Wordless Wednesday

Happy Halloween!

I dont leave home without him

I had some lovely friends here in Kansas that gave up their medical practice's, sold everything they owned.... house, cars, furniture etc.and moved to New Zealand. They wanted to live in a peace loving Country where the tax dollars did not go to support a war. This is what I inherited from Carrie as she didn't think she would have a need for it anymore. It is a Bush Countdown Clock. What you can not see in this photo is the days, hours, minutes and seconds left until he leaves office. I never leave the house without it. I have it attached to my purse. I will say that 100% of everyone in Europe that saw it this year loved it and agreed that he is "our national nightmare."

Fabada Asturiana

This evening is cold , cloudy and in general dreary as hell. Fortunately I had the remedy for just such a day in my kitchen cabinet. Fabada is probably the most famous dish in all of Asturias. Its a hearty bean stew, somewhat similar to our "ham and beans". My mother in law Mari makes the BEST fabada! Every year Miguel and I bring cans of this home from Spain in our suitcases. Forget the silly souvenir's, we pack food! Fabada is costly to make though. Quality fabada beans cost about 10.00 dollars a pound. The ingredients on the can I just consumed or inhaled reads as follows....Beans, salted pork belly, black pudding, chorizo, olive oil, salt , sweet paprika and saffron. I really miss Asturias today. I miss it a lot.

Oviedo

I have not traveled to a lot of places in Europe. But I feel sure I will never find a city that I feel so strong about. This is my town baby! Welcome to Oviedo Asturias Spain.... the provincial capital of the kingdom of Asturias. AKA The Principality of Spain. The King of Spain's son is the Prince of Asturias. My husband tells me that when the King, Queen or Prince came to Oviedo, he and his mama would go stand on the streets to cheer them. Can anyone reading this blog even fathom standing on a street to catch a glimpse of George W Bush ? Let alone cheer for the fool.
ANYWAY back to my beloved Oviedo. I would wager money that you will never find a cleaner city of this size (over 200,000) anywhere in the world. If you know of one I want to know about it. I LOVE THIS CITY!

Wordless Wednesday

La Siesta Del Sabado

Nothing to report this weekend but a lovely Saturday afternoon nap with my 2 baby boys. Previl (short for pretty evil) and Rafael. At night my dog lays on my head and my cat lays on my chest. (my hubby lays on the far side of the bed)

Some Truth's About Me

My first visit to a European cemetery. Well for starters I had to walk UP a lot of stairs, so by the time I got to the top I was already sweating and breathing hard. Nobody had forewarned me about 2 things.... the stench and the flies. Damn! In the Estados Unidos it is considered bad manners to walk over a grave. We are taught very young to follow paths in front of the head stones. As my head spun and I tried to decide the bigger faux pax, passing out or throwing up....I made a split second decision, I ran for the exit. It took me 4 more years before I summoned the courage to visit again!

Karina from one of my favorite blogs Candid Karina tagged me for 5 things about me. Easy Peasy! #1 I am totally terrified of snakes. I killed a rattlesnake in my front yard once and days later my neighbor said she was watching me and thought I was having a seizure!

#2 I lived in Wichita Kansas during the reign of terror of the BTK serial killer. #3 My puppy eats his own poo AND the poo of the neighbor dog.#4 I was president of my sophomore class and went on to become a waitress.(albeit a darn good one!) When my husband asks me the correct way to pronounce an English word I get my jolly's by telling him the the other. EXAMPLE: "Jannis is a baby dog a puppy or a poopy?"........

El palacio de Olloniego.

People in Asturias think nothing of walking 10 miles for enjoyment. As I have said before I am very content as long as I am walking downhill or on flat areas! I am even more content if my walking path includes the occasional sidra bar. My in-laws have an old family home high in a very rural mountain village of about 20 people.We loaded backpacks full of food and wine one day and made an agonizing trek UP to unpack our food and eat it!You guessed it! After we walked 10 miles to eat we turned around and walked home. To eat....again. Several miles from our home in Spain is this awesome old palace . This is a XIV century palace in Olloniego, Asturias, Spain. I believe that I could view this structure every day for the rest of my life and it would never fail to take my breath away. Isn't it wonderful that these incredibly historic landmarks can exist without fences and guards and admissions to view, and please notice it is sans graffiti!!!

Mi Hijo

I really like this photo of my son! This was the first time he was exposed to mountains of this magnitude or altitude. Although we reside in Kansas where cattle, feedlots and slaughter houses are everywhere...... The cattle do not wear huge cowbells around their necks , nor do they roam free and wander up and down mountain roads without a care in the world. I wish that you could hear how beautiful and peaceful the sound of cowbells scattered across a mountainside is....

The Asturian Shoemaker.

I tried something different today. I am posting a video,(sure hope it works for everyone as I shrunk it down as far as I could for faster downloading.) ANYWAY... The madreñe is a wooden shoe worn for centuries by the Asturian. I have never tried to walk in a pair of these as I am a "flat lander" accustomed to sneakers or tennis shoes. People really do wear these, my in laws each have a pair that they wear in the garden( its a really big garden) Work madreñes are very plain and usually mud covered. Sunday or dress madreñes are polished and painted and carved quite beautifully. I purchased a pair of these shoes in a shoe store sold right alongside 200 euro Spanish leather shoes. I took this short video when Fernando and Chari took me to a mountain fiesta so high up in the mountain's that my ears popped for hours! FYI these shoes sell for about $20 Not bad for handmade eh?