Crafty in the Med

I am here to enjoy meeting other bloggers and to share my love of craft ,mostly crochet, my thoughts and my daily happenings here in Alicante,Spain, my adopted country. I belong to a local choir because singing and music makes me happy. Flea markets and book shops are two of my favourite places to be. I read lots......sci´fi/fantasy,buried treasure, and off world adventures. I have a passion for history! I walk and walk and walk for about 10 months per year during the hot months I swim.

Sunday 16 March 2014

That smell reminds me of my childhood


Do some Smells remind you of your childhood?



                   You are probably wondering why I have launched a photo of Dettol here and no I do not own stocks and shares in the company Reckitt & Benckiser who manufacture Dettol! Actually these thoughts of how smells trigger memories came about after reading Betsy's post on her blog The simple life of a Queen   where she mentions how she likes the smell of bleach in the bathroom. One thought lead to another and I was reminded of how much I love the smell of Dettol disinfectant in the bathroom and kitchen. It always reminds me of my Dad who used it in abundance ......I get a whiff of dettol and can picture my childhood home and my Dad straight away. He was a great believer of  the use of DETTOL.       However not all is sweet memories in the world of smell as Fairy liquid lemon makes my stomach turn, all due to the fact that when I was pregnant I could just catch a tiny whiff of that detergent and it would bring on a bout of sickness. Even to this day I never buy nor can I stand Fairy Liquid Lemon.

Have you ever noticed that a certain smell can bring forth a rush of vivid memories?

However my comments on Dettol do not end here. I was utterly disgusted to find that when I  moved to live in Spain that Dettol was NOT sold in Spain and the only form of general disinfectant to be found was bleach. Just like Betsy I do like the smell of bleach and it gives the impression that my bathroom is nice and clean when I smell it but I missed the Dettol.   It really niggled me in that I couldn't get it or find anything remotely like it. Therefore every time I went home to the UK I would bring some Dettol with me and use it very sparingly. Any member of the family who came for a visited had to also bring Dettol rations with them . In that way I managed to maintain most of the time a Dettol whiff in the bathroom and kitchen of my home.  I have been fortunate to find that over the last few years Dettol has sometimes been sold in the little British supermarkets that are situated in the beach resorts in this area. I travel 30 minutes by car each month approximately to go to Quick Save to buy my bottle of Dettol although sometimes they don't have any in stock!
I really don't know why it is not sold here in Spain!
I'd like to launch a request to the Dettol company.  I would be most grateful if you could open up a market for your product here in Spain so I don't have to travel 30 minutes every month to get my supply although sometimes I travel there for nothing as it isn't in stock!   Thank you nicely!

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My makeover is complete and the trim attached and I feel quite pleased I have managed to salvaged a badly frayed gauze scarf. I'm very much a scarf and shawl person and that particular scarf is one of my favourites as being black it goes with most anything. It now has a new lease of life and also looks like a different scarf all together. I used some Nยบ 5 Cotton that I had over ,a Nยบ 2.00 crochet hook and some black/blue pearl beads which was my own personal tweak to this pattern.
 It is not my pattern. I picked it up quite some time ago online and I'm afraid I don't know where from now. Nevertheless should I come across the webpage again or should the designer recognize it and like to send me a message I will certainly attribute it to you here.








Welcome ,welcome to my new follower!

 BE GOOD NOW!!!!

Amanda :-)




Sunday 9 March 2014

A Me! Me!


This is a post about looking out for Number 1 or to clarify concentrating on oneself for once.

I cannot tell all until this blocking is finished but you can see it is a trim so wonder away for the moment. Neither is it something out of this world but I must admit I feel quite pleased that I have managed to do something for myself.
Trims blocked this morning before going out for our walk. The front room windows left open hoping the trims will dry nice and quick.







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However I am learning to draw the line now at out of the immediate family requests from neighbours,students and friends of my daughter.In fact I find it quite amazing the audacity of some people " I'll pay you for the yarn of course" of course you would have to Mrs I don't know your name friend of my daughter no mention of my time or how much do you charge. Why do some people think you can whisk something up for them in a jiffy and for free??   I have now got to the point where I reply politely I do occasionally accept orders.Do you want me to give you a price?  However to date no one has got back to me when I say that!!!   Fine with me as I don't really want to take any orders as yet.


Sunday morning stroll and what a glorious Sunday morning too. We went for a walk to the city centre and then down to the Postiguet beach not really worrying about time or where we were going…letting off steam and brushing the cobwebs away…the best of walks!!


Luceros Plaza. Alicante City Centre

Bit hazy…sorry!
Luceros Plaza built in the 20s and the impressive fountain built in 1930.
The horses at the base of the fountain represent the four wandering stars;Dawn,Morning,Afternoon and Evening…..and the horse symbol also represents abundance and generosity. The Horse was considered in some legends and mythology to be a water divinity, having the ability to make water flow from the soil on striking the earth with its hooves!



Postiguet beach. Alicante City.
Lots of people had the same idea as we did and there were several people swimming although I thought the wind was quite cold.


Bit hazy again….mobile phone shots!!!

Postiguet beach again  and bridge over to the old quarter of the town.



Hope you are all having a lovely relaxing Sunday!!!!



Amanda :-)