Looking out for this

 

 

Hi!

 

Again it has been too long that I posted here, but I had my reasons...

Five weeks ago I fell over ' I don't know what' and seriously bruised my right hand fingers and broke a tooth.

 

The repair works have taken lots of time, visiting the dentist every week for a root canal session and temporary crown. Visiting the trauma surgeon for my fingers. My middle finger had a joint out of its place and had to be immobilized after it had been put right again. At this time it is still taped to the index finger and I have to exercise as much as possible.

Until now I have always enjoyed a very good health, so for me this was quite an experience, and not a nice one. At the same time I realize how lucky I always have been and still am, compared to people who have ongoing health issues. I hope and expect that I will be able to bend my fingers to an acceptable level again.

 

So, in between feeling miserable for not being able to use my hand, I have been reading and, oh happy day!, preparing our first trip with the Roadtrek  motorhome, after four long years!

 

We have plans to travel through Spain in some weeks and the above beach is one that is on our list.

 

It is Cathedral beach at the Gallician coast near the city of Lugo.

 

I look forward to this trip so much. My DH has converted the electrical system from US to European. Our generator, boiler and microwave have also been replaced, so everything should be ready for, I hope, many travels here on the European mainland.

 

But starting in Spain first, our lovely 'new' home country

 

Hope to be back soon...

Regina

Painting and some more...

 

 

Hi!

 

Besides traveling, I have been doing lots of other stuff like

 

- sewing fabric baskets and little pouches to (hopefully) sell

at the 'kingsmarket' of our club next Wednesday

 

Dutch king Willem Alexander has his birthday then and this is being

 celebrated in Dutch communities all over the world,

 so also in our little corner of the world in Spain 

 

- finishing a series of handmade postcards. I have about one hundred ready at the moment,

 so I really can show something at the above market

 

- last but not least: I have been painting!

 

The theme was 'water' and I chose to paint in an abstract way

After two years of my start with painting, I feel it is time

for me to try painting in a different way. I am not particularly

fond of painting after a picture, but it has been a good

exercise to get to know the material and tools. Not that

I will paint abstract only and 'for ever' now, but it feels good

to change every now and then.

In the picture below is a detail of 'Water'

 

 

I will post the full painting after it has been hung next Thirsday

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

thanks for visiting,

 

Regina



Our destination

 

 

With these storyboards I will conclude my recent travel experiences in pictures

(before my many visitors wonder if I ever will show some creativity or art again...haha)

 

In the back country of the city of Murcia is a famous spring. This seems strange at first, because the Murcia area is very dry and arid; I wouldn't say the landscape is lovely to put it mildly. But there, some 50 km from the sea in the mountains, you have the village of Archena with its spring.

 

We found a free campersite and could easily walk to the wellness and spa facilities. These are surrounded by some four-star-rated hotels that you can see at the right. The streets were paved in a lovely square pattern and the buildings were all in terra cotta colours, very stylish

 

 

The Segura river ran through the bottom of the enclosed space that was formed by high rocks and along the sides there was lush vegetation, that might be different in summer though...

 

We spent a day in several thermal baths and felt really reborn when we returned home the day after.

 

That was it for this Sunday, I will now go for the beach. Just some sitting there and enjoying the sun.

Hopefully you enjoy your Sunday too!

 

Regina



What we saw during our motorhome trip (2)

 

 

Like yesterday's storyboard, this one is built of pictures of typical Spanish 'things'

(sorry, I am looking for a better word in English but don't succeed)

 

The first one is near a museum shop where all kind of local products were being sold. The vehicle is a typical agricultural appearance and quite handy on the small roads and terraces of the vineyards.

 

When we were ready to continue our trip, we had to cross this bridge. There are lots of these old bridges in our neighborhood. They cross the usually dry 'barancs', but in time of rain need all the height to enable you to drive there

 

Ah, siesta time in the village. Everything is quiet, all tiny little shops closed, except for the bars and terraces. Very, very Spanish!!

 

This mural had the quality of a 'tromp d'oeuil', so realistic with the market stalls...

 

At the end of day 1 we arrived at our final destination and got a glimpse of the 'grandeur' of the place!

 

More on that in the next issue, see you!

 

Regina

What we saw during our motorhome trip (1)

(please click the storyboard for a better view)

 

In this storyboard you can see from left to right:

 

-gourds

 

-firewood near a roadside grill

 

- almond trees

 

- the Alcoy castle

 

-baskets

 

These pictures were taken on day 1 of our trip. At that time most almond trees had lost their blossoms and fragile leaves had started to come out.

 

Firewood is called 'lena' in Spanish, though it is mostly somewhat thicker than these fine ones; I suppose this size is to get the fire started

 

The gourds were wonderful, they looked like hams from a distance. Until today I have not yet discovered them in any Spanish garden.

 

Baskets are being made  near our village, in the village of Gata de Gorgos. There are several shops selling all kind of basketry, hats, furniture and rugs. Gata de Gorgos is also hosting a textile exposition once a year. Quilt like textile, fabric paintings and so on hang from the balconies in one of the narrow village streets, out in the open! No quilt police here, no protection from the weather, simply exposed outside. Last year I visited the annual expo on its final day and by that time many of the works had lost their colour, paint had washed out. I suppose you have to be earlier to really enjoy the art, it may be a Spanish 'something', but seeing this for the first time I was in a kind of shock, as I am used to the tender loving care with which quilts in other countries are being handled.

 

The Alcoy castle is on top of a very narrow hill. To me it really looked like the way a castle was described in history books. Maybe I can visit it one day...

 

That was it for today. As always: thanks for visiting!

 

Regina

Villages while driving by and through

 

 

 

 

In this post some images of Spanish villages we drove through on our recent motorhome trip.

 

As you can see: no exuberant colours, the dark pink house was about the only one colored one we saw. If I miss one thing of the Caribic it's just the colours...

 

What we see everywhere are electricity cables, most are still hanging from poles and run from one house to the other, simply crossing streets. It is therefore very difficult to make pictures without these, so I chose to simply show!

 

In a future post I will show the landscape which reminded me somewhat of New Mexico, same dry atmosphere, even something that looked like a canyon to me. But that is for next time!

 

Bye for now, thanks for visiting,

 

Regina

Roadtrek trip!

Finally! After over three years we made our first camper trip in

Spain.

 

It was a test to see if the necessary changes to the electrical system worked out fine. Well, they did!

 

We went into the mountain range that runs parallel to the coast.

A complete different world it is, over there. Sleepy villages with very tiny streets. Many tints of terra and ocre, no frills, hardly romantic.

Yet the country is charming, but unlike France not idyllic. I love the no-nonsense atmosphere here, and above all I love the very gentle people.

 

Always willing to help, being friendly and subtly improving my sometimes poor pronunciation of Spanish

 

 

 

 

Back home I put the photographs on the computer and even started to edit a few. The one above is a mix of two pictures, one of a field with grasses and tiny flowers, the other of harvest baskets

It is a start, more will follow.

 

See you next time!

 

Regina