Tag Archives: friends

african getaway

06 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in books, cats, friends

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Shortly after Azar died there was a knock on the door and a delivery man handed me a package from Amazon. This isn’t a particularly unusual occurrence here at casa az, except that in this instance I hadn’t actually ordered anything from Amazon. Turned out it was a prezzy from the lovely Deb. She’d seen this book on my wish list and sent it along, saying how reading can sometimes be a good escape from life, and that she hoped the book would help.

And well, I only opened it today! I suddenly found myself with an hour to kill before a tapas tour and was good and tired of sitting in front of the computer. And then I remembered my book! I have to say the whole process was wonderful. Opening a fresh new book (when was the last time I did that?) and turning to Page One. And then laughing out loud before I even got halfway down the page – good ol’ Bill Bryson. I hope this means I am going to go back to reading Real Books again. I remember when I used to read a book a week…

Thanks again Deb. It was a lovely gesture and a perfect gift.

a happily hectic week

11 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by in friends

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Just a fly-by post as things have been pretty hectic this week. But happily hectic!

Here are the Londoners with Peter up on the roof after a lazy tapas lunch out. After lunch we had gone over to visit Azar’s grave (at Sara’s request) then over to casa az so everyone could see the new place and meet the kittehs. You can just about make out Loki on the small table next to Sara. Luna was lurking around the edges pretending to be nervous. Anyhow, it’s been great seeing the gang again and once again I find myself wishing that my faraway friends didn’t live so faraway.

How’s your week been?

the return of sara & steve

08 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in cancer, friends, restaurants, sevilla, tapas

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And this time they brought Sheila and Greg (Sara’s parents)!

Last time I saw Sara & Steve was three years ago, though they’ve both been coming to Sevilla for ages and I’m the one who got them started doing that. You may remember when Sara and Sheila (both cancer survivors) did a London Race For Life and Sara wore this fabulous sign during the race. Just to give you an idea of how fabulous they both are.

Anyhow, the gang got in this evening around 9.30 and I was at their holiday apartment to meet them, which turned out to be in the same building of my first home in Sevilla! Talk about a walk down memory lane (actually it was up three flights of stairs). And then we went out for tapas (it was a treat not to be working while out for tapas – I actually got to just eat, drink and relax). So it was a lovely evening and we’ll be seeing each other during the week as they are here until Saturday. Now I must hit the hay… a busy busy week. But it’s nice thinking of my friends just a few minutes away in my old house.

20 years in spain party!

01 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in 20th anniversary, friends

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Yesterday was Party Day, celebrating my 20th anniversary of moving to Spain.

The festivities started off with a fabulous lunch at the Vineria San Telmo with friends who had come into town specially for the party. After that there was a short break to freshen up and then Peter and I went off to Bar Chinkoa to help set up. You may recall that my first plan had been to have the party on my rooftop terrace but then thought it would be more appropriate (being the Queen of Tapas and all), not to mention way less hassle, to have it at a tapas bar. Happily Manuel and Ana at Chinkoa said they would open up that evening (they’re normally closed on Sunday) so I could celebrate there with my friends. Of course I was a nervous wreck by the time we got there because I never throw parties. I worried that hardly anyone would show up and also had a last-minute extra worry when it occurred to me that people might think the party was “on me” (Spanish style) when my idea had simply been to simply shift the venue from my roof to a bar. But despite my concerns it turned out to be a lovely time.

The best part was that many of the friends who came met other friends for the first time, though they had heard of each other, either from me or via Twitter. And the general concensus was that I have some pretty wonderful friends.

Many many thanks to the gang at Chinkoa who looked after us so well, and also to all you wonderful friends who came to celebrate this very special occasion with me.

Party pics below…

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the orange tree

13 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, death & dying, love

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At the moment I am looking for signs of happiness anywhere I can find them. And when I went upstairs today to water the terraza plants it struck me just how much Pat’s tree has grown in the past two months. Just check out the difference! My little naranjo is getting quite lush.

For a crazy moment yesterday I considered burying Azar under the orange tree but then realised that store-bought soil with nothing living in it to help with decomposition would end up quite icky. I guess I just liked the idea of him fertilising our tree.

I have been trying to forgive myself for all the things I should have done, and even more for the things I shouldn’t have done (why did I go out the night he ended up dying??) and have come to a conclusion. I’m human. And in spite of the mistakes I made, I also gave Azar a fabulous life and all the nasty stuff at the end doesn’t negate any of that. Because in the end, death is never pretty.

Now if I can actually believe that, and stop beating myself up, then I can get on with remembering all the wonderful years, and the total wonderfulness that was a little black street cat called Azar. I’m keeping as busy as I can right now, because every time I look around and see that he isn’t here – where he should be – I start to cry.

The love of my life…

[ps… I’m not expecting any of you to tell me all over again how I was there for Azar – you’ve already done that. It’s just that now I have to believe it myself and so I’m  just talking about how I feel and hoping that I can start moving forward without feeling sad and guilty about all the things I could’ve/should’ve done]