We bought a BBQ, exciting for us since it is the first we've had since leaving Canada! It’s a rather cheap one but will do, it came unassembled, natch, so we worked together to assemble it. Then coming down in the elevator Bruce dropped his box of drill bits into the shaft of the elevator, three bits. Couldn’t get at them so I went across to the Chinese market and bought magnets which of course stuck themselves to the elevator but using a metal spatula was able to retrieve them. Whew, we do get ourselves into a pickle once in a while.
Thursday, last minute really, we wanted to try out the new BBQ and as usual, our guinea pigs are Angela, Ryan and this time Pepe too. Angela brought Korean BBQ meat, not sure what that entails but it’s always good to try new things. There are many recipes for Korean BBQ but Angela’s is 1/2 soy, 1/2 water, sugar, green onion, garlic, and sorry, forget what else, marinated overnight, so yummy!
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| Angela put my camera on timer, Thank you! |
Lunch was good fun and the food marvellous! Angela also brought rice to cook up in coconut milk which, oops, no eyes on it and it spilled over, luckily I caught in time before it became a colossal mess, Angela was upstairs helping Pepe, so that meant it was my responsibility, oops again.
Pepe brought Cora but she was scared to go upstairs so she rode up the elevator with Pepe and down with me, weird to see a dog in the elevator, but wasn't fair to leave her. She is such a good dog and Lexi came out, aside from Cora wanting to make friends, i.e treat her like another dog and sniff her butt, Lexi said no to that, I’m a cat! They just co-existed together around us.
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| Yummy! Took a picture of dessert but it didn't turn out. |
I made a Greek salad, this time though I did not put the lime juice on it, (my secret dressing, well not any more) put it in a cruet and let people pour what they wanted, worked well.
Pepe brought dessert and manned the BBQ, cooked to perfection!
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| Master BBQ guy in action! |
The dessert was soaked bread in honey and not sure what else (called torrijas, bread soaked in wine, dipped in egg, fried and covered with honey) and a long thin, sweet bread with raisins and almonds. I tried a bit of both since this is typical Sevillano dessert and it was good, although since I prefer savoury to sweet, I would not buy for myself.
We had to eat inside, a bit chilly for eating out. It was a truly combined effort, like a pot luck really where everyone brings a dish and lends a hand, Ryan did most of the clean up, we both agreed the really sticky rice pot could definitely be easier to clean after soaking overnight.
Weather for the next few days is supposed to be rainy and cool so, Friday we went up to the Setas to a shop we’d seen before to buy moustache scissors for Bruce, obviously Bruce, luckily I don’t have a moustache thank goodness! Then we walked by the Duana Palace, Princess Alba’s residence. http://www.enjoylivingabroad.com/my-blog/category/duquesa-de-alba
While that is on my list of things to visit, we thought we were close to LinoyFino the linen shop I buy my shirts from and we were but took a bit to find. Found and I bought my annual supply of four shirts, if they had more I would have bought more. One coral, light and dark blue and white. Coral is a colour I’ve never worn before but it’s a bright enough mix between orange and pink it goes well with my complexion. Ladies, you may remember when you could get your “colours done by season”. When was that? Mid eighties I think and wonder if it still exists as a business. Many thought it was a lot of bunk, but I did had it done before going into the big scary world of Corporate business. Actually it was a colour and wardrobe consultant I went to. I did learn that if you put peach colour next to me I looked like I’d been in a morgue, so that convinced me the system had some merit.
Then we stumbled on the Feria Market http://www.mercadodeferia.com/ and Bruce had a feed of oysters which you might remember, he loves. We sat outside under the spire of a church and smelled fish being fried from the Cantina. Our order was marked on the tile wall instead of the bar in chalk which happens often here.
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| Those four bags hold live snails! People take them home and cook them up usually with garlic. |
It was a good day of getting things done and getting out of our neighbourhood which was great to be out of our comfort zone! I’d forgotten how many magnificent churches there are in this City!
Aside, funny, more on St. Patrick’s Day
We’re all fixed up on a personal level now, mani/pedi for me and haircuts for us both - spiffy!
The lady who does my nails, Lola, also washed my hair in prep for the cut. She gave me a scalp massage too! Lovely! and she always massages my hands and feet. While we cannot really talk we communicate with smiles and thumbs up from both of us.
Coming back to the apartment I purposely went by where Pepe’s mom has coffee and greeted her, then at the next bar ran into Ryan, Angela and their friend Winkle, who is a professional skate boarder. He has a broken wrist in a multicoloured cast. They were waiting for Pepe to join them, so I got to say hi to Pepe also, and they are off to a skateboarding competition close to Cadiz.
Rocio was here also this Saturday and she had a major cleaning job after Juan’s efforts with carpentry, lots of sawdust. Juan did sweep up but didn’t clean surfaces and wouldn’t expect him to. She stayed an extra half hour to get it done so I tried to pay her an extra 10 Euro which of course, being her she wouldn’t take, we argued, emphatic, her “no”, me “si” (yes). But Bruce and I discussed it ahead of time and I stuck 10 Euro into her purse first and then offered another directly to her, sneaky I know but the woman works hard and needs to get paid for her work. Bruce had dried some fruit, kiwis and strawberries so we tucked a bag of those in too. Ryan and Angela hire her to clean their apartment as well and she said she ate them like candy going home on the bus, yummy!
When they dismantled the closets upstairs they left two sets of drawers that Pepe said were handmade so keepable. We thought when we moved in that we had a lot of storage here but don’t really, or what we have is long and narrow and awkward to use, especially in the kitchen. So we are re-purposing those two four drawer wooden sets, one for the bedroom and one upstairs. The one downstairs is going to be for paper products mainly, upstairs to support a small fridge and party things, well that’s my plan, Bruce may have another.
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| New kitchen cabinet, not the best picture, but the three shelves are great! |
Juan came and worked on the kitchen cabinet and then stained it. Pepe came and helped us rope up and down the storage drawers between floors, that guy is strong! Then Rocio came and replaced the kitchen curtain that didn’t quite fit the first time. We’re done! or as much as we will do this year anyway. Well, one thing left, to protect the new doors and windows we’ll buy blinds to hang over, as they do here, to protect from weather damage. I’d still like to get a plumber in.
I cannot say this has been fun but it was needed. Last year was more fun, choosing furniture, overhead lamps, shopping mostly online, but this year these things were maintenance issues, except the elevator. Year before that was even more fun, no responsibilities and a good deal of touring. I do not regret buying here, just was sort of innocent on how long things would take.
Saturday and Rocio comes to clean again, she gets dried pineapple, apple and beef jerky this time and seems to enjoy it. Bruce has something in the food dryer every day and is enjoying the results.
Mystery solved! We hear a melodious whistle around 11:00 a.m. some mornings and I’ve tried, and tried, to find out where it comes from and what it’s for. Today walked by the knife sharpener and he uses the whistle to let the neighbourhood know he’s around “bring me your knives!” He uses a motorbike engine to run the sharpener, totally portable and my guess is that he has specific routes each day. Today is Monday and the bodega across the street probably gets theirs done. Well my curiosity is satisfied on that one…
We dodge the downpour that happens off and on, I look for, again, a spring coat in El Cortes for about an hour, floor is huge and all by designer, like Harrods in London, which doesn’t help much if you are looking for one specific item. A couple of them came close but then I couldn’t find them again on the floor, doh! Need bread crumbs to track my progress.
All for now, Cheers, Bx2 and Lexi Cat who only tolerates dogs
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