So what do these things have in common?

They are all things I have not been able to find when I needed them even though I had just had my hands on them a day or two before.

Okay. Calm down Katney. Sit down, say a prayer, ask St. Anthony to pass along the good word.

And voila! While looking for the flash drive, I spotted the Social Security Card--right where I put it. (Too late to go take the census worker test--that might have been a fun job.) And then I sat down and picked up a piece of paper and there was the flash drive--right where I had put it. The book I had tracked down yesterday--also under something else. And, you guessed it--right where I had put it.

So where is my birth certificate?

I guess that's different. I haven't needed it since we applied for our passports twelve years ago. It's probably right where I put it.

Andalusian Benches

Many of us appreciate RuneE´s Bench of the day posts. During my stay in Andalusia I tried to catch some photos of benches worthy a presentation in the spirit of Rune.The first photo is therefore not one bench, but at least 15 rows of stone benches at the Roman Theatre in Malaga. Dating back to the first century, it was built during the Empire of Augustus. It was used up until the third century. The Arabs used parts of the theatre for their own building purposes. They took capitals and column shafts for their own Alcazaba fortress as support for the horseshoe arches over the doorways. The theatre has a radius of 31 metres is 16 metres tall and has an orchestra of 15 metres.
In one of the major shopping streets (Marques de Larios) these marble benches are mainly used as resting tools but may also be seen as sculptures.
The same can be said about this bench in one of the more narrow streets of Malaga.The writer H.C. Andersen had a special relation to Malaga. "In no Spanish city other than Málaga have I felt that happy and comfortable", he wrote in 1862. The ugly Duck is together with him while resting at this bench at the end of Avenida Alameda Principal and start of Paseo del Parque.
Another famous person in Malaga is Pablo Picasso, born here in 1881 but left with his family to A Coruña in 1891 where his father became a professor at the School of Fine Arts. As far as I know he never returned.
Together with Pablo on his bench at Plaza de Merced outside his birthplace my sister and Brother-in-Law took a break before they returned to their second home in Calahonda.
My next bench can be found in Marbella. Not one but a lot of these beautiful decorated benches are placed in the park La Alameda in the center of the city and close to the busstop if you are using local transportation from Fuengirola.We did so when visiting the city. Less than one hours driving time, price 2,75 euros and another bench to sit on when waiting for the almost precise departure time schedule. "Pero, mas o menos " is also a part of the spanish culture.Mijas is also a place where benches can be found. (Where do you not find benches?) These stone benches we did find outside Grotto of virgin de la Pena
But as you will se from the next photo the iron bench must be a standard Andalusian. I passed a lot of them every day when we made our exercise walk at the Paseo Maritim in Fuengirola.
But just to let you understand that it was winter and great variations in weather conditions, my last bench is at the bus station outside our hotel. I never saw anybody sit on that bench. Either too wet or bussing not necessary when the sun was shining.

Discovering artist, Sara-J

It must have been in about 1997 that I first discovered artist, Sara-J.

I was working at the time as marketing manager for a newly formed firm of consulting actuaries and our offices were in the popular V&A Waterfront and directly opposite the Red Shed, a vast warehouse space housing a variety of crafters and artists.

I trundled off one lunch time, on the hunt for lunch, and found a small stall in the Red Shed selling the most vivid, witty and wildly delicious etchings I’d ever seen. They were created by Sara-J - and I came home with two.

Indulgence

Tropical Adventure

I was at an interesting crossroad in my life and Sara-J's work really spoke to me - and since that time I’ve acquired several more etchings...

Decadent Duck

Lemon Drops

Last year, I finally commissioned Sara-J, to do an oil painting for me. At the same time I asked her a little more about herself and why she paints what she does.

“I paint because I am an artist. I'm inspired by where my life takes me every day and the people I meet and care about. I see the world differently, and feel passionately about aspects of the human condition. I hope that my paintings bring courage and humour to women seeking to express themselves freely, without censorship or oppression. I tend to use humour and colour as tools to mask inhibition and painful experiences, and to reflect pleasure, the joy of life, sexuality, relationships, and family life. My commissioned work often does the same for my collectors. The actual core of my work hinges on the human form. Drawing live models and reflecting real people, and myself, in the images of my work. Of course, if I could express myself in words as I can on canvas, I'd be a writer.”

Favourite Reflection

Hat Box

“Each of my paintings, like the one I've done for you, can be broken down into different elements including the characters, objects, events, etc., depicted.”

Of Madames De Die, a painting I quietly covet, Sara-J says, “Madames de Die – like your commission - can be broken down into different elements including the characters, objects, events, etc., depicted. The two ladies on the left - the jewellery shop owner and the notary. Me, the artist, on the right, admiring the scorpion we caught on the way to Xmas dinner, the glasses noted and enjoyed by all. The wine, local and delicious. The rest speaks for itself. But that's the idea. You may also notice other emotional elements. The artist still something of a glamorous outsider, the Madames vaguely unimpressed but nonetheless comfortable, reflecting my own sense of exclusion rather than their warmness, for example.”

Madames De Die

An exhibition of Sara-J's work in Die, France

I observed that over the years her work has changed as she’s moved from etchings to working in rich and vibrant oils.

Sara-J says, “Since coming to the Netherlands to be reunited with my childhood sweetheart, my career has taken on a very different form. I've moved away from mass producing etchings with master printers to focus on working with oils and more intimate viewings and solo exhibitions.”

I noted that one seldom sees her work in galleries to which she responded, “Apart from contacts with a limited number of galleries, my main outlet has been my website.”

To all my female blog readers, I urge you to hurry over there and take a look around. You will be delighted, amused and inspired because Sara-J knows how to touch the core of a woman, she knows and understands the full experience of being a woman - from the pain and sadness, to the vibrancy and the bodacious, succulent wildness. And oh go on, buy a picture – you know you want to!

My newly commissioned painting...

The Cities of Costa del Sol, Spain

My first city has to be Malaga.
During this stay we visited the town for the second time. The first was ca. 40 years ago, and the memories are very selected. This time we visited the city not only once but twice, and will certainly return. May be even stay there for the whole period, and use it for touring Andalusia. We are urban people and the manifold in this 6th largest city of Spain need to be more explored.

My photo is from mount Gibralfaro with the old castle on the top. The name is derived from the Phoenician word for light, Jbel-Faro, meaning "Rock of Light". On the photo you can see the City Hall (Ayuntamiento) at Paseo del Parque and the castle "La Alcazaba" with the Roman Theatre below. In addition the Catedral and the Picasso Museum in the old city, part of the harbor (Puerto) and the modern western part of the city.We used the train to visit Malaga, and one stop on the line is another well-known city. The tourist-oriented city Torremolinos was very popular for Scandinavians to visit in the 70s. I stayed once at Playamar outside the city together with friends at that time, but had also the pleasure (?) to be hospitalized close to the city (Los Alamos) because severe DVT problems in 2007. The city has changed a lot during 40 years, but the staircase to / from the beaches are still there to be climbed.Moving further south-west, our next stop is Benalmadena. They were preparing for the Carnevale when we visited the municipally, but we only made the visit as a starting point for walking over 20 km back to Fuengirola.
The beaches at Fuengirola is nice and clean, easy to access and maintained every day. I will return to details about this city later, but can absolutely recommend a long term winter stay in this city.
At the mountain side about 450 m above mean sea level and close to Fuengirola you can find "the white village" Mijas. A typical tourist-oriented art-craft and fur-shop village, but also with interesting places and spectacular views over Fuengirola.
The original name for the village was ‘Tamisa’, which subsequently changed to ‘Mixa’ and finally to ‘Mijas’ as it is known today. The history of the name ‘Tamisa’ dates back to the year 600 A.D. when the Tartessians founded the village of Mijas. The Tartessians became important trading partners of the Phoenicians whose presence in Iberia dates from the eighth century BC.
Another beautiful old city can be found in the more posh city Marbella. Marbella is famed as an exclusive destination for wealthy tourists from Northern Europe, as well as the well-heeled from the UK, Ireland and Germany. A nice city with many good Tapas bars at the seaside.
Puerto Banus or only Banus as the winter inhabitants call the city, is a luxury marina and shopping complex for the jet-set and the super rich. The focal point of Banus is the marina. It has berths for 915 boats, including those of the King of Saudi Arabia and several of the world's wealthiest individuals. Behind the harbour lie streets filled with bars, boutiques (all important brands to be found) and nightclubs.The city of Estepona should also be mentioned in this review, but this photo was taken during our stay in 2007, when we also visited Granada and Alhambra.

Sunday's Psalm--Second Sunday of Lent

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom should I fear?

The LORD is my life’s refuge;

of whom should I be afraid?

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call;

have pity on me, and answer me.

Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Your presence, O LORD, I seek.

Hide not your face from me;

not in anger repel your servant.

You are my helper: cast me not off.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD

in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD with courage;

be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

From Psalm 27

Photos:

Mt. Adams sunset

Western Washington forest
garden, Pt. Fermin Lighthouse
golden mantle squirrel
prickly pear cactus
cornfield
Mt. Rainier in the clouds

Canada wins Gold
Canada defeated the U.S. in overtime to win the gold medal in Olympic hockey, sending both countries into a celebration as the Canadians get the championship and Americans get to stop pretending they care about hockey.



Cooper to CBS?
CBS is reportedly in talks to hire CNN's Anderson Cooper. Executives believe Cooper will be the perfect hire to help all of CBS's elderly viewers fall asleep without medication.



Obama Medical Advice
President Obama's doctor has told him to cut his cholesterol levels. Obama responded by threatening to cut his Medicare reimbursements and blaming him for killing his mother.



Florida Threat
Florida is the deadliest state in the U.S. for pedestrians and bicyclists... most of them get mowed down daily by 95-year-olds speeding to get to the early bird special.



California Animal Abuse
California is considering making animal abusers publicly register their names like sex offenders... confusing most of the people in Bakersfield who only sexually abuse animals.






March 1st

1565: The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded. Thong underwear is invented minutes later.


1845: President John Tyler signs a bill annexing the Republic of Texas... mostly so the U.S. national football team could get some decent linemen.


2000: The Constitution of Finland is rewritten... this time using vowels.



THANKS!!!!

Visits to this blog were up a whopping 70.8% in February, year over year. Thank you so much for reading!

5 weeks ago starting long term stay in Andalusia, Spain

It is still "Invierno" in southern Spain. When we arrived Andalusia five weeks ago the rain (lluvia) and heavy wind (viento fuerte) was hot on every TV-channel. Since mid December they had not experienced that kind of rainy weather for 60 years, and the waves became green or grey when meeting the normally white beaches at Torreblanca.

And it should only be worse during our stay.
Especially in the Cadiz Province and the municipality Jerez de la Frontera we could watch the flooding in streets and see land slides destroying the "Naranja" (orange) harvest.
The weather between Puerto Banus in south west and Malaga more north east along the Costa del Sol was not so bad, but trees fell down along the beautiful Paseo del Parque in Malaga city.
"Bad" weather was no obstacle for our daily return exercise along the 7.5 km Paseo Maritimo. Along the beaches from our apartment hotel close to Castillo Sohail to Torreblanca, we could watch artists creating sand sculptures which had to be maintained every morning due to the wind, rain and sea.
The waves (olas) meeting the Stream of Fuengirola River was often used by surfers, but many days the river brought with it lots of bamboo stocks and mud making surfing very dangerous.

Dining Reflections

Our plan for dining on our trip to eastern Oregon was to eat breakfast in the hotel, picnic our lunch, and eat out for dinner. We stuck to that pretty much, though one day we switched the lunch and dinner.

The Wallowa Valley is a mixture of farms, artists and tourist friendly businesses. The dining opportunities were fun. We missed the "Friends Café" in Enterprise, though we were tempted to stop to try a "junk omelette". When we decided to try "Terminal Gravity", we found the microbrewery closed. So we headed to Joseph for another recommended venue.

What a fun menu for lunch! So much so that we returned for Sunday breakfast. (You can only toast so many hotel bagels.) They have a different French Toast special every day of the week. That day was Raspberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast.

The motto over the bar translates: It's not always summer.

My comment was that that is why the snowshoes live in the car four or five months a year.

The waiter said it was because their summer is so short.

We had a lovely dinner at the Stubborn Mule Saloon, too. The atmosphere was kind of blah, but I imagine it would have been a lot more lively if we had eaten later and sat in the bar.

It's time again for Weekend Reflections, hosted by James at Newtown Daily Photo. You will notice that this post contains both visual reflections, and reflections on the dining opportunities of the Wallowa Valley.