I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since my last posting – where does the time go! Well Spring arrived and the countryside was a riot of colour and smells – almond & orange blossom, lilac, roses, wild lavender to name but a few. After such a cold wet winter the campo sprang into life once the weather warmed up and everywhere this year is so green and lush. The Beznar reservoir is virtually full (not seen for many a year as there has been very little rain over the last few years) and the ski resort has had it’s longest and best season on record. This years Fiesta de la Cruz at the beginning of May was full of colour with the locals in traditional dress and loads of decorated wagons (more than other years I can remember) and the weather was perfect. The traditional free paella & beer went down well with the locals and the village was full of visitors.
We can now report that the olive press we donated back in May 2006 to the local town hall has now gone on display at the top of the village and we have been told that the full set of millstones we also donated will be used to form the new water feature/fountain in the lower part of the village. We are so pleased everyone can now enjoy these as they are part of the villages rich history.
My friend came out for a week and the weather was just about right for her visit – not too hot and not too cold – just right for sunning on the terrace. We had a nice trip to Seville and got to see the Plaza de Espana – very impressive, although the moat was drained of water so no boats on it but we did see the restored Wacky Wagons used in the 1992 Feria which are dotted all around the plaza. We tried to track down some of the bars we visited on our last trip in 2006 but they seemed elusive to find so tried out some different ones.
One of the other places we visited was the Spa Baths in Lanjaron and partook of some of their treatments – very nice.
Work has been progressing on the new guest bedroom & ensuite bathroom on the ground floor and we’ve also fitted a new flue for the new log burner/central heating system and some of the pipework. We’re not sure it’ll be up and working for this winter but will do our best. We’re also working on the new entrance porch and front door which hopefully will be done by the autumn (there are other things we need to get on with during the dry months on the outside of the house so work on the inside will grind to a halt soon). We’ve got nearly all the new windows in now and new balcony doors and they have made such a difference – no draughts and easy to clean!!
We’ve been semi adopted by two lovely local dogs (brother & sister & we’ve named them Fred and Ginger) who’s owner doesn’t seem to want them anymore, so between us and our neighbour we feed them and give them some love and affection. If we are working in the house then they come inside and snooze on the mats and if I go for a run they sometimes come with me. They are a cross between a spaniel and a podenco hunting dog and considering they are street dogs they are unbelievably well behaved. Unfortunately Ginger is on heat now and has had all the local dogs after her so no doubt she’ll be pregnant before too long. What will happen to the pups we don’t know – our neighbour might be able to find them homes. As we haven’t got any land it would be difficult for us to take them on so we do what we can by helping to feed them and giving them some attention.
The temperatures are now on the up and after a couple of cool days this week we are now on the way back up to 30 degrees plus so can safely say Summer Has Arrived!
Well that’s all for now – hope everyone has a great summer and we’ll update the blog sometime in the autumn. In the meantime any friends or family can keep up to date with us on Facebook and check out some of our photos.
Hasta luego