Elastic Shoelaces? Man still not in Álora

Elastic Shoelaces? Man still not in Álora

 

 

Less than a fortnight to go before we head back to El Valle del Sol. Only four more days at FareShare too. Not much time left to save the world from waste.

 

 

"Just bin down to that London. It were all reet but nowt special."


One of the pleasures of spending time in The British Isles is taking advantage of the innumerable cultural activities on offer. No need to travel to the capital city either. Manchester City Art Gallery was a bit depleted but worth visiting just for its Pre- Raphaelites and Birmingham's Sarehole Mill and  Museum of the Jewellery Quarter are little gems.  Kiftsgate  Court Gardens were a first for us; nice gardens, poor food.

Last Saturday we went to the  Lowry exhibition at  Tate Britain.

Laurence Stephen Lowry came from the North of England. The south never got what he was doing and still doesn't.

'Even when a post-war Labour government had eradicated many of these things, Lowry, a Lancashire Tory, continued to see the poor as unevolved, their by now anachronistic sufferings too useful a subject to sacrifice to mere truth-to-life. Its subtle palette apart, I find his work repellent. As to the people who buy it, well ….'

Charles Darwent. The Independent, 29/6/2013

This is the first exhibition of his work in a public London gallery since his death in 1976. Lowry turned down five 'honours' including a knighthood. He described himself as 'a Manchester man'.
 His figures are not 'matchsticks' and, as far as I know, he didn't paint on 'cardboard boxes from the shops' either. The exhibition at the Tate Britain concentrates, not surprisingly, on his urban scenes and industrial landscapes. Two thirds are on loan from private owners, including most those loaned by The Lowry in Salford. Why don't many public galleries own Lowry paintings? There's one ('The Procession') from 'Gallery Oldham' which used to be called  'The Oldham Art Gallery' for some reason.



                                      Self Portrait 1957

Today we went to the Birmingham Energy Recovery Facility at Tyseley. I always thought it was called 'the tip'. It's where we take things we can't get in the bins.

 

Tyseley Energy Recovery Facility

 Mrs. Sánchez arranged the guided visit and it was litterally mindblowing. Eleven of us were greeted by the top man, Steve, who issued us with tea and biscuits , hard hats, safety specs and high vis. jackets. The TERF is just a big incinerator that generates 25-30 megawatts of electricity (enough to power 40,000 homes). It's better than using landfill and burns everything that is put in dustbins including glass and metal (at 950 degrees C) and doesn't produce any nasty gases or smells. Steve says that it will only take 3 people to run the latest plants. Good news for Veolia the French company making the profits; bad news for the workers they won't need. (the pay is rubbish anyway).

 

Take my tip. Take a trip to the tip

 

                                     In the Turbine Room. It's dark in here.

                                       

 

One I made earlier

Yesterday I bought some shoelaces at Timpson's in Kings Heath. When I got them home I found they were elastic. What's the point of elastic shoelaces, chocolate teapots, glass hammers, paper umbrellas, inflatable dartboards etc. ?

August 20th. 2013

Three lemons left.

Three Lemons Left. Time to think about heading back to Alora. My supply of  wine is going down fast too. (pause for a glug). One black pudding to go, a bag of olives and that's about it. One of those lemons looks a bit ropey too. 30p+ in the shops here!

The old Español has slipped too. I went to a 'meetup' of Spanish/English speakers in Birmingham on Sunday but no-one spoke to me so I went home. Ignorant bastards. They all appeared to be under 20 and on the pull. I was invisible. I'm trying to keep up my Spanish by Reading Spanish books (book). Also I'm watching re-runs of a Spanish soap called 'Cuéntame Como Pasó' set in the late 60s. It's really good and the daughter's a stunner. She bought a bikini in the last episode.

http://www.rtve.es/television/cuentame/temporada-1/



Have a look if you fancy brushing up your Spanish. She's third from the left.

What a fantastic summer!! 3 weeks of sun and heat. We got it right this time.

I found out that I've been driving in England illegally for the last ten years. Apparently driving a car with foreign plates in the UK is illegal if you are a UK resident. Who'd a thought? I was assured by a very nice lady in Coin that I could get away with it as 'the pólice here probably don't know.' I imagined myself explaining this to a post graduate UK traffic bobby and decided to CHANGE CARS. I also have doubts about my Gibralter issued  insurance cover whilst I'm here although my insurance agent (also in Coin coincidentally) assures me that even though it says máximum 3 month's travel outside Spain 'they won't know when you arrived.' In the process of checking all this I found out that Mrs. Sánchez has been driving uninsured for nearly three years. ( I trust that GCHQ  will not pass these facts on to anyone who matters). What a legal nightmare!

Meanwhile I am being pestered by young people, some well spoken and possibly from good families, who call  me several times daily to suggest that I should claim for injuries I didn't sustain last June while I was sitting in my living room and a car bumped into mine outside on the road.

 

Do you know anyone else who wants to drive a UK registered car in Spain for 6 months in a year? If you do, ask them where they get their insurance from. (whence they obtain insurance cover, Paddy). It's nigh on imposible. Bleeding meercats, bulldogs, Babushka admirals,  It took me four weeks to find some cover and 3 days to buy a new car.

Not from this lot.

AVIVA came up trumps. I think.

Thanks.

Meanwhile....NEWS FROM ÁLORA

These pictures  of the Caminito del Rey (see blog 1/1/2013) appeared on the Álora website. The news is that work is about to start on the refurbishment of the pathway. This news appears regularly. The pictures are 'artist's impressions.

Can't wait.

1/8/2013