Monday, August 29, 2011

Happy Birthday Maria Dolores Pradera!

So it´s not celtic, but I just love her. Today is Maria Dolores Pradera´s birthday. An actress and singer, born in 1925, she is something of an institution. Her voice seems literally ageless - it´s hard to distinguish older recordings from how she sounds now.

She also has a facebook page.

Porque Tenías 20 Años (Because You were 20)



Her velvety tone wraps itself around this ¨he done me wrong¨ song beautifully. She´s joined by Rosana, who originally wrote and recorded the song.

The chorus:

un dia, otro dia y otro
se demostraron sin duda
que la noche es mejor que tu...
la noche es mas fiel que oscura.



Day after day, then another
showed me beyond a doubt
the night is better than you...
night is more faithful than dark.


El Dia Que Se Hizo tarde

Cada noche te esperaba
con las mismas ganas locas
de que llegaras temprano
de desarmarme en tu boca

y venias tu y la noche
y la noche y tu venia
a dejar que yo vertiera
en tu cuerpo fantasia.

... pero un dia se hizo tarde
pensé que solo era eso
porque la noche si vino y
no dejo de darme un beso.

un dia, otro dia y otro
se demostraron sin duda
que la noche es mejor que tu...
la noche es mas fiel que oscura.

zarandee los recuerdos
dando vueltas en la cama
y en una de tantas vueltas
me encontre la madrugada

de un salto me fui a buscarte
por donde solias venir
y te vi ¡maldito seas!
igual que te vi partir.

... un soplo de amor di al viento
por si te lo hacia llegar
pero hasta la misma brisa
se canso de ir detras

nunca supe los motivos
todavia los ignoro
y aunque no lo creas, ¡por Dios!
te juro que aun te añoro.

me abandono la cordura
cuando dejaste mi vida
como el tiempo a las paredes
asi tu amor me hizo ruina.

... el dia que se hizo tarde
pense que solo era eso
porque la noche si vino
y no dejo de darme un beso

Monday, August 22, 2011

Velvet, Linen and Pearls

After drooling over Belgian Pearls´ post on salvaged architectural elements in Belgium,



and The Velvet and Linen post on the Paris Flea Market,



I am once again sad that the Spanish just don´t do second-hand stuff. It´s either old, as in throw-away, or Antique-with-a-capital-A. In Madrid, there is the Rastro area downtown, traditionally visited on Sundays. But I have found a lot of what I would call old as in throw-away, priced like an Antique-with-a-capital-A.

Especially the architectural salvage - I would love to have actual old tiles or beams or windows. But there doesn´t seem to be anywhere in the north that supplies those elements. If you know of one - let me know! The businesses I´ve found are mostly in Castellon, Valencia or Murcia - way south. And I can understand the benefits of having a dry climate if you have acres of window grills and old radiators lying around. But with all the ruins dotting the landscape in northern regions, you´d think someone would have a warehouse full of interesting stuff.

But I have just found a place outside Madrid. I think a trip to have a look-see is in order!



We do have some stained glass windows we brought over from the states that we plan to use. It will be a cross-cultural house.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Cool stuff - Castellamonte stoves


Looking around at woodstoves and cookers, I happened across these beautiful terracotta tiled woodstoves from Italy.


Castellamonte Stoves produces lots of lovely stoves, apparently based on Ben Franklin´s design. No pricing on the website, which pretty much guarantees it´s out of our price range.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Fruit - Fungocerga


Look what I found - an organic soft-fruit grower from Melide! From the website:

Fungocerga is an agricultural association*, located in the Melide district, dedicated to the cultivation of garden produce and soft fruits (a total of 10 hectares), shitake mushrooms on oak logs and the harvesting and sale of wild mushrooms.


The geographic location, climate and flora of the area is ideal for the cultivation of diverse varities of mushrooms and soft fruit such as raspberries, currants, blackberries and strawberries. The richness of the soil and the area´s climate allow a natural growth process, one respectful of the environment. To guarantee the quality of the final product, we exclusively use our own plants.

*A Sociedad Agraria de Transformación is a business dedicated to the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products, or supplying services to, promotion, improvement and/or development of rural areas.

I caught a piece of an interview with the owner on the Gallego channel. Interestingly, he said crop production wasn´t any kind of a problem, it was marketing that was the challenge. He sells most of the fruit to France, as there´s no tradition in Spain. I´ve seen this in other instances as well, they sell the product abroad and then it´s re-imported at a higher price. Strange.

On a related note, I saw blueberries for the first time in a giant grocery store in a mall last week. They were asking €3.50 for 125 grams!

I couldn´t get the online store to work, maybe it´s still under construction. Well, either I´m buying my fruit from this guy, or I´m going to ask if I can get bushes from him.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Oatmeal Honey


Unscented, with honey, oats, tussah silk and superfatted with jojoba.

The honey/oat mixture strikes me as a homey, nourishing, unisex blend. Hot weather soaping presents its challenges. This one went into the mold OK, but then turned to oily mush over the next 2 hours. Seems to have finally set up, though.




Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Bathrooms

Bathrooms are very tricky. They have a lot of practical functions to fulfill while normally being quite limited in space. There are a dizzying array of styles and schemes available. There are lots of fixtures and gizmos to choose.

We like vintage and rustic. My friend T just got through a bathroom renovation (now experiencing pug-related delay)in Brooklyn. Love the whole hex/subway tile combination. Here are some other examples.



Our bathroom space is pretty restricted. And V, given the choice, will have exposed stone. Reconciling the stone with turn-of-the-century styling is kind of a challenge. Right now, I´m thinking slate tiles and white porcelain to keep it from feeling too dungeon-y and more craftsman.


Unfortunately we´re having a tough time finding the fixtures we like - somewhere between victorian and deco. The Spanish have really committed to ultra modern design and 99% of what we´ve seen is that. Not really our cup of tea. We want one of these:


We also really like the showers built into the floor, without the separate base. It doesn´t hurt to think about barrier free living.



And a bathroom I just like. Check out that panelled tub.




Monday, August 8, 2011

House update

We have a plan.


The basic plan has been approved by the City. Now we´re about to submit the Execution Plan, after which we should be able to choose contractors and start!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

House Guest


We have an addition to the household while an SIL and BIL and niece are on vacation. Her name is ¨Calcetines¨ (Socks) and she´s supposed to be a dwarf angora - but she seems pretty good sized to me.

Rabbits are considered a good beginning livestock animal, but unfortunately neither V nor I are wild about how it tastes. Angora fiber, however, is quite another matter.


I, sadly, am not a rabbit whisperer - the little bugger has tried to bite me twice. I assume she was just hungry and crabby at the time. She seems to be settling in better now.


More on raising Angora Rabbits here and here.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Straw bale

Madly researching building stuff and ran across this woman who gives straw bale and cob (I think) construction workshops all over Spain.

Next she´s offering a course at Tanquian Organic Farm in the Ribeira Sacra, September 4-11.

Straw bale project from http://www.thegreenestdollar.com/2008/11/building-a-straw-bale-home/.



I´m still thinking about a round hobbit-y straw bale chicken coop.