michelleinspain

What's been happening

2007-11-12T16:37:00.000+01:00

Well, as I've not said anything for a while, let's have a recap on this year.

At Easter I went to the south of France with Sara and Sophie and we visited Carcassone- Cathar country. What a fantastic fairy tail castle. We stayed at Sara's boss' house there for acouple of days.

On our return to Spain we visited Montblanc, a medieval town a couple of hours south of here.

And a nearby monastary. As you can see-fab weather.

The Grand Prix came and went- Woody came again-he's hooked now. Here's my man-Alonso.

I've been to a few other car related things. It was the anniversary ofthe 1st race at Montjuic in BCN, there was an exhibition of classic racing cars and Fittipaldi drove his championship winning Lotus around the track accompanied by Marc Gene in last year's Ferrari.

Top banana!! My mum came to visit and I had two tickets for the Renault world series at Montmelo-so I treated her to the joys of motor racing-and crashes.

Which,to be perfectly honest, is why people go to such events.

Dancing days

2007-11-12T16:21:00.000+01:00

Well, finally I've got around to updating this thing. Here are a few snaps of my summer appearances with my dance class. Here is a shot of us all at the end of our top turn. There were 5 dances in total, I did 2, a few girls did a tribal dance, some others a drum solo, others Shakira and I did 2-a bollywood style dance and one with a walking stick-see below.

Here we are in full swing.

Me close up. Some collegues went to see me and Pedro went right up front to do the honours with his camera, Vanesa shot the video.

A few of us also took the Bollywood dance to some local fiestas, here we are just before we went on L-R, Marylin, me, Aurora, Amalia and Montse. Just after doing this dance,the heavens opened. We've been askedto do some stuff over Xmas for a charity one of the girls is a volunteer for- I'll keep you informed.

concerts

2007-08-08T18:23:00.000+02:00

Been to a few concerts recently. It's the only way I can get out and about (I usually go on my own, bit of a billy no mates)

Went to see Ojos de Brujo in December with Woody, then I went to see a Led Zep tribute band (god I'm getting old!!) called Letz zep. They were really good and did double-headed guitars and violin bows etc.

In April it was Roger Waters doing Dark Side..., brill stuff, flying pigs, explosions and psychadelic lights.

And for that blast from the pastness, let's relive our teens, the Cult. They even did a Led Zep style acoustic interlude.

More China

2007-08-08T17:37:00.000+02:00

As well as the Forbidden city I managed to climb a little of the Great Wall, it's a bugger as all the steps are of different sizes and coming back down is well scary as it's so steep. God knows how they managed with full kit on. I went to China again in January and visited the Summer Palace-not very summery as you can see.

But exquisite- well worth a taxi ride to visit (take great care with the taxi drivers tho', you need your wits about you. God help the visitors to the Olympics next year!!!!)

We had a reception and dinner with some bosses from Air China and the Spanish ambassador, we were shown around AC's training facilities and the Ambassador had a go on one of the full motion Boeing simulators.

And I'm afraid I gave some of the more unusual local delicacies a miss- you care see sharks on a stick here, but there were also spiders, beetles, larvae, scorpions, etc.

I'll be back again in September, so look out for more photos.

2007-04-01T19:01:00.000+02:00

Everything in China means something. This is an example of a door in the Forbidden City, nine is a very auspicious number in China so there are nine by nine little knobs on all the doors.
The more animals on the roof, the more important the building. Nine is the maximum number of animals on the roof. As you can see this is a pretty important building.

This is a giant water vat for fire extinguishing. The buildings in the Forbidden City are all wooden, so fire extinguishers are very useful.

Maybe some of you will recognise this throne, the Last Emperor is the only film that was shot in the real Forbidden City.

Surrounding the main room is a three tier marble structure, it represents the clouds and heaven and shows that the Emperor is closer to the gods than anyone else.

China

2007-04-01T12:59:00.000+02:00

Well at last I'm getting around to updating my blog. It's raining so I'm takng this opportunity. I'll begin with my first trip to China last September. I went to Beijing (Peking) and Tianjin, about 2 hours drive away. The reason for my trip was to meet our prospective new students and check out their English. I also managed to get in a bit of sightseeing.

Here are the guys in their classroom at the Aeoronautical University in Tianjin. The uni is huge andthey train all sorts of people for the aeronautical industry.

There was a festival coming up; I think it was the national day; so the were lots of preparations going on in Tianemen Square. They were building a couple of models, one was of the enormous dam that's being built and the other was of Tibet. Here it is half finished.

Chairman Mao's tomb is also in Tianemen Square. There was a veeery long queue of people waiting to pay their respects to him going around it. Here's a photo of me and our guide "Michael" with the tomb in the background. Many Chinese people take on a western name when dealing with foreigners to make our lives easier.

For some reason I can't upload any more photos, so I'll begin another post.

Stu's visit (part 1)

2006-08-23T16:27:00.000+02:00

Well, my brother, Stuart, arrived on Sunday for a week. On Monday we went to Park Guell to do the touristy bit. Here are some photos. First Stu in one of the covered walkways.

And contemplating the variety of nationalities gathered there.

We went to Gracia to see my friend Blanca and have a look at the last night of the fiestas, I'd already been on Friday night and had a great time. We went for dinner in a Mexican there, here we are in the restaurant.

And Blanca and Stu.

As some of you know, they decorate the streets in Gracia for the Fiesta, here are some. They are all on different themes (taken on Friday Night), 1st-War ofthe Worlds-this won first prize.

We saw The President of Catalonia and the Mayor of Barcelona having supper in one of the streets, it's usual for the neighbours to have a bit of a private street party amid the chaos.
The next photo is me trying my luck with the local talent. Didn't have much luck with this one, unfortunately.

Yesterday and today, Stu's been helping me chuck out junk and at the moment he's playing with the chainsaw and preparing firewood for me. Tonight we're of clubbin', so more photos will appear. To finish I'll show you a couple of shots I took while out flying at the end of June- by the way, work phoned me this morning and they want to send me to China for a week at the beginning of September, WOW!!!!that'll be worth at least one blog post.
Anyway-here's Montserrat from the sky-a muggy, bumpy day, but she always looks splendid.

Bet you can't guess which is my house-answers on a postcard to.....

Cool perk of the job, eh? Shame I get travel sick in the small planes. Will probably take Stu to work tomorrow for a look around and a play on a flight simulator.

Life changes

2006-07-30T19:57:00.000+02:00

Well, life gives you unexpected twists and turns. Just as I was getting used to life in Sabadell, Gabi died on the 14th of July and I've had to move to Masquefa to look after the animals and organise the house and stuff. Unfortunately, Gabi's liver gave up and the doctors were unable to do anything to save him.
I'm probably going to sell this place and find myself a small flat if I can afford it. I'm waiting first to see how my job goes and how much I can get for this place-1/2 of it is Gabi's daughters'.
I'm trying to keep busy at work and at the weekend I get together with friends for lunch or for a drink with friends or students-they've all been very supportive and helpful.
I'm on holiday from the 12th to the 27th August and my brother, Stuart is over on the 20th for a week.
I'll write more when things settle down.

update

2006-06-29T11:13:00.000+02:00

I'm slowly settling in to my new home. I've made friends with a couple of the women at work (Vanessa and Montse) and we've started going to the cinema and stuff together-we watch the films in Spanish, unfortunately, because there isn't a cinema here that shows films in original version and I can't be bothered to go to Barcelona alone. If a film is good I can always watch it on DVD in English later. We went to see the DaVinci Code a few weeks ago and Vanessa took this photo of me and a very big and very dishy Johnny Depp. Let's hope the new films are as good as the first one.
I'll be popping back to the UK in September, but only for a couple of days to go to the Lakes for Pla's birthday, I'll be flying back to Spain on the 25th with my mum and Dave, who'll be here for the rest of that week. Stuart's coming in August, so I've booked my holidays for then. I need to think about Christmas-I'm not sure I'll be able to come back as Sara and I are planning a girl's road holiday here for Easter-let's hope it doesn't turn into a Thelma and Louise type trip!!!!!
I went for a buzz in a helicopter again last Friday-I went and forgot my camera again!!!! We flew down to Reus, near Tarragona, and then up the coast as far as Sitges, more or less, before having to move inland to avoid Barcelona.We were in the air for about 2 hours-it costs about 500€ for 1/2 an hour if you have to pay-it's a pretty cool perk!!!!! We can't fly too near the city due to all the commercial traffic. I'm getting quite a taste for the helicopter-I don't feel ,as sick as I do sometimes in the light planes. I'll try and remember to take my camera next time.
Apart from all that-the last puppy went last Saturday to live with an elderly lady in the village, so maybe I'll see him around when I go back to visit. Gabi has to have a liver transplant-but he doesn't know when yet-keep your fingers crossed for him. I'll look after the animals while he's in hospital.
More to come when something interesting happens!!!!!!!

A quiet weekend

2006-06-20T11:12:00.000+02:00

On Sunday there was a little music in the street festival in Sabadell, I went down and spent the day in the park sunbathing and watching a few local bands. There was a group who did Ramones and Green Day covers, a few who did their own songs-many in English, Rumba, electronic, rock etc. There was also a Castellers gathering, there is a photo on the right. They make the smallest kids climb to the top-scary stuff.
The park here is quite pretty-there's a boating lake with ducks and swans-I tried to feed them, but the carp seemed to be hungrier.

There's a type of waterfall that you can sit under and get spray blown at you by the wind-rather pleasant on a hot summer's day.

I got a bit of a wet bum sat on the grass so decided to go for a walk to let it dry off a bit and discovered a couple of palm trees inhabited by parokeets and other exotic birds. You may just be able to make them out on the photo. There were loads of them making a real racket as they got ready for bed.

2006-06-17T15:56:00.000+02:00

Well here are Pippy's pups all grow up and ready to go. I arrived home yesterday and it was such a lovely surprise to see them again. I've been playing with them non-stop as Gabi isn't one for giving animals a lot of attention and they need to get used to people. Now they come running when they hear my voice. This one is a little shyer-Ray keeps giving him what for.

2006-06-17T15:52:00.002+02:00

They are soooo fat and cuddly

2006-06-17T15:52:00.001+02:00

Here they are bonding with Ron.

2006-06-17T15:52:00.000+02:00

Mega cute and all tired out after playing.

The latest visit

2006-06-12T13:41:00.000+02:00

I went to Masquefa on Friday and took a load more photos of my "nietos". It was really difficult to leave them on Saturday as it could be the last time I see them. it's a good job I'm not there all the time and they get cuter every day, and more playful. They recognise my voice and come looking for me when I call them....

Some more photos of the belly dance group.

2006-06-09T15:50:00.000+02:00

Here we are from left to right-Eva, Alexandra, Lola, Raquel, Mireia, Ruth, Me, Amelia, Lucia, Aurora and Anna.

Another of Aurora and me. I'm sorry but for some reason it's uploaded it twice and won't let me get rid of one of them-never mind as we look fabulous it's worth seeing it twice!!!!!!!

The babies aren't so little anymore

2006-06-07T11:50:00.000+02:00

Here are a few photos of Pippy's pups-they are getting bigger every day and they are mega cute. They'll probably be going in the next couple of weeks. I'm trying very hard not to get too close to them-probably a good job I'm not living there anymore!!!!!

Rob and Ryn came to town

2006-06-06T09:50:00.000+02:00

First thing this morning I dropped my "baby" brother and Ryn off at the station after their flying visit to Spain. They were in Malaga for a wedding and then popped up to BCN to see me. They arrived on Sunday evening and we went out for dinner. On Monday they did the tourist bit-Gaudi etc. and last night we went to a club to watch one of my students play the drums with his blues band-they were excellent and we got in for free and had free drinks!!!!! Thanks a lot Aldo it was really good of you. Rob was in his element talking drums and stuff, and I've got a great place to take visitors now. Although the visit was short it was great to see them both and get a chance to get to know Ryn a bit better. Here's a photo of the two of them in Luz de Gas.

2006-06-04T15:03:00.000+02:00

Last night we had our belly dance end of year show, this is me just before I went out. our costumes were all hand made-I must thank Yaya Ascension-Rogelia's mother-in-law for making the sleeves and skirt-the bra and belt are my own work. I'm sick of the sight of sequins!!! It was a cold night so there weren't too many people and a vodka and 2 glasses of cava got rid of my stage fright. Once I receive the photos from the other girls I'll post a full group photo.

2006-06-04T15:00:00.000+02:00

Anna and Raquel.

2006-06-04T14:59:00.000+02:00

Here we have, from left to right-Aurora, lola, Amelia, Ruth and Anna.

2006-06-04T14:58:00.001+02:00

Me and Aurora looking fantastic just before going on stage.

2006-06-04T14:58:00.000+02:00

Anna and Eva.

pippy's puppies

2006-05-21T20:23:00.000+02:00

Well, they're 2 weeks old today and have opened their eyes. They are sooo fat it's incredible that such a small dog like Pippy is able to keep them satisfied, they are cuter every day too and now they have their eyes open they look more like puppies. They aren't able to walk as such yet, I think they'll need to lose weight first 'cos they only have short legs like their mum. I'm not sure who they take after most- their dad, Coco, is a black cross breed, these seem to have a little more of their mum-particularly in their colouring. Here's one fatty.
We think we've got homes for 3 of them-which is good news. As you can see they are 4 strapping young lads.

Other news-well, last Monday I went on my first helicopter trip-which was pretty cool. I didn't get air sick like in the plane and we flew over my house-shame I didn't take the camera, which is always at work-next time I will. I think it'd be pretty cool to learn to fly a helicopter-but it's a little expensive to do it just for the hell of it, but I'll be going out again some day.

Woody's visit

2006-05-14T19:35:00.000+02:00

Well I've got more photos of Pippy's puppies to show you-boy are they growing fast!!!! But they are such cuties-they'll be great when they open their eyes and begin playing.
Woody came over on Thursday for his first Grand Prix. We also went to a CorreFoc last night- which is a mad Catalan thing where they try and frighten small children with fireworks!!! IT WOULDN'T BE ALLOWED IN eNGLAND AND AS WITH ALL THINGS SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS-IT'S GREAT FUN!!!!

Today we were up nice and early-5:30am and went to Montmelo-we got there well before 7 and it was already busy-they were offering free breakie to those who got there before 9, so that encouraged the keen ones. It was sold out and the weather was great. we saw the GP2 race with a few "excursions" in our corner of the track.
The Porsche race was even more fun as several went off in front of us-unfortunately the photos I got were mainly of flying dust.
Woody and Gabi ready for the F1.

The Spanish equivalent of the Red Devils gave us a show, so now there follow sad photos of cars and planes-I'm becoming a bit of a train spotter as I get older.

This'll be Alonso's car next year-I hope it works better for him than for Kimi-it's a beautiful, sexy, sleek looking car tho'.

And here's the man winning-first Spanish driver to win at home-well done!!!!!

You deserve it. Top Banana!!!!!

I'm a granny

2006-05-07T18:41:00.000+02:00

Pippy gave birth last night/this morning. I had taken her to the vet in the morning for an x-ray to see how many she was carrying andhow big they were. I got back from the race at about 11:30pm and she wasn't looking too hot so I made her comfortable in our room, she'd chosen her corner,and then it was a case of waiting. The first one was born going up for 1am, we had to help a little to get it out as it was the biggest. Mother nature kicked in and she knew exactly what to do.

The next two followed shortly after, the first two were dark brown, the third a pale blond colour. Here's a nice gory photo of number 3 just as it popped out.

Number 4 took a while to arrive as Pippy was now getting tired. But a little chocolate brown bundle eventually arrived. Here she iswaiting for number 4.

Unfortunately number 5 was born dead, it spent a long time in the birth canal, I suppose. but nevermind, we've got 4 beautiful little critters (which is plenty, thank you very much) and Pippy seems to be OK and regaining her strength slowly. So a about 5am we all went to bed. They didn't let me sleep much as they make a lot of noise for little things. We'll move them into Juancho's room later, it's warmer (cos of the terrarium) and quieter for now. I'll keep you posted on their progress.

It's been lovely watching her and it'scheered me up a bit because last week we lost Suds to an infection, so this just goes to prove that "life goes on".

Red Bull Air Race

2006-05-07T18:29:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I went to watch "the Formula 1 of the Air", it's an acrobatic race for light aeroplanes that go over 400 km/h . It was pretty impressive I must say-there were about 1,300,000 people there apparently, good atmosphere and a warm evening to sit on the beach eating my butty watching the planes. The school I work at sponsored the only Spanish participant-unfortunately he didn't win. They had to fly around obtacles in the shortest time. I think I still prefer the F1 and that's next week!!!! Don't worry I'll post photos.
The Barcelona metro system couldn't cope with all the people, I ended up walking from Placa Catalunya to the beach because I couldn't get into the metro stations, good job Gabi didn't go or he'd never have made it with his bad ankle.

2006-04-22T18:50:00.000+02:00

Well spring has certainly srung,the jasmin is going to be spectacular. The yellow flower is called carolina and smells great too. Just the thing when the neighbours have got their smelly septic tank just behind there...

2006-04-22T18:46:00.000+02:00

We've just come back from walking the dogs on a lovely sunny afternoon. There's a field nearby that's absolutely blooming with poppies and other wild flowers.

2006-04-22T18:44:00.000+02:00

This is what living out of the city is all about.

2006-04-17T18:10:00.000+02:00

Gabi broke his ankle and my mum decided to send him a pirate patch to go with his one good leg and his parrot. He's getting better now and will hopefully have the cast off soon.

2006-04-17T18:08:00.000+02:00

Pippy's pregnant!!!! And not with Ray-I don't know what the pups'll look like.

2006-04-17T18:06:00.000+02:00

While Gabi's brother, Lucas, has been in Mexico and New Orleans, we've been looking after his dog Farigola (thyme). She escaped/was stolen and we were a little worried about her, but we got her back in the end. She went home with Lucas today.

I'm back

2006-04-14T15:20:00.000+02:00

First let me apologise to all of you who have had birthdays so far this year, I don't know why, but I've been really untogether about sending cards this year, I was going to do a paper free year and send virtual cards-but without the net it's been difficult, I'll try and get myself organised.
I'm sorry about not posting for a while-the internet provider messed up; but I'm back now.
I started my new job a month ago-teaching future pilots and cabin crew English. I think it's going OK so far. The folk are friendly, the pays probably less than what I was earning-but I didn't get paid every months before. I get up at the time I started work before and am home for 7:15 not 10:30!!!!
Yesterday I went for a ride in a Cessna-a light aircraft, with a student pilot and an instructor. We didn't go anywhere-just round in circles so Issac (the student) could practise take offs and landings. It was a bit windy, so it was a bit bumpy-my stomach was beginning to suffer by the end, I'm going to take my anti-seasick bracelets for the next time just in case....
It was lucky we finished when we did because one of the other planes had a problem with its landing gear and they had to make an emergency landing just after we'd landed. If we'd still been in the air we'd've had to go to another airport. I fancy going up in a helicopter next and maybe for a little ride-they often fly over our village-that'd be cool flying over my house. They also provide an air-taxi service and work the Grand Prix- so I'm gonna have to work on getting "back stage" passes for next year!!!
We have a web page: www.topfly.com
and a blog (set up by me and still in its early stages) www.topfly-topfly.blogspot.com
Gabi broke his ankle a few weeks ago and has it in pot, as a consequence we didn't do anything for my birthday (thanks for the cards and stuff), but I bought us posh tickets to go and see the Stones (or The Rollings as they're called here) at the Olympic Stadium in May. When I told my mum she laughed and said, "Oh, I went to see them in Blackburn 42 years ago." !!!!!!
I think Pippy's preggers and am going to have to take her to the vets to check it out.
We also have a new parrot who I call Panxo, he's a good talker and can say "Raymond", "hola", "vamos", "Woof woof woof" (just like a dog), he also laughs "ha ha" and other cool stuff; he's also friendlier than Pollo. I'll sort some foties out later to post.
Gabi's just called to say lunch is ready so I'm off now-I'll do the photos later.

2006-01-16T11:15:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year to you all. I'm finally getting around to updating this with news of my Xmas visit home. I arrived late Xmas Eve to a very foggy Liverpool airport - thank goodness the other passengers looked relaxed as this helped me stay cool as I watched England's foggy countryside pass beneath us; at one point the crew were worried that visibility would decrease and make landing "difficult". For this reason they had boarded us early, but our departure was delayed 'cos some bloke decide to leave one of his bags in the waiting area. As the Spanish police were on alert; it was Xmas Eve, they had very promptly removed said bag. They were apologetic anmd said they would look for it and return it to its proper owner ASAP. Shortly afterwards a nice security lady came on board and apologiased profusly for having lost said suspicious bag- it was nowhere to be found!!!!! Good job it didn't contain a bomb!!!! (the owner of the bag was, by pure coincidence Arabic).
Anyway- got to Blighty safe and sound. Spent Xmas day at my mum's friends Pat and Jackie; Boxing Day we hit the sales (Debenham's is great to beat the Xmas TV desert). I then spent various days visiting Woody, Lee and San, and popped up to Lancaster for New Year's Eve; where I managed to see Dave, Phil, Anne and families. Then it was back to B/burn and get my stuff together to spend a night in Tranmere at dad and Caroline's. Lunch with Rob and Penny in Manchester's Chinatown and then down to North Hants to visit Sara. I also managed to spend a day in Birmingham with Josie and K.
It was great to catch up with folk (even if only for a couple of hours), and I apologise to anyone I didn't see and I hope to see you soon either here or there.

2006-01-08T20:53:00.000+01:00

One thing I miss is the British countryside.

2006-01-08T20:51:00.001+01:00

The English winter's are great for going for walks as long as you're all wrapped up. Woody, Lee, San and their kids and I went for a winter's stroll up the woods.

2006-01-08T20:51:00.000+01:00

On Boxing Day we went to the club for a dose of Phoenix Nights. great stuff.

2006-01-08T20:48:00.000+01:00

On my way home I stayed in Tranmere with my dad and Caroline then caught the train to sara's, on my way I stopped off for lunch with Rob, Ryn, Penny and Mark in Manchester's China town. (This photo is out of sequence; sorry)

2006-01-08T20:45:00.000+01:00

We managed to get some of the Kay clan together-plus guests. Stuart and Rob and their partners Denis and Ryn, my dad and Caroline, her mum and my gran. We had some excellent English grub in the Duckworth arms. Ryn is a big fan of our nation's scran-especially mushy peas for some reason. I got too full to eat all my apple pie and even Stu couldn't finish it off.

2006-01-08T20:42:00.000+01:00

I went up to Lancaster on New year's Eve and spent the night with Anne in her new restaurant- Dave and Jo popped down for a bit, as did Karen before she went off dancing. we had a civilised night and we stayed up talking till the early hours. It was very good to catch up. on New year's day i went round to Phil's for a brew and a chat. This is Amy chilling with the ambient lighting at The Runcible Spoon.

2006-01-08T20:41:00.000+01:00

Stu and denise.

2006-01-08T20:37:00.001+01:00

Phil and Marie's new daughter- Nina.

2006-01-08T20:37:00.000+01:00

I stayed with Sara for the last few days. she lives in a village called Gretton, near Oakham, North Hants. It's a lovely 16th century cottage. It used to be the village workhouse- pre-industrial revolution. It's got great charm, as only an English cottage can. This is the main fireplace, all decorated for Christmas. Many of the floorboarrds are original and the wall are so thick; it'll never fall down.

2006-01-08T20:33:00.000+01:00

The garden's fantastic in winter,so in summer it must be heaven; it gets the sun all day too.

2006-01-08T20:32:00.000+01:00

It's a bit of a tight squeeze and look at those beams.

2006-01-08T20:31:00.000+01:00

On Friday I met up with Losie and K and they showed me around the delights of Birmingham. we had a great day. This is Josie in front of the Selfridge's "whale" in the bullring- I didn't take a photo of the bull as I see enough of them here.

2006-01-08T20:27:00.000+01:00

This is Birmingham's oldest pub apparently, built in 1368.

2006-01-08T20:24:00.000+01:00

This is Birmingham's answer to London's eye.

2006-01-08T20:23:00.000+01:00

On my last morning what you could call "proper" snow fell. a perfect way to finish of my stay.

2005-12-20T13:37:00.000+01:00

we went for my belly dancing class Xmas do on Friday- we went for kababs and hummus etc. and then to an arabic disco-very interesting. there weren't many girls-'tho the teacher said there are usually more. The guys were all dancing-a bit like they dance in the film "Monsoon Wedding" with their hands in the air etc. I enjoyed it and we had a little boogie- got home after 5 and I had my belly dancing class at 9- OK you may think, but the dogs anmd cats were soooo happy to see us that they wouldn't let me sleep much-Ahh the joys...

2005-12-20T13:34:00.000+01:00

Here's me trying a vanilla and apple flavoured shisha- rather nice it was too.

2005-12-20T13:33:00.000+01:00

Here's Gabi's daughter Carolina and her son Nil (Niel). How do you do?

2005-12-20T13:32:00.000+01:00

This is Gabi's niece's new baby- Miguel. Say "Hello".

2005-12-11T14:09:00.000+01:00

Last night we went to a show of Egyptian music, singing, dancing and lots of great percussion. the main musician was Khamis Khenkesh. The dancers Mohamed El Sayed (pretty famous in this field) and Munique Meith (Brazilian born but with a dance school in BCN)

2005-12-11T14:06:00.001+01:00

Mohamed did a couple of dances, one with a stick, the other a kind of dervice dance.

2005-12-11T14:06:00.000+01:00

Munique in a kaftan.

2005-12-11T14:05:00.000+01:00

He did a strange kind of "strip tease" and this was the final part. Before this he'd pulled out scarves with the words "peace" and "love" written on them.

2005-10-22T13:17:00.000+02:00

Last night we went to see Hossam Ramzy and his very beautiful wife, Serena. Here's the maestro, Hossam Ramzy, in action. Some of you may recognise the name as he's played percussion with plenty of famous westerners; most notably for me is his contribution to the Plant/Page album "No Quarter". The guy is a genius- the Jimi Hendrix of tabla. If you closed your eyes you could imagine 6 percussionists playing together, when you opened them there was just this one guy "tapping" away. My grandfather saw Hendrix in concert and said he could almost make his guitar speak - well Hossam does the same with his instruments. He treated them like they were living beings - they each have names. If you ever get the chance he's well worth going to see.

2005-10-22T12:58:00.000+02:00

Serena's not bad at shakin' her stuff either. She's been dancing from the age of about 7 and has a grace and presence not many dancers have. The first hour of the show featured local dancers- some of whom we'd seen before- the second half alternated between Hossam playing first his tabla (a bongo type drum), then his wife danced, then he came on again with a tamourine, his wife again, Hossam then played a bodrum type drum and finally Serena did another dance and they finished off with an improvisation. She showed up her mastery of the veil and the walking stick. Her outfits were pretty impresive too.

2005-10-08T15:04:00.000+02:00

Well, little Lucy has a new home- a man phoned yesterday while I was at work and Gabi took her round to his house, he's a neighbour so I'll be able to go and visit as I didn't get to say "goodbye". The new academic year starts next week, so I'll be working till 10, but the good news is I have Tueday and Thursday evenings free from 8pm-yipee!!!! A few of us belly dancing girls are looking into doing flamenco, but I need to check out if it'll be OK for my back as there's a lot of stamping involved. Most of you know I like shakin' my stuff in the disco, and as I never go to discos now I miss dancing. I'll let you know how I get on. We're in the middle of harvesting, and it looks OK so far-just hope it doesn't rain too much for a bit although the drought is getting serious, we're not near any reservoirs-so it should rain in other places.
In a couple of weeks we're going to the great metropolis of Barcelona to see Hossam Ramzy and Serena in concert. Hossam is an Egyptian tabla player whose played with the likes of Peter Gabriel and Robert plant and Jimmy Page (No Quarter), his wife Serena is a belly dancer. If they let us take photos, I'll post a few.
Apart from that, I'm looking forward to seeing you all at Christmas and am looking for a taxi driver as Sands'll be in New Zealand!!!!!!

Things to help you sleep at night.

2005-10-07T10:17:00.000+02:00

The following article was in today's Independent. I'll sleep better in my little bedy bose tonight knowing that this man is in charge of things and is the most powerful man in the world. Although I'm not a regular subscriber to Christianity, I was indoctrined in it's ways as a child; I seem to remember a lot of stuff about "love", "peace" and "respect" for your fellow man- but then remember the Crusades - hey, ho- maybe I should have paid more interest at school and maybe I'd understand.

Bush: God told me to invade Iraq
President 'revealed reasons for war in private meeting'
President George Bush has claimed he was told by God to invade Iraq and attack Osama bin Laden's stronghold of Afghanistan as part of a divine mission to bring peace to the Middle East, security for Israel, and a state for the Palestinians.
The President made the assertion during his first meeting with Palestinian leaders in June 2003, according to a BBC series which will be broadcast this month.
The revelation comes after Mr Bush launched an impassioned attack yesterday in Washington on Islamic militants, likening their ideology to that of Communism, and accusing them of seeking to "enslave whole nations" and set up a radical Islamic empire "that spans from Spain to Indonesia". In the programmeElusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, which starts on Monday, the former Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath says Mr Bush told him and Mahmoud Abbas, former prime minister and now Palestinian President: "I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.' And I did, and then God would tell me, 'George go and end the tyranny in Iraq,' and I did."
And "now again", Mr Bush is quoted as telling the two, "I feel God's words coming to me: 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.' And by God, I'm gonna do it."
Mr Abbas remembers how the US President told him he had a "moral and religious obligation" to act. The White House has refused to comment on what it terms a private conversation. But the BBC account is anything but implausible, given how throughout his presidency Mr Bush, a born-again Christian, has never hidden the importance of his faith.
From the outset he has couched the "global war on terror" in quasi-religious terms, as a struggle between good and evil. Al-Qa'ida terrorists are routinely described as evil-doers. For Mr Bush, the invasion of Iraq has always been part of the struggle against terrorism, and he appears to see himself as the executor of the divine will.
He told Bob Woodward - whose 2004 book, Plan of Attack, is the definitive account of the administration's road to war in Iraq - that after giving the order to invade in March 2003, he walked in the White House garden, praying "that our troops be safe, be protected by the Almighty". As he went into this critical period, he told Mr Woodward, "I was praying for strength to do the Lord's will.
"I'm surely not going to justify war based upon God. Understand that. Nevertheless, in my case, I pray that I will be as good a messenger of His will as possible. And then of course, I pray for forgiveness."
Another telling sign of Mr Bush's religion was his answer to Mr Woodward's question on whether he had asked his father - the former president who refused to launch a full-scale invasion of Iraq after driving Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in 1991 - for advice on what to do.
The current President replied that his earthly father was "the wrong father to appeal to for advice ... there is a higher father that I appeal to".
The same sense of mission permeated his speech at the National Endowment of Democracy yesterday. Its main news was Mr Bush's claim that Western security services had thwarted 10 planned attacks by al-Qa'ida since 11 September 2001, three of them against mainland US.
More striking though was his unrelenting portrayal of radical Islam as a global menace, which only the forces of freedom - led by the US - could repel. It was delivered at a moment when Mr Bush's domestic approval ratings are at their lowest ebb, in large part because of the war in Iraq, in which 1,950 US troops have died, with no end in sight.
It came amid continuing violence on the ground, nine days before the critical referendum on the new constitution that offers perhaps the last chance of securing a unitary and democratic Iraq. "The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region" and set up a radical empire stretching from Spain to Indonesia, he said.
The insurgents' aim was to "enslave whole nations and intimidate the world". He portrayed Islamic radicals as a single global movement, from the Middle East to Chechnya and Bali and the jungles of the Philippines.
He rejected claims that the US military presence in Iraq was fuelling terrorism: 11 September 2001 occurred long before American troops set foot in Iraq - and Russia's opposition to the invasion did not stop terrorists carrying out the Beslan atrocity in which 300 children died.
Mr Bush also accused Syria and Iran of supporting radical groups. They "have a long history of collaboration with terrorists and they deserve no patience". The US, he warned, "makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbour them because they're equally as guilty of murder".
"Wars are not won without sacrifice and this war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve," Mr Bush declared. But progress was being made in Iraq, and, he proclaimed: "We will keep our nerve and we will win that victory."

Eclipse

2005-10-04T12:21:00.000+02:00

From today's Independent
Cloud cover fails to take shine off annular eclipse
By Michael McCarthy
Published:04 October 2005
It was very different in Spain, which lay along the centre of the eclipse's track across the earth, where cloudless skies afforded watchers a perfect view.
Thousands of people gathered in Madrid, judged the best place to see yesterday's event, and other towns and cities to see an unusual and spectacular version of a partial eclipse - a so-called annular eclipse, which occurs when the whole of the moon's disc is visible against the sun.
In Madrid, families, teenagers with teachers and groups of enthusiasts met at the city's planetarium and donned protective glasses to watch the event directly, or via a giant television screen. "It was a beautiful sight. I won't see one again," said Isabel Balset, 68. "I got very emotional and the tears just flowed."
The Iberian peninsula has not witnessed an annular eclipse since 1 April, 1764, and will not see another one until 2028. The last total eclipse seen in Iberia was in 1912.

2005-10-03T11:11:00.000+02:00

This is Lucy, I found her under the car just over a week ago, we're trying to find her a good home.

2005-10-03T11:10:00.000+02:00

I'm looking out of the window at the moment-11:07am, and it looks like late afternoon. There is an annular eclipse (not total here, but you can see it fully further south). I took this photo 10 or fifteen minutes ago when it was at it's maximum. It's difficult to appreciate unless you have the special glasses etc. I took this photo through two x-rays. COOL huh? It's almost as if it's the moon in the night sky, but it's the sun and it's nearly midday.

2005-09-26T11:33:00.000+02:00

Every single newspaper has a similar photo on it's front page today-you're probably all going about your daily business completely oblivious to the fact. The first Spaniard to win the world championship, the youngest ever to get on the podium, win a grand prix or the world championship, the youngest ever to get pole positon, to get a fastest lap in a race and the youngest ever to lead a grand prix. It's great news for F1- at last it looks like we've got rid of the monotony of Schumacher always winning. it's also fantastic news for Spain- I can't wait until next May to see him race again here,but this time as N�1.

2005-09-11T12:37:00.000+02:00

Last Wednesday we had a few tornados-they had to close the airport for a while!!! It rained so much that the street in where I work turned into a river- the water covered the pavement, we had to leave work early because all the electricity in the area went. On the way home I passed several accidents-cars upside down and stuff. One man from the next village died when he was surprised by a torrent of water-he was a hunter and knew the area well. His friend who was with him, and is from our village, is still missing. The police are searching downstream but think he may have been washed out to sea. Tornados are not too unusual here, but they usually form out at sea-you can see them sometimes from the coast. It's unusual for them to for inland. In two days we had 4 big ones and several small ones. Some villages suffered plenty of damage due to the high winds.

2005-09-08T12:03:00.000+02:00

Here is a bit of an article in the Independent, Sant Sadurni is about 8km from here and they are beginning to harvest the grapes-most of the fields where we live are dedicated to this. Although this year has been hot and dry - which is great for wine grapes, it's rained a lot this week which is terrible as the grapes become "watery" and moulds and fungus hit and ruin the harvest, it will probably ruin some farmer's harvests if they don't pick them soon.
Saboteurs hit at heart of cava region in Spain
Saboteurs armed with mechanical clippers and motorsaws have hacked down 475 vines belonging to Spain's winemaking giant Freixenet, producers of Britain's favourite budget sparkling wine. The sector's farmers' union is in the throes of a campaign of mobilisations for what it calls "a dignified price for the grape", but yesterday disclaimed any connection with the attack. The union warned, however, that it would radicalise its protests if a minimum price for wine destined for cava was not agreed.
Dozens of small wine producers in the farmers' union blockaded the vast wine-making plants of Spain's two main cava producers, Freixenet and Cordoniu, in the town of Sant Sadurni d'Anoia on Monday. They also picketed the installations of Torres, another big Penedes winemaker enormously popular in Britain. Growers were protesting at the low price they receive for white grapes which are destined for cava.
The union's spokesman, Josep Maria Coll, said the producers could not survive another year at current prices. He said that for the past three years growers had been subjected to prices that failed to cover costs. "It's increasingly difficult to keep vineyards going. The cava industry risks killing the goose that lays the golden eggs," Mr Coll said.
Talks between growers and winemakers over a price agreement broke down last month. However, with grapes now ripe for picking, the union is threatening to halt the harvest until agreement is reached.

2005-08-29T19:33:00.000+02:00

Here are some of the fruits of our garden (not the almonds-we got those yesterday when we went for a walk-more about that later.) There are figs, apples, aubergines, cucumber, green beans, green peppers and lots of toms.

2005-08-29T19:31:00.000+02:00

A bumper collection of tomatoes - you've never tasted toms loke these.

2005-08-29T19:30:00.000+02:00

Our onions, a little small due to lack of rain, but very sweet and juicy, but they don't half make your eyes water!!!!

2005-08-29T19:29:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we went for a walk with the dogs and to look for old vines to decorate the terrarium, we saw these ENORMOUS pumpkins. God am I jealous, don't knowwhat they use for fertilizer.

2005-08-29T19:27:00.000+02:00

Meet Farigola (thyme).She's Lucas' new friend.

2005-08-24T12:35:00.000+02:00

Gabi and Manolo (our future business partner) living it up after decorating our house.

2005-08-24T12:34:00.000+02:00

This is our neighbour ready to paint the town red.

2005-08-24T12:33:00.000+02:00

Here's a photo of Gabi modeling my tiara-looks good, huh?

2005-08-24T12:28:00.000+02:00

Here he is-on top of the world getting some much needed UVB rays.

2005-08-24T12:27:00.000+02:00

A rather girlily decorated terrarium. I'll try and find some better branches and plants-not too sure how many sunflowers they get in Mexico-still he doesn't know what the natural vegitation is and at least he has some hidy holes.

2005-08-24T12:26:00.000+02:00

Yum, yum. dandelion leaves and watercress are two of his fav foods.

2005-08-24T12:25:00.000+02:00

Juancho in his sunning cage.

2005-08-24T12:24:00.000+02:00

Gabi having a siesta in the company of Polly, Pippy and Ron.

2005-08-24T12:23:00.000+02:00

Here's Smudge and Suds hiding from the rain.

2005-08-24T12:10:00.000+02:00

Above are some photos of Iggy, or Juancho as my neighbours have cristened him. At first we had him in a metal cage and I had to move him about during the day so he could sunbathe - a little bit of a pain as you can imagine if you wanted to go out for the day. Now he's in his new home- it needs adjustments- better branches, a basking light and I need to find a way to control the humidity-but bit by bit we'll get there. The lights turn on and off automatically- makes life easier. Difficult to tell if he's happier in here-I think he enjoyed sunbathing but he'll have to wait for next summer now.

2005-07-25T12:55:00.000+02:00

This is Iggy-doesn't look too friendly, does he? hopefully he can be tamed as he's only young.

2005-07-25T12:53:00.000+02:00

This is Iggy as we found him in my "sister-in-law's" rose bush. He seems to be doing OK for now, tho' no-one seems to want him-he may end up staying for good.

2005-07-25T12:52:00.000+02:00

This is one of the latest additions to the family-Ron or "chickie" to his friends. He's very playful-much to Pippy's delight, and also very affectionate.

2005-07-25T12:50:00.000+02:00

We went to a medieval fair and they had a bird show. This was one of the owls, they had the usual falcons and stuff, but also eagles and vultures-amazing animals close up.

2005-07-25T12:49:00.000+02:00

A bald eagle. Blimey they're BIG.

2005-07-25T12:47:00.000+02:00

A general view of the veggie patch.

2005-07-25T12:46:00.001+02:00

a wider shot of one of our grape vines.

2005-07-25T12:46:00.000+02:00

The figs are coming on nicely despite the drought.

2005-07-25T12:45:00.000+02:00

This year the apple tree has done us proud and with hardly any aphids.

2005-07-25T12:44:00.000+02:00

It's amazing how I get these onions to grow horizontally!!!!!(forgot to turn the foto around)

2005-07-25T12:43:00.001+02:00

Courgettes

2005-07-25T12:43:00.000+02:00

Look At this great big watermelon.!!!!

2005-07-25T12:29:00.000+02:00

cucumbers.

2005-07-25T12:28:00.000+02:00

Here are some green grapes-yum, yum.

2005-07-25T12:26:00.000+02:00

Can you see the aubergines?

2005-07-25T12:24:00.000+02:00

OOPS, sorry forgot to put this foto the right way up!!!This is a wild grape plant that we had at the top of the garden. we inserted a cutting from another plant and hey presto!!!

2005-07-25T11:58:00.000+02:00

Well, the summer's here again, it's soooo hot here, I'm not sure I'll last the summer out. The good thing about the summer here is that we can enjoy beach parties. Here's a foto of Gabi getting into the mood at a "belly dance" party we went to last weekend.
I'm also gonna post some fotos of our veggie patch so you can see how it's getting on.
I begin a months holiday this weekend, I hope the weather is cooler or it'll be impossible to do anything in the heat. I want to get out and about a bit and I'll post some foties.