So my son had his birthday party on Thursday. They’re pretty easy to organise these days: tidy living room, provide nibbles, drinks and extra batteries for game console remotes, and shut the door. Half way through, supply pizza and birthday cake. Easy, right? Nah, that would be boring. I promised my on a special lunch. He’d been asking to try American-style biscuits for ages, so I’d rashly promised to do…
The Devil in Tijarafe
La Palma has several fiestas where the devil appears. He’ll visit Tijarafe in the early hours of September 8th for the annual fiesta del diabolo. This is the night of Saturday to Sunday. It starts off like most fiestas. The village centre is off the main road, and on the way in, you pass the usual mobile bars, blasting out music at full volume. In the main square, higher up,…
Whew!
Yay! My son’s passed his resit exam, and he’s through to the next year of school without any extra work to fit in. We’ve even done the paperwork. All that’s left to do is the bus pass.
Wild Cherry Tomatoes
These tomatoes grow wild on La Palma, and they’re about the size of marbles. The locals call them tomates bicacaros and don’t think much of them, perhaps because people used to eat them when they couldn’t afford anything else. I believe that the only reason they don’t sell for some daft price is that they’ve got very thin skins, so they don’t keep. I have some in my garden, and…
Bad Stuff and Good Stuff
Stuff keeps happening around here. The second edition has arrived. I’m glad I paid extra for the better paper, as the photos look much better. I just hope I get my money back. We had a call from my son’s old private teacher. Two of his classmates were having trouble with Tech Drawing. Please could my son join the class on Thursday afternoon and help? She’d pay him. So on…
Yams
Yams (ñame in Spanish) are a relative of sweet potatoes. They need a lot of water to grow, so they’re only cultivated in Los Sauces and inside the Caldera. You can recognise a yam patch easily, because they have huge leaves shaped like elephants ears. The root has to be boiled for hours, so you usually buy them from the supermarket already cooked.Then, traditionally, you serve them with honey or…