Whilst I was shopping in France!

The other day Hubby and I went on a day trip to France.  Nothing unusual there since we tend to go every 8-10 weeks to stock up on wine/beer and some of that lovely French produce.  The vegetables really are fresher than those we have the opportunity to buy in our supermarkets.  You can tell, because not only do they smell fresh, they are not all the uniform size or colour and they only last a few days so you know they have not been pumped full of chemicals to preserve them.  The taste is so good too!

The main aim of the journey was to stock up further supplies for our daughter's wedding in August next year.  It is cheaper to provide our own wine and pay corkage than to purchase the wine on offer from the venue.  Corkage, I hear you say?  Screw 'toppage' more like.  Most bottles these days seem to come with a screw top which is much better.  How often did the cork spoil the wine or when you were trying to extract the cork, did it split?  Personally, I prefer the screw top since when I have had a couple of glasses I can just screw the top right back on and prevent the wine spoiling overnight!

One point, and the real reason for telling you all about our French trip is that whilst we were going around the hypermarket in Calais, called Auchan, a group of youngsters entered the store with their teachers.  The kids were about 11 to 12 years in age.  Their mission was to engage with customers in the store and ask them a few questions, if people were willing.

Two girls approached me tentatively asking in a very good form of English if I would answer a few of their questions?  One of them had a clip board and held the questions under which she was to write my responses whilst the other asked the questions.  Of course, I complied!!

There were the usual questions, did we celebrate Christmas, where did we celebrate it and how?  I was asked what our Poppy Day was all about?  I was able to answer that we commemorated Poppy Day to remember all our fallen heroes in previous wars.  Did I celebrate Halloween?  If so, what manner of celebrations took place.  I explained that in UK it was not as prevalent as in USA but that I always had a bucket of sweets ready for trick or treaters.  After a few more questions, I was asked......  did I follow American politics?  What did I think of Obama?  I explained that I did follow the politics and that I thought Obama was a good choice, anyone would be better after Bush (apologies to anyone who does not believe this)!!  To which they smiled a wry smile!

Last but not least I was asked if I believed in Father Christmas?  Of course I do, I replied!!!

The girls were charming, well spoken and intent on creating the right image.  Their English was exceptional.  After complimenting them on their achievements we parted, each wishing us a very happy Christmas and New Year.

There must have been about 20 or so kids doing this in the store and they were a pleasure to speak with and to watch.  If only they would all grow up to be the same in adulthood!

Sint Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Saint Nicholas

The month of December means different things to different people.  The well known celebration for most is, of course, Christmas with all its religious and pagan festivals.  However, earlier in the month Holland, Belgium and France and other Roman Catholic countries celebrate St Nicholas, the patron saint of children.  Other countries also celebrate including North America who call him Santa Claus.

It was alleged that during the American War of Independence, the inhabitants of New York, a former Dutch colonial town known as New Amsterdam, reinvented the Sinterklaas tradition as a symbol of the city's non English past!

Sinterklaas has a long white beard, wears a red bishop's dress and red mitre, or bishop's hat, and holds a long gold coloured staff with a fancy curled top. Sinterklaas carries a big book with all the children's names in it, which states whether they have been naughty or nice in the past year.

The temperament of Sinterklaas differs in some regions of the Netherlands and Belgium. In the Netherlands Sinterklaas is usually a nice, forgiving person. In Belgium, on the other hand, Sinterklaas is less forgiving (like he used to be in the Netherlands). He can be quite severe and takes naughty children back to Spain when they were not nice. "Saint-Nicolas" rides a white horse which gallops across the roof tops.

Traditionally Sinterklaas has a helper called Zwarte Piet who will give out treats to the children like sweets, ginger biscuits.  However, if the children have been naughty throughout the year he will fetch the children to stand in front of Sinterklaas to be admonished. Etsy has a very good article about this feast http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/sinterklaas-a-crafty-tradition-544/

On the eve of Sinterklaas (5 December) all children place a shoe filled with a carrot, some straw for the white horse.  In the morning these items would be replaced by a traditional chocolate letter (usually their initial), speculaas (a shortbread type biscuit), chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil and a chocolate figurine of Sinterklaas wrapped in foil.  Songs would be sung to celebrate his coming journey to their houses.

Children were told that Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) looked that way because he had to descend the chimneys which made his hands and face appear black.  If children had been naughty he would leave a bag of salt rather than sweet treats.  If the children had been particularly naughty they were told that they risked being put in a sack and taken back to Spain where Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet lived for the rest of the year.  This story is no longer told as you can imagine!  However, I can well remember those stories when I was a child being brought up in a Dutch colony.  Parents and children would gather in the local community hall where Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet would appear.   With them they carried a golden book with the names of all the children who had been good that year and another book which was black in which the names of naughty children had been recorded.  Sinterklaas would start to look for a child's name in his 'good' book and scare the child by not finding it initially.  For obvious reasons this practice has been discouraged!  However, I remember it well and it put the fear of God into me - not that I had been naughty, of course!!

Nowadays, the feast of Sinterklaas has become as commercialised as any large celebration but it is still fun, especially all the sweet treats!  To learn more about this great tradition visit this link where the history is explained in more detail http://www.thehollandring.com/sinterklaas.shtml

So, my friends, I do not have any items to show off from my BBEST friends this time but I just thought this article might be of interest.  Remember to put your shoe outside your room and to put a carrot or straw in it; maybe even a bowl of water.  Who knows, if you have been good Zwarte Piet may leave some sweet treats for you!!!!

Another Ramble in Spain!

I shall be continuing for a while so do join me in my rambles about our Spanish holiday.  We spent 2 weeks in a place called Mijas in Andalucia, between the Costa bit and the Pueblo on the Costa del Sol.

Whilst up the mountain in the pretty Pueblo bit we encountered amazing views down the mountain to the coast. This view took in the town of Fuengirola which is about 25 kilometers from Malaga airport.  We were not overly impressed with that town.  Very commercialised for the English tourist, bless them!  There are times I cringe when I think of what our country neighbours must think of us.  Do we really need to stick to our English diet of English breakfasts (cholesterol on a plate), burgers, fish and chips, pies etc?  When I go abroad I want to sample some of the local fare.  Since we were near the coast we ate fish nearly every day.  It was wonderful and ranged from huge prawns cooked in garlic to hake/dover sole lightly fried/whitebait and whatever else was to hand.  The fish was landed every morning so you really were able to enjoy fresh fish wherever you went.

A typical set menu would be comprised of a choice of 3 starters (Gazpacho soup, which was served cold and made from tomatoes and red peppers, avocado served with prawns, pate) followed by a main course which again had a choice of 3 (fish of the day, pork chops or lamb) after which a dessert was offered and you could choose one of the three (creme caramel, ice cream, apple tart).  All that for 8.90 Euros or roughly $9.  Of course you had to have a drink with that!  I usually had a glass of a crisp, cool white wine and then wondered why I always wanted a siesta in the afternoon!!  Of course you could always eat a la carte but even then the dishes where not expensive.  One day, we had a mixed Paella which included rabbit, chicken, mussels, prawns, calamari along with various vegetables such as peas and carrots thrown in.  When ordering this dish it will invariably be for two people and is always cooked fresh so the waiters warn you there will be a wait of around 20 minutes or so.  It is well worth the wait!

Often on our visits to Mijas Pueblo we used to take a stroll in the beautifully kept public gardens which encompassed the remains of fortress walls and allowed the viewer to sample breathtaking views of the surrounding area.   Such a selection of pretty wild flowers were abundant wherever we walked.

In the picture to the right I have tried to show you an area that looked like a series of caves but more importantly, the pigeons that roosted there were amazing!

You could imagine during the very hot summers the birds would need to be able to shelter and stay cool.  After being used to seeing the birds on the ledges of high buildings it did seem strange to see them flying in and out of these caves.

In this picture you can see a couple on the right side nestling up to each other.

As we walked on we saw other sights but I will describe these in my next posts.

Meanwhile I leave you with a couple more views that we so enjoyed.

From these pictures you can see how this village is famous for its white washed houses.  In my next post I will show you some lovely houses in the older part of the village.

The first of my ramblings about our recent Spanish holiday!

Hubby and I just returned from a wonderfully, relaxing holiday in Spain.  We wanted a break and could not, at first, decide where we would go.  I had never been to Portugal or Greece whilst DH had but we had both visited Spain before on several occasions so decided on an area with which we were not familiar.  This area was to be in the Costa del Sol district.  Primarily for a little sunshine since the weather has been pretty dreary in UK of late!

After scouring the internet (what on earth did we do before?) we found some accommodation that looked like it might suit.  Due to the nature of our business it is imperative that we have internet so this was a major requirement.  Anyway, we found a self catering apartment which was built alongside the owner's house.  This was to be a couple of miles down from a very pretty village called Mijas (pronounce Mee-Has) Pueblo.  There is another Mijas but this has the word Costa add to imply it is nearer the sea.

Mijas Pueblo or just plain Mijas is famous for its white washed houses which cling to the hillside.  Many tourists visit, especially Japanese women who enjoy coach excursions to the area whilst their husbands play golf at the many golf clubs nearby.  One of the attractions of the town would be the donkeys or burros who gave rides around the town.  Personally, I thought them a sorry site, smelly and not something I fancied doing.

There is no 'nightlife' as such which means you will not get the average bucket and spade mob here.  What you will find are many restaurants and cafes which spill out on to the pavements.  Sitting in the warm sunshine enjoying a glass of cool wine/beer and a wonderful meal is something to look forward to!  You did notice that those restaurants whose tables and chairs were not in the sun were not utilised as much as those that were!

Here we looked down onto one of the many squares which showed a lack of clientele due to the tables being situated in the shade.  However, I am sure that in the summer months when temperatures reach the high 90s many people will be glad of the welcome shade.

Over the next few days I will 'ramble' on about our stay in this lovely town so do come back and see more pictures!!!

I AM back!!

Well, we flew back from Malaga on Saturday afternoon. Our daughter kindly picked us up from the airport and we caught up with the family gossip, as you do!

One thing though...... once ensconced in the house we discovered the boiler controlling our heating had broken down. This was the coldest day and we had no heat! At least we had the gas fire on in the lounge which was a saviour whilst upstairs we had an electric fan heater. DH posted a request on our local village website for a portable gas fire since we have a gas bottle for the BBQ. Good lateral thinking!

One of our neighbours then contacted us and explained how to nurse the boiler to life! Yay!!! Heat and hot water!! It was not until the next morning, Sunday, that we realised our new shower in the adjoining shower room as not working! No water at all. We left it until a reasonable hour and then contacted the builders who had installed it. Apparently, and here we are getting technical, it was a fuse that had blown. DH, being technically minded, was able to sort that and we now also had a hot shower! Life is good.

Monday we had to be up and about bright and early since our house was to be decked in a woolly jacket. A woolly jacket, I hear you ask? We normally call it cavity wall insulation which works like putting on a woolly jacket! Since the noise was to be horrendous I had the perfect excuse to go shopping until the job was done!

Returned home to a well insulated house.

Now to start to get back to normal. I really want to download all my pictures so that I can blog about our wonderful vacation. So, there you have it!

OOOOh yes, I nearly forgot to tell you! I have now got a new book entitled 'My Encaustics - art in wax' which can be purchased from http://blurb.com/user/store/onawhimsey It would make a great seasonal present for a person interested in art with a twist. Nice to have on your coffee table to show your friends and neighbours. It would also make a great present for that friend or member of your family that you just have not got a clue what to get them, I am always in that sort of position. So, it is always handy to have an extra present in the cupboard to get out of sticky situations!!

Check back soon for further updates!!

I will be back!

As someone who shall remain nameless once said.... I will be back!

Regular readers must be wondering what on earth is happening? No posts for ages!! Well the reason is that I have been on holiday in Spain for the last 2 weeks!!

Tomorrow I return to the cold and wet and life will resume. I have loads to tell you about our wonderful holiday, have great new creative ideas so watch this space!!!

My sister blog (one of them!) http://onawhimsey.wordpress.com/ will have an announcement very shortly, I hope, regarding a book that will be for sale on the subject of my encaustics - my paintings created with beeswax!

So until then..... please be patient!

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So what are you waiting for? Christmas will be here before you know it! If you manage to find this avator just follow the instructions in the thread and you could be winning one of these fabulous packages!!!