What do I do on a rainy Sunday in Spain?
By chrysolite, 10th Mar 2010 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutHumourOff Beat
Yes, what DO I do on a rainy Sunday in a lonely valley in the Spanish mountains, it's cold, only 6 degrees Celsius.
- Wake up and make a fire
- What to eat for lunch
- Three oil drums as fireplace
- Don't think what you want to write - write what you think ...
- "Do you not have an internet connection in your house???"
- My worst article ever!
- To continue the rainy day ...
Wake up and make a fire
I really tried NOT to wake up as I could already hear the raindrops falling on my wooden hut. I know it's cold, so I have to jump out of bed, get dressed quickly and make a big fire to warm up. Normally I do know how to make a fire, but today, somehow with all the cardboard I wanted to burn (you'd think that stuff is useful, but it isn't) it took a while to get a few logs glowing. Adding more and more twigs, the dogs being in the way, but finally, a cup of coffee and sit down and enjoy the warming flames.
Thinks .... breakfast .... home grown and home made almond milk with raisins or bread with pork fat or both? I opted for both. I don't recommend this sort of diet to somebody who works in an office, but yesterday my neighbour came with a chainsaw to clear a completely overgrown field and cut back a lot of almond and olive trees. I rushed to ask if I could carry the branches and logs over to my fields and I know he likes that because then he's got less work to do and I'm happy because I've got lots of firewood. So after shifting half a ton of wood, I can assure you that I don't want to eat a didi strawberry yoghurt, not yesterday and today not either. I still feel I could do with some more substantial food!
What to eat for lunch
I reckoned I could make myself a cabbage salad for lunch. That's a bit like coleslaw but without the carrot, because today I just don't have a carrot. I cut the cabbage up very finely, added salt, mayonnaise, oil, vinegar, bit of water, pepper and mixed it well and let stand for a few hours.
Meanwhile I snacked on some "empanadillas" I had made yesterday and warmed up over the fire. That's a bit like Cornish pasty, but made with local herbs/tomatoe/tuna as a filling. Will write the recipe out and submit it shortly, it's brilliant.
Three oil drums as fireplace
Maybe you think that I'm eating all day long, which on occasions like today might even be true. "For later" I had decided on some sliced and peeled apples with raisins and they are stewing away on a grid over the fire. Will take some time to cook over the best fireplace ever. My husband and I made it from 3 discarded old oil drums standing on top of each other. Of course, you have to cut out an opening, cut out bottoms and tops of the drums and cover to top most one with a discarded traffic sign (it was one to say you mustn't drive faster than 30 km/h). Those oil drums were surrounded by a lot of rocks cemented together, the rocks warm up as well and keep warm long after the fire has burnt out. We had also added two iron rods about 1 m above the flames which is where I can do "slow cooking" which preserves some vitamins apparently. I mean, IF one has a fire burning, one might just as well save on gas and cook over the fire. For some reason it also tastes nicer!
Don't think what you want to write - write what you think ...
I guess this advice is quite good, I've given it myself, but really it's not very practical. You see, if you just write down all those thoughts jumbling about in your brain, what sort of article might that be??? Well, you are experiencing it right now! ;)
I've just been thinking that we use an empty bottle to roll out the dough for chapatis and "empanadillas" and remembered at the same time that a young friend of mine used a bottle to mash cooked potatoes to make potatoe puree. How weird is that? But it works very well.
Well, the fire burning nicely now, still drizzling out there and cold. First I thought I could do some crocheting or knitting or felting some little toy animals, we make all sorts of strange things up here in winter and try to sell them in the summer to tourists. But then I thought, well, I'd best write another article so I can submit it to Wikinut when the rain stops, maybe tomorrow.
"Do you not have an internet connection in your house???"
I wish I had! But it's technically not possible. We live in a valley surrounded by high mountains and no mobile phone or tv signal gets through to here. No electricity laid on either, so we rely on solar panels. And "to do internet" I have to charge the battery of my little notebook with solar power (does not work when it rains) and walk half a mile around the mountain until I pick up a signal from the next pole. I don't like that very much, but the dogs do. When I say: "Let's go to the office!" I have hardly time to pack the rucksack with notebook, dongle, glasses, blanket and mobile phone, they get so excited and want to go, go, go. Then they know, when I unpack the notebook and a blanket to sit on a big flat rock, they must be quiet, because I'm "busy". They understand that word too. And when I switch Windows off, there is a little tune. They know the tune and jump up excitedly and then we either go foraging herbs or we visit a neighbour or we go home.
My worst article ever!
Yes, I guess it's not a good idea to write down what one thinks, it's just a jumble of thoughts, uncontrolled ideas or past experiences or future dreams racing through "empty" space. Well, I guess I'll go back to the "old method" of writing an article. Thinking about it properly, writing out a structure and not just waffle along.
To continue the rainy day ...
I shall go now and do a few hours of crocheting to finish off a little dog blanket and then I hope my friend comes down to show me another pattern for "friendship bracelets". "Hippy Art" it's called too and you keep knotting and knotting and knotting some strings into shapes and patterns. My friend is quite good at it and I'm learning. Usually, these bracelets are made from thin coloured yarn, but I thought I'd make one from some colourful left-over wool to manufacture a dog collar. I've done one and it works well, but now I want to make a few more, maybe we can sell them one day.
Quite honestly, I'm bored stiff by now and when I finished crocheting and knotting, I guess I'm going to do more cooking ... Or maybe I'll have a "siesta" and do everything else "mañana".
And what do YOU do on a rainy Sunday? Got some tips? Please let me know through the comment box or why not sign up with Wikinut and write an article about it?
Thanks for calling in!
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