boxing day ... and the loved one is heading for the sales

and if you stand near enough to it, on tip toe at midnight ... and hold your breath whilst the clock strikes twelve ... then the tree will be filled with singing birds

near broad oak in wealden sussex

the dog and i stroll in the moonlight, oblivious to the cold ... she's the blur at the right of the picture

spot the fallen star

the universal mutt engrossed in her instinctive and perpetual search for the archetypal meta-wabbit

earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone

holy trinity church on clapham common ... at four this morning on my way to work

this church has a notable history in connection with the abolition of slavery

http://htc.churchinsight.com/Groups/31509/Holy_Trinity_Clapham/History/Clapham_Sect/Clapham_Sect.aspx

malapropos de nuffinque

apropos de nuffinque

senor francisco porras ... museum owner ... jarandilla de la vera

i got the impression that mister porras, who has lived in the village all his life, has never thrown anything away

the first impression is of disorder but there turned out to be themes, and everything had been dusted

he charged me more to take these pictures than i paid to enter the prado, or guadalupe, but i didn't grudge the expense as i enjoyed his company and i had waited since last year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrVrE9Zy40

suffering for art ... an eyebrow slightly singed by los escobazos

stuff in madrid

more stuff in madrid

stuff in avila

re-naming a street in avila

toledo

at the cathedral in toledo ... no "goose-stepping" allowed

stuff in toledo

mazapan ... this cake is called "an eel"

we made do without a bmw, but we did re-visit a roman ruin and las villuercas

i've only just discovered that this familiar landmark stood elsewhere until the river was dammed

http://www.paseovirtual.net/talaverilla/augustobriga.htm

http://www.villuercas.net/index.htm

plucky little englanders venture into iberia's wide open spaces

there is a monastery in a little town in a remote part of spain ...

stuff from a room in a monastery where photography is discouraged ...

translation exercise ... how would a spaniard say "my grandfather has gone to see a man about a dog" ?