sherry bar!

10 Monday Nov 2025

Posted by in friends, sevilla, sherry, sherry week, spam

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There is a lovely sherry bar around the corner from my house and for Sherry Week they were holding a sherry tasting by one of my favourite bodegas, Lustau. How could I resist? So on Friday evening I went with Peter, Sharon and Fiona (aka my angels) and we had a great time tasting four gorgeous dry sherries from Lustau’s Almacenista line:
🥂Fino del Puerto
🥂Manzanilla Pasada de Sanlucar
🥂Amontillado de Sanlúcar
🥂Oloroso del Puerto
Many thanks to Eduardo Rodríguez for being a great host and sherry educator 💛 💫

caturday november 7th 2025

08 Saturday Nov 2025

Posted by in casa azahar, cats, caturday, home

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What a week with Luna. Last weekend she got a bit floppy… wasn’t up to much, didn’t want to eat, was obviously out of sorts and even walking a bit wonky at times. On Monday I arranged an appointment with Vet Sonia but, after some “emergency” feeding of Luna’s favourite paté she was suddenly much perkier so we left the appointment until Thursday. Fine. 

And she seems to be fine. Blood work looks good for a girl her age (14) but she also has a cyst under one nipple, which we have arranged to have removed in December when she goes back for a revision (vets think it’s benign, this is just to make sure). Meanwhile she will be taking omega 3 supplements for slightly elevated cholesterol… and that’s it. Given that her last blood test was over a year ago it seemed prudent to do a proper check up at her age. 

And she was good as gold. Even in the taxi! The first driver at the stand actually refused us saying he had allergies “to both cats and dogs”. Luckily a second guy showed up and no problem. When I said we had a gatita he said “no problem, I have two of my own”… later I told him how the other guy told us he had allergies and that I didn’t believe it, and he said “no way, I don’t believe it either”. Anyhow…

Part of the major stress of bringing the cats to the vet is all the howling and wailing that goes on the minute they are put in the carrier and especially once they hit the street. All those scary sounds and smells, can’t really blame them. But after a bit of complaining at first, once we got in the taxi she was quiet as a mouse. And at the vets… 

I know it has nothing at all to do with me but all of my cats – always – have been easy to work with at the vets. Blood tests? No problem. Xrays? Okey-dokey. Prodding and poking, looking at teeth etc… they just go totally limp. And I love them for it. I mean, I know it’s because they are terrified, if I tried any of that shit at home it would be NO FUCKING WAY but the minute they are out of their realm they lose all their sass. Bless them.

Part of the reason this appointment was moved to Thursday was because there would be two vets on duty that day (for blood extraction etc) and I was all like… but it’s Luna! Anyhow, it’s done. And we’ll see what happens in December. 

polka dot poncho

07 Friday Nov 2025

Posted by in health, knee saga, knees, sevilla, weather, welcome

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Enough already. I cannot walk (in the streets) without crutches (since August 2024). And I cannot use an umbrella whilst hobbling along on crutches, for obvious reasons. Last winter (rainy af – yes, much needed but still) made me realise how much this limits me. So… hello polka dot poncho! Not quite a famous blue raincoat but let’s see if this helps. 

sound recycling

06 Thursday Nov 2025

Posted by in computers, gadgets, music, technology

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So anyhow… back in January 2023 I somehow ended up with a “free” LG soundbar and woofer (Movistar client gift thing) and dutifully set it all up when it arrived (omg it made IKEA beds seem like a walk in the park in comparison) and once everything was connected I turned on the TV and, well yes, everything was much louder than before, and also way more boomier. In theory it was supposed to enhance my listening pleasure while watching television. But after a couple of months I ended up disconnecting it and went back to the TV speakers (which are just fine). I dunno, it just felt like TOO MUCH SOUND for just watching TV, you know?

And then today I was on (in?) a zoom meeting with my Gastro Guías and suddenly I couldn’t hear anything. Later the sound came back but it was all crackly. I thought it was the connection with the chat but later on when I put on some music it was still crackly. Well fuck. My lovely Galga is just over a year old and so, in theory, still on warranty. But the thought of having to deal with all that – taking her in, being computerless for god knows how long, etc – made me think of my poor rejected and neglected soundbar. 

I did actually try listening to my music connected to the soundbar and woofer when I first set everything up, but the TV setup is at the other end of the long space that is both living room and office and so it felt like the sound was filling up the whole house, not just my workspace. But today I thought… well what if I move the soundbar over to my desk? Duh. 

Can I tell you? I am so happy right now. Turns out the soundbar is the exact length of my desk, so it fits perfectly behind my laptop box (which elevates the screen to eye-level) like it was always supposed to be there. Takes up no extra space at all. And the sound! So much richer, deeper, fuller… but also easy to keep to myself in my little personal corner of the house.Â