Category Archives: life stuff

el puente

07 Friday Dec 2007

Posted by in culture, holidays, home, life stuff, sevilla, spain, tapas

≈ 5 Comments

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Today is the ‘puente’, or bridge day, between two public holidays: Día de la Constitución (December 6th) and Inmaculada Concepción (December 8th). Lots of people also take today as a holiday in order to have an extra long weekend, and many businesses choose to remain closed as well (like my gym, fer instance, grrr…).

Until a few years ago the night of the Inmaculada was traditionally when the Christmas street lights were turned on but this been changing, so that anytime after December 1st you’ll see lights on (though they still all get turned off on January 5th – Epiphany – which I think is a good thing).

The madrugada of the Inmaculada (that’s tonight from midnight till dawn) is also the night when the various tunas get together and sing & play to the Virgin statue in one of the squares next to the cathedral. Tunas are groups of traditional minstrels belonging to the different university faculties and on this night there is something of a competition as they all take turns out-tuna-ing themselves for the Virgin. The last time I went out to see this spectacle was a few years ago (going out after midnight has becoming a rarity) so Nog & I had been planning to go tonight, as he has never seen them in this setting. But since we are both feeling ‘coldy’ we might not make it. It’s not a huge deal if we don’t go because there are often tunas playing at the bar across the street so we actually get to hear them a lot. But this night is actually quite special and apparently it’s also the 25th anniversary for the Biology tuna, so big things are expected . . .

Can we stay up long enough to go out tonight? Eep!

The bridge pic came from here … played with it a bit.

the new camera

05 Wednesday Dec 2007

Posted by in christmas, gadgets, home, life stuff, photos, retail therapy

≈ 9 Comments

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f_holly.gifChristmas came early today at casa azf_holly.gif

After looking at several different cameras within a certain price range we stumbled upon this one last night and then went back this morning for a better look. And frankly, it has everything we want and need and the discounted price included a leather case and a 1 giga memory card, so what the heck. We bought it.

On our way home we stopped at Ay Maricrú! for a pre-lunch drink, and also to start playing with our new toy. Nog was in charge of reading the instructions, I was in charge of pressing all the buttons and going – “oh this is so cool!”. And when Carlos showed up with another round of drinks I said – “Look at our new camera! It’s our Christmas present for each other”, and Carlos winked at Nog and said – “So when do you get to enjoy it?”. Well ha. He gets to enjoy all the photos, doesn’t he???

Anyhow, just charging up the battery now and looking forward to taking our new gorgeous baby out for a trial run this evening. And we’re also looking for a name … thought about using one of the muses but they don’t really seem to fit. Any ideas?

Here are the specs.

[update: new camera name is Holly]

gatito update

30 Friday Nov 2007

Posted by in animals & pets, health & happiness, home, life stuff, nablopomo

≈ 7 Comments

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Back to the vet’s tonight for last Saturday’s test results . . .

Which all in all weren’t too bad. Given Sunny’s age (14) and the fact that he’s overweight, the worst of it was some slight irregularity with kidney and liver function, but nothing scary. The vet prescribed the same liver meds Sunny was on the time he ate the poisoned cockroach (don’t ask) which is really expensive, but at least it’s only for one month. And she has also changed the daily kidney pills (which she says he’ll probably be on for the rest of his life) which are about twice as much as the supplements he’s been taking, but oh well. Also, his glucose is a bit high, so we have to change his food, which means changing Azar’s food as well, but the vet said since Azar is close to Sunny’s age (he’s 12) that the new diet would be good for him too.

Once all the new food and meds were added up it came to 150 euros ( gaaaa! that’s half a new 3″ viewscreen camera!!! ) but whaddaya gonna do, eh? At least it’s food for about three months and meds for one month. But now the gatito monthly maintenance has just doubled – yikes!

Meanwhile, I mentioned to the vet that I should bring Azar in soon for a checkup and she said that I should wait for awhile because, given his age, a blood test is sure to show some weird chronic stuff like Sunny’s did and she suggested that we ‘recuperate’ a bit from this initial financial outlay first.

So it looks like we’ll have to cut out at least one of our almost planned trips. Or else not get the new camera. How’s that for luck, eh nursemyra? 😉 Actually, I’m just glad we can afford to take the boys for regular check-ups and look after them properly. I’d rather have them around for a few more years than anything else.

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travelling plans

29 Thursday Nov 2007

Posted by in holidays, life stuff, nablopomo, trips

≈ 6 Comments

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Suddenly we seem to be going everywhere! (well, maybe)

Yesterday I mentioned that Nog & I might be going to Granada over the holidays. Since then even more travel ops have turned up! f_bigeyes.gif

Today my friend Carmen said to me that as her husband will be working on Saturday 22 December, she thought this would be a good day to drive me to Gibraltar so I can finally buy some underwear. It’s no joke – ever since Marks & Spencer closed I’ve had to get my knickers sent to me from friends in England as M&S doesn’t deliver outside the UK. My two previous botched attempts to get to the M&S store in Gibraltar have been mentioned here and here. But Carmen has never forgotten my plight and so it looks like I’ll be getting new knickers for Christmas! f_somersault.gif Oh, and also see Gibraltar.

Then another friend Paco told me he’s going to be driving to Lisbon the weekend of December 28-30 because he wants his girlfriend to see the city in winter all decorated for Christmas. And Nog and I have been invited along because Paco knows how we fell in love with the place when we went there last June.

The planned Granada trip is also going to be with Paco as he and his girlfriend often go there to ski during the winter, so apparently we’ll have several weekends to choose from. Paco says they can just drop us off in Granada on Friday evening before they head up to the mountains and then pick us up Sunday on their way back to Sevilla.

And then, while I was talking about possible ways to sell some of our natural clothing stock this spring, it was suggested that I go down to Marbella. Carmen said she was there not long ago and there were several boutiques selling similar looking stuff, so I might have some luck there. And I remembered that my friend Manolo had offered Nog & I the use of one of his holiday apartments in Marbella for a weekend (well, as long as it isn’t booked) and said he might even be able to drive us there and back as he often goes to Málaga at weekends.

And so suddenly there are four possible trips to think about, none of which should cost much. In fact, all of them together should cost less than our Lisbon trip did. And since we’ll only be away two nights max (and no nights when we go to Gibraltar) we won’t have to worry about a cat-sitter. Ohhh, this is quite exciting! Hope it all works out as this would certainly make the coming winter months a lot more interesting. 🙂