Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts
the stars to flight.

And, lo, the hunter of the east has caught the sultan’s turret in a noose of light.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable – Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain.

Cosas de España

Anger is said to be rising over the continuing housing crisis.

Cousas de Galiza

I thought I’d take my 4 grand-kids into town today, to buy them a little something each. Plus my (pious) sister to her daily Mass. A huge mistake. Thanks to the road closures I’ve mentioned, the 2 trips I had to make in and out were a veritable nightmare, not helped by the underground carparks being full or closed and my daughter sending me a request/demand to pick up some things at a supermarket while I was there. This featured check-out lines a mile long and a self-checkout machine which, naturally, didn’t work properly. But it did succeed in giving me heavy bags to carry to my car 20 minutes away, in 35 degrees. The best-laid schemes of mice and men oft gang awry. As someone once wrote.

THE MAGA REALITY TV SHOW

Trumpisms

• I didn’t know about the prison transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell. I heard about it when you did. [As if]
• No, I haven’t been briefed at all on the meeting between Ghislaine Maxwell and the deputy AG. I don’t know of any meeting about Epstein.
• We have had the most successful 6 months in the history of the country and the Epstein stuff is a Democrat hoax and is total bullshit.
• None of the hosts of late night shows have any talent. I could get 2 people off the streets and they’d do just as well.

Vanceisms

• No, our plenary meeting was not about the Epstein affair.

Trump’s redneck recession hits his working-class base the hardest. Despite stock market highs, the US president risks losing the base that voted him into office.

As you will have concluded . . . Ghislaine Maxwell’s prison move not a coincidence. But . . . What next?

Quote of the Day

We are watching the president of the UnitedStates, in real time, provide cover for a woman convicted of sex-trafficking minors.

Russia v Ukraine

TACO has had a chat with his mate and has now postponed the threatened extra sanctions. His answer to whether Putin was still stringing him along: I don’t know. I’ll tell you in 2 or 3 weeks. [He needs more evidence??]

Spanish

Cateto: Yokel, bumpkin, hillbilly, etc., etc.

English

Skeevy: US slang. Unpleasant, squalid, or distasteful. eg Epstein on his island. Sleazy? Slimey?

Did you know?

How to avoid being scammed.

You Have to Laugh

Trump is amusingly ridiculed on Indian TV. HT to Lenox Napier for this.

Finally . . .

Phrasal verbs are said to be the most difficult challenge when learning English. If you are a native speaker, you could well go your entire life without hearing that combination of words. For they are never, ever taught to us; we learn them ‘at our mother’s knee’. As my 4 visiting grand-kids have. Examples are To go up/in/out and to Take up/off/in. Here’s a list of of 200 of the bloody things. I pity any student having to master them for an exam. And am grateful I learnt them in total ignorance that I was doing so. [If you’re not a native speaker but know them all, you are genius. That said, my 6 year old grandson probably does . . .]

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.

The Usual Links . . .

You can get my posts by email as soon as they’re published. With the added bonus that they’ll contain the typos I’ll discover later. I believe there’s a box for this at the bottom of each post. If you do this but don’t read the posts, I will delete your subscription. So perhaps don’t bother if you have other reasons for subscribing . . .

I can also be read on Facebook.

For new readers: If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here. If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city.

If you´re thinking of moving to Spain, this link should be useful to you.