Back on line

So, after nearly 2 weeks of having abismal internet connection, I'm back.

Stupidly disappointed about not being able to complete the 31 Day challenge, but never mind 2012 is another year.

Onwards and Upwards - the dog house is nearly finished, and I'm pretty sure that they can't actually escape, so this means that as soon as it rains, I can rotavate the back side garden and get my vegetable plot planted.

Chapuza

Chapuza is a lovely word.  It can either mean a bodge job - as in - Que chapuza me hecho - What a shoddy bit of work he did for me.  Or it can mean a bit of DIY or an occasional job.

So without further ado, some pics of my current chapuza...

First thing that morning

 

Can you tell what it is yet?

Next Day

 

 

Earlier today

 

When it is all finished, this will be the dogs new residence, completely contained  and hopefully unescapeable.  Once it has been rendered and painted and a bit of picket fencing put up, it should look quite pretty, and not quite so industrial!!

Of course, I will update, once it is completed.

Catástrofe

Not exactly what I had planned for today.  But catastrophe has struck in the garden of one of my neighbours.  They are away at the moment and when we popped round to check the pool and house, we were greeted with these...

 

I knew that there had been some problems locally with  the "Picudo" (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier) in Palm trees and have seen a number of trees dead as a result of this.  On further investigation (thanks Don Google), I discovered that it was first known of in Granada in 1995.  The beetle is believed to have originated from palm trees imported from Egypt and has now spread all over Spain and has reached as far as France.

We contacted the local "ayuntamiento" (town hall) who were not interested, and then went to a local agricultural supplies shop and invested in a bottle of insecticide.  Tomorrow, we are enlisting the help of a friend with a tractor and his crop spraying tank.  Apparantly using a backpack type sprayer would be like pi$$ing in the wind when it comes to dealing with these beetles.

Considering that we live very close to Both Orihuela and Elche, who both have large "Palmerals", I am surprised that no governmental body was interested and that there is no official fumigation program for this pest.  It would be a disaster, especially for Elche, whose Palmeral is, I believe, a World Heritage Site.

Bisutería

Bisutería - jewelry made from none precious metals, but generally imitates them.  Sounds so much more refined than Junk Jewelry don't you think?

Almuerzo

Almuerzo is the 2nd breakfast of a Spaniards day and for many it is the most important meal of the day. Normally eaten between 10:00 and 11:00 it can consist of as little as a quick sandwich or as much as a three course meal that lasts for a few hours and can run into lunch!

Here we had a bit of salad, and some cold meats and cheese, and as it's summer the obligatory cerveza, had it been the winter, then the cerveza would probably have been swapped for a glass of red wine!

31 Days of ...

 I am joining in, and hopefully linking up with The Nesting Place's 31 day project, and have come up with

Or 31 days of the Spanish Alphabet.

Impossible, I hear you cry.  But no.  Originally the Spanish alphabet included CH, LL, Ñ and RR as separate letters in the dictionary, so that takes me to 30, and of course today is the introduction!  Job done.

So, what will I get from all this?  Well, 

• I will be dusting the cobwebs off my camera and putting it to regular use.  
• I will learn how to make a blog button.
• I will be blogging every day and hopefully it will become a habit

What will you get from this...

• a glimpse into my life and an improved Spanish vocabulary!!!

So, it's on with the game...

(I have to say, I'm sweating the X already)

Due to an awful, nearly 2 weeks of bad internet connection, I've had to retire from this.  So sorry :(

Day 2 

Day 3

Speaking in Tounges

Today I have decided to join in with "Tales from Windmill Fields" Xpat Blog Hop.  The topic for this week being "Lingo".  Hopefully this will inspire me to blog about things that I normally wouldn't and will also help me to blog more regularly.  So, without further ado...

A couple of weeks ago my sister was over visiting us for a couple of days, it was the start of school and we were busy sorting out new school books, bags and stationery.

"What does 'Lengua' mean?"

"Lengua is tounge in Spanish."

Sister gives me a strange look and an "Uh?" whilst  waving one of the aforementioned text books under my nose.

"Ahhh, well actually, in this case it means language." 

"So, they speak in tounges then!"

And there we have it, Spanish is yet another language where many words have two meanings.

Before we actually came here - which was only 6 months from inception of idea to a very dusty house full of hastily packed boxes - I rather cleverly took some Spanish lessons.  Once a week I had a private lesson, of one whole hour, for about oooh 12 whole weeks - how stupid  naive was I?  Did I also mention that my girlies were only 1 and 3 at the time too?  Obviously there were loads of things that had to be done.  Buying a car, sorting a school - by the way many "English Teachers" in schools here can only teach English, they can't actually converse in it *rolls eyes heavenward* - registering with a doctor etc...

In the October, after getting Girlie #1 into school and Girlie #2 into a nursery, I was informed by one of my neighbours that there was a lady in the next village over who could give me Spanish lessons.  And so I was introduced to Paqui - my saviour ♥

One year down the line, after 1 or two classes a week, term times only, I found myself sat on the front porch of one of Girlie #1's classmates.  The very first birthday party - and that's a whole other blog post - she had been invited to.  So there I was, eating cake and happily chattering away to the other mamàs, feeling secretly quite proud of myself that I was just about keeping up with the conversation, when Girlie #1 came out of the house in tears.  She told me what had happened, and I subsequently reported to the other mamàs...

"Your boys have been hitting her with their testicles"

The very minute the word flew from my mouth - I knew I'd ballsed it up!  I mean cojines and cojones - it was only one letter out!!!

Now, nearly 10 years since first moving here, I am pretty damn fluid.  As a very good Dutch friend of mine once said to me

"I am not speaking exactly correctly, but you are understanding everything that I am saying." 

Ciao