El tanque es lleno finalmente!!!!!

A recap.


We decided to live in a house in the countryside 1,000 metres up a mountain. It gets cold in the winter, there is snow in the winter which is deep enough to stop us getting the car out for days at a time. We decided we would put gas central heating in running on propane from a tank as we are way too far away from any mains supply of gas. Natural piped gas is not common in this part of Spain although highly populated areas are beginning to get piped supply.


We only knew of one supplier of bottled gas, Repsol, and so spoke with them about the supply. Their tanks were massive so we would need to run off the tall bottles and were recommended to have 8 bottles and run 4 on/4 off. We weren't keen as this would look unattractive at the back of the house but, any less would mean the bottles needed changing too often and if the track was difficult to access because of snow we could run out of gas and have no heating or cooking.


In conversation with Manolo at the plumbers merchant he told us about another supplier Cespa, who did a smaller tank than Repsol, suitable for domestic use. 1,000 litres which should last for months and certainly see us through the winter months without difficulty. The tank is quite cute, if a fuel tank can be cute and it seemed perfect for our needs. Refills would be 3-4 days from order, which is a simple phone call. While we were waiting for the tank we could run the system with 4 small bottles, 2 on/2 off.


We started the process in mid-November and we received the signed contract from Cespa dated 26th November. We were given a timescale of 3 weeks for the tank to be delivered and a further 3-4 days for it to be filled up. With any luck it would all be set-up by Christmas and we wouldn't have to worry about fuel throughout the winter.


But, this is Spain. Timescales can stretch out quite a while.


The timescale for our tank has stetched way beyond expectations. In Spain you learn to be patient but this has certanly tested our patience to the limit.


The tank is manufactured in Portugal as it is cheaper than if it was made in Spain. At Christmas when we asked,it was only just in production, should be shipped early January. We had one fall of snow where we were snowed in for 3 days and on day 4 we had no choice but to dig our way out as our bottles were empty. The bottles only lasted for 4 days in really cold weather when we needed the heating on 24/7. When you run on LPG there is always a residual amount left in the bottles, normally 10% but in cold weather it can be as much as 15% - this means when you need the most get you get the least! The outside temperature affects the amount of usable gas. It also means you are paying for gas you can't actually use. Each change of bottle was costing us €10 so it is not a cost effective way of running a heating system, but it was meant to only be for a 4-5 weeks!


But this is Spain. Finally, after almost 10 weeks the tank arrived. We were told it would take about a week for the first fill and after that it would be 3-4 days for a refill from when we telephoned an order through. We were so excited.

The excitement didn't last long.

We waited for it to be filled. In the meantime we had more snow, we couldn't get out for 3 days. This time we ran out of gas on day 4, but we stayed warm through the snow. A week passed and then a second. We started calling into the shop every week for an update. Every week was the same, the paperwork is stuck in the system. We cannot get the tank filled until the paperwork is sorted.

Last Friday we finally had a call to say the tanker was coming to fill us up. We knew better than to get excited this time.

It didn't arrive.

I rang to ask why and it seems they sent the big tanker (like you see deliver fuel to petrol stations) and he was worried that the slope on our track was too much and, having got down to the house, he wouldn't be able to get back up to the tarmac road.

They needed to send the smaller tanker which has to come from further away, so doesn't come to the area every day. It would be here Tuesday or Wednesday.

It didn't come.

This morning we got a phone call. The little tanker was coming.

AND IT DID!!!!!!!!!

We now have a full tank of LPG,well 85% full - that's the maximum they can fill it. It should last us several months. We don't have to change bottles anymore.

Now, we are very excited. We're going out to celebrate tonight.

We're going to town for a PIzza!

The Winds of Change

It's howling around the house tonight, gales of 45km an hour. It's been howling for several hours and is expected to continue for many more.

It's great for drying the bedding although I make sure everything is double pegged or it will end up dry but halfway down the Rambla.

As I walk round the corner of the house I am stopped in my tracks by the wind. The occasional lull allows me to continue. Even the dogs, as small as they are, struggle to walk far.

I remember last year we had strong winds in February, there were several times we didn't get to play golf because it was too windy.

It seemed to blow away winter and blow in summer, maybe this is what happens here and, once again, summer is just around the corner.

If only the wind would drop enough to let me walk around the corner!

A banquet.

Having just spent 4 hours walking over the hills with her goats and sheep, I think Maria was probably looking forward to 5 minutes by the fire with a hot mug of coffee. Instead she was met by a house full of visitors and went straight into hostess mode. Soon, added to the bread & cheese, we had a plate full of sliced Chorizo sausage and another of Serano ham from the recent Metanza. More drinks were poured and more food added to the table.

On the wall we suddenly noticed that there were 4 large calendars, all in a row next to each other - and a 5th on another wall by the door. All were local calendars which can be picked up free in the village, but it seemed odd to have so many. As it began to get dark we found out what these were for. Bernardo brought in the Quails for the night, and he has four of them in seperate cages. Each one hangs on the big nail holding the calendars to the wall, and it stops any dirt from the birds marking the walls. When a page in the calendar gets too marked Maria simply tears it off for a new month! Simple really!

Maria brought through some photos of her family and she told us her sons had all gone through to Aguilas for the Carnival, which is why none of them were around when we called. I asked her about the kid goats that we had seen as I wondered when they would be old enough to go out with the herd, walking the hills. Maria explained that they wouldn't go walking as they would soon be sold for meat. If you visit Spain and see cabra, cabrito or choto on the menu, that's young goat.

We spent about an hour chatting in our best Spanish, and managing to be understood. Sometimes it's necessary to re-think how to say something or ask something and then we all struggle to understand the answers, sometimes because of the accent but it was great fun trying and the time passed quite quickly. The bottle of wine was empty and Bernardo went to fetch more. He topped up all the glasses and then took a sip of his own, at which point he declared it 'not good'. It was too vinegary and he took all our glasses back and poured the wine back into the bottle. I asked him whether this wine would be used for cooking and he said it would be. The next bottle he tried himself first and after announcing it fit for drinking he topped up all our glasses once again.

Maria then brought out some fruit, some home grown cherries which had been soaked in sugared water and were delicious. Nnormally I don't like cherries but these were sweet and had the texture more of a grape. There was also something none of us recognised. It was like a fruit jelly with a really nice, sweet flavour that we couldn't pinpoint. Maria told us the name but it still meant nothing to us. It was like an apple, but not an apple and not pear either, but was really nice. I have learnt not to ask anyone to write things down for me, as much as it would help, as some of the older farming generation cannot always write, and I don't want to cause any embarassing moments, so we just have to struggle on in ignorance sometimes.

Janet & I were suddenly aware how long we had left our dogs and started to make noises that we should be leaving but Bernardo pointed out that Maria had water on the boil for coffee. Along with the coffee there was a plate piled high with crisps and Maria also brought out 3 bottles of liqueurs. It is traditional in Spain to finish your meal with a small liqueur and often these are served free in restaurants with your bill. Very often you don't have a choice of what liqueur you have, they serve it ready poured. Today we had chupito de hierbas, a popular drink made from grapes and supposed to be good for your digestion .

Finally, we said we had to leave and as we all began to move Maria gave Janet and I a litre of the drinking wine each to take home, tested and approved by Bernardo of course, and Bernardo also gave me a bottle of the wine deemed fit for cooking purposes as well. Outside it had become dark and we now saw the sense in parking the car on arrival in a manner ready for departure - reversing around a farm yard in the dark is not easy. Fortunately, most of the animals were inside and only a couple of dogs were showing any interest in making sure we left the premises. A couple of hours had passed incredibly quickly, Maria and Bernardo are such lovely people and seem really pleased to have us visit their home.

As we left I wondered whether Maria would now get her 'sit down by the fire with a cup of coffee moment'.

A home visit.

For a couple of weeks our neighbour on the hill has been promising to make a cake to take to Maria & Bernardo, who have the goats & sheep and live on the farm at km 5.

We've never been down to their farm so yesterday, cake made, we all set off for a visit.

As we appraoched the yard we were met by 2 dogs and 3 rather large turkeys, 1 black & 2 white. There was no sign of either Maria or Bernardo so, after checking around the front of the house we concluded that Maria, who we had passed with her sheep up near km 8 some 3 hours earlier was still out and Bernardo may be out with her.

In one of the pens at the side of the house were about a dozen small goats, kids that were only a few months old. Now I understood the comment Maria made when I asked her if she kept the goats for the milk to make cheese and she had said that they weren't old enough. What she had meant was that the kids weren't old enough and were still feeding from their mums. If we managed to see Maria and Bernardo we would be able to ask them about the kids in the pen.

We decided to pop down to town for petrol, as we were almost running on empty, and that we would call on our way back to see if either of them had returned. Our return found us once more greeted by dogs and turkeys and now, a couple of cats - but no Maria or Bernardo.

As we started to drive back up the track towards the road we had to drive round the shed where his tractor is stored and as we did, we spotted Bernardo walking down the track towards us. As we got closer he looked reminiscent of Clint Eastwood in a Fist full of Dollars but without the horse and a few years older.

He had a striped blanket around his shoulders and a rifle under his arm, but unlike Eastwood, he had a large hump on his back, more in line with Quasimodo.

We stopped and explained we had called to bring him & Maria some cake and he told us to turn the car around and meet him at the house.

Once at the farmhouse the nature of the hump was revealed, under the blanket was a Quail in a cage. Remember this is a rural farming area, remember this is real life where the area has been farmed for its natural resources for many years and hunting is part of every day life.

Bernardo explained that he had been hunting for Quail and this bird was the bait. It is set down on the floor and begins to sing enticing others to join it. Only, the others will end up in a pot for dinner, whereas the 'bait' Quail will go back in his cage for another day. Today had been cold and had not been a good day for Bernardo, the only Quail he returned home with was his 'bait' Quail. I was a little relieved, but didn't say so out loud.

We all went into the small kitchen and Bernardo started to sort us out. Tiny wicker chairs were placed around the table next to the now cold, log fire. Both he and Maria had been out so long the logs had burned out. He went outside to fetch more wood and kindling and within a couple of minutes there were flames leaping high up the chimney and the small room took on an strange, orange glow by which I could see how basic their living was.

Having taken so much time over our house, our kitchen, our lounge - it is a real step back in time to see how the true Spanish farmer and his family still live. A tiny sink in the corner next to the large fire. A small 2 ring cooker with a tiny oven along the next wall and a cabinet were all that was in the kitchen. In the next room was a couple of settee's either side of a family dining table and a large wall unit on which sat their one and only tv, a small 14inch portable - that was many years old.

Over the tables were large tablecloths that hung down to the floor and as the door opened again, in shot 2 kittens who bolted under the safety of the table cloths and were never seen again.

It is difficult to guess the age of Bernardo, his face is weathered and he has bad arthritis making his hands crooked and difficult for him to hold things, but he is such a gentleman. He put glasses on the table and poured each of us a drop of his home made wine from his home grown grapes. The first sip was a little rough but I soon got the taste for it and as we sat round his table, enjoying the heat of the open log fire Bernardo started to put a few plates on the table - bread, homemade by Maria, cheese and olives, homegrown and soaked over many days until they were soft and tasty.

Just then we heard the dull clanging of the goatbells as Maria returned home after a long day walking with the goats and sheep.

Our quick 'pop in' with a cake was set to be a couple of hours of unbelievable hospitality from a very generous couple who have little in way of possessions but are incredibly rich in life.

Come back for more later.............

All in a days shopping!

Last Thursday was supermarket shopping day. My neighbour and I go down to Huercal Overa about once a fortnight and do all the supermarkets, Lidl, Mercadona and Inter Marche. We knew that snow was forecast so we decided it would be worth getting stocked up ready for being snowed in, and it was a wise choice.

We decided to take Brian for a run and he seemed to enjoy the drive down the windy road. The sun was out and the roads were good. We parked in the underground carpark at Mercadona and left the car there while we go for a coffee and tostada con tomate y queso (cheese and tomato toastie). Last time Janet had gone down with her husband she had wanted to try a new bar, but Graeme had wanted to try a bar called El Jabilí (the wildboar). By all accounts, it's a real Spanish, blokes bar and not one Janet wants to re-visit. So, we decided we would try the bar on her wish list. It's at the roundabout neat Mercadona and is really, really nice and does great coffee and tostada -so, definitely one we will re-visit.

Shopping and breakfast over,we returned to the carpark for Brian. The carpark is very badly lit and being underground, it can be difficult to see properly. Our big car isn't a problem because it opens on the key fob, but Brian is a lot older and needs the door opening with the key. I often get confused because there are 2 keys, one for the door and the other for the ignition, but they look very similar.

When we got back to the carpark, I realised I had forgotten to get my parking ticket validated so, back into Mercadona for it stamping and then, we have a silly situation, we have to take the stamped ticket to a man in a kiosk, who then scans the ticket and then we have to drive to the barrier to put the ticket into the machine in order to get out of the car park. Seems a few too many steps for such a simple procedure especially as the Mercadona in Aguilas has a bar code on the bottom of the till receipt and you just wave it at the machine and out you go, but not to worry, if that's what we have to do, we just get on with it.

Back at the car, ticket stamped and validated, I tried to open Brian but couldn't get the key in the lock. A big, black car had parked at the side of me which was blocking what little light there was on the driver's side of the car and making it really difficult to see what was going on. I tried both keys, bent down really, really close to the lock to see if that would help but still, I couldn't get the key in the lock.

I was beginning to think I needed to call the breakdown people out, as something had gone wrong with the lock when it occurred to me, this little white car had 4 doors - Brian only has 2. This little white car had a Peugeot lion on the front - Brian is a Citroen. This little white car didn't have any shopping on the back seat - Brian's back seat was full of shopping bags.

Penny dropped! This little white car wasn't Brian!

Fortunately, the car park was empty of other people as Janet and I were doubled up in hysterics. For whatever reason, we both found it so funny that we had spent 5 minutes trying to get into a car that wasn't ours and hadn't noticed we were trying to break into someone elses car.

On the other side of the big, black car was Brian!

We made our escape before anyone noticed what we'd been doing.

Shopping can be such fun!

The snow arrived on Saturday as predicted and although we managed to get down to town in the morning to change over the gas bottles, it was way too bad to even think of trying it later on. We assume the Carnival was cancelled, although I've not heard anything official, as we haven't been able to leave the house.

We did manage a lovely, long walk the dogs yesterday, although the struggled at times where the snow had drifted, but it's not been possible to get the car out yet.

This week sees a major change in the weather forecast. From temperatures barely making a move above freezing on the thermometer during the day, we are forecast to be back to +12c by mid-week. If this marks then end of winter, as we hope it does, we will have survived our first winter in the mountains and looks forward to Spring.

On that note, I took this photo yesterday of the Almond blossom, so desperately trying to break out all over the hillsides - yet, still having to battle the elements. Hopefully, in about a week I will be able to post some Spring photos showing the blossom in all it's glory. The area is so well known for the spectacular blossom's that people travel long distances to see it.

As snug as a bug in a rug!

It gets quite cool at night and we tend to leave the heating set to 16c overnight which is warm enough when you're sleeping. Often I wake up in the middle of the night and tend to get up and make a mug of hot chocolate and sit in the study browsing around the internet and taking my turn at online Scrabble. We have an internet system which has a 'Fair Usage' policy and some sites won't load on the lower speed, that I have, during the day when there are a lot of users online. It's fine for e-mail, Skype and my blog but sites that have loads of photos, embedded videos and the rest, it struggles with. I could pay more and get quicker access but I choose not to as I don't need it for the majority of what I use the internet for. However, at 3am it whizzes along quite nicely.

I never know how long I'm going to be up so I normally don't bother lighting the heater but, although my dressing gown is quite warm, after a while I do start to feel the chill.

Then, last week whilst out shopping a I saw a TV fleece. Only €7.99 and basically it's a huge blanket,sewn up to have sleeves and a couple of big buttons to keep it fastened around you. It's long enough to wrap your feet up in and so I thought it might be OK for my mid-night wanders around the internet. Some have pockets in for remote controls, others have foot pockets and I've even seen some that have built in pillows. Prices vary enormously, but mine is a very simple, not pocket, no pillow just a blanket, in deep plum.

Tonight is the first time I've been up and felt cool enough to think about unwrapping it. You'll probably be surprised that it's a 'one-size fits all' garment, and I use the term 'garment' in it's extreme sense of the word.

It has 2 buttons on it that, in my opinion, do no good whatsoever, as they are in completely the wrong places, it's probably the most unflattering item I've ever worn and somebody, please shoot me if I ever contemplate answering the door whilst wearing in it.

BUT.....

It has great long, wide sleeves that come over the end of my hands so I can happily type away without my fingers getting cold. It's longer than I am so I can wrap my feet in it. It's actually very snug without being heavy and after about half an hour I had to unwrap myself as I was over-heating.

So I'm quite happy with my €7.99 TV fleece which has one final unexpected purpose. As I walk from the study to the kitchen to make my mug of ColaCao (hot chocolate).....

....... it sweeps the floor!
Photo: from http://www.pierrofashion.co.uk/SnuggleSleevesBlankets.html

Now, you didn't really think I would put a photo of me in my TV fleece on the internet, did you?

Interestingly, in looking for a photo to use, I have discovered I am, sorry - was, wearing it wrong. You wear it like a hospital gown with the opening at the back. This way the buttons, whilst a little tricky to fasten, actually do make more sense being where they are AND you don't get any gaps down the front.

I'm liking it even more!

Now I'm off to make a mug of ColaCoa and get a head start on tomorrow's housework by cleaning the floors.

I hope we get bumped!

Saturday should be a busy day.

Saturday is market day. I love our street market. I love the bustling crowds, the colours and smells. I love rummaging through the stalls looking for things I didn't know I needed until I see them.

I love the challenge of finding something I know I do need, at a good price.

This Saturday is our Carnival Day. So much work and preparation has been done ready for the parade on Saturday night by so many people.

Saturday is forecast for snow. It could be 'snowed in' amount of snow.

If the snow comes, the market will be cancelled.

If the snow comes, the Carnival parade will be cancelled.

If the snow comes - Saturday will be cancelled!

Sometimes the forecast gets bumped forward by 24 hours. If that happens Saturday can happen and Sunday will be cancelled.

That would be better.

I hope we get bumped!

Meerkats & Big Dog.

I've always talked about our nearest neighbours being on the next hill, but that isn't strictly true.

Our house is next door to a farm and they access the farm behind our house. Now, the couple who run the farm, which is an Almond farm, don't actually live there, they live about half an hour away, but they come over at weekends to do whatever is necessary to maintain their trees, and they have an awful lot of trees.

They do however, have some dogs that live there. They have shelter and they have food from a hopper, and they are in a huge fenced compound. The gate is at the back of our house so we often see the dogs. There are 6 of them, all the same, and when we go round the back of the house they come running to the gate.

If they suspect I may be going round to them they are soon on their back legs, looking just like Meerkats, and so from day 1, we have always referred to them as 'The Meerkats.

We were concerned when we first moved here that they would be a problem, but after the first week they got used to us being around and now, they are actually quite useful. They are at the back of the house and the track to our house comes in at the back, so when we are in the house we rarely know if anyone is nearby except for the Meerkats, who bark. The rest of the time, we never hear them. Oh, unless our Brinkley goes round to say 'hello', as he is prone to do.

Many of the Spanish have a different attitude to dogs than we do, they are working dogs, not pets and so to me, they seem to have a harsh life but, the Meerkats seem healthy and happy enough and go berserk when the couple visit next door, they really do enjoy the company. I had said when we moved here that we have to accept the local ways but I can't help but take the Meerkats a biscuit every day. I haven't worked out why they keep the dogs on the farm, maybe one day I will.

We also have one more neighbour on the farm, in a different compound is Big Dog.

Big Dog has a stone 'Nave' to live in. A Nave is an outbuilding, often small and used as a store. We have a delapidated Nave which we'll renovate at some point to store the gardening tools and stuff for the vegetable patch and orchard. I feel quite sorry for Big Dog as he is in a compound on his own but seems to really love company. When I go down to give him his biscuit he comes bounding up to the fence and loves a little stroke through the wire mesh.

The Spanish dogs have such a different life to that of our dogs, but they haven't known anything different and seem well enough, so we just accept that they are there, they are no bother to us and are quite useful as an early warning for anyone getting close to the house. Neil always knows when I am coming back from walking the dogs, because the Meerkats tell him it's time to put the kettle on!

More snow on the way.

Take a quick look at the weather box at the side, you will see snow is forecast for the weekend. At the moment, it's still far enough off for the forecast to change but it's predicted above 900m and we're at 1,000m so better get some shopping in before the weekend, just in case. We have been told that February is the worst month and we'd all hoped that snow we had a couple of weeks ago would be it for this year, if a little earlier than normal.

It wouldn't surprise me to see more snow. There is a small hose on the hill behind us that is owned by a couple from Harrogate who come over 2 or 3 times a year for holidays. When we met them for the first time in December, we had a covering of snow to walk through - and they arrive again today for a week, so they obviously bring the snow with them.

When distant bells aren't distant anymore.

Yesterday, while I was busy in the house (for those of you who like detail - I was cleaning the cooker! I may live in Spain, but I still have the boring things to do!) when there was a sudden commotion from the dogs. Not just my dogs, but the Meerkats and Big Dog too. I ran out of the house to see my 2 off down into the Rambla.


Then I realised that the normal, distant clunk of the goat bells wasn't so distant today. Down on the edge of our land, in the bottom of the Rambla is a section of Almond trees where a lot of grass has grown since the snows have gone, and today Maria had brought her herd to feed on it.

I've met Maria a couple of times, but this was the first time she'd been onto our land. Before, I'd seen her on the hills and heard the clunk of the bells but now, they were close enough for
Brandy & Brinkley to take an interest.

Fortunately, the dogs never go too far, even when curious, and I was able to get them back home before they got anywhere near the herd as I wasn't sure how Maria's dogs would react to ours getting too close. Although B&B could see the herd from the top of the hill, once down in the Rambla, there are too many trees, hills and twists and turns for them to see where they were going and they soon lose interest when they can't see what they were chasing after anymore.

I decided to walk down and have a chat with Maria, as she would be there a while whilst the sheep & goats fed. The black one's are the goats.

As I got closer the 2 goat dogs approached me, barking. They are very protective of the sheep and this was why I was worried about ours getting too close. I called to Maria, who was sat round the back of a large tree, and she called the dogs back. After that, the dogs paid me little attention.

Having chatted about the weather, which is good at the moment, and a few other pleasantries, I asked Maria what she does with the herd. She told me that every 5 months she sells a couple of the sheep for meat, someone from the local slaughterhouse comes for them.

The goats are for milk which is then made into goat's cheese - queso de cabra.

She told me she didn't realise they were on our land but I said it wasn't a problem as long as she stayed on the far end where it was unlikely our dogs would go, unless I was with them. After all, if the sheep don't eat the grass I'll have to do something about it - and that means work for me. No, let the sheep have it.

Hopefully, she felt welcome enough to bring the sheep again, when the grass has had time to grow some more.

The Sky at Night.

I've always loved a star-filled sky, but until moving into the middle of no-where, I'd never really seen just how many stars are up there. From the first evening we were here after dark, the stars have totally captivated me. We have no lights nearby. No streets lights, no other house lights, and more often then not, no car headlights.

If we turn the porch light off, the nights are very, very dark.

When it is a full moon, the brightness of the moon can turn the night back several hours to dusk. Colours can still be seen on the hills, even at 2am. I can still see the distant ruin on the far side of the Rambla.

But when it's a new moon the lack of light from the moon means the stars take over. Tonight is a new moon. There is not a cloud in the night sky and the stars go on forever. It is impossible to take a photo on my camera that shows the continual layer after layer of stars, so I have searched the internet to find a photo that will show just a glimpse of how our sky looks tonight. I say a glimpse because it cannot show how bright the stars are, the sheer magical effect of them. As I stand in awe of the huge number of different twinkling lights, I cannot imagine that there isn't just one of them that holds a secret, of another world inhabited by some being that at the very same moment is looking at the very same stars and imagining the very same thing.

This photo gives some idea of the vast number of stars I can see tonight - Courtesy of: http://www.christiancyberspace.com/cosmic-discovery/htmp/region/region-orion_constellation.htm

I tried really hard to get a decent photo myself, as I think it's so much better more satisfying to take a good photo on my own camera than to lift one from the internet, and I did get the main components - just missed out on the billion other twinkles.

Orion's belt is clear to see and I thought the orangey spot at the top might be a planet - Mars sprang to mind, but a quick Google has actually identified it as Betelgeuse, the 2nd brightest star in the constellation Orion, and a supergiant star which is doomed to become a supernova which will be visible from earth, but unlikely to happen while I'm around with my camera.

Read more about Betelgeuse at http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0927/

The star to the right of Betelgeuse is Bellatrix, another giant which after turning to an orange giant in a few millios years is destined to die quietly as a massive white dwarf, as it is not large enough to explode as a supernova.

And if you want to know anything else - Google is a great place to start.

The photo I wished I'd had the guts to take!

Tonight, the 6 of us sat around a rough, wooden table in a small, local bar with a bottle of the house red and the smallest wine glasses you've ever seen. There were a couple of elderly gentleman sat at the bar, nursing cold beers and at another table were a group of young women, catching up on all the news from the last few days over a few drinks, surrounded by a cloud of cigarette smoke, as smoking is still allowed in bars here.

Nothing untowards about any of this. A normal Saturday night in a small, Spanish town.

Except this wasn't a normal night. This was Carnival night.

So at the far end of the bar, served a couple of beers by the barman, sat 2 clowns. Full, brightly coloured costumes, funny wigs & hats and more make-up than you would find at the Revlon counter in any branch of 'Boots'.

I wish I'd had the nerve to ask them for a photo - it looked so bizarre and yet no-one even took a second glance. Beer glasses drained, they once more attached their bright, red noses and went out to join the rest of the parade.

We followed them outside the bar as we could hear music playing and the street was filled with chefs with rather large, fake stomachs protruding from rather short jackets.

There was a whole crowd of kids dresed in 'hippy' clothes from the 60's

And they had the most brilliant car that about a dozen of them were carrying around.

There were people in medieval costumes and and group of ladies with red feather boa's and fishnet tights - I think they were all supposed to be Charlston Girls, but the fact they all had big, outdoor, winter coats on rather spoilt the effect.

Velez Blanco is a small town and there were not many people standing on the street corners to watch as the parade passed by as most of them were in it, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves, and we certainly enjoyed watching them in all their finery. It was a short parade, it only took a few minutes to pass us by. No where near the scale of the Carnival Parades that will take place in Aguilas in the next couple of weeks, but it was fun.

But, how I wished I'd taken a photo of the clowns sat drinking in the bar!

Hey, Ho. Maybe next year!

Rubio's carnival starts next week and, we're told, has a much bigger parade - so, that's one for us to look forward to.

Carnival Season has started.

Every year in Spain, each town has their own Carnival week where there are lots of parades, lots of partying, lots of food and lots of drink. This usually happens a week or two before the beginning of lent as is where people indulge before they fast for lent.

Tonight we are off to Velez Blanco for the parade. It's an early parade, starts about 7pm (ish) but we're going through a little earlier as it will be really busy and parking could be a problem as Velez Blanco has such narrow streets.

All being well, I'll have some stories and some photos to post tomorrow. Now, I'm off to dress very warmly as the nights are still very cold and we'll be stood about outside for quite some time.

Our own Carnival starts next week, so more partying and more eating & drinking. Life can be really tough at times!

After 4 months, our kitchen is finally finished.

When Neil got home from golf yesterday, I told him we needed to drive down to Almeria, again, to swap the handle for the right one.

As we would (hopefully) only be on the store for 10 minutes, we decided to take the dogs with us so, we settled them on the back seat as normal, made sure we had the wrong handle and the receipt and started out on yet another trip to Almeria.

The store was relatively quiet when we arrived and I managed to speak to someone at Customer Services straight away. I explained what was wrong and she told me to go to the kitchen section and she would send someone over. 10 minutes later, I was back at Customer Services as we hadn't seen anyone to speak to. Neil by this stage was ready to help himself to a handle and leave, but I tend to be a little more patient and want to do things right - my days of running out of stores and across carparks are well and truly behind me (not that I used to, but I couldn't if I wanted to now - oh, you know what I mean!)

Eventually, after another 10 minutes, the guy we saw on Saturday, that was so pleased to be able to give us our final doors, walked towards us - looking anything but happy.

I explained the problem and he kept telling me the door's were all correct. It took me a while to make him understand that the doors WERE all correct, but one of them had the wrong handle, which I had in my hand! Doh, my spanish isn't that bad!

After a few more minutes, he seemed to finally grasp the problem and told me he would check if they had any spare handles to our kitchen and climbed up to a display on the higher level and started rooting through a drawer. It would seem they have a drawer full of orphaned handles - one of which was for our kitchen. Success.

He told us to take the right handle and the wrong handle back to Customer Services to make the exchange. When we did, Customer Services couldn't have looked less interested and so we left, quickly. We had our handle. If the paperwork wasn't correct for them, it certainly wasn't our problem.

So, an hour and 15 mins later, back at home and the new handle was in place. Finally, the kitchen was complete.

We accept that we have fitted a lot of units and that it was unlikely that Brico Depot would have enough in for us on our first visit. We accept that a 2nd visit was not unreasonable to collect the missing items that had been ordered for us.

What we find frustrating is that on the 2nd trip, they only had the cupboards and none of the doors.

On the 3rd trip we only collected half of the doors because they had ordered 10 doors expecting them to come in pairs, and they didn't. We actually needed 20 doors.

We then needed a 4th trip because the doors didn't come wth hinges, we needed to buy them seperately! (But nobody had mentioned it).

The 5th trip was to collect more doors, but they still hadn't all come in.

So, Saturday was the 6th trip closely followed by a 7th for the handle.

Each trip takes half a tank of deisel at €50 per tank.

Each trip takes an hour and 15 minutes - each way.

I reckon we have done 5 trips more than should have been necessary so that's 12.5 hours of driving and €250 in fuel. Plus it's taken 4 months to finally get a finished kitchen.

People keep telling me things take time in Spain - but I think this is taking it to extremes.

Welcome home, Brian.

He's back.

After major surgery he runs like a youngster.

A 13 year old car with a 6 year old engine.

Fingers crossed that the bodywork can take the new energy levels.

As I drove him up the mountain road, his engine purred along in 4th gear and still had something to give.

It wasn't a cheap repair, but was cheaper than a new run around.

Hopefully, I'll have many happy kilometers with him now.

Welcome home, Brian!

Will our kitchen ever be complete?

I love the kitchen we have chosen, I love the handles.

It took us a long time to find the kitchen with the right look, and eventually we did - in Brico Depot in Almeria. This is a flat pack kitchen you fit yourself but it was exactly what I wanted so we were prepared for the hard work.

In October we got half the cabinets and a few of the doors. We had to order the rest.

In November we got the remaining cabinets and half of the remaining doors

And finally, on Saturday we were able to collect the last 8 doors we needed to complete our kitchen. 7 doors went on beatifully but the last door let us down. Right door - wrong handle!

Now, it's over an hour drive each way to the store so this morning I rang them in the hope they would post the right handle out to us and I could post this one back to them, but no, we have to go to the store to exchange them. So, it looks like we have another trip tonight as I don't want to leave it too long and find they've sold out of the doors and we have another month to wait, although Neil has said if necessary he'll take a screwdriver with him and take a handle off the display kitchen.

So, in the meantime our kitchen looks really good ...........

...........except for this temporary 'handle'.

Hey, ho!