The man from Iberbanda, he says No!

Oh my goodness!

How will I survive?

Cancel the removal van!

The man from Iberbanda didn't even get his signal monitor out of his van, he drove down to the house, took one look at the next hill and said an emphatic No Way!

Well, not quite - he said, 'Lo siento, no es possible!'

Oh sorry, Iberbanda are the company who can provide phone and internet links to remote homes. In Velez they cover 80% of the area with their network of masts, and we live in the 20% they don't cover. There is a big hill directly between our house and the transmission mast so a link is impossible.

So, we now need to go down the route of having a satellite link for our phone and internet. Means for a while I'll need to to do all my work offline, then get into the car with my laptop and drive 500m to the end of the dirt track that is our drive, where I have a Vodaphone signal to send everything. Or, I can just go and find myself a café, and sit and drink coffee while typing away. For the time being, I'm hanging onto my Vodaphone dongle - they will have to fight me to take it back before we're connected at the house.

Now time to Google satellite phones!

Hey Ho, nothing is ever simple, is it?

Ikea, Murcia - what a trip.

We had been looking for a cooker, to run on LPG, and had seen one on the Repsol website (Spain's equivalent of Calor) but had been struggling to get a price. So, having Googled LPG Cookers, Spain - imagine my surprise when Ikea came up. But, having checked their website here in Spain, they do indeed do a cooker, just what we were looking for, €899.



So, as much as we weren't keen, we needed a trip to the store in Murcia as I couldn't order it on-line, only in store!



Then, out of the blue (well, after a rather frustrated e-mail to Repsol) I received a phone call telling me that they had the price of the cooker we were interested in, and also a cheaper version (that immediately told me the one we liked was expensive). So, I sent a text with my e-mail address on and the sent me through the details.



A cooker, very similar to the Ikea one was double the price. The cheaper one was more expensive than the one in Ikea and we didn't like it as much. Definitely needed a trip to Ikea.



Now, this could turn into a really long winded post, but that wouldn't achieve much. You've all been to Ikea, you know how it works, it's busy, you spend ages waiting for someone to deal with you (and Spanish queueing is just the same in Ikea, so very confusing) you buy much more than you went for, you wander aimlessly around the aisles looking for the one item you forgot to make a note of, and then you battle your way to a checkout where you wait for an eternity.



Yes, we did all this - we went for a cooker, which will be delivered direct to the house and the extractor hood that we would take home with us. Lucy wanted a small bookcase, a pack of 3 pairs of scissors and a catalogue, well, better make that 2 and we'll have one as well.



So, why then did we end up hiring a van to take home ALL that we bought?



Well, we needed wardrobes for 2 bedrooms, storage in the study, bits for the kitchen - oh, you know how it is. We really couldn't face another trip to Ikea - so we got it all while we were there. Then, of course, it wouldn't fit in the car (not that we tried) and if it had, was so heavy I think the exhaust pipe would have been dragging on the road.



Deliveries are still a bit difficult because we aren't always at the house and even when we are, don't have a phone signal so if they can't find the place (and it isn't easy) they can't get in touch to ask for help.



Then I noticed a sign saying van hire - seemed a good idea. So, we sorted it all out, loaded up and by this time it was after 9pm. So, we had an hours drive to the house, unload, and then an hours drive to home. By the time we had picked the dogs up from Lucy's and arrived home it was almost midnight.



But that's only half the story, because having bought all the stuff to avoid having to have another trip to Ikea, of course now, we had to go back today to return the van! On a Saturday - nightmare!



We'd left the van at the house because we would be paying mileage over 160km, so today we had to do an hour to the house, an hour to Ikea and another hour home. Murcia was manic, Ikea was heaving, the carpark nearest the store was closed because it was full, we couldn't find a petrol station to fill the van up before returning it, and so it goes on.........



But, we are back home now, have everything we need at the house ready to build and get the rooms ready, and we have just over a week before we move in.



I really hope I don't go to Ikea for a long time, and if I do - definitely not on a Saturday.

More official bits.

Back up to Pulpí this morning to pick up our renewed Padron certificates. It seems we were right on our summation about Market Day because today the office was busy. I had to stand in a type of queue for over 40 minutes until it was my turn. Let me explain what I mean by a 'type of queue'. Here in Spain they don't form a queue as we know it, i.e. one person standing behind another and you just join the end. Oh no, that's too easy to work out. Here, they walk through the door, ask who is the last person and then wander off and stand anywhere. It's OK once you know how it works, but terribly confusing if you don't.

So, having left with my 2 new certificates I headed off for Aguilas to get certified copies of my Passport and Drivers Licence, another requirement when you are buying a car (well, it is here in Almeria, it could be different elsewhere - so if you're thinking of buying a 2nd hand car in Spain, ask what documents you need, I've been told by someone else that they needed their residencia!).

I called at our solicitor's office to pick up a copy of the Schedule of Works licence for the reformation of our house, which we are now being asked for in order for the office at Velez to (hopefully) find our house on their computer and sort out our Padron up there. I asked her where I needed to go to get the certified copies and she told me the Notary Office. There are 2 in Aguilas so I toottled off to the nearest one which she said would be the quickest to sort it and when I got there they told me the Notary was on holiday this week. So, I about turned and went to the other one where I was told they only do them on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays - not Fridays!

Guess where I'm going on Monday!

Official Bits.

Having been unable to register on the padron at our new place, I went up to Pulpí today to renew our exisiting padron. Neil is buying me a little run around car and we need a current certificate to be able to have the car documents transferred to us. It would have been easier to have it registered to our new place but it's taking too long to sort and I don't want to lose the car.

It's a little, white Citroen Saxo - and I had a little Saxo for the last few months I lived in Sheffield.

Anyway, back on topic.

When we were on our way to Pulpí I remembered it was market day so this would mean one of two things. Either the Town Hall would be busy because everyone had come into town for the market and would sort their official bits out at the same time OR it would be quiet because everyone would assume it would be busy because it was market day.

Fortunately for me, it was the latter. There was no-one at the renewals desk so I was seen straight away, 2 minutes later I was done and I collect the new certificates on Friday, having paid my €1.20 per copy.

Then I needed to renew our road tax. In Spain road tax is not such a strict matter as in the UK. When we bought our car in June last year the road tax ran until end of December, the calendar year. Our Town Hall only issue renewals in April, payable within a fixed number of days at a bank. They stamp the renewal form to prove payment is made and you carry this with you in the car. So effectively you drive around with an out of date road tax and if you get stopped, it's not a problem.

Well, when you buy a new car it can take over 12 months to get into the system and so we missed getting the normal renewal notice in April. It's been waiting for me to go to Pulpí to sort it out and today was the first time I had a need to go so we have effectively been driving with no road tax for 10 months - but it's not a problem - well, I tell you, it was a problem for me everytime we drove past the police stopping cars for a paperwork check - mild panic was certainly present. Fortunately we have not been stopped to test the theory.

I found the office in the Town Hall that deals with Road Tax renewals and explained we didn't get a reminder. He asked for the registration document which I had, and he typed the details into his computer and a couple of minutes later I had my renewal notice. It has a list of the banks you can pay it at and there are 2 immediately opposite the Town Hall and so I went straight across and paid it - €84 for our Kia Sportage - a lot cheaper than in the UK.

I was really pleased how easy it had been, normally such things can take hours, but not today. We had time to call for some paint so that I could start decorating our bedroom.

Just need to remember to go back on Friday - and you watch, I'll be waiting in a long queue just to pick up the papers!

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.

Lights.

I love the big light in the entrance hall, it gives off alovely warm glow and will be wonderful on a dark evening.

Outside we decided to include a fan for those warm, summer evenings sitting outside with a glass of wine enjoying the views.

In the Study I've gone for something a bit modern - an inverted goldfish bowl.

And of course, we needed a big fan in the bedroom for those hot summer nights! (Now, how many of you read that and didn't have John Travolta sing it to you in your head? - well, if you didn't then - you have now!)

Fans also in the lounge area. They all took a lot of building but they were worth the effort - we love how they all look.

More problems with electrics!

Followers of this blog who have been with me since the start of the year (and before) may remember the problems we had with the electrics here in the first week, that we couldn't turn the toaster and the kettle on at the same time without tripping out, that the microwave tripped out everytime and before starting to cook dinner we always had to light at least one candle.

Well, history is repeating itself at our new place. We took a spare toaster and microwave up there so we could at least have some lunch and coffee - but no way! The toaster has tripped the electrics at least twice and the microwave is not letting the toaster have it all it's own way.

The odd thing is, unlike at the villa, it's not tripping at the fuseboard in the house.

The first time the electrics tripped we sent a text to Jose, who we got the property from and although we had no contact from him, the electric was on a couple of hours later - we thought maybe there had been a power cut - after all, it's not as if we have street lights to check or a neighbour to see if they have any lights on - we were quite literally 'in the dark'.

A couple of days later we were once again suddenly without power and this time it didn't come on until the following day - we were without power for about 20 hours - such a good job we aren't living there yet.

So, I spoke with Tony, the agent, to see whether there was something we needed to know about the power supply or whether we would need to get a generator as back up for these frequent periods without electric.

I remember when I first bumped into our neighbour, she was so envious that we had mains power as they were still waiting for theirs to be connected after 12 months of living in their house (they should be connected next Wednesday, according to the latest update).

Anyway, I felt envious of the constant hum of her generator this week - at least it kept going.

Yesterday, the power went off again - not good when you are having a day working on the lights, you need power to at least see that they work ok. Normally, I wait until the end of the day to send texts, when we are in the car, on the road and back in sight of the phone mast - but not today. I shut the dogs in the house (or they would follow me up to the road) and took the car until I could get a signal to be able to text Jose again.

Within the hour he was at the house and said he would show Neil how to reset the power, and off they went for a drive.

Now, it turns out that although we have mains power, it's not a direct supply. We actually have a cable running from the nearest television mast, with a trip switch on the side of the building that houses the electrics for the TV mast. All legal, it was installed over 20 years ago and probably, in it's day, was incredibly up to date for a country house to have mains power - but not today. There is this large black cable that seems to run down the hill to the house, held up by homemade posts and at one point, looks to be joined by a large clump of tape - all rather Heath Robinson-ish.

When our power trips, it doesn't need resetting in the house, oh no, you have to don hiking boots and a back-pack to climb up to the top of the hill , to the base of the TV mast and reset the switch up there. Not exactly convenient but, for now, the only way of getting power back on.

Jose then told us that next week, he will be digging a trench with his tractor - from our house, down the valley, up the other side because we are being connected to the new electricity tower that our neighbours are being connected to. They have waited over a year, we aren't even living in the house yet but already look as if we will be connected up directly to the grid.

Hopefully that will be then end of the power cuts and the uphill hikes - but until then, we just turn the trips to reset the trip switch into fun dog walks.