New Year, Still Me

It’s about 4:30 am on January 3, 2026, and I’m wide awake. Some things never change. I got into bed about 10 pm last night and I knew it was too early. But I am still working on regulating my sleep schedule and had had been in bed at that time the night before, so I wanted to give it a shot. Trouble was, on Sunday, I spent the entire day cooking and I was tired at 10. Today, I did my part-time Tarot gig and didn’t get any customers so all I did was sit. Big difference. I did go to the store after work and get a present for my younger great-grandson’s birthday party tomorrow and I put the binding on a baby quilt I’m making for a friend’s grandbaby, but that’s not the same as being on my feet all day. So. Here I am. Looking into the coming year and wondering. Definitely enough to keep one awake, especially when there’s a hamster wheel brain involved!

I realize this is the first post I have made since I got back from Spain. I landed in Denver, had a wonderful friend pick me up and take me to get my car, and got home in the wee hours, again, too wired to go to sleep right away, despite being physically exhausted. I went through the mail, was inundated by car insurance bills, needed car repairs, news of a fender bender to a grandson’s car that I hold insurance on, a jury duty summons, and then, when my other grandson left for work about an hour after I finally lay down, he backed into MY car somehow and gave me a broken tail light and a bent back bumper. Nothing says welcome home like car trouble!

So there was no easing back into my old life. It landed on me with both feet! Fortunately, I was able to get all the car situations resolved with a minimum of angst, thanks to my miracle worker of a mechanic. So far, so good, knock wood. My car is 21 years old, has about 175K miles on it and it’s going strong. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to get another 75K out of it, by which time I might not need a car anyway.

So now that I have downloaded a little bit, I’m going to try to get a bit more sleep before I drive to Denver for the birthday party.

Oh! And yesterday was my daughter’s birthday, and I learned that she and the Internet are officially the same age! How about that?

Who Knew?

There’s a Burger King in León, Spain with a Roman wall. Yes, it’s that old.

Roses bloom in October.

They don’t have any now, but sometimes they MIGHT have carnivorous plants!

There’s always an Irish pub.

León loves its lions!!

The food everywhere was wonderful.

From cathedrals to farmers’ markets, this is one of the loveliest and friendliest cities I have ever visited. History, architecture, beauty and personality. León has won a special place in my heart and I will always be happy to return!

Change of Plans

It’s October! Tonight is a full super moon, and I have one more week here in Sotillos and then to Barcelona for two days and back to Colorado. I’m honestly not completely sure how I feel about that. Maybe some more thoughts later.

As you may have noticed, we are not on the way to Switzerland. One of the major milestones we achieved last week was FINALLY getting internet and WiFi here. Frances had re-started online Spanish classes and really needed her laptop vs just using phone data. It’s been a great relief.

But the other issue was that she found that she had to set an appointment to get her fingerprints taken as the next step to her permanent residency here. And she only had 30 days from the time she re-landed with her visa, so that took the Swiss trip off the table. That just means I will have to come back and that we have been doing some fun local tourism!

Fall here is absolutely gorgeous—again, very reminiscent of Colorado with golden beech trees turning on the hills. Last week we went to see another place for sale along the Esla River, which has become quite a favorite of mine, and then we followed a sign that led us to the tiny hamlet of Salomon, and an incredible wool museum! Did you know that merino wool originated in Spain? I did not. But it did the history and culture that grew up around it is fascinating. The museum was tiny as well, and also unstaffed. You are allowed in by scanning a QR code to “make a reservation” and then you get a door code and go right in. Everything is on motion sensors and there are plenty of cameras. There are different well done videos on each floor, and quite a few practical exhibits. I was completely impressed!

Then, on Saturday, went to the mining museum just in the next town over (Olleros de Sabero). It’s also small, and housed in the brick building that used to be the actual ironworks in the town. The facade is new but there are still pieces of the original equipment in place. I tell you, the Spanish people take their museums seriously as well as their regional history. I found the entire place not only interesting and informative but also very moving.

You wouldn’t think a brick structure could feel so airy.

Fossils displayed on oil drums—brilliant!

And again, with Pueblo and southern Colorado’s history of coal mining and steel production, the similarities are quite striking. Along with the geography, the temperature and the altitude! Because of these, I haven’t really been homesick since I have been here, but now I’m wondering if I won’t really miss this place once I am back in the States.

Moving In And Carrying On

Today is Saturday, September 26, 2025, and Prima Frances is now finally and officially moved in to her apartment. The last guy, Esteban, came this morning, installed replacement wall radiators for the previous new ones that didn’t work, and left Frances with a drill and various hardware to hang her pictures on the hard plaster walls. I told her she needs to really be sure where she wants those items before she makes the first hole!

It’s already getting chilly here—down to the 30s (F) at night, so the heat will be welcome. The flat gets a lot of wonderful light during the day as it faces southeast, but you can definitely tell a difference once the sun goes down.

Now we are waiting for a couple more deliveries, one for suitcases that she shipped instead of lugging and one more portable radiant heater that she can move around as she needs.

Then, we will be planning a road trip to Switzerland! Yes, THE, Switzerland. We have more cousins who live there, who I have not seen since they were children in the late 80s. My uncle Jim worked in Switzerland for many years, met his second wife there and ended up with a second family. Frances had some artwork shipped over that belongs to one cousin, so this will be a road trip, delivery mission, and family reunion all rolled into one!

Oh, and a happy ending to my parking ticket debacle. I called the policía and was told I had to come back to Astorga to pay the ticket. So we did that yesterday on an absolutely post card lovely day. The woman I talked with on the phone told me to walk across the plaza to the machine that dispenses the parking permits, pay 6€, buy a permit and bring it back to her, which I did. She then copied that and my ticket, gave me the copies and said I was all done! I thought I was going to be out 90€! Again, she was kind and helpful and remembered our conversation from the previous week. Amazing.

After that we did more touring of Astorga (the former chocolate capital of Spain for 3 centuries). I went into the cathedral, we cheered many pilgrims on their way, and enjoyed walking around during the less crowded siesta time. All in all, another great day in Spain.

And finally, taken in León where apparently they still celebrate science!

A Little Road Trip

Hey, I am still here. Most everything has been taken care of in the apartment. There are, of course, lingering things that need to be addressed (like the wall mounted radiators that won’t come on, and the ceiling light in the living room that wants to flicker every time someone upstairs walks across the floor), but I am in touch with the electrician and hopefully all those things will get worked out.

The good news is that cousin Frances got her visa approved much sooner than anticipated and she will be back in Leon Monday night, just in time for her possessions to be delivered on Tuesday! She had left me detailed instructions about what went where and I certainly would have carried them out, but I am quite relieved that the boss herself will be in charge of that now.

This week, I took a little road trip to Astorga, about an hour away, and visited the Palacio Gaudi, which is next to the cathedral. It was designed to be the residence and offices for the Bishop but now is actually a museum about the Camino de Santiago, which I was walking this time 18 years ago. And I actually found my old blog about it, if anyone is interested in checking it out.

http://letterstoentropy.blogspot.com/?m=1

So in addition to seeing the work of probably the most famous architect in history, I also had a trip down memory lane.

The Palacio. Can you imagine living here?

This floor looks very much like a classic Log Cabin quilt block!

And then, tucked away in a corner, was this lovely thing, with no note or explanation.

It was a lovely, warm September day, Astorga is a charming little town, and the drive was easy, only took the wrong exit once! 🤪🤪

There may be another, bigger road trip coming up, but I will hold off on that news until later.

UPDATE: I didn’t realize until a couple of days later (Friday, yesterday) that while I was having my lovely visit, I got a damn parking ticket! Now I looked all around to see if there was a no parking sign or a meter or anything but I saw nothing. I have paid to park in Leon several times, so I do know it’s a thing. And they are saying the fine is 90€! That’s 30€ an hour! Seriously? Anyway, I found the city hall website so I will be calling on Monday. Lordy!

Soup In A Foreign Country

Got back from Paris/Bilbao late Monday night. The apartment was supposed to have been painted all that week while I was gone and it was basically empty, but as with ALL construction/renovation/remodeling projects, nothing went according to plan and they weren’t done with it. So our contractor of all trades said he would put me up in a hotel room where he was staying and pick me up at the train station. I had a taxi already scheduled and had been in touch with them while I was on the train to let them know that I was arriving on time, but once I got off the train, I waited for a good 10-15 minutes and no taxi. By this time it was dark and chilly, this part of Spain already in the low 50s at night and I didn’t have a jacket. So when the contractor pulled up, I went with him, even though I hated bugging out on the taxi. But, we ran into them on the road, so stopped and sorted out the mixup.

All this to say that yesterday, I just wanted to go HOME. Even if the painters were still there, and there was pretty much no furniture or food, I just wanted to be in a familiar place with the bed I had been sleeping in for a month and my own bathroom.

Finally, the guys finished up, cleaned up pretty well, took their stuff and I was home alone at last. I realized the someone had left about half a package of spaghetti in the kitchen, so I pulled together some things and ended up with a pretty good pasta dinner in spite of everything.

This morning I slept in. I decided I needed to go to town for gas and laundry and definitely the grocery store, but I have discovered that the schedule is frantic from 10 am until about 1:30-2pm, when many things close and then reopen around 4 until 8 or later. So I decided to get there about 1, which worked out great. The gas station was calm (usually packed), and even though there were people at the laundry, the bigger machine was open so I was able to start right away.

While I was waiting for that to get done, I decided I wanted soup. Soup is warm, comforting and filling. Which was exactly what I needed. My side trip was good, but tiring. I think I have been feeling my age these past days (lugging the heavy backpack) and I just needed something familiar and homey.

Thankfully the store had what I needed, so after I got home and lugged everything up the stairs, I got started on my chicken soup. What is it about chicken soup? Pretty sure that every country on earth has their own version and I have no doubt they are all equally good and comforting. The store had boneless thighs, so I cut up a couple and put them in a bowl to marinate while I cut up the veggies. Nothing fancy, just carrots, onions, a potato and part of a large zucchini that I got. Sizzled the chicken in olive oil and butter, added the veggies, some stock and let it all cook down for a while. Then I added a little evaporated milk and some pesto left from my pasta adventure the night before and in another few minutes, it was ready.

It was exactly what I wanted and needed. Warm in the tummy and heartwarming as well. I love going to new places to eat, trying local dishes and new foods, but there’s nothing like a bowl of your own chicken soup to bring you back home no matter how far away you are.

Ratoncito Pérez

The first time Frances and I discovered the pool in the town of Sabero, just down the road, we were thrilled. It was hotter than usual in our area and no place there has A/C. In fact, it’s still pretty unusual to just assume any place will have it. My personal fan (the best thing I have ever bought for myself) has gotten a major workout on this trip!

So we headed to the municipal pool all ready to enjoy some swim time. Admission was a whopping 2€, but we had to buy swim caps for 1€ each, which are required to be worn by everyone and everyone complies, no complaining. I think that’s something that’s very different from here to the US. People just don’t complain as much about little stuff. Have to wear a swim cap? Okay, I’ll wear one. Plane delayed half an hour? Okay, I’ll just hang out here and wait. There’s just not the DRAMA over little things here. It’s quite refreshing.

The beautiful pool and Señor Pérez’s poolside hangout!

Anyway, we were walking to the stairs to get up to the outdoor pool area, and Frances came upon this little tableau. It was a cute little mouse-sized sun bathing setup for a “Ratoncito Perez” and a QR code to scan.

Frances was entranced and immediately scanned it and found a map of 31 locations for Señor Pérez, all with separate but equally elaborate setups. My cousin has vowed to personally find and visit each one, and I believe she will.

So we laughed about that as we lounged in the shade of the many trees around the pool, used just for that purpose. The pool itself is amazing. We were in the upper (adult) pool, where anyone under 16 has to be with a parent (this was also followed). The place was immaculate, the water beautiful, and everyone was hanging out peacefully and just enjoying the water, the sun, and the beautiful scenery.

Then, the next day, as we were heading to get groceries, I looked up Señor Pérez. Turns out that Ratoncito Pérez is the Spanish equivalent of our Tooth Fairy! Apparently Raton Pérez has been a figure in Spanish folklore for a while, but an author named Luis Coloma turned him into a tooth dealer in a story he wrote for the then 8-year-old King Alfonso XIII. Who knew?

So now he has his own website and the pool even organized a kind of scavenger hunt for the kids one day while we were there. There’s just no end to the things you can learn while you’re traveling!

A Wee Side Trip

Writing this morning from a tiny Air BNB in Paris. A few months ago, a Crone friend who is a serious art aficionado found that artist David Hockney was having a retrospective of his work here this month at the Fondacion Louis Vuitton and announced her intention and absolute necessity to attend. I had already planned to be in Spain, so I figured how hard could it be to get to Paris from there and said I would join the fun.

Turns out it’s definitely simpler to get from Colorado to Paris than it is from rural Spain. I ended up on a 6-hour train ride that also turned into a bus adventure. When the train stopped and everyone had to get off and transfer to a bus, I thought it might have to do with the fires, but it turns out that this is not unusual. So we drove through some incredibly beautiful country, a national park, over a dam on basically a one-lane road, and what felt like driving down into the Grand Canyon and back out again.

Then, when I just figured the were going to drive us all the way to Bilbao, the bus stopped, we were directed off and back onto the train. By this time it was dark and I hadn’t had anything since breakfast (hadn’t planned ahead for no food to be available). So I just schlepped it around the corner to a McDonald’s. Sometimes you just need something familiar and predictable.

I had planned to just hang out at the Bilbao airport until my 7 am flight but learned that the airport closes at midnight, so I booked a room at a nearby hotel with a shuttle and got an Uber. I just needed a long shower and a mattress to lie on for a few hours, which was perfectly provided.

Then it was on to the plane to Paris, which was also uneventful other than boarding and unboarding on the tarmac. Finally called an Uber to get me where I am now and have been running around since. I’m staying in a lovely neighborhood, quiet and elegant, with a little grocery store and other shops around the corner.

From right in front of where I’m staying.

Yesterday we visited Notre Dame, truly a moving experience, when you think about all the work and collaboration of artists, engineers, government and religious leaders that had to be put in place.

Early morning view. Still working on the outside and the roof.

After that, we wandered to a fabulous vegetarian restaurant that was top of the list and had an amazing lunch. Then I headed back here for an early night. I have been walking, taking the metro and the buses and doing fine. If you ever go to Paris, I HIGHLY recommend the RATP app where you can find all the public transportation routes, times, alternatives and buy tickets on your phone and then scan your phone on buses and metro stations. Really could not be easier.

So I am here until Friday, then back to Bilbao for a couple of days to see the Guggenheim and just wander, and then I will brave the commuter train back to the wilds of rural country. Wish me luck!

A town called “Pig Killer.” Where they transferred us to the bus.

A Minor Setback

Last night, we were supposed to go to Mariano’s (Frances’ real estate agent) town for dinner with his family and to see a particular historic festival there. My advice to Frances was to accept all invitations, so we did, happily.

We also knew dinner wasn’t going to be until around 10 pm so we decided to rest up in the afternoon. Around 5 or 6 I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, just to tide me over. But then around 9, I suddenly started feeling nauseated with chills, etc.

We decided to cancel on the invitation and I lay down, hoping things would ease up. Around 10:30 it all came to a head and I managed to make it to the bathroom in time to lose my cookies until there were absolutely no more cookies to lose. Ugh! I completely HATE being sick like that but the up side was that the nausea went away immediately.

It’s now about 9pm the next night, and I have pretty much been dozing and resting on and off all day. Ate a little yogurt and drank some 7Up that Frances kindly brought back for me when she went into town to wash clothes. Whew!

Hopefully I will feel better progressively and the weather is also supposed to start cooling down which will help. And if it had to happen, I am really glad it did before Frances had to go back to the US on Tuesday. Being sick and alone in another country is a big deal!

There’s A Festival…

…going on in the next village over, Olleros. They are celebrating their existence and history as a mining community. We went to the opening day parade and costume contest which was won by a brother/sister team (maybe 7 and 10), dressed as traditional “abuelitos” (grandparents). They were utterly too cute!

But now it’s 2:30 am and the band is still going strong, the music is wafting over the mountains, and I’m finding it impossible to sleep. I’m also hungry. Maybe I’ll go make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But first, my moonlit window…

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