Today I visited the Helen and Theresa again. We went to see the local nativity scene, which is life size! I’ve scene this sort of rag doll at Fiesta de la Cruz, but never in a Nativity before. They hope to finish the room they’re working on by the end of the year. So far they’ve smoothed the walls, sanded, sealed and painted all the window frames sanded, sealed and…
Today is Holy Inocents Day, which is the Spanish equivalent of April Fool’s Day. Last year I amazed myself by fooling my husband. This year I couldn’t resist having a go at Helen and Theresa. Fair do’s, I’d told them about the Spanish tradition yesterday. And this afternoon I phoned them and asked if they’d seen the local news? Because their Town Hall was suddenly full of policemen investigating allegations…
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and Merry Whatever-you-celebrate to the rest. On La Palma they have really elaborate nativity scenes, often showing a whole Canarian village. This picture is from one just down the road, last year. I’m cooking turkey today for the first time in twelve years. You see in Spain the big party is Christmas Eve. So the first Christmas we were married we went to…
Last night I submitted a story to Escape Velocity, and this morning there was an email waiting for me, accepting it. I think this is a new record for a high-speed acceptance. And since the story features the Sardine’s Funeral in Santa Cruz de la Palma, which ends Carnival every year here, I put up a photo essay on my main web site. I feel like Father Christmas came early.
Today was the biggest lottery of the year in Spain, “the fat one”, with a first prize of 3,000,000€ and loads and loads of minor prizes. I didn’t win spit. This is probably because I didn’t buy any tickets, because I prefer to make my own luck. I also know enough about probability mathematics to know that the house always wins. My brother-in-law thinks he’s won about 250€. But then…
Today my husband got a Christmas card from the union, togather with a letter dated 10th December, 2008. As a Terry Pratchett fan I instantly concluded that Santa Cruz has bought Bloody Stupid Johnson’s postal sorting enginer from Ankh Morpork. If you haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, you need to go and read “Going Postal”. Like all of Pratchetts books, it’s hilarious.