Why?

I have looked forward to this day - ish. Paul apparently used to do this A LOT when he was little and to now hear Sammy doing it is quite comforting; to know that he's following the same path. After all Paul turned out alright.

So the conversation went like this:
Me: I have to get the keys out for the other apartment.
Sammy: Why?
Me: Because Donna will be here shortly needing them.
Sammy: Why?
Me: Because her son will be using it for a couple of nights.
Sammy: Why?
Me: He's got some work to do and he can use my wireless router from there.
Sammy: Why?

and so on the conversation went.

Our Little Sunflower.

The artist is very meticulous in handling the ugly details. He provides almost every possible unflattering angle.
All of the flowers appear to be in various stages of decay; some have only begun to droop, others are completely broken. One head already lost its colour, others are on the way, having lost all of their petals.

Differences in value also account for these metamorphoses: the darker the yellow, the closer the sunflower to the total withering. But even the livelier, fresher flowers are somehow exposed.

It seems as though the artist makes this still life a botanical study — a painterly herbarium.

Swearing like a small trooper

Paul and I are pretty careful to not use colourful language in front of Sammy.

What am I saying ? We don't swear, ever.

So when Paul exclaimed "Flippin' Nora!" a few days ago, it was something Sammy had never heard before. Paul made a joke of it as a distraction and it was forgotten.
Or so we thought.

On the way back from school today Sammy was climbing on a wall, had a little slip and in his mild shock he exclaimed "Flappin' Norris!"

I think I prefer Sammy's version.

Our Earthquake - if anyone's interested.

Not wanting to be outdone by Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, we in Spain, had our very own earthquake early Sunday morning! Paul and I were in bed, 5.03 am, and we were immediately woken because suddenly our bed was moving as if it was trying for a part in The Exorcist !

We could hear glasses chinking together (just like in the movies) but because it was dark we couldn't register anything visibly moving. It lasted about 4 to 5 seconds (I reckon) and there was an impressive rumbling noise throughout which sounded like it was coming from the depths of the earth !

The epicentre was south west of San Miguel de las Salinas (2 miles from us) and measured 3.3 on the Richter scale. So just about under my bed then.

Disappointingly there was virtually nothing about it in the news the next day but I did some research on the net to find that in actual fact earthquakes in this region are quite common. There have been 5 quakes registered since the beginning of January 2008.

San Miguel, March 2nd magnitude 3.3 on the Richter Scale
Almeria, Feb 24th, 2.8
Almeria, Feb 6th, 4 (!!)
Santa Pola, Jan 27th, 2.3
Murcia Region, Jan 8th, 2.2

So that's why there was nothing in the news - Spain is so used to them they're not even worth reporting.

And another thing: Sammy slept through it.