Last posts on Art

Santa Barbara delights...photos by Danielle..Marcel's Hemp...Shona Serpentine Art..

2008-06-01T23:40:00+02:00

'I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.'

from

'The harder they come' sound-track

starring Jimmy Cliff

'I can see clearly now'

lyrics by

Bob Marley

sung by

Johnny Nash

This is a brief friendly note from photographer Danielle, with added special pictures done by Danielle and Tiger while in Santa Barbara.

A wonderful, exciting, afternoon spent with each other absorbing the stimulating Nature that Santa Barbara has to offer to the world.

Seeing old friends, capturing nature's treasures and enjoying beautiful sceneries.

Unlike L.A., Santa Barbara has a vibe of its own, cool,

calm, relaxed and filled with people with good spirits and who are able to appreciate Nature itself. This is no concrete jungle.

Danielle

May 31,2008

Danielle FreeWay Music Mix

Return to Santa Barbara

Thursday morn my collaborator photographer Danielle and I hit the 101 FreeWay for Santa Barbara. I had not been there in a while.Santa Barbara was a regular Tiger weekend haunt pre-911,pre-$4+/gallon gas,pre-sub-prime crisis and pre:other trials in the age of lowered expectations. We had been shooting around L.A and felt the need for a change.Of course my Santa Barbara trek have the obligatory pilgrimage to State Street for Marcel Hemp store owned by my friend of many years Marcel.We have a link to Marcel's site here on TigerHawk. Marcel's is the eye feast of color with shirts,dresses,hats,sarongs,shorts as well as watches and other accessories.

Marcel greeted us with love and Danielle snapped many shots. We quickly caught up on family and personal matters.That's the nature of our brotherly connection. We left intending to return later in the day. Time to explore Santa Barbara on a beautiful spring day. We roamed up and down the classy street. We felt the beach area should be hit. Cabrillo street was as usual active with parking to access the 50 plus meter beach. Not crowded like Venice and Santa Monica.Also much cleaner.

www.marcelhemp.com

531 State St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 963-8387
Get directions

'CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say

Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore

CHORUS

We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on..'.

'We Didn't Start the Fire'

Billy Joel

Shona Art on State Street.

After a fun time rock and shell hunting on the beach, we returned to State street to the Paseo Nuevo shopping plaza/mall.While Danielle was shooting motifs and mosaics, a door caught my eye. Inside a poster said 'Spirits in Stone'.Danielle tried the door but it was locked .Suddenly a well dressed gentleman appeared and opened the door.Inside was the Spirits in Stone Gallery featuring Shona Serpentine sculpture art from Zimbabwe's Shona people. Serpentine in its varied forms is found in Zimbabwe.What a treat on State street in Santa Barbara. At a time when that Southern African nation is in post-colonial crisis and a former revolutionary assumes Kingship posturing, these pieces of art revealed the beauty of Great Zimbabwe's culture and civilization spanning millenia.Of particular interest was a piece titled 'Spiral Time'. Let me say that there were many stunning works of sculpture in the gallery.However this item stood over me by a few inches,making it almost 7 feet high. The written description contained these words...'To the traditional Shona, the past,the present and the future exist simultaneously, or within a Spiral Dimension. Instead of seeing life on a linear plane, as ordered by a Eurocentric Gregorian calendar, the Shona believe we are never separated from our ancestors, nor from our future progeny. Ancestors continue to guide and protect their families through hundreds of tears,through both Time and Space. This artwork interprets how these deep Spiritual relationships transcend these physical Dimensions...'

Very familiar philosophy universally expressed prior to the arrival of the Conquistadores.We are more globally connected than we realize.Africa to America and Asia.

Medium: Mutare Sepentine

Artist: Robsen Bhutsu Ruvengo

Spirits in Stone

717 State Street

Santa Barbara, CA 93101

877.674.6626

Ache',Paz Y Luz

TigerHawk

Are You Ready for Shoe Art Istanbul 2008?

2008-05-24T18:24:43+02:00

Saturday, May 24 2008 @ 09:51 AM Central Daylight TimeAfter the vivid sculptures of cows last year and designed tulip sculptures this spring, shoe sculptures will be gracing the streets of Istanbul for the first time. Istanbul is set to host another gigantic art project. Huge shoe sculptures, designed by artists will grace the streets of Istanbul in the fall and they will be placed in the most bustling points of the city. They will be auctioned and the income generated will be donatedThe Cow Parade, held in 54 different cities, was held in Istanbul in August last year. Profits from the closing auction were donated to various nongovernmental organizations. The mediating firm that brought Cow Parade to Istanbul - Cinema Marketing Advertisement Industry and Trade A.Ş. (SİNPA) is now responsible for organizing Shoe Art Istanbul. "Shoe Art Istanbul 2008" will start on Sept. 1. One of the associates at SİNPA, Ayşe Zorlu said Hotiç, a Turkish shoe brand, is among the main sponsors of the event. “The event is to become one of the most important open-air exhibitions in the world. Art, creativity, entertainment and action will surround Istanbul with this display.”The motto of the open-air exhibition is “Sanat Ayaklanıyor” (Art Is a Riot). Some 150 huge designed shoes will be placed in the most bustling and distinguished points of the city. There are a few different shoe models for artists to design: High heels, sneakers and motorbike rider's shoes. Zorlu believes that with this extraordinary exhibition the sponsors of the project will find the chance to promote their brands. Painters Ertugrul Ates and Ismail Acar, designer Derin Sarıyer, fashion designers Cemil Ipekci, Idil Tarzi, Bahar Korcan, Ozlem Suer, Ayse Ece Ege, Arzu Kaprol and Banu Bora are among those who will take part in the festival. They will vitalize the huge shoe sculptures according to their own ideas and perspective.“Shoe Art is a project that promotes Turkish shoe brands and supports them. Besides its supportive mission, it implements social responsibility,” said Zorlu. The income from the auction will be donated to The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats, or TEMA, and the Turkish Heart Foundation.

Those unfashionable British

2007-12-09T15:20:00+01:00

An acquaintance (whose accent locates him in the mid-atlantic, but whose prejudices are decidedly continental) once said to me that 'nothing of world class is ever produced by British artists'.

We were on the steps of the Royal Academy at the time. One collector who would certainly have disagreed was Paul Mellon (1907-99) the pick of whose Yale Center for British Art is on tour to the RA until January 27, 2008.

Mellon got his money from his father, the third richest man in America, and his taste for British art from spending his earliest days in England. Christened in St George's Chapel, Windsor and educated at Cambridge, he bought his first major painting, Stubbs' 'Zebra' in 1960 for £20,000. So unfashionable was painting of Stubbs' era that it was sold in a bric à brac sale by Harrods.

This astonishing portrait of 'the queen's she-ass' pictures it in a pool of golden light in a lush imagined forest. The creature, newly arrived at Queen Charlotte's menagerie from South Africa, has the look of a miraculous mythical beast. St Eustace might appear at any moment.

Mellon's collecting was intuitive. He mistrusted art historical analysis and bought because a picture appealed, not because its narrative impressed. In a decade or so he assembled (and subsequently gave away) a collection that is a roll call of the greats of British art: Hilliard, Hogarth, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Turner, Constable, Blake, Wright of Derby, Landseer, Palmer, Zoffany and Dadd. All are magnificently represented in the RA show. In addition there are superb topographical artists like Paul Sandby, caricaturists like Rowlandson and names new to me like John 'Warwick' Smith (1749-1831), John Robert Cozens (1752-97) and William Turner of Oxford (1789-1862) whose 'Donati's Comet' is a surreal night-time view almost reminiscent of Magritte.

The star of the show is Turner's vast, dazzling 'Dort Packet Boat' (1818), described then as 'one of the most magnificent paintings ever exhibited'. Turner's mastery of light is triumphant.

Two smaller Turners are almost as stunning. 'Staffa, Fingal's Cave' (1832) was completed the same year as Mendelssohn's work. A grubby little steamer pitches in a storm beneath the sunlit splendour of Staffa's cliffs.

In his 'Eruption of Vesuvius', minute figures are panic-stricken on the shore, powerless against the great red fury of the volcano.

Constable's 'Hadleigh Castle' (1829) is another blockbuster. From not very close up at all the 6 foot wide painting disintegrates into fractured, glittering brushwork. Constable's angry grief at his wife's death is painfully visible.

Mellon was not only a great collector of paintings – he was also one of the greatest book-collectors of the twentieth century. Works on show include Caxton's Canterbury Tales (perfect presswork, even at the very beginning of printing in England); the magnificent Kelmscott Press Works of Chaucer; and the only hand-coloured edition of Blake's gorgeous Jerusalem. In plate 99 an androgynous Jerusalem is clasped by Jehovah 'awaking into his bosom in the life of Immortality'.

Save for Burne Jones' collaboration with Morris, Mellon avoided artists associated with high Victorian excess. There's no sickly sentimentality here. Mellon's intuition was razor sharp - they may be unfashionable, but these are works of superb quality and refinement, in huge contrast to the masochistic indulgence of the Baselitzes on show on the floor below.

24-26th December 2006 Andalucia Spain Blog

2007-02-04T12:05:00+01:00

Christmas Eve December 24th 2006

Busy times ... lots of good food and drink so no different to the rest of the year!

Jane and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We're having a few computer free days, it does tend to take up lots of my time so a bit of a break is needed.

Our cat 'Mota de Oro' was last seen on Christmas Eve at 09:00h. She didn't come home all day and night. Lots of searching ...

This is Daisy. She's 14. We brought her with us from the UK.

Our female donkey Rosie. Enjoying the Christmas sunshine in the orange and lemon grove.

We went out on Christmas Eve. The bars close early for a big family meal.
They then reopen for a late night party.
We were home before midnight and wished each other Merry Christmas.

Christmas Day December 25th 2006

Christmas day and no sign of Mota de Oro.
I searched all morning. Including the road. I was dreading to find her up there.

We had a lovely Christmas lunch.
Later we went out. There was a great atmosphere in the village. People singing and partying.

We were in Guayacan until late. Then Flora invited us to her house for a bottle of wine and tapas.

We got home around 04:00h. I took the dogs out for a long walk around the village, keeping my eye out for 'Motty'. No sign of her. We're really worried now. It's not like her to be out this long.

Boxing Day December 26th 2006

Still no sign of Mota de Oro. We're up late, but we're soon out looking for her.
Jane and I go out up onto the road again, fearing the worst. I go down onto the small track where we walk the dogs. We meet back at the house. Jane decided to go around the back of the house. I've checked here about five times in the last two days. No sign of the cat.

I was looking for Jane coming up the street to see if she'd had any luck.
She called into our neighbours hay shed. Out pops the cat from on top of some straw bales.
Had she been asleep next door for three days and two nights?

Here she is safely home. The cat who spoilt Christmas. A good title for a kids book?

We went down to Guayacan to see Yolanda. To tell her the good news about the cat.

We've been asked if Rosie can be used in the Three Kings procession. A TV crew from Andalucia's Canal Sur are coming to the village tomorrow to film a special dress rehearsal. They'll air the programme on the 5th/6th January 2007.

We'll have to put a star on her stable door.

e-mail Geoff & Jane

Add our XML RSS feed to Firefox 2.0 & Internet Explorer 7

    Add our XML RSS feed to My Yahoo     Add our feed to My MSN

        Add our XML Atom 1.0 feed                   Add our Feed to My AOL

     RSS 2.0 Validated feed                      Add feed to Google

    Atom 1.0 Validated feed

23rd December 2006 Andalucia Spain Blog

2007-02-04T09:00:00+01:00

Saturday December 23rd 2006

Another lovely day. I took the dogs out for a walk into the campo.
I listened to Newcastle United cruise passed Tottenham Hotspurs to take all 3 points.
A good start to the day.

Jane's been trying on most of her wardrobe for tonight's fiesta in Café Bar Guayacán.

Our Border Collie Jake.

We went to Bar Barroso to start off the night.
Then on to Bar Andrés Sánchez.
This photograph is for Andrés girlfriend Verónica, who lives in Peru.
Good news is that she will very shortly be coming to live in Benarrabá.
Everyone is looking forward to meeting her.

On to Pub Bar Dami.
Dami was on good form and getting into the spirit of the festive season.

Dami had his nativity scene set up.

Onwards and upwards to Guayacán where the party is about to start.

This is Juan Jesús and Ivan. They are 'Malacai'.
(A Reverend Malacai contacted us last week about our El Gastor visit. He liked the photo's.)
Hope he likes having a band sharing his name.

Yolanda has gone for the Brylcream look with a quiff.

Flora and Jane start off the dancing. Malacai are only doing a sound check ... it's going to be a good night!

The bar was beginning to fill.

Ivan and Juan Jesús.

Diego and Yolanda. Diego was helping out behind the bar.

Cristina and Diego.

Flora and Bernardo.

A shameless plug.

Me and Platero.

Eva and Platero.

Our neighbours Cristóbal and Carmen's son, Adrian.

Mercedes and Javier's daughter, Carmen.

Flora and her English daughter.

They learn to party young in Spain. No need for baby sitters. Everyone will have fun but there'll be no bad behaviour so children are welcome. Besides her dad is Juan Jesús half of 'Malacai'.

Yolanda, Jane, Adelia and her youngest son Antonio.

Adelia's eldest son Francisco.

These girls partied hard. They danced all night.

This girl partied hard as well! Here she is going up for a prize from one of the JB Nightology girls.

The JB Nightology girls.

Jane and I both won T-shirts. Jane won a London shirt and I won an Amsterdam shirt.
Malacai played all night.

I'm not sure what this thumb kissing pose is all about but ... Feliz Navidad.

We got home ... I'm not sure at what time but at least we got home ...

Yolanda said people came in all night. The music was still playing at eight in the morning.

More photo's soon on www.benarraba.com

e-mail Geoff & Jane

Add our XML RSS feed to Firefox 2.0 & Internet Explorer 7

    Add our XML RSS feed to My Yahoo     Add our feed to My MSN

        Add our XML Atom 1.0 feed                   Add our Feed to My AOL

     RSS 2.0 Validated feed                      Add feed to Google

    Atom 1.0 Validated feed
Andalucia Blog by Geoff Forster and Jane Forster - Low cost web design by Spanish Spider. This Blog, Photo Journal,is just one of many Photography Journals, it's a Diary,about Love, about our love of Art, hopefully it will be Fun, an insight into Life in Andalucia Spain , Sometimes we write about Food, we love listening to Music,we love Writing our blog,I love Sports,especially Football and my beloved Newcastle United.

22nd December 2006 Andalucia Spain Blog

2007-02-03T23:55:00+01:00

Friday December 22nd 2006

Another lovely day. again quite fresh.
We spent the day around the house.
We had a roast dinner mid-afternoon, as we're going out tonight. A trip down to San Luis de Sabinillas to look at the Christmas lights.

We set off at 17:50h. so we'd catch the sunset over the Valle de Guadiaro.

A minute later and the sun is dropping to the horizon very quickly. Zoomed and under exposed.

We watched the sun set then drove through Gaucín and down towards the coast. We stopped near the Sierra de Crestellina to take this photograph of the after glow of the sunset over Jimena de la Frontera.

We drove passed Manilva. There's a beautifully decorated roundabout on the southern edge of the pueblo. Unfortunately they must be having power problemas as it wasn't lit up.

In San Luis de Sabinillas we paid a quick visit to Lidl's before walking around looking at the lights.

We parked near the children's play area and walked back towards the Police Station.
This lovely display was in a designer clothes shop window we passed.

The church has lights all over. Accentuating the shape of the tower, roof and arches. Really beautiful.
The palm trees are covered in lights. An area in front of the church has trumpeting angels and reindeer in a white wire frame covered in lights.

I'm afraid that the Poinsettias aren't faring too well. All over Andalucía, thousands are planted and they don't seem to survive for more than a few days. Either they are inadequately watered after planting or the shock being transplanted from a greenhouse to the open air kills them off.

On the main roundabout, the three Kings were represented, again in the white wire frame models, which are very effective.

From road level you can see the message in lights on the roundabout.

We drove to Casares.
Casares has lots of purple lights.

The tree could have done with more lights.

We stopped in Gaucín on the way home to photograph their tree.

I'm afraid Benarrabá doesn't have a tree ... yet. There are lights up across the streets and some new ones have been strung between some pines on the way down into the pueblo. Also a star has been placed on a pole high above the village but isn't working yet. We'll save this light show extravaganza for another blog.

Jane took her camera. Here are a few of her photographs from San Luis de Sabinillas.

e-mail Geoff & Jane

Add our XML RSS feed to Firefox 2.0 & Internet Explorer 7

    Add our XML RSS feed to My Yahoo     Add our feed to My MSN

        Add our XML Atom 1.0 feed                   Add our Feed to My AOL

     RSS 2.0 Validated feed                      Add feed to Google

    Atom 1.0 Validated feed
Andalucia Blog by Geoff Forster and Jane Forster - Low cost web design by Spanish Spider. This Blog, Photo Journal,is just one of many Photography Journals, it's a Diary,about Love, about our love of Art, hopefully it will be Fun, an insight into Life in Andalucia Spain , Sometimes we write about Food, we love listening to Music,we love Writing our blog,I love Sports,especially Football and my beloved Newcastle United.

21st December 2006 Andalucia Spain Blog

2007-02-03T23:45:00+01:00

Thursday December 21st 2006

More good weather, a few clouds floating across blue skies.
The air still feels fresh, so we're wrapping up well for a trip to Gaucín.

First Jane made an early morning visit to the Benarrabá Post Office (Vincente's House). It opens half an hour a day, Monday to Friday 09:10 to 09:40h.
We got some Christmas parcels from family in the UK and some special liquid 'Eclipse' and 'Sensor Swabs' for cleaning the sensor chip in the DSLR camera.

In Gaucín we saw friends Chris and Carol with some other hardy hikers. They'd been out for a regular Thursday morning walk into the campo.

An Andalucian Christmas scene? Red Berries and a Yucca.
The view from Gaucín across the Valle de Guadiaro towards Cortes de la Frontera.

We called into Manolo's bar and later Venta El Socorro to put on our Euromillions lottery ticket.
We put up some posters for the Guayacán Fiesta.

In Venta El Socorro we met John and Evelyn from Ilkley West Yorkshire. They've been reading the blog prior to their visit. We were delighted to meet them. Especially as it was Evelyn's birthday. So Feliz Cumpleaños to Evelyn.

In Gaucín a large Christmas tree was being erected. We drove to Algatocín to the Super Genal. Then we went down to the plaza to put up more posters.
In Algatocín they've taken advantage of having a living pine growing in the plaza. It's covered in tinsel and packages.

In Benarrabá we fed the dogs and donkeys.
Our Border Collie, Jake.

A couple of our cutest Border Collie Sally, Jake's mother.

We went for a walk around the village and put up two more posters in strategic spots.

Jane's been watching a lot of cookery programmes lately, especially the Gordon Ramsay series ... We've noticed that none of the staff in these kitchens wear hats. (They also mess around with your food a lot with their fingers and wipe plates with dodgy looking cloths, all for good presentation!)
Yolanda on the other hand, as well as keeping a spotless kitchen, wears a hat when preparing food, which we caught her in when we called into Café Bar Guayacán. Guapa.

Val Forster.

Jane insisted she took one of me and my mother.

We enjoyed a quick chat with Yolanda. We hope that the posters bring in a few people from neighbouring villages to Saturday night's fiesta.

Back home we cooked two roast chickens, roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips. I also made a gravy using a finely chopped leek, celery and some of the above veg. It was cooked with some of the chicken juices and then mashed through a sieve. Not your traditional brown gravy but it was very tasty.

We watched 'Bruce Almighty' starring Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman as God.
A very silly comedy.
Later we left Val, who's not into movies, to read her 'Wilbur Smith'.
Jane and I watched 'Serendipity' starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. One of Jane's favourite 'soppy' movies.

e-mail Geoff & Jane

Add our XML RSS feed to Firefox 2.0 & Internet Explorer 7

    Add our XML RSS feed to My Yahoo     Add our feed to My MSN

        Add our XML Atom 1.0 feed                   Add our Feed to My AOL

     RSS 2.0 Validated feed                      Add feed to Google

    Atom 1.0 Validated feed
Andalucia Blog by Geoff Forster and Jane Forster - Low cost web design by Spanish Spider. This Blog, Photo Journal,is just one of many Photography Journals, it's a Diary,about Love, about our love of Art, hopefully it will be Fun, an insight into Life in Andalucia Spain , Sometimes we write about Food, we love listening to Music,we love Writing our blog,I love Sports,especially Football and my beloved Newcastle United.

20th December 2006 Andalucia Spain Blog

2007-02-03T23:27:42+01:00

Wednesday December 20th 2006

The good weather continues ...
We're off shopping to Carrefours at Los Barrios.
On the way we saw lots of Common Buzzards, White Storks, Griffon Vultures, Cattle Egrets, Spotless Starlings, Crested Larks, a lone Kestrel and lots of Spanish Sparrows.

The Common Buzzards teased me by either being on the wrong side of the road, flying off as we slowed down or sitting posing when it was impossible for us to stop.

This is the best I could do from a moving car ..

We got a lot of shopping in Carrefours including a fresh turkey at a very reasonable price.
We'll have the Benarrabá pork at New Year.

On the way home I was going to photograph the White Storks, but all the nests that were overflowing with Storks an hour before were now empty.

We called into Venta Carrasco a favourite bar just before Jimena de la Frontera.
There was a silver donkey on the hillside. I was about to take a photograph when a construction wagon drove down a nearby track and kicked a ton of dust into the air which refuse to clear.

So not a very successful day with the camera.

Back home we sorted out the shopping and cooked an interesting stir fry with a tandoori flavour.
I listened to the Newcastle United v Chelsea, Carling Cup Quarter Final. Unfortunately we lost 0-1. We played well for parts of the game, but it wasn't to be.

We watched 'Resident Evil' starring Milla Jovovich. We'd both seen it before but had forgotten most of the plot. The zombie Dobermans are great, the film is worth watching just for that scene.
Later we watched 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' Guy Ritchie's great movie starring Vinnie Jones.

These were taken on Tuesday evening, I forgot to put them on yesterday's blog.

Sandra and Auxi.

e-mail Geoff & Jane

Add our XML RSS feed to Firefox 2.0 & Internet Explorer 7

    Add our XML RSS feed to My Yahoo     Add our feed to My MSN

        Add our XML Atom 1.0 feed                   Add our Feed to My AOL

     RSS 2.0 Validated feed                      Add feed to Google

    Atom 1.0 Validated feed
Andalucia Blog by Geoff Forster and Jane Forster - Low cost web design by Spanish Spider. This Blog, Photo Journal,is just one of many Photography Journals, it's a Diary,about Love, about our love of Art, hopefully it will be Fun, an insight into Life in Andalucia Spain , Sometimes we write about Food, we love listening to Music,we love Writing our blog,I love Sports,especially Football and my beloved Newcastle United.

19th December 2006 Andalucia Spain Blog

2007-01-25T15:35:00+01:00

Tuesday December 19th 2006

Another beautiful day, although the air feels a little fresher.
We went to Bar Andrés Sánchez for tapas. Salmorejo de Carne, which is pork pieces cooked in white wine with roast garlic and onions. Beautiful.
We walked to the lower part of the village where there is a house for sale.

Benarrabá Town House For Sale

We walked up to Café Bar Guayacán. Caty had cooked a lovely pork dish in a different style to Salmorejo de Carne. We had some of that as well.

The Christmas decorations look good.

Jane, Flora and Val.

José joins them ...

Salud.

Guayacán do cakes as well!
Yolanda seems to enjoy them.

José, Jane, Eva, Platero and Carmen.

A tomato delivery arrived for the kitchen ...

We went home. I designed the poster for the JBNightology Fiesta in Guayacán on Saturday night.
Entry is free. Malacai are playing. If you live locally you should try to get here. Taxi's are only a few euros ... a great way to start your Christmas festivities.

We went back to Café Bar Guayacán to get some of the posters printed off. We'll put them up around the villages.

We had a good evening. Eating lots of good tapas. I'm quite looking forward to Christmas this year. I'm not usually a big fan. Christmas in Spain is more laid back and more fun than in the UK.

e-mail Geoff & Jane

Add our XML RSS feed to Firefox 2.0 & Internet Explorer 7

    Add our XML RSS feed to My Yahoo     Add our feed to My MSN

        Add our XML Atom 1.0 feed                   Add our Feed to My AOL

     RSS 2.0 Validated feed                      Add feed to Google

    Atom 1.0 Validated feed

18th December 2006 Andalucia Spain Blog

2007-01-25T13:30:00+01:00

Monday December 18th 2006

We're up early. We introduced Val to Rosie and Domingo.
Out in he street our neighbour Francisco's daughter Zulema had some tiny rabbits she was feeding with milk. The mother had died and she's hand rearing them.

They were very small, we hope that they all survive.

Oxalis Pes-Caprae in flower along the wall near the apartment.

We went to the carnicería to order some pork for Christmas.
Then we went to Pub Bar Dami for a coffee.

Later we walked to the bank and then on to the plaza.

We watched some Griffon vultures perched on a crag. There were thirty more wheeling high in the blue sky. (It really is this blue!)

We went to Algatocín to do some shopping in the extended Super Genal.
This is Algatocín.

Back in Benarraba we called in to see Yolanda. We enjoyed some fantastic tapas.
There's a fiesta in the bar on Saturday night. It starts around 23:00h.
The group 'Malacai' are performing live.
There is also a promotion as part of the JBNightology weekend.
JB Whisky are giving away 365 trips for 3 people to different European cities.
You could win one of these prizes if not 300 more prizes will be given away in the bar.
It should be a really great evening.
Come to Benarraba on Saturday night and start the Christmas fiesta with a bang!

17th December 2006 Andalucia Spain Blog

2007-01-25T11:28:34+01:00

Sunday December 17th 2006

We're up early. Cleaning out the donkeys, walking dogs etc.
Next we set about cleaning the apartment for my mother, Val.

It's her third visit to Benarrabá and we're looking forward to spending Christmas and New Year together.

I'll never get tired of the views from the sun terrace of the apartment.

This is 'Mota de Oro' our beautiful little Spanish cat. She loves being outside in the campo, climbing trees and chasing bugs.

The clock tower in Benarrabá.
The clock has been half an hour fast for most of 2006.
It also doesn't strike properly. I'm not sure how we're going to eat our 'New Years' grapes if it's not repaired in time ...

We set off to Málaga airport at 18:00h. The flight was delayed by an hour. We checked online that it was air bourne before setting off to the airport.

The roads were busier than we'd expected. So was the airport. In fact I've never seen so many people waiting to meet arrivals.
The plane landed safely. We had a coffee whilst we waited.
Lots of hugs and kisses, then we're in the car heading back to Benarrabá.

The roads were quieter on the way back.
We called in to Café Bar Guayacán for tapas. I ate a huge plateful of Montaditos, I was really hungry.
We got home in the early hours. My mother's only been here a few hours and she's already leading us astray ...

16th December 2006 Andalucia Spain Blog

2006-12-27T14:48:47+01:00

Saturday December 16th 2006

A late start ... but another beautiful day.
I listened to Newcastle United beat Watford.

The donkeys were enjoying the sunshine.
Here's Domingo.

Rosie and Domingo.

Later we watched the 'X Factor' final. Leona won it would have been a travesty if she hadn't.
Then we watched Ashes to Ashes about a ritual serial killer.

An early start tomorrow. We're cleaning the apartment, then driving to Málaga airport to pick up my mother.

e-mail Geoff & Jane

Add our XML RSS feed to Firefox 2.0 & Internet Explorer 7

    Add our XML RSS feed to My Yahoo     Add our feed to My MSN

        Add our XML Atom 1.0 feed                   Add our Feed to My AOL

     RSS 2.0 Validated feed                      Add feed to Google

    Atom 1.0 Validated feed
Andalucia Blog by Geoff Forster and Jane Forster - Low cost web design by Spanish Spider. This Blog, Photo Journal,is just one of many Photography Journals, it's a Diary,about Love, about our love of Art, hopefully it will be Fun, an insight into Life in Andalucia Spain , Sometimes we write about Food, we love listening to Music,we love Writing our blog,I love Sports,especially Football and my beloved Newcastle United.