Walking in the tracks of Robin Hood

We are only 10 minutes away from Sherwood Forest, the legendary hideout of Robin Hood, and today we decided to take the dogs there for their weekend walk.

These days a lot of places insist in dogs being on their leads but at Sherwood Forest they can still run free, away from the Visitor Centre.

I remember visiting the Major Oak as a child on school day trips, in the days before the tree was fenced off, when we would spend time in school studying about Robin Hood and then re-enact what we had learnt, hiding in the Forest as outlaws, waiting to pounce on the Sherriff's men.

Today the Major Oak is all fenced off and supported by lots of metal posts, tastefully painted green to blend in but it doesn't stop the kids running around, still living the Robin Hood legend.

The sun was shining, the dogs were happily wandering and Neil & I chatted as we strolled around the forest, stopping for a coffee when we reached the visitor centre. Winter may be just around the corner but today, it was a million miles away.

Nature always amazes me.

I saw some fabulous Canadian Fall (autumn, to you and me) photos on a blog I follow yesterday, where the autumnal colours are really vibrant and I realised that, although we are in October, our trees and hedgerows are still green and only just showing signs of turning. http://journeyandadventure.blogspot.com/2010/10/october.html

Last year in Spain, I remember commenting on how the trees there don't seem to go through a colour change but simply seem to drop their leaves over night, and looking out of the window now, all I can see is the heavy gloom of an October morning where the sun has a lot more work to do to burn off the damp clouds.

While out walking with the dogs yesterday I heard a 'thump' as I passed a row of trees and looking around I found this had just fallen. Yesterday, the outer case was still green and overnight it's turned a rich brown and the case has split revealing a shiny new conker. I remember playing conkers as children, getting bruised knuckles and wrists and friends giving all sorts of vinegar related recipes to soak them in, looking for a way to make your conker harder than your competitors. I was never very good but some people would have conkers that were multiple winners, a sixer or more.

So, I 'Googled' conker and discovered that the World Conker Championships are held in the UK, this coming Sunday, close to the ancient town of Oundle, in Northamptonshire. I'm amazed that there is such a thing as a Conker World Champion, but I suppose I shouldn't be - I wonder when it will become an Olympic Sport?

Anyway, here's a link http://www.worldconkerchampionships.com/

And this morning as I opened the blinds in the kitchen my attention was caught by the tree stump we have in the garden. I'm not sure what tree used to grow there but it was just a stump when we moved in. Neil mowed the grass around it only 2 days ago and there was nothing to be seen but this morning, there is a whole village of mushroom houses.

Maybe one of these mornings when I am up early with the dogs, I will be able to see the fairies who live there playing in the garden!

How is nature doing?

The red sheen across the hills has gone, now the best of the poppies have died and it has been replaced by a hue of lilac with these lovely flowers.

The bellota's (mountain oaks) have finally got their catkin's on before the acorns start to grow

and surprisingly, we have a fabulous crop of scottish thistles.

The almonds are growing nicely and it looks like our crop may not be as bad as we were expecting after the very long cold, wet winter.

We still have some flowers that have not opened yet and so I still have some surprises to come.

I have started clearing a small patch for my vegetables,

and we'll see whether I can grow some lettuce, radish, carrots and tomatoes here and keep the rabbits off them. I am still trying to get my rhubarb to start, but so far there is no sign although all my herbs are growing nicely so we should soon have fresh parsley, dill, chives, basil and thyme to cook with.

And, although half of the drainpipes are neatly stacked,

we still have the runaways to bring back up the hill and stack properly.

But they can wait!

Jasper and the Rabbit.

Jasper, Fred, Poppy, & Baloo live on the next hill. They are large and boisterous and wonderfully friendly, which is just as well, as this week we were looking after them while their owners were in the UK for a couple of days. Jasper and Fred are large Spaniels with a huge appetite for hunting out any mice and rabbits that may have crossed their territory. Jasper is slightly smaller than a lion, although he’s the same sandy colour with a husky type tail curled over onto his back and Poppy, well, Poppy is from the bins at Km 17, where she was rescued from a life wandering the Campo. Poppy looks like a greyhound with hair, she has incredibly long legs and is so skinny you would be forgiven for thinking she still wanders the Campo looking for her next meal.

Normally, they spend their days hurtling around after each other or battling for space on the settee next to which ever person will sit still long enough to give them hugs and strokes. Our house is so calm with our 2 pups compared to the house on the hill. Chaos is the norm where J, F, B & P are concerned.

They also have another dog staying at the moment, Reina. She is a cross Labrador/Alsatian who needs a home desperately. Reina craves attention and when she gets you close she wraps her paws around your legs to stop you leaving. She will only eat her food if she can feel you against her, the minute you try to leave, she leaps up to the door and bars your way out. Getting away from Reina is a skill all on its own.

The 5 dogs were staying in the kennels at the back of the house while their owners were away and I had my list of instructions. The kennels are proper boarding kennels, plenty of room and an exercise yard. Fred and Jasper share, Poppy and Baloo share and Reina is on her own with a kennel area between as she is not terrifically friendly with other dogs. My instructions were clear, do not walk Reina past any of the kennels with other dogs in and do not walk other dogs past the kennel that Reina was in. It felt like the Mensa test of getting the fox and the chickens across the river in a boat.

Over the 3 days chaos was kept to a minimum, as was the damage. One pot containing a large Yucca plant was overturned by Jasper and Fred in the efforts to track down the latest rodent smells. Fortunately, the pot didn’t break and I could scoop everything back into the pot and put it back in place, hoping the Yucca will survive. Both Jasper and Fred seemed to prefer drinking from the pool by standing on the 3^rd step, and then going digging in the undergrowth, so I was pleased they were not staying in the house as I really didn’t want to be bathing them every time I went near.

Poppy was desperate to join the others on their hunts but I daren’t let her off the lead as, unlike Fred & Jasper, I was not at all confident she would come back to me when it was time to go back in the kennel. She had to make do with the exercise area, once Reina was safely back in her kennel.

Dinner time on day one was the highlight. Having got all the bowls ready I took Reina her food and brought the others up to the house. Fred and Jasper had a quick detour into the undergrowth but were soon on the doorstep, knowing that dinner would soon be served. I let them into the house and brought Baloo and Poppy in and put the bowls down. Poppy eats at such speed that she is normally finished before any of the others have finished their first mouthful. On this occasion I noticed that not only had Jasper not had is first mouthful, he wasn’t at his dish. I lifted his dish back onto the counter and went in search. I finally found him sat on the settee looking incredibly proud, with a young rabbit hanging dead in his mouth. This was his trophy from the undergrowth. This was not a gift for me, he had no intention of parting with it – even for a dish of dog biscuits. It was going to take some careful planning to separate the dog from the rabbit.

First, I needed to get Jasper outside and away from the other dogs. I reasoned that this way, if I could get him to drop the rabbit I would be spared the worry of one of the others making an attempt on it. I closed my eyes to the large, open staring eyes of the bunny as its head lolled lifelessly, and managed to clip a lead onto Jasper’s collar. As I called him to go outside he came without hesitation.

I figured it would be better to be in an enclosed space, somewhere Jasper would feel comfortable. I was sure that his intention was retrieval and that he didn’t have any ideas to make this small furry creature ‘dish of the day’. We walked in silence down to the kennel area where I accompanied him into his sleeping area. Jasper sat in his bed, looking at me as if to say ‘what now?’ bunny still dangling. It became a staring match and I was determined I would not be the first to break down. Finally, Jasper bent his head and released the bunny onto his bed, so gentle it was almost as if he showed the bunny some reverence. I waited a few seconds and then leant across to stroke Jasper, hoping I would be able to catch hold of his collar quick enough to stop him stooping to pick up bunny again, but I was too slow and by the time I had hold of his collar, Jasper once again had hold of bunny and all three of us were back to playing our staring game again.

Several more minutes passed before he once again, lay the bunny gently down. This time I was ready. As he brought his head back up I grabbed his collar and pulled him out of the kennel leaving bunny resting peacefully in Jasper’s bed.

Finally separated from Bunny, Jasper decided to eat his dinner and while he ate I returned to the kennel to remove bunny. I would like to say I gave him a decent burial but I’m afraid I can’t. Bunny was unceremoniously flung over the 6 foot wire fence onto the wilds of the Campo, there to be a ready meal for whatever animal happened by. Bunny lay in the scrub, lifeless eyes staring back at me from a distance of no more than 4 feet – I never was any good at throwing. As a school girl I was only ever given a javelin and a discus once, then it was decided I was better at the running events than the throwing ones. Nothing had changed, I still couldn’t throw.

26 holes dug, still a lot to do!

We haven’t been down to any more of the parades this weekend as we have been getting on with digging our holes and filling them in again, with cement. Unfortunately, after a day digging holes or lugging wheel barrows of cement down an incredibly steep slope we are too tired to get dressed for a night out.

This week we have managed to get both gates cemented in place and to get all the corner posts set with the supports. We have dug 26 holes, mixed several batches of cement and walked up and down the slopes more times than I care to remember. All I can say is my calf muscles are screaming at me and my bum should look good this summer!

This is the slope down to the double gate on the bottom level

And this gives you some idea how far below the level of the house, and the cement mixer, the gate is – but no, this isn’t the slope we carried it down, there is a longer but easier way down – honest. However, we are putting a 6 foot fence all the way down this slope to the gate – now, that should be REAL fun! A rope and a bucket of cement – now that conjures up the perfect scenario for something to go wrong. Needless to say, we are leaving that to the end of the fencing job.

This is the paddock area we are fencing in to keep the dogs safe, this is one level below the house and up at the far end is where the vegetable patch will be.

As we are working it’s difficult not to notice the lovely wild flowers that are starting to come through in the warm Spring sunshine. These are just a few photos I took while I was out walking the dogs around our land yesterday. I don’t know what any of them are, but they are really pretty.

It was getting late in the afternoon, about 7ish, when we walked and we seemed to be in Bunny rush hour as we walked through our Dingley Dell. Every step seemed to send another bunny scurrying from the undergrowth to its home.

I’m sure this is one of the Bunny entrances

Down here in Dingley Dell,

And here is one of the occupants, still on its way home but staying very still so as not to attract the attention of the dogs.

Oh, how love my dog walks!

Where did the rest of the world go?

We normally have wonderful views all the way down the valley across layer after layer of hills, covered with Mountain Oaks, Almond Trees and Pine Forests.

But every now and then the weather closes in rapidly and we watch the distant hills vanish one after one.

Every now and then, we lose all the hills and the world just seems to end 10m from our front door.

Weird feeling!

Could this be another bad harvest year?

One of the first things we were told when we moved to take over an almond farm was that last year's crop was poor. They were only paying €0.50 per kilo compared to the previous year of €1.50/kg. There was hope that this year would be better.

The blossom is still in the trees although looking a little past it's best after a couple of frosty nights and a snowfall, but already there is talk that this year almond crop will be a poor one, at least in this area. The almond trees are easy to grow because they don't need irrigation, they take the moisture from the ground, and for that they rely on the winter snows and rainfall. However, we are told that a lot of rain on the blossom is bad.

The nut sets at the base of the flower and if there is too much rain the base of the flower gets too damp and goes mouldy before the nut sets. This is the concern for this year's crop.

We were never going to make a fortune from our crop but if predictions are correct we won't even earn enough to pay to have the fields ploughed, something that is necessary to break up the soil and allow the rain and snow falls of next winter to get into the ground and feed the trees rather than it running straight off into the Rambla, to run away as pretty, but useless, babbling brooks.

Having checked a few of our trees I cannot see that we have a problem with mouldy, rotting flower bases, but only time will tell.

The realities of farming and the direct impact of the weather have never felt so relevant. We may not rely on the income from the almonds to eat, as some farmers do, but we still don't want to see a poor crop.

Spring Blossoms.

When we first decided to buy a house on an Almond farm we were told how beautiful it is in Spring when all the blossom is out. How the hills look like they are dotted with candyfloss. How people travel miles to come and drive through the area to admire the blossom.


We arrived at the end of the season when the nuts were being harvested and the blossom was long gone.


But it is back and it is so pretty.




The blossom ranges from white to a deep pink. In some fields the trees blossom all the same colour, in other fields the colours are varied. The blossoms are resiliant. In the UK there is Cherry Blossom, it looks very similar and very beautiful but the first wind takes all the blossoms from the trees and carpets the floor with pink petals. Here, we had hurricane strength winds at the weekend and the blossom is still on the trees.



These are a few of our trees across the Rambla. There's lots of blossom, maybe that means there'll be lots of Almonds when it's time to harvest.


I do hope so.

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!

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.

Hills can be deceptive.

As I look out of our front door across the rolling hills, it is easy to forget that we live 3,000ft up a mountain and that these hills are seperated by very steep ravines, and that the hills themselves are very steep.

Yesterday Janet & I decided we would take our dogs for a long walk across the hills to a ruin that we can see from the roadside. The ruin is about the same height as our house and Maria, who has the goats, oftens walks that way so how hard could it be?

The first hill we climbed should have given us some indication of the task at hand. Halfway up, gasping for breath I did managed to remind Janet that I am asthmatic, and that I didn't have an inhaler with me. After all, at 3,000ft, the air is a lot thinner than at sea level!

We eventualy got to the top only to find we had to walk down a hill equally steep on the other side. In the bottom of the rambla were heavy trees and bushes and so we would have to walk around them, and the same on the next hill and the next. Walking this way would actually take us further away from the ruin, not closer to it.

So, we decided we would be better to walk along the road until we got the the track that led upto the ruin rather than trying to go across country. We had two possible routes to get down to the road, retrace our steps or head down hill and hope we could find a way through the trees at the bottom that would come out by tarmac.

Having the dogs on a lead helps when you are going up hill, as they give a little bit of added effort - but the same cannot be said when going down a steep hill. In the end we decided to take a zig-zag route down the hill to take out some of the steepness and eventually we met up with tarmac.

10 minutes later we were once more climbing up a steep track, but this time we knew the ruin would be at the top. Distance is incredibly deceptive up here, what looks like a 5 minute walk can easily take 15 minutes and we needed a rest-break halfway up the hill. But, a little more effort and we finally made it to the top and the view was well worth it. The ruin was built on a plateau at the top of the hill and almost had a 360 view across to Velez, Puerto Lumbreras and down towards Santa Maria - stunning.

The ruin itself was a little scary, but we ventured in. Just inside the door was a broomstick so should we come across any wildlife we would both be grabbing for it. As with a lot of the old cortijos that have been allowed to fall beyond a state of dis-repair, this had a maze of little room and a very rickety looking staircase. We decided not to venture upstairs. The ceilings were really low and I couldn't imagine anyone above 5ft 6ins living there without having to permanently wear a crash helmet. The main part of the house still had a roof, although it was definitely in need of repair, and there were other 'rooms' where the roof had long since gone.

As we wandered around outside we saw the path that was the proper access route to the ruin, the track we had climed up looked only suitable for goats and cross-country bikes and we both had concerns about trying to walk back that way. We decided we would walk back along the path even though it seemed to be leading us further away from the route home, but we thought it should eventually meet up with the little tarmac road that runs past Janet's house. There were a couple of pine trees with caterpillar nests in them along theway so the dogs were put on their leads so that I could make sure they gave the trees a wide birth, and before long we were at the gates, well, 2 metal posts with a chain across them to prevent any vehicles from going down to the ruin.

From there it was a relatively easy walk back home, mostly level and a lot better underfoot than walking across the hills. We'd been out for about an hour but felt like more than 3. The dogs got home and hardly moved for the rest of the day.

Next time we'll head out down our Rambla and see what we can find. We cannt venture over our hill at the moment as the far side of the hill becomes a pine forest, beautiful to look at but out of bounds for us for at least 4 months while the caterpillars leave their nests and bury underground. No view is worth risking our dogs health(or ours, for that matter) for.

Never again will I under- estimate the effort needed to take a walk acrossthe rolling hills that we live amongst!

Early warning - Processional Caterpillars are on the move.

Each year there is the continual worry that the Processional Caterpillars that make their nests on the Pine Trees will cause problems for well loved animals. They are usually on the move between January and March and this year are on the move early. Already we have seen nests of a fairly large size with caterpillars leaving the nest. Fortunately, these are not close enough to be a problem to our pups and we only have 3 pine trees close to the house, all of which are small and none of which have any nests them - but they do get a daily inspection.







Many people get rid of the nests themselves by cutting them down and burning them, but this also has it's dangers as the hairs from the caterpillars, which carry the poison can be carried into the air and still affect people and animals. A nest can contain upto 300 caterpillars and that's a lot of hairs flying around! There is a section of the Guardia Civil, called Seprona, which will come and deal with any problem nests.

A Google search on Processional Caterpillars will bring up reams of information on them.

A new waterfall.

The past few days has seen a torrential amount of rain, mainly overnight but not always, and hurricane strength winds. At times I have had to force the pups outside to do the necessary, which they have reluctantly done only on the promise of a warm, fluffy towel awaiting their return and some chocolate buttons (doggy chocs of course).

Today the weather has changed completely and we once again have clear, blue skies, warm sunshine and no wind. As I walked down towards the almonds with the pups this morning I heard a new noise. Normally, it is so peaceful that the only sounds that break the silence are the birds and the dogs in the distance, barking their 'Hello's' to Brandy & Brinkley who are always happy to reply.

But this morning as I walked away from the house and down the track to the almonds I could hear running water - babbling brook style running water. I looked down into the bottom of the rambla, which is some 50 feet below and could just make out a section of rocks which has a fall of about 4 feet over which was running enough water to make the sound effects I had heard. The rambla is there to take the excess rain water and melting snow away but this is the first time I have seen it in action. Over the next few months I am sure we will see it flooded and running free but for now we have the sounds of a new waterfall to enjoy as we take our walks with the dogs - I doubt it will be long before it has dried up for now.

I love the nature of this area, every day brings new surprises and it wonderful to have time to enjoy them.

Not for the faint hearted!

Living up in the mountains brings new ways of living and traditions to living on the coast. Here people still live off the land and all over the hillsides you see signs ' Coto Privado de Caza' warning you that this is private land for hunting.

Hunting is mainly done on a Sunday so you are well advised to be wary of stopping by the roadside and taking an unofficial Sunday stroll on any picturesque area with this sign or this one.

We have already seen many rabbits, robins, snakes and mice but there is one other creature up here that is of significant interest to the locals that we haven't seen - the Wild Boar.

We know these animals live in and around the hills and ramblas and our neighbours even saw one wandering along the roadside late one evening about a week ago.

Last night we were told by a Spanish neighbour that the hunters would be on our hills and in our rambla today hunting the 'jabili', the wild boar. The hunters take up their positions in open areas of the pine forests where they can get a good view of the boar and then packs of dogs are released to chase the boars out of their hiding places and towards the hunters.

At about 11 this morning we saw the hunters, carrying their rifles, walking along the bottom of the rambla through our land (everyone has right of way through the rambla)

They walked to the far end of our land and beyond, as our land is not reserved for hunting but the land at the far end of the rambla is. There will be many more hunters all over these hills today. We were told that there would be approximately 100 dogs used in todays hunt. There are various spotters on the hills and there were 2 or 3 loud bangs indicating the start of the hunt. Since then I have heard a couple of gun shots and a lot of barking from the dogs but we cannot see anything as it's all happening over the hill among the pine trees.

It will end about 3 this afternoon, so until then our dogs are being kept inside behind a locked door - for their own safety. The hunters know we are here, we were outside as they walked by and waved to us so I'm fairly confident they will respect our land and keep away - but their dogs may not be so considerate.

Any boars killed today will be cooked and eaten over the coming weeks - it's the way of the land.

For more info on the Spanish Wild Boar take a look here: http://www.iberianature.com/material/wild_boar_spain.html

A normal weekend doing normal things.

This weekend feels likes we are beginning to live here rather than exist as builders.

Friday saw me at my 2^nd Spanish class, after which I spent some time with Janet & Graham around town. They took me to a fruit and veg shop which is quite literally in someone’s front room on a residential street with no other shops anywhere near it – but the choice and quality is far superior to anything you can buy at the market or at the local supermarkets. We had a wander around town and stopped for coffee in another bar. We sat on some small stools at a low part of the bar and judging by the look we got from an elderly man who came in10 minutes later, I think we were sat in his seat.

Friday night saw Neil and I back in town with Brian (my little Saxo). I had wanted to drive Brian earlier that day but he wouldn’t start. We knew we needed new heater plugs but after sitting over night in the cold he refused to start. By 3 in the afternoon, after sitting in the sun all day he started without a problem so we ran him down to the garage and asked them o fir new heater plugs, not that we knew how to say that in Spanish but we could point to them and they understood and even asked what they were called in English. Brian will be ready to collect tomorrow.

We had a lovely wander around the market in the sunshine on Saturday and then had a relaxing afternoon as both Neil and I are suffering with aching bones and a creaking back.

And now, we are just back from a wonderful Sunday dinner at a nearby restaurant. It’s off the road at km 12 (we live at km 8) although there’s a bit of a drive along the dirt track but it’s well worth the drive. Casa Joya is run by an English chef who had a Michelin star in the UK. We had been told it was worth visit, and we have to agree – the food is excellent. It’s a real delight to have such a good restaurant so close by for when we have visitors and the views from the restaurant are very similar to what we have from the house. Check it out at www.casa-joya.com

So, having enjoyed a good meal and a good bottle of wine we are now about to put up our Christmas tree. Neil has already unpacked a few things, one of which is my singing polar bear – which sings I’m dreaming of a white Christmas – to say the dogs are unimpressed would be an understatement, especially as it now occupies part of their settee.

Somehow, I think it unlikely that we will be leaving them alone with it for very long, I have a feeling they may try to show it who’s boss.

Kangaroo Mice!

While sitting quietly on the front step enjoying the warm sun, the dogs and I were suddenly taken by surprise by 4 small mice literally jumping out of a mouse hole in the ground about 10 feet away. They didn’t just run up and out of the hole, they were at least 10 inches into the air, almost as if they had a trampoline underground to aid with their exit!

This would account for why we have seen snakes near the house – it’s obviously where they go shopping for their weekend meal, and probably why the mice launch themselves out of the holes – they want time to see what’s up here before they are on the ground and running. It maybe that, should there be a snake waiting by the entrance, the mice would actually jump right over them and make good their escape!

So, decision time. Do we set traps? Well, I’m not a lover of killing mice and we don’t have any signs of them coming into the house. Having concrete floors, walls and roof, really the only way for them to get into the house is through the front door – so, maybe we should get a cat to deter them from coming in that way, but how would the dogs get on with a cat when all they have done previously is chase them?

For the time being I think we leave things as they are and continue to enjoy the nature around us…..

But the mice are on the same warning as the spiders – if they stay outside the house, no problem but if I find them inside the house – they are fair game! It seems to have worked with the spiders, since we cleared them all out and we moved in – I haven’t seen a single one in the house!

Autumn Colours

Autumn in this part of Spain is quite odd in that the majority of the trees that lose their leaves don’t change colour first. The Almond trees are a classic example, they stay green and just suddenly lose their leaves. When we were living in Terreros a lot of the plants were either Palm trees or Cacti, again – they don’t change colour.

But here we have a couple of silver birches which changed colour a little but the star of the show was definitely the Persimmon tree, it’s leaves changed to the same colour as it’s fruits – and in the sun it glowed.

I can’t say I miss the autumn colours but it was nice to see the contrast of this tree amongst all the olive trees.

Time to walk the land.

Taking on a large area of farmed land comes with responsibilites and the first one, I felt, was probably identifying what plants we have. We know we have plenty of almond trees and that most of them have been farmed this year but will soon need pruning back. We do have some that still have almonds on them but they will not get collected now as it's too late - so, instead we can pick a few nuts as we walk around, give them a couple of days to dry out so that you can hear the nut rattle in the shell and then we can crack them open and eat them - saves buying nuts this Christmas.

So, I decided to take my camera with me and see what else we have.

We have lots of Mountain Oaks with lovely little nuts on, which the squirrel in Ice Age chases and which Lucy tells me she and her sister, when they were younger, used to look for the little hats left after the nut has come adrift as they were told these were little hats left by the fairies when they ran away - one way to get your garden cleared up.

Just past the Mountain Oaks is the Olive Grove - this has about 20 Olive trees in it, all of them with partly grown Olives,mostly green but some starting to turn black. I don't know whether you get different trees for green & black olives or whether it just depends on when you pick them.

On the edge of the Olive grove is a tree that has fruits that look like Sharon fruits but aren't, they are actually Persimmons. We have the astringent variety which are unpalatable if eaten before they have softened. I've never heard of a Persimmon fruit before - let alone an astringent and a non-astringent variety.

After the Persimmon tree we come across some Brambles. Now, I always thought Brambles were an English hedgerow plant and never expected to find them up the mountains in Southern Spain, but I have quite a few bushes and although I have missed the Brambles this year, there will be a good crop for picking next year.

From the opposite hill our house looks lovely.

On the way down to the bottom of the Rambla is a Fig Tree. At the moment the fruits are small but we'll be able to keep an eye on them as we walk the dogs each day and be ready to pick them when they are ready (better Google that so I'll know when that is).

In the bottom of the valley is an area I call Dingley Dell. It's a lovely area where nature has totally taken over. It is dense growth and probably home to many small animals - but we never hear any when we walk past - it's an area we shall leave alone to grow as it pleases.

Down in the bottom of the Rambla we have a large patch of, what looks like, Bamboo but I've been told by a neighbour that it's Sugar Cane. I've not been able to find out what the difference is other than one sweetens your tea and the other fattens up Panda's - maybe I'll find out one day.

Up the other side of the valley, below the house is a Nave (pronounced navi) in ruins. A nave is an agricultural building often used to house the animals. Ours is well past housing anything but long term plans are to turn it into a store shed for the tools for the land. Infront of this is a fine growth of prickly pear cacti, which look very young as there are no pears growing yet.

Just infront of the nave is a flat area that has some almond trees on it but this is where we shall plant our fruit trees, definitely apples and pears, we will try oranges and lemons but it is possible that the winter frosts may be too cold for them.

According to the internet the wildlife is also varied and includes Golden Eagles, Sparrow Hawks, Buzzards, Kestrels, Goshawks and Hobby, Civets, Wild Boar, Wildcats, Weasels and Foxes.