? Apparently so! Two different incidents have happened recently to make me believe that so many have forgotten the valuable lessons they were taught as children. I've chosen a secret from Post Secret to begin with because one: I haven't posted one for a while and two: this isn't what I walk down the street thinking, although this is exactly what happened.

This past Thursday I went to one of my classes that I have with two brothers (separately, of course),which is about a couple of minutes' walk from where I live - they live just around the corner. When I got there, I realised I'd forgotten my glasses. I don't usually wear glasses in the street but I need them for reading and doing housework even. The fact that I don't wear them in the street perhaps accounts for the fact that I don't always see people I know, but I am wandering. I had no choice but to give the student an introductory text to read and go back to get my glasses, which should have taken 5 minutes at the most. On the way back to the class, I saw two men fall in the street. At first I thought they were probably drunk because this is still bullfighting season. I was intent on getting back to my class and remember I wasn't wearing glasses. No, they were two elderly men, one who had managed to get up by the time I reached them - the other one obviously couldn't. This isn't a street with a lot of pedestrian traffic. I stopped and asked them if they were alright. While I was talking to them, a man passed by us without looking. This is a narrow street too and he had to make an effort to get past us as we were blocking most of the street. I was wondering what to do when a couple of teenaged girls appeared and they stopped and asked if we needed help. It turns out one of them was a student of mine when I worked in the institute. I really couldn't help to get the old man on his feet. At the same time I couldn't just pass them like that other man had done. Could you? I hope not.

The second incident has to do with online bullying. One of my friends here is very upset because someone on her contact list has made some nasty comments on one of her friends' page. You know as well as I do that we all have problems, sometimes we're upset, hurting or whatever. Most of us use our site here to keep in touch with family, friends and people that we've met online and who we enjoy having contact with. So what if I don't agree with what someone is saying? Does that give me the right to say horrible things to them? Would I do that to them if I knew them personally? Again, I hope not. We need to remember that we're all a part of this great universe and that no one is the centre of it, and everyone is held responsible for their actions one way or the other. Capiche?

Post Secret just gets better and better and again I got an even number on the visitor counter: 240,639,040. Not only can you make friends on social networks, but you can find someone's telephone number in a Post Secret book and arrange to meet him or her - I'm not sure about that. There was at least one very sad one about a person who met her dad for the first time at the age of 19 and gave him a copy of all her favourite songs and a letter, which he returned unopened. The golden rule, you all!

Hope everybody has a good week and sure hope I don't lose any of my contacts because they don't like the new Multiply. I know I was quick to say the calendar was missing. It's not, as several people have told me. If you have any problems, just ask. There are lots of knowledgeable, nice people on here.

P.S. I'm going to be an aunt again!  

Calima Week (Weather)

Friday was the fifth wedding anniversary for Prince Felipe (Philip) and Princess Leticia. The day of their wedding  was cold and it didn't stop raining and raining hard at that. This last Friday was one of the hottest days that we've had so far. It was so hot in fact that I decided to put the ceiling fan on for a while.Then I was wondering why my dog had run into the bedroom and gone under the bed when I heard a big boom - thunder! (Zara is not thunderstruck)

'Calima' is one of those words that I have no idea what the exact translation is in English, or if there is one, or whether it might be the same word in both languages. My Collins Pocket Dictionary doesn't contemplate the word. It's not something that Madrid suffers from too often because of its location. You see the term refers to particles of dust  which are suspended in the air and which hide the sun completely making it seem like a cloudy hazy day only it gets oppressively hot. 'Calima' comes from the deserts of Africa. People with respiratory problems should be careful when there is 'calima' and it's always recommended not to do a lot of physical exercise outdoors. Luckily the rain that we had with the storm on Friday night washed all the dust away, but again we can't go to the park today because it'll be too muddy as it continued raining most of the day yesterday. Hope this week isn't as hot because I'm not ready for gazpacho weather yet and neither are my plants which I've had to trim several times. The poor lovely roses in the streets got beaten by the storm.

Today was another good day on Post Secret even though there were a couple that I didn't fully understand due to cultural differences - at least I hope that's what it was. Frank even left a secret in his hotel room in New York. Yesterday a note fell out of a book that a friend had lent me, but that would be something for Found Magazine. Anyway, this week I got an even number: 232,782,920.

Hope everybody who celebrates Memorial Day has a good holiday tomorrow and a good rest of the week  

Pisto

Description:
Don't confuse this with pesto. Here's another easy and cheap Spanish dish. Although it calls for fresh tomatoes, I usually use a small can of tomatoes, which helps shorten preparation time. Pisto can be used to make tapas, sandwiches, to accompany meat, and I like it with pasta instead of sauce. It can be eaten hot or cold. This I'm going to have with grilled chicken.

Ingredients:
4 ripe tomatoes
2 onions
2 green peppers (small ones)
1 red pepper
2 zucchinis (courgettes)
2-3 garlic cloves
olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
salt

Directions:
Step 1: Scald the tomatoes, remove the skin and chop.

Step 2: Peel and chop the onions and zucchini.

Step 3: Clean the seeds out of the peppers and cut into small chunks or strips.

Step 4: Fry the onion and garlic in a small amount of oil over moderate heat a couple of minutes.

Step 5: Add the peppers and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Step 6: Add the zucchini and cook for a couple more minutes, being careful that the onion doesn't burn and add the tomatoes.

Step 7: Let cook another 15 minutes or until the juice from the tomatoes has been absorbed.

Step 8: Add the sugar and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Special Messengers - Daily OM

I imagine that Donna will have read, and possibly kept, this particular reading. I think it deserves to be shared and re-read.


Reconnecting with Friends

Every person that passes through our lives makes a contribution to our life stories. There are those who play large roles and make deep impressions, but sometimes a brief special appearance before life takes them in another direction creates a meaningful connection. It is a rare gift when they suddenly reappear in our lives after a long absence.

Though the world may seem full of more people than we could ever know, we are often drawn to people with similar energy, which brings us together time and time again. On first meeting, the characters in our life stories may seem familiar. We may know each other from past lives or perhaps we merely recognize the energy of a kindred spirit. But when fate brings old friends back into our lives, there is always a reason. They may act as messengers, reminding us of a part of ourselves we have forgotten to nurture. They might appear to give us a chance to react in a new way to an old situation. They may even bring up unresolved issues so that we may complete them, giving us the chance to move forward on our life path. Whether old friends, previous romances, or once and future partners, their reappearance is more than mere chance. They may never know what they bring into our lives, but the renewed contact is a gift.

If this hasn’t happened to you, maybe you are meant to initiate contact by seeking out old friends. If old friends come to mind or into your dreams, use their appearance as an excuse to get in touch. If an old song or movie reminds you of them, reach out to share the gift of renewed contact. Wherever you fall in the circle of connection and reconnection, be sure to look beyond the surprise of the moment to enjoy the deeper gift that this revelation brings.

San Isidro Has Begun

* Hoping to get tickets

If Hemingway were alive today, I'm sure he'd be in Madrid. He'd also be in Pamplona in July for the 'Running of the Bulls'. San Isidro is the patron saint of Madrid, and we have over a month of daily bullfights to look forward to along with monumental traffic jams, crowds blocking the pavements outside the bars so that you have to turn matador and fight your way through like I had to when I went to my classes on Friday afternoon, lots of noise and other inconveniences. Before the season starts people camp out near the bullring in hopes of getting tickets, that is those without season tickets. After the bullfighting season is over (though some are celebrated on Sundays especially in the summer), we have the summer concerts in the bullring. We don't need to buy tickets for these events because we hear them perfectly and also the noise afterwards that we wouldn't buy tickets for anyway. Not only does the heat keep one from sleeping in the summer but so does the noise from the street - not good for people who have to work. Nevertheless, bullfights and concerts keep bars and places in this area going. There are lots of outdoor terraces (sidewalk cafés) that do good business when the weather is nice like it has been. Nobody was sitting out last night though because the heavens opened up (just when I was taking Zara out. Needless to say, she ran back in). 

I finally posted the photos I'd taken in the park recently. I dont think we´ll be going today because it'll be too muddy. Zara doesn't like the rain and I don't like mud. I don't think I really liked making mud pies when I was little. In all the photos I take of Madrid, everything is always so green because they water. If I decide to go to the park tomorrow, I'm sure they'll be watering even though it rained quite a bit last night (hasn't rained yet today but possibly will). The only time I've seen a lot of brown dead grass is when the caretakers were on strike in the summer, of course. It was extremely unpleasant and sad to go to the parks then.

I often think of Chinese food when I read Post Secret - you know sweet and sour. I guess being Mother's Day in a good portion of the world this is a good description of today's secrets. I got an odd number again on the visitor counter: 236,141,477. Seems like I most usually get an odd number.

Not all is quiet on the western front in my building. We still don't have an administrator, and, to tell the truth, I can't imagine the 'right' one turning up in the near future. I've made my feelings on the subject known. What is that saying about biting off your nose to spite your face? She can bite off whatever she likes.

Hope everybody is having a good Sunday. We're having a sweet and sour day - sun and clouds. Have a good middle week of May.

Uprising in Madrid and Maintenance on Multiply

I'm late in posting because Multiply was going through a long, long maintenance period - at least here in Spain it was. I was going to entitle this just 'Uprising in Madrid'. Yesterday was a holiday in the Community of  Madrid to mark the anniversary of the rebellion against the occupation of Napoleon's troops. This is something I'm sure I wrote about this time last year. However, this year I was the one participating in the uprising.

I sure hope nobody thinks I'm inventing this never-ending battle with the 'power-that-be'. Notice I say power and not powers. If I were to invent something, I'd make it something incredible like all the money I won playing blackjack or something similar. Donna is right when she says a new hairdo won't make any difference with this person, and no my man won't be getting the job as administrator of the building, Deb. Without consulting me to see if the time was convenient for me, which it wasn't, she informed me that she'd asked Carlos (the administrator) to come round at 11 AM this past Wednesday. Now this woman's convinced that only her time is important and she's always right so at 11:15 she says she's leaving. I have no idea where she went because I got really angry and told her exactly what I thought of her. Carlos arrived just before 11:30 because he'd written in his diary to come at 11:30. Both the president, or the 'power-that-be'. and her parrot said he could have written down 12 midnight or whatever. Well, if she'd really wanted him as the administrator, she could have waited. I've had to wait for her before, but this time I'm really burnt and I don't care if she ever finds the 'right' administrator and I told her so. She said the other day as a favour she was going to ask someone she knew to do the accounting, which you know I've been doing these past 5 years. Can she ever jerk people around but I'm not going to dance to her tune!

On to more pleasant things. We've had a long weekend. Friday was our Labour Day, yesterday was the 2nd of May and today is Mother's Day so lots of shops were open. We had a very warm day and Zara took me to the park. I've got some photos to post from last weekend and this one whenever I get round to it. Earlier today I visited Post Secret, as always, and I was visitor 234,547,985. Well, I'm off to make something nice for lunch tomorrow. Hope everybody has a good week and don't dance to anyone's tune but your own.    

Not a Lot

Nope, not a lot going on except with the weather. We had a whole week of fantastic sunshine and marvellous temperatures - until the weekend, of course. The wind this morning made me wonder why I hadn't remembered to put on a hat. Although we had a bit of rain during the night, I don't think, or hope, it will be enough to stop us from paying a visit to our old park. I'd especially like to go see the peacocks and ducks that have been brought back to the park. They had been taken out as a precaution against bird flu. Now with the outbreak in Mexico of swine flu, they may be taken out again. I've just seen that a school in NYC is being closed because of an outbreak.

What's new in the way of the seemingly impossible quest for an administrator to look after our accounts and  other needs? Well, on Monday the president decided that she wanted to contract the administrator that I'd recommended for the job and the one that had originally been told he had the job. Of course, who has to send out the message? So I sent a text message with the request. I also sent him an e-mail explaining that Carmela had discovered that the administrator whose office was the nearest wasn't the best one for the job. Well, she finally talked to him on Thursday or Friday and was told that he hadn't called because he'd had some big problems. I'd really love for this person to take over the responsibilities that I've had the last 5 years or so,but I'll understand perfectly if he says no. You don't dangle a carrot under someone's nose and then take it away. Normal trustworthy people don't anyway. I promise I won't recommend anybody for anything again!

My visitor number on Post Secret was 231,474,445 - the usual odd number. This week I got number 232,782,920. Here's a riddle for you from today's secrets. What has a cheese grater got in common with the heart? Hope you enjoy your visit. Have a good week all. Friday and Saturday are both holidays in Madrid. Friday is the day that Labour Day is celebrated in Europe and the 2nd of May is the day the people of Madrid rose up against the French. I may have to work on the 1st if the students I have on Friday aren't going away, because this holiday is very close to the Easter holiday.   



 

Spanish Omelette

Description:
This has to be my all-time favourite Spanish dish. It's something that I could eat three times a day. Not too long ago, I heard a famous chef mention that you shouldn't make an omelette with more than 6 eggs as they don't cook properly. I didn't know that. Besides, I don't have a pan that big.

Ingredients:
This recipe is for a frying pan in which you'd fry one egg. In other words, a medium-sized pan.

4 eggs, beaten
About 3 medium-sized potatoes, chopped into small slices
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
A bit of chopped green or red pepper, if desired
Salt
Olive oil





Directions:
I fry the potatoes and onions very slowly in a bit of oil so that they 'sweat' and become tender but don't get too brown. While they're frying, I beat the eggs. You don't have to beat them a lot - just enough so that they're well-mixed.
When the potatoes and onions are done, place on a plate and salt before adding the mixture to the eggs. I don't usually salt the eggs.
Let the eggs with the potatoes and onions soak in the beaten eggs for about 20 minutes before frying the omelette.
Heat the oil in the same pan you fried the potatoes and onions in and pour in the egg mixture. Turn the heat down so the omelette doesn't cook too quickly and burn.
Check with a turner that the omelette isn't sticking to the pan. Using a plate or a lid, flip the omelette over when the sides and bottom are brown and finish cooking.
Some people like their omelette slightly runny, but I prefer mine well-done.
Let cool a bit before cutting.

* You can cook the potatoes and onions in the microwave if you wish.

Imagination

I like to believe that I still have an imagination, albeit not so strong as when I was a child and saw some abandoned puppies and ran home because we were convinced they were mad dogs or when some cows escaped  from the pasture and my brother tried to convince me that the bull was daddy dressed up in a bull suit. What tricks are my imagination playing on me today? We've had rain off and on this past week which makes going to the park not very pleasant - too muddy so we just walk around the neighbourhood. This morning I saw a dark blue car parking in the street where we were walking - all very normal. The driver got out and got into a school bus yellow car which was waiting - all very normal too. Not too long after that, Zara decided that she needed to walk up that street again. I suppose there was a spot that she missed sniffing the first time around. Anyway, there was the same yellow car again. This time a person with a box got out of the car and rang the doorbell of the Telefonica building (Telefonica is my phone and internet service provider, which I'm sure I've mentioned before). Anyone who works in this building can punch his/her code into the panel outside and the door opens. Perhaps it's not unusual a parcel being delivered to this building,but I'd say it was on a Sunday, and the last time I checked it was indeed Sunday. I have no idea if the door was opened for this person because we turned the corner just then. However, when the person with the box got out, the car continued its journey. All very strange! A legitimate delivery of material or a disgruntled customer with a delivery? Hope we don't hear a big boom!

I'm not the only one with an active imagination. Imagine you have a few days holiday at Easter and you decide to go to Granada for a visit. Probably you will have booked your hotel beforehand in case everything is booked up. Soon after you go out of your hotel you're arrested by the police who have mistaken you for a wanted drug dealer and confined for FIVE days (all of your holiday) all the time protesting your innocence, but because you have the same name as the drug dealer... Don't ask me how that happened but it did.

If you haven't found either of these two events funny, although the second one is anything but,  this one you will. If you've read my post from last Sunday, you'll know the problems I'm faced with concerning hiring an administrator, blah, blah, blah. It was decided by the president, after her telling the person that I'd recommended he had the job, that no he wouldn't do because his office isn't near. She thought another office would be better because it is near. On Friday morning, she rings my doorbell to ask me to read the contract she's been given by this new office saying that it states that they control the money and they have the right to change the bank account to any bank they choose and who knows what else. I, of course, told her that I was preparing my classes and didn't have time. This weekend she's hasn't insisted I read it and that's that I see her almost every time I step out the door. Is there a Goldilocks Syndrome because in her case I think there is? That one is too far, this one is too sneaky. Where is the one that's just right?

Post Secret hasn't come out yet. I 'imagine' it will be online about 3 PM my time. Whenever, I'll note down my visitor number you can bet on that. Since I can't say anything about today's secrets yet, I'll tell you about the experience I had with changing to IE 8 yesterday, so if you use Norton antivirus and you have 2008 or earlier, you'll have to upgrade to 2009 (the upgrade, of course, is free). IE8 isn't compatible with the earlier versions of Norton. The 2009 version has new features, but I still say it slows down my computer when it's scanning. I don't use IE if I can avoid it and don't find it any quicker than IE 7. However, it's probably a good idea to upgrade to IE8. I haven't changed to IE8 on my netbook yet, which uses Avast antivirus and which allows you to do things on the computer without slowing it down while it's scanning or updating itself. Ever since I've known about it, I use Mozilla. If you like themes, FF has some good ones. I use the'Bricks for Firefox' theme on my Acer and on the netbook I have ' personas for Firefox'. Note: it is 'personas' and not 'persons'. You can find these in the add-ons section of Mozilla or getpersonas.com.

It wasn't my intention to go on so long. I'm making some crash hot potatoes again for lunch - at the moment they're boiling. Hope everybody has a good week with better weather than we've been having.