Summer has landed!

I was only in the UK for 10 days but the change from Spring to Spanish Summer has taken place while I was away.

So, we are back to the days of working before 10am and after 6pm, back to the days where the dogs don't want to walk more than 50 metres without a drink and no more than 100m before turning back.

All the greenery of the fields is rapidly baking brown, the flowers and grasses withering almost as you look at them. This is so reminiscant of our drives through Caifornia. Our first visit was in April, when all the hills were heavy green and the trees full of colour. Our second trip was in September, and I remember we commented on how baked everything looked. When we arrived at our friend's house we mentioned how brown the hillsides were compared to our first vist, and we were quickly corrected, not brown - GOLDEN! California is, after all, the Golden State.

So, our mountains are now golden except for the green leaves and nut husks of the almond trees. This year is strange for the Almond trees. The long, wet winter has not been good for the nuts as a lot of the blossom did not set. Whether this is because the wet weather kept the insects from pollenating them or whether it's because the wet caused the blooms to go mouldy before the nuts had set, I'm not sure but it is sad to see so many trees without any nuts, or only on a few branches. By now each branch should be ladened with nuts. For those reliant on the crop it will be a bad year.

It is also a bad year for the wild mushrooms. Oddly because we didn't get enough rain when it was needed!

And so, it will be interesting to see what does grow this year - I know it certainly isn't going to be my rhubarb. I have now tried 2 sets of seeds, cared for them daily. Neil remembered to water all my little pots while I was away and I have lovely new rose buds on both plants, on one stem I have 5 buds but rhubarb? Nada!

My trip to England was very enjoyable. Instead of the usual mad dash I got time to spend with people. I had time to wander around the shops, not looking for anything in particular but just enjoying the familiarity of them. I took every opportunity for a coffee break so I could indulge in a huge, frothy Cappucino and Blueberry muffin neither of which we can get here locally. Unfortunately, while I was away Neil pulled his back, big style and was in a lot of discomfort and pain. Ridiculously, after all the hard work we have done over the past few months, he pulled it doing nothing more than picking something up of the floor while cleaning up after the dogs. It was difficult being so far awy from him knowing he was having trouble moving about BUT he had a cast iron excuse for the housework not being done for my return.

So, my first day back in Spain was spent doing the cleaning, laundery, bathing the dogs (who definitely smelled of dog when I got back) and food shopping to re-stock the cupboards.

And so life returns to normal.

Photo Catch-up.

Our recent trip to the UK was about family and friends and these are a few photos that I shall treasure.

Normally, I am behind the camera so this is a rare photo of Neil & I together.

We enjoyed a lovely meal with our dear friends, whose birthdays both fell on the weekend we visited.

This is me with a very good friend who I first met at college in Nottingham when we both enrolled on the same course after leaving school. (Liz, I think Neil was being kind by using a bit of soft-focus!)

This is a photo I shall treasure – my and my brother.

And the whole group after a lovely meal in Staines.

Out Thursday, back Monday and lots to do inbetween.

Sunday morning saw us with bags packed and a couple of hours journey to London, but first we stopped off to see another of my brothers, I have three in total– 2 older and one younger. Most people think I only have one as normally they only hear me speak about my oldest brother, Andy.

We had a good hour with Dawn & Stewart, and just as we were thinking of leaving, Mark came in so we stayed and chatted a little longer. This led to a lively discussion on whether Barcelona is in the north or south of Spain. I won’t go into details other than to say, just because something is on the Mediterranean coast, it doesn’t make it southern Spain!

By lunchtime we were back on our way and we thought we were doing very well for time when we ran into the road works around Nottingham and East Midlands airport. They went on for miles with a 50mph limit.

As we neared London we take the M25 towards Slough and I reminded Neil to be careful of the speed cameras. Here in Spain, in the rural areas where we live, it seems speed cameras haven’t really taken off. We only have 2 in the whole area that I know of and none of them are within the local area. In the UK it is hard to drive down any major road without coming across one, and the M25 is no exception.

After getting our exits mixed up and coming off at the wrong one, we finally made it to our friend’s house. Liz and I met at college in Nottingham (quite) a few years ago, Liz will not permit me to say how many but I think Slade & Sweet were topping the charts. We had both signed on for an intensive 1 year Accountancy course after which I continued in Accountancy and Liz moved into computer studies.

We have remained friends despite living at opposite ends of the Country and no matter how long it is between us seeing each other, we chat away as of we had only seen each other yesterday. It is a very special and valued friendship to me and I love to spend time with her. We look forward to her coming to visit us in Spain someday so we can show her around our new home and town.

My brother lives a couple of hours away from Liz, so we had arranged to meet at a restaurant in Staines, sort of mid-way(ish). We met there when I was over last summer and the food was really good, although parking can be difficult.

We had travelled from Spain with our 2 big, hard suitcases. A bit excessive for 4 days but we needed the hard cases as we had a birthday present for Cadey, who was 3 a couple of weeks ago, but unfortunately timing meant we hadn’t seen her as she was at Butlins for the weekend, and Christmas presents for Andy & Suzie – no, I’m not mega-organised for this coming Christmas, these are from last Christmas when Andrew was supposed to have come to visit us and hadn’t. It was important these were safe in the cases as they were fragile.

It was brilliant to see both Andy & Suzie again and we all had a great evening which was over all too soon. As we left the restaurant we went to get a large box that Andy has been looking after for me since our Dad died.

Dad and I shared a love of Terry Pratchett books. He had a few on his bookshelf and I had a few on mine, although we had read everyone he has written. A few years ago, for Dad’s Christmas present I bought all the missing books to make up the first 20 in a set for him. In this large, heavy box were the 20 Pratchett books which I was looking forward to re-reading, sitting on my veranda on hot, sunny days over looking the mountains or on warm, balmy evenings under a canopy of stars, and sharing the jokes with my Dad once again.

Monday morning saw Neil and I at the Post Office to arrange to send the box of books to Spain. 19.6kg of books cost us £56 to send over – but as I sit typing this I know that in a couple of days they’ll be here. It’ll be like a late Christmas for me.

We had a long day of travelling and once we had said goodbye to Liz, I just wanted to be home with the dogs. I dislike the actual travelling, motorways, airports, planes. It’s just so much hassle.

Being back in England for a few days had re-enforced why we live I Spain. I love to see my family and friends, I don’t love the traffic, the grime and the hassle. I don’t love being away from Brandy & Brinkley and I don’t love being away from my home. I have told Neil if I talk about another visit to the UK this year he is to remind me of all of the above.

So, we’re back to the quieter pace of life and the continuing work that is our house. We have just laid a patio outside the utility, which has now tiled and grouted and just needs cleaning off when the grout is set and, again as I type this, I have 2 guys putting up the fly screens around the front area to the house where the hot tub is so that we can spend the summer hours outside without the company of the flies, bees and mosquitoes. I thought it would look a bit ugly, like a cage but it’s actually looking really nice and so much better than I expected. I thought it was a necessary evil to permit us to enjoy our living space but it’s turning the front area into a garden room.

I’m really quite excited about seeing it finished.

Our next task?

250 metres of wire fencing, 66 fence posts and a lot of cement.

Now that’s going to take some doing!

I feel like a boomerang!

No sooner was I on a plane to England than I was on a plane back to Spain.

It was meant to be a quick trip to see a few friends and family, and it was. We seemed to cram a lot into a short time and once we got back, we seem to have spent the same amount of time saying to each other, we never did this, we never did that…..!

What we did do was get to spend time with the people we miss the most. Out of 4 days it rained only 1 day, but that was the day Neil played golf with his 2 sons. The rain just about held off until the 16^th hole, and then the heavens opened.

At the same time, I was at a local Garden Centre with my younger brother and step-mother. My plan was to have a coffee and a natter and then see if I could find a rhubarb stock to bring back as I fancy growing some rhubarb here – I love stewed rhubarb and custard, I real taste of when I was little.

By the time we had finished coffee the heavens had opened over us and there was no way I was getting drenched for a bit of rhubarb root that may get taken off me at customs, if they spotted it cling-film wrapped to my hairdryer.

And there’s another thing. I had taken my hairdryer in my case with me never thinking that it’s one I bought since we moved to Spain, so if course when I came to use it, it had the wrong plug on the end and we don’t have any adaptors for Spain to UK items, only the other way around! Something for the shopping list.

We landed at East Midlands airport at 11.30pm Thursday evening, and after spending half an hour dragging our cases around the car park looking for our hire car, clicking the remote on the keys to see if we could see any lights flashing that would give us a clue as to where the car was, we finally found it in a completely different car park to that which we had been told to go to.

We had decided, even though we were landing late, we would drive up to Sheffield that night rather than staying in a hotel near the airport and driving up the following morning through rush-hour traffic. As we are not used to traffic here in Spain, the more I could avoid major traffic problems in the UK, the better. It turned out to be a wise decision as with a mile of leaving the airport we were into major road works for mile after mile, where they are widening the motorway all around Nottingham.

We arrived at the hotel about 1.30am and rather than the overwhelming feeling being that we were tired, it was that we were hungry and so at 2am we were sat eating chicken salad sandwiches and drinking coffee. Needless to say we were the only ones in the restaurant!

Friday was a good day and we saw several friends but I did realise I had ‘dropped a clanger’ with the hire car. We had booked it for Neil to do the driving as I rarely drive when I am with Neil. However, I had forgotten that while Neil was playing golf on the Saturday I was driving through to see my younger brother several miles away. The paperwork says ‘Please obtain Hertz approval for additional drivers’ and so we rang them up. Nope, can’t be done over the phone, we have to go in – both of us. Fortunately, I had taken all my paperwork as well as Neil’s but this now meant driving into the centre of Sheffield in Friday night rush hour. Oooops.

We found the Hertz office straight away and it only took 5 minutes to have everything updated to allow me to drive on the Saturday so as we were already in the city centre we decided to go and browse around Staples. I don’t know why but I love looking and normally buying stationery and associated bits. Clothes shopping does not do it for me, but stationery, electronics and stuff for the house & gardens, I just love.

We have designed cards with our address and phone numbers on one side and a little map of directions on the other and we wanted some business size card blanks to print them out on so, that was one purchase. We also bought a greetings card package & program for me to play about with and some ink cartridges as they were half the price I pay in Spain.

Note: Business cards a disappointment, they will not allow printing on both sides – one side is brilliant, the other is all smudged and blurred. Something else for the shopping list!

Saturday was another day of visiting which ended with us celebrating with friends whose birthdays happened to fall on the Saturday and Sunday. It was pure coincidence we were there for their birthdays, but it meant we could all go out for dinner together and have a great night.

Sunday was another day of travelling so I think it should be another day of blogging.

And the bags are packed.......

Tomorrow, Neil & I are flying back the UK for a very quick visit. We have Friday & Saturday in Sheffield to see some family and friends and then on Sunday drive down south to see my other brother and a very close friend before flying back from Luton on Monday.

It's still going to be too long to be away from the dogs although Lucy and her dog, Sophie, are coming through to stay at the house and look after them.

We have waited a long time for this winter to finish and just as the weather has taken a massive turn for the better we are leaving the country. Hopefully when we return, spring will be well and truly here and summer with arrive very soon.

It's almost a year since my last trip back to the UK and I am always surprised how more distanced from the feeling of belonging there each trip brings. Considering that I lived there for almost 50 years, it certainly doesn't feel like home anymore.

Spain is definitely my home now.

The snows have gone, here comes the rain.

The land had dried out nicely after all the snows and driving along the dirt tracks isn't a problem anymore, although the chance of keeping your car clean for longer than 2 seconds is remote.

Yesterday was a friend's 50th birthday and he had arranged a birthday luncheon at Casa Joya, which is accessed down a dirt track which takes about 10 mins to drive, so is some distance. My only concerns about going to Casa Joya is the condition of the track as there are some steep sections to it. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny morning, if a bit cool, and since we hadn't had any rain for several days the track was going to be in good shape to drive.

The birthday lunch was a Greek menu and there were about 20 of us there to enjoy an absolutely fabulous meal. There was just so much food, so may different dishes to enjoy - it was really, really good. Just after we arrived it had started to rain and it continued the whole time we were there, but I hadn't realised just how heavy a downpour it was.

4 hours later we all began to leave and the amount of water that had fallen became very apparent. I had said I would drive home so Neil could have a drink, as I often do and so I ran across the carpark to the car. This was when I realised my first error - I had open-toe high-heeled shoes on. The carpark was now an inch thick with mud and by the time I got to the car my shoes were also an inch thick with mud, as were my toes!

As we set off there is a fairly steep climb out of the carpark. As I tried to get the car up and round the corner I felt the back end start to slip. Neil was coaching me how best to handle the car in the mud but I had only gone about 200 metres when it was obvious I was not going to be able to drive us out of the Rambla, I was too hesitant. When we bought the car we lived in Terreros by the coast. We had the chance of buying a 4x4 version of the car but we couldn't see any need so had bought the 2x4. We weren't to know that 2 years later we would be living in the mountains, using dirt tracks and Rambla tracks as roads and having to deal with snow, ice and everything else this winter has thrown at us. Oh, do wish we'd paid the extra for the 4x4. Still, we didn't so we have to make do.

Making do yesterday entailed stopping the car on a flat spot and swapping over so Neil could drive us back to the tarmac road. To say it was a bit hair-raising is an understatement. How all the cars managed to get out of the Rambla and onto the road is a mystery to me, I thought someone would get stuck.

Open-toed high heels is definitely NOT the correct footwear for the conditions but Neil very kindly cleaned them up for me when we got home. The meal was fabulous, the company was great fun but next time I'm there and it starts to rain, I think I could be leaving before dessert!

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

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!

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.

4 days of activity and now I'm back chillin'

Well, that was a bit of a whirlwind trip but I'm home now and back with my babies.

I've been on planes, coaches, underground and overland trains and in cars but I have been very pleased not to have been driving. I have been ferried around by family and friends which I am very grateful for as it made for a very stress free trip.

I keep in touch with family and friends by phone and e-mail but there really isn't any substitute for seeing them in person - and it's been over a year since I saw Liz, yet the minute we met up it was like we'd seen each other only last week. We had loads to talk about as Liz had been on a lifetime visit to New Zealand and Australia earlier this year culminating in a visit to the Sydney Opera House, or maybe that should be THE Sydney Opera House, a life long ambition of hers. Needless to say there was an album of stunning photos to look through, each one telling a story. It was well past midnight before we decided we should call it a day.

Many people who are visiting the UK are taking advantage of all the sales going on at the moment as the rate of the Euro means that shopping in Spain at the moment isn't such a bargain. I had gone with the intention of fitting in a trip to Brantano - I love shoe shopping and generally find lots of choice at Brantano. Plus Neil got a pair of sandals from Brantano before we moved out to Spain last year and has hardly had them off his feet - needless to say they are looking rather worse for wear and I was hoping to get him another pair (or 2!)

So, Wednesday morning we called at Brantano on our way to meet Andrew, (my brother) at Staines for lunch.

I wanted some trainers for dog walking and found some very comfortable Sketchers which were immediately on the 'we'll have those' list. Then Liz found some lovely sandals, which were cream with a strap in snakeskin effect. I tried them on and they felt really comfy - but they looked odd. Liz pointed out that the snakeskin strap on one was very dark compared to the other and that was making them look odd - and then we realised that they were actually different colours. One sandal was ivory cream and the other was peach cream. We looked around for another pair that they may have got mixed up with, but there were no others on display. I put them back on the shelf and continued looking.


I found another pair of sandals I liked and which fitted well and so I was happy. We went off to find Neil's replacements and found 2 different styles - but knowing how much wear he gets from them, I decided to take both pairs.

Armed with 4 pairs of shoes I decided I had enough and went over to pay for them. Whilst I was at the cash desk I thought I would do my good samaritan bit and tell them about the odd sandals so that someone else doesn't buy them without realising they were different colours, as it wasn't too obvious under the shop lights. I showed her where they were and she asked if I would be interested if they had a matching pair in the back.........well, they were nice.......and they were comfy........and they were reduced in price......yes, I would be interested!


So, I left the shop wondering how I was going to fit 5 extra pairs of shoes into my baggage allowance when I had come over using 14 of my 15kg allowance that Ryanair graciously give.

Oh, I'd work something out!

I had shoes, I was shopping with a very dear friend I hadn't seen for over a year, I was happy - baggage allowances were a problem for another day!

Gazpacho!

We have one of Neil's sons staying with us for a few days and so we have been out and about. Yesterday we had a late lunch and a siesta, in keeping with Spanish tradition and then ate out at Meson Pepa's, a typical Spanish restaurant in the village.

A traditional meal starts with a salad, then you have your starters, then your main course, followed by dessert and finally coffee and liquers....... and it's eaten over a couple of hours.....or more and is accompanied by a variety of drinks, beers while you are waiting, wine with the meal, brandy with the coffees - for us, anyway.

So, in keeping with tradition we had a mixed salad to start - and Pepa's do a good salad - bed of lettuce, loaded with tomato, cucumber, onion, grated carrot, sweetcorn, tuna, boiled egg,olives and little peppery pippy things.

Then we had Gambas ajillo - garlic prawns. The prawns here are really good and there were plenty to share.

We each had a different main course, veal, rabbit & pork and shared some patatas a lo pobre, these are sliced potatoes done in oil with peppers and garlic, and a platter of verduras a la plancha - grilled vegetables. Here in Spain, anything 'a la plancha' means it's grilled and anything 'al horno' means it's been oven baked.

Anyway, to the Gazpacho. While we were eating our main course the chap sat at the table next to us got this large glass of what looked like Mango smoothie brought to him, with a little dish of chopped cucumber and green peppers, which he tipped into it along with some squares of bread - and this just didn't look right.

So, in my best Spanish, I asked the waited what it was? Gazpacho, he answered. Now, I had seen lots of packs of Gazpacho on the supermarket shelves and even seen it in restaurants, but I always thought it was pinky red, not Mango yellow! And, as far as I am aware I have never tried it.

A few minutes later, one of the waiters brought over a bowl of Gazpacho for us to try with the little dish of chopped peppers, etc and cubes of crouton style bread. For those of you that don't know, it is a soup served cold and is an Andalucian dish, and we are in Andalucia so it should be good - and it was. It is a tomatoe based soup and I can only assume the yellow colour was because they had used yellow tomatoes rather than fully ripened red ones. The recipe originated in Andalucia, a big tomato growing area and is now widely consumed throughout Spain and Portugal, especially in the summer as it's really very refreshing.

The whole meal was fabulous, and the Gazpacho - a real treat.

So, for those of you who may want to try it, here's a recipe we shall be putting to the test:

yield: Makes 6 servings
active time: 30 min
total time: 1 1/2 hr

Yellow tomatoes bring a touch of sunshine to this delicious chilled soup, which can be made as spicy or as mellow as you like.


1 navel orange
4 medium yellow beefsteak tomatoes (1 3/4 pounds), coarsely chopped
2 large yellow bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1 (3/4-pound) cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce such as Tabasco, or to taste Garnish:
diced cucumber; diced yellow bell pepper; chopped fresh chives

Cut off and discard peel, including white pith, from orange with a sharp knife, then cut orange into 1-inch pieces. Stir together with remaining ingredients and 1 teaspoon salt.
Working in batches, purée in a blender until smooth, about 30 seconds per batch, then force each batch through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Whisk, then season with salt and chill, covered, 1 hour. Whisk before serving.

Cooks' note: Gazpacho can be chilled up to 1 day.

Copied from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Yellow-Gazpacho-243271

We have uninvited guests! And we don't know how long they're staying!

Daily noises on a development such as where we live are increasing as the weather improves, We have the usual traffic, music and dogs barking. We are now hearing childrens shouts and the splashes of swimming pools. Most of these go by unnoticed as we are used to them and if they get a bit much, we can close the doors.

But we now have an additional noise that can be heard constantly from within the villa. The constant call of chicks to their mum and dad for food. Yes, we have become home to a nest of newly hatched chicks. And where are they? Well, not in any of the bushes we have but they have found a spot safe from cats and our dogs.

In our kitchen we have a cooker hood & extractor fan - which has never been connected up to the extractor outlet which is about 3 feet to the left of the hood. Here you can see it taped over as in winter there is a howling gale comes through it.

So, of course this means there is a nice, dry, quiet pipe through the wall out over the drive some 10 feet from the floor, away from the upper terrace and completely safe from anything that doesn't fly - and one bright nesting pair of birds have made very good use of it.

Here is the pipe - and we can only see into it with a step ladder.

And here is the nest, you can just about make out a chick top right of the nest,if you use your imagination.

Neil did ask me early on if I wanted him to move the nest, but I said not. We had a nest in the extractor pipe from the bathroom at our old house in Dinnington and my Dad always said we should wait for the chicks to leave the nest before clearing it out and making it safe from future nesting birds, and I felt we should do the same here. Let the parents rear their chicks in safety and once they have fled the nest we will block it up.

In the meantime, the tweeting is quite nice, like being in the countryside, the dogs completely ignore it and it will be gone in a few weeks when the chicks fly the nest - and we'll probably never even realise they have gone until we notice the cheeping has stopped - probably several days later.

Orange is not my colour!

Today in Holland is Queen's Day. Yes, I did say Holland - not Spain.

One of the women at the ladies is group is from Holland and she says that as much as she loves living in Spain, she does miss the celebrations in Holland on Queen's Day. So, today she and her husband threw a party and invited us all to help them celebrate. We were asked to wear something orange.

Now, I have to say orange is not a colour for everyone, and it certainly isn't a colour for me BUT in the true spirit of friendship I dug out an orange T-shirt which lives at the back of the drawer and wore it for today (I did cheat a little though, I wore a shirt over the top!) Come on now, you didn't really expect to see a photo did you?

When we got to the party the whole area was decorated with orange bunting and balloons and everyone had made an effort to wear something orange from a scarf, jewellry or a hat to full orange outfits which in some people with dark hair and dark tans actually look good, I would just look as if I'd been Tango'd!

We all had a great time eating, drinking, dancing and playing some rather silly games in the warm Spanish sunshine. One thing you can do in Spain is plan an outside event and just about rely on the weather to be good. You are unlucky if you end up cancelling due to the weather, so different from the UK.

History of Queen's Day

The Dutch have been observing Queen's Day on April 30 since 1949, when the new Queen Juliana ascended the throne. Before then, the holiday fell on August 31, the birthday of Juliana's mother, former Queen Wilhelmina.

When the current Queen Beatrix succeeded Juliana in 1980, she chose to keep Queen's Day on April 30, as Beatrix's own birthday is January 31, a date when Dutch weather isn't conducive to the many outdoor activities associated with the holiday.

Every year Queen Beatrix visits one or two Dutch towns to greet her country's people and visitors, who receive her with fitting celebrations. What began as a commemoration of the Dutch Royal Family has evolved into a nationwide day of creative, carefree springtime revelry.

A letter from 40 years ago!

A couple of weeks ago I had a phone call from one of my cousins to say my Uncle Eric had passed away. Last week I received a text from her to say that while they had been sorting through some of his things they had come across a letter that my Mum had written to my Grandma. As children in the 60's we had lived in Sheffield whilst our Grandma was in Middlesborough, we had no phone in the house and only went though to visit a few times a year, so letter writing was key to keeping in touch.




My Mum died in 1969, so I knew this letter had to be 40 years old, and had been kept in he family all this time. Beverley said she would post it on to me and it arrived today.



The first thing I checked was the post mark - 24th June 1969. It was then very obvious why this letter had survived so long. It was the last letter my Mum wrote before she died in July 1969. Grandma had kept this letter because it was the last one she would ever receive from her daughter. I know Grandma replied to it because she had once told me that when she received a letter she kept it on one side until she replied and then once she had written a reply she would tear the envelope from the top down a bit, and that way she knew whether she had replied or not.

So many memories were already coming back to me and I hadn't opened the letter yet.

It was a typical family letter, news about what me and my brothers were doing, other family news, a comment that my other Grandparents had just gone back after a visit from Scotland and that she had been grateful for their help with the laundry as she had been feeling unwell.

She asked if they had been to the caravan, which brought back memories of Redcar, trips to the caravan site by the river - and earwigs, yuch!

And a final comment thanking her for my birthday money, 10/- (10 shillings) which (apparently) I had put together with money from my other Grandparents and bought a pair of Scholl sandals. I was 11, I remember this well as my Mum didn't want me to get them as she felt they were unsuitable footwear, not sensible shoes. Her comments to Grandma were as follows:

Jacqueline has bought herself some Scholl's, that's those things they call exercise sandals that are just held on over the toes. I didn't want her to get them but she said everybody had them so I said oh, alright then. But she walks as if she is crippled in order to keep them on her feet. Mad I call it.

What wonderful memories brought about from a simple family letter, a snapshot of family life. A real treasure for me to keep.

What do we look like?

Now, you'll know from previous posts that we are not averse to dressing up for an occasion BUT we do normally have some say in how we look.

Not long after we first arrived it was my 50th birthday and I remembered one of the ladies saying she would be watching how I coped with being 50 as it would be her 50th this year. Well, Tineka finally reached her 50th last week. She goes to the same spanish class we have with Amelia each week and Amelia thought it would be nice if we all stayed behind after class and had a group photo done, once we had manouvered Tinake away from class, to put on her birthday card. We all thought it was a nice idea too so we stayed.

But we didn't know she wanted to dress us all up.

We were amazed at the amount of stuff she brought out clothes, jewelry, flowers, scarves etc - but then the spanish are keen on costume parties and Amelia's flamenco dress is gorgeous, so I can understand her wanting to wear it.

It seemed that any thing went as long as it didn't match. I think I actually did OK in the end, maybe a red dress, blue scarf & orange earrings are not a combination I would have put together but at least by the time she got around to allocating my stuff to me she had run out of wigs - see, blonde is the wrong colour out here - apparently, so some of us had big flowers to hid the blonde and others had less than flattering wigs!

Still, it was a fun hour and I actually think the photo looks good - it looks like we were having fun, and we were and Tinake loved it.

And here we all are - the worrying thing is Amelia wanted us all to go down to one of the local spanish bars dressed like this - needless to say there weren't any takers.

Feliz cumpleaños, Tineka

Ever get that feeling that no matter how hard you try it's never enough?

Craig & Kelly have just gone back to a cold chilly UK after spending a few days with us. We did manage a few days of warm sunny weather and on the day they went home they even managed a few hours on the beach and braved the cold sea long enough to take a photo.

They arrived in time to celebrate Valentine's Day with us and we had a fantastic Valentine's dinner and dance at our local Bistro - Danny & Annika prepared a fabulous meal - the starter of salmon and asparagus was even arranged to look like a flower on the plate. We had decided we were going to get glammed up for the evening as there are not many excuses to put on a posh frock and Kevin turned up in full Kilt ensemble - and we have to acknowledge that none of us are in any doubt anymore what may or not be worn under a kilt! I don't think Kelly will ever get over the image!

Sunday was always scheduled as a quiet day due to the anticipated excessive levels of alcohol that would be drunk on Saturday night but Craig had asked if we could do some sight seeing while they were over. Knowing that the waterpark would be closed as it's still too cold, I asked a few people for a suggestion and was told Mini-Hollywood would be worth a visit.

Now for those of you old enough to remember the Spaghetti Western's you may not be aware that they were filmed very close to us in Almeria due to the desert like conditions. About an hour away from us is a Theme Park based on the filming of these westerns - A Fist Full of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad The Ugly, etc and there is a Western Town where the cowboys come out of the salon and have shoot-out's etc. It's said to be a good day out.

So, all recovered from the weekends excesses we decided we would take a drive there on Monday. As we drove inland we came across lots of the Pine Trees which have the problem with Processional Caterpillars and we could see all the nests we had previously only read about on the internet and could see that some areas have a big problem with them.

Anyway, an hours driving brought us to Mini-Hollywood and as we drove into the car park we got the feeling that something was wrong - mainly due to us being the only car there. Yep, it is currently only open at weekends, doesn't open during the week until April. So, we decided to take the road back to Mojacar and have some lunch by the beach. Normally it only takes half an hour to get to Mojacar - this time it was over 2 hours, hey ho - anyone can get it wrong.

We had done our usual tour on Saturday and after the market we had gone to sit in the square at Aguilas for coffee and told Craig & Kelly how busy it is at night and how they may want to come in one evening to try a few of the bars and get a feel for the vibrant night life.

So, Monday having been a bit of disappointment, they decided they would have a night out that night. We took them into Aguilas at 9pm as the Spanish don't tend to go out any earlier and told them to ring us when they were ready to come home, no matter how late!

It was a bit of a surprise to us when they rang less than 2 hours later to say they were ready to come home. But, as we drove into Aguilas it soon became obvious why they were not wanting to stay too late - the town was absolutely dead, it was like a ghost town. With Carnival week only a few days away the locals were obviously all staying at home and saving themselves for some serious carnival partying.

So Monday was definitely a bit of a write off.

Tuesday was a bit grey so I suggested we too a drive down the coast to Villaricos and had Menu del día at El Mar y Mar, where they do an excellent lunch including wine for about €12. As we approached the restaurant I got that deja vu feeling as the car park was empty - yes, it is closed on Tuesdays! So it was back to the villa for one of Neil's currys. We stayed local on Tuesday Night and had a few drinks in La Venta.

I had been promising all week that Wednesday would be sunny and true to form the sky was clear blue and the sun was warm. We were all set for a Barbecue about 5ish before we took Craig & Kelly back to the airport. After a couple of hours on the beach they were chilling in the hot tub when we got a call from friends to say they were going in to Aguilas for Fish & Chips - did we want to go. When I asked the others, Kelly said she really fancied Fish & Chips so we put all the BBQ stuff in the freezer for another day and set off to meet the others at 4.00pm. Now, we've all been for fish & chips a number of times so you would think one of us would know that the kitchen is closed beteen 4 & 7pm, wouldn't you? But did we think about it? No - we all turned up only to find that the BBQ had been the better option. Of course now there wasn't enough time to do the BBQ before going to the airport so it was a quick baguette and off.

So, did they enjoy their few days in Spain? Well, they enjoyed the relaxation, they enjoyed the sun and they enjoyed the Valentines dinner - but they probably didn't enjoy the hours and hours spent in the car for no reason and they probably are firmly of the opinion that they came to Spain, and it was shut.

But we did try, honest!

Let's Party - Burn's Night Part 3

By 8pm the Haggis was cooked, the guests were present and we were ready to party. There had been a slight panic with the Haggis as the skin had split towards the end of cooking. Fortunately, we had been checking it very frequently and so it was spotted almost as soon as it had happened and we were able to make sure that the water didn't get into the meat.

We paraded the Haggis in to slow handclapping, as is tradition and Paul kindly read the address to the Haggis during which it is his role to slice it open ready for serving. We had given him a large, very sharp knife and I was a little concerned how fierce he looked with a large knife in his hand!

Supper was a great success and soon it was my role to raise a toast to the immortal memory of Robert Burns. I checked everyone had a glass ready and read my bit of 'history of Robbie Burns' I had researched on the internet earlier that afternoon and don't worry, I'm not going to give you all a rendition - so much info is available on t'internet - you don't need me to tell you anything other than this year is the 250th celebration of the birth of Robert Burns and so there were a lot of events to celebrate Burn's night worldwide over the weekend.

Once everyone had finished eating the whisky's came out for a tasting session. Now, I dislike whisky so I was on my favourite cocktail - Champagne, Orange Juice & Cointreau and soon all the ladies were joining me and leaving the men to the whisky's.

Then it was time for a bit of scottish dancing:


And of course Paul & Neil couldn't help but demonstrate the Gay Gordons:
And after a lot of drinking, singing, dancing and general party chatter everyone weaved their way home about 1am.

And in the morning we had fried Clouty with a poached egg - yummy!

Our very 1st Burn's Night celebration!

The turnips are the wrong colour! Burns Night - Part 2

The traditional accompaniments to a Haggis are turnips and mash. That, along with the varied tastes, gives a pleasing look to the plate - the dark meat, the white potatoes and the orangey turnips. Only one problem then, in Spain the turnips are white. They taste the same but look like this:

Traditionally, we use these:

So, we needed to add something to give is the colour with out changing the taste too much. Someone suggested I add yams and so on Saturday I came back from the market in Aguilas with bags of white turnips and yams.

I cooked the yams and turnips seperately and then added them together before mashing. They soon mingled to make the correct colour and taste wise? well, surprisingly good. The only other problem I had is that white turnip is a very wet vegetable so after mashing and draining the juices that settled out, the full pan I started with was now only half a pan of mashed turnip - hopefully it would be enough.

Barbara & Lucy had offered to do the potatoes and would be bringing them later. Neil was doing an onion gravy and so we were all under control. So much so that when we had a call from some friends in the afternoon to say their Setanta wasn't working and they wanted to see the Rangers v Aberdeen fixture we told them to come round.

As we had decided to do a traditional Haggis supper and so we needed a traditional pudding for afterwards. There is only one thing that would do - we needed, without any doubt, a traditional Clouty Dumpling.

Now I have never made one and I don't think I've had dumpling since my mid-teens. My Scottish Grandpa used to make them. A Clouty is a steamed pudding done in muslin cloth and is a heavy fruit suet pudding - and it's great. If there was anything to bring back childhood memories for me - it's a Clouty! Our friend Sue was up for the challenge and got a traditional recipe, and a top tip from a relative - instead of muslin cloth used a cotton pillowcase - and so Sue made her first (and maybe only) Clouty.


And what a success it turned out to be - all the right flavours, the taste was spot on and it looked great! Well done Sue!

We had 15 people coming to supper so the furniture needed a bit of re-arranging, we had a CD of scottish music, we had bagpipe music to pipe in the Haggis, my Toast speech was written, the shortbread was on it's way and Neil had sorted all the Whisky out - time to get showered and changed and await the arrival of the guests.

Burn's Night - Part 1

Now, although we were planning to have an informal Burn's Night there are a number of formalities that need observing and so I spent quite a while on the internet yesterday researching Burn's Night's Supper formats (I wanted to put itinerary but couldn't work out how to spell it!)

Anyway, we needed the Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat and cannot eat.
Some cannot eat that want it:
But we hae meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.


Then there was the parade of the Haggis, the address to the Haggis and then the best bit......
the eating of the Haggis.

I also printed off a few of the shorter Burns poems, and that's not a big selection as Burns was not known for his short writings, some of them go on for several pages.

And then there was the scary bit - the toast to the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns - hey ho, time for more research and some speach writing to be done.

And so to the Haggis. Now, where on earth are we to get a Haggis in Spain, and if we do get one - what will it taste like? No, it has to come from Scotland so, a few weeks ago I had found 'McKean's of Scotland - haggis makers since 1850' on the interenet. http://www.scottishhaggis.co.uk/
Their website said they delivered to Spain and I rang them to clarify a few details and then ordered on line. There was going to be about 15 of us so we ordered a Chieftain Haggis, all 2.5kg of it and also a Veggie Haggis for our vegetarian friends.

I ordered them on Monday 12th January and by last Monday I was beginning to panic about whether they would arrive in time so I gave them a quick ring to make sure they had processed the order ok. Yes, they assured me they had dispatched the order on the Thursday and it would arrive with us either that day or the next. 6 days for a delivery from Scotland to Spain, including a weekend? No, can't be right.

We had friends flying out on Friday so as a standby they could bring a small Haggis with them - but, it wasn't necessary. On the Tuesday as I was out walking with the dogs a UPS van drove onto the estate. I stopped him and asked if he had a delivery for our address and he said yes, so he got the package off the van and there it was, as promised - 2 Haggis. They were in a good sized polystyrene box with ice packs around them to keep them fresh. We opened the box to put the Haggis in the bottom of the fridge until yesterday and wow - 2.5 kilos is a lot of Haggis. Fortunately, we had a large pan to cook it in.

That's the veggie Haggis on the left.....ahhh, bless! The big Haggis would need to be cooked for 2 hours and the little one for 45 mins.

Now, everyone knows that along with Haggis you need turnips and mash - only one problem, you don't get yellow turnips in Spain!

Next: Planning and cooking the Haggis supper............