Why Door of Chains?

 

I have finally come across the answer and it is a bit out of the ordinary!

Do you remember this 14th Century Door, the Door of Chains. 

I posted this photograph that I took of the main entrance into Orihuela Cathedral in a previous post here where I mentioned that I did not know why it was called the Door of Chains. I was going to leave it at that but as Spinning Streak left a comment about the door on my last post...

  

I felt compelled to clarify how that door got that name and so I did a little bit of research and found out the following:

In the past there were bollards outside in front of the church ( you can see one of the remaining ones in the front righthand corner of the photo above) with chains attached which marked a small area in front of the church door. Now then, before this church was granted cathedral status in the 16th century this church belonged to the diocese of Cartagena (Murcia).

 It is well known that in the past there was a religious custom where fugitives could claim sanctuary within-side a church and no authority could come in and harm, arrest or remove the fugitive for punishment. However, this church went a little further than that and any wrongdoer who jumped the chains into that small area in front of the church door could claim sanctuary there too even though they weren't actually inside the church itself and so escape the civil jurisdiction of the authorities in Orihuela (Alicante) at that time. 

There you go, hence the name "Door of Chains".😀🚪

A light at the end of the tunnel

Two weeks ago we went up to the Agost Mountains and enjoyed the sun, the scenery and the exercise. 

A nice strenuous walk along the Maigmó Greenway trail again. This time we went further along and we still didn't get to the end of the trail.

We started at the Tunnel which is not illuminated in fact it is pitch black in there and I forgot my little torch. This didn't bother Sr P of course as he has very good night vision. 

You know, I have always wondered about Sr P's ability to see so well in the dark and his tendency to always feel much more comfortable in dark rooms. At least I know for sure he hasn't any creepy genes in his DNA as he really likes garlic in his meals!

Luckily I remembered my iPhone has a torch so that helped 🔦

The light at the end of the tunnel!

That beautiful blue sky hits you as you come out of that cool damp dark tunnel. 

"Yes...I'm ok thank you Sr P... no need to wait for me... sigh!"

Looking back 

It was lovely walking in the sun, chatting and blowing those cobwebs away for roughly about an hour. We had gone past the last place along the trail we got to during our last walk there and it was so pleasant that we continued.  

Low and behold what came up next but ...

another tunnel so with my iPhone in hand we went through this one too.

We continued along the trail a little bit further but as it was near lunch time and we still had the return trek (+ two tunnels to go through) to get back to the car we turned around but marking the second tunnel in our minds to remember where we got to this time.

Little babe

One of my orchids has offspring.

Now

A few weeks ago

I have just received the information from my sister over in Australia on how to remove the baby Orchid from the mother plant and transplant. She attends Orchid Growing classes so she asked her teacher for me.  

You probably know this but I didn't. Baby Orchids are called Keikis from the Hawaiian word which means child.😊

Happy Blogging

Amanda :-)

Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness

 

Indeed I do...feel gratitude that is!   I just feel I need to say thank you for your blog friendship! You may say "Why?"  How can I describe it I'd say it produces a feeling of belonging! I had this feeling in blogland before but being away from my blog for so long I lost it!  I am feeling it again and it is so good that I have found it!  When I receive comments on my blog or of course replies to comments I have posted or see my blog there in your blog roll I feel I am belonging . Perhaps I can simplify what I am trying to say.  It is a good sensation and it makes me happy.

  

 

 

Checking the mountains are still there!

 When the heat here in Alicante decreases and Autumn starts to bring in the cooler weather we usually take more Sunday trips up into the mountains. We start this usually at the beginning of November but Sr P has had some ear trouble recently, He is is on the mend but meanwhile he isn't allowed to go snorkeling or swimming so the beach is off limits for a little while. As we have had some showers this last week we thought we go and check out one of our favourite places in the mountains which is not too far away from the city. 

 

I t was really good to see that the countryside was not looking so dry and parched. The recent rains had brought back some colour to the terrain.  I took this photo on our way up to the Maigmó Greenway  (Via Verde) in the Maigmó mountains. The Greenway was originally a railway track from Alicante to Alcoy that was built in the 1920s which never actually entered into service.    The track has been reconditioned into a public trail for hikers and cyclists and covers approximately 22 kilometres from Agost  up to the Maigmó pass and back down the other side of the mountain.

 

 

 

  Our objective was not to walk the Greenway this time but to walk along the Drovers trail under the old railway bridge(now part of the Greenway) which borders some olive and almond fields on the slopes of the mountain croplands.  Our goal.....ALMONDS!!  Unfortunately the almond harvesting was at the beginning of September and if you want to pick windfalls one needs to be here at least two days after the harvest so we are a bit late and consequently there were not a lot of windfalls.                                         

 One should not stray from the Drovers trail at all and cannot enter the fields and pick from the trees as they are  private property even though there are no fences. It would be considered stealing!  Nonetheless, there is a rogue almond tree on the pathway which is fair game and there are always some windfalls too.     We only take sufficient to have a little snack and at times Sr P carries a bota de vino with him to have a swig of wine as we munch the almonds!! 

 

Beginning of Drovers Trail

 

 That is Sr P picking up the windfalls. He is right on the edge of the trail....tch!!! The rogue almond tree on the right has been picked clean. However we picked up enough for a snack and a few to take home to make up almond sauce to add to a chicken dish.

 

Lovely!!!

 

Now I have to talk about being naughty...

 

 

 

 .....not totally my fault by the way because this Miss has been messing about with that magical stuff she sprinkles around .......    I was so tempted when I saw these at half price I had to buy them....

 

 

By the way I still go to the local haberdashery which I posted about in 2012 (doesn't seem that long ago!) and you can read about it here . I am trying to frequent more the small local shops who are having such a difficult time! 

 

 

 RAOCKs:

 

 

 I made this in April during lockdown for the Random Acts of Crochet Kindness group. I used a free pattern I found on the webpage Thoresby Cottage.   I did tweak it a bit!  Great stash buster!

 

 

 

Many thanks for all your generous comments on my last post Mandala Mirror. I was surprised to receive an offer to buy it but regretfully I had to refuse it as I do not sell my makes.                                                  It also looks very nice on my wall!  🌸🌸🌸

 

 

 

 

Stay safe everyone.    

 

Amanda :-)