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16º celcius

15 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in welcome

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Just over four years ago, I wrote a post about how the old casa az was often 13º celcius in winter. Early mornings it was often 10-12ºC, which with the draughts made it extremely painful to get out of bed in the morning.

Fast forward to winter 2011-2012…

The coldest I’ve found in what I still call the “new casa az” (though it’s been almost a year now) has been 15ºC, first thing in the morning when overnight temps have got close to freezing. Normally early morning indoor temps are between 16-18º here. And no draughts thanks to double-glazed balcony doors (which also help keep out the noise from an illegal after-hours bar across the street, but that’s another story).

Plus I have central heating. For the first time ever in Spain!

So when I first wake up I put on the heating while my flatmate Peter puts on the coffee, then I snuggle back under the duvet with cats and iPhone while the place warms up and coffee brews… and then I get up to start my day. Comfortably.

Don’t get me wrong. I still wear three layers and a scarf while at work in front of my computer, but the difference is that I’m not still freezing cold after all that. The central heating is set to a maximum of 20º which is perfectly comfortable. And well… it just somehow feels so darned GROWN UP that I can live comfortably in my home, for the first time in almost 20 years.

Sure, I’m still a bit worried about what the next electicity bill will be, but I like that this “new” casa az never actualy gets as cold as the old one did, and that my flatmate is now making enough money to help me pay the bills, and that I put on the heat in the morning… because I can!

the tree is up!

20 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in cats, christmas, friends, holidays, home, sevilla

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It took some thought but last night I tried this hopefully cat-proof set-up, taking a tall bookcase thingy from Peter’s room into the living room and putting it in front of one of the windows. I think it looks okay, don’t you? So far the kittehs haven’t shown too much interest in it (the lower three shelves don’t have anything “interesting” on them) but Luna has a thing for strings and cords, so I tuck the cord away when it’s not plugged in.

Yay! I love this little tree.

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what’s with all the scrooges?

18 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by in christmas, holidays

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First posted on December 18th, 2006 – exactly five years ago!
I still feel the same about the scrooges…

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It seems to be turning into an epidemic.

Lately I’ve been coming across so many people complaining about the Christmas season in various ways, ranging from mild dislike to out-and-out hatred.

It seems that those who dislike/resent/hate Christmas the most are those who feel somehow pressured or obligated to do things they don’t particularly like doing during this time of year, or they dislike/resent/hate the way other people celebrate Christmas.

But surely they are placing the blame erroneously. If one cannot say no to family and/or friends, should they blame Christmas? If they don’t like the manner in which some people exploit the holiday season and the crass commercialism that goes on … why say it’s the fault of the holiday? And if it’s the religious aspect of it that they dislike, well, this is easy enough to ignore.

It seems to me that these scrooges are redirecting their frustrations in order to avoid acknowledging where the real problems and issues lie. Though of course there are some people who just complain for the sake of it because they enjoy complaining. 😉

Another anti-Christmas argument I often hear is that people should always behave with compassion and generosity towards their fellow man, not just once a year. And I quite agree. But like birthdays, anniversaries and such, Christmas is a once-a-year reminder to behave this way and I see nothing wrong with that.

Anyhow, I really love Christmas, though my best Christmases started happening after I left home at age 15. I’ve had a few nice family Christmases since then, but my best ones have involved cherished friends and loved ones. And one quite memorable one when I was in my early twenties, doing my laundry and then going out to the cinema as I was on my own. I reckoned that since I was all alone I’d get all pathetic and do all these sad and pathetic things … but then I saw that I wasn’t actually on my own. There were plenty of other people at the laundromat and at the cinema and it was somehow comforting to be in their company.

So basically, Christmas is what you make it, though it may not always turn out to be exactly what you expect.

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susana perezosa

14 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by in cooking, home, retail therapy, spain

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AKA Lazy Susan. A bit weird that in Spain they use a literal term (bandeja giratora = revolving tray) rather than a literal translation. In Portuguese they are known as “Susana preguiçosa”, which would be “Susana perezosa” in Spanish.

Anyhoodle, do you have any idea how hard these f*ckers are to find in Sevilla? That is, without spending the better part of a day hiking out to IKEA on the bus (which isn’t actually in Sevilla anyhow)? Well, it’s hard. I’ve been looking out for Lazy Susans ever since I moved into the latest casa az last February and have not seen them anywhere. But it turns out that a few places have started stocking them for the holiday season as they tend to be used here more for entertaining than the practicial use I’ve always thought they were made for.

Which is to be able to get at stuff in corner cupboards.

As you can see in the photo in this blog post, I’ve got a very deep corner cupboard just above the microwave. I never know what’s in there and can’t reach into it without getting up on the footstep thingy. And so yesterday I finally managed to find a couple of inexpensive Lazy Susans made of bamboo, which fit perfectly into my corner cupboards. Am now thinking of getting another one for the cupboard below. And maybe a smaller one for my spice cupboard! I’m so pathetically thrilled that I can now easily reach up for access to this cupboard after so long. But hey, simple pleasures and all that.

Anyone know why they are called Lazy Susans?