Handicrafts by Kate Perry and other ramblings

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Flat Susan´s Spanish Adventure: Part Two

As  promised, here I am again with the rest of Flat Susan´s activities while she was here with us.

Flat Susan has accompanied me to most places that I go, including church (she likes the singing best), and to my sewing group. She has watched us knitting, sewing, crocheting, and just chatting, but she was very interested to see my friend Sue making some bobbin lace.

In the afternoons she sat with me as I finished off the crochet blanket that I was making for my Africa project. When it was done I laid it out for her to see, and she chose to try out the red square.
I had to make sure I put it away after that so she couldn´t creep back on it when I wasn´t looking. I wouldn´t want to send her off to Africa by mistake!


She also came with us when we walked the dogs over on the campo. It was lovely to see them running around, but she was very impressed when they ran back to make sure we were still there. I told her that twice we have seen wild tortoise over there, and I think she was a bit disappointed that we couldn´t find one for her to see, but they are very protected and we would not have been allowed to take it away for her.

After our lovely sunny days, we all find the evenings very cold and we are so grateful to light our newly mended fire, which makes the sitting room so cosy. But Flat Susan knew instinctively that she mustn´t get too close to the flames, as she might go rather floppy! So she preferred to keep warm by snuggling into Tango´s lovely soft fur.



We had one more exciting day out for F.Susan that hadn´t been in our plans. My friend had intended to go to Lubrin bread festival, but her husband had to go to UK for family reasons, so we said we would take her. Lubrin is a little village in the mountains to the north of us, and it was high enough to be quite chilly there, so we all wrapped up well, and F.Susan stayed safely tucked into my pocket. She didn´t want to see out of the car window because it is a very narrow, winding road, and she thought it was a bit scary, but she did pop out in time to see the village as it came into view.

We settled at a café table by the plaza and watched the preparations. F.Susan liked the coloured flags on all the verandas, and I explained that the red and yellow ones are the Spanish flag, but the green and white ones are the flag of Andalucia. 

The bread festival marks San Sebastian day, so I took Susan down to the church to see his statue. She loved the red roses and the fresh bread all around the statue, so I let her creep up and sit among them for a while. She looks very tiny hiding in there.
Back at our table we joined with everyone else in buying a tiny bread circle to pin  to our coats, but Susan thought mine was just right for her to sit in. A friend who lives in Lubrin, told us that the children had made these in school during the previous week.
After a mass in the church, the fun began as larger bread rings were thrown from all the verandas and caught by the crowds below. 

The men carried ropes that they threaded their bread onto, and it was a real competition to see who could catch the most. Some caught so many that they needed help to carry them.
Because so many were needed, some of the bread had been cooked days in advance and was very hard, so we warned F.Susan to take cover, but she was so excited that she couldn´t stay hidden and she was even more happy when Chris caught our first ring.
She wanted to sit in that one too. Fortunately it was a nice fresh one, and quite soft, so we broke it and all had a little taste.
It was a very ´exuberant´celebration, and F. Susan wanted to record some of it to share with you, and give you a taste of the atmosphere there, so I took a little video as the procession passed our plaza. Here is a link to it. I hope it works for you. It looks a bit fierce but really it was a very good-natured event. Everyone is happy on Fiesta days.

On Friday I took F.Susan with me to Turre market. She loved all the colours and bustle, but it was a very windy day so I made sure she was pinned tightly to my jumper.
Then, as it was the last time I would be taking her out, we drove down to the beach at Mojacar Playa. The beach itself was almost deserted.
 
It can be a bit uncomfortable there on such a wild day, as the wind whips the sand up against your legs, but it was an off-shore wind so it wasn´t too bad, and we stood a while just enjoying the noise and sound of the waves breaking on the sand.
F.Susan was delighted to find some flowers growing out of the sand. She thought they were just the right size for her and insisted on sitting in them.
Then she spotted a patch of sea grasses with their furry seed heads, and quickly climbed on to one of these. It was so windy that I had to pick a grass stem to tie her on, to keep her safe, but she had a great ride, swaying in the wind.
Then we crossed the road at the big roundabout, and stopped to watch the fountain, and admire the red poinsettias still blooming around its base.
The white building behind the fountain is called Parque Comercial, and it is a complex of clothes shops, cafés, a supermarket and a collection of fancy goods and tourist shops. We went into one of these so that F.Susan could chose a tiny Indalo man to fix on the tag I am making for her to take back to Neet. Indalo man is a little stick man holding what appears to be a rainbow, and he was found in some cave drawings to the north of here. He has become the icon for Andalucia, and appears somewhere in just about every house, as well as on street furniture, and various small items such as jewelry and leather goods, that are a favourite buy for holidaymakers to take home as a souvenir. Here are the railings along the new path that runs all along the road leading up to Mojacar Pueblo, and you can see Indalo man on every second panel.
So now it is time for Flat Susan to pack her suitcase and head back to the UK. She has been travelling for nearly eighteen months, so I guess she will be quite happy to go home and rest, and share all her adventures with the folk there. We have loved having her here, and I think she also enjoyed her time with us. Safe journey Flat Susan. Thank you for visiting us.



10 comments:

kiwimeskreations said...

That F Susan was getting a bit assertive there for a bit, wanting to climb the grasses and the like!! Sounds as though she had a vey busy and informative time though :-).
Thank you for sharing her journey with you.
Blessings
Maxine

Virginia said...

She's certainly had an eventful time since she's been with you!

JoZart Designs said...

What a super time she's had with you, sharing all the area's traditions and experiences life in Andalucia. You'll miss her when she leaves for home as I did as, I found, that she makes you look and enjoy the things around you so much more.
Jo x

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful time she has had in sunny Spain. We have not been to Spain for a couple of years and I really miss it. Ali x

Neet said...

What a wonderful time she has had with you and thank you for the Indalo Man you both went to buy.
I love the sound of the bread festival, some of this kind of thing is what I always want to see when I visit other countries. Must learn to time my trips with festivals! Thank Chris too for catching the bread ring - it made it so much more interesting that you had your own.
Loved seeing the day at the beach and so glad she got tied to a grass stem - I would have hated for her to try to fly home on the wind.
Thanks a lot for the visit
Hugs, Neet xx

Lisca said...

I really enjoyed reading about Flat Susan's adventures in Spain! She certainly had a great time and saw many exciting things, including swinging on a stem!
I hope F Susan wasn't afraid of the lace maker's cushion with all those pins! I dabble with lace making but I really miss my teacher and haven't found one yet here (we live between Baza and Guadix). When the weather is a bit nicer I will get my lacemaking stuff out again and sit on the patio and do some more.
Thanks for sharing F Susan's stay.
Lisca

MaryH said...

Hi Kate, so sorry to hear you're still having internet difficulties. Today Blogger is being very slow when I visit international blogs...seems to be a bit faster with the USA ones. So enjoyed your post and F. Susan's adventures. She is quite a brave little lady to perch herself on all these fun places, and it was delightful seeing her sitting in the colorful places. So enjoyed seeing all these fabulous pictures and your photography skills have me envious. So much color & lovely blue skies. What fun to be able to enjoy such a festivity with the locals and that bread looked delicious. Hope you had some wonderful coffee or chocolate to keep you warm on the cooler days. Glad your fireplace is all fixed so you can be cozy of an evening. Big Hugs & Big thanks for sharing a part of your world with me this evening.

Darnell said...

You did a brilliant two-part series on your time with Flat Susan, Kate!! You treated her (and us) to an amazing journey in your part of the world!! Hugs, Darnell

HeARTworks said...

I'm glad Flat Susan had a good time with you! And that she did not get lost!What a splendid host you've been! patsy

Sarn said...

Looks like both you AND Flat Susan have been enjoying themselves!

Fun posts Kate, TFS.

Hugs, Sarn xxx