Things you have, things you don´t have.

Today I got my bike stolen. It had been with me for the last 6 years, and we´d rode together literally thousands of kilometers. More than 300 km just during the last 3 weeks.
It has dissapeared from my life, after so many hours on its saddle, on its hadlebar.

It´s odd how these things happen. The things you take for granted, the things that are with you every day, those things that you have. And, suddenly, you don´t have any more.

My bike has left many things behind. My panniers, my hadlebar bag, and my keys. Two keys for two german locks. One bought in Frankfurt, the second one bought in Munich.
Actually my bike was sort of a Franken-bike having been made through the years with parts from other bikes or carefully chosen new parts. Hardly any part but the gears remaining from the original device.

I feel very sad and upset. I miss it so much.
Things you have, things you don´t have.  ¶ 21:48 4 comments

  The Magnum Master

Despite its name it´s only the air hand-dryer at my office´s toilet. We live in a peculiar world. Nothing is what it seems and no one calls things by its name.

I love the little sketchy drawings.
1. Wash your hands... flush, flush.
2. Push the button, with your dripping hands... click.
3. Rub your hands together under the air flow...fuhhhhhh
4. If you flip the fan you can enjoy a warm breeze..... mmm  ¶ 17:48 1 comments

  Tons of taste

Still original size.
Real milk chocolate.
4.000.000 of these are made and eaten every week.  ¶ 00:00 3 comments

  Carousel

Carousel. This is a work by artist Carsten Höller shown at the Gagosian Gallery on Britannia Street.
So much to say about it and yet, it's better to be quiet and just watch it go round and round and round.  ¶ 23:00 0 comments

  It's cake o'clock (The Hackney Series VIII)

Have your cake!!

Hurry up, grab your bike and panniers and come to Hackney on a Sunday morning! There's so much to see, eat and enjoy.

Two of the most beautiful creatures to be seen in London are the cupcakes from two heavenly bakeries, Hummingbird in the West (Portobello) and Treacle in the East (Columbia Road).  ¶ 00:00 0 comments

  Room for two (The Hackney Series VII)

After some months, we're starting to find our true place in this city. It seems that London has room for everybody, including us. There's room for two.

The picture was taken on Columbia Road, on one of the many lovely furniture and houseware shops to be seen there. It´s Hackney´s flower epicenter, with a fantastic flower market on Sunday morning. If you wait till the last minute, you can get real bargains, and even at the rush hour you can buy a nice orchid for 8 pounds. (I'll post a picture of the flower one of these days).  ¶ 22:04 2 comments

  Old teapot , New teapot

There's something special about teapots. I mean, for people who drink tea.
Those still beings always keep you company, and usually they are there in many joyful and hard moments, that´s when you mostly have your cups.

On the left, our old teapot. It´s hard to tell, but I reckon it must have actually contained thousands of liters of tea. It´s leaky, so we've decided to replace it. Something strange about this little change, almost unnoticed on our kitchen shelf. Looking back, this teapot has been with us for the last 5 houses...not to mention the years (well, less years than houses, actually).

And on the right, our brand new teapot. I want to portrait it new and shiny as it is now, for I know that it won´t be long before it´s all chipped on the spout and rim.
When these little and subtle changes of the everyday arrive, one always wonders what time will bring. Whether you measure it in liters or years, be it sad or joyous moments.  ¶ 12:38 4 comments

  101 Km to beat Cancer - 101 km contra el cáncer

No picture today.
Well, this is quite an unsual post but I think the message within it is worth it...
I´d like to share with you a beatiful project, the challenge of a simple man wanting to do something very special.
J.M. Aguilar, a very nice man from Sevilla, is planning to run the 101km in Ronda (Andalucia) in 2006, probably the most famous ultra-marathon run in Spain to
raise funds for the Spanish Association Against Cancer. He aims to complete the run in less than 24 hours and his idea is to sell each one of the 101 km.
Although his page is in Spanish I think you can get the idea quite clearly.


101 km against cancer


Now here comes the Spanish part...

Aunque no es habitual, y porque la ocasión lo merece mucho, este post no tiene foto. Es un post diferente, pero habla de una cosa muy común y que está presente en la vida de mucha gente muy cercana. Es un bello reto.
El atleta popular J.M. Aguilar, un simpático sevillano, se ha propuesto correr la famosa carrera de 101km de Ronda en 2006 en menos de 24h para recaudar fondos contra el cancer. Su idea es vender cada uno de los 101 km a la gente que se los quiera comprar y donar los beneficios a la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer

Para promocionar su idea, ha creado un blog en el que explica su idea, y donde se pueden comprar los kilómetros de su esfuerzo altruista.

101 km contra el cáncer

Animo a todo el que lea esto a que le eche un vistazo, estoy seguro de que lo romántico y bello del proyecto cautiva a más de uno.  ¶ 12:00 2 comments

  Welcome to East Croydon - Home of Nestlé UK

This is the first thing you see when you arrive in East Croydon by train.



I´m coming here this month to lead quite a strange life 8 hours a day. Being a Spaniard in England, during those 8 hours I work, eat and live in a big building in French, together with Aurélie and Céline.
I spend 7,5 hours a day calling France.
Calling companies with names such as L´Amicale des vendeurs agréés or Féderation française de tennis de table
Speaking with people whose names are François, Michèle, Jöel, Thierry, Bernadette and Laetitia.

I specially like when the friendly French operators at the other side of the line welcome me and then tell me "Ne bougez pas", while they look for the information. And finally, once they have answered all my questions, just before they hang up, I love the way they wishper "Une belle journée".  ¶ 00:00 5 comments

  I am in love with a potato

And its name is King Edward.



I love it from its beautiful colour to the last gramm of its flesh, specially with butter.





*Funnily enough I first met it long ago in the Canary Islands, where the name has derived to a weird chinegua, and its also adored by locals.  ¶ 12:00 2 comments

  The 8:42 still life

This is the 8:42 still life.



It unexpectedly appeared on my kitchen yesterday evening. Like many other things that come and go through our life without us even noticing. This time I was lucky enough not let it go away for ever.
8:42 still life.
Cabbage, apples, clock, sacarines...  ¶ 00:00 2 comments

  My birthday - '74 Corvette

Today it´s my birthday. I´ve been thinking quite a lot about getting older lately.
And just the day before yesterday I was riding by a scrapyard in Southeast London and had to stop because I had one of those magical encouters you just have once in a while.


Click on the image for a full size picture

I was taking this picture for my car-blog, strangely attracted by this "American icon" car, when the owner came out and looked at me quite suspicious.
- Nice car, I said.
- Yes, he answered.
- How old is it? I asked, hopping to get some conversation with that strange man at that strange place.
- 1974, he said.
- Oh!!, Just like me!!, I shouted full of excitement.
Then the man made a small pause to stare at me carefully and said:
- Yes, but you don´t look as good as my car.
  ¶ 00:00 4 comments

  Dare to be different! (Multi coloured carrots)

Every Sunday we usually go to the much amazing Islington Farmer´s Market. To honour the truth we´re normally quite lazy and arrive late to make the best of the remaining produce.
Today, though, we were early shoppers and thus we have enjoyed the marvellous variety of local produce. From endless varieties of carrots and Swiss chards to rich and yellow home-smoked mackerells. The bread looks terrific too, but we bake our own so there´s no use.

Dare to be different!  ¶ 11:50 3 comments

  "The world is very large, it´s quite infinite"

The title is a verse of one of my favourite poets, Bernardo Atxaga. (I don´t give you any link because there are just so many...)
I love it because of it magical sense (both the poet and the sentence). We all know that the world is quite or pretty infinite... but sometimes you just realise it:


Obviously I didn´t take this picture myself (at least with my camera, as I always do)

I use a visitor counter service, Site Meter. It gives you several reports of the people dropping by your site, by time zone, by language...and after more than 4 months of using it, I have discovered this lovely image. A world map report from the last visitors. All those people from around the world coming to this little corner. Well, actually the image is from my other blog.
It just makes you think.

There´s another thing: you can´t do it because it´s just an image, but if I drag the mouse over the dots on the map I can read the names of remote cities, some of them known, many of them unknown.
The red dot it´s me, the last visitor.  ¶ 22:27 2 comments

  Gardens of the soul (The art season returns)

This was the title of an exhibition years ago in the Madrid Royal Botanic Garden, "Jardines del alma".


Sorry for the crappy picture


Last week, as part of the new art season in London I went to this opening of the Swiss artist Olaf Breuning at the Chisenhale Gallery. The strange creatures protrayed above are part of the intallation.
Not that I particularly liked the exhibition, but it reminded me of how gardens are such an important place within us. A remote corner of our soul, a much needed place to run away and escape from everything. The gardens of the soul.  ¶ 12:49 0 comments

  It´s Tortilla!!!

In our brand new Ikea dishes (highly exclusive)



This is the way we would have it back home...well, the tomato salad lacks the garlic, but it´s more than OK.
And the bread is one of my sourdough creations.
Quite a perfect dinner for a London evening.  ¶ 09:38 15 comments

  Sunday Picnic "East London Style"

Click on the image to see another version of the picture, you can tell me wich one you like best

For a Sunday Picnic "East London Style":
-Take a Canal...the Regent´s Canal will do.

-Go for some basics of the Jewish heritage in East London...bagels.
Salt Beef with lots of hot mustard (it opens and cleanses your nostrils to an incredible extent)
Lox Smoked salmon with cream cheese. (Just £1,30!)
The beer is Dutch...the first one we could find...but it will also do the trick.

-And once you´ve got all the ingredients...simply seat by a lock along the Canal and enjoy.
You cand do it over as much as you like.

As we were enjoying this lovely picnic, a boat came by and filled the lock up...that´s the reason you can see the water surface on the picture...it took it 5 minutes to fill the lock, get in, empty the lock and slowly dissapear eastward.  ¶ 14:35 4 comments

  Our London Map

We do have our small London inside of London.
It´s more than 3 meters wide and still growing!!!


Click on the image for a full size picture

We´ve made it up from the London Cycle Campaign* free maps. They´ve divided London into 19 different areas and each one has its map with the best cycle friendly routes around....they´re great, and they´re free!!!

*We´re brand new proud members of the LCC!!

  ¶ 00:06 0 comments

  Superabsorbent

Multi purpose.
Can be used wet or dry.

  ¶ 15:34 2 comments

  "This is the 8:43 service to Hounslow"

Today a little bit of Waterloo Station rush hour feel.

"This is the Southwest Trains eight fourty-three service to Hounslow.
Calling at Vauxhall, Queenstown Road, Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Town, Putney, Barnes, Mortlake, North Sheen, Richmond, St. Margarets, Twickenham, Whitton, Shepperton, Kingston, Wimbledon and Hounslow."
"The 8:43 Southwest Train to Hounslow will depart from platform 16"

And then, you´re on the train...



And this are two halves on the park after work. Taking advantage of the last joyful moments of the summer London Fields is giving us

  ¶ 16:00 5 comments