Monthly Archives: September 2011

andalucía sabor

20 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by in culture, food & drink, sevilla

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So this is what I’ll be doing over the next three days – attending the Andalucía Sabor Fine Food Exhibition – which kicks off this morning with a jamón slicing competition. Though in fact it began yesterday evening with an interesting and entertaining round-table discussion with three of Spain’s top chefs (Juan Mari Arzak, Carme Ruscalleda and Dani Garcia) about the Mediterranean diet and why eating locally and in season is so important.

Last year I had wangled an invitation to the Best New Chef competition so I guess I was still “on file” because of that, and so I was happy to receive an email a few weeks ago inviting me to attend this year’s Andalucía Sabor as Press or, more accurately, one of the bloggers that will be not only be allowed entrance (normal admission price is 75 euros) but also will have a blogger’s area with access to tables and plugs for laptops, etc. This would be an ideal moment to use the iPad I still don’t have. So I will just be armed with my iPhone as both laptops are too heavy to lug around all day, especially as I’m still having to wear the “faja” to hold my operation incision together.

And as if attending a three-day conference wasn’t enough I also have Sevilla Tapas Tours tonight and Thursday night, plus a presentation meeting with a prospective social media client tomorrow evening (another instance where an iPad would come in handy). Meanwhile I still have my daily work with my other clients to keep up with…

Speaking of which, best get that done while I down another cup of coffee, then I’ll have to hit the shower and get out of here. The conference centre is way the hell out near the airport, about half an hour on the bus, but at least there is a direct route there with the stop just five minutes from my house. Okay – gotta run!

if I were…

19 Monday Sep 2011

Posted by in fun stuff, miscellany

≈ 8 Comments

if I were a river, I would be… the Nile.

if I were a colour, I would be… crimson.

if I were a work of art, I would be… Cafe Terrace at Night.

if I were one of the five senses, I would be… sight.

if I were an animal, I would be… a cat.

if I were a word, I would be… “happenstance”.

if I were a fictional character, I would be… Nora Charles.

if I were a deadly sin I would be… pride.

~ seen at and swiped from The Quiet One ~

mira la luna!

18 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, change, home, hope

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Say hello to my beautiful girl. It’s so weird to think that a week ago getting a third cat was something I was considering – maybe! – for some time during the winter. Closed balcony doors, less chance of kitten dropping off balconies, etc. Though it had been on my mind for awhile to look for a playmate for Loki. And then I saw that poster last Monday…

Then after much back and forthing I made the Big Decision on Friday that I would take this kitteh, even though it means having to keep her “in quarantine” for a month until she can be retested for feline leukemia, as the test she had on Friday wasn’t “negative enough” for Yolanda to say with confidence that it’s safe for her to be in contact with Azar and Loki. But she has plenty of space to sleep and play, and she is never left alone for long. Plus Nog sleeps with her at night.

I picked her up yesterday after going out to get some proper kitten food and a small litter box. So she is set up quite nicely in Nog’s room with the cushion of my ex-comfy chair as a cat bed, her food and water dishes and a couple of toys. Litter box is out in the hallway. And she also seems to like the “safe hiding place” I left for her – the cat carrier with the door taken off – as well as crawling in behind the big square “reading pillow” on Nog’s bed.

[click on collages to enlarge]

The best part is that she is so affectionate and loves purring away on my lap. And she is also very playful. Yesterday afternoon I settled down to watch a film on tv after lunch and, since the boys were napping elsewhere, decided to risk bringing her out to sit with me. And she was happy as anything on my lap getting lots of snibbles. Azar came over after awhile and didn’t seem to notice her at all, but after the film was over I put her back in her room.

I’ve decided to call her Luna. It just sounds right and it’s a bit in memory of Lua, as she was also a very pretty girl and a siamese mix, and of course both names mean “moon”. I just hope Luna turns out to be less *ahem* cranky than dear old Lua was.

One thing’s for sure – Luna sure is photogenic.

decision time…

16 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, change, home

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by Thurston Arnold

Today I had to make the Big Decision about taking in this little darling. Fani took the kitteh to see Yolanda this afternoon and there were a couple of surprises. First, she is a girl. Second, she is approximately four months old, which really surprised me because she is so tiny. But apparently all the milk teeth have been replaced by permanent ones and, despite her size, she isn’t as young as we all thought.

The good news is that she seems relatively healthy. She was deloused inside and out when Fani took her to a different vet a few weeks ago, and I’m told she has a good appetite. The only possible bad news is that the test they did for feline leukemia was inconclusive. Yolanda said there was a small “blip” in the test results that meant she couldn’t say for sure that it was 100% negative, and she recommends redoing the test in a month’s time. Meanwhile, the kitten shouldn’t have contact with the other two cats as it’s very contagious and can be transmitted by saliva. Also, although both Azar and Loki have been vaccinated now, this doesn’t offer total protection against the virus.

So, this was all going through my head after Yolanda called me this afternoon. I had already half-decided that keeping the kitten “in quarantine” for a month wouldn’t be too much of a hassle, when I thought it would be a case of waiting for it to be old enough to have the test accurately done. But now it will be a case of retesting because there is a suspicion of disease. Also, I was kind of wanting a male cat that would grow into a robust playmate for Loki. This tiny thing looks like she’ll never weight more than a couple of kilos at most. So I called Fani to tell her about my doubts and she was understandably upset, as the only other option for the kitten at this point is to take her to Greece on Monday, which will be a long 7-day journey by car.

And so… I’ll be picking her up tomorrow morning. What the heck. Worst case scenario is that she has feline leukemia and I have to find another home for her where she would be the only cat. But after getting this involved I couldn’t just walk away.

I’m thinking of calling her Luna.