Off on holiday

This afternoon I’m flying off to Berlin with fellow students from my German class. I’ve scheduled a Squee Sunday for while I’m away, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to create new posts post with my phone. Surprisingly (to me, anyway) I’ve found that I can write fiction on my smartphone. I use the Evernote App which means that I can access the files from a computer afterwards….

March 18, 2017
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Carnival, and an interview.

Me at the Guateke concert in Los Llanos de Aridane
March 10, 2017

A bit late, but here’s a video of my favourite thing from Los Llanos day carnival on Saturday. Carnival is like a giant street theatre: almost everybody joins in, demonstrating their creativity for everybody who cares to see. So here’s the Canarian Unsynchronised Swimming team with their mobile pool. The other thing I like about the video is the music. That’s my husband playing the drums in the band, and…

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Queuing

This morning I went to sign off for the month as an self employed. I tried to do it on Friday, but Social Security said I needed to sign off at the tax office first, and they said I needed to make an appointment, which I couldn’t get until today. When I got there at 9:10 I had to queue while another lady got a huge pile of papers rubber…

March 1, 2017
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An unusual Nativity

The nativity scene in Las Nieves church on Christmas Eve with a kitten in place of baby Jesus
December 27, 2016

Most churches on La Palma have nativity scenes. The custom here is to put baby Jesus in at midnight on Christmas Eve, during midnight mass. (I think this is a general Catholic custom). On Christmas Eve I was guiding an excursion from a cruise ship which included the lovely church at Las Nieves. And there was a kitten keeping the spot warm for Jesus. If I remember rightly, nativity scenes…

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Writing in Rivendell

Amazing view downt he Barranco de angustias, Rivendell, Caldera de Taburiente, La Palma
September 28, 2016

I took a mini-break to stay at my friend Alison’s new B&B in the Caldera. It was marvelous. How could any writer now be inspired by a spot like this? Rivendell is a good name. It’s “a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.” And here’s the view: I arrived later than…

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On holiday

I’ve escaped for 10 days before the summer guiding rush. On Sunday morning I flew to Tenerife and spent a pleasant afternoon and evening, mostly in the hotel room. I took a nap and caught up with email. For lunch, we found a nearby Irish bar called Grandee O’Donnell that was serving Sunday roasts. It was damn good! So we went back for dinner (also good) and a little karaoke….

June 21, 2016
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