Monthly Archives: March 2009

yellow

21 Saturday Mar 2009

Posted by in culture, photohunt, photos, spain

≈ 16 Comments

feria-de-jerez-2008

Today’s Photohunter theme is “yellow”.

Although the Feria de Abril in Sevilla is the most famous spring fair in Spain I think the one in Jerez is much nicer. It’s smaller, located in a lovely park and, of course, the horses of Jerez are exceptionally beautiful. Here you can see the typical yellow sand (albero) that is used in parks, fairgrounds and bullrings. I’m not sure if this is true, but I’ve heard that the colours of the Spanish flag are meant to represent the blood and the sand of the bullring.

photohunter

~ more Feria de Jerez photos ~

latest pet scan

19 Thursday Mar 2009

Posted by in cancer, food & drink, friends, health & happiness, hospitals, photos, sevilla

≈ 21 Comments

pilarThat’s Pilar, aka “mi Pili”, and one third of The Team.

Yesterday I had my third PET scan, which had been recommended by my new oncologist last Friday.  Susan (Pip) couldn’t come with me for this one as she has a friend from the US visiting, and so I was very lucky that my friend Carmen was available. Based on the last two PETs, I told her we would probably be out of there in about three hours. Wrong!  We ended up there for six hours, so I definitely owe her one. Though she said she didn’t mind at all as she had nothing planned that afternoon and had brought books and some stuff from work, plus when we were both waiting together we talked, played Hangman on my iPhone,  went for a snack, and had quite a good time…

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ya es primavera

17 Tuesday Mar 2009

Posted by in health & happiness, plants, sevilla, spain

≈ 10 Comments

blossom

This weekend the first orange blossom (azahar) was spotted in the centre of Sevilla. This is always the first sign of spring for me, though it never becomes “official” until you see the ya es primavera banners across the windows of El Corte Inglés.

For the next three weeks or so the streets of Seville will smell like heaven. I used to wonder why I found the fragrance of orange blossom so soothing until I found out that azahar has many therapeutic qualities, including its use as a natural sedative. Other therapeutic properties of orange blossom oil (aka Neroli) are antidepressant, antiseptic, anti-infectious, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, bactericidal, carminative, cicatrisant, cytophylactic, cordial, deodorant, digestive, emollient, and tonic. It takes about 1000 lbs. of orange blossoms to make 1 lb. of Neroli oil, which no doubt accounts for its rather hefty price tag.

But as lovely as Neroli is, it is no comparison for the delicate scent of orange blossom in the fresh spring air. Wish you could be here…

[ from azahar’s Sevilla ]