Oliver and Teddy eat apples out of water
19 October 2008, 12:49. Filed under: life in spain fun
Oliver’s 10th birthday party theme was something like “spooky stuff”. I dressed up as Frankenstein (not too much to change…), Pia dressed up as a witch (no comments!) and Oliver had some “blood” on his face.
Teddy (Alex, our neighbour’s dog) here eats some scooby snacks out of water, then Pia gets the idea to put some cut apple into the water. Oliver joins in!
What Teddy will do for a scooby snack
16 October 2008, 23:50. Filed under: life in spain fun
We have a neighbour called Alex, and she has a dog (or the dog has Alex, depending on your point of view) called Teddy.
Teddy loves food. It’s like he is never fed. In this trick, he trains Pia to give him a Scooby Snack by playing “muertito” which translates as “quite dead” in Spanish.
The video was taken on Oliver’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. The light is poor because it was dark and we were having a dark, creepy party with only candles…
Visit to Palau Novella
21 September 2008, 22:08. Filed under: life in spain
Busy weekend. Today we drove up to the Parc Nacional de Garraf, which is off the coast road near Castelldefels (close to Barcelona).
The drive up the mountain is fabulous – desolate but beautiful scenes – pine trees, steep drops, valleys and streams.
Our first stop was at Palau Novella, a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery – the only one in Catalunya. The Monastery keep goats and sheep, offer short pre-arranged tours and yoga/relaxation classes.
Nearby, there is a Catalan donkey refuge. The aim of the refuge is to organise breeding of the race, which is endangered – there are only 1000 Catalan donkeys left.
The donkeys have very distinct markings – white rings around the eyes and nose. The man who looks after the donkeys let us in to the refuge and put Oliver on one of the donkeys. He loved it :-)
Oliver's second riding lesson
20 September 2008, 22:01. Filed under: life in spain
Oliver today went for his second horse riding lesson at the Hipica Severino centre in Sant Cugat, just over the mountain from Barcelona.
Pecas (freckles in Spanish) is Oliver’s horse, and today the lesson mainly consisted of controlling the reins, walking and trotting.
Next Saturday, the lesson will be a walk through the forest :-)
Pan con Tomate
7 September 2008, 20:59. Filed under: food and health life in spain
For those of you not familiar with a delightful Catalan side-dish called Pan con Tomate – it is simply fresh farm bread covered with Olive oil and tomato and typically eaten alone or with accompaniments.
There are a few alternatives, mostly fake, so here is a good recipe. The main thing is to get good quality produce, preferably organic.
Ingredients:
- Fresh tomatoes, organic if possible. Slice the tomatoes in half
- Farm-style bread, sliced thickly (baguettes also taste very good, although white bread is processed)
- Extra Virgen Olive oil
- Fresh clove of garlic, peel removed
Procedure:
- Grill or toast the bread
- Rub the garlic onto the surface of the bread
- Squeeze the tomato onto the bread. Be generous
- Pour the olive oil on to taste
That’s it! To make the dish more substantial as a main course dish, add something you like – grilled vegetables for example.
