Exciting times in Malaga

PIGSY Exhibition opening in Spain!

Well it sure has been exciting here in Malaga over the past few days.  The PIGSY art exhibition opening on Saturday after two publications picked up on the story leading up to the show. On Wednesday an article came out in The Gloss which is an Irish Times publication - see here. And then on Friday there was an article in the SUR in English newspaper here in Malaga (it is circulated in the Costa Del Sol area).

La Casa Amarilla, Malaga

The previous exhibition came down on Wednesday and PIGSY then started the hang of his exhibition in preparation for opening on Saturday. They run a tight ship in La Casa Amarilla and they have an excellent hanging system for the old brick wall in the gallery - paintings are hung on metal suspension cables away from the wall. 

Here's a pic of the window the night before opening:

PIGSY "I Went to Mass" Solo Art Exhibition Opening

Here's a few pics from the day. There was a great buzz in the gallery and a very large audience of people viewed the exhibition throughout the day from 12pm until 8pm.

For more pics, see here.

Sponsored by Cervesas San Miguel

Back home in Ireland, PIGSY's previous exhibition was sponsored by an Irish craft beer maker. But here in Spain it was sponsored by San Miguel Beer!

Here's a pic of the main man and myself:

PIGSY face mask

During the exhibition, I wore my PIGSY art face mask. I'm happy to let you know about a 10% off code for face masks to mark the opening of the exhibition.

  Link is here and use code MALAGA10

Keto Butter Chicken

Keto Indian Food

I got a hankering for Indian food this week so looked up whether there were any keto recipes. I found this Keto Connect recipe for Butter Chicken (click here) which seemed easy enough so decided to give it a go.

Here's the ingredient list

There were a few ingredients that I didn't have so I walked to Corte Ingles in the afternoon and bought them. I had to search around for the ground ginger and cinnamon but was happy to have found them and not to have to visit another shop.

I already had a big bag of chili powder so I was glad to use some of that up!

Here's my spices all ready to be mixed up with the chicken and then the next picture is of the finished dish which I served with cauliflower. There is also enough left over for tomorrow.

It was really tasty and delicious. I'm looking forward to cooking some other Keto Indian food. Let me know if you have any recipes by leaving a comment below.

Hans Christian Andersen

In other news, Bones hung out with author Hans Christian Andersen in the city today!

PIGSY Exhibition!!

And the final piece of news and perhaps the most exciting is that we begin the hanging of PIGSY's solo art exhibition tomorrow in preparation for the opening on Saturday at 12pm.

It's on in La Casa Amarilla Galerie on Calle Santos. If you are in the area hopefully you can come along.....or if you know anyone who lives near Malaga let them know about it!

Website art preview

And if you can't get to see the physical show, don't worry. He will be giving everyone a sneak preview of it on his website at 8pm on Friday night. You can check it out here!

Saturday in the Charity Shop

More tales from my volunteer job!

When I arrived in to volunteer in the charity shop on Saturday I saw a lovely rail of clothes with a sign saying they had been donated by singer Diana Novarro. There was also a stunning white dress on display in the window.

There had been a full rail on Monday but by Saturday there was only a few items left.

Desigual

Out of the selection that was left I found a gorgeous little Desigual top. Size small and fitted perfectly as it is a light roomy top. It's extremely light weight and will match a pair of pink Banana Republic shorts that I plan to wear in the Summer.

How cute is it?!

And seriously comfortable!

I look forward to some hot weather to wear it about town here in Malaga....

Happy St Patrick's Day 2021

St Patrick's Day 2021

Just another strange day in this life that we are living.

No celebrations or parades in Ireland.

However, world over, we wore green and we ate green food and we played Irish music. Buildings and monuments went green. We marked the day.

We marked the day in a different way. We connected virtually.

We will be together again. There are better days ahead. And we will parade in future St Patrick's Day.

Here's the Irish President's St Patrick's Day message.

And for posterity, I'll link my last year's St Patrick's Day blog here. A lot has happened in the year since then. But from reading back over my blog, I don't think I realised at that point what was going to happen. Strange, scary times in a lot of ways. I try to stay positive as I know I am very lucky as I have not lost anyone close to me from Covid. 

Here's to St Patrick's Day 2022. It will be a big celebration if this pandemic is all over. We must stay positive and believe that it will be over.

Hotting up here in Malaga!

Sun's Out!

It's been really sunny with temps over 20 degrees here in Malaga for the past few days. Because of this we said we better get some sun cream. Of course, by buying sun cream we will probably jinx ourselves and it will go back to cooler weather for another month or two!! Well probably not, given that it is Spain that we are talking about!

Parasol

For the past few years, we have been using a really great brand of sun cream that you only need to apply once a day. On our last few sailing trips this has worked out really well as you just put it on after breakfast and then you don't have to think about it again during the day. At home in Ireland, I order it online from Inish Pharmacy. However, when we came out to Malaga last August I picked up a bottle in Dublin Airport - but of course that's long used up.

It's expensive but well worth it as it does a great job at protection. I've never burnt but still get a great tan while using it.

Unfortunately the shipping costs to Spain from Ireland are too high so we ordered an alternative.

P20

The alternative we ordered is Riemann's P20 which is actually the brand that we always swore by before we started using the Parasol. P20 was available through Amazon so we ordered a few bottles in different SPF's and also one specifically for the face.

I'd imagine it will arrive tomorrow or the next day (after ordering yesterday evening) and I will be glad to start using it while I am out sun bathing. 

The P20 has a very unique feel tonight and is unlike any sun cream product I have used before. Like Parasol it is a once a day application and I find it to be very effective. The only issue I have with it is that it can stain clothes, towels, sheets, etc. So you need to be careful not to use it if you plan on wearing a nice white sundress or your best white shirt. Parasol on the other hand does not seem to stain and this is one of the reasons why it is my preferred sun protection.

Unfortunately all of the products are coming from different Amazon stores so will all be delivered a different times. Ciaran also ordered Lyons Tea so they will arrive at another time too. We weren't offered the option to get them delivered to a local pick up point so hopefully we will be in when the different couriers arrive at our apartment. We will see.

What sun protection do you use? Do you know of any other once a day application sun protection products? Let me know in the comments section below.

Fun Day Friday!

Back at the beach!!

And we had our first swim of 2021!

It was due to be about 23 degrees Celsius today so we made a plan to head to the beach first thing with a flask of coffee for a swim and then a cup of coffee sitting in the sand. Just as we were loading our bikes in to the lift, Ciaran got a call from a friend who lives in San Pedro. Himself and his wife were switching their rental car out in Malaga Airport and were going to come in to Malaga if we were free to meet. 

We had our swim - cold, cold, cold!! To say the least....

And then Trevor and Marion met us on the beach where we walked to the marina for a coffee and a good old chat. Hopefully they will be back for the opening of Ciaran's exhibition in 2 weeks time. 

Working Afternoon

And then it was home to the office where we did a ton of work on the PIGSY website and also ordered some supplies for the upcoming exhibition. Ciaran gave the website a complete overhaul (another one!) and I am now updating all of the SEO....which will take awhile - but it is a work in progress and it is fine to have the 

For the exhibition we ordered stickers with the PIGSY logo on them. They can be used as seals for sold paintings when they get wrapped in brown paper. 

The new PIGSY business card arrived during the week and I am very happy with those. And today the decal for the gallery window also arrived. I'm pleased with those also - they have a scannable QR code which links to the PIGSY website which should be very helpful for anyone at the exhibition to find the PIGSY website easily. 

After-dinner walk

For dinner we had bunless burgers with fried egg and bacon which I cooked on the barbecue. It was so sunny and warm that we ate on the balcony about 7pm.

And then after dinner I suggested we take a walk around the city with Bones as he hadn't been taken out for a walk as normal in the morning time. We walk to Constitution Plaza where I picked up The Sur and then wandered around passing La Casa Amarilla Galerie and giving a wave in to David Burbano the gallery director.

The city was very busy and there was a great atmosphere. I guess a combo of hot sunny weather and it also being the start of the weekend.

All in all it was a great fun Friday for us!

Amazon calling!

Amazon delivery

I made an Amazon order the other day. The options for delivery were to get it dropped right to my door for €4 on top of the cost of the item which was €8.  However, I then saw another option. I could choose to have it delivered to stores around the city for free. I looked at the different shops and drop off points and saw there was a drop off facility at the bookshop at the top of our road - literally steps away.

I chose the option of picking up the parcel in the book shop after it had been delivered to there. In many ways it is more convenient to do this, rather than perhaps staying at home waiting for a delivery - particularly because I live in an apartment that the delivery man needs to get buzzed in to for access to the hallway etc.

Any way the package arrived in no time at all and we walked up and collected it this afternoon. Ciaran went in and did the pick up as his name was on it because I had ordered on his Amazon account.

Here's pics of the bookshop. I think its very attractive and think that the signage lettering is kind of art deco.

So what did I order you ask?!

Xanthan Gum!!

And this is what I made with the Xanthan Gum along with Coconut Flour and Water

"Heavenly Keto Fries"

They are in the freezer now but I will fry them tomorrow evening and will eat them with a bunless burger along with my homemade olive mayonnaise. I'll let you know what they taste like!!

Here's the video that I first found out about them. Let me know if you plan to make them too!

Happy International Women's Day!

Pedal Power

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Libraries presents a special video for International Women's Day

It's 10 minutes long and a great watch......and you'll even catch sight of me on my bike with Bones in the basket!!

Freedom Machine

As a woman, cycling gives me freedom to get around quickly and conveniently. Coined as the "Freedom Machine" by Susan B. Anthony, I certainly feel free when I ride my bike!

Click here to see my account of cycling in to the city to attend a birthday party - what could be more free than that?!

School Day Cycling

Watching this video reminded me of how great it was to cycle to school when I was younger, being one of about 10 girls who cycled in a school of about 900 girls. My twin sister and I were always late for school and we needed to cycle fast to get to assembly on time. We must have looked a state with our gaberdines flying around as we cycled furiously in our uniform. Our uniform was a skirt and it may have been preferable to cycle in trousers and then change when we arrived.......but sure we never were on time to do that!!

Our best friend Alice was a cyclist too and we used to cycle home together. We pushed our bikes to Alice's house as she lived closest to the school and dawdled and chatted on the way to her house where we stood at the driveway and chatted some more......until.... Amy and I realised that we were going to be late for swimming classes if we didn't leave straightaway.  You can see a pattern here! And then it was off again, cycling home quickly to get our swimming gear and head down to the pool - on our bikes again!

I'm glad that my parents encouraged me to cycle as a child because as an adult I can now see the worth of forgoing the car and enjoying the bike. Cycling is great for my physical and mental health and honestly it makes my spirit happy and I feel young at heart when I am on the bike.

If you haven't cycled in years now is the time to get back on the saddle and enjoy the thrill of the ride!

Saturday in the Charity Shop - Green clothes for St Patrick's Day

 St Patrick's Day - 17th of March

As we are approaching St Patrick's Day, I thought it apt to show some of the green items for sale in the Cudeca Charity Shop that I volunteer in on Plaza de Merced, here in Malaga.

If you like the look of any of them, make sure to get down to the shop first thing on Monday morning to buy when the shop opens. Particularly if you plan to wear green on St Patrick's Day!

Keto Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf - it's zesty!

 Keto Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf

I decided I'd change up my Keto bread (see recipe here) and add lemon juice and poppy seeds to see if I could make it more of a cake instead of a bread.

Well it worked out beautifully and tastes great. Lovely, lemony and zesty!

Biomilanes

There is a little organic vegetable shop in Malaga that has a great selection of organic eco foods. I got both my lemon and also the essential poppy seeds in this store after not successfully finding poppy seeds anywhere else (but am sure I could probably find them in Corte Ingles).

This loaf was a hit and I'll definitely make it again......but for the moment it's going on my plate along with a few slices gone in to the freezer for another day.

Sunday Museum visit to see Spanish greats Picasso & Barceló

Picasso Museum Malaga

The Picasso Museum here in Malaga is open until 5pm on Sundays with free entry in for the last 2 hours. Normally there would be a massive queue for this attraction during most of the year but with reduced tourists numbers in the city, due to Covid, we were able to rock up at 3pm and head straight in to the permanent Picasso exhibition and the newly opened Barceló exhibition.

Singapore - PIGSY Art!

In PIGSY art news, I can report that there are now PIGSY's in Singapore. See here for details of The Ireland Funds Singapore "A Sense of Ireland 2021" Festival.

PIGSY Solo Show in Spain

In addition to the above, we are working away on PIGSY's next solo show which is coming up at the end of March in La Casa Amarilla, Ciaran is finalising the art work selection and getting pieces framed and stretched. While I'm working on the promotion end of things, writing press releases and getting press packs together.  All a lot of fun and very exciting for PIGSY to have an art exhibition here in Spain!