Why your Dog really does Love you .........

 

                   Scientists find this idea hard to handle. They say only animals with 'higher emotions' - humans - are capable of love. Studies have shown that when dogs are in physical contact with their owners, their brains release the 'pleasure chemical' dopamine in exactly the same way as our human brains do when we feel happy and relaxed. 

Newspaper reports claim the dog has been man’s best friend for far longer than anyone imagined. They described how archaeologists digging in Siberia and Belgium found two canine skulls dating back 33,000 years.

Unlike their wolf ancestors, who had long narrow jaws and large teeth, perfectly suited for grabbing their prey and tearing its meat off the bone, these creatures had far more blunted features with smaller teeth.

This indicated they were domesticated long before the archaeologists’ previous estimate of 15,000 years ago. The researchers suggest that, apart from using these early dogs as an emergency food source or to follow animal scent trails, our ancestors also  valued them as companions — just as we do today.

And Bruce Fogle, Vet and Daily Mail writer,  believes the bond between our two species has been so enduring because dogs are as capable of loving us as we are of loving them.

One emotion which dogs certainly demonstrate is that inner calm and contentment we humans experience in the company of our loved ones, regardless of what they can provide for us in material terms.

When you think about it, this makes sense in evolutionary terms. Like humans, dogs are gregarious animals, and love is an important emotion in a sociable species, helping us to live and work well together.

Not that all dogs are equally affectionate. Golden retrievers, like his 'Bean', are working animals, specially bred over the centuries to help humans retrieve prey.

In developing these and similar breeds, including spaniels and German shepherds, to work with people, we have selectively bred into them traits such as vulnerability and dependence

and, in doing so, it seems that we have also unwittingly encouraged in them a capacity for love.

Interestingly, the DNA of breeds whose behaviour is the least dependent and vulnerable — including the chow chow,  shar pei and Afghans — much more closely resembles that of the original and more independent Asian wolves from which all dogs are believed to be descended. 

As with cats, which have evolved as solitary creatures, it’s perfectly possible for the dependency of such breeds to be increased through early learning.
But it’s not already there perfectly formed, he says, as it is in dogs like his  much-loved golden retrievers.

 Whilst updating his clinic's web-site,  he decided to include a section called  ‘In Memory Of’  where clients can leave pictures of dogs that loved their humans as much as they were loved by us.

Visit the   Pet's Memorial Page    at     http://www.londonvetclinic.co.uk      

No sovereignty talks against Gibraltar's wishes.....

The assurance that there will not be sovereignty talks with Spain against the wishes of the Gibraltarians has again been stressed at talks in London today between Europe minister and Gibraltar's Chief Minister.

This comes at a time when the new PP government in Spain is conditioning cooperation with Gibraltar to advances on sovereignty for Spain.

But even Spanish workers are expressing concern at the extreme policy being mooted by the PP government.

26.01.2012
Panorama Gibraltar 



UK prime minister David Cameron used his high profile and important speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg to highlight support for Gibraltar's self-determination.

It followed a question from the Valencia Senator, Pedro Agramunt who had asked about decolonisation. This elicited the following reply from Mr Cameron: ‘I don’t know if your question has anything to do with Gibraltar. I have a very clear point of view, and we are in favour of self-determination.’

Mr. Cameron at the time was answering questions from parliamentarians in the Council of Europe, when he also admitted the procedure there was ‘more civilised than what he has in the British parliament.’

The impassionate speech by Mr. Cameron urged EU leaders to seize a 'once-in-a-generation chance' to make sweeping changes to the European Court of Human Rights, calling for reforms to give greater precedence to rulings by the courts of member nations, he told the 47 countries of the Council of Europe.

Gibraltar could not have asked for a bigger or more appropriate stage to have its support confirmed by the UK Government on self-determination and by none other than the UK Prime Minister himself.

Mr. Cameron’s comments to the Spanish senator will not have gone down well with the new PP Government in Madrid, who themselves have come out publicly signalling a new hard lined official approach to the Gibraltar question, as the new Spanish foreign minister Sr Margallo appears to be living in the past.

27-01-12
Panorama Gibraltar

A Honey Bee in an Almond Flower......

 

Fundamental change in Spanish Govt policy on Gibraltar

Progress on sovereignty or no cooperation talks

 The new Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, has told his UK opposite number, William Hague,  that the joke is over on Gibraltar,  as a reference to his recent cheeky aside to the Conservative MEP, Charles Tannock,  when he said  'Gibraltar español' as the MEP extended a hand of friendship.

  When  Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo  met foreign secretary William Hague in Brussels on Tuesday,  he said that there is now a fundamental change in Spain's approach to Gibraltar.

The change is that, unless there are advances on the sovereignty issue, there will not be progress on cooperation.
                                                            ............................................

 Margallo said that the Gibraltarians were intent on taking part in discussions, such as on sovereignty and jurisdiction, but these are matters for the 'big boys.'

He has made it plain that only Britain and Spain will talk about sovereignty and jurisdiction.

However, he considers it positive to talk about cooperation because it favours both sides of the 'fence', as he called the frontier.
At such talks - presumably the trilateral forum - the Junta de Andalucia should also be present. This was first mooted by the former Spanish foreign minister,  Miguel Angel Moratinos, but was rejected.

But even though he thinks it is useful to talk about cooperation, his line is that this will only be possible in tandem with advances on the sovereignty issue.


                                                             .............................................

"We will not talk permanently about cooperation if there are no advances in the fundamental issue of sovereignty," he said in a Spanish television interview two days ago.

This is the fundamental change in the new Spanish policy to Gibraltar, he stressed.

It is going back to the days prior to the socialist government in Spain.

The Alhambra Lions ..........

The water is running again from the mouths of the lions in the Patio de los Leones in the Alhambra after a ten year drought.   The twelve 300 kilogram lions, each with a different face, have been restored and are now back in their proper place.

The patio, part of the monument the construction of which was ordered by Sultan Mohamed V  will, later this Spring, look as it did in the XIV century. The white marble will be recovered by then, the same material which has been the floor of the patio for the past 700 years.

A team of more than 200 people have been involved in the restoration programme at a cost of 2.1 million €.

           The twelve lions of the Alhambra famous fountain being exhibited after restoration.

Winter Sunset.....

Motril

                                                          

In the Garden.........

Streptosolen jamesonii

Marmalade Bush or Fire Bush.....      is the common name of this fiery evergreen shrub of the Solanaceae family flowering now in the garden.

Stunningly lovely,  it produces it's glorious loose clusters of flowers from the beginning of the year to late September, gradually changing from yellow to red as they develop, resulting in an overall appearance resembling orange marmalade.

Belonging to the Solanaceae family and the sole member of its genus, it is found in open woodlands in Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru.

 We also have a yellow flowered variety but this pales into insignificance in comparison.

Fine paid with 15,000 coins......

                  Disgusted when ordered to make a late payment charhge of 100 euros for a traffic fine, Daniel Hidalgo got his own back in the best possible way.

The 35-year-old had been ordered to pay the supplement despite producing a doctor’s note proving he was unable to pay on time.

So the father-of-two, from Murcia, stormed off to the bank to have the entire 200 euros changed into 15,000 separate coins weighing seven kilos.

Hidalgo then went for a coffee and only returned to the traffic department five minutes before it closed demanding that the money be counted in front of him.

“I understand they’re a load of jobsworths, but I know perfectly well that if one of their friends or family had been in an identical situation, they’d have let them off,”  Hidalgo fumed.

In the Garden........

The Orange Trees...Los Naranjos

   

   Here at Cortijo Azahar,  the oranges begin to ripen in November and by now, mid January,  they are full of sweet juice and delicious to eat. The longer they stay on the trees, the sweeter they get.

Visitors staying here have fresh orange juice for breakfast all winter long.

The tangerines also are fully ripe and although full of pips are just as sweet and delicious to eat.

                                                             Seville Orange Trees

                  The streets of Seville are lined with bitter orange trees, the fruits of which are harvested at the end of December and mostly exported to make the famous Seville Orange Marmelade.

After the Rain.....

            There was such a sweet smell in the air this morning.  The smell of the morning sun on the earth after yesterday's rain.  Not often smelt here and nostalgically reminding me of my lovely, long lost English garden.

            But as the morning wore on and the Bananas and Papyrus began to look a lot better after their Spring pruning and that thorny, thug of an Asparagus vine was cut away from the Mahonia and the dappled sun warmed the Jungle Corner where I was working,  the thought came to me that this, now garden is just as lovely.

                                              

Día de San Antón.... Patron Saint of Domestic Animals

The Blessing of the Animals.  17^th January.  

 

It is a day for dogs, cats and any other animal or pet throughout Spain as people flock to churches to have their animals blessed on the day of San Antón, the Patron Saint of Animals. 

    

                                                                 

                          "Lord, bless this animal that Saint Antonio may protect it from all ailments," said Juan Villa, priest at the Church of San Antón in Madrid as he sprinkled holy water on pets presented by their owners.

                                                                  

 Following a ritual sprinkling, the faithful parishioners are given lucky buns made from a secret recipe which is supposed to keep them fresh for a year.

Each parishioner receives three buns, one of which is traditionally kept for a year alongside a coin to ensure work and health and to guarantee the blessing of the saint.

 After their blessing, the animals do the "walk of the Saint," a procession through several streets in the Madrid district of Chueca.



The festival has been celebrated in Madrid since the 19th century with only a few breaks. It is also held in other parts of Spain such as in the Balearic Islands and Burgos.

To celebrate his feast, the night before and the day of the actual feast on January 17th, the Spanish build huge bonfires or hogueras in the streets, especially in Andalucia, Castilla-La Mancha, the Community of Valencia and Aragon.

In Cataluña and the Balearic Islands, there are mounted processions in the streets.    

In Ávila the Luminarias de San Bartolomé de Pinares,  riders force their horses into the flames in the belief that this will cleanse the village of disease and ensure its prosperity in the year ahead.

 

Can the Spanish hold a festival without food? !Claro que no! Of course not!

In towns like Trigueros (Huelva), townspeople throw legs of ham, bread and money as the religious procession for San Antonio makes its way through the streets and around the bonfires.

In the area of Vega de Granada, in the province of Granada, the Olla de San Antón is prepared. It is a super stew containing lots of delicious, but high calorie ingredients, such as: beans, bacon, pig’s feet, pigs ears and ribs, and morcilla sausage. 

                                                                                                     Olla de San Antón

                                                                                       

 LEGEND OF SAN ANTONIO ABAD.

San Antonio Abad was an Egyptian by birth. His parents were of good family and wealthy. The life of this saint was written by St. Athanasius, his great friend. San Antonio Abad died on 17 January in the year 356.
It's called "Abbot" meaning "father" because he was the father or founder of the monasteries of monks.
As a child he was not taught to read or write, but knew a Christian education.
It is stated that San Antonio Abad lived to 105 years, and gave orders that his remains should rest upon his death in an unmarked grave. However, around the year 561 his relics were taken to Alexandria, where they were venerated until about the twelfth century. His legacy is only a robe made of lambskin.
The ancients had faith that he kept their fields free from pests and plagues that attack animals.   For this he is painted with a pig, a dog and a rooster.  

There was also the custom of several farmers each year among all to fatten a pig on the day of San Antonio, to be killed and distributed among the poor.
It is also said that on one occasion he was approached by a wild sow with  piglets (who were blind), in supplication.    Antonio cured the blindness of animals and since then the mother defended him from any vermin who came near him.
But with time came the idea that the pig was an unclean animal and to represent domination of the impurity a tamed pig was placed at his feet, showing him the winner of the impurity.

He was appointed Patron Saint of domestic animals in the Middle Ages.

 San Antonio Abad                                                          

Is it really raining?

                 Awoke this morning to a grey, cloudy sky and..... rain.

The last time it rained here was November 19, 2011 and the time before that was May 2nd, 2011.

Unfortunately, we had made an 11 am appointment with the Vet  for Layla and Dobby dogs to have vaccinations so, after endless days of sunshine, there we were in our raincoats and hats out and about with two soggy dogs in tow.

It's now 2.30 pm and although still raining slightly, the sky is brightening and the clouds passing.

We really do need more rain.

Apparently, it's snowing all the way from Granada up to the top of Spain!

Just another day.......

 Villa Tranquila received some interest a few days ago from a French couple who thought they might like to overwinter there, next winter.  Nothing unusual about that as parts of France can be particularly cold and unpleasant during the winter and we find that a lot of French inhabitants like to get away to our sunny warm climate.

After sending the usual reply we received an email back saying that as they were staying, this winter, in the area at Almuñecar, they would like to have a look at the house.  Nothing unusual about that either, so we wrote explaining that Sunday morning would be a good time to view as we had a changeover and new people would be arriving in the afternoon and the next viewing opportunity wouldn't be until February 3rd.  

That was when things began to not make much sense.  The letter we got back said     “THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAST ANSWER,
IF IT ARRANGES(SETTLES) YOU, WE CAN COME TOMORROW 0 11 HOURS PM
THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING US HOW TROVER THE HOUSE
CORDIALLY  “   

    

Writing back, assuming that they had really meant AM and not PM and enclosing the directions we said   "not tomorrow, Sunday at 11?   I am enclosing the directions.   You can phone us on 699158769 if you need to.    Hasta Sunday,”

Back came the reply   " It is sunday at 11pm  is that good for you?   best regards...."

  Thinking ....how can they possibly view the Villa at that time of night?, wondering if they were working in Almuñecar and couldn't get away, were they responsible people?, would the rent be paid?, was it a scam and I had given them directions and maybe they were trying to find out when the villa would be empty so they could break in?  Help?   

  I replied saying...       "Oh dear, no I am sorry,  11 pm  is far too late. We have people arriving at the villa on Sunday afternoon and they will be staying until Sunday morning February 3^rd.    If it is possible for you to come another morning next week, I will arrange it with the people that will be staying at the villa.   Best regards,........"

Saturday morning came the reply....    " a another week is verry difficult for me , but i can to go earlier on the morning at  7,8 or 9 pm  is good for you? I could wait for you in front of the church   Regards"

 By this time, worry along with serious frustration had set in and it was a matter of simply couldn't care less if I never heard from them ever again, but not wanting to appear churlish I wrote,  for the last time I thought,

 "We will be at the Villa tomorrow morning at 10.30 am. We can meet you at the bus stop outside the village, not at the church.  We do not go into the village, the house is up the hill by the cemetery.  There are people staying in the house until 10.30 am and we cannot disturb them before that.  Regards,"

To our utter amazement came the reply.........

“C OK  I believe that I had made a mistake by answering I had put PM instead of AM excuses but I do not well speak English and I translate with REVERSO
has tomorrow”

Saturday morning....... 

The German couple staying at the villa overslept so when we arrived just before 10.30 to begin the clean up,  we found the place a complete mess and them lounging outside drinking coffee.    We are not in a hurry they casually told us.

Well, I am sorry but we have some people coming to look at the house at 10.30 I said by which time the Germans should have been well on their way down the hill.

Sure enough, on time, arrived an extremely pleasant, French couple and all was chaos for the next 20 minutes or so.                                                                 

 Later, as we were saying our goodbyes to the German couple, the male suddenly asked ‘himself’ did he wear shirts.   ‘Himself’ did look rather scruffy at the time which was excusable seeing as he was in working gear but naturally said that yes he did wear shirts. The German said well, we have found a good bargain of Burberry shirts very cheap in Motril, I will give you the name of the shop, they are only 49.50 euros each and cost far more at home, I have bought 4 and proceeded to rush back into the villa.   No, no don’t worry I shouted after him, It’s OK and as he came back the words came out of my mouth   “That is half a week’s rent for us”  and as an afterthought,  “anyway he (himself) would only get paint all over them.”   The German, unsurprisingly, was a little embarrassed and we laughed it off but, he had only paid 100 euros rent for the week!

The French couple stayed for about hour asking questions and trying out the armchairs and finally deciding that yes, they would like to stay next winter if the Internet could be arranged  after which we said ‘hasta luego’ and got on with putting the house back to rights for our next visitors who were due in at Malaga airport from Norway at 11.30 am. 

Much later in the day, hours later than expected, came the phone call.   

“Where exactly are you?    The costa tropical she said.  Are you on the N340? 

We are on a roundabout.   What can you see?    Can you see any shops? Shops?, No, no shops. We have been to Motril.  Shall we go to Almeria?

Stay there,  I said, finally giving up. Stay where you are, my husband will come to find you,  but not actually at the time being able to guess where they were.

He did find them,  after trying all the usual roundabouts, down on the Port road. 

The map that we send out clearly says  “  Do NOT turn off at the Port sign”  but, did they bring the map with them?  No, of course they didn’t need the map, they had a Sat Nav.

When they arrived at the villa  they said to ‘himself’ that there must have been new roads recently built as the Sat Nav couldn’t find the way.   No new roads said ‘himself’.   They then said that the Sat Nav was an old one perhaps not even realising that Sat Navs need updating now and again.    They were in their 70’s, poor things, and clearly exhausted. 

 Not that updating the Sat Nav would have made any difference here.    

Why do so many visitors think we go to the trouble of providing them with maps if they don’t need them? 

We finally got our lunch about 6 o’clock.

Just another day!

Earthquake Day .........

Motril is closed today 13th January.  

           On this day,  the people of Motril are celebrating one of the oldest traditions of Motril.  

 Every year the town remembers a series of earth tremors that caused serious damage in the municipality.   

Because of the earthquakes of 1804 and 1884 that destroyed the town,  Motril annually celebrates a great procession of the city's patron, the Virgen de la Cabeza and Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno. 

The people of Motril prayed to these Saints, during that tragic time, for the end of the earthquakes and for calm and now thank them for their intercession.

 The first quake  measured 6.7 on the Richter scale and the second, 6.5.

            “Only a religious procession keeps the date alive now, but there are accounts of how hundreds of Motrileneans were affected by serious tremors in 1804 and 1884. Although only 2 people died in the first quake, with the town faithfully fortified,  it was  the1884 earthquake, which took the greatest toll in Motríl with over 830 people dying on Christmas day.

It was the last two earthquakes recorded in Motríl in1993 and 1994, which also happened around the Christmas period,  which inspired locals to initiate this day of commemoration on January 13, in the hope that the disaster should never recur.”  

                                                  Jesus leads the Procession

                                                   Followed by the Virgin



Video .......  Virgin de la Cabeza - Patrona de Motril

In the Garden.........

Jungle Corner.....

                In a corner of the garden in front of the disused water tank is a micro climate perfectly suited for growing tropical foliage plants.  Shaded from the hot Andalucian sun by the Chirimoya trees it has evolved into the 'Jungle'.  

                                                Looking down from the top of the Water Tank

Some plants growing here are:
                                                                        Bananas

 Unfortunately, the plant dies after fruiting so  having gained 7 large hands of bananas last year we lost 7 majestic plants but there are always young ones coming along.  

                     Cyperus papyrus

Long on beauty and history, papyrus has been known and used by Man for millennia. Soft green clouds of papyrus lined the River Nile during the time of the pharaohs. In the Bible the infant Moses was found among the bulrushes, as Cyperus papyrus is also called. Ancient Egyptians kept records of their pyramid building activities on papyrus sheets, from which we get the word "paper."

 Alpinia zerumbet

Obviously happy in it's home under the Chirimoya tree this flowered for us for the first time last Summer.


                                                               





             



                  Canna warscewiczii

The red flowers light up when caught by the dappled sunlight.







                                                                                        
                                                                                               Philodendron selloum

Ryanair threatens to reduce services in Spain unless fines against it are waived .......

 Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has threatened the Spanish Government with reducing the number of routes and people employed in Spain unless 65 fines issued against them removed.
Expansion newspaper reports that the CEO of the airline, Michael O’Leary, has called on the Ministry for Industry to remove the fines which total 1.23 million €.

In a letter dated last January 24, O’Leary asks the then Minister for Industry, for an urgent meeting ‘to put an end to these unjust fines and guarantee that the regulatory bodies support the multimillion € investments being made in Spanish airports and tourism, instead of putting the growth of Ryanair in danger with unfounded fines’.

O’Leary claims the regulatory bodies do not contact the airline until the fine is issued and describes their action as ‘disproportionate and discriminatory’, claiming they have ‘a vindictive policy’.

Last summer Ryanair overtook Iberia as the largest airline in Spain and ended the year with a 30% growth in passenger numbers at 22.89 million.

Currently Ryanair operates from 44 bases, offers more than 1,500 flights and forecast it will transport 73 million passengers this year, 30 million of them in Spain.

Meanwhile the OCU Consumers Union in Spain has warned the Government that they will take them to court if they give in to the blackmail from Ryanair.

In a press release on Monday, the OCU says they want to express their absolute rejection of the unacceptable request from Ryanair. The OCU say they can only once again lament the nil respect for the law from Ryanair, which repeatedly fails to meet its obligations to travellers.

Fellow consumers’ group FACUA has also described the Ryanair move as ‘blackmail’. It notes the airline carried out 65 infractions in two years, although none of them were safety related. FACUA considers that the blackmail comes ‘as a consequence of the weakness of the Government and the Autonomous Regions in the face of Ryanair’s continuous frauds’.

Man wins compensation after Ryanair refuses to let him board ........

The passenger had been robbed of his identity in the airport, but the airline would not accept the official report of the theft......

 

The Spanish State Air Safety Agency, AESA, has ordered Ryanair to compensate a passenger for ‘unjustified refusal of embarking’.

The company had stopped the man from boarding the plane after his DNI identity document had been stolen, and despite the fact that he had presented the corresponding denuncia, a driving licence and a photocopy of the DNI.

Ryanair has been ordered to pay 250 € compensation and repay the cost of the ticket, according to judicial sources quoted in El Mundo.

  Antonio Ramos, from Granollers, Barcelona, tried to board a flight at El Prat for Valladolid, although his final destination was Palencia. When he got to the check in, he realised that he had lost his wallet. Because he was two and a half hours ahead of the flight time, he then went to get the Mossos d’Esquadra regional police at the airport to make a ‘denuncia’, and then returned to the check in to inform Ryanair what had happened.

They said he could only get an authorisation to fly from the ticket office but they refused to let him fly, despite his presentation of the documentation of the theft, a driving licence and a photocopy of his DNI, identity card. The only option the company offered was for a flight for the following day, at a charge of 100 € more.

Antonio was forced to return home and use his car to travel to Palencia.

Considering his rights had been broken, he decided to denounce Ryanair ‘which has not even dignified itself to offer a single answer’ to the AESA and to the courts in Granollers, and it is the latter which has ordered the airline to comply and pay compensation.