In one of Javier Marías´  novels a character tells another, “You can always spot a Spaniard, because he will wear his pants just a tad bit higher than others”.

I have forgotten in which novel it was. I’ve tried to, but I can’t find it again. I think it might have been in in ´A Heart So White´, but I really can’t remember for sure. But ever since I read it I knew he was right. Spanish men do wear their pants a tad bit higher. It’s mostly the ones 30+, and over, but you can see it with others too.

I am, however, sure that Javier Marías will accept that I am being uncertain here. The entire world of his novels is unreliable. They all evoke the fact that memory is ultimately false, or at least never the same twice.  He tells stories, and he retells them. Memories are being scrutinized, people are not who they seem to be, and human nature fools you (sometimes to the point where you begin to ponder what you don't really want to know).  But in the end everything is totally believable - in one way or another - just the way it should be in a good novel.

Spanish men do wear their pants a bit higher.

Javier Marías is one of Spain’s best writers. His prose is winding, full of parenthetical and dependent clauses and phrases, but never heavy. Everything quickly links to each other, evocative and irresistible  (I think his style is a bit similar to the writing of Salmon Rushdie.) He has been mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel prize more than once.

This last year, 2012, he refused to accept a prestigious prize for his latest novel, (Premio Nacional de Narrativa). He used the occasion to criticize the PP government and the president Rajoy instead.

Titles:

• Los dominios del lobo (1971)
• Travesía del horizonte (Voyage Along the Horizon, 1973)
• El monarca del tiempo (1978)
• El siglo (1983)
• El hombre sentimental (The Man of Feeling, 1986)
• Todas las almas (All Souls, 1989)
• Corazón tan blanco (A Heart So White, 1992)
• Vidas escritas (Written Lives, 1992)
• Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí (Tomorrow in the Battle Think On Me, 1994)
• Cuando fui mortal (When I Was Mortal 1996)
• Negra espalda del tiempo (Dark Back of Time, 1998)
• Tu rostro mañana 1. Fiebre y lanza (Your Face Tomorrow 1: Fever and Spear, 2002)
• Tu rostro mañana 2. Baile y sueño (Your Face Tomorrow 2: Dance and Dream, 2004)
• Tu rostro mañana 3. Veneno y sombra y adiós (Your Face Tomorrow 3: Poison, Shadow and Farewell, 2007)
• Los enamoramientos (The Infatuations, 2011)

(h.vigil)

How to store avocados?

A) Don’t pick them.  They won’t ripen until you do, so if you leave them on the tree they’ll stay fresh.
or
B) scoop ripe avocado flesh into a blender, mix with salt, put in airtight plastic bags, and freeze.

Well, these are two pretty bad advises, as far as I am concerned. 
As for A) : If you don’t pick them you won’t be able to eat them.
As for B) : Plastic and use of electricity will do neither you, the avocados or the environment any good. 

Avocados grow here. The areas around Cútar, Macharaviaya, Velez-Malaga, Benamargosa, Benamocarra and Iznate is bursting with them. Soil conditions and climate make it possible. It’s one of the very few places in Europe where  they do. (But even if they have  planted  them in Spain since the early 16th century, avocados actually originally come from Mexico.)

·      Avocados are fruit.
·      Avocados have no cholesterol.
·      Avocados contain 30% easily digestible oily fatty acids and approximately 70% water.
·      Avocados are bursting with nutrients: vitamins, A, B-complex, C, E, H, K, and folic acid, plus the minerals magnesium, copper,        iron, calcium, potassium and many other trace elements. They provide all of the essential amino acids, with 18 amino acids in        all, plus 7 fatty acids, including Omega 3 and 6. Avocados contain more protein than cow’s milk.
·      Avocados are said to icrease your libido. Just like cava, almonds, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon,pepper, garlic, nutmeg, chocolate        (and frog legs!).

So don’t leave them on the trees. Forget about the freezer. Don't store them. Just eat them.

Moroccan tiles?  Not these. But hydraulic cement tiles sometimes go by that, as many of their other names; encaustic cement tiles, mosaico hidraulicos, ladrilhos hidráulicos, carreaux de ciments, Spanish mission tiles, encaustic cement tiles, French cement tiles, Spanish cement tiles, hydraulic floor tiles, encaustic tiles, hidraulicos, Spanish mission tiles, mosaics de pasta, redondo tiles, rajoles hidràuliques, baldosas hidráulicas, pasta potosis, hidraulicos antiguos, ladrilhos de água, baldosas decoradas, baldosas hidráulicas, hidraulicos antiguos, hidráulicas de cemento… you name it.

But they are not really Moroccan, maybe not even tiles. At least they are not kiln fired, or made from clay, but from cement, and cured by water and air only –just like ordinary cement. The top layer of the mixture is color tinted. So, instead of a thin coat of paint or print, the color is integral to the tile and goes approx 5mm deep.

They appeared in the late 19th century in the south of France. Some say the first tiles were made near the country's first Portland cement plant. They spread fast to Latin America and in Europe. Around the turn of the 20th century they became very popular in the United States, and were considered high-end floor covering, used in thousands of landmark public buildings and palaces. Through the 1930s and 40s they were common in California and Florida. In the 60s they disappeared. But now they are making

comeback,  as a beautiful and high-quality alternative to modern industrial products.

Where do you use them?
Indoors, outdoors, cafés, bedrooms, in public areas, in private bathrooms, abbsolutely anywhere.

How?
They can be installed on cement or wood subflooring. The thickness of the mortar depends on the eveness of the subfloor. Leave a very tight grout joint and use non-sanded grout. The visual effect should be more like a carpet. Clean with pH-neutral soap and water. Skip the sealing. It makes them slippery and they don’t age as beautiful.

Where do I get them?
They are still in production. Search the net. Try some of the names above. Sometimes you can also get a hold of old used ones. Scann places who sell used building mataerials. If they only have few of each you could be in luck, because the seller might not understand how beautiful a patchwork can be. (Victoria did, but she gave us a great price anyhow.)

It's appearantly called 'Shabby Chic'. I would rather describe it as an easy, cheap and creative way to recycle semi-old furniture you've found  -  and add som great color to your place.

1. Hit and scratch the piece of furniture  a few times with a chain, and/or something else that causes deep marks in the wood, if there isn't enough to start with.
2. Paint an undercolor, as sloppy as you can. Use a color that contrasts to you final choice.
3. Let it all dry a little bit. Wash some paint off with a damp rag.
4. Once dry, scratch some areas by going over the paint with a steel brush, and rubb some other areas with a wax candle (prevents next coat from sticking).
5. Paint the chair again, with another color.
6.When dry, sand the waxed areas lightly so the underpaint shows.
7. Repeat if necessary. You can't mess up :) You can just wash or sand and paint over again.
8. Grind the corners and some other areas rather hard. Think of places where there normally would be some wear and tear.  Make a few more scratches. Use a steel brush on  some areas, and sand other.
9.  Wax with furniture wax.
10. Go over some areas with a little dirt.
Done.