Easter in Spain is celebrated in a very different way to in the UK. The first main difference is in the name, Easter and Semana Santa, the Spanish allocate a whole week to it, as opposed to the UK’s long weekend. It is likely that the word Easter developed from the name of the pagan goddess of spring and fertility, Eostre and, although there is a Spanish word for Easter which is Pascua, a Spaniard is more likely to use the term holy week, Semana Santa.

Friday 8th March was International Women’s Day, a day to continue our promise to empower, support and uplift each other, and to remember that there is still inequality in the world. For that reason, I feel that it is sad we have to have an International Women’s Day. By now, in this 21st century equality should be a given.

Valentine’s Day fell on a Wednesday this year, and as John doesn’t get home until 10pm, we thought it a little late to go out for a meal. The Spanish would probably disagree, especially in the summer!

On Sunday 4th February the first fiesta was held in our town, the Feria de la Matanza. This fiesta is based on a traditional event, that still happens in Spain, the killing of the pig. 

Our weekend, because of John’s work, is Sunday and Monday. Normally we do work around the house, or chores on the Sunday and then, on the Monday we will do the weekly shop.

Well, 2024! Almost a quarter of this century is gone! I remember worrying about my daughter, Sarah, going to an all-night party at a club in London for the millennium. Now she has a teenage daughter of her own!

Those of you who read my blogs regularly will remember that we could not go on holiday in the summer due to my impending, at that time, hip replacement operation. Throughout the summer though I saw loads of photos of beautiful bays and coves in Majorca, so John suggested we could go there for Christmas. He hadn't been there for about 30 years, when his parents had lived there and I hadn’t been there for over 40 years.

Our preparations for Christmas are very different this year, as we are going away. This year, as anyone reading my previous blogs will know, we did not get away for a holiday in the summer, due to the fact that I was waiting for a hip replacement. My hip is fully functional now and I am walking well, without any sticks or cane. My darling John still puts my socks on my feet for me, and takes them off at night too. That is the last thing to be able to do again, but I am in no hurry to try, or to push it, as I want to be as fit as possible for our Christmas break.

I believe I have mentioned before that, whilst I am writing, I cannot read. I believe this has something to do with style of writing perhaps? Maybe someone else’s style would try and intrude on my writing, or perhaps it is just the words. When writing I am constantly thinking of the plot and where it’s going, checking in my head if the timeline makes sense. How could I possibly have someone else’s words encroaching on my thoughts, my head would explode! Well, perhaps that’s a bit over dramatic, but my poor husband would get no sense out of me. So I either read, or I write! 

Immediately when I hear these words, I often think of a baby’s first step. This is always such a milestone event for parents, and is a true example of a small step being a big one, an important one. A small event that will be forever imprinted on your heart.

Seven years ago, when I was living alone in Garrucha I used to meet up with a group of friends in a bar on a Friday. We were a mixed bunch, a Spaniard, two French people, a British couple and myself. Most of us would have copas y tapas, which in those days meant a glass of wine or a small beer, and a free tapa. However, the British couple did not drink alcohol and, although often a can of coke would cost more than a glass of wine, you did not get a free tapa with a soft drink in many places! So, we would have two drinks and two tapas each, costing us €4 each, but they would order about 5 or six tapas, ending up paying so much more than each of us.

The weekend of 30th September and 1st October we had beautiful weather for the revived Fería de Los Raimundos, which had last been held quite a few years before.