I Still Want a Hula Hoop!

A couple of summers ago, my sister Diana presented me with a manila envelope which contained photos of me, letters I'd written, articles from our local newspaper in which my name was featured, etc. This letter to Santa was among the pile. It was written on the back of a bank statement and seems to have withstood a long journey. I know my other brothers and sisters who received a manila envelope are just as grateful to our sister for sorting through so much stuff and to our dear mother for saving them. How different children's letters to Santa are today!

I've been very busy recently with baking and meals with friends and ex-colleagues to be on a lot. Tomorrow I'll be baking the bread for our Christmas Day meal (turkey at last!), making more buckeyes (peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate) and other goodies to take for dessert. According to Yahoo, gifts of food are a no-no for Christmas. Why then have people asked me for the recipes?

Here's wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones. BTW, I think I've learned to spell better. English grammar is easy for foreign students, but oh the spelling!

Sound Familiar?

Public Photo from Facebook

A Nativity Scene was erected in a church yard. During the night, someone came across this. An abandoned dog was looking for a comfortable, protected place to sleep. He chose baby Jesus as his comfort. No one had the heart to send him away so he was there all night. We should all have the good sense of this dog and curl up in Jesus' lap from time to time. This is too sweet not to share. No one mentioned that the dog breed is a "shepherd!" By: John Gagnon's Pet Resort

Yipes!

St. Martin's Summer

I've finally decided to sit down for a while and write something. I was so busy in October that my anniversary on nultiply went by unnoticed. At least it wasn't an important date. I'll always remember the only Christmas that I spent with my family since I've lived in Spain. I forgot to wish my mother happy birthday on the 31st of December. None of my younger sisters remembered either until our brother James came to take her out for lunch. At first we were wondering why we hadn't been invited too and then the penny dropped. I really miss talking to my mother any time and especially on her birthday.

Today was like a nice sunny day in October instead of almost the middle of November. With the exception of a few days I haven't had to put the heating on. I've had to open up the windows because I've done quite a lot of baking this afternoon. Tomorrow I'm planning on making banana nut bread and a loaf of pumpkin bread if I have time. I'm thankful that I was able to open the windows without the smell of smoke coming in. There's an abandoned house around the corner and quite a few squatters have been living in it since the spring. I think they burn old furniture either from the house or what they collect from the streets. I can hear their dog barking at the moment though I've never seen it. One of the boys tried to get Zara to jump up, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Anyway, they're like cockroaches; they come out at night.

There was a congress held in Madrid called 'Brilliant Minds' in which the speakers are given a limit of 21 minutes to speak. Someone has decided that 21 minutes is the limit for holding a person's attention. If anyone reads the secrets on Post Secret, you'll recognize the photo of Frank Warren. It's not a great photo because the congress was held in a sports centre near my house.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is almost here and then Christmas. If anyone does any Black Friday shopping, be very careful. I've seen that people will be starting Black Friday on Thanksgiving Day! Poor people who work in shops these days. Two shops are off my places to shop the next time I visit the US because of their unfair labour practices. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend and has a good week.

Chicken Cobbler

Description:
Anyone who isn't a vegetarian or vegan probably eats a lot of chicken, a dish that can be served so many ways. Here's a casserole that I got from some cooking site and tried when I was in Ohio in September. My great-niece Lilly liked it and she lets you know when she likes something. She loves bright green vegetables and I hope she continues liking vegetables.

Of course, we don't have canned biscuits, which the recipe calls for, but I have a simple recipe included here. We also don't have cream of potato soup so I used cream of chicken - probably cream of mushroom would also be good. I didn't have any rotisserie chicken. I used chicken breasts instead (recipe also included). While the cooked chicken was cooling, I made the biscuits (recipe below)..

Ingredients:
1 bag (16-ounce) frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, cauliflower and broccoli)
1 can (10 ¾ ounces) cream of potato soup
¾ cup whole milk
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups (1/2 inch pieces) rotisserie chicken meat
1 package (10 to 12 ounces) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (each cut into quarters)


Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400º F. In nonstick 12-inch skillet, combine frozen vegetables, undiluted soup, milk and pepper; cover and cook over medium-high heat until vegetables are thawed, stirring once. Stir in chicken.

2) Transfer chicken mixture to shallow 3 ½ to 4 quart casserole or 13" by 9" ceramic or glass baking dish. Top with biscuit quarters, leaving space between pieces. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until biscuits are browned and mixture is heated through.

Note: Make sure vegetables pieces aren't too big so they cook. If you have all these ingredients, you can stop now. However, I highly recommend the method for cooking chicken breasts.

MOIST TENDER CHICKEN BREASTS

Ingredients [OR] Materials
1 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon freshly chopped herbs (optional)
Olive oil
1/2 tablespoon butter
Equipment
10-inch sauté pan with lid
Instructions
1. Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with the handle or flat of a knife.
2. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts.
3. Mix about a half teaspoon of salt in with the flour along with a little pepper. Chop the herbs finely, if using, and mix in as well.
4. Quickly dredge the chicken breasts in the flour, so that they are just lightly dusted with flour.
5. Heat the sauté pan over medium-high heat. When it is quite hot, add the olive oil and butter. Let them melt, and swirl the pan.
6. Turn the heat to medium. Add the chicken breasts. Cook for just about 1 minute to help them get a little golden on one side (you are not actually searing or browning them). Then flip each chicken breast over.
7. Turn the heat to low. Put the lid on the pan. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and walk away. Do not lift the lid; do not peek.
8. After 10 minutes have elapsed, turn off the heat. Reset the timer for 10 minutes and leave the chicken breasts in the pan. Again, do not lift the lid; do not peek.
9. After the 10 minutes are up, take the lid off, and ta da! Soft, tender, juicy chicken breasts that aren't dried out in the least. Double check them to make sure there is no pink in the middle. Slice and eat.

BAKING POWDER BISCUITS (from 1933 recipe)

2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp, baking powder
4 tablespoons butter or shortening
½ tsp. salt
about ¾ cup milk

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt and sift again. Cut in shortening or butter (this is where I use my hands by rubbing the butter into the flour). Add milk gradually, stirring until soft-inch biscuit dough is formed. Turn out on slightly flored board and lightly knead for 30 seconds, enough to shape. Roll ½ inch thick and cut with 2-inch floured biscuit cutter. Bake on ungreased baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes Makes 12 biscuits. These are great served with tea, jam or honey.

Had some of these babies left over to enjoy!

Bargains at a Price

Can any of you, who still buy physical books that is, guess how much I paid for these three novels? Okay, so the Patricia Cornwell is thin but it's a hardback which I seldom opt for. Can any of you remember when you could buy three novels for $10? That's what the total cost, minus a few cents, was for two of my favourite writers, Cornwell and Evanovich, and the Richard North Patterson that I've almost finished and highly recommend. The sad part of the bargain is that the bookshops Borders no longer exist. That will be a shop I'll miss going to when I next visit the US.

Like all good things, businesses and holidays always come to an end too soon. I have photos which hopefully will get posted before Christmas (as I've already remarked to someone). For now I have to get used to the time change, altitude and just get into the swing of things. Zara was happy to see me and has taken me for long walks. The weather has made our walks pleasant. I think October is probably the best month in Spain - not too hot and not too cold. Certainly not as cold as the temperatures I saw for Ohio yesterday. One bad thing about October everywhere is that it's long.

Hope everybody has a good first week of October and you're not too cold.

Fun With Shelly

Link

SAS and Dogster are two of my favourite animal sites

Bring Back July

Because July for once had lovely weather. It may have been hot during the day, but I managed to keep the sun out during the hottest part of the day so that it stayed relatively cool inside. The nights were wonderful for sleeping or for just being outside. I actually slept under the bedclothes and not on top of them. The last nice day was the 27th when I got a bit cold out in the morning - the 28th, which was my youngest sister's birthday, was unbearably hot. Yesterday it rained in my open windows not once but twice. This is not entirely true, because the first time the water came from somewhere upstairs. I thought it could be because the roof is being repaired, but found out this morning that that wasn't the case. Luckily I was at home both times. Oh, wait a minute it did rain twice yesterday. The first time was after 10 p.m. when I went out with Zara. The drops were huge, but they didn't last long. A man, who was getting wet too, said that it was a good time to be out with the dog.

We don't usually have rain in Madrid in August or in summer for that matter. If it rains at all, it's usually a big storm with the works at the beginning of July. I remember one particular storm that caught us in the outdoor restaurant of a swimming pool, plates and food started flying, and I got under the table. No, the northern part of the country usually gets the rain like the Basque Country that had 19 days of rain in July, which was a record. I suppose the rain yesterday was Zara's fault. I took her to have a bath and be groomed on Friday. Still, we can be thankful that it's not so humid in Madrid as it is in some places. I've just read that all 50 states have had higher than normal temps this summer.

August has quite a few birthdays. Today is one of my nephews' birthday and Friday is a niece's; then one of my sisters' is next week. My sister has given herself an extra special birthday present. They're going to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah tomorrow. That's where some of Vick's dogs are you know. I'm sure they'll have a wonderful time, and I'm sure my brother-in-law will have treats. One of their dogs was in their Christmas family photo and guess who she was standing next to and looking up at? He's definitely the Pied Piper of cats and dogs.

Hope everyone can find a nice cool spot like Zara. Things could always be worse. It seems that Somalia is about to become an empty space in Africa.

Peach Ice Cream (Microwave Recipe)

Description:
Another recipe I've tried from my microwave cookbook. Peach ice cream was my mother's favourite.

A few recommendations: First of all, I cheated. I used canned peaches. I put in about 9 halves I think and omitted the one-third cup of sugar, though the peaches I used minus the liquid weren't overly-sweet. I would have liked to have found peach pieces in the ice cream, but I followed directions on this. Something very important: I used regular whipping cream, which made the ice cream very rich. Probably a light whipping cream or half and half is better. And I'm sure an electric ice cream maker would work better.

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups milk
¾ cup sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 large eggs
6 large peaches
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups whipping cream or half & half
¼ tsp. almond extract

Directions:
Place milk, sugar, salt, and cornstarch in microwave-safe 2-quart measure or deep bowl. With wire whisk or rotary beater, beat until no specks of egg yolk remain.

Microwave (High) 7 ½ minutes, stirring twice during the last half of cooking. Beat well with whisk or spoon. Microwave 30 seconds , then beat well. Continue microwaving and beating until mixture coats metal spoon. Chill until cold, 1 hour or more.

Peel and slice peaches. In food processor or blender, process peaches, sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Combine peach mixture, cold custard, cream and almond extract.. Pour into 9 X 13-inch metal pan. Cover with foil. Freeze until partially frozen, 2 ½ to 3 hours.

Spoon into mixing bowl. Beat until smooth, but still frozen, with electric mixer. Spoon into containers holding enough for separate meals or return to pan. Cover and freeze until firm. Let stand at room temperature about 10 minutes before serving. Makes 1 1/3 quarts (about 2 litres) or 8 to 10 servings.

To Dry Clean or Not

or things aren't always as they look. I've been busy these past couple of weeks getting my winter stuff cleaned and put away and just being plain lazy. One of the last things I put in the washing machine was a coat similar to the one in the photo, which incidentally will not fit me as it's a size 8. I'm sure it'll fit someone in my family though, so when my friend said she had a jacket she no longer wore, I took it. Anyway, the label in the jacket that fits me says DO NOT DRY CLEAN (says the same in this jacket ). I was so happy and into the washing machine it went. After all, every summer I throw my continental quilt in and it comes out perfect. I've been using the same quilt for at least 10 winters, just changing the cover when I change the sheets. My heart sank when the wash cycle finished and I took my jacket out. The feathers in it seemed to have washed out because the jacket was flat, flat! I couldn't feel anything that felt like feathers, and resigned myself to having ruined it. When I was younger, I cried if something like this happened. To my surprise, when I looked at my dried jacket the next morning, it was all puffed up good as new! What a relief since it happens to be my favourite thing to put on to keep out the cold, especially when we get those Arctic winds (sorry if anybody thinks I live in a tropical country). I don't like fur coats. Besides that, I usually wear some dog hair whether or not I notice.
I must say this past week we've had fantastic weather. Opening the windows at night has been sufficient. The only problem there is all the noise that comes in from the street. On Friday night the Red Bull X Fighters were again in the bullring. Remembering all the noisy motorbikes afterwards, I was prepared to be woken up. I suppose I slept profoundly because nothing woke me up. The only evidence that there must have been some commotion was that someone had dumped the contents of the rubbish bin from the bar next door under our windows.
Last Tuesday night our building finally had its annual meeting. One of the dreaded topics was to elect the new president and vice-president. Of course, no one volunteered because it's a thankless job always with a lot of problems and bother. I don't understand why people can't live together peacefully, but there seems to be drama after drama. Finally, the administrator wrote down all the flats on pieces of paper and we choose from those. Luckily mine wasn't drawn. I sure hope the administrator keeps his promise to take on as much responsibility as possible. I keep thinking how I'd like living in a building with lots of flats, but then maybe not - more people, more problems.
Hope everyone is enjoying a nice Sunday. I'm off to see if I can't get rid of more papers. I used to be addicted to magazines, especially the home decorating ones. I've since limited myself to one subscription, a computer magazine, which I think this will be my last year subscribing to it. I have several issues I haven't looked at. I'm for going paperless as much as possible. I love books, but if one has little space like I do an e-reader would be perfect. That doesn't mean if someone gives me a book, I won't appreciate it or read it. One of my end of course presents was a signed novel..   

Alphaville' s Forever Young

This was one of the most popular groups in Europe in the 80's.

Happy and Safe 4th of July

Fried Eggs Anyone?

I just finished posting on Loretta's note that we could fry eggs on the pavement today if we wanted to. In Farenheit temperatrure, we're in the triple digits. I can say I remember summers when in July we had 45 º C almost every day. Hope that's not the case although the weather experts have predicted a hotter than usual summer. Instead of frying eggs outside, I think Lilly has a better idea. Looks like two buckets are better than a plastic pool, at least for her.

Speaking of food, a couple of weeks ago my friend Chris ordered a noodle dish that we hadn't tried before. She doesn't like thick or fat pasta like spaghetti, but she likes the Japanese kind. The dish had shrimp in it, which I didn't eat because I'm allergic to most seafood. I thought I could eat some of the noodles but apparently not. The next morning I woke up with an allergic reaction. I suppose really I should have known better.

This coming week is my last week with the kids. I am so glad because I'm tired of going out when the sun is the hottest. You know what they say about mad dogs and Englishmen - in my case it's English teachers. One of my students has passed her university entrance exams; the other one I haven't heard from yet. Two of them are going to be doing a course in Ireland and will be leaving next Sunday. I hope they have a good experience. These are the kids whose family was kind enough to take my nephew to the beach with them last summer.

Well, I'm going to save this in case I lose the text like what happened to Loretta. Do you remember when things worked well on Multiply? Now new features are for the online sellers. Anyway, I hope everybody has a good last week of June.  

Cool Way to Keep Cool

Gapazcho Coming Up

Yesterday I was watching one of those 'how to' videos. This particular one was 'how to keep cool without air conditioning'. Most of it was common sense although some of it was advice that I can't follow; for example, wearing a wet t-shirt to bed or leaving the bed unmade. I always make the bed even if I know that later on I'll be changing the sheets. I imagine you'd have to leave your bed unmade, whether you wanted to or not, if you went to bed in a wet t-shirt. I try to keep my place as cool as possible for as long as I can by not letting the sun in, especially when it's the strongest, and only opening the windows if it's cooler outside than inside. I understand my dear mother perfectly. She used to say if you couldn't microwave it, you couldn't eat it. And my grandmother always served cold suppers, which I wasn't used to in my family. Now I know they were right. Anyway, I put the air conditioning on as little as possible, and never leave it on at night because someone will surely complain.

I had lunch yesterday with some of my ex-colleagues, which the institute paid for. There were only 8 of us. I couldn't finish my oxtail stew since I ate too many slices of fried breaded aubergine (eggplant). I was reminded of one of my favourite restaurants which closed the same year as our institute. The last time we ate there I asked for watermelon for dessert. I got half of one I kid you not! I didn't eat any more watermelon during the whole summer.

Today saw a really big demonstration in Madrid led by the 'indignados' (indignant ones) and other unknown groups. Surprisingly, it was a peaceful demonstration with no serious incidents as far as I know. At least nothing like earlier in the week when the Catalan members of Congress were attacked. Protesters tried to steal one of the members' guide dog (poor blind man and poor dog), one of the women had her jacket spray painted and at least one man had his head spray painted - all very nice (not).

Hope everybody keeps as cool as possible this week - only a few more hours and we're officially in summer. Oh, and Happy Father's Day!

Taking Advantage

of the fact that it's beginning to get hot outside but is relatively cool inside still, I've been doing a bit of baking - something that I enjoy. We've passed our famous 40th of May,or 9th of June, and things are heating up. Cooking for Engineers is one of my favourite sites and these biscuits - American-syle biscuits - are easy to make and I don't have to substitute any ingredient. Most breads of this type call for shortening, which isn't readily available here.

Last week, believe it or not, we had quite a lot of rain in Madrid and Spain in general, so my windows are dirty again. As a matter of fact, on Monday I had to close the windows, especially the ones in the kitchen and dining area because the rain was coming in. Luckily I had a free day and was here to notice that things were getting wet.

I haven't been doing a whole lot except the usual. I have, however, bought a new computer that I'd seen and is quite cheap. My old one decided it had had enough and, although I reformatted the HD, I decided that if I had to re-install so many programs that I might as well get a new one. The anti-virus was from 2003 and Adobe Reader was nº 6.

Friday night was a sleepless one for me. About 9.30 p.m. the president of the building came to tell me that there were no lights in the entire building. She telephoned the electric company, which proved to be useless. I suggested she telephone our insurance company. She said she'd have to look through all kinds of papers and didn't feel like it. Don't you keep important papers like this close at hand or in a place where they're easy to get at? I'm not an electrician so had no other suggestions. I was afraid that some poor soul would fall down the stairs though - as far as I know no one did. Anyway, one of the flat owners knew an electrician who came to fix the problem on Saturday afternoon. Why do these things happen at the most inconvenient times? At least we had lights inside our flats.

Hope everyone has a good week with  wonderful weather.

When in Texas

Good show old girl!

Cirque du Soleil VS Puerta del Sol

Last night was one of those rare occasions when my friends and I meet up at our favourite Chinese restaurant on a Saturday  - well, maybe it's not our favourite but it's the one we've been going to for years.  It's also very convenient for me because I live about 2 minutes away (walking) depending on how many people I have to avoid during bullfighting season.  So it's logical that I be the first one to arrive or so I thought.  An ex- colleague was standing outside, and, when I went up to her, she told me she'd just come from the Cirque du Soleil.  I told her I'd just been watching it live on the internet.  She asked if it was free and I said it was.  And what had I been watching?  The sit-in in the Puerta del Sol!  LOL. They do sound alike though, don't they?  I'm sure they have other things in common too.

In case you haven't heard about these protests, they're happening all over Spain.  I have mixed feelings about them.  Why are they protesting just now right before elections (today is Election Day) and not on the 29th of September when there was a half-hearted General Strike?  Or better still, why didn't they start protesting back in 2008 when the Spanish Government called anyone who mentioned the word crisis an anti-patriot? The company that I worked for for nearly 30 years had to close in 2004 partly due to scams of language schools such as Wall Street and Opening, but mostly it was because of bad management.  We were lucky that the lawyer who works for Real Madrid FC agreed to help us sell our remaining assets and get some money from the closure.  Some of my friends and colleagues decided to continue working and have a small English institute in one of the buildings the company used to rent.  The institute is, by the way, in the Puerta del Sol.  One of the signs I saw waved around the other day is one that I agree with completely.  It said: + PAN - CHORIZOS (more bread and fewer crooks). This is one thing no one can disagree with!

I'm late getting this posted.  The weather is fantastic and it's nice being outside until the people going to the bullfight arrive anyway.  I think we were supposed to have some rain today but haven't so far.  Hope everybody has a good week.

Eating My Words

I've been meaning to apologize for something that I said that was untrue ever since I bought some apples like the one in the photo. Terri, in one of her blogs, complained about the sticky bits of labels on fruit which remained even after the labels had been removed. Until recently, I hadn't noticed labels on fruit unless on oranges. This particular apple came in a package. You can see they're 'Pink Lady' brand. Now I don't usually buy fruit like apples in packages, so I thought perhaps that might be the explanation. The other day when I was picking out some Granny Smith apples, I noticed that they ALL had labels on them! Maybe I'll be more observant in the future.

We have a bright sunny day here - just in time for the beginning of the work week. Yesterday just as I was thinking about taking Zara out, the heavens opened up, though we didn't get the hail like we had on Tuesday at lunchtime. Of course, the sun is shining through dirty windows again or it was. A cloud has just come by to say hello. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the low 80's (probably near 30º C in the sun when I'm walking along the part of the streets that has no shade). My friends have already complained about the heat so early and how it wasn't as hot last summer, which I have to dispute, and this is something that I won't take back! It was bloody hot! I'm always thinking how wonderful it would be to be able to 'always take the weather with you', i.e. the weather you want, like the Crowded House song.

Happy Mother's Day to those who are celebrating it today and hope everyone has a good week. The San Isidro Bullfighting season begins on Tuesday, which means we'll have bullfights every day until the middle of June and too many people for my liking in the area. As it is now, it's sometimes difficult to circulate in the streets near bars like the one next to my house because the smokers are outside with their cigarettes and mobile phones.

If You Haven't Laughed Recently

Or if you haven't seen this

T-Mobile's Royal Wedding

I'll be thinking of this while I watch the real Royal Wedding

Stolen From Terri's Page

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

That's right, they didn't have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she's right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts.... "wind and solar power" really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn't  have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But that old lady is right. They didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Do you remember those recycling days?  I do!

Bluebrain

Like this- it's different!

TennTucky Blackberry Cobbler (Mary's recipe)

Description:
I just made this and thought I'd share the recipe with those who don't know Mary. This is one of the delicious recipes I've taken from her page. I've even served my cobbler in a cup similar to the photo in her recipe. However, instead of blackberries, I've used raspberries. Oh, I know it's not quite time for these berries now, but these are frozen berries.

Bet ya don't know the meaning of the name of this dish. LOL

Ingredients:
* 1 1/4 cups sugar
* 1 cup self-rising flour
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup butter, melted
* 2 cups frozen blackberries





Directions:
Whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk just until blended; whisk in melted butter. Pour batter into a lightly greased 12- x 8-inch baking dish; sprinkle blackberries and remaining 1/4 cup sugar evenly over batter.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until golden brown and bubbly

Bad Mood Rising

I don't know how I'm going to get through this week with one hour less. The day has come that I've been dreading. Tonight we have to 'spring forward' as in putting the clocks forward an hour. The expression 'spring forward' sounds like something anybody would want, but it just puts me in a bad mood. I think I'm going to move to Russia because this is the last time they're going to change the clocks. Until someone convinces me of the benefits of fiddling with the time, I'm going to continue complaining about it. Fortunately, I'm beginning class half an hour later on Monday.

The only place where spring has officially arrived, at least in my area, is in the department stores, their motto being 'ya es primavera' (It's spring now). We're having las marzadas, typical March weather;"En marzo, marzadas: viento,frio y granizadas" (In March, wind, cold, and sleet). My favourite March saying is: "Marzo varia siete veces al día" (the weather in March changes 7 times a day). I went out 3 or 4 times on Friday afternoon/evening and each time the weather was different.

Each to his own. I've just taken a short break to go out with Zara. What do I see but tables full of people sitting outside at a bar nearby! It's still not warm enough for me to sit out. Then, since smoking is no longer permitted inside public places here, if anyone wants to smoke they have to do it in the street. I can't imagine what it'll be like when bullfighting season begins. At times, the bars are so full that the people are outside blocking the pavement, and now with the anti-smoking law there'll be lots more people outside.
 
I'd better go think about changing some clocks. Hope everybody has a good week.
 

Sun With Dirty Windows

I've been MIA for the past couple of weeks in the blog department, but have decided to make an effort today even though it's beautiful outside. I'll go out when my clothes finish. I try not to leave things like the washing machine, cooker, oven and things like on when I go out. Sometimes surprises can be nasty ones!

Misunderstandings can be rather unpleasant too. On Friday afternoons I've only got one class this term, which is heavenly as I'm running all week. I can go out shopping, relax or whatever. But because the younger brother of the student I give class to on Fridays had a football/soccer match the day before, I said we could make it up on Friday. We always hear him when he comes home and this time was no exception. His brother understood him to say that the mother of a friend had fallen (she had a bad knee anyway); I understood it was the father, my friend the creator of species. It turns out it's their son. Poor little boy took a really bad tumble in the school hall and ended up with a dislocated shoulder. Of course, my little student was affected by this terrible accident, which is why I suppose we each understood it'd happened to a different person. Sure hope the poor thing, whose shoulder must be sore, gets better soon.

This has been a week of birthdays. We celebrated my friend Jenny's birthday at her place of choice, a Greek restaurant, on Thursday night. I gave her and my other friends one of those anti-mosquito candles, which aren't really candles, and I made her some buckeyes (chocolate-covered peanut butter balls) since she hinted she'd like to have some. I know we'll be reminded when we go to the Chinese this week that we missed going this past week. I think we're supposed to be getting some soap dispensers. Maybe the owner of the restaurant will decide we don't deserve them. LOL.

I saw that several people took photos of the full moon. I didn't because I didn't see that it looked larger than usual, not like it does when it seems to be almost touching a building. Now that's a big moon! The photo at the top there is another photo taken with my mobile, one that I took a while back but it's what I still use as my wallpaper. The other day, I changed to a football theme and some things didn't show up on IE. The theme I have now I think is okay, but I NEVER, unless there's no way around it, use IE. I like Firefox for the add-ons and the FF beta is much quicker than the previous ones, but alas it's still in beta. Other people prefer Chrome, which I also use. One of my students has installed almost all the browsers that exist on his family's computer. I don't think he's discovered Opera yet.

Anyway, it's about time to think about going out and enjoying the day, so I'm not going to wash my dirty windows. Besides, it's going to start raining again on Tuesday! Lucky for us the reservoirs are on average 85% full. Hope everybody has a good week. At least we're getting closer to Easter!

11 March 2004

In memory of those who lost their lives in the train bombs in Madrid on this day 7 years ago. So many irreparable errors were made in the subsequent investigations leaving us all with too many doubts about these horrific events. I, personally, will always believe that the terrorists of ETA were involved.

 No matter the how or why of this unforgettable tragedy, I feel very sad for the victims' families today and hope and pray nothing like this ever happens again. As Henry Kissinger once said: 'Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it' (un pueblo que olvida su historia está condenado a repetirlo). Let us always remember!

Creation of Species

This is the art work by a friend of mine. He recently had an exhibition, which included some of these works. The music for this video is composed by his brother.

30 Years Ago - 23 F

Today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the unsuccessful (thank goodness) coup d'estat which is better known as 23 F. I'm certain people too young or not yet born will be at the cinemas tonight to see the premiere of the film based on the failed takeover. Most of the TV stations have planned special programmes on those terrifying hours that many of us passed not knowing if we would wake up to military rule or what. I'll probably watch one of them even though I still remember this day very well. I think I've probably mentioned too before that the bullet holes from the gun fired by Coronel Tejero of the Guardia Civil shown in this newspaper clipping are still to be seen in the ceiling of the Congress. Most likely I've also mentioned that the morning after I went to work as usual because I knew the director would expect it. Three of us turned up at 8 am; the boss of our centre was in Valencia where the tanks were in the streets! Tanks were outside Madrid but they never entered the city.

Happy Birthday to My Eldest Nephew

When this little boy was a baby and toddler, he always woke up laughing. Here he is with one of his cousins. He loved playing video games with me and making the bats so small I couldn't see them. Oh, and if he didn't win at bingo, he'd get angry. Hope he has a very happy birthday!

Umbrellas Everywhere

Agua de febrero, llena el granero, or water in February fills the barn. I assume this refers to hay for the animals though it could refer to the buildings where grain is stored for human consumption. Whatever the meaning of this saying, we got our fair share of rain this week, and, as most of you know, Zara doesn't like getting wet so her time outside wasn't as long as usual. We did have a good walk this morning and the sun came out for a while. There are still puddles everywhere, some of which we've hit so as not to forget a saint I say: charco pasado, santo olvidado (puddle passed by, saint forgotten). However, the truth is that we haven't seen them or haven't been able to go around them. In the summer, the gardeners 'drown' the parks and there are puddles and streams everywhere which Zara never tries to avoid. I guess she doesn't mind getting her feet wet, but a rain shower is too much like a bath and she could do with one.

Tuesday night there was a 'turn off all your electrical appliances' protest from 10 pm to 10.30 pm  to let the electric companies know what we think of their prices. I turned off everything except the alarm, but I noticed not very many people in my area participated. Because that's the time I take my dog out, half an hour without electricity didn't really bother me. I was going to post the event on facebook and on one of the Spanish groups here, but I left it until too late. I doubt that the electric companies noticed a very big difference in usage, and heaven help us if there was a football (soccer to some of you) match scheduled for that night. Next time we have such an event, I'll try and remember to post it.

Can you believe that next week is the last full week of February? Well, I'm going to go prepare a shepherd's pie from some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Hope everybody has a good week.  

Madrid Wearing a Beret

This photo taken from the free newspaper 20 Minutos, but the online version, shows the result of the early spring weather that we've been having in Madrid. While I haven't been wearing a beret, Madrid has. Fortunately for us, the weather has decided to change. Although I'll put on a beret again and miss the sun, the health benefits of less pollution will be greatly appreciated by anyone suffering from breathing problems. I always blame the altitude for making me more tired than I am at sea level, but I imagine pollution doesn't help.

These are some of my other conclusions from this week's bout of dirty air. First of all, I remember not being able to see the end of the street where I used to live because all of the buildings burned coal. Once the fire brigade even came to my building because there was so much smoke coming out of the chimney, and I think someone called them thinking the place was on fire. Most buildings nowadays with central heating use natural gas. There are still some houses near, not blocks of flats, that still heat with coal so that when I used to hang my clothes outside to dry, they came in stinking worse than before I washed them. However, the most important result of our hazy week is the fact that the mayor of Madrid asked people to use public transport and leave their cars at home, which they ignored.

While I was writing the word mayor, I was wondering if I shouldn't capitalize it. The Royal Academy of Spanish has now ruled that 'king' and 'pope' are no longer capitalized as in king Juan Carlos I or pope Benedict XVI. The other day I read a news headline about a plane crash in which 6 people were wounded. I thought the use of wounded instead of injured sounded very odd. Would any of you use wounded in reference to an accident such as this?

I'm a bit late composing this because I thought it was a good day to clean my wooden floors and the carpets. I had been thinking about doing the windows. The threat of rain has liberated me from that chore for the moment. As always, hope you have a good week.

As Sayings Go

Here's a saying that I remembered as I was delighted to see that it was still light at 6 p.m. the other day: Por la Candelera, una hora entera, which means around Candlemas it starts getting dark later (rhymes in Spanish though). This also reminds me that it will soon be time to change the clocks, which always upsets me to no end. I get over jet lag easier I think. I'm most thankful for the sunny days (as are my cacti like in the photo) that we've been having recently, which are a sure sign that Spring will be making its arrival known soon and which allow my clothes to dry. I know anybody who has had as much snow as many parts of the US has had this winter is certainly glad Phil didn't see his shadow the other day.

As always the week has gone by too quickly to suit me. On Friday I had to leave class early because I was afraid I was going to be sick. Luckily I live just around the corner and was able to make it in time. I assume it's a stomach virus that is going around. My stomach hurts a bit every once in a while. Yesterday I'd arranged to go out to lunch with some friends who for one reason or another never go to the Chinese with us. I think we all ate the same: green beans and meatballs. I drank tonic water - something that I like when my stomach is feeling poorly. Surprisingly enough, I was able to eat everything after just having a bit of white rice the night before.

Since time marches on, I'll post this and do some things that need doing, and then Zara and I will go out in the sun for a while. The weather forecast said 17º C for today and I saw 60º F on the internet this morning. Hope nobody has a lot of bad winter weather or tropical storms this week.

Nothing is Impossible

Saw this on facebook. It made me laugh.

Accidental Week

So far this week, and it's still Sunday, I've cracked my knee on a TV table and poked my eye with cardboard. Sometimes, we just don't measure distance when we're cleaning or whatever - I mean I'm always bumping into things. But I think how I poked my eye was ridiculously stupid of me. I was tearing up a box to take to the paper bank. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not superwoman nor are most cardboard boxes super strong. At least one portion of the box was flimsier than the rest with the result that it came flying at me ever so unexpectedly. Usually I wear glasses when I'm doing any task. However, in this case I wasn't. How true it is when they say most accidents happen in the house! Now all I need is the chair I'm sitting in to break!

This week my plants, dog and I have taken advantage of what little sun we've seen. On Friday morning we woke up to rain mixed with a bit of snow. Zara just sniffed at the door and refused to go out. Around elevenish suddenly the sun came out for all of 10 minutes and I took advantage of a lull in the rain and took her out. Yesterday we had fog in the morning and more sun until it was time for me to go and do the shopping. At least the doors to the supermarket weren't wide open, although when I came out there were rivers flowing down the street. I'm not sure but I don't think in the time that I was inside that it rained so much. I was thinking probably a broken water pipe somewhere. Then again, maybe a mean cloud did dump its load right there.

I haven't posted anything from Post Secret for a long time, so I'm including my favourite one for this week. Hope everybody has a good week. Remember Wednesday is Groundhog Day for some folks. What happened to January?

For Those Fed Up With Snow

An Interesting Energy Project Too

A Cuppa

This is the second time this has happened to me. The first time what came out of my coffee machine was clear hot water. At least this time I did put a small quantity of coffee in before I started doing something else like opening a new package of coffee. For well over a year I'd hummed and hawed about buying a coffee machine, but didn't want the kind with the capsules. My bank had offered a Nespresso machine once if I invested so much money in I don't remember what plan. The advert with George Clooney is cute and I'm sure has sold quite a few capsule-using machines. I, however, prefer manual coffeemakers. That way I can make the coffee to my taste and don't have to worry about always buying capsules and getting 'creamed' by a piano.

As for the coloured hot water in this cup, I know people who call this coffee. One of them is my youngest sister. I've always liked my coffee strong and it's one of the first things that I took to in Spain. Coffee tastes of coffee and you can't see the bottom of the cup like in my photo. Of course, I recognise with the rise in popularity of places like Starbucks, which have cropped up here too, tastes have changed a bit, but for me their lattes are just that - too much latte and not enough café.

Another week has flown by. At this time last weekend I was extolling our good fortune with the weather. The only thing in common with last week is that the sun is out but so is the wind, so it's not to the kind of day for sitting on a park beach. The other day I was watching an interview with a man who uses Nature to forecast the weather. I think he looks at the first 7 days of August and some 10 days in December. According to his forecast, we're in for 3 more big winter storms. Groundhog Day is soon. Wonder what that will say about the weather for the States anyway? The other day, I was thinking that in Madrid we hadn't seen the winter solstice lunar eclipse of December or the recent partial solar eclipse due to the weather. Monday was San Antón, patron saint of animals. That day we had fog, actually thick smelly smog, all day long. The saying goes: Por San Antón, la niebla no llega a las 2 (On Saint Anthony's Day, the fog doesn't last until 2 o'clock). So much for old sayings, especially when it comes to the weather.

Hope everybody has a good last full week of January.

Indian Winter

And I'm not referring to the music by El Ten Eleven. Wednesday was a day in Madrid that I was thinking if I were a lady of leisure I'd be sitting on a bench in a park sunning myself! The day was gorgeous - the kind of weather really that we often have at the end of February. I'm not exactly sure how warm it was because I was just thinking how good the sun felt when I was going to class. I did make a point to look at the temperature gauge at a bus stop on the way back and saw 19º C, which is about 66º F! You know it was warm if I wasn't wearing a hat! And to top it all off, we've still got sun - enough to make my plants and me happy.

Rewind to more or less the same date last year and you'd see snow in Madrid (photo) so much so that although the schools weren't closed, they weren't having classes. The streets were more or less cleared by the time I had to go out thus no excuse for me not to go to class. That day I don't think I saw the temperature but believe it was somewhere in the 20's or at least - 3º C. Remember too that it also snowed in Barcelona last year. Most of those people probably won't remember ever seeing snow on the beach.

As for my first week back, by Wednesday I'd forgotten all about my holidays. If anyone is suffering from post-holiday blues, here are a couple of good tips from 'The Onion':   Compared to your every day blahs, the post-holiday blahs may not be that bad. OR: Induce coma and get woken up on Mar. 20. One thing seems to be sure about the first month of the new year: January seems to be going by quickly, so maybe Easter is just around the corner. Hope everybody has a good week and some sun in your life.    

Take Your Pick

"Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" or "Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down" because both are true. I don't mind the rain so much if I don't have to go out and get wet and have to sit in wet clothes for hours, and I suppose there's not much that can be done about Mondays except accept the fact that they come around all too soon. I'm doubly sad because my holidays have finished. Sometimes I think I was born to be a lady of leisure. LOL.

 Even if it continues raining tomorrow, the couple of loads of clothes that I've done this weekend should be dry thanks to my 'portable' dryer - that strange artefact in the photo. How does it work? You hang the clothes up inside and there's a little motor thing which is inserted on the side that blows the clothes dry Not many people have clothes dryers here, at least I don't know anybody who has one, the same as I don't know anyone who hasn't got a washer because laundrettes (laundromats) don't exist, only drycleaner's.

I've got rid of lots of old papers and am ready for the next batch. As I commented the other day on someone's page, there's both a paper and a bottle bank a few metres from my house. Well, the other day I saw this man taking things out of the paper bank, not putting them in. This reminded me that it might be a good idea to take my paper products to different banks, especially those that although shredded could possibly be pieced together by some crack head. Does anybody remember when we just threw away all those invitations for credit cards without bothering to shred them? Not any more!

Last night I posted one of my favourite recipes called hot fudge pudding cake. If you copied it, you might want to look at it again as I left out a couple of instructions. Here I am always complaining about how there are so many errors in people's written work because they don't bother to proofread or they rely on spell check too much.

Hope everybody has a good week and you don't get too much snow. I've been reading people's comments on global warming. We're having unusually mild weather for this time of year. I usually wear a cardigan at home because I can't stand places that are overheated. I hate going into banks for that reason. Is it because the money has to be kept warm? And speaking of money, I'm going to post a very interesting link to my friend Loretta's page. If you have a moment to spare, it won't be wasted, and I hope it makes you furious too!

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

Description:
I decided to re-copy this recipe and post it into my recipe file, which is easier than having to look for the blog that the recipe is in. As you can see from the photo, I don't use a square pan but a rectangular Pyrex dish, so I ignore the 'turn it out' and don't put in nuts. I do like this served warm though.

Ingredients:
1. 1 cup flour
2. 2 teaspoons baking powder
3. ¾ cup sugar
4. ¼ teaspoon salt
5. 2 tablespoons cocoa
6. ½ cup milk
7. 2 tablespoons shortening, melted
8. 1 cup of nuts (I usually omit)
9. 1 cup brown sugar, packed
10. 4 tablespoons cocoa
11. 1 ½ cup hot water

Directions:
Sift first 5 ingredients together. Stir in milk and shortening. Mix until smooth. Then add nuts. Spread in greased 8 X 8 or 9 X 9-inch pan. Sprinkle with combined brown sugar and cocoa. Pour hot water over cake.
Bake at 350º F for 40 minutes or so. Turn out while hot. Serve with whipped cream.

New Year, No Smoke

Another year has passed and did it ever pass by quickly!  I seem to be one of the few people around who says there weren't as many loud bangers as in previous years.  Zara agrees too because she spent part of New Year's Eve sleeping on the bed when normally she would be cowering under the bed.  I also can't say that the people in my building were especially noisy either even though there was a discotheque going on in the next building.  I was seriously considering crashing the party but settled on listening to my own music.  In consideration to anybody who might be trying to sleep, I put on headphones at about 2 a.m.  and continued listening to music until about 4.30 when I decided to try and sleep through the noise of the party next door.  Zara woke me up early on the 1st to go out.  There was only one lone soul in the street who was walking, or more accurately weaving, up and down the street probably to sober up some before going home to face his parents.  Anyway, I think we've had enough celebration to last for a while.  Tomorrow night is a very special night, but for the kids.  There will be a parade to celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings.  For me, seeing the parade is a bit depressing because it means it's time to get back to a more hurried time.

Hope everyone had a good holiday and a wonderful time with family and friends.  I'm sure at least 30 per cent of the population here is not happy, because smoking is no longer permitted in places except in the street, and there one must be careful that it's not near a school or playground or within 50 metres of a hospital.  I was wondering why a bar near my house kept their tables and chairs out.  Now I know.  It's started raining again too and I'm so glad I don't smoke.

Oh, almost forgot to mention (in case anyone has noticed) that my page has a new name. Aunt Bean was what my eldest nephew used to call me because he couldn't pronounce my name, so for a long time I was Aunt Bean. Before that my brother James called me Na Na for the same reason. I'll bet they'd never be able to pronounce the 'r' in Spanish!