So, we now know how DFS Settees are made. The hacksaw was to cut off one of the bolts that holds one section to another, on which the thread had stripped. Don't worry, there are plenty more bolts holding it together. Once we had removed the fabric base cover we could see how it all held together and so were able to dismantle it enough to get it through the door and then rebuild it. I do need to get some more webbing for the base - but at least it's in, and it looks fine, and the next time it is moved will be in pieces onto a bonfire! Trust me!
So, we returned back to the Villa to reload the van,this time with the dining table, sideboard etc. That has all gone up to the house this morning and Lucy & I have packed another load of boxes for the next trip later today.
All that will be left for tomorrow are the 2 single beds (that we need for tonight), the small settee (gotta have something to sit on) and the stuff from the bathrooms - oh, and of course - the golf clubs!
Tonight we are off to a Halloween fancy dress party at Pepa's, so a chance to have a few drinks, a good laugh with our friends and a good meal. A good way to spend our last night in Terreros.
Saturday 31 October 2009
Friday 30 October 2009
Have you ever fancied a large couch in your entrance hall?
Today was moving day. We had concerns about 2 items, the American Fridge/Freezer - could we move it, and the large, no, huge 3 seater leather settee, would it fit in the house?
We were up early, excited to be able to finally go and fetch the van and start loading it up. On the way, Neil got an attack of the giggles - just thinking about this settee sitting on the outside patio because we wouldn't be able to get it into the house.
On the way back, Neil drove the van and following on behind - I got an attack of the giggles. Never mind 'would it fit in the house' - I wasn't even sure it would fit on the van!
We were grateful to see the faces of our friends arrive soon after we returned home with the van and the first item to be loaded was the settee.
And it went in! Stage 1 complete.
Next the big fridge/freezer was emptied and moved and success, it too went in - good omens so far.
We packed more furniture in until the van was full and closed the door. Over the weekend we expect to make about 4 trips, but today was all the big heavy stuff, the stuff we needed help with, the stuff we were grateful for the help from our friends.
An hour later we were up at the house and all the stuff was off the van except those 2 items.
First we unloaded the fridge - it came off easier than expected and we wheeled it in through the front door. Once in the entrance hall we spun it through 90 degrees to wheel it through the lounge door and onto the kitchen. It didn't go through. 'Back it up', they cried and we all pulled it back into the hallway and looked. The handles were stopping it from going through. 'Try it with the doors opened,' so once more we all pushed and pulled and it just fit through, onwards to the kitchen which has double doors and it gently slipped into the space by the window which had been left purposefully for it.
One down, one to go.
Finally, the settee was loaded off the van. The puzzling started - how to get it through the main door - it was too high and too wide. A bit of tilting,twisting, bit more lowering and pushing and it went through - just. We turned it through 90 degrees ready for the lounge door and that's where it stuck.
'Take the feet off' came the cry and I duly obliged.
Still stuck.
'Take the door off' was the next suggestion and very soon the door was off it's hinges and against my newly painted wall.
Still stuck.
We all put the settee down while we thought about options. The cushions don't remove, the arms don't remove. We have no patio doors and all the windows have reja bars concreted into the walls. We only have one door in and the entrance hall is not large enough for us to leave the settee there.
They day was becoming a problem.
The next cry made me shudder -'pass me the large hacksaw'
We were up early, excited to be able to finally go and fetch the van and start loading it up. On the way, Neil got an attack of the giggles - just thinking about this settee sitting on the outside patio because we wouldn't be able to get it into the house.
On the way back, Neil drove the van and following on behind - I got an attack of the giggles. Never mind 'would it fit in the house' - I wasn't even sure it would fit on the van!
We were grateful to see the faces of our friends arrive soon after we returned home with the van and the first item to be loaded was the settee.
And it went in! Stage 1 complete.
Next the big fridge/freezer was emptied and moved and success, it too went in - good omens so far.
We packed more furniture in until the van was full and closed the door. Over the weekend we expect to make about 4 trips, but today was all the big heavy stuff, the stuff we needed help with, the stuff we were grateful for the help from our friends.
An hour later we were up at the house and all the stuff was off the van except those 2 items.
First we unloaded the fridge - it came off easier than expected and we wheeled it in through the front door. Once in the entrance hall we spun it through 90 degrees to wheel it through the lounge door and onto the kitchen. It didn't go through. 'Back it up', they cried and we all pulled it back into the hallway and looked. The handles were stopping it from going through. 'Try it with the doors opened,' so once more we all pushed and pulled and it just fit through, onwards to the kitchen which has double doors and it gently slipped into the space by the window which had been left purposefully for it.
One down, one to go.
Finally, the settee was loaded off the van. The puzzling started - how to get it through the main door - it was too high and too wide. A bit of tilting,twisting, bit more lowering and pushing and it went through - just. We turned it through 90 degrees ready for the lounge door and that's where it stuck.
'Take the feet off' came the cry and I duly obliged.
Still stuck.
'Take the door off' was the next suggestion and very soon the door was off it's hinges and against my newly painted wall.
Still stuck.
We all put the settee down while we thought about options. The cushions don't remove, the arms don't remove. We have no patio doors and all the windows have reja bars concreted into the walls. We only have one door in and the entrance hall is not large enough for us to leave the settee there.
They day was becoming a problem.
The next cry made me shudder -'pass me the large hacksaw'
Day of the Dead!
No, it's not a new horror movie, it's actually a very important festival in Spain which takes place this weekend.
The festival has it's origins in Mexico, but the Spanish Conquistadors changed it to coincide with All Saints Day to try and incorporate it into the Religious calendar.
Los días de los muertos is a day when the departed loved ones of the family are remembered and rejoiced. In Spain it is a time for big family gatherings, for family visits to to the graves of relatives and for family members to dedicate a few moments of rememberance.
Here, in Spain, it is a National Holiday.
The festival has it's origins in Mexico, but the Spanish Conquistadors changed it to coincide with All Saints Day to try and incorporate it into the Religious calendar.
Los días de los muertos is a day when the departed loved ones of the family are remembered and rejoiced. In Spain it is a time for big family gatherings, for family visits to to the graves of relatives and for family members to dedicate a few moments of rememberance.
Here, in Spain, it is a National Holiday.
Thursday 29 October 2009
We move in tomorrow!
We've done as much as we can and we move the furniture over tomorrow.
We have no hot water until the boiler arrives next week and Neil has installed it, we have a kitchen sink but no base units, so it's propped up on 2 bits of wood,
On the plus side, we have wardrobes now - from IKEA,
We have no hot water until the boiler arrives next week and Neil has installed it, we have a kitchen sink but no base units, so it's propped up on 2 bits of wood,
but it works!
On the plus side, we have wardrobes now - from IKEA,
(they look brown but they are actually black/brown to match the drawers and bed we already have).
The bedroom and lounge are decorated, we have curtain poles for all the rooms but no curtains - good job we don't have any neighbours! And, there is a serious concern that the big 3-seater, leather settee won't fit through the door! Could be the most expensive piece of patio furniture ever!
Tomorrow is going to be a long, long day!
Introducing Bryan!
Bryan is my run-around pet-taxi. We got him yesterday and he is for when Neil is at golf all day and I want to run the pups somewhere, or just nip down into town for a bit of shopping or a coffee and a chat. We needed a little 'jalopy' and we called him Bryan to fit in with Brinkley and Brandy's names, beginning with BR.....
We found him on one of the local forums and it's taken a while to get all the relevant paperwork together. After the problems registering on the padron at our new place, I just renewed our padron locally. It appears that if you are already registered on the padron, renewal is not a problem BUT if you are registering for the first time, you now need your residencia certificate. We are due to apply for ours once we have moved into the new house, but fortunately didn't have a problem in getting a renewed certificate.
I then needed to get certified copies of my passport, NIE certificate and padron in order to get the paperwork transferred over at traffico, and also a copy of the car documents. Now, it would make more sense for the seller to get the certified copies of the car documents to hand over at the time of exchange and then it would be all sorted, but no, it's the buyers responsibility - so having been to the Notary once for the first load of papers, we now have to go again to get the car docs done and then drop those into the office, in order to have all the paperwork sent to traffico in Almeria and for the car to be officially transferred into our name. In the meantime we have a copy of the all the relevant documents, including the receipted invoice from the seller showing that we have paid for the car, incase we are stopped by the 'policia'.
So, we have had a bit of running around but we finally brought Bryan home last night!
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Rallying the troops!
Someone had mentioned to us in conversation recently that a local car sales place also did van hire, so I rang them. Yes they did, did we want a little van or a big van? Big please, we're moving house.
So it's booked, a large van from Friday morning until Monday morning - at least we have a van.
Now, we need some muscle - time to phone all those friends who told us, when we said we were moving, 'anything you need help with, just let us know!'
So we did.' Are you free on Friday? Can you help us move some stuff?'
We're going to need a lot of muscle to move the American Fridge/Freezer and the large settee, other stuff is fairly manageable. Now the main problem in retiring to Spain is that the majority of other people here are also retirees, albeit early retirees. Many have creaking joints like us - our circle of friends does not run to an army of Schwartzeneger-type men,(more's the pity), so we need to be careful not to overload them.
But, we have willing volunteers and hope to move the large furniture on Friday so that Neil and I can do the rest over the weekend.
So, crisis number 2 averted - surely nothing else can go wrong?
And we just found out that, as Monday is a holiday here, we get to keep the van until Tuesday morning at no extra cost - so, we have an extra day to move.
So it's booked, a large van from Friday morning until Monday morning - at least we have a van.
Now, we need some muscle - time to phone all those friends who told us, when we said we were moving, 'anything you need help with, just let us know!'
So we did.' Are you free on Friday? Can you help us move some stuff?'
We're going to need a lot of muscle to move the American Fridge/Freezer and the large settee, other stuff is fairly manageable. Now the main problem in retiring to Spain is that the majority of other people here are also retirees, albeit early retirees. Many have creaking joints like us - our circle of friends does not run to an army of Schwartzeneger-type men,(more's the pity), so we need to be careful not to overload them.
But, we have willing volunteers and hope to move the large furniture on Friday so that Neil and I can do the rest over the weekend.
So, crisis number 2 averted - surely nothing else can go wrong?
And we just found out that, as Monday is a holiday here, we get to keep the van until Tuesday morning at no extra cost - so, we have an extra day to move.
One of those days!
I woke early this morning and decided to check my e-mail inbox before starting another hectic day. There was an e-mail from the UK, just a simple sentence that was to send us into total chaos.
It read 'Have you arranged a different collection date?'
This was from our Plumbers merchant in Sheffield who we are getting our shower doors and central heating system, boiler, radiators etc from - which should have been collected last Wednesday by a removals company. It had already been delayed from the week before when they had cancelled driving to the UK through Northern Spain because of the flooding caused by the torrential rains.
We have been trying to contact the removals people for the last few days to see when they would be arriving with it, but with no success. But at least we believed the heating system was on its way - so this e-mail was a major shock.
As soon as we could ring the UK, we did and confirmed our worst fears - they had not been to collect the stuff. Now, without this we will have not only no heating, although we do still have the electric oiled filled heaters we used last winter, so although expensive to run, we will not freeze - what we won't have is hot running water. In summer that would not be a problem, but the thought of cold showers now - is not appealing!
So, we needed a quick solution. Neil had previously talked with a company that does domesic sewage systems about shipping one to us in Spain and they had mentioned a company they used - Palletways - so it was worth a shot. I rang them as soon as they opened and sure enough, they could pick up in Sheffield and deliver to us here in Spain, to the door - no matter how remote. All it needed was for the whole lot to be loaded on a standard pallet, no more than 2m high. We rang the Plumbers merchant, and they said that it could be done - and so we set the wheels in motion. By 1pm this afternoon we received a very welcome phone call. They had just arrived to pick up our stuff and it would be on it's way to the Palletways hub in Birmingham. From there it gets sent to the hub in Madrid and from there delivered, by prior appointment, to us - possibly as early as Friday.
If only we'd known about this company 3 weeks ago, life would have been a lot less stressful.
We still don't know what has happened to our removal guys, who previously have been so reliable - but this also meant we couldn't rely on them turning up to move our furniture on Monday.
And so started the second panic of the day - can we move ourselves this weekend?
It read 'Have you arranged a different collection date?'
This was from our Plumbers merchant in Sheffield who we are getting our shower doors and central heating system, boiler, radiators etc from - which should have been collected last Wednesday by a removals company. It had already been delayed from the week before when they had cancelled driving to the UK through Northern Spain because of the flooding caused by the torrential rains.
We have been trying to contact the removals people for the last few days to see when they would be arriving with it, but with no success. But at least we believed the heating system was on its way - so this e-mail was a major shock.
As soon as we could ring the UK, we did and confirmed our worst fears - they had not been to collect the stuff. Now, without this we will have not only no heating, although we do still have the electric oiled filled heaters we used last winter, so although expensive to run, we will not freeze - what we won't have is hot running water. In summer that would not be a problem, but the thought of cold showers now - is not appealing!
So, we needed a quick solution. Neil had previously talked with a company that does domesic sewage systems about shipping one to us in Spain and they had mentioned a company they used - Palletways - so it was worth a shot. I rang them as soon as they opened and sure enough, they could pick up in Sheffield and deliver to us here in Spain, to the door - no matter how remote. All it needed was for the whole lot to be loaded on a standard pallet, no more than 2m high. We rang the Plumbers merchant, and they said that it could be done - and so we set the wheels in motion. By 1pm this afternoon we received a very welcome phone call. They had just arrived to pick up our stuff and it would be on it's way to the Palletways hub in Birmingham. From there it gets sent to the hub in Madrid and from there delivered, by prior appointment, to us - possibly as early as Friday.
If only we'd known about this company 3 weeks ago, life would have been a lot less stressful.
We still don't know what has happened to our removal guys, who previously have been so reliable - but this also meant we couldn't rely on them turning up to move our furniture on Monday.
And so started the second panic of the day - can we move ourselves this weekend?
The man from Iberbanda, he says No!
Oh my goodness!
How will I survive?
Cancel the removal van!
The man from Iberbanda didn't even get his signal monitor out of his van, he drove down to the house, took one look at the next hill and said an emphatic No Way!
Well, not quite - he said, 'Lo siento, no es possible!'
Oh sorry, Iberbanda are the company who can provide phone and internet links to remote homes. In Velez they cover 80% of the area with their network of masts, and we live in the 20% they don't cover. There is a big hill directly between our house and the transmission mast so a link is impossible.
So, we now need to go down the route of having a satellite link for our phone and internet. Means for a while I'll need to to do all my work offline, then get into the car with my laptop and drive 500m to the end of the dirt track that is our drive, where I have a Vodaphone signal to send everything. Or, I can just go and find myself a café, and sit and drink coffee while typing away. For the time being, I'm hanging onto my Vodaphone dongle - they will have to fight me to take it back before we're connected at the house.
Now time to Google satellite phones!
Hey Ho, nothing is ever simple, is it?
How will I survive?
Cancel the removal van!
The man from Iberbanda didn't even get his signal monitor out of his van, he drove down to the house, took one look at the next hill and said an emphatic No Way!
Well, not quite - he said, 'Lo siento, no es possible!'
Oh sorry, Iberbanda are the company who can provide phone and internet links to remote homes. In Velez they cover 80% of the area with their network of masts, and we live in the 20% they don't cover. There is a big hill directly between our house and the transmission mast so a link is impossible.
So, we now need to go down the route of having a satellite link for our phone and internet. Means for a while I'll need to to do all my work offline, then get into the car with my laptop and drive 500m to the end of the dirt track that is our drive, where I have a Vodaphone signal to send everything. Or, I can just go and find myself a café, and sit and drink coffee while typing away. For the time being, I'm hanging onto my Vodaphone dongle - they will have to fight me to take it back before we're connected at the house.
Now time to Google satellite phones!
Hey Ho, nothing is ever simple, is it?
Saturday 24 October 2009
Ikea, Murcia - what a trip.
We had been looking for a cooker, to run on LPG, and had seen one on the Repsol website (Spain's equivalent of Calor) but had been struggling to get a price. So, having Googled LPG Cookers, Spain - imagine my surprise when Ikea came up. But, having checked their website here in Spain, they do indeed do a cooker, just what we were looking for, €899.
So, as much as we weren't keen, we needed a trip to the store in Murcia as I couldn't order it on-line, only in store!
Then, out of the blue (well, after a rather frustrated e-mail to Repsol) I received a phone call telling me that they had the price of the cooker we were interested in, and also a cheaper version (that immediately told me the one we liked was expensive). So, I sent a text with my e-mail address on and the sent me through the details.
A cooker, very similar to the Ikea one was double the price. The cheaper one was more expensive than the one in Ikea and we didn't like it as much. Definitely needed a trip to Ikea.
Now, this could turn into a really long winded post, but that wouldn't achieve much. You've all been to Ikea, you know how it works, it's busy, you spend ages waiting for someone to deal with you (and Spanish queueing is just the same in Ikea, so very confusing) you buy much more than you went for, you wander aimlessly around the aisles looking for the one item you forgot to make a note of, and then you battle your way to a checkout where you wait for an eternity.
Yes, we did all this - we went for a cooker, which will be delivered direct to the house and the extractor hood that we would take home with us. Lucy wanted a small bookcase, a pack of 3 pairs of scissors and a catalogue, well, better make that 2 and we'll have one as well.
So, why then did we end up hiring a van to take home ALL that we bought?
Well, we needed wardrobes for 2 bedrooms, storage in the study, bits for the kitchen - oh, you know how it is. We really couldn't face another trip to Ikea - so we got it all while we were there. Then, of course, it wouldn't fit in the car (not that we tried) and if it had, was so heavy I think the exhaust pipe would have been dragging on the road.
Deliveries are still a bit difficult because we aren't always at the house and even when we are, don't have a phone signal so if they can't find the place (and it isn't easy) they can't get in touch to ask for help.
Then I noticed a sign saying van hire - seemed a good idea. So, we sorted it all out, loaded up and by this time it was after 9pm. So, we had an hours drive to the house, unload, and then an hours drive to home. By the time we had picked the dogs up from Lucy's and arrived home it was almost midnight.
But that's only half the story, because having bought all the stuff to avoid having to have another trip to Ikea, of course now, we had to go back today to return the van! On a Saturday - nightmare!
We'd left the van at the house because we would be paying mileage over 160km, so today we had to do an hour to the house, an hour to Ikea and another hour home. Murcia was manic, Ikea was heaving, the carpark nearest the store was closed because it was full, we couldn't find a petrol station to fill the van up before returning it, and so it goes on.........
But, we are back home now, have everything we need at the house ready to build and get the rooms ready, and we have just over a week before we move in.
I really hope I don't go to Ikea for a long time, and if I do - definitely not on a Saturday.
So, as much as we weren't keen, we needed a trip to the store in Murcia as I couldn't order it on-line, only in store!
Then, out of the blue (well, after a rather frustrated e-mail to Repsol) I received a phone call telling me that they had the price of the cooker we were interested in, and also a cheaper version (that immediately told me the one we liked was expensive). So, I sent a text with my e-mail address on and the sent me through the details.
A cooker, very similar to the Ikea one was double the price. The cheaper one was more expensive than the one in Ikea and we didn't like it as much. Definitely needed a trip to Ikea.
Now, this could turn into a really long winded post, but that wouldn't achieve much. You've all been to Ikea, you know how it works, it's busy, you spend ages waiting for someone to deal with you (and Spanish queueing is just the same in Ikea, so very confusing) you buy much more than you went for, you wander aimlessly around the aisles looking for the one item you forgot to make a note of, and then you battle your way to a checkout where you wait for an eternity.
Yes, we did all this - we went for a cooker, which will be delivered direct to the house and the extractor hood that we would take home with us. Lucy wanted a small bookcase, a pack of 3 pairs of scissors and a catalogue, well, better make that 2 and we'll have one as well.
So, why then did we end up hiring a van to take home ALL that we bought?
Well, we needed wardrobes for 2 bedrooms, storage in the study, bits for the kitchen - oh, you know how it is. We really couldn't face another trip to Ikea - so we got it all while we were there. Then, of course, it wouldn't fit in the car (not that we tried) and if it had, was so heavy I think the exhaust pipe would have been dragging on the road.
Deliveries are still a bit difficult because we aren't always at the house and even when we are, don't have a phone signal so if they can't find the place (and it isn't easy) they can't get in touch to ask for help.
Then I noticed a sign saying van hire - seemed a good idea. So, we sorted it all out, loaded up and by this time it was after 9pm. So, we had an hours drive to the house, unload, and then an hours drive to home. By the time we had picked the dogs up from Lucy's and arrived home it was almost midnight.
But that's only half the story, because having bought all the stuff to avoid having to have another trip to Ikea, of course now, we had to go back today to return the van! On a Saturday - nightmare!
We'd left the van at the house because we would be paying mileage over 160km, so today we had to do an hour to the house, an hour to Ikea and another hour home. Murcia was manic, Ikea was heaving, the carpark nearest the store was closed because it was full, we couldn't find a petrol station to fill the van up before returning it, and so it goes on.........
But, we are back home now, have everything we need at the house ready to build and get the rooms ready, and we have just over a week before we move in.
I really hope I don't go to Ikea for a long time, and if I do - definitely not on a Saturday.
Friday 23 October 2009
More official bits.
Back up to Pulpí this morning to pick up our renewed Padron certificates. It seems we were right on our summation about Market Day because today the office was busy. I had to stand in a type of queue for over 40 minutes until it was my turn. Let me explain what I mean by a 'type of queue'. Here in Spain they don't form a queue as we know it, i.e. one person standing behind another and you just join the end. Oh no, that's too easy to work out. Here, they walk through the door, ask who is the last person and then wander off and stand anywhere. It's OK once you know how it works, but terribly confusing if you don't.
So, having left with my 2 new certificates I headed off for Aguilas to get certified copies of my Passport and Drivers Licence, another requirement when you are buying a car (well, it is here in Almeria, it could be different elsewhere - so if you're thinking of buying a 2nd hand car in Spain, ask what documents you need, I've been told by someone else that they needed their residencia!).
I called at our solicitor's office to pick up a copy of the Schedule of Works licence for the reformation of our house, which we are now being asked for in order for the office at Velez to (hopefully) find our house on their computer and sort out our Padron up there. I asked her where I needed to go to get the certified copies and she told me the Notary Office. There are 2 in Aguilas so I toottled off to the nearest one which she said would be the quickest to sort it and when I got there they told me the Notary was on holiday this week. So, I about turned and went to the other one where I was told they only do them on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays - not Fridays!
Guess where I'm going on Monday!
So, having left with my 2 new certificates I headed off for Aguilas to get certified copies of my Passport and Drivers Licence, another requirement when you are buying a car (well, it is here in Almeria, it could be different elsewhere - so if you're thinking of buying a 2nd hand car in Spain, ask what documents you need, I've been told by someone else that they needed their residencia!).
I called at our solicitor's office to pick up a copy of the Schedule of Works licence for the reformation of our house, which we are now being asked for in order for the office at Velez to (hopefully) find our house on their computer and sort out our Padron up there. I asked her where I needed to go to get the certified copies and she told me the Notary Office. There are 2 in Aguilas so I toottled off to the nearest one which she said would be the quickest to sort it and when I got there they told me the Notary was on holiday this week. So, I about turned and went to the other one where I was told they only do them on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays - not Fridays!
Guess where I'm going on Monday!
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Official Bits.
Having been unable to register on the padron at our new place, I went up to Pulpí today to renew our exisiting padron. Neil is buying me a little run around car and we need a current certificate to be able to have the car documents transferred to us. It would have been easier to have it registered to our new place but it's taking too long to sort and I don't want to lose the car.
It's a little, white Citroen Saxo - and I had a little Saxo for the last few months I lived in Sheffield.
Anyway, back on topic.
When we were on our way to Pulpí I remembered it was market day so this would mean one of two things. Either the Town Hall would be busy because everyone had come into town for the market and would sort their official bits out at the same time OR it would be quiet because everyone would assume it would be busy because it was market day.
Fortunately for me, it was the latter. There was no-one at the renewals desk so I was seen straight away, 2 minutes later I was done and I collect the new certificates on Friday, having paid my €1.20 per copy.
Then I needed to renew our road tax. In Spain road tax is not such a strict matter as in the UK. When we bought our car in June last year the road tax ran until end of December, the calendar year. Our Town Hall only issue renewals in April, payable within a fixed number of days at a bank. They stamp the renewal form to prove payment is made and you carry this with you in the car. So effectively you drive around with an out of date road tax and if you get stopped, it's not a problem.
Well, when you buy a new car it can take over 12 months to get into the system and so we missed getting the normal renewal notice in April. It's been waiting for me to go to Pulpí to sort it out and today was the first time I had a need to go so we have effectively been driving with no road tax for 10 months - but it's not a problem - well, I tell you, it was a problem for me everytime we drove past the police stopping cars for a paperwork check - mild panic was certainly present. Fortunately we have not been stopped to test the theory.
I found the office in the Town Hall that deals with Road Tax renewals and explained we didn't get a reminder. He asked for the registration document which I had, and he typed the details into his computer and a couple of minutes later I had my renewal notice. It has a list of the banks you can pay it at and there are 2 immediately opposite the Town Hall and so I went straight across and paid it - €84 for our Kia Sportage - a lot cheaper than in the UK.
I was really pleased how easy it had been, normally such things can take hours, but not today. We had time to call for some paint so that I could start decorating our bedroom.
Just need to remember to go back on Friday - and you watch, I'll be waiting in a long queue just to pick up the papers!
It's a little, white Citroen Saxo - and I had a little Saxo for the last few months I lived in Sheffield.
Anyway, back on topic.
When we were on our way to Pulpí I remembered it was market day so this would mean one of two things. Either the Town Hall would be busy because everyone had come into town for the market and would sort their official bits out at the same time OR it would be quiet because everyone would assume it would be busy because it was market day.
Fortunately for me, it was the latter. There was no-one at the renewals desk so I was seen straight away, 2 minutes later I was done and I collect the new certificates on Friday, having paid my €1.20 per copy.
Then I needed to renew our road tax. In Spain road tax is not such a strict matter as in the UK. When we bought our car in June last year the road tax ran until end of December, the calendar year. Our Town Hall only issue renewals in April, payable within a fixed number of days at a bank. They stamp the renewal form to prove payment is made and you carry this with you in the car. So effectively you drive around with an out of date road tax and if you get stopped, it's not a problem.
Well, when you buy a new car it can take over 12 months to get into the system and so we missed getting the normal renewal notice in April. It's been waiting for me to go to Pulpí to sort it out and today was the first time I had a need to go so we have effectively been driving with no road tax for 10 months - but it's not a problem - well, I tell you, it was a problem for me everytime we drove past the police stopping cars for a paperwork check - mild panic was certainly present. Fortunately we have not been stopped to test the theory.
I found the office in the Town Hall that deals with Road Tax renewals and explained we didn't get a reminder. He asked for the registration document which I had, and he typed the details into his computer and a couple of minutes later I had my renewal notice. It has a list of the banks you can pay it at and there are 2 immediately opposite the Town Hall and so I went straight across and paid it - €84 for our Kia Sportage - a lot cheaper than in the UK.
I was really pleased how easy it had been, normally such things can take hours, but not today. We had time to call for some paint so that I could start decorating our bedroom.
Just need to remember to go back on Friday - and you watch, I'll be waiting in a long queue just to pick up the papers!
Monday 19 October 2009
Time to walk the land.
Taking on a large area of farmed land comes with responsibilites and the first one, I felt, was probably identifying what plants we have. We know we have plenty of almond trees and that most of them have been farmed this year but will soon need pruning back. We do have some that still have almonds on them but they will not get collected now as it's too late - so, instead we can pick a few nuts as we walk around, give them a couple of days to dry out so that you can hear the nut rattle in the shell and then we can crack them open and eat them - saves buying nuts this Christmas.
So, I decided to take my camera with me and see what else we have.
We have lots of Mountain Oaks with lovely little nuts on, which the squirrel in Ice Age chases and which Lucy tells me she and her sister, when they were younger, used to look for the little hats left after the nut has come adrift as they were told these were little hats left by the fairies when they ran away - one way to get your garden cleared up.
Just past the Mountain Oaks is the Olive Grove - this has about 20 Olive trees in it, all of them with partly grown Olives,mostly green but some starting to turn black. I don't know whether you get different trees for green & black olives or whether it just depends on when you pick them.
On the edge of the Olive grove is a tree that has fruits that look like Sharon fruits but aren't, they are actually Persimmons. We have the astringent variety which are unpalatable if eaten before they have softened. I've never heard of a Persimmon fruit before - let alone an astringent and a non-astringent variety.
After the Persimmon tree we come across some Brambles. Now, I always thought Brambles were an English hedgerow plant and never expected to find them up the mountains in Southern Spain, but I have quite a few bushes and although I have missed the Brambles this year, there will be a good crop for picking next year.
From the opposite hill our house looks lovely.
On the way down to the bottom of the Rambla is a Fig Tree. At the moment the fruits are small but we'll be able to keep an eye on them as we walk the dogs each day and be ready to pick them when they are ready (better Google that so I'll know when that is).
In the bottom of the valley is an area I call Dingley Dell. It's a lovely area where nature has totally taken over. It is dense growth and probably home to many small animals - but we never hear any when we walk past - it's an area we shall leave alone to grow as it pleases.
Down in the bottom of the Rambla we have a large patch of, what looks like, Bamboo but I've been told by a neighbour that it's Sugar Cane. I've not been able to find out what the difference is other than one sweetens your tea and the other fattens up Panda's - maybe I'll find out one day.
Up the other side of the valley, below the house is a Nave (pronounced navi) in ruins. A nave is an agricultural building often used to house the animals. Ours is well past housing anything but long term plans are to turn it into a store shed for the tools for the land. Infront of this is a fine growth of prickly pear cacti, which look very young as there are no pears growing yet.
Just infront of the nave is a flat area that has some almond trees on it but this is where we shall plant our fruit trees, definitely apples and pears, we will try oranges and lemons but it is possible that the winter frosts may be too cold for them.
According to the internet the wildlife is also varied and includes Golden Eagles, Sparrow Hawks, Buzzards, Kestrels, Goshawks and Hobby, Civets, Wild Boar, Wildcats, Weasels and Foxes.
Lights.
I love the big light in the entrance hall, it gives off alovely warm glow and will be wonderful on a dark evening.
Outside we decided to include a fan for those warm, summer evenings sitting outside with a glass of wine enjoying the views.
In the Study I've gone for something a bit modern - an inverted goldfish bowl.
And of course, we needed a big fan in the bedroom for those hot summer nights! (Now, how many of you read that and didn't have John Travolta sing it to you in your head? - well, if you
didn't then - you have now!)Fans also in the lounge area. They all took a lot of building but they were worth the effort - we love how they all look.
Saturday 17 October 2009
More problems with electrics!
Followers of this blog who have been with me since the start of the year (and before) may remember the problems we had with the electrics here in the first week, that we couldn't turn the toaster and the kettle on at the same time without tripping out, that the microwave tripped out everytime and before starting to cook dinner we always had to light at least one candle.
Well, history is repeating itself at our new place. We took a spare toaster and microwave up there so we could at least have some lunch and coffee - but no way! The toaster has tripped the electrics at least twice and the microwave is not letting the toaster have it all it's own way.
The odd thing is, unlike at the villa, it's not tripping at the fuseboard in the house.
The first time the electrics tripped we sent a text to Jose, who we got the property from and although we had no contact from him, the electric was on a couple of hours later - we thought maybe there had been a power cut - after all, it's not as if we have street lights to check or a neighbour to see if they have any lights on - we were quite literally 'in the dark'.
A couple of days later we were once again suddenly without power and this time it didn't come on until the following day - we were without power for about 20 hours - such a good job we aren't living there yet.
So, I spoke with Tony, the agent, to see whether there was something we needed to know about the power supply or whether we would need to get a generator as back up for these frequent periods without electric.
I remember when I first bumped into our neighbour, she was so envious that we had mains power as they were still waiting for theirs to be connected after 12 months of living in their house (they should be connected next Wednesday, according to the latest update).
Anyway, I felt envious of the constant hum of her generator this week - at least it kept going.
Yesterday, the power went off again - not good when you are having a day working on the lights, you need power to at least see that they work ok. Normally, I wait until the end of the day to send texts, when we are in the car, on the road and back in sight of the phone mast - but not today. I shut the dogs in the house (or they would follow me up to the road) and took the car until I could get a signal to be able to text Jose again.
Within the hour he was at the house and said he would show Neil how to reset the power, and off they went for a drive.
Now, it turns out that although we have mains power, it's not a direct supply. We actually have a cable running from the nearest television mast, with a trip switch on the side of the building that houses the electrics for the TV mast. All legal, it was installed over 20 years ago and probably, in it's day, was incredibly up to date for a country house to have mains power - but not today. There is this large black cable that seems to run down the hill to the house, held up by homemade posts and at one point, looks to be joined by a large clump of tape - all rather Heath Robinson-ish.
When our power trips, it doesn't need resetting in the house, oh no, you have to don hiking boots and a back-pack to climb up to the top of the hill , to the base of the TV mast and reset the switch up there. Not exactly convenient but, for now, the only way of getting power back on.
Jose then told us that next week, he will be digging a trench with his tractor - from our house, down the valley, up the other side because we are being connected to the new electricity tower that our neighbours are being connected to. They have waited over a year, we aren't even living in the house yet but already look as if we will be connected up directly to the grid.
Hopefully that will be then end of the power cuts and the uphill hikes - but until then, we just turn the trips to reset the trip switch into fun dog walks.
Well, history is repeating itself at our new place. We took a spare toaster and microwave up there so we could at least have some lunch and coffee - but no way! The toaster has tripped the electrics at least twice and the microwave is not letting the toaster have it all it's own way.
The odd thing is, unlike at the villa, it's not tripping at the fuseboard in the house.
The first time the electrics tripped we sent a text to Jose, who we got the property from and although we had no contact from him, the electric was on a couple of hours later - we thought maybe there had been a power cut - after all, it's not as if we have street lights to check or a neighbour to see if they have any lights on - we were quite literally 'in the dark'.
A couple of days later we were once again suddenly without power and this time it didn't come on until the following day - we were without power for about 20 hours - such a good job we aren't living there yet.
So, I spoke with Tony, the agent, to see whether there was something we needed to know about the power supply or whether we would need to get a generator as back up for these frequent periods without electric.
I remember when I first bumped into our neighbour, she was so envious that we had mains power as they were still waiting for theirs to be connected after 12 months of living in their house (they should be connected next Wednesday, according to the latest update).
Anyway, I felt envious of the constant hum of her generator this week - at least it kept going.
Yesterday, the power went off again - not good when you are having a day working on the lights, you need power to at least see that they work ok. Normally, I wait until the end of the day to send texts, when we are in the car, on the road and back in sight of the phone mast - but not today. I shut the dogs in the house (or they would follow me up to the road) and took the car until I could get a signal to be able to text Jose again.
Within the hour he was at the house and said he would show Neil how to reset the power, and off they went for a drive.
Now, it turns out that although we have mains power, it's not a direct supply. We actually have a cable running from the nearest television mast, with a trip switch on the side of the building that houses the electrics for the TV mast. All legal, it was installed over 20 years ago and probably, in it's day, was incredibly up to date for a country house to have mains power - but not today. There is this large black cable that seems to run down the hill to the house, held up by homemade posts and at one point, looks to be joined by a large clump of tape - all rather Heath Robinson-ish.
When our power trips, it doesn't need resetting in the house, oh no, you have to don hiking boots and a back-pack to climb up to the top of the hill , to the base of the TV mast and reset the switch up there. Not exactly convenient but, for now, the only way of getting power back on.
Jose then told us that next week, he will be digging a trench with his tractor - from our house, down the valley, up the other side because we are being connected to the new electricity tower that our neighbours are being connected to. They have waited over a year, we aren't even living in the house yet but already look as if we will be connected up directly to the grid.
Hopefully that will be then end of the power cuts and the uphill hikes - but until then, we just turn the trips to reset the trip switch into fun dog walks.
Let there be light!
One of our days out last week resulted in no cooker but a chance find of a lighting shop where we managed to choose all the light fittings for the whole house. This was what we had in each room. 
A couple of days ago I received a phone call to say the lights were in the shop ready for us to collect (I'm getting quite good at taking phone calls in Spanish now - doing a house up is a really good way to improve your Spanish - but not a cheap way as, at the moment, every phone call seems to cost me hundreds of Euro's 'cos we then have to pay for whatever is ready for collection).
Anyway, we called for the lights yesterday and spent the day trying to fathom out how to construct all the fans. Today we got them all in place but not after a lot of work re-cabling so that the fans work independently of the lights - I'm now a whizz with cable-pullers and ducting- and before today I had no idea what they were!
I forgot my camera to day, but now you are able to enjoy the anticipation of seeing some photos tomorrow when we get back from the house.
Thursday 15 October 2009
Today!
Today has been a long day.
Today we got an address for our post.
Today we got a key for our post box.
Today we tried to sign on the padron but they cannot find our house on the plans so we have to go back tomorrow to try again.
Today we went to get the rest of our kitchen - but they still didn't have it all in stock.
Today we went for our first McDonald's since moving to Spain.
Today we ended up in a bar for a drink with friends.
Today we achieved not a lot.
But.....
Today was a good day.
Ok, now seriously!
Because we will live in the middle of the countryside we decided it would be better to have a postbox at the Post Office so we drove to Velez Rubio to start our quest for the day. Sort out the post and register on the Padron (like signing on to the electoral register).
Velez is a beautiful town, has a massive church and lovely streets so we parked up and I stopped a woman who was cleaning her shop windows and asked for directions to the Post Office. The walk took us through the main square infront of the church, where the Town Hall is and so we knew where we needed to come back to when we started our Padron Quest.
The Post Office was quiet which made it so much simpler and within 10 minutes we had our key to our postbox and more importantly - a postal address!
First stage of our quest was achieved, onto part 2.
Registering on the Padron is important in Spain for a number of reasons. The local council obtains funding based on the numbers registered and you need your certificate for a variety of transactions, including buying a car - which is a story for another day.
The woman in the Town Hall took us through to her office and we sat down, armed with a folder full of paperwork. I put my handbag down on the floor at the side of me - and immediately she told me to pick it up, it is bad luck to put money on the floor! Ooops! Not a superstition I have heard of, need to Google it later.
I told her we had recently got the keys to our house and wanted to register on the Padron and handed her over the documents which detailed the location of the house and she tapped away on her computer, waited a moment and then shook her head - no property!
She asked us to follow her down the corridor deeper into the council offices and stopped at a range of large drawers from which she started to pull old, nay, ancient, fragile, sellotaped-together, frayed-at-the-edges plans of the area - looking for the one where our house should be shown.
Another lady joined us and after much searching we found the right plan, and after more searching seemed to identify our house.
Smiles on faces, we trotted back to the first office and she duly tapped away at the computer, waited ..... and shook her head. Whatever was on the plan wasn't in the computer.
By now a queue of several people had appeared and she asked if we would mind waiting while she made a few phone calls and dealt with some of the waiting people - we said not.
Several phone calls followed in which her priority question was 'Where is Juan?' No-one seemed to know.
As she dealt with the last couple in the queue she made another phone call, this time it started with, 'I have a problem with an English family, we can't find their house .....' and after a few minutes conversation suddenly passed the phone to me. Doh!
Without any idea who I would be talking to I took the phone, only to find someone on the other end who spoke English. She worked for the Tourist Office and explained that the first lady wanted to apologise for taking so long, to explain that they couldn't find the property on the computer and could we get a copy of a water bill and take it in tomorrow when Juan (the elusive) would be in. Juan reads the water meters and may be able to find the property based on that.
And did we have any neighbours who may be on the Padron,if we knew their name they may be able to find our property.
Thanking her, I said we could get a copy bill and return early tomorrow - and we left.
We called at our neighbours to ask if they had signed on the Padron, as they were having trouble finding our house. She said they had, but they had been unable to find their property too and eventually, the council officials just made something up, which wasn't right but got them their certificates.
I have a copy, but whether it will help is debatable.
We'll find out tomorrow when we meet Juan!
Today we got an address for our post.
Today we got a key for our post box.
Today we tried to sign on the padron but they cannot find our house on the plans so we have to go back tomorrow to try again.
Today we went to get the rest of our kitchen - but they still didn't have it all in stock.
Today we went for our first McDonald's since moving to Spain.
Today we ended up in a bar for a drink with friends.
Today we achieved not a lot.
But.....
Today was a good day.
Ok, now seriously!
Because we will live in the middle of the countryside we decided it would be better to have a postbox at the Post Office so we drove to Velez Rubio to start our quest for the day. Sort out the post and register on the Padron (like signing on to the electoral register).
Velez is a beautiful town, has a massive church and lovely streets so we parked up and I stopped a woman who was cleaning her shop windows and asked for directions to the Post Office. The walk took us through the main square infront of the church, where the Town Hall is and so we knew where we needed to come back to when we started our Padron Quest.
The Post Office was quiet which made it so much simpler and within 10 minutes we had our key to our postbox and more importantly - a postal address!
First stage of our quest was achieved, onto part 2.
Registering on the Padron is important in Spain for a number of reasons. The local council obtains funding based on the numbers registered and you need your certificate for a variety of transactions, including buying a car - which is a story for another day.
The woman in the Town Hall took us through to her office and we sat down, armed with a folder full of paperwork. I put my handbag down on the floor at the side of me - and immediately she told me to pick it up, it is bad luck to put money on the floor! Ooops! Not a superstition I have heard of, need to Google it later.
I told her we had recently got the keys to our house and wanted to register on the Padron and handed her over the documents which detailed the location of the house and she tapped away on her computer, waited a moment and then shook her head - no property!
She asked us to follow her down the corridor deeper into the council offices and stopped at a range of large drawers from which she started to pull old, nay, ancient, fragile, sellotaped-together, frayed-at-the-edges plans of the area - looking for the one where our house should be shown.
Another lady joined us and after much searching we found the right plan, and after more searching seemed to identify our house.
Smiles on faces, we trotted back to the first office and she duly tapped away at the computer, waited ..... and shook her head. Whatever was on the plan wasn't in the computer.
By now a queue of several people had appeared and she asked if we would mind waiting while she made a few phone calls and dealt with some of the waiting people - we said not.
Several phone calls followed in which her priority question was 'Where is Juan?' No-one seemed to know.
As she dealt with the last couple in the queue she made another phone call, this time it started with, 'I have a problem with an English family, we can't find their house .....' and after a few minutes conversation suddenly passed the phone to me. Doh!
Without any idea who I would be talking to I took the phone, only to find someone on the other end who spoke English. She worked for the Tourist Office and explained that the first lady wanted to apologise for taking so long, to explain that they couldn't find the property on the computer and could we get a copy of a water bill and take it in tomorrow when Juan (the elusive) would be in. Juan reads the water meters and may be able to find the property based on that.
And did we have any neighbours who may be on the Padron,if we knew their name they may be able to find our property.
Thanking her, I said we could get a copy bill and return early tomorrow - and we left.
We called at our neighbours to ask if they had signed on the Padron, as they were having trouble finding our house. She said they had, but they had been unable to find their property too and eventually, the council officials just made something up, which wasn't right but got them their certificates.
I have a copy, but whether it will help is debatable.
We'll find out tomorrow when we meet Juan!
Wednesday 14 October 2009
Spanish Plumber bucks the norm.....
.....and turns up when he said he would.
I spoke with the plumber, Juan, on Friday and explained we had some work we needed him to do and could he meet us at the property on Tuesday morning? All done in my best, rehearsed Spanish you understand. Well, after a bit of 'tuning in' to his voice I managed to understand that he knew where we were and would see us during the morning.
Now, knowing the electrician was a day late, and knowing we wouldn't be at the house today I decided I would text Juan yesterday morning on our way to the house to tell him we would be there between 9.30 and 2.30, but of course I needed to text in Spanish - Neil's phone, although a Spanish phone, is set to English and so predictive text created a complete load of garbage. Eventually I worked out how to re-set the phone and message sent, all we could do was wait and see.
But, much to our amazement he turned up about 11ish. We had drawn a diagram of all the pipework that needed connecting up and then I had to explain that we have a heating system coming from the UK. His face was a picture - 'por qué? he asked, obviously confused why we would be getting the system from the UK when they have them in Spain.
I rapidly tried to think of something that would not offend that I knew enough Spanish words to explain. I told him Neil had been a heating engineer in the UK and preferred to work with products he was familair with and that I preferred the look of english radiators (trust me, Spanish ones are not attractive) and he gave a wry smile and we moved on. Then we got on to thermostatic radiator valves, hard enough to say in English, let alone Spanish - but there was a lot of nodding and pointing and he was writing things down.
And so it went on for about half an hour and we think we have an agreement for the work he will do, what Neil will do AND the work they will do together! Now that will be a fun day!
Today has been a rest day. Neil has played golf and I have been taking gifts to my Spanish teachers to thank them for doing so well with me over the last year. It is thanks to Michelle and Amelia that I am managing to understand phone calls that tell me our chosen lights have come into stock, that the plumber is turning up and when we get the boxes home they actually contain the kitchen cabinets we want.
And I can't help but feel a little bit pleased with myself!
I spoke with the plumber, Juan, on Friday and explained we had some work we needed him to do and could he meet us at the property on Tuesday morning? All done in my best, rehearsed Spanish you understand. Well, after a bit of 'tuning in' to his voice I managed to understand that he knew where we were and would see us during the morning.
Now, knowing the electrician was a day late, and knowing we wouldn't be at the house today I decided I would text Juan yesterday morning on our way to the house to tell him we would be there between 9.30 and 2.30, but of course I needed to text in Spanish - Neil's phone, although a Spanish phone, is set to English and so predictive text created a complete load of garbage. Eventually I worked out how to re-set the phone and message sent, all we could do was wait and see.
But, much to our amazement he turned up about 11ish. We had drawn a diagram of all the pipework that needed connecting up and then I had to explain that we have a heating system coming from the UK. His face was a picture - 'por qué? he asked, obviously confused why we would be getting the system from the UK when they have them in Spain.
I rapidly tried to think of something that would not offend that I knew enough Spanish words to explain. I told him Neil had been a heating engineer in the UK and preferred to work with products he was familair with and that I preferred the look of english radiators (trust me, Spanish ones are not attractive) and he gave a wry smile and we moved on. Then we got on to thermostatic radiator valves, hard enough to say in English, let alone Spanish - but there was a lot of nodding and pointing and he was writing things down.
And so it went on for about half an hour and we think we have an agreement for the work he will do, what Neil will do AND the work they will do together! Now that will be a fun day!
Today has been a rest day. Neil has played golf and I have been taking gifts to my Spanish teachers to thank them for doing so well with me over the last year. It is thanks to Michelle and Amelia that I am managing to understand phone calls that tell me our chosen lights have come into stock, that the plumber is turning up and when we get the boxes home they actually contain the kitchen cabinets we want.
And I can't help but feel a little bit pleased with myself!
Monday 12 October 2009
Kitchens, cake & goats!
In the last few days I've been on an apprentice crash course. From watching to see where the water's coming out, to putting kitchen units together and helping lift them onto the wall to helping pull the wiring through for wall lights - it's been a rapid learning curve.
Plumbing jobs means a lot of standing around and making coffee, kitchen fitting is fun because it grows quickly but the cupboards weigh a ton and today was my favourite - the electrical stuff.
We were pulling cables through for the lights and plug points under the wall cabinets, and they weren't going through as they should. At least I know the wall cupboards are going to stay on the wall, at one point I had my entire body weight pulling on the cables which run over the cupboards. There must have been a twist in the trunking and in the end we had to lift the cupboards off the wall and start again. We got them all done in the end but a job we thought would take us about an hour took nearly all day - hey ho.
This afternoon we had a visit from our next door neighbours, who live on the next hill. We had called over to introduce ourselves a couple of days ago and told them they were welcome to call on us if they saw the car there and today they drove across to us (it's way too far to walk) with 4 cans of chilled beer and some homemade fruit cake - and it was incredibly welcome - we hadn't eaten since breakfast.
Janet & Graham were taking 5 minutes from building the kennels as it was too hot to work this afternoon, (what a comment to make in the middle of October!) and we all stood outside the front of our house surveying our land and trying to work out where our 2 properties meet. We got talking about our trees and in particular, the almond trees. Jose had harvested most of them before we got the keys but there are still some that need doing, in particular the large one just next to the house but this led to our first lesson in farming.
Apparently, there are 2 different shaped almonds - rounded fatter ones and long pointy slim ones, the latter being the better nut and worth more - and our big tree is mainly pointy ones, I won't go into the fact you can get both types from the same tree if they have grafted branches on. Graham reckons there's about 2 kilos of almonds on there - and all we have to do is knock the branches with a broom handle and they'll fall off. Then gather them, peel the husks off them and leave them to dry for a few days - and all this would yield us the grand sum of €1 - as this year is a poor year for almonds and they are earning about 50cents per kilo - hold me back, I'll be out there tomorrow.
They also told us that, if we wanted we could give the husks from the almonds to Bernardo, who lives on another hill, as the husks make good food for his goats. Oh, and while we're on the subject of goats, Maria will walk her goats across our land (unless we have an objection to her doing so) most days.
Oh, how different country life is!
Plumbing jobs means a lot of standing around and making coffee, kitchen fitting is fun because it grows quickly but the cupboards weigh a ton and today was my favourite - the electrical stuff.
We were pulling cables through for the lights and plug points under the wall cabinets, and they weren't going through as they should. At least I know the wall cupboards are going to stay on the wall, at one point I had my entire body weight pulling on the cables which run over the cupboards. There must have been a twist in the trunking and in the end we had to lift the cupboards off the wall and start again. We got them all done in the end but a job we thought would take us about an hour took nearly all day - hey ho.
This afternoon we had a visit from our next door neighbours, who live on the next hill. We had called over to introduce ourselves a couple of days ago and told them they were welcome to call on us if they saw the car there and today they drove across to us (it's way too far to walk) with 4 cans of chilled beer and some homemade fruit cake - and it was incredibly welcome - we hadn't eaten since breakfast.
Janet & Graham were taking 5 minutes from building the kennels as it was too hot to work this afternoon, (what a comment to make in the middle of October!) and we all stood outside the front of our house surveying our land and trying to work out where our 2 properties meet. We got talking about our trees and in particular, the almond trees. Jose had harvested most of them before we got the keys but there are still some that need doing, in particular the large one just next to the house but this led to our first lesson in farming.
Apparently, there are 2 different shaped almonds - rounded fatter ones and long pointy slim ones, the latter being the better nut and worth more - and our big tree is mainly pointy ones, I won't go into the fact you can get both types from the same tree if they have grafted branches on. Graham reckons there's about 2 kilos of almonds on there - and all we have to do is knock the branches with a broom handle and they'll fall off. Then gather them, peel the husks off them and leave them to dry for a few days - and all this would yield us the grand sum of €1 - as this year is a poor year for almonds and they are earning about 50cents per kilo - hold me back, I'll be out there tomorrow.
They also told us that, if we wanted we could give the husks from the almonds to Bernardo, who lives on another hill, as the husks make good food for his goats. Oh, and while we're on the subject of goats, Maria will walk her goats across our land (unless we have an objection to her doing so) most days.
Oh, how different country life is!
Sunday 11 October 2009
As we are moving out, someone else is moving in.....
I've got used to the insects out here, I can deal with most things - but spiders still cause my heart to race. This morning as I opened the door for the dogs, I noticed a huge web had been spun through the night and in the centre was the creator. In the early morning light the web looked perfect and as much as I didn't want to get too near, I felt compelled to do just that so I could get a good picture. The fascination of nature overriding the fear within. I don't know why I am so afraid of spiders, I've never been hurt by one, but the irrational fear is always difficult to understand - by its very nature.
So, I got my big camera with the good zoom lens so I could take photos without getting too close and clicked away.
Of course, I have no idea what species of spider this is and so I Googled to see if there are many poisonous spiders in Spain. Imagine my horror to find that there are over 1700 species of spider in Spain. Only 3 are nasties,including the Black Widow (gulp) which is commonest in Andalucia (yep, that's us) and they are a problem in the greenhouse estates of Almería (double gulp - that's us too)
So, now the ultimate question - do I Google 'Black Widow Spider' to see whether that's what we have in the garden - and risk never being able to walk out there again - or do I live in blissful ignorance and risk being bitten?
Oh boy, what a dilema!
A Day Off!
After several days of work at the house, we have given ourselves a day off.
So, what momentous event did we organise for our day off?
We went to the house!
We have friends who were keen to visit the house, to see where we were moving to and so we decided today would be a good day to drive through, take time to enjoy the views, the peace & quiet and the sun. Time to appreciate why we have bought the house. Lucy has approved her room and Sophie will be coming to stay next month so it was lovely to see her and the boys happily wandering around the trees down into the valley. Dog walking is going to be such fun there, and so much easier with 3 dogs than walking them here, where they need to be on their leads for part of the walk.
Last night after we had finished work, we called on our neighbours across the valley. They have lived there just over a year and have a lot of information about the area that will be useful to us. They are an English couple with 4 dogs, who will be opwning a kennels once they have finished all the building work.
Tomorrow, is a public holiday here, but we'll be back at work!
So, what momentous event did we organise for our day off?
We went to the house!
We have friends who were keen to visit the house, to see where we were moving to and so we decided today would be a good day to drive through, take time to enjoy the views, the peace & quiet and the sun. Time to appreciate why we have bought the house. Lucy has approved her room and Sophie will be coming to stay next month so it was lovely to see her and the boys happily wandering around the trees down into the valley. Dog walking is going to be such fun there, and so much easier with 3 dogs than walking them here, where they need to be on their leads for part of the walk.
Last night after we had finished work, we called on our neighbours across the valley. They have lived there just over a year and have a lot of information about the area that will be useful to us. They are an English couple with 4 dogs, who will be opwning a kennels once they have finished all the building work.
Tomorrow, is a public holiday here, but we'll be back at work!
Saturday 10 October 2009
Flat pack cupboards.
Most of our friends in Spain live in modern villas and apartments which really are meant as holiday homes, and therefore have small rooms, smaller kitchens and no storage.
We are lucky that our house was built by a Spaniard to live in so the rooms are a good size and we have a kitchen that I think was possibly meant to be a kitchen/diner.
The plus side to this is that we will have plenty of room to work together in the kitchen, the down side is that it means we have a lot of kitchen units to fit, and unlike the bathroom unit - these really are flat packs.
So, we have been working our way through the base units, the drawers and the wall units that we had. Unfortunately, the store didn't have enough base units when we went, they didn't have any of the doors but we still managed to come back with a car full of boxes.
So, 2 days later - all the units, that we have, are built, (this is Brandy showing me where he'd like the dog biscuits to be kept)
. . . . . . and some are on the wall.
It's just a pity we now have to wait 2 weeks before the rest that we need will be in stock.
Still, there's plenty of other jobs to be getting on with.
Thursday 8 October 2009
And hey presto!
It's the simple things in life that make all the difference.
Like opening a tap and having running water:
Like opening a tap and having running water:
This is momentous, not only because we have water on tap...........
But because it means we also have a flushing loo.
Now that's progress!
Wednesday 7 October 2009
The electrician cometh.
After the electric went off at the house yesterday I spoke with our Solicitor, who has a copy of the last electric bill, to get the account details so I could contact the supplier to see whether they were aware of any problems. Our solicitor very kindly said he would phone for us and let us know.
This morning he called back to say that as far as the supplier was concerned there was nothing wrong, which means the problem is at the house.
So, with a few new Spanish words learnt - such as fuse box, switch, electric - I dialled the mobile number of the Spanish electrician that had done the work at the house and prepared myself for a very difficult conversation.
I have learnt to start every conversation with the fact that I am English and speak a little Spanish. Having explained that we were working at the house when the electric went off, I asked if he could meet us there on Friday. I felt as if I'd done enough to keep it simple so was a little surprised when he answered with Friday? Today is Wednesday!
It took me a few more moments to realise he thought we were living at the house and therefore why would we be prepared to wait until Friday before he came out, he would come today if we had no power. Spanish mañana attitude obviously does not stretch to power failures.
I managed to explain that we weren't living there at the moment and would next be through on Friday which seemed to work and he suddenly told me he would be there about 11 on Friday.
Result!
Or it will be if he turns up.
This morning he called back to say that as far as the supplier was concerned there was nothing wrong, which means the problem is at the house.
So, with a few new Spanish words learnt - such as fuse box, switch, electric - I dialled the mobile number of the Spanish electrician that had done the work at the house and prepared myself for a very difficult conversation.
I have learnt to start every conversation with the fact that I am English and speak a little Spanish. Having explained that we were working at the house when the electric went off, I asked if he could meet us there on Friday. I felt as if I'd done enough to keep it simple so was a little surprised when he answered with Friday? Today is Wednesday!
It took me a few more moments to realise he thought we were living at the house and therefore why would we be prepared to wait until Friday before he came out, he would come today if we had no power. Spanish mañana attitude obviously does not stretch to power failures.
I managed to explain that we weren't living there at the moment and would next be through on Friday which seemed to work and he suddenly told me he would be there about 11 on Friday.
Result!
Or it will be if he turns up.
Tuesday 6 October 2009
A couple of days feels like a week.
I said to Neil that we should always make sure we have a car full of stuff for the new house each trip. Well, I think we could say we were doing our best. This is us after a trip to Brico Depot - Spain's equivalent of B&Q. We had been to buy the stuff to start doing the bathroom.
Plus a few other bits.
So, we unpacked the car, sorted everything out and set to work.
This was the bathroom before we started.
I have always fancied a shower with a really large shower head. We had seen these showers which also have a regular sized head on a long flexi-hose which will be ideal for showering Brinkley when he's been rolling in anything smelly he can find.
Pity the water's not connected yet - can't wait to try it.
We have a shower cubicle on order as we need a bi-fold door so can't just buy it off the shelf. If you look at the photo above you can see the toilet is quite close to the shower base (this was all installed before we got the place). Well, imagine having to sit down once we've installed the shower cubicle and - no where for the knees! So, solution - a bi-fold door. Then it will fold out of the way - problem solved!
I have always liked sinks built into cupboards and so we had bought a unit complete with mirror. From the size of the box, there was a lot of bits to put together but that was ok, we were experts at flat pack furniture.
So, imagine our surprise when we opened the box and discovered .....
........... it wasn't flat packed - it was ready assembled! That saved us a few hours work!
This meant Neil could get straight on with the installation.
So, we went from this ..... to this in about 30 minutes, taps connected, sink installed.
Another half an hour, and the mirrored cabinets were in place too.
Looking Good!
Plus a few other bits. We have mains electric, so we took our spare microwave and toaster so we could make beans on toast and coffee for lunch.
This is our makeshift kitchen.
So, we unpacked the car, sorted everything out and set to work. This was the bathroom before we started.
I have always fancied a shower with a really large shower head. We had seen these showers which also have a regular sized head on a long flexi-hose which will be ideal for showering Brinkley when he's been rolling in anything smelly he can find.
Pity the water's not connected yet - can't wait to try it.
We have a shower cubicle on order as we need a bi-fold door so can't just buy it off the shelf. If you look at the photo above you can see the toilet is quite close to the shower base (this was all installed before we got the place). Well, imagine having to sit down once we've installed the shower cubicle and - no where for the knees! So, solution - a bi-fold door. Then it will fold out of the way - problem solved!
I have always liked sinks built into cupboards and so we had bought a unit complete with mirror. From the size of the box, there was a lot of bits to put together but that was ok, we were experts at flat pack furniture.
So, imagine our surprise when we opened the box and discovered .....
........... it wasn't flat packed - it was ready assembled! That saved us a few hours work!
This meant Neil could get straight on with the installation.
So, we went from this ..... to this in about 30 minutes, taps connected, sink installed.
Another half an hour, and the mirrored cabinets were in place too.
Looking Good!
So, this seemed a good time to make some lunch (it was about 4.15pm and we hadn't eaten since breakfast) so I put the beans and toast on and suddenly nothing worked. We had no electric. It was as dead as a Dodo.
Neil checked the power to the house and 'nada', absolutely nothing.
Now, we have been looking for the electric meter but not found it yet. Jose had told us it was up at the road, but although we had found the water meter we couldn't find the electricity meter. We have no mobile phone signal at the house so we couldn't phone anyone - so we were a bit stuck.
We had seen someone working in the almond trees next door so I went round to speak to them to see if they could help. Of course, we are in the deep countryside here, they do not speak any English here. I introduced myself, explained what we were doing and asked them if they knew anything about the electric suppy. In amongst a lot of what I didn't understand, I did get that they were only there to harvest the almonds and they had nothing to do with the house and knew nothing about the electric. But, they did say our dogs were very pretty, so that was ok.
As there wasn't much left for us to do today, we tidied up, locked up and left.
Since we've been home I've had an e-mail telling me that the electric meter is in the caseta (small building) under the TV mast (on the next large hill) so we may need to go and explore soon.
In the meantime I have the phone number of the electrician and need to ring him to see whether he can meet us at the house next time we are there.
Over all, we've had a good couple of days. We have been to organise new tyres for the car, had a slow punture, where we'd picked up a nail, repaired, costing a whole €7, got a replacement window slat for the security grill (a whole €2), put a new lock on at the house, fitted most of the bathroom and lost all power.
I can't believe it's only Monday.
Next, we need to get the kitchen units - but a couple of days off - golf, car service, searching for a cooker - no time to rest!
Busy, busy, busy!
Sunday 4 October 2009
Dear friends.
These are our dear friends from California, Lynn & Andy, who have been to visit this week.They arrived when we were still having wet weather and Andy & Neil ended up playing a round of golf in the rain. But we also had some lovely weather so we had time to wander around Garrucha market and shop, they came with us when we collected the keys to our new place and were our first visitors.
We'd had an enjoyable few days showing them around Terreros & Aguilas, sampling Spanish cuisine in the local restaurants,tapas in Turre and ending with a lovely BBQ party for them on Friday with some of our friends. Unfortunately, we only had a few days with them on their trip to Spain which started in Madrid and will finish in Barcelona next weekend.
Lynn & Andy are very special people in our lives and it will be too long before we see them again. As you can see Brandy & Brinkley made them feel very welcome.
We'll dig, dig, dig.....
Although we got the keys to the house a few days ago, we haven't been able to start work as we have had some very dear friends staying with us. So, the plan was that when they left yesterday we would go to the DIY place to get a few tools and then we would be able to go through to the house today and start looking for all the water pipes.Then an early start this morning and we would have the whole day to dig a few holes, find a few pipes and see what we were dealing with.
Neil had spoken with Jose, the seller and he had shown Neil a stick at the back of the property that marked one water pipe, an area in the garage where there was another, all the pipes coming through from the wall for the heating system and the pozo down the hill.
So, work boots on, big gloves and pick axe in hand - Neil started to dig the first hole hoping x really would mark the spot!
Before long we had found a pipe, which wasn't connected to anything - and it actually pointed the wrong way - it wasn't in the right direction to be from the bathroom to the pozo, it seemed to run from behind the house into the garage. Still, we were looking for pipes and we had found one - we would have to find a few more pieces of the jigsaw before it made any sense.
So, next stage was to dig outside by the 'stick'. We dug for a while and thankfully we didn't have to dig too deep before we found another pipe.
This time it was the water main.
We just couldn't work out where the pipes from the bathroom to the pozo were supposed to meet up. We had dug where Jose had said the water pipes were and found nothing that connected up from either end, only a pipe to nowhere and the mains. 
Fed it through the dining room window
Through the house to the bathroom
And pushed it down the loo.
Then we turned the water on and hoped the toilet didn't fill up and overflow. If it did, we would need to keep digging. If it didn't it meant it was flowing away somewhere.
Neil had spoken with Jose, the seller and he had shown Neil a stick at the back of the property that marked one water pipe, an area in the garage where there was another, all the pipes coming through from the wall for the heating system and the pozo down the hill.
So, work boots on, big gloves and pick axe in hand - Neil started to dig the first hole hoping x really would mark the spot!
Before long we had found a pipe, which wasn't connected to anything - and it actually pointed the wrong way - it wasn't in the right direction to be from the bathroom to the pozo, it seemed to run from behind the house into the garage. Still, we were looking for pipes and we had found one - we would have to find a few more pieces of the jigsaw before it made any sense.
So, next stage was to dig outside by the 'stick'. We dug for a while and thankfully we didn't have to dig too deep before we found another pipe.
This time it was the water main.
We just couldn't work out where the pipes from the bathroom to the pozo were supposed to meet up. We had dug where Jose had said the water pipes were and found nothing that connected up from either end, only a pipe to nowhere and the mains.Then Neil had a thought, could it be that the bathroom waste pipes were already connected to the pozo after all?
We needed to find out.
So, we connected the hosepipe to the only tap we have from the mains, in the garage
Fed it through the dining room window
Through the house to the bathroom
And pushed it down the loo.
Then we turned the water on and hoped the toilet didn't fill up and overflow. If it did, we would need to keep digging. If it didn't it meant it was flowing away somewhere.
And flow away it did. We ran the water for a good 10 minutes and it all just flowed away. Whatever Jose had been telling Neil, the problem between him only speaking Spanish and Neil only speaking English, it wasn't that the bathroom still needed to be connected up. All the taps need connecting - but the loo is done. So, we took the hosepipe and filled the cistern up - and had a ceremonial 'flushing of the loo' moment.
This has saved us a few days work and we can now start to fit out the bathroom and kitchen.
Maybe the house will be ready for us to move into at the end of the month after all.
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