I can’t believe it’s December already – the year has flown by and it’s nearly Christmas!! I’ve been very good and have written all our Christmas cards and bought all our presents and wrapped them ready to deliver. Well I’ve had to be an early bird as we are flying back to the UK on 13 December for a few days to visit family and friends before Christmas and to hand out cards & presents. We’re flying back on 18th to spend a quiet Christmas here in Spain and of course to carry on with the building work. We’ll have a quiet day on the 25th and plan to BBQ some steak on the terrace and relax (fingers crossed the sun will be out). Then no doubt we’ll be back to work on the house on 26th.
As far as the building work progress goes – we now have the new bedroom, ensuite and lounge/diner built – the walls have been plastered and given their first lick of paint and we are just finishing off the tiling in the ensuite and will be ready to fit the new bidet, toilet & sink before we fly back to the UK. We bought our new Estufa (Woodburning Stove) a week ago and it is now installed and working – it’s lovely and warm in the new part of the house and we’re really looking forward to moving in – however it won’t be until Jan/Feb as we have to do some other work first on the new workshop door before we can finish the rooms upstairs. Still it will be worth the wait. Once all that works finished then we will start on the new kitchen which I am really looking forward to. Once that’s done then we can start on the main part of the house for the guest rooms. My estimate now is that it’ll be another 2 years at least before we are completely finished and can finally operate as a proper B&B but there’s always a room ready for family & friends who what to visit us. We keep plodding on – poco a poco (bit by bit) as our Spanish neighbours say.
The weather this autumn has been quite mild and when we have sunny days they are usually warm in the sun but a little chilly in the shade. The nights now are a little nippy and we’ve been using the gas heaters now since mid November in the main part of the house and they are enough to keep us warm. We’ve had some more rain recently which has given a good dump of snow on the mountain tops and the Sierra Navada ski resort opened on 1st December. We are hoping in Jan or Feb to go up and try out our snowboards again – it’s been 4 years since we were last on them so I can imagine there will be more time sitting/kneeling in the snow than actual boarding but it’ll be good to get back into it. At least we’ll be able to go in the week when it’s a bit quieter – the weekends are manic (apparently).
The satellite tv installations are ticking along steadily and helping to keep us fed and watered (well wine rather than water!).
We’re looking forward to the forthcoming Conchar Wine Festival which takes place in the Village of Conchar in Lecrin Valley and this year it is being held on 6th January. We’re hoping the weather is warm and sunny like last year as it makes it a great day out. You buy your Wine Festival Mug (large or small depending on preference/or if you’re driving) and then keep filling it up with the local Mosto (young wine) for free! There is a band playing spanish music, food freshly cooked on a big BBQ and young and old have a great time. There is lots of dancing and chatting and families come from all over for a great day out and to meet up with old friends. So if you are in the area on the 6th or fancy coming over for the festival we can highly recommend it.
Not a lot else to report so we’ll bid you adios for now and update you on events and the work on the house in the New Year.
Have a great Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008.
Abrazos y besos (hugs and kisses)