Half term is finished! Se acabaron las vacaciones.

After a long week, it's time to go back to normality, to our every week rutine. Thank God!
 Ioan is looking forward going back to school tomorrow, I think he is been missing his mates! and he is also looking forward having his first football  session on Tuesday. Today the tried on his new shin pads. I got them on Amazon and I had no idea what would be the best option but I think I got the right ones.

Después de una semana de vacaciones, es hora de volver a la rutina escolar. Gracias a Dios!
Ioan tiene muchas ganas de volver al cole, supongo por que hecha de menos jugar con sus amigos, hacer el cabra loca por el "field".... Además esta semana empieza sus entrenamientos de fútbol y está super emocionado.
Le compré en Amazon el protector de espinillas sín tener ni idea pero, después de ver varios videos orientativos en youtube, creo que compré el producto acertado.
Parecen un poco vastos pero protegen muy bien y a Ioan no le molestan para nada. O por lo menos eso me ha dicho él, después de estar dándole al balón durante más de media hora esta tarde.

 They are perfect size for Ioan. They look a bit sturdy but they protect perfectly the ankle and shin area.
I also got him a one pair of basic football shoes, a size bigger than he uses and I think it was a good idea because this ankle protection, plus the football sock wouldn't fit in his normal size shoes.
Anyway we'll see how it goes. We'll have to wait till Tuesday.
It's Sunday evening and it  getting dark earlier than normally due to the hour change yesterday so I better get things ready for tomorrow.
See you around this week! And thank you for following the blog!

También le compré un par de zapatillas de fútbol, pero esta vez pensé que sería mejor si fueran un poquito más grandes de lo normal y creo que ha sido un acierto. Más que nada por que esta parte de los tobillos no cabría en unas zapatillas normales, y luego se tendrá que poner los calcetines de fútbol encima... bueno...ya os contaré. El primer entrenamiento es el Martes así que habrá que esperarse un poco.
Hoy ha oscurecido super pronto. Esto del cambio de la hora lo trastorna todo. Mejor empiezo a arrglar cositas para mañana.
Nos vemos esta semana por el blog!
Gracias por estar ahí!




I leave you with this beautiful photo of the Manchester canal...
Os dejo con esta foto del canal de Manchester hacia Altrincham. Espero que os guste!

Great violin lesson. Después de la clase de violín.

Ioan is starting to learn to play the violin and he is doing very well. I'm a very proud mummy! He is doing his practice every day and he is improving very fast.

I won't post any video because the sound is still...."not so nice" but this is my sweetie body! Well done Ioan!

Ioan está aprendiendo a tocar el violín desde hace un par de semana y, la verdad, lo está haciendo super bien. Por supuesto, como a todos los niños, le cuesta ponerse a tocar pero con un ratito todos los días, cada vez toca mejor.

Por ahora no voy a colgar ningun video por que... no suena muy melódico, que digamos, pero bueno, la mamá y el tata están super contentos así que, ahí tenéis a Ioan y su violín.

Spooky Halloween...

Spooky.... Halloween is around the corner...
We went for a walk to St Mary's Church cemetery to get in the mood. It's a very old cemetery and the graves are in very bad condition. Some of them there are very, very old... I would be scared to walk around in the dark.

Como Halloween está muy de moda por este país, siempre debido a la influencia americana, esta tarde nos hemos ido a dar una vuelta por el cementerio se St Mary's Church.
Es un cementerio muy, muy antiguo y las tumbas estan en muy mal estado pero tiene su encanto... A mi no me encotraréis paseando por allí cuando anochezca... da un poco de miedo, no?

Autumn colours. Colores de Otoño.

It's  half term what means that Ioan and I get ourselves busy, busy doing all sort of staff. There is always lots we can without spending much and that's  always a challenge these days.
 Yesterday we went to the shops and after Ioan had a play his Ioan's friend house, today we've gone to the market and this afternoon we'll be going to the centre for a concert. I think it's going to be a lovely afternoon. I hope so.
The weather is been nice till now so that's helping! Hopefully it'll stay like this the whole week.

I took these two photos yesterday on our way down to Altrincham. Autumn is still here full of beautiful colours! I hope you like them!

Aquí en Inglaterra es costumbre tener una semana de vacaciones a mitad del trimestre. Es lo que llaman "half term" y para la mayoría de los padres que trabajan es una pesadilla, por qué tiene que arreglárselas para tener a los niños ocupados.
En nuestro caso es diferente. Yo también tengo vacaciones escolares, así que esta semana nos viene bien para desconectar con la rutina del cole. De todos modos rara es la vez que estamos tranquilitos en casa, siempre hay un montón de cosas que hacer así que no paramos.
Hoy le hemos dado de comer al gato de Najma, hemos ido al mercado a comprar y, después, comeremos prontito, tenemos peli-concierto en Manchester esta tarde y no quiero llegar tarde!


Ayer hice estas fotos y video de camino a Altrincham. Me encantan los colores del otoño! tienen mucho encanto. Espero que os gusten!

Manchester Uniter versus Manchester City

I have never been a big football (soccer) fan but , as I was born in Valencia, I always supported our local team Valencia CF. It's one of the important ones in the Spanish league but it doesn't have the amount of money that other clubs like Barcelona or Real Madrid have, therefore they generally don't do very well.
This might hurt my brother-in-law feelings :)

Nunca he sido una gran fan del fútbol pero, aun sin serlo, siempre he apoyado al Valencia C.F. por qué de Valencia soy y hay que dar el apoyo a los equipos locales. 
Hoy por hoy el Valencia no cuenta con el capital económico de algunos grandes clubes de España, como el Barcelona y el Real Madrid, por eso rara es la vez que sobresale en el fútbol español y seguro que algunos de la "family" se meterán conmigo por decir esto.


Anyway, when we moved to Manchester we decided  we wanted to support one of the local clubs, that's the reason why we became Manchester United fans.
Ioan is really into football and he follows all the players very closely. He has a set of Manchester United footballers cards and he knows all the names, nationalities, field position... His favourite t-shirt is "of course" a Manchester United one and he is very proud to wear it when he is invited to one of his mates birthday parties.

Cuando nos vinimos a virvir a Manchester, decidimos que ibamos a seguir alguno de los equipo locales y es por ello que nos unimos al Manchester United.
A Ioan le encanta el fútbol y conoce muy bien a todos los jugadores del Manchester United. Tiene su set de cromos y se sabe todos los nombres, las nacionalidades, su posición en el campo.... Cada vez que le invitan a un cumpleaños, siempre elige su camiseta preferida y, como no, ésta es del Manchester United.

Today, like any other Sunday, there was  a league match but this one was very special because it was Manchester United versus Manchester City and both are the local official teams.
We set to follow the match hoping  Manchester United would win but far form it theys lost very, very badly.... It was an awful match for Manchester United supporters. The result was  1-6 for Manchester City.
Awful!
Anyway, generally they play very good and we really like their coach Sir Alex Ferguson. so a bad match doesn't change anything we are still supporting them and we hope they'll do better next time.

Hoy ha sido tarde de fútbol. Jugaban el Manchester Unitd contra el Manchester City , un partido super importante en esta zona por que son dos de los equipos locales.
Como cualquier otro domingo nos hemos sentado con la esperanza de ver un gran partido pero nada más lejos de la realidad. Ha sido un desastre total, 1-6 para el Manchester City. Un desastre, vamos!
Bueno, esperemos que a la próxima jueguen mejor! Nosotros aquí seguiremos apoyándolos y siguiendo sus partidos.

UNITED! UNITED! UNITED!

Reflexions and shadows. Reflejos y sombras.

Today, like any other day , I had to go to town. There are always lots of things  we need in the house so I got myself ready and walked to Altrincham. 

Although it was sunny but it felt very cold therefore I didn't take the bike  in case I would  catch a cold.

Rushing back home I saw some beautiful sunny spots. I has to stop. I didn't want to miss the moment. It felt cold  and warm all at the same time. I loved the feeling!

I took these two photos and I'm quite pleased with the results. It's my reflexion, that's who I am. 

When winter comes this is me always in a rush!

Hoy, como muchos otros días, he tenido que bajar a Altrincham a comprar. Hacen falta tantas cosas en la casa que es imposible no pasar por el super por lo menos un a vez al día.

Se nota que han bajado las temperaturas y, aunque hacía sol, el frío se notaba un montón.

De vuelta a casa, a pesar de que íba con mucha prisa, he querido parar a echar unas cuantas fotos. Hacía ese sol de invierno que luce fuerte y calienta poquito. Uff! Qué sensación! Me recuerda a las siestas de invierno en la terraza de casa, en España.

Suspiros de España....

Bueno, aquí me tenéis: el reflejo de María.

19th of october: World Day Against Breast Cancer. Día Mundial contra el Cáncer de Mama.

Today is the world day against breast cancer. It's a day to promote prevention, it's a wake up call to all of us women. We  alert and take care of ourselves because this type of cancer can be prevented if  detected in early stages.
Hoy es el Día mundial contra el Cáncer de mama. Es un día en el que se busca promover la prevención entre las mujeres por que, el cáncer de mama, si se pilla a tiempo, se puede tratar.
Desde Spanish-Mancunian quiero dar mi apoyo a todas las mujeres luchadoras que sufren cáncer, a sus famílias y a todas las organizaciones que les ofrecen ayuda y confort.

Here you have some good websites where you can find all sort of information that will help you to know more about it:
Aquí os cuelgo una lista de páginas interesantes donde podéis encontrar todo tipo de información al respecto:

breastcancercare

NHS UK

Macmillan

Wikipedia. Cáncer de mama.

Instituto nacional del Cáncer, EE.UU.

It's raining, it's pouring! Que llueva, que llueva, la virgen de la cueva!

Today is been raining non-stop. It was cold, windy, humid... You could feel it in your bones.
I did this videos from my living room window, it's the closest I can show you.

Hoy ha llovido sin parar todo el santo día. Hacía frío, hacía aire... la humedad se me metía en los huesos.  El pronóstico para esta semana no es muy bueno así que tendremos que hacernos a la idea.
Pensando en el blog he grabado estos videos desde la ventana del salón. A ver que os parece el agua de Manchester.

Of course I had to wear my wellies on and put a good warm raincoat before I going  to work. I was the only one wearing a wool hat but it was worth it.
Por supuesto no se puede ir a nunguna parta sin la botas de agua y un buen chubasquero. Creo que era la única que iba con gorro de lana pero es que tenía heladas hasta las ideas.

After such a lovely weekend, the cold, miserable weather is back. Welcome to Manchester!
Después del fin de semana tan bueno que tuvimos la semana pasada, este tiempo es horrible.  Lo dicho... bienvenidos a Manchester!

Wooden sculpture and deers. Escultura de madera y ciervos.

The other day we found this new wood sculpture at Dunham Massey. It's beautifully carved with animals an it's really nice for the kids, they like to go round trying to find and guess who they are.

Around this area they've planted lots of aromatic plants and the smell is just amazing.

El sábado, mientras andabamos por Dunham Massey, encontramos esta bonita escultura de madera. Está tallada con formas de animales y a los niños les encanta. Le van dando vuelta buscándolos, viendo donde se esconden... Me encanto!

Pero lo mejor de todo es que toda esta zona huele super bien, han plantado un montón de plantas aromáticas y da gusto respirar hondo.

Por más que lo he buscado en internet, no he podido encontrar el nombre del escultor asi que nos queda anónimo.

This is Ioan running. He is fast!

Este es Ioan corriendo por la hierba. Cada día corre más rápido, dentro de poco ya no lo podré pillar!

Dunham Massey is famous for its deers. Here I got a couple of them resting, The video is not very good if you choose whole screen. I hope you manage to see them, they are laying by the fence.

Dunham Massey es famoso por sus ciervos. Aquí tenéis  un par de ellos descansando al lado de la valla. El video no es muy bueno si seleccionáis "full screen".

Espero que los encontréis y que os guste.

Dunham Massey

I still can't believe how lucky we've been today. It's been a sunny, beautiful day! A perfect one to go outside so this afternoon we've gone for a walk to  Dunham Massey.
We couldn't take the bike this time because I tried to fix Ioan seat but in the end I didn't manage.
It didn't matter, we had a lovely walk. It's always nice to have some quality time with Ioan, he is growing so fast we need to make the most of these years.

Hoy ha sido un día precioso, por increíble que parezca, ha salido el sol, no ha caído ni una gota y el tiempo ha sido perfecto para pasar la tarde fuera.Así que hemos preparado la merienda y nos hemos ido a Dunham Massey.
Lo ideal hubiese sido irnos con la bici pero, por más que lo he intentado, no he podido arreglar el asiento de Ioan asi que nos hemos tenido andando, pero ha valido la pena.
A veces es difícl tener tardes especiales con Ioan, está creciendo tan rápido y siempre hay tantas cosas que hacer pero estas tardes hay que aprovecharlas al máximo pues luego siempre nos quedarán en el recuerdo.

This is Ioan favourite map. We always have to check where we are when we arrive.
Este es el mapa que encontramos en una de las entradas al parque. Es el favorito de Ioan y nunca se le pasa por lto darle una ojeada siempre que vamos.

What a happy boy!
Pero que mayor está!

These are the roots of a masive oack tree.
Estas son las raices de un roble enorme.

Of course we had an ice-cream :)
Por supuesto nos hemos comido un helado. Estaba riquísimo!

Song for Ireland by Mary Black/ Canción para Irlanda de Mary Black

 Celtic music is not everyone's favourite but I wanted to post today this beautiful song from the Irish singer  Mary Black.
I think it's a very relaxing song, I love the way she sings it. I hope you like it too!

Se  que no a todo el mundo le gusta la música celta  pero a mí, en pequeñas dosis, me relaja. 

Hoy, de camino a casa, me he acordado de esta canción: "Song for Ireland" de Mary Black. Me encanta como  la canta y el carácter que le dá me pone la piel de gallina. 

Es bastante difícil enterderla en inglés, por eso que os cuelgo la letra. Espero que os guste!


These are the lyrics:

Walking all the day, near tall towers
Where falcons build their nests
Siver winged they fly,
They know the call of freedom in their breasts
Saw black head against the sky
With twisted rocks that run down to the sea
Living on your western shore,
Saw summer sunsets, asked for more
I stood by your atlantic sea
And sang a song for ireland
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mary_black/song_for_ireland.html ]
Talking all the day with true friends
Who try to make you stay
Telling jokes and news,
Singing songs to pass the night away
Watched the galway salmon run
Like silver dancing darting in the sun
Living on your western shore
Saw summer sunsets, asked for more
I stood by your atlantic sea
And sang a song for ireland

Drinking all the day in old pubs
Where fiddlers love to play
Someone touched the bow,
He played a reel
It seemed so fine and gay
Stood on dingle beach
And cast in wild foam we found atlantic bass
Living on your western shore,
Saw summer sunsets asked for more
I stood by your atlantic sea
And sang a song for Ireland

Dreaming in the night I saw a land
Where no man had to fight
Waking in your dawn
I saw you crying in the morning light
Lying where the falcons fly,
They twist and turn all in you e'er blue sky
Living on your western shore,
Saw summer sunsets asked for more
I stood by your atlantic sea
And sang a song for Ireland

Spanish-mancunian / Español- Inglés

Hola a todos y todas!

Spanish-mancunian había sido hasta hora un blog en inglés, más que nada por pura comodidad.
Escribir en español en un teclado inglés es una "pesadilla". Es imposible colocar ningún acento, la "ñ" no existe, tienes que buscarte la vida para encontrarla... es implemente:Un rollo patero!
La única  solución es buscar windows alt key codes y pasarte  el rato copiando-pegando y, al final acabas de los nervios.
Cuando vienes a escribir lo que querías, te han pasado 20 minutos y siempre acabas perdiendo el hilo. Es por ello que empecé a escribir  mi blog en inglés. Simplemente.... era más sencillo.
Pero por suerte hemos arreglado nuestro portátil español y ahora puedo escribir con toda la comodidad del mundo en español: Bravo!

Si de algo estoy orgullosa es de ser española y, por nada en el mundo cambio poder hablar en español, si se puede, asi que voy a intentar escribir mis "post" en los dos idiomas para que sea más "comprensible" para todos.

La vida aquí en Manchester es bastante tranquila, aunque el clima nos condiciona el día a día.

Seguro que más de una vez  me tendréis hablando como la presentadora del tiempo pero es que vengo de Valencia y el cambio es brutal. Aquí llueve un montón, el cielo está generalmente siempre gris, la humedad es grandísima y en invierno nieva... uff! que se le va a hacer. Por motivos de trabajo, como a muchos otros, nos trajo aquí el destino y por ahora en Manchester está nuestra "hogar".

Sin más, solo quiero daros las gracias por leer mi blog y, por supuestísimo dejad vuestros comentarios siempre que queráis.

Nos vemos por aquí! ;)

Macmillan's coffee party

Last week I had the pleasure to attend one of Macmillan coffee parties organised by my son's piano teacher Chris.
I had never been in one and I was not sure what to expect but it turn up to be very nice, a good opportunity to meet new people and have a chat while having coffee and a slice of cake.
Chris baked so many yummy cakes, I couldn't tell which one was looking best. I must get some good tips from her for the "future".

I hope she raised a good amount of money for  Macmillan, it's good to support these charities  that do so much for cancer support.
Thanks Chris for a lovely morning coffee!

Ioan racing cars

These are Ioan's racing cars

 and after experimenting a little on Picasa 3 Picnik, this is the result

It's cool, isn't it? I like it!

Altrincham sky.

The bad weather is come to stay and that's how our Altrincham sky looks today. It's windy, wet, getting colder by the minute... uff!
Yesterday afternoon it was awful, I had to walk to the supermarket and thank god I was wearing my wellies because there was water everywhere.
I better have a nice warm cup of coffee to cheer me up!

Happy Monday!

This weekend is been a wet one so... we spent most of our time indoors playing games, reading, watching TV....
Today is Monday and the week ahead doesn't look any better. What a shame! The weather is just terrible! Anyway this horrible weather is not going to put us down, is it? that's why I've been looking for this video and I found it.
This song is originally from Hello, Dolly! but I hear it while watching Wall-e with Ioan.
 I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Our new ficus.

Today we went to  supermarket and we got this beautiful ficus. Ioan was so happy he carried it all the way back home.Hopefully it will survive the cold winter.
As expected today the weather was miserable: rain, rain and more rain... so we couldn't do much but stay-at- home. :(
Let's hope we have a nicer day tomorrow!

What shall I do when I grow up?

Lately I've been thinking of becoming a Spanish tutor. Why not?! it seems like a perfect job for an Spanish native like me.
I know for sure that teaching is something I enjoy doing and, although there are lots of Spanish people in this area, I think I can do it.
I'm sure there will be obstacles  getting on my way and it might never happen but I'm going to give it a try.
I've been doing my search online and there are lots and lots of websites ... I'll have to have a closer look and start filling up some applications, look for a good profile photo... por dios! I better get on!

The birthday cake

We had a lovely afternoon, full of fun moments, presents and family phone calls :)
The cake was very tasty so I'm very pleased with myself! now I know I can do it and hopefully next one with be even better.
It's bed time and Ioan is already in bed.... Sleep well my sweet angel!

Happy Birthday Ioan!

This is my sweet birthday boy! he was so happy this morning wearing his rosette to school.

The cake is ready and hopefully I'll show you this afternoon. Today is a busy bee kind of day! :)

Getting ready for my son's birthday

October is here and days are getting shorter and colder.
Tomorrow is the 6th and it's my son's birthday. He is so excited! I got him a "birthday boy" rosette and he is going to take it to school in the morning. What a sweetie pie! He is growing so fast...
I need to prepare his birthday cake. Hopefully I'll bake something nice. I'm not very good at baking. I'll try to get some tips from bakerella and lets see how it goes.
I'm going to get on with my cooking: sugar, eggs, flour, chocolate...Yummy!

Beautiful weekend!

It's been a beautiful weekend, perfect for outdoor activities  and that's what we did. On Saturday we went to Manchester Centre, we had a walk around the shops, we had a nice meal and... we just enjoyed the nice weather that sadly is gone already.

In the afternoon we had a nice walk along the canal that goes from Manchester towards our area. there were lots of people riding bikes, fishing... it was a very peaceful atmosphere. We loved it!