Tree-mend-us

Our poor Christmas tree angel. She has seen 34 years of active service and no wonder she looks exhausted. Balanced up there every year with boys fighting over the parcels below, her robes tattered and her bodice crumpled... she has presided over 6 dwellings and for most of her time has slept in a box in a damp attic. This year Donald dressed the tree and did a fab job. Next year?
We all felt the better of a Christmas together, four of us and the Angel.

Stick, stones and ...stairs!

All of the above are apparently liable to break your bones. In our experience the last of the three is more likely.
I have been called a few nicknames in my time but here I have been called "Eficaz" meaning teachers pet, "Gallina" meaning chicken as in cowardly although literally hen. Yesterday a German woman called me "Repunante" which is bad enough meaning in Asturiano a person who is fussy and complains although I mis-heard her and thought she was calling me "Repugnante" being of course repugnant and disgusting. No bones broken theré though. On the way home an old man shouted something else at me in Gallego so I nipped into the tourist office to aske what it was. Relief! I was delighted to learn he thought I was young and cute. So sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me, and some may even cheer you up!
Stairs however will break your bones and give you massive bruises on the beam end. Les is nursing a broken rib after flying down ours at a fair old lick, slightly slower than his laptop which reached the downstairs before him and amazingly still works. Unlike it´s owner. Thankfully it is a long weekend off but I don´t think he is going anywhere soon.

The other cathedral

You have seen photos of Cathedral beach nearby, but on Saturday we went to visit another cathedral that of Mondoñedo, about 20 minutes away. It should have been quicker but the main road was closed. We have just discovered they close it when the clouds are too low - it is our equivalent of high seas and causeways.

 

When we arrived in the town it did look a bit murky up there, and the break allowed us to have coffee and visit the catherdral. It turned out we had to wait a wee bit as two new priests were being ordained. Quite a carry on. We didn´t take pictures but if you are interested have a look here:Ordaining new priests.   You can see all the pictures even if the text is in Spanish. Given the huge shortage of priests in this area alone, a class of 2 is not going to go very far. We will go back.

¡Tela marinera!

When I came out of patchwork class on Tuesday I hurried to catch the fabric shop before she closed. So did 15 other ladies. The queue was out of the shop and round the corner before long so I waited 45 minutes to be told that no, she didn´t have interfacing. (I bought the last yard 12 months ago!!) The phrase "Tela marinera" Which actually means sailcloth or canvas is often used to mean something is hard, difficut or too much effort. For me this queuing business was too much effort, espeially when I had to ask for double sided interfacing with non-stick paper on one side... ¡Tela Marinera!

Sailing home

When we were little we both used to sing the chorus "Sailing Home"  the words ended up "with Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm as we go sailing home." So here we are back at home in Ribadeo and yesterday we also brought the boat home - a 6 hour trip from Viveiro where we have been keeping it all year, We still don´t have a marina berth but we are officially visitors. Had a perfect sail today with Sylvia a Spanish nurse we are friends with. Just in case of any political tension we were flying not only the Red Ensign I inherited from Dad but the flags for Spain, Scotland and Orkney. Hope that covers all your bases!

Room 101 (not!)

Those of you who have read this blog over the past 5 years might know that I count beds where we sleep - only once each though, repeats don´t count. I was sick as a parrot when bed number 100 turned out to be in a hospital. However after a few restorative weeks at Mum´s we felt up to a wee Westray trip and had a lot of sleep in bed 101, loved it, Thanks Linda.

Appendix 2

Relax - I didn't have a second appendix I just had the wound re-opened - this time in Orkney and what a different experience, God Bless the NHS we say!!  This time despite 6 nationalities around the bed they all spoke English, explained everything, kept the screens closed, wore sterile gloves and were kind. Nobody told me to shut up when I yelped, and nobody came in selling rafle tickets while I was naked. All progress from my last experience.
I probably won't blog any more about this carry on as the wound will now take weeks to heal and you don't want to read about abscesses or pus. Just to say Orkney has fantastic health services, and we are so happy to be home. Mum's home cooking is just what the doctor ordered and he also reccomended Steak, Scallops and Guiness. Not difficult!

(This is an appendix - not a scallop!)