T is for Travel

 Good morning Ladies, we’ve had a busy week, it didn’t start off that way. 

We needed a new Padron from the Ayuntamiento, this document is proof you own a property and live here, unfortunately if you need it as proof it has to be less than three months old! So off we went armed with passports, utility bills, residencia papers, fortunately we were second in line, doesn’t take long once you are there seeing as we are only renewing it. After taking all the documents we could think of he only looked at one of our passports!!!

 I need to renew my Medical card, for some reason last time it was renewed I didn’t get the full four years. Now I need an appointment to see the man who does the paperwork, then it's all sent  off,  I’m guessing to Madrid!

We read online that a replica boat had been docked in the harbour so we decided to take a closer look while we were on our walk, it’s quite impressive.

 It’s a replica of the Noa Victoria, it was the first ship  to circumnavigate the world between 1519 -1522, This voyage was overseen by Fernao de Magalhaes, known as Magellan in English. and took three years and covered 45,000 miles.

The Vessel is a Carrack, 60-70 feet long and built of Oak and Pine,  it housed 45 crew and formed part of a five ship expedition to map a trade route for Spain. It was financed by Carlos V and 265 men began the journey but only the Victoria returned with just 18 men.

Megellan was killed in the battle of Mactan and Barbosa took control only to be poisoned by the Rajah of Humabon in the (Cebu) Philippines after being invited to a banquet in honour of the Spanish King. The remaining 18 crew were a mix of nationalities and survivors from the five ships that started the expedition, Most of the crew died from malnutrition. 

Between 2004 - 2006 she completed her own round the world trip stopping in 17 countries .

They were very brave to sail around the world as it's not the biggest boat I've ever seen!

One of our meals last week, homemade meatballs with sauce made with tomatoes, onions, red peppers and Garlic.

They were quite big so we had two each with cheese sprinkled on the top, the rest we froze for another meal.

My drink for this week was a quick coffee after we had been to get our Padron, a different coffee from usual. I quite like the pattern on the top.

This is a slice of the Lemon Curd cheesecake I made a few weeks ago, I had to cut a slice for the photo as it was too deep so parts of the lemon curd topping  slid sideways, not a pretty sight but it tasted ok.

It was just Greek yoghurt, cream cheese, icing sugar mixed together with a biscuit base, I used my homemade lemon curd on the top and a swirl inside.

I made this card last week, for a challenge on SCS, as usual it started off a quite a simple card but ended up taking me days to finish, you know when you start something and wish you really hadn't! 

Apart from all that we've been gardening, taking out a massive Bird of Paradise plant, took three days and ten huge bin bags to get rid of it all. we are both suffering from sore backs and shoulders from digging etc, I will post a picture of the finished garden next week, until then, take care and stay safe Ladies.

Jan x

T is for Tasty Treat

 Hello Ladies, here we are again meeting up with Bluebeard and Elizabeth for our weekly T party.

Hope you all had a good Easter, I hope you didn't eat too many chocolate eggs, my DH bought me six mini Caramel eggs, my favourite,  we had our mini celebration by having a lunchtime menu at the Indian restaurant across the road, it was delicious as usual.

We sent our youngest GS a Dinosaur Egg, he loved it , Grandad was silly and asked if it was an Eggasaurus, he said, no Grandad!  it's a T-Rex, the most fearsome Dinosaur in the world, he still doesn't always know when Grandad is joking.

This is the lunchtime Menu, as you can see it's very good value for money, we had the 9.95 menu.

The first course was Poppadoms with three dips.

One of the starters, Onion Bahji, I had the Cauliflower Pakora but for some reason it isn't letting me crop the photo. It was delicious.

The main course, we had already started before I remembered to take a photo, hence the messy look!!

Chicken Balti and Lamb Tikka Masala

Rice and Garlic Nan

Also my drink for this week, a glass of wine that is part of the menu 

These were in our local supermarket, they usually have a boiled egg in the middle that's been coloured, I'd imagine the kids are pleased to see they now have chocolate eggs inside, not much fun getting a boiled egg but looking closely I think there's one at the other end!!

These are the photos I took last week when it was very windy, we see this fishing boat coming back into the harbour every morning, well we hear the noise before we see it as hundreds of seagulls fly out to meet it, I’m guessing they throw the fishy bits overboard, we are usually on the Paseo so not near enough for a good photo but we were on the back part of the marina as the boat came in, the noise was deafening as you can imagine!

The big building on the hill is a cafe bar, it’s on so many different levels with a tiny splash pool at the bottom, fab views too, a lovely place to take visitors. Once when we were there with our sons we were all excited as we saw what we thought were seals in the harbour, turns out it was the diving school and what we saw were the divers heads with wet suits on, LOL very disappointing.

The building is part of the fish market, every morning we hear the buzzer going off, we think it is after every sale is complete.

They have beautiful Mosaics on the walls, I will try to find them to post another time.

Over the weekend we didn't have breakfast at our normal Cafe as it was very busy on the seafront so we went to the bakery for croissants and takeaway coffee and sat in the sun on a bench overlooking the beach, it was very enjoyable for a change. 

Today the sun is shining and it's back to normal here so  Happy T Day and Keep Safe Ladies 

Jan X

T is for Time to Celebrate, well just a little one!

 Happy T Day Ladies, honestly where does the days go, the weeks go by so quickly , my Dad told that’s a sign of getting old, I’m beginning to think he was correct.

We’ve had a few different meals this week, well ones we haven’t had for quite a while I should say.

Tuesday we had Beef Wellington, with a difference as they normally have pate on the top of the beef, something I don’t like so DH finely chopped an onion and put it between the pieces of beef, I did cheat and use frozen puff pastry. I made two but when they came out of the oven we realised we really couldn’t eat one each so we shared one.

I might add that it is on a tea plate not dinner plate as our DIL thought!!

Our Friday lunchtime jaunt last week, well we had to find a new spot, unfortunately we couldn’t find anywhere to sit in the shade so we parked near another beach, I had to go nearer to take the photo.

The other side is the Granny’s beach as it’s called, I’m guessing because in the summer the ladies walk out into the water to stand and chat while they cool off, it’s quite shallow so they have to go quite a way out, as you can see it’s an enclosed bay so very safe. I’m not keen on it as it’s quite stony at the edge.

You can see too a house with blue on it, there used to more houses there but the council said they had been built illegally so had they demolished, sad for the owners as they looked as if they had been there before the town was built up.

The very end house on this row is owned by someone we know from the council, we were invited to a party about ten years ago, it was wonderful, all homemade tapas, sitting on the patio overlooking the sea, we had a beautiful afternoon.

The island is a sanctuary so no one is allowed on there, not sure if there’s actually anything on there, we very often daydream about buying it and building a house on the other side, must be amazing views.

As you can see the bay is fairly enclosed and to the right is the entrance to the small Marina, when we were eating our lunch there was a sailing boat in the bay, unfortunately it had gone into the Marina by the time I took the photos.

Well I mentioned a mini celebration, 18 years on Friday, April 2nd we had the keys to our villa, we didn’t move in until the next day as when we went inside there wasn’t any sinks or toilets or glass in the windows, DH went to the office and they asked if he was happy, he said, well I would be if we actually had toilets, sinks and glass,  they didn’t believe him. The next day we had plumbers, in men putting the glass in the windows and cleaners working away while we sat on the terrace, I mean they were only four months overdue finishing, we should have moved in on December 6th!

The second celebration is that also on Friday, it’s 51 years since we were engaged, we didn’t have a party as DH had been away with the British Army for five months and we didn’t know exact the date he would be home so only the family knew, they were all quite shocked when I walked into the office the next morning with my engagement ring.

Our breakfast this morning, not very exciting but we were pleased to get inside as the wind was so bad we only walked half way along the Paseo before turning back, we did walk around the Marina as part of it was sheltered.

All the bars and restaurants are gearing up ready for this Easter weekend, we are hoping not too many come down as we haven't had an new cases of the virus for two weeks, let's hope it stays that way!

Wishing you all a Happy T Day and hope you all have a lovely Easter.

Jan x

T is for Trying Somewhere New!

 Happy T Day Ladies, hope you are all keeping well.

We really had a cold weekend, we did have rain Thursday night and Friday but not as much as they said and non on Saturday but it was cold, as you can see from the photo below, we had snow on the Sierra Espuna again.

This was Saturday Not too much snow, up there, looks quite close but it's over an hours drive from our villa, lovely scenery when you drive up there but even  in summer it's still really cold.  

We had to have the log fire going again as our villa is really are cold in the winter if we don't have any sun, they are obviously built to keep cool in summer

We've still been walking and having breakfast on the Marina, it's been busy this weekend with Fathers Day being Friday but it's quiet again now although we did see our friends Maria and Patrice who were down for the weekend from Murcia.

Not such a pretty view when the weather isn't bright and sunny but I love coming this way as the view is beautiful as you drive down the hill.

This is the traffic island, it has a full size boat on it and made to look as if it's on the sea, the Spanish do love blue paint as you can see the junction is also painted!!

We decided to try a different Cafe last week, just for a change, as you can see they managed to burn the toast, there wasn't any soft part in the middle either, we were the only people there so no excuse, needless to say we won't be going back. I know we should have complained but I really hate having to do that.

I can say the coffee was good and my drink for this weeks T party.

The best part at the Cafe, the views.

Apart from carrying on with my photo journal I made a couple of cards for my stash, I saw this design on Pinterest and as my son sent me a Daisy Die at Christmas with some other crafty bits and pieces I thought I would finally use it.

I also had plenty of black and white papers in my stash so finally used those too.

Sorry nothing too exciting to report but at least we are allowed to walk now and the sun is out again, hopefully Spring is on it's way.

Thank you once again to all my visitors last week, I enjoyed  reading your lovely comments.

Keep Safe Everyone

Jan x

T is for Tomatoes

 Hello Ladies, hope you are all well.  Not much excitement around here, same old, same old but at least we are healthy. Vaccines have finally started at our medical centre at last, for over 80's!!! Might be awhile before I get called.

We finally managed to buy the Tomatoe plants and a basil plant last week, they look like bush cherry tomatoes, they are so cheap to buy but DH loves to have something to do and enjoys growing them.

Our fruit  Bushes, the stick looking things, have finally started to have green growth on them so hopefully they will have some fruit this year, if not I'm afraid their days are numbered. The strawberries are still growing and flowering although they are slow to ripen.

You might wonder about the canes across the veg plot, we have to keep those there to stop the cats digging it up and pooping all over it, sorry I know many of you are cat loves but it truly is disgusting. We've also put Pine bark on the top to help but it seems the birds like to dig in that.

We saw the goats again, they were in the vineyard this time eating the weeds around the plants. I didn't realise just how many they had, they were all fighting to escape their pen when we drove past but I was too late to get a photo as they had gone off somewhere when  we went past on our way home.

Friday we were naughty again and had fish and chips although we had to sit just around the corner from the beach, it was so hot in the sun, there's no benches either to sit on so we parked in the shade, still in sight of the beach, we actually saw two people swimming, not sure it would be warm enough for me just yet.

 The white building is a church and on Fathers Day, which I think is this Sunday, is a big celebration here in Spain, I've seen people outside listening to the service as it's been packed inside.

This is the smaller Marina on the edge of the Puerto

My drink related post for this week, I made some Kumquat Liqueur with a few we had left on the tree, it was an easier recipe than I've used before, just Brandy, Kumquats and sugar into a jar and shake every day for two months.

It's quite a cute bottle, I gave a friend some Kumquats years ago and she made a liqueur and gave me a sample in this bottle, as you can see it didn't make too much.

I only had a taste on my finger but it tastes very smooth, I will save it for the family to try when they finally get to visit again.

We've had sunny and warm weather all week but apparently it's going to change over the weekend, rain again,  I actually dug my shorts out to wear around the garden, never mind I still haven't dismantled the fire so it's all ready if we need it.

Keep Safe Ladies, Happy T Day

Jan S

T is for Tasty

 Happy T Day Ladies, our weather only got slightly better and then we had rain all day Sunday, yesterday evening and we are suppose to be having more this lunchtime not much fun but we still have our morning walks apart from Sunday.

Last Friday we decided to have Takeout Fish and Chips from one of the English bars down in the Puerto, well I say English, it was many years ago, the couple who first opened it were English but Carlos who owns it now is Ecuadorian and the cook is Spanish, Carlos was the waiter, he eventually bought the bar, he's a very popular young man as he always makes you feel welcome without being over the top, the cook may be Spanish but she certainly knows how to cook fish in batter.

Of course we ordered mushy peas to go with it, guess what my first words were when I saw the pots!!

DH said, don't tell me you want them for your craft room!!!

This was a small portion, with salt, vinegar and Tartare sauce.

A funny story about mushy peas, when we go to San Francisco to visit our son we always cook a saucepan full of them and freeze them in pots, one day our sons internet wasn't working so the engineer came around, when he realised we were British he told my DH he had heard about mushy peas, not sure where he had heard about them, as it happened he had just cooked a pot so he gave him one to take home, with full instructions what to eat them with etc, I wish we could have heard his verdict on them as at lot of Brits don't like them, being Northerners we were brought up on them!! We used to buy them at the Goose Fair, but then we had them with mint Sauce. I think in America Split peas are the nearest thing to them.

We had already been around to find a quiet  spot to eat our feast with sea views but as we went to park we realised if we drove just around the corner we were actually at another beach, never been here before although it is right next to one of the hotels.

The nearest wall is actually a villa, a little run down but what a place to own and live.

The hill behind we had never seen before either but it has a view point at the top, mind you it's a narrow street and you definitely wouldn't be able to park normally. Some where to take our youngest GS who likes to explore

This is where we used to take our eldest GS when he was about three, he was mad on Thomas the Tank Engine, we told him it was Sodor island so he was thrilled to bits.

You can see it also has a walk way up to the top with views from the other side out to sea.

The White house on the hill is quite big close up and has a long drive up to it with sea views from every angle.

There's lots of these small beaches all along the coast line here, it's just in summer they are impossible to go to as the roads are full of parked cars, bumper to bumper, not something you need on a baking hot day.

This was my drink, water, I actually bought a water and a Fanta Orange to take with us but left them in the fridge at home, then I forgot to take the photo, took it when we arrived home.

You can see on of my masks, my son sent it from San Francisco, it has the Spanish flag on it!

I've also been putting together a photo journal I'm making of old photos for my sons and making Birthday cards, this one I sent to my crafty friend in the US.

I made it for a Mixed Media challenge, I had the TH apothecary Bottle die for years and could never find a use for it, one of the many things I thought I really needed!! the poppy die I love and have used it many times.

Hope you all have a Happy T Day, thanks once again for all your lovely comments last week, take care Ladies.

Jan x

T is For Tired

 Hello Ladies of the T gang, another Tuesday where we join up with  Elizabeth and Bleubeard, sure rolls around quickly.

I mentioned last week we were having some logs delivered, we usually have new logs in summer but the wooden base of our log shed was sinking so we thought we would take it up and replace it with gravel.

We didn't realise just how many logs we had left 

we think that's about half a ton.

The empty log shed holds one and a half tons of logs

We built the shed ourselves, I now do any climbing jobs since my husbands knees became a problem.

I wish I had the photos of me clinging to the Balustrades at the back while trying to lay the tiles down, not a pretty sight!

That's is our raised veg plot, we have red, white and black currant bushes and strawberries that are still flowering at this time of year. You can see the parsley grows well too

Still no tomatoe plants until next month.

So when the man from the wood yard arrives he backs his lorry up our drive, you can see there's not much room for error, he always does it first time, no messing. He tips the logs and off he goes.

I struggle to do that with our car!

This is what a ton of logs look like, half way through it seems to feel as if  they are multiplying!!!

That's our new water barrel, we bought it back from England as strangely we couldn't find one over here. We built the platform with concrete and then I tiled it, we can now get the watering can under the tap, much easier than having to lower the bucket into the water.

Filled to the brim, only four logs didn't fit in, by the time I had put in the top board I had to stand on a small step to reach, we put up the boards to hold them in and keep any rain getting in.

 It took us just over an hour to stack the new logs and then put the old logs back into the shed, we were pretty exhausted by the end of it I can tell you

We also chopped the old floor up for kindling so now we have a stack for next winter.

My drink this week, I found these fruit cordials in the English shop, they are delicious, you only need a drop and I add them to fizzy water, very refreshing, I like the raspberry one the best.

I also buy Elderflower  presse that makes a refreshing drink in water, or White Wine!!! Very refreshing in summer with lots of ice.

The weather here is much the same cloudy and misty, the sun hasn't made an appearance until 5pm which is annoying, no news on the Vaccine although over 80's were supposed to get it starting last week, we also read that from tomorrow we can eat inside restaurants, I'm quite happy staying on the terrace to eat breakfast for now.

Nothing new to report from not so sunny Spain, thank you to all my visitors last week, keep safe ladies.

Jan S