Author: Kate Wilson

Why is a Manhole Cover Round?

~ Kate Wilson ~ 5 Comments

Walking home from the market one day I found my eyes drawn down to the pavement and I noticed how many different manhole covers there are in the street. As I prepared to write this I looked for some more information and discovered amongst other things that there is a famous question put to candidates in interviews, ‘why are most manhole covers round?’  It was meant to be a psychological assessment of reasoning  but some of the answers are interesting. One is that it is not possible for a round cover to fall through the hole while a square one could go through diagonally.
Here are some examples of both shapes and also a rectangular one which I think could easily slip into the potable agua.

 It’s incredible how many there are in just a short stretch  of road.
The ones above are in Castellano. This one below in Catalan. The difference is in the agua/aigua.

 If they were newly made now I wonder if they would be done with the same variety of designs?

Here is one I saw in Buenos Aires while we are on the subject – it always made me smile

 Does anyone know what the IRA stands for?

Asking for Help Part 2

~ Kate Wilson ~ 8 Comments

If you come here regularly you’ll notice I have tweeked things around a bit.
It took me a while as I am not very technically adept and before I could change the design I had to download a new version of Firefox and this still makes me nervous. I feel a bit of a granny sometimes (sorry grannies) trying to keep up with new technology and downloading something always seems a risk! My hands tremble a bit and I hold my breathe waiting for something awful to happen. But it didn’t.

I’ve learnt to ask for help and what I love about the internet is that for every problem (well almost!) there is a Forum. Somewhere out there in the world sits a kind person who will send you advice. Which is what happened today and I was able to tweek to my hearts content.

I needed to make a change as I have been asking myself why I am writing this blog. Recently I have had a lot more visitors and some very nice feedback but still I find my progress slow. I don’t know how to get more people to take a look and, most important of all  for me, I don’t know how to encourage people to write in and leave a comment.

  •  Perhaps the word ‘comment’ is off-putting. Maybe ‘response’ is better. Like in a conversation you say something and the other person responds. Could just be one word or something longer.
  • Perhaps there is something in the way I write that doesn’t invite feedback?
  • Perhaps those who visit feel they have nothing interesting to say?
  • Perhaps the people who read my posts are not the sort of people who feel comfortable leaving messages on blogs? (one of my friends feels this way)

I don’t know the answer but I must admit I sometimes get downhearted and that makes it harder to write something new.  Perhaps I am an online version of a crazy person walking down the street jabbering away to themselves.

So if you have any suggestions or thoughts on how I can resolve this problem then please do leave a comment or a response!
I hope you like the new look!

My dogs are in Cornwall

~ Kate Wilson ~ 7 Comments
             My Bonnnie lies over the ocean                    I’ve got a dog and her name is Blue
             My Bonnie lies over the sea                          I’ve got a dog and her name is Blue
             My Bonnie lies over the ocean                      I’ve got a dog and her name is Blue
             O bring back my Bonnie to me                     Bet you five dollars she’s a good dog too

See you both soon!

Getting your hands dirty

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

It’s calçot time again!  This means I really have been here more than a year as I am able to enjoy great catalan traditions for the second time around. This time with a bit more knowledge about what to expect. Click here for some more information on calçots or here for last years experience.
The first ones we ate this weekend were at the house of a friend who lives in Montseny.
Cooked on a little bonfire in the garden, eaten in the mountain sunshine. Wonderful!
They arrived at the table wrapped in newspaper, just like the best fish and chips used to before EEC regulations banned that pleasure.

You peel off the outer blackened layer, dip the edible part in the sauce and tipping your head back, slowly take it into your wide open mouth. It is impossible to keep your hands clean and, for me at least, very difficult to look elegant in the process of eating. But the tang of the onions, the nutty flavour of the sauce, combined with the slitheriness of the flesh make it hard to stop once you have started.     And today we were offered them again, this time in a restaurant in Santa Eulalia where we had gone to see the procession of Tres Tombs. Of course we couldn’t resist.

I like outdoors food – getting your hands dirty, eating without a fork and knife, something simple that tastes extra delicious because it is fresh and cooked on an open fire.
Calçots fit the bill exactly!
For my main course I had grilled vegetables with some more of the lovely Romesco sauce

PS I have only just noticed Duna’s wild eyed face under the table on the first photo.  The mountain air always brings out the wolf in her.

Not just pants! The Market 3

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

Of course there are more things to look at in the weekly market – not just pants pants pants.
Granollers market has a long and interesting history. There are records of a market being held here as long ago as the 11th century and this weekly invasion of the centre of town by stalls and sellers has continued uninterrupted until now.
Perhaps in the middle ages there were also places to buy underwear – woollen?

This building – the Porxada  – is the iconic symbol of Granollers. It dates from the 16th century and although partially destroyed in the bombing of the city in the civil war, has since been completely restored. It is a useful place to meet friends and on Thursdays this is where I go to buy vegetables and practise my català

Of course one of the purposes of markets in the past was to buy and sell animals. There is a square here called Plaça de Perpinyà which was locally known as Plaça dels Porcs.  Pep remembers being taken to the cattle market by his grandfather when he was a young boy. At that time it was held in what is now a public park, Torres Villà.  There were cows and horses and he remembers the fear of the animals as they were loaded onto lorries, urged up the ramps by the use of electric prods. Now the only part of the weekly market that reminds you of the realities of animal husbandry is in a small square near the Hotel Fonda Europa where there are cages of birds – ducks, chickens, geese.
So what else is there to see in the market now?  Here are some pictures from last week
Flowers and plants

Bags with the beautiful exterior of the Hotel Fonda Europa in the background

And Calçots which we ate twice this weekend and I will write about in the next post

I am gradually finding stalls where I feel comfortable speaking in Català and taking my time to choose fruit and vegetables. Market sellers in London are much more scary than most of the people here and because Granollers still has a feeling of the pueblo there is a relaxed attitude to time and I rarely feel ignored or pressured to shop quickly.

And there is always the temptation of a cafe amb llet and a xuxu before wheeling my full trolley home.