Journal Entries
Roller Coaster Life
Posted Mar 23, 2015
Hello long ignored friends!
I'm not apologising for the lack of journals since mid-November when life took hold of me and sucked out all of my ability to write about it. But, life moves on and I'm now entering a new and hopefully-more-hopeful time.
If I can put it in one sentence, this will be all I want to say. I'm sincerely not looking for sympathy or virtual hugs. I'm not that kind of oversharer, or touchy feely. Anyway, my father died recently, after a long illness - nursed at home.
Of course, my mother is now my main concern. She's a feisty, hugely inspirational person, but aged 85 has to learn to live alone. She's never ever been home alone in her life. Yesterday was a first for her. I'm away from her for a short break, and the last few weeks have been preparing her for this.
We're very lucky in the fact that the house is fully adapted for the elderly, and I do mean fully! Also, due to the fact that my parents were very sociable and active in the life of the village, she won't be lonely. And further to that, she's always been at the forefront of technology, so using social media to enhance communication with loved ones and friends near and far is an added benefit.
As for me - well. The house here is totally neglected, full of sandy dust, things that need taking to the recycling centre, my oven needs replacing, as does my washing machine. The roof is due to fixed (once the rain stops!) My balcony was full of rainwater this morning, the drain being blocked by sand and leaves blown here during my absence. I should be making a start, instead of typing.
One good thing in my favour is that the conversion rate from Sterling to Euro is a lot better at the moment, which makes electrical items and the cost of the roof a hell of a lot cheaper. 
Added to that is that I need to lose 14lbs. At least. Comfort eating is to blame, as is the fact that I was housebound during the last months. Living in a moorland village is a delight, if you're fit and not single. Walking alone in the snow is Not A Thing. Here 
I have the ability to stroll along the front whenever I choose. Plus the dear Tesco is 2000 miles too far away to order home delivery of food. I need to walk to even get to the local shops.
Oh, and I never mentioned at the time, that I probably had whooping cough over Christmas and Jan/Feb. Never had anything like it before, but the docs gave me appropriate antibiotics and eventually an inhaler. I won't detail the awful symptoms. Ugh. So I've stopped coughing now. My aunt was positively diagnosed with it, but I hadn't found this out until I was nearly better. Whooping cough is quite common in people my age and over, as the resistance given by the vaccination in childhood doesn't last.
So. Onwards and upwards! I'd better get out of these pyjamas now and find the broom, vacuum cleaner and mop. Not even sure where to start. The balcony is too wet to sweep just now, but too leafy to mop. Maybe this journal is another way to procrastinate.
Discuss this Journal entry [23]
Latest reply: Mar 23, 2015
Lanzababy's NaJoPoMo 2014 #14 Salad Days
Posted Nov 14, 2014
I unashamedly pinched today's journal inspiration from KB. I'd been toying with the idea of writing more about bloody oil companies, or some sardonic paragraph or two about how some Brit Expats never mingle with the local people here. But both those two seemed a little dull and miserable things to write about.
So, this is about my Basil Plants. It started with that Keat's poem, the Pot of Basil - the one where Isabella pines away, weeping over a pot of basil in which she has secretly buried the head of her murdered love. I've always had some sort of fascination over the gothic horror of the story, and the futility of her pining away to her very end. Maybe at 15 I thought love would be that way.
This morbid fascination has lasted with me, although I love growing any herb, fruit or vegetable, basil holds the pole position. In the UK you can grow it outside in a hot summer and may even get sufficient leaf to do something with. But the little pots of soft green leaves you can buy of seedling basil don't really have much flavour, although they do liven up a dish purely by their greenness.
So here, I threw some ordinary run of the mill basil seeds into a pot and a few days later the seedlings appeared, I split them up into a few pots and gave some away. The pots I kept have been amazing, the best I've ever had here. (I think the compost has something to do with this, it was good stuff.) With the intense sunshine, it is impossible to compare the resulting basil leaves in flavour with those grown in greenhouses or windowsills in the UK. The intensity of the flavour of the leaves is almost *too* strong, and almost overpowers a tomato and basil salad. Which is hard to do because the tomatoes too have had their fair share of sweet inducing sunshine, and result in good flavoured tomatoes.
I didn't need the head of a mourned loved one to get those basil plants to thrive. Thank heavens!
Discuss this Journal entry [13]
Latest reply: Nov 14, 2014
Lanzababy's NaJoPoMo 2014 #12 Just One of Those Days
Posted Nov 12, 2014
We all have them I'm sure, so this won't be that shocking. It started off well, with me thinking how much I'd enjoy walking along the beach. It was sort of soft and misty without any breeze, the sun was still behind the morning clouds, the sea looked so gentle.
Then, I went to put on some suitable clothes and the heavens opened, so walking anywhere was put on hold. I hurriedly closed my roof and concentrated on cooking the vegetable that was today's task.
You can see the results of the cooking here - the last photos in the batch show the sequence. This huge vegetable, it must have weighed a kilogram at least, is locally called 'batata'. Actual potatoes are called papas, or patatas. But the 'batata' is really a white sweet potato.
http://tinyurl.com/oaty7a9
I've been really confused about these for years. To begin with I thought that they'd be orange inside, like the variety we normally have in the UK. (I believe the US would know this type, the orange fleshed sort, as yams.) The first time I tried to cook them, I baked them, but it was a total failure and so they've been consigned to my 'ignore in future' section of the vegetable section in the supermarket.
But I've asked around and everyone was surprised I'd had a problem, and they all said the same - they were easy to cook and worth while eating. You can take a look at the photos; I made mash and chips.
I've been waiting for various people today - none of them showed up. And just when I thought I'd pour myself a drink and settle down to learning some more Spanish, because my partner in the language learning messaged me to remind me to do my homework - a neighbour rang my doorbell to let me know that my mains water main had burst and was watering the palm trees below my balcony. He very kindly turned my water off for me by the meter, and I phoned the plumber. No answer from the plumber.... still no answer..... sent texts.... no answer. So now it's dark out there and I shall have to put up without water until I get hold of someone to fix the pipe.
As I said, it's just one of those days, tomorrow is another day.
Discuss this Journal entry [30]
Latest reply: Nov 12, 2014
Lanzababy's NaJoPoMo 2014 #11 Tuesday
Posted Nov 11, 2014
I've got too many loose threads that need tying up and finishing off.
I'd planned for a while to write some Entries about various things to do with the Canary Islands, one of which was local foodstuffs. But, I've not had any time to actually cook anything since Thursday, and it is now Tuesday evening. I've not starved myself, just eaten out, with friends. Or if I've not eaten out, it's been a simple grab a sandwich, some fruit or scrambled eggs and run. So I am determined now to experiment and report back. I have a free day tomorrow and the rest of the evening is clear.
I'm not going to tell you what it is I am cooking, apart from it being vegetable. I'm not even convinced it will be edible, which is why I have to cook it while I'm not expecting visitors. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Discuss this Journal entry [23]
Latest reply: Nov 11, 2014
Lanzababy's NaJoPoMo 2014 #9 Weird Fruit
Posted Nov 10, 2014
There's something remarkable about getting to the fruit display in your local supermarket and realising that you're out of your depth. A shyness creeps up on me and I hesitate. Do I pick up some of these fruits? Am I choosing the ones that are ripe and ready to eat? And more importantly - what the hell do I do with them once I've bought them?
Here are a couple of photos of some of the successes. I hope the link works!
http://tinyurl.com/oaty7a9
The one in the dish that looks vaguely like a peach is a persimmon, or locally called Kakis. You have to wait until the flesh is as squashy and unctuous as the inside of a juicy grape. If you try to eat them beforehand they suck out all the moisture from your mouth. They're in season right now and are worth waiting for. You can see what the inside looks like in the second picture.
Papayas and watermelons are better in the summer, they are sweeter and juicier, but as we tumble into autumn we have different things coming into season. Loads of things I don't recognise. I've really got accustomed to using papaya in various guises. As a salsa along with refried beans or as a fresh chutney with dhal. Really lovely.
I crammed a smoothie maker into my suitcase a few months back. It had been on offer in the local town and is one of the better kitchen gadgets I've ever owned. It really is a good thing, not only for making fruit smoothies, but for other things such as gazpacho and blending soups of course.
Back to the unusual tropical fruits. The ruby-coloured (third photo) one is a Dragon Fruit. Pitaya roja. This is Hylocereus costaricensis - which is a cactus. They're not so sweet as more fragrant, perfumed even. The flesh is even more vibrantly red than the photo shows. I think the camera compensated in shock.
I've been so taken with learning about the local goodies, I am going to carry on and learn what to do with other things. I might bore you with my discoveries. Or write Entries about them. That would be a worthwhile plan perhaps.
Discuss this Journal entry [21]
Latest reply: Nov 10, 2014
Lanzababy - Guide Editor
Researcher U10790805
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."