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.............