Handicrafts by Kate Perry and other ramblings

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

WOYWW 135

Hello to all my fellow crafters. I hope some of you have had a more productive week than I have. All I have achieved this week is one quick card for a grandson, that needed to be in the post today. I may do a short post about that later today. Here in Spain we are still in holiday mode as our big celebration is at the end of the week when it is Three kings Day (or Epiphany). Tomorrow night the kings will arrive on a float that will drive around the village, and they will throw huge quantity of sweets at the children. They then alight at a large marquee in the centre of the village and distribute gifts to the children (previously left at the town hall by their parents), after which there is a bar open around marquee, and music and dancing will go on until late! One year we drove the ten minute ride to the coast and spent the evening in Garrucha, where, this being an active fishing village, the kings arrive on a fishing boat, and at the port they transfer onto three very elaborate floats to process around the streets. The children also wake up the next morning to find three gifts under the tree, or by their bed - one from each of the kings. (They may have already had a Christmas stocking or gifts from Santa on Christmas day, but for many families, all this is saved for Three Kings day).

The following day our little village has a Three Kings Fiesta. We are the only village to do this around here so there will be plenty of visitors. During the morning the kings will arrive at the plaza, usually on actual camels, though last year they were on horses, and all the villagers dress up and reenact the scene at Herod's palace where the kings enquired about the whereabouts of the new baby king, as foretold in the stars. This is followed by a day of fun at a medieval market, and a free feast for everyone that could be paella, migas or tortilla.

I digress but I thought you might be interested to read a little about the traditions of this season in Andalucia. Perhaps it explains a little why I am not back into craft-mode yet, and why my desk is still as clear and empty as it was last Wednesday. So for today's picture I thought I'd show you where I go each week on a Wednesday morning. This is my Wednesday morning work desk, where I sit each week with a group of other ex-pats, and we either knit, sew, do patchwork, crochet, lace-making, or occasionally make cards, and as we work we chat, swap patterns, teach one another new skills, and share knowledge of shops and events in the area. When you live so far away from your family, a good network of friends is very important, so groups like this are very popular, and we know we could call on one another in an emergency and find help and support.

Now I am off to see how many of you (probably most of you) have been a lot more productive than me this week! Join us at Julia's blog and share the fun.

11 comments:

Di said...

Another wonderful insight into life in Spain Kate. Thanks for posting this :) Di xx

Craftychris said...

Its cool hearing about your festivities - I hope you have fun! Your Wednesday mornings look good fun too. Thank you for visiting my blog x

Twiglet said...

Happy 3 kings celebrations - it all sounds lovely. x Jo

May said...

Sounds wonderful would love to see the three kings celebrations, enjoy!! Happy 2012, Hugs May x x x x

Debs said...

Enjjoy your celebrations, thanks for sharing your local life xx

Hazel said...

Thanks for sharing the celebrations - not surprised you haven't had time to do much crafting. Happy New Year (Hazel, WOYWW 108) x

505whimsygirl said...

It's so great hearing about different traditions. I enjoyed learning about the Three Kings.

Enjoy the celebrations!!

Kay

WOYWW#92

Shoshi said...

How lovely, celebrating Christmas Spanish style! Not surprised you've not been crafting much!

Neither have I, come to that, but that's because I've been mostly crashed on the settee since Christmas - even with a quiet one it took it out of me! Still haven't really started getting to grips with Sheba Cougar Cutter but am prepared to take it slowly and patiently as there's a lot to learn. The Black Cat Forum is totally awesome and even if you post a query at 3 a.m. someone comes back almost immediately with the answer!!!

I've been so brainfogged this week and kept getting the days mixed up, so much so that I actually posted my WOYWW post a day early! Duh. I immediately took it off as soon as I realised my mistake, but I suppose someone was bound to spot it before I managed it lol lol! Glad it was you, Kate!!

Happy New Year and happy WOYWW, Shoshi #60

Anne said...

Helo it was lovely reading about your traditions- well in your village. I haven't really got back into crafting and din't take down my tree etc until 6th Jan never do. had to make a couple of cards and must get really stuck in tomorrow. I am a bit late visiting as am trying to visit everyone this time. Happy New Year Anne x

Katie said...

How fun! What a neat tradition! Thanks for sharing!

Katie (138)

Julia Dunnit said...

Lovely Kate, to read about your village experiences, we have a villa near Torrevieja and have participated In a couple of Tres Reyes festivals, being a big town they're very carnival based, but still so nice to experience other cultures. I should love to enjoy the village version that you write about, a real community thing. Happy new year, am sure you'll be back to the crafting in good time!