Today is mother’s day in Spain. And to the best of my knowledge, the first place in Spain to have an official Mother’s Day was Breña Baja. The local poet, Félix Duarte Pérez , left home for Venezuela at some horrendously young age (fifteen, I think). Not surprisingly, he missed his mother a good deal, and they sent each other lots of letters. When he finally came home at the…
Bride, groom, and bridesmaid I was a little slow getting out to see the crosses this year, but I was glad I made the effort. The traditional crosses were much the same as last year (see https://sheilacrosby.com/fiestas/cruz.php ). But one street in Santa Cruz absolutely delighted me. Wedding breakfast For the last few years, it’s been fairly common to have a few mayos or machangos beside the cross. These are…
I came back from the barbecue looking rather pink in places. Obviously I should have used suncream. And then, like a twit, I sat on the balcony for about twenty minutes next morning, enjoying the view and a cup of tea, without cream again. It didn’t look bad. At least I had the sense to wear suncream when I went out to photograph the crosses. (See the blog about La…
Since yesterday and tomorrow are public holidays, my son had the day off school today. Since it’s Friday, Helen and Theresa would be coming to Santa Cruz for a Spanish lesson, and visiting me afterwards. Meanwhile Lou would be stuck alone at home with her foot in plaster and a toddler. Cue for barbecue. And then we found Lou’s partner had the day off too, even though he hadn’t been…
Tomorrow is Fiesta de la Cruz — The Festival of the Cross. Like many Catholic places, La Palma has a great many roadside crosses. Tonight, practically all the ones in Santa Cruz, Breña Baja and Breña Alta will be decorated, most of them gorgeously. Since most of the crosses are hung with jewelry, the people who worked on them sit close all night, usually making a party of it ans…
I’m not usually big on possessions. I don’t find happiness in the “right” designer label on my handbag, or a flash car. But my goodness, I’m happy with my new patio furniture. Our house has a terrific view from the balcony, but I never spent much time out there because it was a mess, the old plastic chairs were uncomfortable, and we had no table. It was one of those…