March

What a perfectly strange month March has been. February gave us unseasonably warm days, t-shirt weather in the sun, March has given us torriential rain, one or two bright sunny and warm days and absolutely freezing cold. To top that the Sahara Sandstorm wafted in with it leaving my lovely white car a dirty shade of ochre. It was action packed if nothing else. Had to go and sort out my TIE, swop my green residency paper for my new residency card, required two visits as the first time the computer systems had gon down, the department that deals with it had the foresight to send me a text to remind me of my appointment time but not a text to tell me that the 30min drive to Lloret was not required because my appointment had been moved to the following week. That is the way of bureaucracy and antiquated IT systems! Following week we had success I was suitably scrutinised, photographed and fingerprinted and now I just await the return journey to collect the card which I will have to sign for and have my prints digitally checked. It did, however, give us the opportunity for a spot of lunch.

Delicious tostadas with esclivada and anchovy with a fresh crisp salad. For those not familiar it’s similar to bruschetta lightly toasted rubbed with garlic and soft tomato, drizzled with olive oil. Esclivada is oven roasted med veg-  aubergine, peppers, onions and anchovies fresh from L’Escala.

Followed by Calamars a la Plancha with a side of grilled vegetables for Darren and a dish of Confit of Duck with potato in a rich gravy for me. Finished the whole lot off with a chocolate lava cake with cinammon ice cream to share, no photo we (I) ate it too fast!

Just to be good we took a walk along the sunny prom not quite t-shirt weather on this particular day but really can’t complain, look at that sky and the beach is pleasantly empty.In other news we have resumed our research into other areas to live. We have loved living in Girona but I hanker to be closer to the sea, this house is just too big for us and through two years of no visitors at all it has become a bit of a waste. We will be getting visits again but have decided that for the eight to ten weeks a year that folk visit we can have a much smaller house and still accommodate them. We have so far exhausted all the places we like here in the Girona region so now we are looking a little further south toward Tarragona and the Ebre Delta. Darren took a trip down there to meet up with a colleague and friend who happened to be golfing in Murcia so a good opportunity to catch up and do a bit of business and on the way there and back he viewed a couple of properties and explored some of the locations we had researched or been recommended. Obviously it is very early days and we are in no mad rush but we hope to get the house spruced up and ready for market toward the end of the summer. I shall post progress on here from time to time for sure. In other news we have a new shop of wonders opened that sells everything from knitting wool to craft materials, household goodies to gardening supplies. Had to treat myself to some watercolours, pencils and sketchbooks and have been doodling, it has been a while since I did anything arty.First a pencil sketch and watercolour of the opposite hillside, Gironella, then just some very simple abstract doodles with watercolour and ink.Very simple and I need lots more practice! This one has a mid century look I feel, always been a design aesthetic I like. In other news my campsite opens this week and I should have been tootling over there today but my lovely husband also brought back a stinky cold, yes a cold thought they had died out with the Covid but apparently not, after suffering miserably with it for a week he has kindly passed it on to me so not a wink of sleep last night and too knackered to be driving over to the coast. Plus we have the builders back replacing the garage door, the old one had given up the ghost and we had to resort to pulling it shut with a rope as the mechanism just couldn’t cope. Is it wrong to be excited to get a new garage door? I think I am peculiar. Put off my trip over to Thursday as rain forecast, again, tomorrow. I have also been helping a friend with some business planning, logo and branding design which has kept the old grey cells sparked up and less grey for a while. Finally, as stripping down to my beachware is on the horizon am back on the diet wagon. Yes, food again. I’m trying out intermittent fasting again, wasn’t particularly successful first time round but I need to do something and I have friends who have sworn to have benefitted from doing it, helps them sleep better and generally feel healthier. I’m sticking to mainly protein and veggies and swerving too many carbs. Am ten days in a 4lb lighter so not complaining so far.This is a go to,  a charcuterie board with fresh melon and a cup of earl grey, am a grazer and a picker. My other favourite is roasted veg seen here with pasta tubes (I can’t remember the fancy Italian name) with a small serving of grated cheddar as was out of Parmegan. There you have it then March in a nutshell. Will see you soon with news from the coast and the cabin. Hasta luego!