Supporting local products

A lot of people are of the opinion that the coming months are going to be difficult financially and I am thinking that if I can persuade friends and family to buy local products and use the smaller family owned supermarkets it may help the island get through the tough times that may lay ahead.

There are many fine establishments here on Menorca that make exceptional things, we have milk, cheeses, butter, honey, fruit and vegetables, meat, seafood and fish to name a few!  

The cakes and biscuits here are wonderful, some of the bakeries are fab!  Forn Del Ranxo, El Diamante along with Diaz (known for its Ensaimadas) to name but a few.

One of the first things we noticed when we first moved here was the freshness of all the products and how the tomatoes tasted like tomatoes!  It´s good because we all look forward to Plum season when all the bakeries sell pastries known as cocas made with.. you´ve guessed it Plums!  Another is when its the turn of the watermelon, all grown here in Menorca and absolutely glorious especially on a blistering hot summers day!  The BEST!   

Another wonderful thing is Sobresada Day, which is exactly the same day as Pancake day, so we celebrate them both at the same time, Sobresada on slices of baguette with honey on top (incredible) and then pancakes with lemon and sugar!

In my weekly shop I usually have local products, I use a butchers called Raima on the outskirts of Ciutadella, I like them because the quality is very good, it´s locally sourced and another bonus is they wrap in paper!or if you want you can take your own containers!  The web address is below.

There is also a cooperative of businesses on the Island that provide door to door delivery of a wide range of products all made here on Menorca,they are called Xuroa, the web site is below also.

I have decided to include in each blog a song that is a blast from the past, todays one is by Lou Reed, its called "Satellite of Love" Pom Pom Pom..satellite of love....

Here are the two web sites:

http://www.embotitsraima.com/es/

www.xuroa.com

 Have a great Saturday 31st October whatever you end up doing!

TTFN

 

Who would shoot a cat with an air rifle and why?

 I cannot believe what I have just read in our paper for the island. Here on the island (probably the same all over the world) are small colonies of cats which local people look after as best they can, providing food and water each day to them.  One of these cats from a colony was shot with an air rifle, the pellet lodged in the lung of the poor thing and killed it.  A kind lady found the cat and rushed it to a local vet, but it was too late. An autopsy was carried out and that is how they found out what happened.  

Can anyone tell me what on earth would make someone do this?  When I read stories like this it makes me so ANGRY. We used to have a large population of stray cats on the island but then the animal welfare people started a neutering campaign and the numbers have dropped, so it is not like we are over run.  

Being an island, we rely an awful lot on tourists, when they come for the summer months it is great for everyone including the cats, but the cats get used to being fed by them and when the season is over, there is a void.  This is when the volunteers come in and often out of their own pockets, feed the cats. 

Another side to the story is that some residents with cats refuse to have them neutered (even though there are facilities available for free) and as a result more kittens arrive and the cycle goes on and on.

So even here on our wonderful island with the virgin beaches and biosphere we still have ignorant cretins with no respect for the other living creatures we share the planet with.

We have a very good system here in the supermarkets where you can leave donations in the form of a tin of food or bag of biscuits which the Protectora d´animales collects on a regular basis, so the people who do not like donating cash help in this way.

However, if you would like to help then my gofundme page is another option.Just go to the gofundme.com web site and search for ciutadella cats, it should be there! Even 5€ would be fantastic.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I am a bit wound up today.

TTFN

Cats in crisis! Please help in their relocation!

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to get some financial help for the cat sanctuary in Ciutadella here in Menorca.

The landlord of the home they have been living in for the past 15 years has decided to sell the property and this means that a new home is needed for all of the 170 cats there.  We adopted our two gorgeous cats from the sanctuary nearly three years ago so I have a soft spot for the place!  

As you will see if you visit the page, some wonderful people have already made donations, so it is on its way,  I decided to use gofundme because they have been around for some time now and they don`t take a lot in administration fees so nearly all of the money raised goes to who needs it!

If you would like to help please visit the page below, if you copy and paste it into your search engine it will be in the results.

Many thanks, if you can spare a few euros, pounds or whatever currency you use!

If not, until the next time.

 https://es.gofundme.com/f/ciutadella-cats-new-home

 

 

The war against Palm Oil

For over a year now I have been at war with Palm Oil, yes it does make chocolate taste better and all the other wonderful things it does, but at what cost?  For the sake of a bloody chocolate buscuit whole villages have been destroyed along with natural animal habitats, I for one think that we should all be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves, but attempting to slow down the effects of the cultivation of Palm Oil is not going as it should. 

I am a choco addict (after 8 mints are my weakness) but for me the cost is too high for a moment of pleasure, which really is not a matter of life and death, unlike what is happening in many parts of the world.

I only thought that Palm Oil was in food stuffs, WRONG, it is in just about everything. Palm oil will not always be labeled as such. In most countries, it can pass under the term "vegetable oil." If you're looking at toothpaste, shampoo, detergent, lotion, mascara, or any other item, then palm oil will likely take the form of a derivative like glycerin, emulsifiers, stearates, etc.

For more info try these pages:

https://www.palmoilinvestigations.org/about-palm-oil.html

https://www.selvabeat.com/guides

Just cutting down on one product that contains Palm Oil and switching to one that doesn´t can make a difference, I have noticed that there are more products with "No Palm Oil" on the packaging on the shelves so it is working!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, whatever you are up to, we have a lovely day here in Menorca so I may go for a walk.

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)

 

 

 

The confusion that surrounds recycling plastic (it´s exasperating to the say the least)

I recently had my little bubble burst after watching a series on Netflix called "Broken",

one of the episodes was all about recycling plastic and the disaster that we have all
helped to cause.  I did not realise that not all plastic can be recycled and am investigating what
can actually be recycled after the collection from the bins.

It came as a nasty shock to me about how little is actually truly recycled and not sold and shipped
off to another country for disposal there (whatever that means) or dumped in a landfill site.
It was a big eye opener and at the end I felt a bit disheartened about all the bloody years I have been recycling stuff thinking it was helping the environment.

But after I had calmed down I realised that I had been dealing with it all wrong, I have already drastically cut down on all the plastic waste I makebut will start to check the numbers
in the triangles on the product I may buy to see if it can actually be recycled. If not then I will buy a product that is.  

It´s a bit time consuming but I feel very strongly about this and want to do it.

I have noticed however that different countries seem to have different systems, so more to look into.

It has become glaringly obvious to me that the companies who sell products to us in plastic containers have shifted the responsibility of dealing with plastic waste onto us -the consumers!when in fact they are the ones who want us to buy the products so therefore they should bear most of the responsibility to ensure that the containers can be recycled.

I, as a consumer have the means to change this balance by boycotting companies who sell products in non-recyclable containers, reducing their profits and making them rethink.  

I am absolutely sick and tired of companies making loads of money and ignoring their part in the devastating ruination of our beautiful planet.

I will be looking into how the Spanish recycling system works (or doesn´t) especially here on Menorca, watch this space..

Not made to last!!

 

Helooooooo,

I spent yesterday afternoon turning my old vinyl records into MP3s to play in my car!  Talk about flashbacks, Free, ELO, some Al Stewart, Genesis, Pink Floyd and Queen to start off with! Its a bit time consuming but fun! I forgot that we had so many! Some of them are over 50 years old! They certainly made things to last in those days!

Not like todays throwaway culture.  Very depressing and annoying, funny how things like washing machines, ovens and other appliances used to last so much longer than the two years covered by the manufacturers guarantee.
 
I read somewhere that here in Spain over the next few years the government aims to somehow ensure that these goods last longer, maybe fining the companies.  It´s the disposal of these things that are the problem, especially here on a small island. There is nowhere to keep them.

Also some of the older brands quality has deteriorated, any clues as to why this is?  It seems they start off really good, middle of the range prices to hook us into staying loyal and then after so many years, bam crappy made, cheap and nasty and only last 2 minutes! 

We have recently bought Spanish brand appliances and we shall see how they fare! So far so good.  

That´s me for today, off to have a bit of grub.

 

 

 

Launch day

Welcome to the very first edition of The Cravat!

My name is Suuz and this blog is being sent from the Island of Menorca.

I have decided to write a blog to share some thoughts , occasionally let off a bit of steam and hopefully pass on a little bit of info about things that are important to me and maybe to other like-minded folks.

I love the environment, animals, most cakes and puddings, all things detective and many other things, if you continue to read you will find out!

Until the next time!