Everything changes…except when it doesn’t

Lately I have been thinking about a beautiful song by Argentine artist Mercedes Sosa called “Todo cambia” (Everything changes). Here she is in action: She transformed Argentinian popular music over a four decade-long career and became a hero of the left in Latin America when she was forced into exile in the late 1970s, during

2024, Akeurizar odyssey

On our New Year’s blog entry – written in February, I know – I wrote about our priorities for this year. Top of the list was planting those avocado trees we didn’t manage to plant last year. So, I am happy to announce that we can tick that one off our list. The avocados have

In praise of handmade things

Yesterday as we were siting down to have lunch we heard a common cuckoo (cuculus canorus, in case someone is interested). This is normally taken as a sure sign that spring is here since this bird spends its winters in Africa and returns every year in spring to breed. There is a saying in this

Harro Herri

Hello, we are back. Apologies for the long break since the last post. It is not for lack of things to tell but because we have been so busy that we have not had the chance to sit down and write. On my next post, I will tell you about progress on the veg. patch,

Singing in verse

I recently attended a bertsolari session and I thought that some of you might have a cultural and linguistic interest in this peculiar practice and form of popular entertainment where individuals sing off the cuff verses. I say entertainment and that is basically where it all began. I can imagine pairs of drunken men singing

Our baby boy turns two

Important news: Floppy, the fearless kid goat turned two on Sunday (18th Feb., in case you want to send him birthday cards and presents next year). I know, I know, I should keep the term ‘baby boy’ for humans like our Godson Christopher who has a birthday coming up….tomorrow. Happy Birthday big C! Except, that

2024, here we go.

Hello, we are back, much later than planned, but still here, writing about New Years resolutions in the middle of February. It has been pretty busy of late. Some people start the year with their New Years resolutions, giving up smoking, going to the gym every week, reading Joyce’s Dubliners…. By the way, for anyone

Oh dear, or the rights and wrongs of eating deer meat

Welcome back and a Happy New Year to our many thousands of readers. We hope Christmas was a blast. It feels like a long time ago already. I seem to remember that I ended the year with a suggestion for the first blog entry of 2024 in the form of a discussion on the rights and

Bizkor goes to the beach and other Christmas adventures

So yes, Bizkor went to the beach today for the very first time in her life. She was unimpressed by it all. She is certainly not a water loving dog, and retreated swiftly from the lapping waves as the water came within inches of her paws. Still, since digging holes is one of her favourite

Feverish dreams of republicanism

So, my friends, today is 6th December, a Bank Holiday in this part of the world. Apparently today we celebrate our much internationally heralded 1978 Constitution and, by extension, Spain’s return to democracy after forty years of ruthless dictatorship. I think it is a good moment to reflect on the state of the country. That