09 Saturday Feb 2013
Posted in animals & pets, cats, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, work
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It’s not going to be a snuggly Saturday night in for me as I am about to leave in a minute to meet clients for a Sevilla Tapas Tour. These two have already settled in for the evening but I reckon we’ll all have a great time in our own way. What are you doing tonight?
07 Thursday Feb 2013
Awhile ago my friend Lisa Sadleir, who runs several websites including Family in Spain, posted a “Today’s Blue” photo on Twitter, taken at her home in Mijas on the Costa del Sol.
Since then I’ve been responding with my own “Today’s Blue” Twitter pics and this was today’s. This photo was not retouched in any way or *shudder* Instagrammed. It was just a quick shot using my iPhone. But man, just look at that BLUE.
Pretty damn fine for midday in February, doncha think?
Twenty years ago I used to call this sky “as blue as Lua’s eyes” referring to the crankiest of all cats who ever existed (but who still managed to wangle her way into my heart). Actually, I still call this sky after Lua. She had the most amazing eyes ever.
Some habits never die.
26 Saturday Jan 2013
Earlier this month my friend Karin sent the cats some toys for Christmas, including these wonderful purple mice that became an immediate surprise hit with Loki, and so I quickly adapted the string game to include the little rodents. Luna still prefers the string, but Loki is just mad about the mice and will sit at the bottom of the stairs mieowing for someone to come and play with him. Bless.
However, soon Karin’s mice were found ear-less and tail-less, disembowelled and floating in the water dish. Since I couldn’t find any replacements I dutifully re-stuffed and stitched up the little frankenmäusen because Loki was bereft without them. And he honestly doesn’t care what they look like as long as they fly up the stairs properly and feel satisfying in his mouth as he trots back down with them. But I knew it was only a matter of time before they became unsalvageable and was dreading the arrival of that day.
Then yesterday I was heading up calle Feria to meet my friend Markus for lunch and spotted the little pet supply shop that had opened last month. Somehow I had missed this place in my search for replacement meeces. So I popped in and struck gold. There was a whole basket of them at 75 cents each! I stopped myself from buying the entire stock and ended up with these three. So far wee grey mouse is the new favourite toy around here (am saving the other two for back-up) with Loki tirelessly chasing it up the stairs, or else batting it around on the floor when the humans get tired. And having a dangly tail makes it extra appealing (that won’t last long). I just love that Loki has found a way of getting daily exercise that’s fun for everybody.
Speaking of which, after ten days of illness-induced sloth I am heading back to the gym today. Yay!
22 Tuesday Jan 2013
So those two young whippersnappers Luna & Loki (aka Los Rompetodos) finished their latest project yesterday. This is, or was, a rather nice laundry basket that I bought about two months ago, to replace an old “made in Asia” cheapo one that, of course, they never touched. You see, my laundry basket sits out in the hallway beside the kitchen door and so I wanted to get rid of the old basket and put something there that was a bit more attractive, since everybody sees it. Then one day I saw this in a shop window and I thought it would do just fine. It isn’t actually wicker but has a nice baskety-weavey thing happening, is easy to wash, etc.
Well, as soon as I got it home Luna discovered that if you scratched at it long enough those little bits of fabric would pop out in a very satisfying manner (click on photo for more detail). At first I’d shoo her away and tuck the stray ends back in, but I finally gave up on this since she did it when I wasn’t home anyhow. Then Loki got in on the act and the two of them would happily scratch away at my rapidly aging basket, eventually inventing a “king of the castle” type game to see who could knock the other off the top. What larks!
The main problem was that Loki is just way too heavy for it and, if he sat on top for too long, the lid (which is actually *just* a bit bigger than the lower frame) would bend under his weight, causing it to slide into the basket. But of course it would sproing back to full size once in there, which meant many long and sweary battles trying to get the damn thing back out again. Then yesterday the hinges predictably fell off, so now this is what I’m left with. By the way, “Los Rompetodos” isn’t a real Spanish word, but if it were a real word it would mean something like “The Breakeverythingers”.
19 Saturday Jan 2013
Posted in cats, friends, health & happiness, home, sevilla
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Finally this hellish week has ended. And rather nicely, as it turns out. Yesterday the awful cold-flu that kept me in bed most of the week was suddenly more cold than flu, which included the apprearance of a brand new scratchy throat and cough. But at least I could stay vertical for more than a couple of hours and, basically, didn’t feel so bloody crap. Even so, when my friends Mark and Jo (that’s them on the left) said they were going to be in Sevilla today and wanted to invite me for lunch to celebrate their 100th trip to Spain, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to make it because I also had a tapas tour booked for tonight. I mean, I thought I might manage one or the other, but not both. And although Peter was happy to step in and help out I really don’t like “changing the guide” on my clients last minute. But then I heard from Sharon (one of tonight’s group of three) saying they’d be in town late this afternoon and were looking forward to meeting either me or Peter at 8.00. Huh?
I had forgotten that they’d made their booking when I was planning a trip to Barcelona and I’d told them at the time that because of this I couldn’t say if they’d be with me or Peter. And that was okey-dokey with them! What a relief. So I wrote back and explained that while my trip to Barcelona had been postponed I was just getting over a very bad flu and they would be going out with Peter after all. And then I decided to go and meet Mark and Jo for lunch! Though that almost didn’t happen because I started to “crash” again around noon and even the thought of getting dressed felt overwhelming. But M & J were already on their way to Sevilla by then and incommunicado so I was resigned to go, especially because I had asked them to change their original choice of tapas bar to one closer to my home.
At 3 o’clock we met at the fabulous Taberna El Paduro, which was heaving, but after a short wait we got a comfy spot at the end of the bar. And we had a great time. I realised that I hadn’t been out of the house in over four days and hadn’t actually walked further than from room to room, so it was nice to stretch my legs. But talking was VERY difficult because it kept setting off massive hacking coughing jags, which made it clear that I could never have done the tapas tour, since I obviously need to be able to talk. A lot. So it all turned out for the best. The tour booking arrangements, missing M & J so I couldn’t cancel lunch, getting out of the house, and then coming home again. Now I’ve got the heat blasting and am all cosy here with the cats while Peter is out doing the tour. Still with the coughing jags – so bad at times it feels like I’m going to hack up a lung – but I’m hoping that will ease off by tomorrow. And after that… a fresh new week!
casa azahar 