Rosie Reay December 4th, 2012

Fair Exchange Xerta – Catalonia and afar

Xerta or Cherta they are one and the same place, however this service is not limited to the friendly village along the canal and the River Ebro, it is open to Spain. After all we have Fedex, Correos (buyer collects or pay postage.)

This is an open group set up on our best e-friend and confidante  a.k.a. Facebook. Here is another innovative lady in southern Catalonia, moving and shaking, inspiring us all to post our items for exchanging.

In the festive spirit, there is more – it is free of charge and with Maggie’s blessing, in serving the community.

What you have to exchange need not be mega big or exceptional, but it may be just what someone else is looking for. The old adage of  bartering and swapping prevails.

“Fair enough,” I hear you say, “but what if I have what they need, yet do not want the exchange they are offering?”

“It is very easy and straight-forward. Talk to them. Persuade, debate, exchange, recycle, haggle, swap, sell or give freely.” After all, we are in the season of giving and goodwill.

There is another angle to this Fair Exchange Xerta group; you need something but they have nothing to exchange. Fair enough – put forward your request politely and be honest in what your budget limit is subject to your approval of goods.

Now this is a very interesting angle; you wish to promote an event or have a business(one ‘man’ or corporate) and want to promote your products or services. This is a novel outlet to get your business out there in less than the 30 second elevator pitch. The charging is done on a sliding scale to suit the client –  be it weekly, monthly, tri-monthly, or sixth-monthly, annually or a one off.

Please contact Fair Exchange Xerta on Facebook or email artofmakingmiracles@gmail.com

• Business Enterprises , Community , Expats , Hints for settlers , Living in rustic Catalonia , Uncategorized
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Rosie Reay November 29th, 2012

Today we have woken up to snow on the mountains of Mont Caro with a prevailing artic wind chill. We are warm in our homes. We have food on the table and food in the cupboards. We shivver as the temperatures drop and grumble a little bit about it. Yet we can slip on another jumper or a sweatshirt.  During the night we are warm in our beds, snug between blankets or duvets.

Spare a thought for those who are not …

We are all plagued and affected by the Crisis, but some more so than others. Please if we could all take but one item or contribute something to this cause, it would mean so much to those who really have nothing. No money to buy the basic essentials.  Their meagre euros are spent on food only and even that doesn’t go far enough. Many families and people living alone can hardly scrape enough together for one meal, let alone soaps and shampoos or cleaning materials. The weather has changed and warm clothing and blankets are also needed.

Spare a thought for those who are hungry…

Jesús 09:30 – 13:30 on Saturday 1st December 2012

Points for collection :

Casal de d’Associaci de Veïns Jesús Catalonia (in collabortion with Cáritas Parroquial de Jesús

La Pèrgola

Enfront del Mercat

Now gather your thoughts and do something positive about it this Saturday! Please support them and help better integration into the multi-cultural communities we live in.

“It is better to give than receive,” still rings in my ears all these years on from first having it drummed into my ears at the end of each school year as we collected for the orphanages of Africa.

Recollida d’aliments “El gran recapte”. Es poden portar tot tipus d’ailiments i productes bàsics de neteja.

• Community , Expats , Uncategorized , Where to go
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Rosie Reay November 27th, 2012

In order to spread the word the Welcome on this site says it all: “Costa Women is a social community and business networking group for women living in Spain to share friendship, support and provide knowledge about living in this vibrant country.”

There are so many different groups already in operation from Writers to Green fingers and so on. On the other hand why not join up and form a group that is prevalent to you. You will definitely receive support and will make many new friends and colleagues.

This is  a wonderful  platform for networking your own interests and business, then going onto to hook up with them on Twitter, (@rosiereay), Facebook and LinkedIn.

You also receive a monthly newsletter and you can advertise and promote local events fiestas and write abut anything, not sordid nor derogatory prose.  I’ve homed in on other members blogs and have found empathy and friendship with ladies in other parts of  Spain. It is so interesting to see how other people live their lives and become part of their environment. It amazes me daily as I continually marvel at finding out something new or learning about  somewhere else.

Yet, you don’t  leave behind your old friends as once you are a member you can invite them to join. It is brilliant!

 Rosie Reay  from Catalonia, Costa Daurada  would love to see more people from our comargue on there. It is not just for the charming and delightful ladies of  the southern costas. You may even find friends on there you know already.

• Business Enterprises , Expats , Hints for settlers , Hobbies , Languages & Literatures , Living in rustic Catalonia , Sport , Where to go
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Rosie Reay August 28th, 2012

Tortosa is becoming inundated with supermarkets. On one hand it is inspirational that these food giants are still expanding during the crisis period. On the other hand, how are they going to encourage more shoppers through their doors when there is such high unemployment? At the end of the day there is only so much money in anyone’s pocket to spend on food.

So it was with interest I notice the different supermarkets are staggering their opening and closing times to widen the catchment area. This is good news for Expats who like to shop early, later or even on a Sunday.

Carrefour down by McDonalds opening hours are:
Monday to Saturday – de lunes a sabada
09:00h – 22:00h
and the best news is they are open on Sundays and holidays – Domingoes y festivos de apertura:
09:00h – 15:00
Carrefour Market
Carretera de Tortosa, 43500 Tortosa
977 51 03 30 ‎

HiperSimply (aka Sabeco) you get an extra half hour : Monday to Saturday
09:00 -21:30

Mercadona in front of Aldi down the road from McDonalds opens at:
09:15hrs – 21.15

C-42 Tarragona / Valencia, BARRANC llet – Tortosa

Here is a very handy link not just for the other “10″ food halls but other opening hours of shops in Tortosa or choose your town – choices and more choices

Choices of 10 food halls

© 2012 – All rights reserved – BrighterSpain.com

• Business Enterprises , Expats , Hints for settlers , Uncategorized
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Rosie Reay November 27th, 2011

My publisher has been busy so now my new kid’s novel Has Anyone Seen Kelvyn? is out in both eBook/Kindle and print version. May take a while to trickle up on Amazon or other bookstores, but I have print copies if you want one, or you can order them from www.FodenPress.com.

This is the third book in The Chimona Chronicles series and as the cover gives you a hint, involves some travels down the Okanagan Valley in B.C. Canada. We have already heard that adults are enjoying it as much as kids, just like before.

And when they read it to the younger set, they can once again follow along with the illustrations. For the first time, my brother Geoph is the illustrator. He has maintained the style from the earlier books, plus he likes to sneak in little details.. so look carefully at the pictures.

I look forward to finishing book 4 (and maybe even 5) next year, even as I start putting together adult stories too.

Talking of which, my editor Kyra Dawson has put together a great new online writer’s guild called Scriborium – a gathering place for independent writers. Here we are sharing hints and knowledge and publicity and feedback for all the guild members. And on top of all that, she pulled together seven of us to cooperate on writing an anthology of short stories. Since it was her idea, she got to pick the theme and genre this year: Horror or Paranormal, with a Christmas angle.

At first this was a real challenge for me since I really do not like horror stories. But as a professional writer I thought I can do anything if I put my mind to it. Of course my story in the book is very local – and set here in the Ebro valley. Some of you may even know the actual location – and many of the characters are only thinly disguised family members. I hope you enjoy Christmas Reunion at Villa El Figueral. Mine is the third story in A Very Scary Christmas – A Scriborium Short Story Anthology. It is already out in ebook/kindle format, as well as print. See www.fodenpress.com or contact me. But these stories are definitely not for very young children!

P.S. Contact me after Christmas if you have friends or family who would like to stay for a self catering holiday at the newly renovated and enlarged real El Figueral right on the Ebro river itself.

© 2012 – All rights reserved – BrighterSpain.com

• Expats , Fishing and more fishing , Hobbies , Languages & Literatures , Living in rustic Catalonia , Uncategorized , Vacation Rentals
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Rosie Reay May 15th, 2011

More and more people are daily re-thinking their employment options  after cut-backs, re-trenching and lack of replacement employment out there -irrespective of which town, village or country they live in.

So what are they doing about finding a remedy to having gainful employment?

Folk are setting up small Expat businesses after relocation to live their dream. Some may have run a business of their own before. Others it might be a totally different, sometimes exciting and more often than not scarey at all the facets one has to consider.

Man is not an island and we can’t be all things at all times no matter what walk of career-life we have travelled from and studied in.

Marketing and branding may be a whole new ball game to you. It more than crafting a few lines for an advert, blog or making your own website.

This book is the latest from a wide range from the pen of the SilcionValley marketeer-author-speaker at:

http://www.brighterbranding.com/

This book is geared for smaller businesses or start-ups, maybe you’ve formed a new partnerships just starting out with marketing your company, yourselves or your product and hopefully, product range too.

This is a valuable business must-have tool to your future success.

How to do it. By people who have done it.

http://www.fodenpress.com/EBBrandingMsg.html

• Business Enterprises , Expats , Uncategorized
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Rosie Reay May 11th, 2011

The River is our life as is painted along the river walls in Tortosa. This clean-up maybe higher than our neck of the woods, but it is still our river! What happens higher up floats down here and congels in the eco-natural park of the Ebro Delta. So please spread the word. You don’t need to be an entrepid fishermen to enjoy the beauty of the river and the environment it feeds.

I have permission from Ross Honey at Angling Spirit to reproduce his message:

<Angling Spirit organiza este tipo de eventos por todo el mundo y esta zona del Rio Ebro fue considerada como el lugar ideal tanto por su localización geográfica como por la cantidad y variedad de peces que habitan en él. Cuando presentamos nuestro proyecto el año pasado, constatamos la cantidad de basura y la pesca ilegal que se estaba practicando, ante lo cual nos planteamos dos opciones: o bien buscar otro lugar e incluso otro país para el Campeonato, o bien, implicar a la gente de la zona para que nos ayudasen a adecentar las orillas donde se ubicarán los puestos de pesca, así nació un grupo de voluntarios llamados “AMIGOS DEL EBRO”. Durante los días 25, 26, 27 y 28 de Mayo y en horario de 9:00 a 12:00 y de 17:00 a 21:00 horas se repartirán bolsas, guantes, herramientas para todos los voluntarios así como refrescos y bocadillos. Por cada bolsa de basura recogida, se donarán 0´50 € a la fundación de pesca para niños que se ha creado, con el objetivo de enseñar a los menores de las localidades de Caspe y Chiprana, como a niños de otros países a la práctica de la pesca de forma responsable y sobre todo, respetuosa con el medio ambiente. Por eso, animamos a todos los particulares, asociaciones e incluso empresas a participar en este proyecto para tomar conciencia de la importancia de mantener las orillas del Mar de Aragón en óptimo estado, para el disfrute de todos.

Durante los días 25 y 26 de Mayo el punto de encuentro será en las puertas del Ayuntamiento de Chiprana, y durante los días 27 y 28, nos reuniremos en la plaza de la estación de Ferrocarril de Caspe, media hora antes del inicio de cada jornada.

Si quieren comunicarnos con antelación su participación como voluntarios, pueden hacerlo a través del e mail info@anglingspirit.com, o simplemente personarse en los lugares y horarios establecidos.

Tanto el rio Ebro como la organización del evento necesitamos su ayuda

Hazte amigo del Rio Ebro.

Ross Honey
Responsable de “World Catfish Classic”>

Please also show support by joining on Facebook with the groups:  Angling Spirit and Friends of the Ebro.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/ross-honey/friends-of-the-ebro-next-steps/1771694686089

Go visit a very informative and interesting website

http://www.worldcatfishclassic.com/component/content/article/42

“…the Ebro is a wonderful place and deserves the assistance we are trying to provide for others to enjoy” , Ross Honey

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Rosie Reay February 18th, 2011

Happy 14th birthday Jack Benjamin Dodgson . 

Your birth father Stephen would be so so proud of you grandson!

We believe that Peter Harvey is your step father and your mother Emma may have changed your surname to Harvey.

Jack was born to Stephen Mark Dodgson (from Keighley) and Emma Bell (from Denholme) both of West Yorkshire UK.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing remember we love you we never stop loving you!xxxxxx

Aside: If anyone knows of his whereabouts and reads this message please pass it on to him that he has another big family out there who loves him so much and hasnt seen him since he was two. But we never stop thinking of you and still treasure his photos. We believe they were last living in the Coventry district and he was singing in  a choir.  His maternal grandma Annette Bell misses him too!

• Expats , Living in rustic Catalonia , Uncategorized
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Rosie Reay February 3rd, 2011

Away from home and don’t have TV satellite to pick up your national or local football matches. Worry not!  The internet has a solution, as always, the lifeline of any Expat .

I found a lovely site where you can watch all the highlights of the exciting Copa del Rey matches

http://football-highlight.com/en/spain/copa-del-rey/2011-02-02-almeria-barcelona.html

2011-02-02 Almeria – Barcelona 0-3

Copa Del Rey: Almeria Barcelona Highlights

However, Expats you can pour over football highlights from around the world. The Germans can see their beloved  Bundesliga. (Deutschland über alles, perhaps). The crazy Brits who think of Football before food or beer (well, maybe?) can argue late into the night about the Champions League and English Premier League (EPL).

There is more. Ladies Football where I’m not sure whether the men will admit it, but I’ve seen the men watching these matches (or the legs) with amusement but also amazement at the little women’s skills.

It seems to covers most countries around the world and loads of South American matches too:- !

2011-02-02 Besiktas – Gaziantep BB 5-0

Turkish Cup: Besiktas Gaziantep BB Highlights

 I didn’t even know that Turkish played football so seriously. I mean what would I know, I am only a woman.

2011-02-02 Rangers Glasgow – Hearts 1-0

Scottish Premier League: Rangers Glasgow Hearts Highlights

Another brilliant feature of this site is they update Live Score every two minutes

http://football-highlight.com/en/live-score

Aside:-

Rosie Reay Catalan Vocab / Phrases: football = futbol; football club = club de futbol;  footballer = futbolista;  football field = camp de futbol;  football game = am partit de futbol; inside football five-a-side = futbol sala; football crazy = futboler(-a)

Do you know some exciting (clean) football expressions to shout during the match or to celebrate or commiserate afterwards with? Please drop me a line .  I’d love to learn them too.

• Expats , Languages & Literatures , Living in rustic Catalonia , Sport , Uncategorized
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Rosie Reay February 2nd, 2011

For those footballer fanatics and Expats to enjoy a warm and comfortable night in front of the logfire and exciting TV viewing.This is the second leg of the well sought after Copa Del Rey cup.

Firstly:- Real Madrid vs Sevilla Copa Del Rey Preview Kings Cup @ the Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid ( Match kick off time 22:00 CET). Sevilla have a lot to play for and are not taking their previous defeat lightly. It will be brilliant to see the underdog valiant in beating Real Madrid tonight.

 Secondly:- Almería vs FC Barcelona Copa Del Rey Preview Kings Cup Almeria (Match kick off Time 22:00 CET) Barcelona easily won 5-0 in the first leg. Yet, will still go out their fighting to maintain their league. I’m sure Almeria,  first time at this level in the cup, will run their legs off trying to score back some goals and honour. Whatever happens Almeria will relish in the sheer delight in playing against the  skill  and pride of the Catalan capitals’ footballers.

 Come on Barça! Barça, Barça.

Well you have to support a local team to where you live.

• Expats , Hobbies , Living in rustic Catalonia , Sport
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