Tell Me Again.......Why did we move back?

It is no wonder that this is a question I am getting asked almost daily in a year when we have had the most rainfall in any month, every month.

My husband enjoyed over 2 years of sunny golf and the current UK weather is doing nothing to make him feel that moving back was the right thing to do .... for him.

Me? I have no problem with the rain, the cooler temperatures and the constant moaning of people about 'when will our summer start?'

For me, I have the comfort of familiar surroundings, of friends and family in my life and in routines that make me feel each day has a purpose. I can deal with the rain.

As I look out of the window I see white fluffy clouds against deep blue skies and relish the thought of walking the dogs without the intense heat making every step a struggle for both me and the dogs. I relish the idea that I can get through the summer months without hibernating in hours of daylight, unable to move more than 10 metres from the air con units and I relish the fact that I have a lovely home that I am happy to spend time in when the weather isn't good, that I do not feel the need to spend every minute of every day outdoors.

I feel for my hubby and his wet golf but I am still very happy to be back in the UK.

Sorry sweetheart!

A frosty start.

Today started early. 6am, to be precise when Brinkley woke me to let him outside. Normally, I go out into the garden with him to make sure there's nothing that would start him barking and wake any of the neighbours who may be trying for a Sunday lie-in, or that no-one has tampered with the side gate that would leave Brinkley with a route for escape. Normally, I don't feel the chill in my warm, fleecy dressing gown.

But, this morning was different. This morning the wind was from the north, this morning it was frosty, this morning it was cold. Having checked everything was Ok, I left Brinkley and returned to the warmth of the kitchen.

By 10am we were all in Neil's car. Leather seats are cold on frosty mornings so we decided to make use of a special button on the dash board - it heats up the seats. Within a couple of minutes, there was a gentle heat spreading across my bum. It's an odd sensation, but quite nice on a frosty morning.

Today the temperature guage said 6 degrees, many of the trees are becoming bare at an alarming rate and we plough through large piles of discarded leaves as we wander through the park.

I love cold, frosty mornings. I love walking through the park, snuggled into my big coat and warm boots, watching the dogs explore every new smell that has appeared since their last visit.

I have added to my shopping list this week - a winter car pack for the frosty mornings that we will have many more of over the next few weeks.

On mornings like this, I feel as if I should miss the warm, autumnal Spanish mornings, but I don't.

Now, I wonder where my gloves are?

Finally, the sun is back!

After several days of torrential rain, thunder, lightening and cold evenings we finally have the sun back. Everyone is hoping that summer has finally arrived.

Over the next few weeks many of the local villages will be having their annual fiestas and these are much better when held in the warmth of the sun. Eating Paella and drinking beer is not so much fun when done under a large, dripping umbrella, surrounded by muddy fields and having to make a dash for the car which will be hemmed in by a lot of abandoned cars, as is the Spanish way. They will party into the early hours and expect others to do the same so parking is not done with any thought to the fact that someone may want to leave early. If you park close so you don't have far to walk, be prepared to party 'till late.

Tonight, of ALL nights!

We've had lovely, long, hot, sunny days, for ages and ages now. We've had stable internet and phone links via satellite and I cannot remember when we last lost TV signal due to bad weather.

SO WHY TONIGHT? WHY NOW?

England are due to start their World Cup Campaign in less than half an hour and the heavens have opened. It's been pouring down for over an hour and shows no sign of stopping. As yet, we still have the TV signal but it keeps breaking up and then settling again.

We could be in for a long 90 minutes of football.

Mid-June in Spain - who'd have thoought it.

I know Linda-Lou in Mexico will be jealous of our rain, but honestly - couldn't it have held off just another couple of hours?

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.

The Winds of Change

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope we get bumped!

Saturday should be a busy day.

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

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

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

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

If the snow comes, the market will be cancelled.

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

If the snow comes - Saturday will be cancelled!

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

That would be better.

I hope we get bumped!

More snow on the way.

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

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

I love surprises.

After 2 days of being snow bound, this morning we HAD to get out of the house, get the car out and get to town. HAD to because all 6 gas bottles were empty, the last one ran out sometime between 2am and 5am this morning. Although we have our tank, as yet it is still empty and we have no chance of getting it filled until all the snow has gone.

The sky was clear this morning, the sun was showing above the hills and the thaw was definitely happening, but it was going to take some time to thaw 8 inches of frozen snow.

The car was still covered in a thick layer of frozen snow which took us 15 minutes to chip off, then having loaded the car with 6 empty gas bottles, a shovel and a large tub of sand & grit we set off to see whether we could get up 400m of snow covered frozen dirt track - just about all up hill.

We had arranged to pick up our neighbours who couldn't get their car out this morning and I could see them standing on the hill, watching to see whether we would make. Neil was driving, there is no way I was going to try it, after all on one side of the track is a hill and the other a long drop - any deviance from a straight line was going to be trouble.

As we drove away from the house we have the steepest part of the drive to negotiate and to my surprise, the car got up there with very little difficulty and no slipping. Then we rounded a corner, the path was in shadow and the wheels started to spin and go nowhere. A few minutes of digging and a couple of shovels of grit and the car managed to make more progress. I walked along behond ready to leap into action with shovel & grit. I noticed that Kanet & Graham were no longer watching and assumed they had realised we would make it and had started to walk to meet us. I would find out later I couldn't be more wrong!

I could feel the snow melting but underneath was a layer of ice 2 inches thick so it was slow progress. There were a couple more stops but then we were over the worst, and the car seemed to settle. I jumped in and we managed to get to the end of our track and meet the tarmac road where the snow plough had been. A few minutes later were at our neighbours who, I discovered,having watched us get stuck a couple of times were convinced we would never make it and had gone to see whether they could dig there car out instead. All morning Janet just kept saying 'I can't believe you made it!' but we're made of tougher stuff, after all we're mountain people now.

The roads to Velez were clear and the town didn't have a sign of a single snowflake but all around the mountain tops were covered.

We feel a lot better now we have 6 full gas bottles, the majority of the snow has melted although there is enough to cause us problems in the morning if it freezes tonight, but we have a week of sunshine and double figure temperatures forecast so by the weekend we should be back to rolling, green hills and our first experience of being snowed in will be well and truly behind is.

While we were in town we called at the Post Office and that's where we got our surprise. A large box from our friends in California. Inside we had some very thick, warm socks - for the bad weather!, a lovely ornament and a jar of Andy's rub. Andy has perfected his rub over many years, and it is fabulous on BBQ meat. Recently he has started marketing it and he had sent us a jar over. When we opened it, the smell reminded us of our time in California with them. Of our wedding, which they held in their garden for us and did a hge BBQ party with huge pieces of beef coated in Andy's rub. Such a fabulous box of gifts and so unexpected - they'd even sent us the few Euro's they'd had left after their trip here last Autumn, so we were all able to have a coffee on them.

Thanks guys, loved it!

Check out Andy's Rub at http://www.andysrub.com/

Now we know what it's been like in the UK!

At 6am each morning Brinkley wakes me to go out. Now, it's normally still pitch black at 6am, so I open the front door just wide enough for him to get through and while he's out I make a coffee to take back to bed. Brinkley will paw at the door to get back in, and I again open it just wide enough to let him in and to keep out the cold weather and we all go back to bed for another couple of hours.

Yesterday morning when I let him back in - he was covered in snow. Now, this wasn't forecast. Heavy rain was forecast with snow above 1500m (we're at 1000m). After towelling him dry I peeked out of the door to see a light covering of snow on the car, pretty much like previous occasions, so I closed the door and went back to bed.

A couple of hours later, I knew we had a fair amount of snow as the tv signal started to break up on ITV, indicating the satellite dish was probably filling up with snow. Neil very chivalrously offered to don big boots and dressing gown and went up onto the roof terrace to clear the dish.

That was when we realised this was not snow like before. This was snow of mega-proportions. This was 'snowed in for the day' snow. It was 6 inches deep and still falling. We decided we would go back to bed for another hour as we wouldn't be going anywhere today.

By 10am the snow was over 8 inches deep, the dogs were struggling to walk through it and were jumping like tiny deer. Brandy was desperately looking for somewhere to pee, but the snow was upto his willie and he couldn't work out what to do!

We both decided to shower and then have breakfast and literally, as the last egg was finishing cooking - the power went off, then came back on, then went off again. After a few more on-off moments, it went off for good.

We kicked the calor gas fire into action to keep the house warm, and as we have a gas hob which doesn't require electric we were alright for cooking.

We decided to clear a little of the snow away to make an area that the dogs could walk and do what they needed to do, with out the snow freezing their little what'sits off, and then, as we still had no power, out came the cards and dominoes.

One thing about living close to your neighbour is that you can always check if their power is on/off too, or if it's just you. Here, well, we have a real hike to our neighbours through deep snow but with no electric, no phone, there was little alternative. So, at mid-day we got all our waterproof golfing gear out and started the trek up the hill.

By now it had started to warm up a little and the snow had turned to rain. I was so tempted to turn back, it was really difficult to walk uphill through snow which at times was upto our knees as it had drifted. The rain was heavy and blowing into our faces, but we decided to continue. We had plenty off layers on, we were in waterproofs and it had taken about half an hour to get dressed to leave the house - we were going to continue!

I have to say, if I thought the walk to the ruin on Sunday was hard work, it was a stroll in the park compared to walking through deep, fresh snow! We took several short rests on the way up but we finally made it. To say Janet & Graham were amazed is an understatement of enormous proportions. We happened to arrive just as Janet was making some Cola Cao (hot chocolate) and it was so welcome, especially after she offered to add some Brandy.

We stayed for a couple of hours and began to put all our waterproofs on again for the trek home. The whole valley looked wonderful and the walk home was easier as, in the main, it was down hill.

It was still raining and the snow was thawing rapidly. Whether it will all go before the temperature drops again tonight is anyone's guess. We are due some more rain overnight, but the snow level has been changed to 800m so if it does rain, we will get it as snow.

After 7 hours the power finally came back on, but we kept a candle lit for the rest of the evening..........just incase!

Now, be honest, how many of you though Southern Spain and Snow went together? Well, there are ski resorts around Granada - it's not all about sea & sun!

Our weather is bizarre!

The last few days have been really cold (OK, not as cold as the UK has been for the last fortnight), it's been around -2c at night. The days have been incredibly windy and coming from the north so they've had a real cold edge, so much so I went to the market on Saturday and bought cold weather stuff - thick tights for under my trousers, woolly hat and big scarf.

As it started to get dark yesterday it started to snow....

and snow.......

and snow!

The forecast had said snow was likely above 800m and we live at 1085m. I can be so precise because we live at the summit of our hill which has a road sign declaring the summit point - 1085m!

We have been leaving the heating on all night and 24/7 heating goes through our little gas bottles at an alarming rate. The people where we change our bottles are becoming our new best friends. While we wait for our big tank we have no choice but to use the small bottles but where they have been lasting about a week, at the moment they are barely lasting into day 5. We have a system of 4 bottles, 2 on/2 off. This means when 2 run out we switch them over to the other 2 and can then disconnect the empties and take them to exchange for full ones.

By the time we went to bed it had stopped snowing but was incredibly cold. I didn't think we would have anymore snow as the sky was clear and I could see stars - not a snow cloud around.

What I didn't expect was to get up this morning and find...............

....... it had more or less all gone!

Overnight the temperature had risen from -2c to +4c!

I can only assume it was the wind direction that had changed. As we drove into town to change yet more bottles there was a few traces of snow still hanging on to the north facing slopes of the mountain but they would soon be gone.

By mid-afternoon we were seeing sunshine and +10c.

In the sun the thermometer was showing +20c.

The forecast shows the next 2 weeks are mild, daytime temperatures around 14-16c! The snow is only expected at heights above 2,000m, well above us.

Bizarre!

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.

A morning surprise.

Winter has been late starting in this part of Spain this year. Only last week one of the locals was commenting how we had been having such a warm start to the winter and the lack of rain was beginning to be a concern but yesterday started with a heavy sky and rain always looked likely.

About 5pm we were aware that it was raining quite heavily. I say we were aware because this house is so well built, with such thick walls of concrete and a very solid roof, that you don’t hear the rain, even when it is torrential – and it was.

It rained all night and was still rain this morning, although a little less enthusiastically. Whenever we have bad weather the satellite signal for the TV can break up and in extreme weather, we lose the signal all together. Last night we had about half an hour where it looked possible we would lose the signal, but it managed to keep it together right through the X-Factor final.

I woke about 7am with the rain still falling, so I made a coffee and went back to bed to watch the news as the dogs would not be in a rush to go out.

About 8am we suddenly lost both BBC and ITV programmes and I assumed the rains had got heavier but it was getting to a time when the dogs would need to go out regardless of the weather.

And that was when I got a big surprise. I opened the front door to let them out and saw this…….

The skies were heavy with snow and everywhere was turning white. Brinkley was out there without hesitation, Brandy was not so keen at first but eventually he too went out.

I quickly put on my boots, big coat and gloves and went out with them. It was wonderful – so peaceful, so pretty and so much fun. The dogs were racing around, exploring all their usual favourite haunts that now looked and smelled so different. We walked across the hills as the snow continued to fall and I could see that there was plenty more to come.

Neil and I needed to go into town to change some gas bottles (we can’t run out with this weather) and to do some shopping. We also needed to collect my car. As we set off there was plenty of snow on the road but within a couple of kilometres, having dropped some 1,000 feet, the roads were clear of snow and easy to drive. Once in town we met our neighbours so decided to go for a coffee and talk ‘snow’ and ‘Christmas’ and ‘shopping’. It was a nice way to pass half an hour before we went our separate ways.

When we called for the little car we were told by the garage that the heather plugs were fine but they had needed to replace the diesel filter and clean some contacts and that it seemed ok now. We will find out when I try to start it in the morning, especially if it continues to snow through the night.

As I type this, the snow has stopped and the hills are looking a bit greener than they were so it has obviously warmed up a little bit but we do have more snow forecast. Tomorrow morning could be another surprise.

It's got a name!

After a bit of Googling - I've found out the intese rains we have had this week have a name - the Gota Fria (the Cold Drop) - and it happens at the change from summer to autumn.

From Spanish Wiki: The cold drop, is a non-frontal extratropical atmospheric disturbance that can cause exceptional violent and intense rainfall during a few hours or days with lightening and hail.

Spanish news this week has been dominated by stories of the devastation caused by this weeks rains.

I'm not sure having a name makes it any better BUT it does seem to be over for this year, the sun is back.

How much water?

During the night we had a massive thunderstorm but by the time we got up everywhere had dried out except the washing I had forgotten to bring in. That's all been through the machine again and this time is drying inside.



Now, the roof terrace is all flooded again. The terrace has a drain off spout which is currently pouring faster than our hosepipe.

At least it saves mopping up!

Well, the rain has stopped but somewhere there is a lot of water flooding an electricity sub-station closeby. We have now had in excess of 20 power cuts ranging from a few seconds to several minutes. Fortunately we have managed to time it right for making a Sunday roast, coffee as and when and remembered to light the candles before it got too dark to find them.

The joys of Spain in heavy rain.

What a storm!

I remember the first week we moved to Spain we had a few storms, thunder, lightening, torrential rain - the works. Over the months we have been here we've had storms from time to time, normally after a hot sunny day.

Monday started off hot and sunny, we were on the golf course bathed in sunshine for several hours before the clouds started to gather over the hills and I said it looked as if it may rain.

What an understatement that was!

It was already getting dark so it was difficult to know how much the clouds added to the darkness but the rain came suddenly, huge big drops like someone was tipping a bucket of water over your head. Then the distant rumbles of thunder and the occasional flash of lightening.

Then it turned into a full blown electrical storm. The lightening was so frequent there wasn't time for thunder in between. Massive bolts of lightening striking down through the sky and hitting ground somewhere not too far away. All the roads were awash with rivers running down them. The house electric went off and we lit candles as we knew even if it came back on, it would go off again soon.

We were planning to go bowling and decided we would still go and hope there was power to the centre. As we drove through the storm it became obvious how big the storm was. There was lightening out to sea, there was lightening over the mountains. It lit the sky as bright as midday. It was a cracker.

As we arrived in Aguilas we passed by a Rambla, the dry river bed was a good 4 or 5 feet deep with rain water and flowing at an alarming speed towards the sea - anyone or anything in the Rambla would be washed out to sea with out a doubt.

The storm continued for a few hours, but the power was on at the Bowling Alley and so we were away from it for a couple of hours and when we left the underground carpark, the rain had stopped, the skies were clear and the roads were drying out.

Tuesday morning was dry, cloudless and sunny - the storm a memory for us but I can imagine some people would be in for a day of cleaning up.

Storms over here are awesome!

And finally it rains!

It had to happen - and finally at 7pm last night it did, we had rain - for about an hour! It's the first rain we've had since 23rd June - almost 12 weeks.

More is forecast for tomorow, we are into rainy season - just as we have people coming over to see us. We've not had any visitors through the intense heat of summer, but in the next couple of weeks we have one of Neil's sons coming over and then our American friends will be here.

I do hope we get the rain out of the way before they fly in from California - it would be such a shame for them to arrive to rain.

And of course, now the rains are starting - we'll soon be seeing the first signs of the autumn mossies! Better stock up on lots of mossie spray!

Summer's over - finally!

The temperature has finally dropped below 30c, the breeze has started to blow again, there is silence where there were screams of toursists jumping into pools, we can no longer smell charred beefburgers on BBQ's, it only takes 5 minutes to pop into the local supermarket for a loaf of bread (instead of 45 minutes) and my Spanish classes resume this week.

Summer is over, life can begin again!