February Happies

Greetings from the Land of the Virus! It's been a while since my last catch up. In the intervening period we have had snow, gales and a mini heatwave. There have been a couple of theatre trips, 2 knitting shows, a spot of decorating and 2 bouts of illness. L&J have been to Amsterdam, Hamburg and Berlin (thereby missing said heatwave), Lily failed her MOT :0( (new parts are on order, so I'm hopeful, if a little housebound). I finally got around to clearing out the greenhouse and sowing some seeds, and I've been inundated with bunches of flowers (I'm really not complaining!). 

Here then are some photos of my February/early March:  

Trying my hand at Cashew 'Cheese'. It's actually very nice, but only if you think of it as more of a nut spread - calling it cheese raises certain expectations which it fails to live up to! 

It goes very nicely with oat crackers and Quick Pickled Red Onion:

 

Getting to know my new Christmas present. 

I made a 'quilt as you go' mat to protect the chest from  the scratchy plant pot:

One of my goals for this year was to learn how to do colourwork knitting. I attended a workshop at the Oxford Yarn Store and came away with these:

 Snowy pictures: 

I actually had a few things planned for the period of snowy weather, however I've rather lost my nerve when it comes to driving in the snow after getting caught in a snowstorm many years ago. I therefore cancelled everything and spent a few days at home, only venturing out to fill the bird feeders - very hygge!

  Fergus:

 Fergus and Carlos:

Enjoying supermarket spring bulbs. I like the smell of hyacinths just as they are opening. Once they're fully open, I find they can be a bit cloying.

 Finishing my 'Easy Bulky One' by Joji Locatelli. It really came into its own in the snow!

One of 3 bunches of flowers from my lovely neighbours. I cat sat for J and B when they had a few days in Rome. Sadly, they learned nothing from our experience in Seville, and B had his wallet stolen whilst they were on the metro. :0(

Lilies from my other neighbour, D - she received these as a gift but, sadly for her, they always give her a headache. She also has cats and I think the pollen is nephrotoxic if they eat it, so her loss was definitely my gain!

My Valentine's Day roses from R (along with some Booja Booja champagne truffles!):

As I was rather awash with flowers at the time, I placed the vase on the floor next to the fireplace. Someone decided that they were for him and polished off first the leaves and then gradually the petals!

A trip to the Corn Exchange to see this - very good.

One of my re-knits. R decided to do a wool wash and scooped up several knitted items of mine that usually get the gentlest of treatments. He managed to felt my bandana cowl (replacement shown), my Hipster Shawl and my Soiree Sweater. The same day, however, there was a tragic story on the news of a 13 year old boy being killed in a hit and run accident. It put my felted knitwear firmly in perspective. 

 I've spent the last couple of weeks decorating the front bedroom. It's the same colour (Duck egg), it just seriously needed a freshen up.

Unravel - the knitting show at The Maltings in Farnham. I bought some yarn to try and put my new colourwork skills to use (I plan to try Skeindeer's Selbu Mittens). I also bought yarn to make another Soiree Sweater!

 

The Knitting and Stitching Show at London's Olympia. I'd never been to this venue before and really liked it. It was easier to get to than the Ally Pally and didn't involve a bus which I always find rather stressful as I never know which stop I need! Having just recovered from a stinking cold, I was horrified by the number of people both at the show and on the underground who coughed in my face; when did people stop covering their mouths?! It was only a matter of time before virus number 2 caught up with me. I spent all of Sunday night and Monday morning vomiting. As R and I both eat the same thing and he is fine, I'm assuming it was something I picked up in London.

 Finally, a trip to see this at The Watermill (excuse folded flyer!). I was convinced in the first minute that I was going to hate it. It was a modern interpretation that had the 3 witches scene replaced by loud, electric guitar music and chanting. I eat my words, however, as it was flipping fantastic. Go and see it if you're nearby.

Well, that's it for this week. I'm just off to drink some more of my Lucozade. I know it's E number laden and looks like virulent, radioactive, toxic waste but it's the only thing that ever makes me feel better when I'm ghostly white after a few days chundering! And on that lovely note .......
Toodle pip for now. x

Seville

This is the story of a man who knew how much his wife loved city breaks, so he arranged a few days in Seville as a birthday treat. 

The man and his wife packed what they needed into 2 rucksacks and flew off to enjoy some winter sun. 

They enjoyed lots of Spanish food:

Trying stuffed peppers and yucca - like fibrous potato, since you ask!

 They had the best sangria:

 They saw Seville's amazing Gothic Cathedral: 

 Admired the weather vane depicting Faith:

 Paid their respects at the tomb of Christopher Columbus:

 ....and climbed La Giralda - to see the bells and admire the best view of the city:

 This was as close as they wanted to get to the bull ring:

 On their first evening, they watched a Flamenco show and were astounded by the guitarists and the dancers in all their foot stamping, finger clicking, syncopated hand clapping, castanet playing glory:

 They wished they too lived in a climate where you could grow lemons, oranges and grapefruit outside:

 

On their second day, the man and his wife visited the Royal Alcazar, a Moorish Palace built for King Peter with fountain-filled gardens, ornate arches and 16th century tiles.

 They admired the peacocks in the English garden: 

  .......and enjoyed watching the fish:

 After lunch, they walked to the Parque de Maria Luisa and took a ride in a carriage:

 They enjoyed the street entertainer who did incredible things with a silver orb:

 ...... and they admired the architecture of the Plaza de Espana:

 They reminisced about seeing Carmen as they walked by the Tobacco Factory, now part of Seville's University:

 Ate more incredible food at a surprisingly cheap, Michelin starred restaurant with a huge vegan selection. Sadly, the wife had left her camera back at their hotel!

On their final day, they crossed the river and explored the Triana district, famous for its pottery. Always keen to explore a local market, they were thrilled to find one:

 They crossed the river once more and walked along the bank to the Torre del Oro, a once defensive tower built around 1220:

Exhausted but happy, the man and his wife enjoyed a final lunch of Andalusian chick pea and spinach stew, accompanied by a quinoa and bulgur salad:

 They were serenaded by a guitarist:

The wife made a trip to the bathroom, reminding her husband to keep an eye on their bags. She returned 2 minutes later to see her husband enjoying the winter sunshine, with his eyes closed. She asked him where the bag was, and at that point, their holiday turned into a nightmare.
As it was their last day, they had already checked out of their hotel. The man's bag, which had disappeared, contained his laptop and phone (for he had been doing some work at the hotel in the evenings), their house and car keys, and (more importantly) their passports.
The man and his wife went to the police station to report the theft and were given an official form with reference number which would supposedly allow them to travel home. They found this to be false when, after waiting for two and a half hours at the airport, they were not allowed to board. The form would have allowed them to travel anywhere else in Europe, but as the UK is outside the Schengen Area, they couldn't go home.
An airport official explained that they would have to obtain emergency passports from the Consulate. Sadly, there was no Consulate in Seville, the nearest one was in Malaga a 2 hour train journey away. The unhappy, shocked, shaking pair made their way to the train station, only to be told that the last train to Malaga that day had already left. So, they checked into the nearest hotel and set about applying for emergency passports online. They blessed the male receptionist who kindly took their photos and a photo of the police report, and emailed it to the man who used the hotel computer to attach them to the relevant forms.
The next day, they caught the 8am train to Malaga and located the Consulate. After passing through security,they were shown into a small room. On the wall was a large portrait of the Queen. On seeing this, the wife nearly wept through sheer relief as it was so reassuring. Their emergency passports were ready and waiting, so they thanked everyone profusely, blew a kiss to her Majesty, and took a taxi to Malaga airport where they were able to purchase 2 tickets for a flight home.
On arrival, the wife was so grateful to be home that she nearly emulated the Pope by kissing the tarmac.
The sting in the tail, was that because their car keys had been stolen, they had to leave their car at the airport and drive home (1 1/2 hours away) in a hire car to retrieve a spare key. The AA would only have been able to help 2 days later and it would have cost nearly £300. The following day, they made the return journey to rescue it.

There is an Othello quotation which states that 'The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief'. The couple can't quite bring themselves to smile yet, the experience is all too recent and raw. The wife's initial reaction was to wish a plague on the thief's house. On reflection, however, she feels only pity for them. What sort of person would see a man innocently enjoying the sunshine and think that they had a God-given right to take something of his without a second's thought for the consequences? She feels that their house is probably plague-ridden enough already.