Life in Culebrón

I have been trying to think of something to blog about for days.  I wondered about having a go at Spanish politicians and their inability to agree about anything, ever. It drives me to distraction but it's something to do over a stiff drink, in company, rather than in dodgy prose. I could have done something on Brexit but my thoughts on islanders lusting for a lost Empire may not have meshed with everyone's so why antagonise people over lost arguments?  Covid is something we all share. I wondered about tales of border crossings and the differences between Tier 4 in the UK and the situation here. Boring as porridge. Actually, because you may be vaguely interested, apart from the obvious lack of cultural and economic activity our Valencian Community has done remarkably well. There may be curfews and trampling of individual rights but, on a day to day basis the people who still have jobs to go to have been going to them and although the shops, bars, restaurants, cinemas and theat...

Maggie thinks otherwise but I quite like walking. The difference is that I think of walking as a means of transport or a way to see things while Maggie thinks of it more as pleasant exercise. If I need to get from Atocha to Gran Via or from the Tate on Millbank to the Tate on Bankside then walking would be my first choice. On the other hand suggest to me that I might like to go for a walk on the tracks, amongst the trees, up the hill from our house and I'd prefer to do a bit of reading. I might do it for the company, I might do it if I'd been locked in for days or so as not to be churlish, but walking in the countryside is something I don't generally care for. As Ivor Cutler said about his dad taking him on country walks  ""There is a thistle", he would say. There were many thistles in Scotland. We were soon well acquainted with them". Here it's pines. Now we have a couple of friends who have a holiday home on the coast near Altea which is about 15 k...

We start in the UK. Back in the 1980s Anglepoise lamps became trendy. Of course they weren't real Anglepoises they were just an accessible Ikea copy. For those of you who missed the last century, or who have never been to Ikea, the real Anglepoise lamp is a balanced-arm lamp design in which the joints and spring tension allow the lamp to be moved into a wide range of positions where it will remain without being clamped in position. It was invented by British designer George Carwardine in 1932. The lamps were enormously successful, particularly the 1227 model. Shift of scene to Spain. One Sunday in 1964, so the story goes, Luis Pérez Oliva, a designer and Pedro Martín, a scrap dealer, met in the Rastro flea market in Madrid and fell into conversation. As a direct result of that meeting the men formed a company called Fase (the first two letters from Fabricaciones Seriadas or Serial Fabrications in English) to produce desktop lamps. Fase went on to be a big success with their most fa...

The queue outside the post office in Elche was pretty orderly, maybe 20 or 25 people. Not exactly military in its straightness but orderly enough with at least a long metre between individuals. The habitual Spanish queuing technique involves finding out who was the last person to arrive before you so you can follow that person when it's your turn. For months now the number of people permitted into shops and offices has been limited so that people have to wait outside. Although the "who's last" queuing system is still alive and well the atypical line type queue has now become commonplace. Lines are easier to join.  British Post Offices have always been little outposts of Government as well as a place to post a parcel or letter. That's not the same in Spain and, even before social media, email and the rest made a lot of surface mail redundant many Spaniards hardly ever used post offices or postal services. There is very little tradition of Spanish junk mail by post ...

I know that Christmas cards are a thing of the past. I know that they clutter up all the surfaces not occupied by the Laughing Santa and the Nativity Scene. I know that they are only read once - usually quickly - but I also know that they are homely and nice. A reminder that we still have some friends. Of course, it's a return on investment landscape. To receive cards you have to send cards. I didn't in 2018 and it didn't feel right. Where to get some for this year? We had a bit of a look around locally. Not very seriously. Actually it was more like a virtual tour - we thought our way around possible local suppliers. We knew of places with hand crafted cards and obviously the Post Office would be selling the UNICEF ones but either option would be a bit pricey for a bulk mailing. If we'd thought harder or started earlier we'd have found somewhere but we didn't and we hadn't. I looked at Amazon but delivery dates were sometimes dodgy and it's difficult to ...