We decided to go back again tonight, as Jon’s dad is staying with us for the week, and this was like his way of paying for the accommodation. Any other time we would have gone to Nandos or to a generic Grill restaurant for steak, but now that we know about this amazing restaurant at the Hilton, we’re never going back to eat steak anywhere else.

(*I paid £30 as it is subsidised by my company. Your average person who wants to purchase the card as an individual has to pay £80 a year)

- Jon’s now been at his new job for a week and he is really enjoying it. It is such a big change for him, as he was so miserable in his old position. But now you can see his eyes shining again with excitement and hope for the future. It is awesome to see him smile again and be happy with what he does. Well done, my boy. You really deserve it.

- I was thinking today what an important subject weather is in the English culture. You can’t ignore it. A lot of non-English people mock it, but, come on… How else would you start a conversation with strangers or anyone else? Today was an interesting day, weather-wise. It started with very clear and blue skies, then it got overcast. By lunch time it was pissing down proper. Then the sun came out and it got a bit warm-ish. But by 5 pm it got nasty again, with very heavy sleet whilst you’re trying to drive at 70 mph down the motorway… Then we had awesome clouds… The ones that you could just stare at for hours and that make you happy inside. And finally it rained again and it got clear again.

I know the Crowded House song “Four seasons in one day” was not written about England, but it does apply too!

But the thing that makes me cope with the weather in this country is knowing that without it (by “it” I mean the rain) we wouldn’t have the awesome countryside that we have. It’s probably one of the things that I love the most in the UK and I am happy to cope with the rain in order to get the fantastic scenery around me. We went for a walk last Saturday in a village only 10-minute drive away from us. It was just beautiful – farmer’s fields, grass, woods, birds and squirrels, and rabbits and stags… Simply stunning. We also have the rapeseed fields in full bloom at the moment, and I can’t help but stare at the fields as I drive along the motorway…

- We’re off to Spain in a few days and it’s going to be a busy visit. Only four hours after we land I have a hairdresser’s appointment (I refuse to have my hair cut in England: it’s stupidly overpriced and they don’t get my style). Then I want to meet up with a friend for a coffee. Then the following day my brother is organising a “cortijo feast”, with roasted jamón and other delicacies. On Sunday it’s my nephew’s first communion (aka: more party, drinks and food) and then back home. And in between I have to find time to spend with my mum and uncle! Oh yes, it’s going to be busy.

- And if you know about my crafting hobby but want to see more, go and find me on facebook! www.facebook.com/craftsbymarialachica !! – I must say that the page is proving popular. I’ve managed to get a couple of commissions recently and one of my neighbours who also runs her own business wants to make a deal with me, by which I leave some of my cards with her and she offers them to her customers… I’m loving it!

In the same manner as all those old school sitcoms where the mother asks the husband or the children what they want for dinner and all reply in a careless manner “whatever”, I was asked the day before yesterday for my preference for that night’s dinner. As I didn’t want to have to answer “whatever”, I grabbed Jamie’s 30 minute cookbook and I had a quick look… Lots of pasta, maybe a curry… Until something caught my eye: Piri Piri chicken.

We love Nando’s, we go there quite often (maybe more often than we should) but somehow I had a feeling that Jamie’s piri piri was going to be different to the one we’ve come to know and love so  much. So that’s what I chose!

I must say I didn’t cook any of it, I only helped Jon a bit with the potatoes.. So if someone has to comment on the ease/difficulty of the recipe, it would have to be him. All I can say is that everything was delicious and we will be making those potatoes again!

So here we go:

Piri piri chicken:

Ingredients:

• 4 large chicken thighs, preferably higher welfare, skin on and bone in
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 6 sprigs of thyme

For the sauce:

• ½ red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 bird’s-eye chillies (We didn’t use any chillies)
• 1tbsp sweet smoked paprika (we used half sweet paprika, half spicy paprika)
• 1 lemon
• 2tbsp white wine vinegar (we used Sherry vinegar)
• 1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• A bunch of fresh basil

Awesome potatoes:

Ingredients:

• 1 medium potato
• 2 sweet potatoes
• ½ lemon
• 1 fresh red chilli (We didn’t use any chillies)
• A bunch of fresh coriander
• 50g (1¾oz) feta cheese

Wash the potato and sweet potatoes and halve lengthways. Put them into a large microwave-safe bowl with ½ a lemon. Cover with clingfilm and put into the microwave on full power for 15 minutes.

Finely chop the red chilli and most of the coriander on a board, mixing as you go. Add the feta and keep chopping and mixing.

Check the potatoes are cooked through, then use tongs to squeeze over the cooked lemon. Add the coriander mixture from the chopping board and mix everything together. Season, then take to the table.

We also made a normal salad with feta cheese.. We didn’t make Jamie’s one, because I don’t like rocket…

The whole recipe can be found here

I recommend it 100%. It was yummy!

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My boss was away on a business trip on Monday, and I am not “too” busy at work at the moment, so I decided to take the day off on Monday, as they still owed me one day from the trip to Bogotá.

I had planned to do nothing all day. No cleaning, no ironing, no house work. The weather was a bit rubbish too, so going out was not going to happen either. I was just going to do some crafting, some web browsing, some reading and some day-time tv watching.

I read for a bit, but I was reading in bed, and that made feel sleepy and as I didn’t want to go back to bed (it was still very early, approx. 8am), I decided to move to the study and do some crafting. I managed a very nice card that a friend had commissioned me for mother’s day (first Sunday of May in Spain – here in the UK it was back at the beginning of March), but then, after lunch, I had lost my shpadoinkle so I decided to stop crafting and come downstairs to the living room.

I got my laptop, put the TV on (a bit of multitasking, yes I can!) and I was set for an afternoon of boredom. Oh, my. Day time telly sucks. Sucks big time. It took me forever to find a decent programme (an old repeat of Masterchef) and even then I wasn’t quite in the mood for watching. I turned back to Facebook and I let everyone know how bored I was.

And to my pleasant surprise, I got a text from our friends M&J with little M in tow, asking to pop round for a visit!

This is a very rare occurrence indeed. I don’t think I have socialised in the middle of a non-weekend day since back on my Uni days! (of course, not counting holidays or Christmas, or anything like that). I had completely forgotten that you can actually meet people on a Monday at 3 pm! As it happens, she is a teacher who works part time and he is a postman who finishes work quite early in the day. So they were going to take their child to the park when they saw my post on Facebook and decided to come and pay me a visit instead (they said that my house would be much warmer than the park – which it was)

I loved it. I absolutely loved it. It kind of made me feel special. Needless to say, M&J were Jon’s friends, but for the last three years or so they have become MY friends too. And this was just the proof that I really didn’t need. They are happy to come and see ME without Jon being there!

I’ve been thinking about this all morning. It’s one of those existential topics that we all can’t help but think about from time to time. Am I happy? But, what is happiness?

Happiness is relative. Every person has their own definition of what happiness is, what makes them happy, and how to achieve that state of mind. There’s no point in making statements like “money gives you happiness”, or “you are only happy when you compare yourself to the misery of others”, because, as I say, happiness is relative.

It is true, though, that wealth makes you happy. But not material wealth, but the one of the spirit.

I have come to the conclusion this morning that the secret to happiness is contentment.

Firstly you have to have the right state of mind. You need to see the glass half full. Then, after you’re realised that happiness is not going to happen overnight, you need to evaluate your life: Are you doing what you want to do with your life? Do you find time for yourself? Are you finding pleasure and satisfaction in the little things?

If the answer to those questions is YES, then you are content with your life. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be happy. We must remember, though, that happiness is an emotion. And emotions can come and go, like sadness or excitement. Being contented, on the other hand, is a more stable and long-term feeling.

So, based on these principles I have to say that I am happy. I have been happy for a long time. Of course we all have our ups and downs, have better days and worse days, and there are days when you simply don’t want to get out of bed. But, it’s got nothing to do with money, with success or with “the neighbour’s grass is greener than mine”.

I read somewhere that being happy is being in love with living, and I couldn’t agree more.

I love being alive. I love who I am and who I’ve become. I love my husband. I love my cat. I love being moved by little things like the clouds, the sun, the stars, the flowers, nature in general. I just love enjoying life my own way. My attitude towards enjoying life is definitely different to other people’s. I don’t need to climb mountains or adrenaline rushes. I live life my own subtle way and that’s the path I’ve chosen, hence me being happy with it.