Wednesday, February 29, 2012

It's officially spring. Oficialment, està la primavera

and I'll tell you how I know.  I us dic com ho sé.

Brace yourselves.  I shaved my legs, youngest put on shorts, and they're eating icecream cones.

Estiu preparats?  He afaitat les meves cames, la petita ha posat pantalons curts, i estan menjant gelats.

 

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A day of good news Un dia de bones notícies

And thank goodness for it too.  I moltes gràcies també.

The first bit of good news, and very good it was, is that Eldest's citizenship papers for Spain have come through.  Well, not exactly, this is still Spain, but the computer has registered her as a citizen and now we just have to wait on the letter telling us to pick up the papers, and then we will go DIRECTLY, do not pass go, do not collect $200 to the various police stations and get her DNI and Passport.  Strike while the iron is HOT.

La primera bona noticía està que la nacionalitat d'Espanya de la Gran està fet.  Bé, no completament, per l'ordinador, l'advocat ha vist que ja està una Espanyola, ara estem esperant la carta amb la cita per anar al registre civil pels documents, després, DIRECTAMENT anirem al Policia Nacional per la seva DNI i Passaport.  Hi ha un dit en anglès que diu que has de dona el cop quan el ferro està calin.  Vol dir fer coses ràpidament i eficientment i a l'hora que crida.  No t'esperi o perdi l'oportunitat.

The second really good bit of news had to do with work, and is indeed good news.  Can't go into more, but it is good and big-ish.  Plus I got another class, only 45 min a week, but still.....

La segona molt bona notícia està per a on treballo, i està un bona notícia de debò.  No ho puc explicar, però està bé i força gran.  També, tinc un altre classe, només de 45 minutes, però.....

Another really good bit of news, or hopeful news is some great news on the housing for the summer.  We have a lead on a place that could hopefully solve our housing problem this year very pleasantly and inexpensively.  YEAH for that and fingers crossed indeed.

Un altre molt bona notícia està, bé, notícia amb esperança, és que tenim un bon possibilitat per un lloc per viure aquest estiu, en Canadà.  Amb una mica de sort, podem solucionar tot en una manera molt agradable i no gaire car.  Fantàstic!  I creus els dits, d'acord?

That's the really good bits and I am focusing hard on those.  That's my plan.  OH!  And I feel great.  Good news indeed.
Aquests són els parts molt bons, i estic ben enfocat amb aquests.  El meu plan.  OH!  I trobo molt i molt bé.  Una final bona notícia, no?.

Monday, February 27, 2012

am i tired or was that difficult? Que, estic cansada o aixó era difícil?

Today, well today....what can I say.  It was a beauty of a day.  Honestly, it was warm and sunny and lovely.  And I have to focus on that, and look at all the lovely things that happened.  Great creative ventures have been successfully put forth this month by my Godmother and an hmmm, uncle?   Partner of an Aunt?  Family member, let's go there.

Avui. Doncs, avui....que puc dir.  Un dia preciós.  Dic la veritat.  Calin feia sol, bonic.  i haig de pensar d'això.  Èxits brutals han surt aquest més per la meva padrina i mmmmm, el meu tiet?  El parell de la meva tieta?  Família?  sí, anim per allà.

It has, on the other had, been a rough one, with a fair amount of bad news and ugly scenes tossed into itI am going to think that my tiredness is a leftover from being ill, and not an internal weariness, because that will serve me better.  

Ha estat, per l'altre banda, un dia una mica dur, amb força de males noticies i escenes lleigs.  Estic pensant, amb determinació, que el son que porto es per culpa del malaltia he he tingut aviat i no un cansament interna.  Això em serviré millor.

And tomorrow, we can take a deep breathe and start again.  I demà, podem respira profundament i recomença de nova.

And maybe some changes are afoot.
I potser hi ha canvis arriben

Sunday, February 26, 2012

A very quiet day, un dia molt tranquil

After a night that wasn't quite so pleasant.  Desprès d'un nit que no era un plaer.

Spent the day laying around on the terrace, like the dog.  Flinging myself down in the sun, then when I was too hot, flopping into the shade, till I was cold.  Repeat.

He passat el dia estirant-me al terrat, com el gos.  M'estiro en el sol fins que hagi tingut massa de calor, llavors, cap a l'ombre fins que hagi tingut fred.  Repetir.

I do feel better than I did yesterday or throughout today, though the lack of nutrients is making itself known.  Most things, ahhhh, passed through me yesterday, and I haven't eaten much today.  I was thinking of either a long run or a 30k walk tomorrow.  Seems they are both off the list.

Em trobo millor que ahir o tot d'avui, però em noto la falta de nutrients.  La majoria ahir, mmmmm, ha donat una volta massa ràpida per ajudar ahir i avui no he menjat molt.  Estava pensant de córrer un ruta llard demà i passejar un ruta de 30k.  Em sembla que ni un ni l'altre passarà.

I'm wondering if the complete absence of comments the last couple of days is cause no one wanted to, or if it's cause blogger put such killer captchas on that no one can comment.

No estic segur si la falta de comentaris aquests ultim dies està perquè ningú té ganes de comentar o si està perquè en blogger han fet els captches tan brutal que ningú hi pot entrar.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

It was worth it...but only about once every 5 years. Valia la pena, però només un cop cada 5 anys.

As was pointed out to me (rather hilariously) in an email, I seem to have messed up the title to yesterdays post.  I would probably not feel as crappy today if I had indeed painted the town read.  Instead we painted it red.

Com algú m'ha ensenyat per email (en una manera força divertit), sembla que he fet el t'itol de ahir força malament.  En lloc de diu que hem pintat la ciutat vermell, que està un dit que vol dir que hem estat fora fent bon festa, he escrit que hem pintat la ciutat llegit.  No té tan de sentit.

I don't even drink alcohol, but the reality is that if I stay up till nearly four  the next day, it turns out, is rather a challenge.  Wake up with too little sleep.  Go to work, force brightness and repress crankiness.

Jo no bec alcohol, però per mi, la realitat és que si no vaig a dormir fins a les quatre, el pròxim dia és un bon repte.  Em desperto amb molt de son.  Vaig a treballar, amb un bon somriu enganxat a la meva cara i passant molts temps amb la boca ben tancat perquè em trobo força mala-llet.

Come home at 1ish.  Go to bed so tired that you don't eat anything.  Wake up around four WAY too cranky.  Eat.  Gritting your teeth over every step of the process.  Discover that it is a beautiful day and you have worked or slept your way through it all.  Argue with Eldest who also hasn't eaten lunch out of sheer laziness.

Torno a casa a la una.  Vaig a dormir tant cansant que no dino.  Em desperto un altre cop més o menys a les quatre amb molt de rabia.  Una rabia general.  Mengo.  Sense diuen res perquè estic tant enfadada.  Descobreixo que està un dia preciós i he passat quasi tot del dia treballant o dormint.  Barallo amb la Gran qui tampoc a dinat perquè la feia pal.

In the interest of your dental bills, gather a few deep breaths and move onwards.

Respiro molt profundament i vaig a un altre part del casa.

In all honesty, we had a fabulous night out with friends, and it was great, and I would do it again. In about a year.

De veritat, hem tingut un nit fantàstic, hem anat a un restaurant amb molt bona menjar, vam riure molt...era fabulós i ho faria sense dubte.  En un any, més o menys.

I'm too old.
Sóc massa gran. 

.....later........  I'm not too old it turns out, I'm too sick.
.....més tarde..... no sóc massa gran, en realitat, sóc massa malalta.  

Friday, February 24, 2012

Painted the town read. Feia adolescent catalana

We got home at 3:30 am.  Hem tornat a casa a les tres i mitga de la matinada.  

I'm too old for this.  Faig massa gran per així.

More later....today.     Més, més tard.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Love, don't love. M'encanta, no m'encanta

I love that I seem to have decided it's spring, and I swept the pati and the terrace, plus we ate out in the pati today at lunch as it is a truly spectacular day today.

M'encanta que he decidit que ja està la primavera, i per això he escombrat el pati i la terrat, a sobre, hem dinat a fora avui perquè és un dia absolutament espectacular.

I don't love the sounds of the recorder being practiced.  At all.

No m'encanta, gens ni mica, el soroll que fa una flauta quan un nen - o nena - està assagant.  Gens ni mica.

I do love it when it ends though!

Però m'encanta quan para.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

For what it is worth I have officially complained to google about the captchas.  There is that little 'send feedback' button on the bottom right in the new layout and I used it.  All of you with blogger blogs, if you complain too, maybe, just maybe, they'll give us an easier captcha to use....cause I find it brutal too, takes me at least 3 goes most times.

Per el que val, he queixat, oficialment, a blogger sobre la tema dels captches. Hi ha un butó petit allà cap a la cantonada a baix i a la dreta, ho he utilitzat.  Vosaltres qui teniu blocs de blogger, si queixeu també, potser, poootser, ens donaren un captcha més senzille d'utilitzar.  Els trobo fatal també.  Sempre haig d'intentar un mínim de tres cops.  Mínim.

Now, something more interesting.  Ara una cosa més interessant.

One of the difficulties with painting abstracts is that I sometimes wonder if I am painting background, that is simply waiting for a painting to be put over it.  Does that sound weird?  There are great paintings that are that way.  Sometimes, indeed often with mine, this indicates that they aren't finished yet.  But sometimes they are...and I still think that someone could slap a nice portrait in the center of that.

Un dels dificultats, trobo jo, amb pintant en abstracte és que de vegades, no estic segur que no estic pintant simplement la fonda.  Això, sona estrany?  Hi ha pintures, molt ben conegudes que són així.  De vegades, segurament, vol dir que encara no ho he acabat.  Però també hi són, acabats, i encara, penso que algú podria tirar un bon retrat a sobre el centre del meu pintura.

Kate, over at The Catalan Way sent me an email yesterday and the wonderful woman that she is, called me an artist in it!  GOT to love someone who does that....anyway, it has gotten me all inspired and I am painting up a storm (one must wonder why it is I am typing this...but paint must also be allowed to dry sometimes)

La Kate, de 'The Catalan Way' m'ha enviat un email i la dona tan fabulosa que és, m'ha anomenat una artista!  HAIG d'encantar una persona que ho fa....bé, ho m'ha posat inspirat i estic pintant com una boja aquí (potser preguntes com està que estic escrivint això, però la tinta ha de tenir temps per secar de vegades).

Sometimes the smallest things can set you going.  Wonderful isn't it.

Els coses molt petits pot ajudar molt.  Estupenda, no?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Two things. Dues coses

First.  Eldest, the man and I went into BCN today!  BLESSED GLEE!!!!! I have not been out of the village (except for walk with the grup de muntanya) for over a month and a half with the kids having been ill.  I love BCN.  Can I just say that?  The sun was shining, the city was beautiful and the food was good.

All was good in the world.

Primer, la gran, el meu home i jo hem anat a BCN avui!  M'ha fet GOIG!!!!! Ho he marxat del poble (a part dels camins amb el grup de muntanya) per més d'un mes i mig perquè les nenes han estat malaltes.  M'ENCANTA Barcelona.  Ho puc dir?  Feia sol, la ciutat era bonica i el menjar era boníssim.

Tot bé en el meu mon.

We went to Caixa Forum to see an exhibit of paintings by Delacroix.   I have to admit that I am not the worlds hugest Delacroix fan, and many of his drawings I preferred to the paintings.  Very dramatic stuff.  The man liked it better than I did, I got burned out around the Christ room.  I do have to say though that the man also pointed something out when we were talking about it all in the metro on the way home, Delacroix moved from very realistic work to something almost like a beginning of impressionism, with the colours and swirling movements.  He's right too.

Hem anat al Caixa Forum per veure un exihibició de pitures de DelacroixHaig de dir que no estic el fan més gran del món de Delacroix i molts dels dibuixos he preferit sobre els pintures.  Són molt dramatiqueEl meu home ho ha agradat més que jo...m'he trobat cremada i cansada quan he arribat al saló de quadres de Christ.  El meu home m'ha dit quan estavem al metro tornant a casa que Delacroix a fet un gran cambi en el seu obre.  Ha començat com un realist i al final els pitures semblen més una pre-impressionism, amb molts colours i molt de moviment, que giravolta.  Té rao.

Hmmmm, what was that second thing.  Early onset altzheimers?????  GOT IT!!!!

Hmmmm, què era la segona cosa?  Altzheimers???? ARA HO TINC!!!!

Snowshoeing.  I'm going snowshoeing, if we have any snow.  Unlike the rest of Europe, there isn't much here and this has already been cancelled once.  The thing that is confusing me is that they want us to bring poles.  I have never ever seen anyone snowshoeing with poles.  Am I the only one who finds this weird???????  I have to look into it a little more, but I don't want to rent poles and then find them a pain in the butt the entire time.

Raquetes de neu.  Aniré a fer raquetes de neu si tenim neu.  No com la reste d'Europa, no n'hi ha gaire neu aquí i ja ho han anul·lat un cop.  Em trobo confosa, volen que portem bastons.  Mai en la vida he vist una persona caminant amb raquetes i bastons.  Mai.  Sóc l'única que ho troba estrany?  Haig de fer una mica d'investigació, no vull llogar bastons i trobo que són super pesades per tot el passeig. 


Hmm, I did more study.  They do use them sometimes.  Seems wimpy.

Hmm, he investigat més.  Sí, els utitizen de vegades.  A mi, sembla poca atrevit.

Monday, February 20, 2012

I hope they won at Carnival! Espero que hagi guanyat a carnestoltes!


I thought this the best team of them all....fantastic mammoth and dancing cave girls teamed with beating drums!

Pensava que eren els millors, un mamut fantàstic, nenes ballen, i tambors!!!

Bon carnestoltes!!!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

My new favourite Catalan word. La meva nova paraula preferida en català

Pixatinters.

That would be literally an ink-pisser, or what we might call a pen-pusher, or a beurocrat.
En anglès seria un pen-pusher (algú qui empenta un boli) o un funcionari.

Pixatinters.

Love it.  Me l'encanta.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Thank all that is good and sweet Gràcies a tot que està dolc i bé.

Thank you for mornings.  There is something about the fresh coloured clearness of the mornings that just smells like possibility.

Gràcies per els matins.  Estan clar i fresc i portant colors, els matins, fa olor de possibilitat




And I ain't no morning person.  I jo no sóc una persona gens dels matins. 

Friday, February 17, 2012

Well, the girls both went to school all morning. Doncs, les nenes han anat, totes dues, a cole per tot el matí.

On top of that, they returned home happy and cheerful, not nearly dead.

I a sobre, han tornat a casa contentes i genials, no quasi mortes com els altres dies.

Hmmm, it was a deeply pleasant, but rather unexceptional day.  I went for a run, and I was bad, but not as bad  as I thought I'd be, my butt didn't hurt afterwards, and I was glad.  I got my hair cut, and it looks fine-good.  I've yet to see what it really looks like. They really straightened my hair and I haven't washed it since I left the hairdresser as I have dry hair.  I'd washed it after running, then they washed it twice and then dried it with a drier, wasn't sure it could stand another washing.

Doooooncs, he tingut un dia profundament plaent, però no estava un dia amb moltes incidències.  He anat corrent, i no he corregut bé, però no tan malament com pensava i el meu cull no m'ha fet mal i estic contenta.  He tallat els cabells, i sembla bé.  No sé com quedaré de debò perquè m'ha planxat i no ho he rentat des de quan he marxat del perruquer perquè tinc cabells molt seques.  Ho he rentat desprès de córrer, els perruquers ho ha rentat dos cops i han utilitzat una assecadora i no estava segur que podria aguantar si ho rento un altre cop.

What else.  I drew.  I wrote one of the most boring blog posts of all time....what can I say, it's Friday night, we have a four day weekend coming up (though in fact I work tomorrow), I'm sitting by the fire and all is good.

Què més?  He dibuixat.  He escrit un dels penjats d'un bloc més avorrit del mon....ho sento, està divendres, tenim un pont (encara que treballo demà), estic seguda a costat del foc i tot està molt bé.

Espero que tinguis un molt bon cap de setmana.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Love...amor

I will admit that I am officially a couple of days late for this, but what the heck, and I certainly am not a romantic.

Haig de confessar que estic alguns dies tard amb això, però no passa res, i segurament, no sóc gaire romàntic.

For the rest of this to make sense, you have to go and watch this.  I will say that Vimeo is rather irritating and won't let you jump ahead in the video, and if you want to turn of the HD, which I did as I was getting buffering problems, it makes you start all over again, so I'd take the HD off to start with, you really don't need it.

Si no vas aquí a veure la vídeo (em sap greu, però està en anglès.  No n'hi ha molt de dialogue), la reste no tindrà sentit.  Et diré que Vimeo em molesta una mica, no et deixa saltar en el vídeo, i si vols tancar el HD has de recomençar de zero, per això et recomano que tanquis el HD abans de començar perquè no el necessites.

OK, did you watch it?  I know it was 15 min, but still.  Were you surprised at the end?  

I have to say I wasn't and I was.  It was a very California crowd, and 7 people is a very long way from being statistically robust, but there is still some interesting ideas that can emerge from this.  First is that the first and second place finishers were both outside of the strong times of hormonal surges.  I found that interesting.  I was also wondering if the youngest or the oldest would win, and I have to admit that I wasn't sure which.  The elder members would certainly have had a very strong depth of love and emotion to call on and call up, but they young, and I do remember this, can feel things with such intensity.  I do remember that so clearly.  The searing purity of emotion when you're young.

D'acord, ho has mirat?  Jo sé que és 15 minutes, però...  T'has trobat sorpreses?  

Haig de dir que jo no m'he trobat gaire sorpresa. Era un grup molt de Califòrnia, i set persones està molt lluny d'un grup que té validesa estadísticament, però alguns ideàs interessants han sortit.  La primera està que els que acabava en primer i segona estan tots dos fora del temporada dels hormones molt fortes.  Ho trobava molt interessant.  També estava rumiant si el més petit o el més gran guanyara, i haig de dir que no estava gens segur.  Els més grans tindran un profunditat d'experiència i emoció, però els joves, i ho recordo jo, poden sentir amb un intensitat. Això ho recordo molt clarament.  Està un puritat d'emoció que crema quan era jove.

I did find it interesting the blurring that the hormonal surge seemed to have, but that could also be more a sense of discomfort with the topic as all the people in their 20 − 30s were single and so the emotions may well have been rather more mixed than the laser clarity of the young or the sunken security of the older.

M'he trobat interessant l'efecte quasi difuminat del pujada dels hormones, però això podria ser més la resultat d'un cert incomoditat amb la tema perquè tots els gens qui tenen entre 20 i 30 anys estaven solteres i llavors, els seus emocions podrien ser més barrejades en comparació del claredat com una laser del jove o el seguretat ben atrinxerat dels grans.

On another topic, I tried taking off the captcha...sorry folks, spam everywhere. I put it back on after about 6 hours. Blame the spambots.

Per un altre tema, he intentat treure el captcha, i em sap molt de greu però he tingut spam per tot el reu.  L'he tornat a posar desprès de 6 hores.  Els spambots són els culpables.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Free language lessons. Curs d'idioma gratuït

I went into the butcher's today to get some meat for another Ferran Adrià recipe, and I asked the butcher to cut the fat off the piece of meat.  Now, the word for fat in Catalan is two different words.  You can have 'gras' and its various conjugations for masculine, feminine, singular and plural or greix which is the noun.

He anat al carnisseria avui per comprar una mica de carn per un altre recepte de Ferran Adrià, i he demanat que el carnisser treure el greix del carn.  El dificultat és que en català teniu dues paraules que en anglès diuen lo mateix.  Teniu gras, i els seus conjugacions i greix que és un nom.  Totes dues en anglès són 'fat'.


This guy was good too, he gave me an explanation, without the adjective/noun elements, and had me practice the word, but then the best bit was when I left the store.  He gave me a little test.  He said, if a person is over weight they are......gras.... and what they have too much of on their body is....greix


Aquest tio era molt bo, m'ha explicat - sense les paraules adjectiu i nom, i manava que practicar la vocabulari, però el part millor era quan estava a punt de marxar.  M'ha donat un mini-exam.  M'ha dit: si una persona pesa massa, són.....'grasa'.....i el que porta de sobre està....greix. 


MOST impressive little language lesson, he even gave me a test and ensured that I left the store feeling I had learned something. He may well be a brilliant butcher, but he's no slouch as a teacher either.  Very nicely formulated lesson.

Era una petita lliço molt impressionant, i a sobre m'ha donat un examen per ser segur que marxi amb el sentit que he après una cosa.  Podria ser un carnisser fabulós, però no fa mal com a mestre tampoc.  Un lliço molt ben format.



Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Both kids made it till two...lunchtime. Totes dues nenes han quedat a cole fins a les dues, l'hora de dinar.

And they weren't too dead when they came back.  They ate lunch and both went to lie down for the afternoon, though some homework was done and Eldest had to study for three tests tomorrow.  Poor thing.

i també no eren fet a pos quan han tornat.  Han dinat bé i totes dues han anat a descansar-les per la tarda.  Han fet alguns deures, la gran té tres exàmens demà, pobreta.


On another note, I find the internet weird.  There are times when I have 7 or 8 tabs open with articles I want to read, and I end up having to leave them up because I can't get around to them all, and others when it bores me silly.  I check my email, glance at facebook, check up on here a glimps at the greader and I'm gone.

Per un altre tema, trobo la internet estrany.  Hi ha temps quan tinc 7 o 8 pàgines oberts  amb diferent articles que vull llegir, i no puc tancar l'ordinador perquè no vull perdre'ls i hi ha altres temps quan em trobo tan avorrida.  Miro el meu email, dono un cop d'ull a facebook, aquí i el greader, i jo me'n vaig.


The man is playing Cowboy Junkies....that's a good band.  Mmmm.

El meu home està tocant Cowboy Junkies.....un bon grup. mmmmmm

Monday, February 13, 2012

A sweet moment Un moment molt tranquil

I don't know what the rest of the day is going to bring, but just right now, things are feeling great.
I'm sitting in the sun, warmed enough to be down to a tank top, I've pounded through a mountain of work for TO and the dog is dozing in the sun at my feet.  Better still, the girls have gone off to school and still haven't phoned to be picked up cause they're nearly dead.  That means they've made it through two classes at least.

No sé que portarà la resta del dia, però ara mateix, em sento fantàstic.  Estic en el sol, tant calin que porto només una samarreta sense mànigues, he matat un gran quantitat de treball per Toronto, el gos està dormisquejant en el sol als meus peus.  Millor encara, les nenes han anat a mínim.


Savouring the moment, long may it last.

Estic assaborint el moment, que allargués molt.




....later..... Youngest lasted till 11:15, Eldest made it to 2!  No one went in for the afternoon session though.  Here's hoping tomorrow's at least as good.

......desprès...... la petita quedava fins a un quart de dotze i la gran fins a les dues!!! Ningú ha anat aquesta tarda.  Espero que demà sigui tan bé que avui.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

FABULOUS day!!! Un dia FABULÓS!!!

I have to say that writing in two languages is occasionally daunting, but having spent almost all day in Catalan, maybe today will be easier.  Except I chose to use daunting.  Hmmm, how would I say something like that in Catalan.

Haig de dir que escrivint en dos idiomes, de vegades, em descoratja una mica., però que he passat quasi tot el dia en català, potser avui seria una mica més fàcil.  Excepte, he decidit d'utilitzar 'daunting'.  Com podria dir això en català.  Exactament, no puc, però espero que lo que hagi fet pugui fer servir.


Today was a slice of heaven.  We went on another hike today...up in Montnegre.  With the local mountaineering group.  This time a nice small group, we were 11 which meant that I got to walk my own pace much more of the time.  I walk fast.  I like to walk fast and I have discovered that I like to climb hills.  The man doesn't like to break the sweat barrier, which means walking a lot slower than I like to and while the kids are great walkers, they don't want to go at a pace I like to set on my own.  Today though?!?  mmmmmmm.  We had to stop and wait for the group to catch up a lot, but long bursts of walking at a good pace was sweet.  The last hour one man and I (the man didn't make the trip) went on ahead and didn't bother waiting for the group.  Fantastic.

Avui ha sigut un dia del cel.  Vam anar al muntanya un altre cop....cap a Montnegre, amb el grup local de muntanyisme.  Aquesta vegada hem estat un grup ben reduït, hem estat 11 que implica que he pogut seguir el meu pròpia ritme per molt més dels temps.  Jo camino ràpidament.  M'agrada caminar ràpidament i he descobert que a mi m'agrada pujant també-  El me home no li agrada trenca la barrera de suar, que vol dir que caminem molt més lentament que voldria, mentrestant, les nenes són molt bones caminadores, però no volen anar amb el ritme que faig quan estic sola.  Avui???  mmmmmm.  Hem hagut d'esperar pel grup sovint, però gran trossos de caminant amb un bon ritme estava un plaeeeer.  Per l'ultim hora un home i jo (el meu home no ha vingut avui) hem anat més endavant i no hem esperat per la resta del grup.  Fantàstic.


One of the highlights of the walk was finding a pond (estany! NEW WORD) that was sheeted over with ice.  We lobbed rocks at it, very few breaking through.  Right at the edge in the sun it was about a cm thick, but as we went on and came around the back side, there was a section that was in an eddy where the sun, literally, never shines and the ice was a good 6 to 10 cm think at least if not more.  We went out on it, very gently and somewhat spread out, only as far as a meter from shore.  Very cool.  None of the Catalans had ever done it before and thought it was seriously neat.  Lots and lots of photos.

Un dels moments més recordable ha de ser quan trobàvem un estany (NOVA PARAULA!) que estava just tapada amb gel.  Hem tirat (voldria un altre paraula aquí) pedres, molt pocs han trencat el gel i enfonsava.  A la vora de l'estany on hi havia sol, el gel era només un cm de gruixut, però quan hem passat més endavant i hem girat per la banda al darrer, hi havia un secció en un remolí (utilitzem aquest paraula per TOT) a on el sol, literalment, mai toca i el gel ha estat  un mínim de 6 o 10 cm de gruixut si no més.  Hem anat fora a sobre el gel, molt suaument, molt a poc a poc, amb força distancia entre nosaltres i només un metre del terra.  Molt guia.  Ni un dels catalans han fet una cosa així mai en la vida i ho han desfruitat molt.  Han fet moltes i moltes fotos.


They were also pretty impressed by the frozen sand.  Sand isn't supposed to be hard, unyielding and rock-like.  Till you freeze it.

La sorra congelada ha deixat un impressió bastant fort també.  Sora no és dur, inflexible i com una pedra.  Fins que ho congelis!

Then there is clothing.  The man walking with me, he was wearing two layers and a North Face down jacket.  Plus leggings under wind-proof pants and a serious hat.  He never took it off, ok, the hat came off for a moment here and there.  It was 2 or 3 degrees about zero and we were climbing hard.  I would have been SWIMMING in there.  He admitted to sweating, but honestly, another form of human.  Don't know how they do it.  I was down to an undershirt, a turtleneck and a thin fleece I was too lazy to remove cause I new the car was at the top and if I got a little damp it wouldn't be a disaster.  Honestly?  He wasn't that unusual for the group and I kind of don't understand how they do it.

I les robes.  El home que ha caminat amb mi, portava dos capes i una jaqueta de North Face fet de ploma.  També portava mitjanes a sota pantalons a prova de vent i una gorra molt calin.  No deixava rés-  d'acord, la gorra ha tret per alguns moments.  La temperatura?  Estàvem a 2 o 3 graus sobra zero i estàvam pujant ràpidament.  Jo seria NADANT en aquest roba.  Ha confessat que estava suat, però, de debò, ha de ser un altre forma d'humanitat.  Jo no entenc com aguanten.  Jo m'he quedat amb un samarreta sense mànigues, un samarreta amb un coll alt i un polar molt primet que em feia pal treure perquè sabia que arribaríem a les cotxes molt aviat i no em feia rés si estava una mica mulada.  De debò?  Aquest home era molt típic pel grup i jo, sincerament, no entenc com ho fan.


New words/Paraules noves


Estany: pond
Falguera fern
Pit-roig (havia de buscar aixó quan tornava a casa, ningú sabia el nom) Robin
Cidera de muntanya:  mountain cherries, a local fruit
Alzina de suro:  cork tree, but I never realised it was a kind of oak
Trestar o com aixì, haig de preguntar un altre cop....something like hiking
Cadena: a ridge, be it roof or mountain
Cadenar:  to ridge walk....English speaking parts of the world are flatter and have fewer beaches, there are words for activities in mountains, like cadenar, that don't exist in English, we don't need a single word for it, and there are separate names for different kinds of beaches too.  We have one.  Beach.  If your in the UK...Brighton or Spain.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Poached eggs. Ous escalfats

I have never, to my knowledge, had a poached egg before Wednesday.

No he tingut, en tota la meva vida, un ou escalfat abans de dimecres.


As I have mentioned before, I received the Ferran Adria cookbook for Xmas, and one of the things that are called for are poached eggs.  Though he actually often uses some machine that mimics a Japanese technique of cooking eggs in hot springs for an hour or so.  I have no such ambitions.  The poached egg, however, seemed like a good challenge.

Com he dit abans, m'ha regalat el llibre de receptes de Ferran Adrià per nadal, i un dels coses que cuina són ous escalfats.  Però sovint utilitza un tipus de maquina que imita una tècnica japonès per cuina ous en fonts calens en un hora més o menys.  Jo no tinc ambicions per fer això. L'ou escalfat, tanmateix, sembla una bona repta.


Ferran, bless his talented heart, says to simply slip the egg into the nearly boiling water.  May I say, that even with the most radically fresh eggs, which I have as I buy them from the farmer every Wednesday still warm and poopy from the feathery behinds they have dwelled under, these turned into a mess.

En Ferran, Déu el beneeixi, explica que simplement hem de llisar l'ou cap a l'aigua quasi bullint.  
Podria dir que, encara que tinc ous tan fresc, que compro cada setmana del pagesa, encara calenteta i cagades dels culls plomats a on habitava fins ara, no quedava juntes quan toca l'aigua.  Un desasatre absolut.


So.  The Joy of Cooking and also Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (Deborah Madison, a vegetarian's J of C) were broached.  Various strategies were put forth, stirring the near boiling water vigorously and pouring the egg into the seething vortex (those were the J of C's words.  GOTTA love that cookbook).  Vinegar in the water was also suggested.

Llavors.  El Joy of Cooking i també el Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (Deborah Madison, una J de C per vegetarianes)  eren consultats.  Varius estratègies estaven presentats, remenant l'aigua quasi bullida molt vigorosament i triant l'ou entre el centre del vòrtex bullint furiosament (els paraules em falta per trobar un equivalent tant ben fet com ha fet el J of C, un llibre de receptes que estàs absolutament obligada d'encantar).  Vinagre també estava una suggeriment.


Swirling was tried, with significant improvements.  Perfection, no, but better.  Vinegar was tried.  Disgusting.  Honestly, never do this.  I was pretty content with the swirling.  Then today?  Today, success.  Absolute success.  Here's the trick.  You have to swirl the water SO vigorously, so enthusiastically that a whirlpool forms, like the water draining from a tub.  You have to be able to see the bottom of the pot and worry that your egg is going to burn on it rather than poach.  (Laws of physics and inertia be d*mned)

Arremolinant?  Intentava i notava bastants milloraments.  Perfecte, no era, però millor, sí.  Provàvem vinagre.  F.A.S.T.I.G.O.S.  De debò?  Mai ho fas.  Estava bastant contenta amb el tècnica de remolí.  Doncs, avui?  Avui, èxit.  Un èxit absolut.  Mira, aquí és el truc.  Has de arremolar l'aigua TAN vigorosament, amb tanta entusiasme que un remolí es forma, com quan l'aigua baixa de la banyera.  Has de veure al fons del pot i has de patir que el teu ou es cremarà en lloc de escalfar. (Normes de física i inèrcia..pah)


Honestly, this is probably not such a discovery for some of you out there, but let me tell you, Youngest and I have been enjoying some seriously delicious poached eggs today.  Mmmmmm.

La veritat és que això probablement no és un gran descobriment per alguns de vosaltres, però vull dir que la Petita i jo hem disfruitat alguns ous escalfats, tans bons avui!  Mmmmmmm.


Bon appetit!
Bon Profit!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Read these somewhere. Ho he llegit en algun lloc.

The problem with posting late at night!  I got it into Catalan and not English!  What a loser.

Anyway, I saw these two phrases somewhere

Blunt as a bag of wet mice


He keeps missing the opportunity to shut up.


and thought they were hilarious.  Below is an explanation of these crazy phrases, but I thought the English speakers could enjoy them on their own.
Sorry folks!


Aquests dits he llegit en un lloc, no sé a on.  La primera, no sé com el puc traduir.  Si una persona és 'blunt' vol dir que no té cap mena de tacte, que sovint diu coses que seria millor que no ho digués.  'Blunt' també vol dir que no té tall, com un ganivet que no talli.  Per això tenim: 'blunt' com un sac de ratolines xopats.  Segur, això no pot tallar, i probablement no és gaire diplomàtic tampoc.

Blunt as a bag of wet mice

El segon està més senzille.  Que algú continua de perdre l'oportunitat de calla!  Peró en general, calla no està tan maleducat com 'shut up'.

Keeps missing the opportunity to shut up.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Youngest's. El de La Petita

Below are posted some of the pieces done by Youngest.  I have to reiterate that she does these out of her head.  No drawing, no erasing, no images in front of her.  She picks up scissors and paper, starts at the edge of one foot and goes on around.

Aquí baix he penjat alguns peces fet per La Petita.  Haig de reiterar que els fa des de la seva cap.  Ni dibuixa, ni esborra, ni imatges des de que treballis.  Agafa tisores i paper, i comença a una banda d'un peu i va des de allà.







I find this amazing.

Els trobo increïble.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Eldest's. El de la gran

Here's what she's been working on!  Mira!  Aquí tens el que feia la gran!


And it is related to this story called The Rise and Fall of Rua Gorbachova that she's been writing on Figment, so if you're feeling really keen, you can go over there and read it too!

El dibuix està relacionat amb una historia (en anglès) que és diu The Rise and Fall of Rua Gorbachova.   La gran està escrivint aquesta historia a Figment, per això si vols, pots anar-hi i llegir-ho també!

Monday, February 6, 2012

The upside of being ill...tbc. Les coses bones de estar malaltes...en continuació

The girls, as I have mentioned before, have been sick for a while.  They are improving and I have seen some heartening changes, specifically, the nausea is mostly gone and they can east most anything, particularly in the middle of the day.  A big improvement.

Les meves filles, com he dit abans, han estat malaltes per un estona.  Estan millorant i he vists alguns cavis que em deixen contenta, específicament, que ara, més o menys, not tenen nàusea i poden menjar quasi tot, especialment per dinar.  Aixà és molt bé.


At first, they were really too sick to do much of anything, and pretty much lay around....then they improved a bit and ate a bit more and lay around, now watching screens endlessly.  Computer screens.  Now they are that much better that they are getting creative.  Eldest has produced some amazing drawings, one in particular that she has worked on for a few days.

Per començar, van estat massa malaltes per fer res, en realitat, no feien res, només quedar-se al llit....llavors, van millorar una mica i menjava una mica més i quedava estirats mirant pantalles sense fiiiiiiiii.  Pantalles dels ordinadors.  Ara estan tant més sanes que les seves creativitat ha ressorgit.  La meva filla gran ha acabat uns dibuixos extraordinàries, un en particular, que ha passat dies per acabar-lo.


Youngest has discovered a whole new skill.  She sat down one day with a blank piece of paper and some scissors.  That's it.  No pencil, no tracing, her head, her hands some paper and scissors.  She has been producing the most amazing silhouettes of people.  They are astonishing, truly and all from her head.  Right down to the feet...which are tough, no erasing only cutting.

La meva filla petita ha descobert una facilitat completament desconegut per ella abans.  Un dia va buscar un full de paper i uns tisores.  Tot.  Ni un llapis, ni una manera de copia un dibuix.  Nomes el seu cap, les mans, paper i tisores.  Ha estant produint silhouttes/perfils de gens.  Són increïbles, de debò i tot del seu cap.  Fins i tot els peus, que són molt difícil, i sense esborrant res, només tallant.


Their mother, on the other hand, having spent a day and a half reading Harry Potter 7 aloud (I CRIED!!!) has not had so many creative endeavours, not ever taking photos of these oevres, I'll have to post them tomorrow.  I did get a good run in though!

Les seves mare, per l'altre banda, havent passat un dia i mig llegint Harry Potter set en veu alta (PLORAVA!!!!) no ha fet tants coses creatives, ni fotos dels obres de les meves filles.  Ho hauré de fer demà.  Però, he anat a córrer, i ha anat molt bé!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Harry Potter Marathon, el marató de Harry Potter

Kids are getting better and a big fat thank goodness for that, we had about a nine hour read aloud today, as in I read aloud almost all of the last Harry Potter book today...we have 6 chapters to go tomorrow!

Les meves filles estan millorant i unes moltes gràcies super gordes per això, hem passat nou hores avui, llegint in veu alta.  Vol dir que he llegit en veu alta quasi tot del ultim llibre dels de Harry Potter....ja només tenim 6 capítols fins que acabem!

The girls are now eating most anything and mostly willingly, they are showing moments of energy and high-spirits, though they aren't quite ready for school.  I took them with me to walk the dog, a 20 min walk in town, and they struggled to say the least.

Les nenes ara estan mangant quasi tot i generalment amb ganes, tenen moments quan mostren energia i entusiasme, malgrat això, encara no estan preparats per anar a cole.  Avui anaven amb mi per passejar el gos, un petit passeig de vint minuts, i han lluitat per tornar.

On another note, I am up PAINTING!!!! YEAH!!!!! with drive and energy, but also knowing I have to stop and go to bed at a reasonable time.  I still, simply cannot get sick.  It's not an option.

Per un altre banda, estic pintant!!!! YEAH!!!! amb ganes i energia però conscient que haig de parar i anar a dormir a un hora raonable.  Simplement, encara, no puc ser malalta.  No està un opció.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Today, I have to sleep. Avui, haig de dormir

So, I send you here to this fabulous letter.  Worth reading right to the end.

Per aixó, t'envio aquí per aquesta carta fantàstica (en anglès).  Val la pena llegir-la fins al final.


Good night, bona nit.


O

Friday, February 3, 2012

Lunch out and smelly dogs. Hem dinat fora i el gos fa pudor.

The man and I went out for lunch today, heartlessly abandoning the sick kids...they've been sick for three school weeks, now, and we needed a meal and they'd survive for a bit on their own.  They aren't THAT sick, they just can't get to school

El home i jo hem anat a dinar fora avui...facilament abandonant les nostres filles.  Han estat malaltes per tres setmanes de cole ja i nosaltres necessitàvem un àpat i elles poden sobreviure per una estoneta sols.  No estan TAN malaltes, simplement, no poden anar a cole.


It was WONDERFUL.  The food was fine, nothing spectacular, but good and we didn't cook it.  It was out and we were relaxed, no one was complaining and we just chatted.  LOVELY LOVELY LOVELY:)

Estava FANTÀSTIC.  El menjar estava bastant ben fet, res espectacular, però bo i no ho hem cuinat nosaltres.  Hem dinat fora, hem descansat, ningú queixava i hem passat els temps xarrant.   PRECIÓS PRECIÓS PRECIÓS.


The dog is equally pleased with himself.  He managed to roll in something today that looked like snow, but doesn't smell like it, let me tell you.  We get a little extra nudge when he comes in the room.  It wasn't so bad that we immediately washed him, but *phew* he has a certain presence.

 El gos està molt content amb el mateix.  Ha trobat no sé què en la muntanya i li ha estirat en això.  Semblava neu, però no fa aquest olor, te a juro.  Sabem quan entra un habitació.  No feia tan de pudor que li hem de rentar de seguida, però  *oooohhhh* té un cert precènsia.


Can I just say that he has been wagging all day and is QUITE pleased with himself about it all.

Haig de dir que ha passat tot el dia remenant la seva cua.  Està MOLT content amb el mateix sobre tot aquesta tema.

Little does he know. Bathtime tomorrow!  Heh heh heh heh heh.

No sap que demà.....el banyaré!  Jejejejejejejeeee

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Snow day! Dia de neu!

I never thought I would have a snow day in Catalonia, but there it is.  Today there was one.

Mai he pensat que tindrem un dia de neu, un dia quan tanquen les escoles i llocs de treball, però avui...ho hem tingut.


We got maybe a cm of snow, as in 1 cm.  That's on the roofs and cars.  Nothing stayed on the ground at all.  Schools closed and my work shut down.  A lecture I wanted to attend also was shut down.  I have to say, that it was fine by me.

Potser hem tingut un cm de neu, vol di 1 cm.  A sobre les cotxes i sostres.  No quedava res als carres i al terra.  Les escoles tacaven, i el meu lloc de treball també.  Una xerrada que volia veure estava anul·lada també.  Sobretot, per mi, cap problema.


Hung out with my still sick kids, walked the dog, enjoyed an utterly snowless snow day.  A little weird, but nice.  My boss at one point asked if we would shut down in Canada for this.  I just looked at her.  What can I say. Clearly not.  That said, they were calling for more snow and if it had gone far enough below freezing the roads would have iced up and no one has winter tires here.

Passava temps amb les meves filles, encara malaltes, passejava el gos, i desfruitava un dia de neu absolutament sense neu.  Una mica estrany, però genial.  La meva cap m'ha preguntat si a Canadà tancarem les coles i tot per aquest quantitat de neu.  No he dit res, només la he donat un cop d'ull.  Que puc dir.  Clar que no.  Igualment, haig de dir que els meteoròlegs deia que tindrem més neu, i si les temperatures han baixat bastant, tot seria gelat, glaçat i ningu té pneumàtics d'hivern.


Now to get some painting down and see if I go in tomorrow.  I'd be surprised if I didn't.

Ara, pintaré i miraré si vaig a treballar demà.  Em sorprendre si no.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Today, maybe, for the first time in ages, I may pull it off!

Avui, per la primer dia fa molt de temps, potser, ho faré


There are a certain number of things I have promised myself I will do every day/ regularly.

1.  Draw for half an hour every day
2.  Paint every day
3.  Run and do Pilates regularly (if I manage three times a week I'm ecstatic)
4. Read every day
5. Blog every day

Hi ha uns quants coses que m'he promès a mi mateix que faci cada dia o sigui, regularment.


1.  Dibuixar per un mig hora, cada dia.
2.  Pintar cada dia
3. Córrer i fer pilates regularment (si pot ser tres cops a setmana, estic super contenta!)
4.  Llegir cada dia
5. Escriure aquí en el meu blog cada dia.



Then there are the things I desperately want to do, basically spend time with my family, that's not too hard to pull off every day, it is my absolute and final #1 priority.

També hi ha coses que són imprescindible, bàsicament, passant temps amb la meva família.  Això no trobo difícil d'aconseguir cada dia perquè és el meu prioritat absolut.  No hi ha cap cosa que sigui més important.


There are other things which I have to do like work, and cook and do errands....they tend to get done as well.  There are also things I'd like to add to the list, like study Catalan and Spanish more formally......

Hi ha altres activitats que haig de fer, com treballar, cuinar, anar a comprar.  Generalment, aquests ho aconsegueixo.  Altres activitats voldria fer cada dia, com estudiar Català i Castellà més formalment, amb mestres i tot!

Lately however, the have to dos, like work and errands have been getting done.  Family time, absolutely.  The activities I've promised myself?  Not so much.  Today though?  Today looks to be shaping up to be a red letter day, one where I get it all done.

Recentment, no obstant això, les coses que haig de fer, com anar a treballar i comprar, ho faig.  Temps amb la meva família també.  Els activitats que he promès a mi mateix?  No tan.  Però avui?  Avui, em sembla, que serà un dia molt especial.  Un quan faré tot.


And a good thing too.

Una cosa molt bona això.