Mizmoe

I am sorry if I am repeating myself, but the subject of ex pats is being discussed on the web, either retirees who have sold up and come to Spain for a better life only to discover than when they decide to return to the UK, they cannot sell or even rent out their homes. In other words, they are stuck.

Again, these articles discuss the “50 somethings” who also sold up, bought a bargain in Spain, then lived off their income hoping to find a job. In this area none are available unless you are employed by another Brit or fluent in Spanish. Those that are available being low paid.

In the last area we lived, investors were buying off plan, then discovering the rental income was very low, ie 420 euros for a 2 bed 2 bath apartment with living room, kitchen and outside space, plus the use of a communal pool. In this case substantially less than their mortgage payments. A number of the people we knew handed their keys back and walked away, losing money in the process.

When we arrived in Spain we rented and are still doing so. Until I am absolutely sure which area I will settle in, or even if I settle in Spain at all, I will continue to rent. I would strongly advise others to do the same. Ignore these people on TV who say “sell up and move out, that way you will have to integrate and settle in your new home”. I advise you to make sure that the area (and country) are where you want to spend the rest of your life before you fully commit. True the first year is hard, but you get past it if you try. If it isn´t what you want, go home knowing you still have a home to go to. For me, a safety net is so very important. Moving to a new country is a major decision and should be treated as such.

Yet again tragedy strikes on the Spanish Costa’s as 3 children die of drowning. The same scene plays out repeatedly on television with the camera showing a close up of a grieving mother either clutching the lifeless body of her child or a photograph.

I have seen very young children in the sea and community pools without lifeguards, parents or a responsible adult in attendance. On the whole the children were poor swimmers and unaware of the risks involved, or ignored them!

I do agree in allowing children to grow up and take risks, but surely this should be limited to acceptable risk (or maybe I have been involved in assessing risks in the workplace for far too long). Surely parenting includes leading your child through the learning process leading to adulthood, without being “over protective”.

I have to say that on the beach I was on today, not only were lifeguards in attendance, but police on quad bikes and a helicopter, the holiday season is really underway! We actually saw someone helped to safety.

There is a knack to eating Pipas, that traditional Spanish snack.

You pop it in your mouth, crack open the shell, scoop out the pip with your tongue, spit out the shell (health implications will be covered later), then chomp said pip, all in one fluid movement!

Why discuss this not too interesting subject? Simple, I just cannot get the hang of it which makes me stand out in a crowd. Also spitting the shell out onto the road, bus, tram, bar or while watching the Fiesta makes me feel as if I am commiting major some offence, a litter lout so to speak.

Topical Tuesday is a new meme intended to inspire the art of discussion via our blogs. Each week, on a Tuesday, a new topic will be placed on the main site for people to post about. Topics are open, and don’t necessarily need to be intended for serious discussion - after all a meme should be nothing if not fun!

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NO. Well not much! When I first went abroad it was by bus from London to France. Many of my fellow passengers took a suitcase full of food from home, tinned beans, tea bags, coffee (to France), bacon, sausages, cheese, fresh milk and even burgers. I admit to being surprised, this is a little like taking coals to Newcastle (an old saying but basically there was a large coal mining area up there and they didn´t need to import coal). What would I take to Spain if I was going on holiday? Only one thing springs immediately into my very slow brain, HP fruity sauce!

Oh, and if I were young and looking for “love”, then I would take condoms cos you can buy them in the supermarket at home, whereas in Spain you have to go into the Pharmacy and they are behind the counter!

I have been reading articles posted on the web about retirees and those in their 50s selling up in the UK and buying property in the hope of a better life in the sun. Many are now finding that they are less well off due to the falling exchange rate between sterling and the Euro.

With regard to property, one lady we know purchased a town house 10 years ago and now finds that she is unable to sell it for the price she paid and cannot find tenants to rent the property. When we lived in Huescar there were two identical town houses up for rental in the same urbanization with similar decor and furniture. The Spanish owned property asked for a montly rent of 300 euros, the Brit wanted 495 euros. Guess who rented out the house and who didn´t? Many Brits expect the same rental income they would get in the UK and that would appear, on the surface, to be their problem. The majority of the prospective tenants in inland Spain are Spanish and they will not pay high rents charged by the Brits. In addition, the Spanish are willing to rent a property out for however long you want it (in most cases - there are exceptions), the Brits put a maximum of 11 months as apparently after that you qualify for “squatters rights”. Or so we were told by a British estate agent.

As far as work is concerned for the 50 somethings, in a lot of areas there isn´t any. The only work available is offered at minimum wage and is usually in the service sector. Unless you have excellent Spanish, you will not be offered, for instance a job similar to that you did in the UK, ie IT or management, no matter how well qualified you are. And there are only so many “home finders” or “estate agents” that the market will support, especially in the current financial climate. Many have already gone down or are struggling.

As a pensioner, I find my income has dropped quite a lot and I am sure other Brits whose sole income comes from the UK are experiencing the same problem. I think when I last compared the exchange rate when we arrived compared with the current rate, my income has fallen by about 16%.

I jest of course, but I will not be held responsible for bottles that blow up and discharge the contents all over your kitchen.

8 pints cold water
2 large organic lemons
100 grams fresh root ginger
450 grams caster sugar
2 rounded tsp tartaric acid (to people like me that is cream of tartar)
1 level tsp of dried yeast, a little sugar and a little blood temperature water

You will also need a large pan that holds 8 (or more) pints of water, a large jug, a glass bowl, a coarse grater, a clean wooden spoon, glass Demijohn with a capacity of a gallon, plus a bubble seal for said demijohn, juicer, zester, very fine sieve and some storage bottles (preferably plastic - 8 x 1 pint bottles - if you can get them or 9 x 500 ml if you can´t)

Method:
Put all the cold water into the pan and bring to boiling point
In the meantime, zest the lemons, coarsely grate the ginger and place in a bowl, add the sugar
Cut the lemons in half (around the horizon), and squeeze out all the juice, place in the jug (have them at room temperature and roll them about on the surface to make juicing easier)
Add the tartaric acid to the lemon juice and stir
Place the dried yeast, a little sugar and warm water into the glass bowl, stir, put aside
When the water comes up to boiling point, add the sugar, ginger and lemon zest to the water, turn off the heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved
Leave the water to cool to about blood heat, cover with a tea towel
Stir occasionally
Then add the lemon juice and tartaric acid to the water, followed by the yeast mixture
Transfer the contents of the pan to a jug and pour into the Demijohn
Seal the demijohn with the bubble seal (after sterilising both the seal and Demijohn)
Leave in a warm place for 48 hours
When the mixture has been standing for the required time, sieve contents (through Muslin lined sieve) back into the jug and from the jug into the bottles, leaving an air gap
Screw the caps tightly onto the plastic bottles
Leave at room temperature for 24 hours then refrigerate for 3 days for the yeast to settle

This last step I am told is very important otherwise you will have the same problem my Mother did when she once made it, ie the bottles will explode and discharge their fizzy and very sticky contents all over your kitchen or wherever you store said bottles

As I said, I do not like Ginger Beer, either home made or shop bought. The only ginger products I enjoy are Ginger Nut Biscuits and Parkin! Pity as it is so good for you. Or so I am told. If you like Ginger Beer, then enjoy after it has been refrigerated. My Mum used to leave it a little longer so that the Ginger Beer was drier than this recipe, just try it and see which you prefer

Gosh yet another lousy day, other than finding a new place to live. One of my daughters friends has just been diagnosed with “multiple tumours” and basically … nothing the doctors can do to help her, so it is terminal. An appointment has come through for a specialist doctor which is her last hope. As this woman has a young family, I hope a miracle occurs. But as I don´t believe there is such a thing, I will not hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

On a more personal footing, my left breast (the site of my tumour four years ago) now feels uncomfortable and much lumpier than previously. So it is back to the doctor.

I am again having difficulty coping with the heat, which is again increasing here in Alicante after a brief respite. I would say it was around 40 degrees again today. I saw on the news an item about earth tremours and as it was local, ie Valencian TV, and Alicant was mentioned, that the epicentre was here! This time I didn´t feel a thing, probably asleep. So far in the 18 months we have been in Spain we have experienced three (including the last), earth tremours!

I looked into the history of earth tremours and Almoradi was destroyed and had to be totally rebuilt (cannot remember the date but it was a very long time ago), Torrvieja was also destroyed and I assume, but probably wrong, that it was about the same period. It would be just our luck for it to happen again. As I have said on many occasions, it is better to be born lucky rather than rich, I am neither of the two, ie either lucky or rich.

I would just love a nice homemade lemonade, the sort Mum used to make when we were children. Tasty, tart but sweetish at the same time. She also made ginger beer, which I didn´t like too much, but my parents and sister loved it. I remember one year there was a lot of noise from the pantry, the bottles had “exploded” and ginger beer was all over the shelves, walls and floor, even the ceiling was covered. Things were much simpler then and I wish I could go back to that time to live out the rest of my life. Have to say I dislike the modern “uncaring” attitude many people have adopted.

Many years ago (have you noticed most of the food I love was found many years ago!), I was treated to a lovely dessert, ie Mississippi Mud Pie in a pub run by a young chef in Normanton near Wakefield. It wasn´t until I started trying to find a recipe to make this treat at home that I realised it was the personal recipe of this excellent chef. I cannot find anything like it on the web or in cookery books. It didn´t have ice cream in, and it had a pastry base, chocolate cake (rather rich) and a creamy concoction on the top! That is as much as I can remember, my main memory is the taste … minty the first time and coffee the second time I ate it.

Lightly butter and line an 8 inch cake tin
Set oven to 170 degrees Celsius

250 grams of butter, cut up
150 grams of (Lindt) dark chocolate (about 70% cocoa solids), chopped
440 grams golden caster sugar
250 ml of hot water
2 tbsp strong espresso coffee
80 ml of coffee flavoured liqueur
225 grams plain flour
35 grams self raising flour
225 grams good quality dark cocoa powder
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Place the butter, chocolate, caster sugar, water and coffee into a saucepan
Put over a low (ie gentle) heat and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the chocolate melts
At this point add the coffee liqueur
Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl
Leave to cool for 15 minutes
Sieve the flour and cocoa together, then whisk into the mixture
When combined, add the eggs and beat in until thoroughly combined
Spoon the batter into the cake tin
Put into the centre of a preheated oven and bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes … or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean
If the top of the cake starts to brown too quickly, cover the cake with a sheet of greaseproof paper or kitchen foil, then continue baking, remove from oven when done!
Leave in tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and remove lining paper

Ice with coffee icing, or chocolate ganache

Serve with a cup of coffee

Well this month continues along the same lines as the previous post, this time Lisa´s friend has a 9 month old daughter who has contacted viral meningitis and is rather poorly. I do not normally pray to the higher deity but on this occasion I will break my rule. As I don´t believe there are any higher deities, I assume it will fall on deaf ears.

I love liquorice and have been searching the web for companies who will supply my favourite treat and deliver it to Spain for me, quickly! I am sure there is a company out there, but haven´t found anything I want on the various sites as yet. I did find one who sold brittle liquorice, but somehow this product has now disappeared off the list of available treats!

My daughter went to a medieval fair and bought me some pure liquorice, liquorice root and some sweets similar to Imps in the UK. I love them all. I also found a recipe for liquorice tea, but haven´t tried it yet. I just hope it isn´t like the cough medicine dad used to drink (prescribed by his GP) many years ago, it was horrible and didn´t seem to be much use

1 (or 2 sticks) of liquorice root - very gently scrape of the bark, cut roots into small pieces, pour over hot water and leave to infuse for a few minutes until the desired strength is achieved. Strain and enjoy, discarding the liquorice root in the process. I will try it sometime and report back if it is as dire as I think it will be.

Daughter has visited the apartment in Almoradi - supposed to be in a nice area, actually it was a bit run down! Flat was quite dirty and obviously nobody had been in since the builder´s left over a year ago, there were no electrical goods and one of the lifts did not work, the other was too slow to catch a cold and took over 10 minutes to arrive. It was very small and the living room was dominated by an ugly black spiral staircase (near the centre of the room and the first thing you saw as you entered), kitchen tiny though functional, bathrooms okay, bedrooms tiny. Just large enough to fit in a double bed, two bedside cabinets and that is the sum total of the furniture you can get in there. Outside space via spiral staircase, excellent, pool was also small but very clean and the area around the pool was attractive. Bus service, shops, bars - non existent in the immediate vicinity. General feel of neighbourhood was found “wanting”, ie she didn´t like it and felt uncomfortable mainly due to the men of various nationalities who stared, and not in a nice way. Food in the bar she visited, well the service was slow and staff unpleasant, the food was bland, beer okay. Guess what? Are we going to live there, well … NO. I am sure the population of Almoradi will not be sorry about that. The final comment, “I prefer Torrevieja”! Some statement as she doesn´t like that area either, but it looks like we will be staying for the short term in a town house in Torrevieja.

We have been informed by the “mad Cuban”, that the Cuban and Russion mafia operate in Torreveija. Oh the joys of living in the extended European Union. How does he know? Simple he lived there for a while and “socialised” with these guys.

It just hasn´t been a good month so far and signs are it will not improve.

I am having to travel to the UK as soon as my passport comes through, (or an emergency passport if that doesn´t). That means a flight to Madrid, trip to British Embassy (or so I am told) and from there a flight to the UK. Not looking forward to it as I will be on my own. My mother who is 88 years old is having “tests”, not sure what for but she has asked to see me. She would not do that without cause as she is a “tough cookie”. Somehow I have an awful feeling about this. Just hope she holds on until after I arrive in the UK.

Some good news would be okay right now, but that isn´t to be … Lisa has made 4 friends (very good friends) since her arrival in Spain, 2 died, and now one has been hurt in a car accident. Jinx, or not? On top of that a friend in the USA has had a stroke and is lucky to be alive. This man is in his early 30s!

I don´t want to know what is around the corner for me. Right now burying my head in the sand sounds good.