The Andalucian - December 2014

Editor’s Slice Hello

Well we’re nearly there again — Christmas. Is it me or has this year really flown by?

Hard to believe that we’re in the middle of winter and the sun is still out. Read the ELEacademy! article on page 42 where they discuss with us the trend of moving to Andalucía and the way they can help you finally grasp the Spanish language — maybe learning the lingo could be one of your New Year’s resolutions!

We’ve crammed this issue full of festive fun with our Bumper Christmas quiz on page 24, the recipe on page 34 for cranberry snow cubes — they have been tested and tasted and I can assure you they’re great.

Of course, not everyone is looking forward to this time of year for many reasons.

We have an article on page 40 which you may find of some comfort. Our thoughts are with everyone who is not looking forward to the festivtites; it is that time of year when emotions run strong and any loss seems to hurt ever more deeply. Christmas is a time for peace, whatever situation you find yourself in, and Sarah has an interesting article on page 13 about this.

As I race towards the end of this Editorial Slice and the New Year races towards me, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our readers, advertisers and contributors for their continued support. The team at The Andalucian would like to wish you a very peaceful Christmas and a great 2015.

See you next year!

Mike www.facebook.com/theandalucian The Andalucían X5092417D Calle Juanita Romero s/n, Campillos 29320, Malaga Contact us Telephone: +34 952 723075 Mobile: +34 627 683380 info@theandalucian.com www.theandalucian.com Owner: Claire Marriott Editor: Mike Marriott 2

Special thanks to our writers and contributors Alice Marriott Ella Durham Heather Jones John Sharrock Taylor Sarah Jackson Shannon McCarthy Tricia Johnson

Next deadline: 11 January We won’t be beaten on advertising prices

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Trade Talk

Don’t just

walk away Tumobilhome Spain S.L. is an English-owned and run company and is now Spain’s largest dealer of pre-owned residential spec mobile homes as well as being manufacturers of new mobile homes.

We buy, sell, transport and store residential specification mobile homes throughout Spain and Portugal. We have a main sales base in Madrid and we work all over the Iberian peninsula, the Balearics and the Canary Islands.

We specialise in helping vendors who have been unable to sell due to difficult market conditions, and circumstances now dictate they must bring the sale of their unit to a successful conclusion. We offer free legal advice to inform vendors of their rights here in Spain with our own in-house lawyer. Clients who are having difficulties with site owners and unreasonable rental contracts can then make a more informed choice. Regrettably, some of the site owners we have dealt with in the past have taken advantage of the vendors’ inability to speak the language (we are Spanish speakers) and a lack of understanding of the law. We are here to redress that balance and help.

We can arrange all aspects of mobile home purchase and sales such as the removal, disconnection, plot preparation and/or clearance and furniture removal both locally and internationally. Many of our vendors sell their mobile home and move to the local village, paying the same or less in rent than their ground fees were. They then put the proceeds of the sale into the bank.

Deposito Legal MA-1110-2004

We have a fully legal and insured team of contractors.

When we buy a mobile home we pay for it before it is removed. We can pay in cash or by bank transfer to a bank account in Spain or overseas.

We can negotiate on your behalf with the campsite if you are overseas or feel intimidated by the site owner. So, don’t just hand in the keys at reception and walk away – call us!

Call Suzi on 616250727 or our UK number 01482 429718 for a free and no-obligation discussion about your mobile home, or e mail Suzicaley@gmail.com

See advert on page 32 for more details.

Copyright © 2004 - 2014.

All rights reserved

All advertisements are published in good faith and are for information purposes. We do not under any circumstances accept responsibility for the accuracy of such advertisements, nor is any kind of warranty or endorsement expressed or implied by such publication.

The editorials are not a substitute for legal advice, and not intended or offered as such. The Andalucían does not therefore accept any duty of care to anyone who makes use of, or seeks to rely on, material in this publication.

No part of this or any previous Local Connections or The Andalucían publications may be used or reproduced without the prior written consent of the owner.

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Spotlight

Choose peace

this Christmas

by Sarah Jackson

Christmas, for a lot of us, is a time of great pleasure, but mention Christmas to some and we run the risk of being met with a tirade of negativity, forceful enough to send Santa and his sledge hurtling into the far reaches of time and space! The thought of the impending Christmas holidays spent with relatives we only ever see annually can bring about an impending sense of dread; a feeling which is a million miles removed from the digital images forced upon us since sometime in late September.

For many, the resounding emotion that surfaces when thinking about Christmas is one of lack and negativity. Traditionally recognised as a time of giving, of spending money on presents, a time for feasting and for being jolly, Christmas can inflame that old nagging concern that we do not have enough – that we lack the necessary money, resources and time with which to ‘do Christmas’. The payback

for this enforced ‘Season of Goodwill’ will come in January alongside the credit card bill.

You may be reading this and thinking for you there is no choice. You HAVE to go to Great Aunt Mabel’s again this year because it is what you always do, ever since her husband died a decade ago. If you don’t go she will be all alone, your siblings will be horrified at the break in tradition and your partner will never speak to you again. You believe that resistance is futile; you have to endure it…. again.

With this we resign ourselves to allowing the expectations and demands of our family members to be the source of our misery and stress, when what we really want is to be true to who we are, and to be at peace with those around us.

You feel you have to make the unattractive choice between being authentic, which you know will mean you will have no peace with certain relatives, or claiming peace at the price of being unauthentic.

The ideal is to be peaceful and authentic, yet until you examine your relationship with yourself, your very closest relative, this remains an unachievable dichotomy.

In order to elicit change in the nature of your relationship with your family, you have to be willing to change your focus. Take your focus – your attention – away from those that you perceive to be the source of the festive irritation, and be willing to entertain the idea that it is you, and you alone, who is the source of the anguish in these relationships.

By doing so you reclaim your power. Until this moment, you have allowed all these individuals to treat you exactly as you have allowed them to with your reactions and behaviours. By redirecting your focus and choosing to be at peace with everyone in your life – particularly your relatives – you can create your own Christmas miracle.

Continued on page 6

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Talking Point

Spotlight If you find yourself focusing on your negative internal chatter about your family members, continuously regurgitating past wrongdoings and present irritations, then that is exactly how your relationship with them will be experienced. If your internal chatter is all about what is annoying about them, then that is what you will notice. If you change your perception by thinking a different thought about them, perhaps saying to yourself “I am authentic and peaceful with this relative,” then that is what you will experience.

The behaviour of the relative does not have to change one iota for you to make this shift and experience them in a completely different way.

Your relatives are simply doing what they have been taught or programmed to do over a lifetime or more of experiences. It is not their job to make you happy or to create a pleasant environment for you. That is your job. Forgive them and accept them for who and what they are. Make the decision to accept that they are doing the very best that they can, offer them understanding and find something to appreciate in them, however small. Give thanks for their presence in your life, for with this comes the opportunity to see in them what you find discordant within you, and to forgive and accept yourself.

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So, how about this year? If you aren’t one of those people who really love Christmas, you decide to do it differently and give yourself a break. You are here on earth, not to be tested, not to prove anything, but most of all to just BE; to be joyful and experience happiness and inner peace. We all, every single one of us, whatever our external circumstances and whatever the time of year, have the choice to turn our attention to what pleases us, to focus on what pleases us or what does not. There is not one single person in the universe that can make that choice for us. It is up to us; right now we have the freedom to make the combination of choices that equals the life experience we live.

Take back your power and remember what Christmas is actually all about – a time of celebrating our eternalness, a time of celebrating life, a time of connectedness, a time of letting go of judgement.

Make this Christmas the one where you make the choice to feel good and give yourself the best present you could possibly give: a peaceful Christmas.

See Sarah’s advert on page 13 for her contact details.

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Men’s Matters

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Health & Beauty

Do not suffer in silence this season

As the festive season dawns upon us, many of us are guilty of over indulgence with food and drink — but do you suffer from stomach cramps or ache, the discomfort of bloating despite not necessarily overeating at other times of the year? Have you considered that you may be one of the numerous people who suffer from IBS? Irritable bowel syndrome is medically considered to be a 'disease of exclusion.' That means it is considered to be the most likely diagnosis when all else has been excluded. This is, however, often of little comfort to the long-term sufferer of this most debilitating condition.

Most patients with this condition tend to be of the 50 plus age range and female. Typical symptoms noted are a change in bowel habits, such as constipation or diarrhoea. Other indicators can be bloating and associated pain including back and abdominal discomfort. Along with these physical signs come

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tiredness, irritability and possible malabsorption leading to anaemia and malnutrition, all adding to an overwhelming feeling of debility or weakness, ultimately leaving you prone to further infections.

This fatigue and compromised functioning of your immune system make for a generalised decrease in wellbeing. For the IBS sufferer, daily chores can become overpowering, life can lose meaning and relationships can become challenging as the person gradually becomes more debilitated both mentally and physically.

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Health & Beauty In the first instance – and as with all health issues or any noted change in your wellbeing – obtaining a swift and sound medical diagnosis is vital. Other diseases and disorders must be eliminated from the overall clinical picture. Then, various medications that relax the gut can be tried until you are matched with the best one for you.

Secondly, your GP will contemplate the possibility of a long-term 'silent infection’, for which a course of wide-spectrum antibiotics will be worth considering and is normally the first choice in this situation. Next, a look at your diet is most important. Many sufferers from IBS have food allergies that have gone unnoticed for years. If a particular food is craved or consumed daily, it is a good idea to eliminate it for a fortnight, then re-introduce it and note if symptoms suddenly worsen once more.

Finally, examine your daily lifestyle and mental attitude. IBS sufferers tend to be high achievers – yet sensitive and socially over-conscious concerning their duties. A period of 'me time' is highly recommended to give the 'brain-gut-axis' some respite time. Often, you do not realise just how stressed you are until you start to feel unwell,

so treating yourself is something to try and build in to your lifestyle, regardless of your wellbeing.

Apart from the above recommendations, IBS sufferers are ideal candidates for complementary therapies, charcoal tablets that eliminate toxins or anything that relaxes both the body and mind.

Aromatherapy, reflexology or one of the 'new age treatments' available are worth trying. Sometimes, just talking to someone who will listen and advise if needed can really help in this busy world in which we live. Finding the right ear is always important, and this applies to therapists too – not everyone will suit the same person.

Continued on page 10

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Health & Beauty

So, remember that the best therapist for you is vital to allow you to achieve your correct goals. If you find that therapy is soothing but something 'feels wrong' and you just can’t put your finger on it – do not be put off. Try again with someone else with whom you feel more akin, as amazing results can be had from these sessions.

Take time out, stand back from your life and go through your daily and weekly activities. Be honest and ask yourself if you feel sick, shaky or worried when you think of such chores. Is it just one of them, or maybe several? If the answer is yes, can you eliminate it – or them – from your life?

In conclusion, IBS is a little understood yet highly debilitating condition and one which must be recognised and dealt with professionally and sympathetically. There are many fantastic support groups offering peer assistance and updated details on new research findings and treatments, so check the internet for more information and groups near you.

Pursue conventional medical or alternative therapy assistance and allow yourself time to think about yourself. Remember, many suffer from this most unpleasant illness, so do not allow yourself to be one of those who suffer in silence.

All too often, women in particular overload themselves physically, emotionally and mentally. They go above and beyond the limits to support others – family, friends, work and causes – all without stopping to consider the strain on their own life or state of health.

Allowing yourself to get run down is always the start of a slippery slope and can lead to IBS and many other medical conditions.

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Spotlight

Spotlight

The problem

with Moses

by John Sharrock Taylor

The problem with Moses was that being from Yorkshire, he didn't know his atlas from his A to Z. A land flowing with milk and honey was what the Lord had promised the Israelites when they escaped from slavery in Egypt, but Moses never even got to enter Canaan, and there are several conflicting theories about that. The Bible tells us it was because he grabbed all the credit for finding water in a dry place, when he should really have given thanks to God, but there's an old song that gives an alternative explanation: Moses was a prophet Of good West Riding stock.

He brought forth some water By striking on a rock.

The Israelites all gathered round And gave a mighty cheer But weren't they disappointed When they found it wasn't beer!

'Disgraceful?' I asked, puzzled.

In fact both these theories are wrong. The real reason for Moses's exclusion from Canaan was geographical. It's only 265 miles from Cairo to Jerusalem. That's less than a day's drive in a Land Rover and even my Aunt Maud could have biked it in a fortnight, but either the old boy had discovered an oasis with an inexhaustible spring of Sam Smith's, or his TomTom was on the blink, because the Israelites wandered round the desert for all of 40 years before finally reaching their new home.

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Even setting aside his dysfunctional grasp of topography, Moses was never much of a popular success as a prophet. To begin with, there was all that 'Thou-Shalt-Not' and 'Keep-Taking-the-Tablets' stuff. Then there was the directive against golden calves (when any red-blooded Israelite male, stuck in the middle of a desert, would have died for a glimpse of a well-filled stocking). Finally, as a Jewish friend once explained to me, there was that disgraceful business of crossing the Red Sea.

'Certainly. If Moses had only had the sense to turn left instead of showing off with the conjuring tricks, we'd have had the oil instead of leaving it for the Arabs.'

And when the Israelites did at last reach their destination, they found that the Promised Land was by no means all it had been cracked up to be. For a start it was not just occupied, but jam-packed, shoulderto-shoulder, standing room only, with Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, Hamathites, Sodomites, Simmonites, Bauxites, Haematites, Trilobites, Ammonites, Stalagmites and Marmites.

These established locals were naturally less than happy to welcome yet another motley gang of interlopers, and the Israelites' entrance marked the very beginning of what we now know as the Middle Eastern Problem. Indeed, a ruckus immediately kicked off which has gone on for the past three-anda-quarter millennia, making the Hundred Years War look like a playground scuffle. And, as if that wasn't enough, there was the really awful Palestinian plumbing to contend with. 'Moab was my wash-pot and over Edom did I cast out my shoe,' muttered King David bitterly, proving that even in the royal palace there wasn't such a thing as a viable shower or a bidet that didn't leak.

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Spotlight The truth of the matter is that every silver lining has a cloud and every garden its snake in the grass. And this (whisper it not in Gathurst, tell it not in the streets of Aspull) even applies to that most-nearly-perfect of all terrestrial paradises, God's Own Country, the County Palatine (a term derived of course from 'Palestine') of Lancaster.

It has long been understood that Biblical history began in Mesopotamia, the Land Between the Rivers, but the major mistake of the anthropologists has been their wild assumption that the rivers in question were the Tigris and the Euphrates, whereas, after intensive research, I can now reveal that the garden where Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit was located, appropriately enough, in the hamlet of Appley Bridge, just outside the county borough of Wigan, well to the south of Morecambe Bay and slightly to the west of Mount Ararat (now known as Rivington Pike) – a land laved by the limpid waters of the Ribble and the Mersey and guarded in the north from the Cumbrian barbarians by a stream which is known to this very day as the River Eden.

Now, I realise that there exist certain benighted folk who, permanently mortified by the humiliating misfortune of having been born on the wrong side of the Pennines, may dispute my county's claim to be the cradle of civiliSation, but just murmur the ancient Hebrew mantra: 'tripe, cow-heels, cockles, black puddings, jam butties, parkin, Eccles cakes, rugby league, clogs and cricket' and the case is proved. A fig leaf for your Moses and your Aaron! It is written 'stay me with flagons; comfort me with apples', but was it not the Wigan patriarch Uncle Joseph who fed the people, not with manna, but with Mint Balls?

Did not our Warriors rout Sentellins with only the jawbone of a tyke, and didn't the mighty Statham skittle all the Amalekites for nobbut a savoury duck?

The great Westhoughton poet John Donne wrote that his personal paradise was tainted by 'the serpent love that can convert manna into gall', and it is sad to record that even the County Palatine has a single, solitary drawback. Why did the prophet Arkwright decree that the 12 tribes of our ancestors should not, like Bradford's Philistines, array themselves in robes of wool? The answer is that Lancashire is very damp, and very damp is very good for cotton.

But very damp is also very good, or rather very bad, for a much less pleasing fluid than Canaan's milk and honey, which is why Manchester's speech is flatter than its caps and Liverpudlians talk with an accent 10 percent Irish and 90 percent catarrh. Why do we Lancastrians have the reputation of being phlegmatic? The term comes from 'phlegm', which was the cold and moist one of the Four Humours of Platonic philosophy. So annoy any one of us and you may get a snotty answer. It's why, in addition to Halle's Band, Coronation Street, the Verve, George Formby and Beecham's pills, Lancashire provided the world with Thermogene and Fisherman's Friends.

And it's also why I sojourn here in sunny Spain and write my monthly article for The AndalucĂ­an rather than the Wigan 'Ob'.

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Trade Talk

What is property styling?

Nordica Sales and Rentals has launched a new home styling service with a fun, fashionable and above all stylish launch party and masterclass.

Guests sipped champagne and browsed the shop, picking out perfect presents for the home and getting tips and inspiration on how to improve their property.

Guests were able to take part in a short home styling masterclass, answering the questions: What is property styling? How can it help to sell or rent a property? What are buyers and renters looking for?

This was followed by styling tips to improve the look and feel of your property and attract a buyer or tenant quickly. Interior designer Malin Gavenas showed examples of properties before and after styling to explain the key changes and answered guests’ questions.

Nordica Design Group offers many options to style a property for sale or rental, furniture packs to buy or rent, consultations on what owners can do themselves and what they can do to the whole house – or just add a few finishing touches. During 2015 they will be running monthly masterclasses at their Aloha Gardens shop, so please email sales@ nordicamarbella.com to reserve your spot. Call 952811552 or visit www.nordicamarbella.com for more information

Home Styling Tips from the Masterclass What is Property Styling? Preparing and dressing your home with furniture and accessories, moving things around and enriching the space, rather than doing building works Why does it work? Buyers lack vision and need to be shown the property at its very best, to see what to do with particular spaces and rooms. The key is that buyers need to fall in love and see themselves living there so they can make an emotional connection and make an offer! With basic decoration and layout changes, home styling can make a real difference.

What do buyers want?

• To see themselves in a property without seeing barriers to their perfect life there • Feel at home, be comfortable and enjoy a welcoming atmosphere • Imagine being able to move straight in and picture their possessions fitting in • To have well defined spaces with specific purposes which suit them • To feel a sense of space and style • To aspire to live there and feel that they would be proud to call it home!

Top Tips to improve your property before or as part of home styling • Paint – Give walls a fresh coat of paint in neutral colours to make the house feel new!

• Improve bathrooms with tile paint, bath paint, replace shower curtains and deep clean to make sure everything sparkles • Improve kitchens by replacing or painting cupboard doors and adding new handles • Clean, clean, clean • De-clutter Continued on page 16

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Trade Talk

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Trade Talk Home Styling Essentials • Shine a light – Lighting is essential! Try to incorporate eight points of light in each room; light darker areas with lamps, consider brighter bulbs, light candles in the evening, pull back blinds and curtains and let as much light in as possible during the day • Think of the target market for your home and show them their ideal life – If you have the classic family home, but don’t have kids, consider creating kids’ rooms rather than an office so people are shown exactly how they could live there.

• Beware of big furniture – It makes the space look tiny and people will not think they can fit their furniture in there! For a very small space, there are smaller items of furniture that can give the impression of size • Don’t leave difficult spaces unfurnished - If you have a penthouse or loft space, don’t leave it without furniture as people will worry they can’t fit furniture in there as the eye doesn’t accurately judge space without the reference of furniture • Rearrange to create focal points and order Arrange things in groups, eg replace lots of small

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pictures with large paintings to make a focus, or group smaller pictures together for order. Rearrange your furniture and try symmetrical arrangements and inviting areas.

• Make sure the temperature is right – In the summer make sure it’s cool and comfortable; in the winter warm and dry • Give the illusion of space - Put up mirrors to make rooms look bigger and brighter • Use "extra" rooms wisely and ensure each room has a clearly-defined purpose rather than just a dumping ground. Stage rooms with one purpose so buyers will know what it is.

• Create a lifestyle people are looking for inside and out – Display accessories which give people the idea of a certain way of life, or arrange an area with an aspirational purpose Visit www.nordicamarbella.com for more information

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Spotlight

It’s Christmas...

And so it begins — the time-honoured dash in the rain to the garage to rescue the Christmas decorations for the grand opening of Santa’s grotto into which my lounge transforms once a year. With no loft and very little other storage, our decorations end up in the garage, giving our resident rodents something to play with and nibble on throughout the 11 months they guard these precious Christmas trinkets for our family.

Christmas isn’t Christmas in our house without a real tree. Now back in England, that used to involve a quick trip to the local garden centre, which then transformed into a long trip as we had to check each tree available, looking for the perfect specimen, only to settle on the first one we’d all seen – much to the disgust of my – by now needle-covered – husband.

Slightly more difficult here in Spain, when your nearest garden centre is over an hour away, taking the shine off of the whole experience. The children and I do not attend this ritual any more, much to my husband’s delight!

So, we have the rat and moth-eaten excuses for decorations in front of us, the tangled web of fairy lights – must remember to put them away carefully this time, we never do – and a tree sitting limply in the corner waiting to be chopped to the correct size; Spanish finca ceilings are so low!

After a good half hour of family debate about how there must have been a prettier, rounder and basically better choice of fir than the scraggy spruce that’s joining us for the festive period, we start on the lights. Without untangling them we plug them in – nothing! So starts the painstaking task of tweaking each bulb to find the culprit. Of course this is left to the man of the house – they are electric after all!

And as if by magic, the lights start flashing; we can’t remember if they’re supposed to but who cares!

We leave the children to decorate the tree in their distasteful, glaring and clashing of colour that they always manage. But what can we expect? Our mixture of baubles no longer matches and to be honest, they’re not even all round any more – most are peppered with little nibbled holes adding to the rustic feel of Christmas in the Campo.

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Topping off, another family debate – who’s going to put the tatty old star on the top this year? When the kids have fought it out, the winner proudly clambers on the chair and on tiptoes, bravely leans inwards whilst we all grab the tree, the chair and the odd mischievous cat for safety.

With the surplus branches, and heading for homemade wreaths and swags to finish the grotto off, I duly remember not to push the drawing pins into the beams to hard this year so the woodworm I was suppose to treat in the summer do not wake up and start their Christmas dinner too early! Nothing’s left to do; we’re all prepared for the big day.

For me, Spain does lack the build-up – albeit from September – that the UK offers us. Maybe this is a good thing I tell myself – not so commercialised and less to choose from. But oh how I miss the Argos catalogue, the whole ease of one off page five and three of item B from page 27 please as I negotiate with the stubby pencils and try and get the numbers in the right boxes so the automatic shopping experience ends with me walking away from Bay D with all my unidentified brown boxes in my arms, negotiating my way through the rain back to the car.

The quick trolley dash round the hypermarket, tempting me with everything from goose fat to CDs and turkey to trousers, all under one roof, accompanied by Noddy Holder reminding me ‘It’s Christmas’ in the background. The tinsel and those oversized baubles hanging from the industrial ceilings, all twinkling in the cosy warmth of the air-conditioned store – oh, how I miss the ease of Christmas shopping in England.

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Spotlight But I’m down for this year – I’ve been with list in hand. I battled the crisp Spanish weather, wondering where I can possibly buy the things requested this time. Was it worth the trek to Gib, so I could get the whole High Street experience? No. Could I be bothered to queue to get on to the Rock? Couldn’t be bothered to do the drawn-out butchers, bakers and candlestick makers round of the scattered Spanish shops all over the village – not really, so it was off to the larger shopping centres of the coast for me.

Still worrying whether I’ll even find a turkey – and I don’t fall for the pavo sin hueso purchase I made on our first Christmas here. I didn’t know until I tipped the bird into the roasting tin that I’d bought a deboned turkey. I’d spent hours stuffing and fluffing the thing, only to make it resemble nothing better than a road kill centrepiece! The year after, my kind neighbour delivered a fresh turkey to our door; plucked it was but trussed it wasn’t! In fact, it took me longer to break its legs to get this one into the tin than it did to cook it. Definitely made note to self – never accept a Christmas dinner in which rigor mortis has already taken hold, especially if it is in the position of having just won gold in a high jump competition!

Am I going to find any parsnips and Brussels this year? No idea why I bother, because no-one eats them anyway – but they’re a must, aren’t they. Funny the items we must have at Christmas. We don’t question why; it’s purely that what our parents had, and their parents before them and so we all have our own family traditions which we must instill for the generations to pass down.

With all this hustle and bustle, excitement and a little homesickness that gets me at this time of year, I look around our own little Santa’s grotto, notice the twinkling of the faulty lights, the wrapped purchases ready for opening and think to myself, it’s lovely really and how lucky I am to have my family around me.

Who cares if the baubles don’t match, the turkey’s too big, the sprouts are frozen and I’ve forgotten the cranberry sauce. As Noddy Holder reminds us… it’s Christmas... and whatever happens we’ll enjoy it.

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Just for Fun

Useless things you just don’t

need to know about...

Japanese people traditionally eat at KFC for Christmas dinner, thanks to a successful marketing campaign 40 years ago. KFC is so popular that customers must place their Christmas orders two months in advance.

We frequently abbreviate Christmas as Xmas because of ancient tradition. X is the Greek letter “chi” which is an abbreviation for the word “Christ” in Greek.

An artificial Christmas tree would have to be re-used for more than 20 years to be “greener” than buying a fresh-cut tree annually.

The Nazi party tried to turn Christmas into a nonreligious holiday celebrating the coming of Hitler, with Saint Nicholas replaced by Odin the “Solstice Man” and swastikas on top of Christmas trees.

The US playing card company ‘Bicycle’ manufactured a playing card in WW2. When the card was soaked, it would reveal an escape route for POWs. These cards were Christmas presents for all POWs in Germany. The Nazis were none the wiser!

The people of Oslo, Norway, donate the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree every year in gratitude to the people of London for their assistance during WWII.

During Christmas of 2010, the Colombian government covered jungle trees with lights. When FARC guerrillas walked by, the trees lit up and banners asking them to lay down their arms became visible. 331 guerrillas re-entered society and the campaign won an award for strategic marketing excellence.

Many of the American chain Denny’s restaurants were built without locks, which was problematic when they decided to close down for Christmas.

Nearly all the most popular Christmas songs including ‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘Chestnuts roasting…’, and ‘I’m Dreaming of a white Christmas’ were written by Jews.

About half of Sweden’s population have watched Donald Duck cartoons every Christmas Eve since 1960.

In 1867, a Boston industrialist heard Charles Dickens read A Christmas Carol and was so moved, he closed his factory on Christmas Day and gave every one of his employees a turkey.

Some zoos take donated Christmas trees and use them to feed their animals.

Charles Dickens grew up during a ‘Little Ice Age’ and hence it snowed for each of his first eight Christmases, influencing his writing and hence today’s tradition of a ‘White Christmas’.

Paul McCartney earns nearly half a million dollars every year from his Christmas song, which many critics regards as his worst song ever.

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is the only record to get the UK Christmas Singles Chart Number One twice– once in 1975 and again in 1991.

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Health & Beauty

Putting your best feet forward

by Shannon McCarthy

Getting your nails done is a time-honoured way for women — and nowadays also for men — to relax.

Getting a pedicure makes you feel pampered and well cared for, and when you’re done, you feel clean and energised. Most women get their toenails done for cosmetic and therapeutic reasons, but there are also numerous health benefits associated with pedicures. The practice has been with us for most of recorded human history — the ancient Egyptians were doing pedicures at least 2,400 years ago.

The treatment takes less than 40 minutes in most cases. To start with, you will be seated whilst you place your feet into a tub – ideally a foot spa – of warm water. After your feet have been soaking for a few minutes, a nail specialist will come to take care of you and your feet. First, your toenails will be trimmed straight across, after which your nails will be filed to a rounder shape — never cut your toenails into a rounded shape as they can more easily become ingrown.

On an individual basis, it will be determined whether your beautician will choose to use cuticle pushers.

In addition to cutting your toenails, your pedicurist will rub your feet with a pumice stone in order to remove dead skin and calluses. You will also receive a calming massage to your feet for a few minutes (and sometimes your calves as well) and, if required, the professional will finish your pedicure by painting your toenails.

Of course there is an obvious cosmetic benefit to getting your toenails done — they look clean and pretty — but there are also numerous health benefits. The foot massage that comes with most pedicure services helps to stimulate circulation in the feet, which is important for your overall foot health.

The removal of calluses on the feet can prevent the formation of pressure points from uneven weight distribution, and having your nails trimmed by a skilled nail specialist can prevent ingrown toenails.

Regular pedicures are also a good way to prevent blisters, corns and blackened toenails (one of a number of running-related injuries that can be prevented with conscientious nail care).

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Pedicure Risks and Precautions • Don’t have your nails painted too often; give them an occasional break. Fungi can grow in the darkness underneath nail polish, and nail polish remover can eat away the enamel on your toenails if it is used too often.

• Pumice stones and exfoliating scrubs are fine, but avoid foot razors. These devices, which shave skin off the foot, can do serious damage if they are incorrectly used — leave this to the professionals!

• Don’t shave or wax your legs before getting a pedicure; tiny little cuts—even if they are too small to be seen—can allow bacteria to invade your body.

• Don’t round the edges of your toenails; this can contribute to an ingrowing toenail.

• Leave your cuticles alone! They protect your body from microbes. This should be done by a trained pedicurist.

• Don’t use one of those gimmicky ‘put your feet in a bowl of dead-skin-eating fish tanks’. The use of these fish is illegal in many countries, and for good reason—they spread disease!

• For your own protection and for the safety of others, don’t have a pedicure if you have any cuts or wounds on your feet – even a bug bite. Microorganisms are the chief danger found in salons, and any opening that can allow them to enter or exit your body should disqualify you from getting your nails done that week.

If you would like to book a professional pedicure or discuss any other beauty procedure in complete confidence, please see Shannon’s advert on page 32 for more details.

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Health & Beauty

Just for Fun

Bumper Christmas quiz

Films 1. What is the name of the actor who starred in The Santa Claus trilogy of famous Christmas films?

2. In which 1947 Christmas film does Maureen O’Hara play the events director at Macy’s department store?

3. Which green Dr. Seuss character ‘stole Christmas’, according to the 2000 Jim Carrey film?

4. In the 1946 film ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’, what was the name of George Bailey’s guardian angel?

5. Which 1993 film, based on a Tim Burton story, tells the tale of Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King of Halloween Town?

Around the world 1. How would a French person wish you a Merry Christmas?

2. ‘O Tannenbaum’ is a German Christmas carol – what is it in English?

3. In 1841, Prince Albert brought a Christmas tree over to England and displayed it in Windsor Castle.

Which country did it come from?

4. What is New Year’s Eve called in Scotland?

6. Which 1998 Bill Murray film is an adaptation of Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’?

5. The poinsettia plant originally came from which country?

7. Bing Crosby sang ‘White Christmas’ in two films; can you name them?

Songs

6. Which country traditionally gives London the Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square each year?

Music From which Christmas songs are the following lyrics taken? Many artistes have released these hits but we have only named the original ones.

1. “And when those blue snow flakes start falling…”

7. Christmas Island belongs to which country?

Art and literature 1. In which year was Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ first published? As it’s Christmas, we will accept two years each way!

2. “Here we are as in olden days, golden days of yore”

2. “Twas the Night before Christmas when all through the house…” what are the remaining nine words of this sentence?

3. “With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you “be of good cheer”.”

3. Which famous Christmas ballet features the ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’?

4. “Mistletoe hung where you can see, every couple tries to stop.”

4. Who painted ‘The Mystical Nativity’ in 1500?

5. “Westward leading, still proceeding…”

5. ‘The Snowman’ was turned into an animated film in 1982, but who wrote the original book?

6. “The party’s on, the feelin’s here, that only comes this time of year.”

6. In the song of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, what new gift was given on the sixth day?

7. “Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fears.”

7. Can you name all eight reindeer, as listed in ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’?

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Just for Fun Food and Drink 1. Stollen is the traditional fruit cake of which country?

2. What name is given to small sausages wrapped in bacon, a staple at a British Christmas dinner?

3. The red and white costume of Father Christmas was allegedly first introduced by which drinks manufacturer?

General knowledge 1. The song ‘Mary’s Boy Child’ reached number one twice in the UK charts – can you name either of the acts who performed it?

2. What is the surname of the family in Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’?

3. What is the star sign of a person born on 25th December?

4. In which direction should you stir mincemeat for good luck – clockwise or anti-clockwise?

4. Which elusive piece of technology was the most popular Christmas gift in 2006?

5. What would you stick into an onion, when following a traditional bread sauce recipe?

5. 26th December is known as Boxing Day and which saint’s day?

6. What is the name of the skin that hangs from a turkey’s neck?

6. Who invented the Christmas cracker?

7. Which spirit is traditionally added to butter and served with Christmas pudding?

7. What is the greatest-selling Christmas single of all time?

Answers can be found on page 44.

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Short Story

Sprouts!

by Ella Durham

I was looking at my shopping list as I hurried down the garden path to catch the bus when I heard a familiar cry.

“Hello, Jean! Ah, Christmas shopping time again I see. Got your Brussels sprouts on to boil yet? If not, they’ll be like bullets by the time Christmas Day comes - ha ha!”

I groaned. It was the same each year. As November neared its end and I started the usual last minute rush to prepare for the onslaught of Christmas, my elderly neighbour, Mrs Walton, would catch me off guard with her one-liner. I was sure that she watched for me from behind her net curtains in order to leap out at just the right moment to startle me. She never missed and the joke never failed her – not once in all the years Ben and I had lived next door to her.

Nevertheless, she served as a horrible reminder of the battle I had each year to get my family to eat the little green balls which were part of our traditional Christmas lunch. It was a battle I’d always fought but never won.

“No, not yet Mrs Walton,” I replied through a stuck-on smile. “But I’ll have them ready for Christmas Day as always, don’t you fret.” I had tried in past years to tell her that we liked our vegetables ‘al dente’ but she had looked very puzzled and just said that in her view, it was too cold in December to eat meals outside! I gave up at that point.

“Can’t have hard sprouts for Christmas,” Mrs Walton continued now, crossing her arms over her huge bosom and nodding her head sagely. “You have

to boil them long and hard to get the best out of sprouts. It’s the only way. My Alf always says they should be soft enough to suck through closed teeth - and he should know, seeing as he only has a few of his own left.” I shuddered. Still, she had a point. If I didn’t get everything organised in time – including the damned sprouts – then we would all have a terrible Christmas.

Pushing my shopping list into my pocket, I hurried off to the bus stop. Of course all the Christmas preparations were always left up to me. Ben seemed to vanish into thin air at the sheer mention of the words.

“You women are so much better at all of that Christmassy stuff. Husbands are there to serve the drinks, enjoy the feast and snore on the sofa while the Queen’s speech is on. It’s tradition!” he’d said, and he meant it, too.

I wrote and posted all the Christmas cards. I bought all the food, drinks, gifts and the wrapping. I trimmed the gigantic Norwegian spruce which Ben insisted we bought each year while he ‘helped’ by passing me the odd bauble. As well as making Yule logs, sausage rolls, mince pies, Christmas cake and pudding, not to mention our youngest’s outfit for his school Christmas play, I didn’t have time to think about Mrs Walton and her funny sayings. Besides, none of my family really liked sprouts but tradition said that we should include them on our dinner plate and by golly, that’s what I do - along with everything else which forms a traditional Christmas lunch. It just wouldn’t be the same without them. If only they were eaten. I sighed.

It was all under control until one day in midDecember, my daughter, Samantha, stopped me as I put another batch of mince pies into the oven and wiped my brow with a floured hand.

“I hope those mince pies don’t contain animal fats,” she declared. I stared at her.

Continued on page 28

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Short Story

Short Story

“What do you mean?”

“Animal fats, animal fats!“ she repeated, as if simply by shouting it twice more I would now comprehend what she was on about. Kids! I shook my head. She sighed and cast her eyes to the ceiling.

“Mum, I’m vegetarian now. No animal fats. I don’t eat meat anymore. It’s cruel. I’ll eat only vegetables from now on. I don’t want any Christmas turkey, pork or sausages. And I’d like vegetarian gravy, please.”

“What!!!” I exclaimed, pulling off my oven gloves and practically throwing them on the kitchen table. “Since when have you been vegetarian? I saw you and Wendy in MacDonald’s the other Saturday eating burgers.”

“They were the vegetarian spicy burgers, Mum,” she replied with a look of exasperation. “No, I’m never going to eat meat again. Vegetables are good for you and don’t hurt when you pick them from the ground.

Think of those poor baby lambs, pigs, hens and sheep and…”

“All right, I hear you,” I interjected. “You’re sure you just want vegetables on your plate on Christmas Day?” “Of course,” she replied haughtily. “That’s what vegetarian means, doesn’t it?”

She rolled her eyes. I gave this some thought.

Samantha was at ‘a difficult age’ as my late mother would have called it. 13 going on 30 and full of ecofriendly and ‘save the planet’ idealism. Good for her in some ways, I hear you say, but it makes for tricky handling when trying to keep up with it all. Now she was vegetarian. A couple of months ago, she wanted to join a commune just because Justin Bieber didn’t return her texts. Last month, she was sending all her pocket money to save whales - although when she told her dad, he’d said he hadn’t realised that the country was in such a poor state of recession! She’d flounced out of the room. And now…. this!

“Now, Samantha,” I persisted, “vegetarians eat ALL vegetables don’t they? After all, you said it yourself, vegetables are good for you. I wouldn’t want you to be a half-hearted vegetarian so please assure me that sprouts are required to be on your Christmas plate.”

I stifled a giggle. For one glorious moment, I was enjoying this - no mean feat when dealing with a teenager with a cause. I had always seen the poor infamous green vegetable left on the side of everyone’s plates at Christmas. Now I had high hopes that at least one member of my family – apart from me – would be eating them this year. Samantha looked crestfallen. What a dilemma! To eat sprouts to show she was committed, or refuse them and risk facing humiliation and the certain boyish ridicule of her younger brother. I could see it all in her face.

For a teensy-weensy moment my motherly instinct almost got the better of me and urged me to give in, give her a hug and say that sprouts were off the menu. But then, with just a touch of naughtiness, I shoved the urge aside.

“Well?” I persisted.

“I’ll eat the sprouts,” she mumbled and sloped out of the kitchen.

I told Ben about it later that evening. He seemed amused.

“So all you want are the carrots, parsnips, roast potatoes and of course…. the sprouts?” I enquired, letting the ‘sprout’ word drop slowly from my lips. I saw her hesitate.

“Vegetarian, eh?” he remarked. “All I can say is, you must make sure those sprouts are at least palatable and we won’t make a fuss if she doesn’t eat them all.

Saving face is everything at her age and we don’t want to give Bobby any ammunition to fire at his sister, do we?” With that he returned to the sports pages of his newspaper.

“Sprouts?” she whispered. “Boiled sprouts? Oh, I’d forgotten about sprouts. I, er, um, I don’t think...”

I sighed. If I could just think of a way to cook those sprouts, unless… Ding! A light went on in my brain.

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Short Story

I suddenly thought of Mrs Walton and what she’d said. It was just an idea but it could work. And it would be a sensation.

Christmas morning saw our lounge strewn with wrapping paper, sticky tape and ribbons. The radio blared out carols from Cambridge Cathedral. The kids were fighting over a new game on the Xbox.

Ben was reading the operating instructions to his new deep sea proof, digital camera (and I suspect, failing to understand a single word!) while I was busy in the kitchen preparing lunch and sipping a cream sherry at nine in the morning.

“Lunch is ready. Take your places, please,” I called out hours later. “Ben, can you carry in the turkey and carve? I’ll fetch all the vegetables but remember, no turkey for Samantha, dear. She just wants vegetables - being a vegetarian now,” I said with a smile.

I could see her swallow hard. Perhaps the sight of the turkey and ‘pigs in blankets’ were proving too much for her resolve but to her credit, she said nothing. I served out the carrots, parsnips and roast potatoes onto everyone’s plate and made to add the cranberry sauce.

“But where are the sprouts?” asked Ben as I closed the tureen lids and sat down.

I looked at my family. They were staring openmouthed at the tureen.

“Sprouts, anyone?” I held the serving spoon aloft.

“Yes, please,” was the cry in unison.

Maybe next year I’ll tell Mrs Walton that we had sprouts so soft and tender that you could eat them through closed teeth. I could even give her my recipe. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.

If you have enjoyed Ella’s short story, why not read her latest novel, Ebony Blood? You can order either the e-book or paperback version though Ella’s website www.elladurham.co.uk

“Sprouts? Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Here they are!”

I lifted the final tureen lid with a flourish. Their eyes widened in surprise and, dare I say it, delight. I had produced a dish of finely grated baby sprouts gently braised in butter, fresh herbs, white wine and vegetable stock with caramelised leeks, onions, roasted garlic, toasted pine nuts, wild mushrooms, cream and a touch of seasoning. I’d topped it with a vegetarian Parmesan cheese. It smelled divine.

Get more info on Ella Durham at: www.facebook.com/elladurhamauthor @LornaElla www.elladurham.co.uk

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29

Talking Point

Inside the Spanish household...

feliz Navidad Long-time residents — as well as first-time visitors — often marvel at the fantastic celebrations which take place throughout Spain over the festive period.

Some traditions are almost the same as those in the UK and other parts of Northern Europe, while others have a more Mediterranean theme. But whatever the origin, the whole 12-day period is still just one long party – in any language.

One familiar symbol of Christmas which still maintains much importance throughout Spain is the Nativity scene. These scenes occupy plazas in cities and small towns throughout the country, and can also be seen in the doorways and entrances of many Spanish homes, as well as in storefront windows.

They can be quite elaborate. In many small towns, during the nights just before Christmas, plazas might even have a live Nativity scene, with actors and

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actresses playing the parts of Mary, Joseph and the three wise men − as well as the live animals often associated with the birth of Christ, such as lambs, sheep and donkeys.

Also during the days leading up to Christmas, you might hear the voices of children singing in the streets; especially in the villages and small towns of rural Spain where they still participate in the age-old tradition called the "aguinaldo". Even though not as popular in recent times, in years past the children would sing Christmas carols in their neighbourhoods, outside the homes of their neighbours or next to a Nativity scene. In exchange, the neighbours typically give the children a piece of candy or a few coins.

On December 22, two important events take place.

Students are released from school for their winter vacations and perhaps more importantly, the winning number of the famous ‘El Gordo’ – or ‘Fat One’ — Christmas Lottery is announced. This lottery, by far the biggest in Spain, is a tradition followed by many people who long to win the grand prize, which would make them instantly rich. This tradition is deeply embedded in these holidays, dating back to 1763 when Carlos III initiated it. Since then, not one year has passed without it, and it now is the symbolic moment in which Spaniards begin to celebrate the Christmas holidays.

For just 35€* per month this space can be yours See page 9 for details

*plus IVA

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Talking Point Christmas Eve in Spain, called Nochebuena, is celebrated with two very important traditions: eating an enormous and decadent meal, and going to Christmas Mass. A wide variety of typical foods is found on plates across Spain on this night, and each region has its own distinct specialities. Among typical dishes served on Christmas Eve and during the days that follow are roast lamb and suckling pig (typically served in the regions of Castilla y Leon, Castilla la Mancha, and Madrid), fowl such as turkey or duck (commonly prepared in Andalucía), and an enormous variety of seafood including shrimp, lobster, crab and various types of fish such as hake, trout, sea bream, sea bass and salmon (common in many regions, but mostly on the coasts). For dessert, there is quite a spread of delicacies; among them are turron and marzipan − desserts made of honey, egg and almonds which are Arabic in origin − as well as polvorones, a sweet kind of bread looking like elephant ears. There is also a variety of nuts and dried fruits. To drink, you must have a glass of cava, the Spanish equivalent of champagne which Spanish people reckon is much better. After the meal, many Spaniards get their second wind and go to midnight Mass, known as ‘La misa del Gallo’, or ‘Rooster Mass’, so named because the rooster is known as the first to announce the birth of Christ.

December 28 marks an exclusively-Spanish day of celebration known as the Day of the Innocents.

Although the roots of this day are bloody, the customs practised in modern times are very jovial. It actually commemorates the anniversary of the murder of many children by Herod in Judea but ironically, many laughs are had on this day − especially by the natives. Many foreigners who are in Spain become very confused as absurd or incredible news appears in the papers, municipal governments stage baffling practical jokes on their citizens and friends and acquaintances cannot be trusted for their word. In this respect, the day closely resembles April Fools’ Day. Of course, the celebrations which take place on New Year’s Eve − or Nochevieja − in Spain are quite an impressive spectacle. In all plazas of Spanish towns big and small, you can see a similar scene, and it will undoubtedly include church bells and grapes. When the clock strikes 12, the church bells sound 12 times and at this moment, all Spaniards eat 12 grapes − one for each toll of the bell. According to tradition, those who eat all their grapes in time will have 12 months of prosperity in the New Year.

Christmas day is more or less a continuation of what began the day before. People spend time with their families; they eat another large meal — although not as big as the one the day before —and in many families nowadays, children enjoy the gifts that they have received from ‘Papa Noel’, the Spanish equivalent of Santa Claus. The custom of giving gifts on this date is not as popular as it is in many countries, as Spaniards traditionally wait until Three Kings’ Day to exchange gifts.

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Continued on page 32

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Talking Point Families and friends stay together for this celebration, which marks the end of one year and the beginning of a new one, and for most Spaniards, this means a lively celebration will be had until the wee hours of the morning.

While most of the world has already begun packing up the Christmas ornaments, throwing out the tree and finding a place for all of their gifts, Spaniards are continuing the celebration on what is actually Twelfth Night. January 6, Three Kings’ Day, is the longawaited day when the Three Kings bring their gifts.

On January 5, children go to a parade where they see the Three Kings arrive at their town or city, and take the opportunity to ask them for gifts. In Malaga province particularly, these parades are both noisy and colourful, and tradition calls for the crowds lining the procession route to be pelted with small sweets – so take a bag to collect them!

will find gifts left by Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar.

For breakfast or after lunch, families often have the typical dessert of the day, the ‘Roscon de los Reyes’. This is a large, ring-shaped cake decorated with candied fruits, symbolic of the emeralds and rubies which adorned the robes of the Three Kings.

Somewhere inside the cake there is a surprise, and the person to find it will be crowned King or Queen of the house for the remainder of the day.

And then it is all over for another year......so ‘feliz Navidad’ – Happy Christmas. Particularly if you will be experiencing your first Spanish Christmas, make sure you enjoy this multi-cultural time to the full.

Later, before going to bed, children leave their shoes out in a visible spot in the house or on their balcony, and go to bed hoping that when they wake up, they

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Talking Point

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33

Things to Do

Cranberry and pistachio

snow bites How could you resist these for Christmas?

They look and taste amazing but they are a super easy recipe that’s really quick to throw together and of course they are just fab for gifts.

They’re not a fudge, but not a fondant either… imagine somewhere in between. Whatever the weather, they are blooming lovely!

Ingredients: 115g butter 400g caster sugar 150ml soured cream 300g white chocolate, melted 200g marshmallows (white) 1 tsp vanilla extract 125g dried cranberries 75g shelled pistachios

Melt the white chocolate in a bowl so it’s ready to go and pop the marshmallows into their own bowl too.

Into a medium pan put the butter, caster sugar and soured cream.

Heat it gently, stirring now and then, and let the butter and caster sugar melt.

Turn up the heat and bring to the boil, stirring a bit more often this time to stop it from catching on the base of the pan.

Testing with a sugar thermometer if you have one, bring the mixture to 113C. If not, it only takes a fairly short time – probably about 5 minutes — then take it off the heat.

Stored airtight, these will keep for up to a month.

I promised you it was dead easy – there’s no hard boiling or beating like fudge; the hardest part is getting all the ingredients together!

Line a baking tray with sides with non-stick baking paper — a tin approx 32 x 20cm will be just right.

Now back to the bowl of marshmallows. Pop them in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time until they puff up and melt.

Add the melted white chocolate, cranberries, pistachios and vanilla to the pan mixture and stir in well. It can look at this stage like it’s separating a bit, but don’t worry.

In go the melted marshmallows and give it another good mix.

Pour into the lined tin, level out the top and leave it to set for 4 hours at room temp or overnight.

All that’s left to do is turn it out of the tin and cube it up.

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Trade Talk

Winter is the prime time to sell property in Spain The weather in Northern Europe is at its worst, which encourages buyers onto the internet in search of their dream property in the sun. Flights to Spain and hotel accommodation are at their cheapest and the weather in Spain is at its coolest for driving around looking at property.

So make the most of one of the best ‘windows’ in the property sales calendar to get your property marketed to those suffering rain, sleet, wind and snow in Northern Europe. If your property is not being cleverly and properly advertised, these sunseeking buyers probably won’t find your property.

The vast majority of these motivated buyers are also very modern in the way in which they search for property in Spain. They are now used to buying and selling ‘direct from the owner’ in their own countries and know that it’s the best way to stay in control of their own property search; they love communicating directly with the seller.

Creative Property Marketing has the skills to find a buyer for your property – do you have the curiosity to contact them to find out how to do it?

Go on, be revolutionary – sell your property the modern way, the effective way, the cheap way – ‘Direct from Owner’ at a total cost of just €296.45.

There are many happy sellers out there who have sold the Creative way and moved on with their lives.

Give Sarah and David a call on: 951 400 228 See their advert on the back cover of the magazine.

This winter season, Creative Property Marketing is experiencing high levels of enquiries from Northern European buyers who are booking viewings at a fast pace – leading to sales. Equally, it is seeing buyers arrive with more money to spend – a good sign that confidence is starting to return to the Spanish property market.

This winter, whilst the rain pours down on the windows of Northern European buyers who are stuck indoors, searching the internet (keen to buy in sunny Spain), Creative Property Marketing is industriously making sure its clients’ properties are not only featured for sale in the most attractive way possible, but exactly where these sun-deprived buyers are searching online.

Writing a stunning property description to appeal to these buyers is an art, as is knowing how to display properties for sale on web pages. Creative Property Marketing does all this for you, plus will receive the enquiries in the first instance, then pass the buyers over to the seller for further communication, viewings and hopefully offers! Creative is always there for its sellers, who can get in touch at any time for help, support and advice.

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35

Talking Point

Time for a change It's nearly that time of year again when you can turn over a new leaf, start from scratch or just try and be a little bit better than in 2014. Millions of people all over the country will be making New Year's resolutions, but just what is the most popular choice?

Whether it's learning to bake cakes like Mary Berry, sweat yourself a Beyonce-like body in the gym, or simply not straying onto Facebook so often, most people want to make a change.

But as well as the usual resolutions such as eating better, getting more exercise and giving up smoking, many people have more ambitious goals, such as learning a new language or even breaking a world record. And it seems some of us are planning to change our personal lives, with dumping a partner and securing a dream job both making the list of the top ten.

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New Year is traditionally the time when we take a long hard look at our bad habits from the past 12 months and vow to do things better. While many of us decide to get more exercise and cut down on our bad habits, many others take positive steps to improve their lives by learning new skills or even changing their job or moving home.

Is your resolution one of the most popular? Are you simply waiting to get Christmas out of the way before you turn your life around?

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Talking Point Most popular resolutions: Exercise more Eat better Cut down on alcohol Stop smoking

Spend less time on Facebook/Twitter Learn a new language Learn a musical instrument Spend less money Secure dream job Average eight hours of sleep a night Improve qualifications

Spend more time with kids Get a toned body like Beyonce Dump partner (and find better one) Do more for charity Stop watching trashy reality TV See more of friends Drink less coffee Move home

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37

Alice’s Wonderland

A different type of comet this Christmas

by Alice Marriott

Hi, it’s me — Alice again.

It's finally Christmas time and it's one of my favourite times of the year. I love the winter clothes, the Christmas songs, houses decorated and even my mum's (embarrassing!) Christmas jumpers; I’m sure she is the only person who celebrated World Christmas Jumper day this year!

Unfortunately here in Spain we don't get much snow, so it never feels like Christmas – well not really.

Another thing that I enjoy is the shopping for gifts.

The feeling of buying presents for my family and close friends always makes me cheerful and excited to see their faces as they open their presents on Christmas Day. Mum’s always cooking loads at this time of year and the house always smells great. It has encouraged me to finally get back into baking too. So far, I've baked some chocolate biscuits for my boyfriend and his family — they’ve already put in another order!

Plus, the obligatory mince pies for my dad, which he ate in two days, would have been one except I only finished them at 11pm.

I cook quite often, but I do love to bake desserts, so I might make a brownie for Christmas — that won’t last long either as Becky is coming over to stay for a few days. I'm just worried that as it is Mum’s kitchen and I haven’t made them for nearly two years she’ll go all Gordon Ramsay on me if I can’t correctly remember the recipe she gave me!

School has finally finished for the holidays and the grades are in for this term. I got three fails out of

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11 and only one of those fails is a very low grade, which I need to work a lot harder on. We have been watching many films and documentaries at the moment which I find easier (and more fun) to learn from. We've also been doing these projects in our subject The Modern Sciences. My project is about the Rosetta and Philae which is the spacecraft which landed on a comet recently. My group has to explain what it does on the comet and what it's made out of.

Unfortunately the spacecraft let the scientists know via Whatsapp and Twitter that it is too cold for it to work on the comet — must be a bit like the Auction House! It needs solar energy so hopefully when the comet gets closer to the sun it will work again — as for now it sent a message saying it was going to sleep. I find it incredible that there is a little robot up there in space just hibernating until it warms up again. Within the workings of the spacecraft is a little component they have named Alice which I think is great.

I'm so looking forward to these holidays to sleep in and relax. It will be such a treat after getting up every morning in the pitch black to get the school bus. I will also get to see my friends who are in a different school so I don't see them as often as I would like.

Luckily I have two weeks of free time, although I do have to study for a couple of re-take exams. Plus I get to enjoy Christmas with the family and friends.

I have finally made a Christmas List. I have definitely asked for a new phone, a dress for New Year's Eve, some perfume and then money for shopping when the sales are on. It has also been hard buying presents for everyone as they don't tell me what they want — why do parents always say Í don’t really need anything? It's annoying when they can't make their minds up. Luckily I have found the perfect gifts for everyone. I just hope they think so too!

Well, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I hope you've got those jogging bottoms ready so you can really enjoy your Christmas roast!

Love, Alice x

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Alice’s Wonderland

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Talking Point

It doesn’t feel

much like Christmas

Christmas, they tell us, is ‘the most wonderful time of the year’. What they don’t tell us is what we’re supposed to do when it isn’t. As the cards and carols like to remind us, Christmas is a time for families and togetherness, peace and wellbeing for all. If only the problems in life paid more attention to the songs on the radio.

If you find yourself facing Christmas alone, December can be the longest month of all. If someone is missing from the celebrations this year, if a family member has been sick, or money worries are keeping you up at night it’s easy to want to echo the Grinch’s sentiment — “I must find a way to keep Christmas from coming!” There are some years when Christmas is more than we can do. But more often, going into hibernation for a month isn’t a realistic plan. Christmas is coming, with or without our permission. So how do you face the season when it doesn’t look the way it used to?

If your circumstances have changed, remember that your plans and even your traditions can change too.

This can be hard to explain to other family members, but stick to your guns. If there is an event – even a family dinner that you’re already dreading – politely decline. The best part of being an adult is being selfdeterminant. There are few things that are mandatory — like paying taxes and making sure your kids eat — but there are fewer than you might think. This is supposed to be your season too, so take back some control if you need to.

Rearranging Christmas can take many forms. Find the one that’s right for you. It could mean having a quiet Christmas at your house this year. It might mean buying a new set of ornaments for the tree if you’re not up to opening up the memory-packed boxes from last year. It could mean going to a restaurant for Christmas dinner, skipping the whole thing and heading somewhere warm. It really is up to you.

If Christmas is looking unfamiliar this year, or if the house is unnaturally quiet, there are things you can do to enjoy the season, even if you find yourself alone. Try one of these ideas:

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Talking Point 1. Decorate the house. Even if you’re the only one who’s going to see it, take the time to decorate your home. You don’t have to put everything up, or drag all the boxes out of the basement. It doesn’t have to look just last like year. Put up a Christmas tree or hang some lights. Bring some Christmas into your line of sight, even if it’s just something small. One of the hardest things about spending Christmas alone is the feeling that everyone else is having a great time and you’ve been excluded. Make sure you’re not excluding yourself.

If there are some traditions you cannot face this year, remember that you can politely excuse yourself.

Christmas has a way of turning the world into fantasy where everyone is supposed to be happy and everything is wonderful. Resist the urge to fake a smile all through the month of December.

It can be tempting to skip the season altogether, to say “there will be no Christmas in this house this year”. I urge you not to do that.

Christmas gets all glammed up, but at the heart of it all, it also leads to much hope and can be celebrated as a very quiet personal moment. You can pass up on the extras of Christmas, but don’t miss the promise of the season and the New Year ahead.

2. Plan something special. There’s nothing worse than hearing everyone else’s excitement over the upcoming holidays and having nothing to look forward to yourself. Plan a treat for yourself, something really special. It doesn’t have to be Christmassy at all; just make sure you’ve got something to look forward to.

Not only will it add to your holiday, but it’ll give you a great answer to that dreaded question “So what are you doing for Christmas?”

3. Be around other people. Sitting at home by yourself on Christmas Day is incredibly hard. Find people to be with. If you have friends who are alone this Christmas, host a dinner at your house. If you’d like to help out somewhere, there are always soup kitchens and charities that need people on Christmas Day. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you have someone to say “Merry Christmas” to.

4. Give yourself some quiet time. Sometimes the reason we’re alone at Christmas is a sad one. If this is you this season, give yourself the time and the permission to feel sad. Scale back on your activities.

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Trade Talk

Andalucía, the best place in the world to live!

By Toñi Roldán, Spanish teacher at ELE!academy

There are many reasons to live in Spain: wonderful weather, Mediterranean cuisine, excellent safe beaches, beautiful natural parks and the healthier lifestyle… which other European countries cannot offer.

Maybe it is the chance to live in a tranquil and peaceful environment, cook with fresh olive oil, enjoy the taste of the most wonderful ham… or just simply to be among the friendly and receptive Spaniards themselves.

Many believe that it is the general happiness we gain from living in such a beautiful country that is the best medicine for longevity. Add this to the plentiful supply of fresh local fruit and vegetables found here in Spain, the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle can only benefit us all — every day.

Not only is Spain an important country in the world’s eyes but so is the language. Spanish is spoken by 400 million people worldwide. In my opinion, Spain should not envy the development and standard of other European lifestyles — I can attest that some services are as good if not better than those in Britain or Germany. The number of people moving to Spain continues to increase annually.

According to The Telegraph newspaper, Andalucía was ranked at Number One on the wish list of 'The 20 best places in the world to live'.

From the good weather enjoyed almost all year round to the friendly natured Andalucíans — hospitable and always with a smile for visitors – in short, the region offers the quality of life which we all seek.

The country offers breathtaking natural scenery, pretty white villages, historic monuments and a fun culture filled with an abundance of festivals and rich in folklore.

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The truth is that Andalucía has competed with cities with as much charm as Paris, as innovative as Tokyo or as trendy as Amsterdam. The list also mentions the Caribbean Islands and Barbados ... but the one area continually moving up the charts is Andalucía!

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Trade Talk Many foreigners agree with The Telegraph and have chosen Andalucía as their new home but sometimes something as nice as living here can become frustrating and stressful, especially if you do not know the language.

Come and see us.

We are based in Loja, the heart of Andalucía. All specialised staff have received training which is fully supported by Instituto Cervantes.

Not only will we will help you progress in so many different daily situations you may encounter, but we will introduce you to the Spanish customs, the folklore and how Spaniards celebrate special occasions such as Christmas. This is all thanks to a proven and professional method of teaching with simple content, practical exercises and amusing classes which lead to success with learning. Come and get a really positive experience with ELE!academy. We’re waiting for you.

If you are interested in finding out how ELE!academy can help you live your dream here in Andalucía, please see the advert on page 17 for full contact details.

To make your new life as fulfilling as possible and help you enjoy your Spanish lifestyle, we have created ELE!academy.

If you are finding it difficult to chat and have a conversation with the locals, experience language barriers when shopping or during a trip to the doctor… we have the key at ELE!academy.

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Just for Fun

Twenty teasers answers from page 24 Films 1. Tim Allen 2. Miracle on 34th Street 3. The Grinch 4. Clarence Odbody 5. The Nightmare Before Christmas 6. Scrooged 7. ‘Holiday Inn’ and ‘White Christmas’

Around the world 1. Joyeux Noël 2. O Christmas Tree 3. Germany 4. Hogmannay 5. Mexico 6. Norway 7. Australia Art and literature 1. 1843 2. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse 3. The Nutcracker 4. Sandro Botticelli 5. Raymond Briggs 6. Six Geese a-laying 7. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner (or Donder – depending on version) and Blitzen

Music 1. Blue Christmas – Elvis Presley 2. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Judy Garland 3. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – Andy Williams 4. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee 5. We Three Kings (carol) 6. Wonderful Christmas Time – Paul McCartney 7. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon

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Food and Drink 1. Germany 2. Pigs in blankets 3. Coca-Cola 4. Clockwise 5. Cloves 6. Wattle 7. Brandy General knowledge 1. Harry Belafonte or Boney M 2. Cratchit 3. Capricorn 4. Nintendo Wii 5. Saint Stephen’s Day (Feast of Saint Stephen) 6. Thomas Smith 7. Bing Crosby – White Christmas (Sales in excess of 50 million worldwide)

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Classified Adverts Services Offered

Animals

We are asking for people out there who took out a mortgage in 2004 with Cajasur in Antequera to get in contact with us. We believe we have a case relating to the amount you could be paying on your mortgage. This may be too much because of a fixed rate policy, meaning that the percentage rate would not go lower than 4.59 per cent. We would be interested in forming a group to consolidate on this issue. Your personal details will be treated as strictly confidential, please email your contact details only to info@theandalucian.com we will forward them on to private advertiser who wishes to remain anonymous.

Can you help?

If you would like to volunteer to work in the CHAIN in Spain shop (La Trocha Centre, Coin) we have 3 shifts every day, 10-2pm, 2-6pm and 6-10pm. We are particularly desperate for evening staff. All volunteers get drinks, 50% off items and a warm fuzzy feeling from helping a good cause. Also a great way to practise your Spanish. Contact Denise on 672 399 320 or email info@chaininspain.net

Responsible Spanish married couple with children available immediately for live-in work — cleaning and maintenance jobs including general labouring, painting, gardening, pruning olive and fruit trees etc.

Holders of a Phytosanitary certificate and current driving licences with own car. Will consider all areas.

Please contact 649 169937 or 627 433683 for details (Spanish/French speaking).

Events

A loving home is wanted for Rufus, a young Podenco-type dog abandoned by hunters near Iznajar, Andalucia. He is sweet natured, wellbehaved and loves the company of other dogs.

Rufus is approximately a year old, 18” high and will finally weigh around 11 kilos. He is currently being cared for at Rev Doreen’s Refuge and has had the Leishmaniasis blood test which proved negative.

Rufus will be snipped, chipped and vaccinated — ready to give love and pleasure to his new family.

Please contact Marylynne or Gillian on 637 896357 or email info@ruralaccommodationandalucia.com for more information.

Local artist Margaret Riordan has two art exhibitions running until March 2015 at Bar Choto Playa on the N340 at Peñoncillo beach, Torrox Costa, (not Tuesdays). Next to Ruta 34 motorcycles shop and in Restaurante Sevillano – El Rincón, Calle Gloria, Nerja

Are you holding a charity event and wish to advertise the details? Then call 952 723075 or email us with details info@theandalucian.com All charity events are listed for FREE.

Classified Advertising for only €5 (25 words) a month or €20 for six months (prices exclude IVA at 21%).

Call 952 723075 or email us with details info@theandalucian.com

Property for Sale TEBA 3 bed, 2 bath 19th century townhouse. Original features, 360m2. Fantastic pool & terrace. Certified Energy Rating C. PRICE REDUCED €299,950 Call 627 683380 for details

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Situated at foot of Teba Gorge, 4 bed main house plus selfcontained 2 bed apartment ideal for letting/business.

Large gardens and pool.

Price reduced 249,000€ Phone 952749130 or email barbarasumner@hotmail. co.uk

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