KARETHE LINAAE
April is here and the fields have been transformed into a deep green colour, looking like a velvet patchwork carpet with stone fences as seams. Though the poppies won’t come out in their full splendor until May, the country has started looking like a Monet painting. On our walk the other morning (it is…
In Norway, Easter is synonymous with spring skiing, while in Canada it seems to be all about bunnies and egg hunts. Nothing wrong with chocolate and skiing, of course, but Spanish Easter is certainly more spiritual. Yesterday was Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday and the holiest week in the Catholic calendar has begun. Andalucía’s…
Since we moved to Spain, we are relieved that our 300 000-mile Canadian diet (wild guess…) has been reduced considerably. We use olive oil, cheese, meat, oranges and wine from Ronda’s own fincas and bodegas. In the winter months the majority of our fruit and vegetables are probably transported an hour up from the coast, but we…
It always amazes me how nature finds its way, in spite of our most concerted efforts to dissuade life with cement and concrete. Therefore, I love the way Andalucian roof-tiles and stonewalls seem to allow flowering neighbours to take residence in their midst.
A car boot sale, as the name implies, is where people sell stuff from the boot of their car. These markets happen all up and down the coast, with the largest one held at the fairgrounds in Fuengirola. This weekend we decided to check it out, driving down to the coast with empty bags, spare…
New Year in January has always felt completely wrong to me. It is cold and dark and does not signify the natural beginning of anything. Certainly not a time when one are supposed to reinvent oneself and become a new and better person. Thankfully, for those of us who need a couple of tries before…
When I went out this morning to hang up laundry in the communal garden, the grass was still frozen. Yet, the sun was already pulling humidity from the ground, creating a sense of walking on a fine layer of mist. There is such a sacred peace about at this hour. The workers have left their…
Since we arrived here in November, we have been looking for a way to give back to the community that has welcomed us so kindly. We have always volunteered, so when we heard about a network of environmental volunteers who help replant and clean up Ronda and its surroundings, we signed up immediately. Today was…
Costa del sol is the sunny coastline along the Mediterranean in the Spanish south. It embraces the coastal towns and communities of Malaga province. These traditional white fishing villages with their favourable sub-tropic climate were ‘discovered’ by international tourism is the 1950’s and have never been the same since. According to unofficial sources there might…
These days, when I come to my furniture restoration class, the teacher slaps her arms around her body saying ‘Qué frío!’ (What a cold!) People in our town say that Ronda has no spring. They claim we go straight from winter to summer. Everything is relative of course and I tell them that compared with…