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Mothering Sunday was very different this year with the boys so far away but Michael's sister, Wendy, and her husband, Alan, were staying with us so we consoled each other over the absence of our respective offsprings and determined to have a good day! The lads prepared a champagne breakfast on the terrace - we were blessed with lovely warm sunny weather the entire week of their visit. After a luxuriously leisurely breakfast Alan decided it was time for some exercise and suggested
we walked to the ruin that we can see on a distant hill from our roof terrace. (Just visible to the left of the clump of trees on the hill) Suitably attired and well underway, we somehow managed to miss the footpath completely and found ourselves amidst the olive trees walking laterally across the downward slope of the olive grove that was becoming steeper and steeper by the minute! Never having been the most sure-footed person, I was finding it harder and harder to keep my footing and combined with a completely illogical fear of slipping - which conjured up a vision of bouncing from one olive tree trunk to the next all the way to the bottom of the hill - I became frozen to the spot! Wendy was faring much better than I but even with her encouragement I refused to move another step. At that point the lads decided to do a right turn up the slope to check out the possibility of a final vertical climb to the top. Thankfully, on reaching the top, they shouted down that we could reach the ruin from there so, Wendy and I began the ascent - on all fours - which prompted much giggling, only adding to the difficulty of climbing on the loose, crumbling clay soil! I finally managed to reach the top ahead of Wendy and burst out laughing when I looked back and, seeing Wendy struggling up on all fours, realised what a hilarious
sight we were - though humour seemed to have deserted poor Wendy who was moving upward two paces and slipping back one! Once we were reunited with the lads, we walked the last few metres to the ruin - only to find the perfectly good track we should have used! That at least dispersed the horrible nagging fear that had been fast growing into panic at the thought of having to g
o back the way we'd come and we all dis
solved into laughter at the silliness of what we'd just put ourselves through - though I have a suspicion the lads wouldn't have missed it for the world!! And it wasn't even a ruin worth the effort - just a very old, large, dilapidated old house. However, the views were spectacular and having got our breath back we headed off back to the main road - via the proper pathway this time!
As we reached the village, we were very fortunate to find a couple of chaps putting their olive harvest of the day through the olive sorting/cleaning plant (there are 3 of these plants in the village). They were very keen to explain the process as we watched the entire automated mechanical process via a series of conveyor belts from the separating of olives from the leaves/stones to washing, rinsing, extracting samples for grading and finally dropping into the hopper where they await the lorry which takes them to the processing plant for extracting oil or marinating.
By the time we reached home Wendy and I had decided the day would be perfectly rounded off by a meal at the lakeside restaurant - and the lads dutifully treated us all to a superb meal after which we enjoyed a gentle wander to the water's edge as the sun sank lower in the sky and cast a beautiful silver path across the lake - so peaceful and beautiful.
It had been a wonderful Mother's Day, made complete and perfect by the beautiful card I received from Jon and telephone call from Sam (who was in Spain on a 'lad's weekend') to say he'd just posted my card in Spain - the sentiments of both cards bringing a tear to my eye.
Almond blossom; our first visitor on the terrace; olive gathering
It was cold, very wet, grey wintry weather the day we left here for our trip home to England on 10th Feb. Just one week later we returned to find warm, sunny weather and spring had sprung! Beautiful patches of pinks and whites woven between the olive trees and along the roadside where the almond trees were heavy with blossom; clear blue skies; warm sunshine, the wonderful fresh green grass (though this will be short lived either killed off by the heat of the sun or spraying of the olive groves once the harvest is in), a plethora of bright yellow where the local wildflowers were boasting their beauty. It was hard to believe this was the same place we had left just one week previously! We wasted no time in organising our roof terrace kitchen, fridge and furniture ready to enjoy this wonderful weather and in preparation for all the visits of family and friends now firmly in the calendar over the next few months.
This summer weather wasn't to last sadly and within a week we had days of torrential rain and gale force winds which resulted in a very erratic supply of electricity for 2 days (fortunately all our heating and cooking is done by gas). We could hear things being hurled around outside and when the storm abated and we ventured out it was clear up time! Everyone was out repairing blinds, shutters, clearing the street of debris, a ceiling was down in one house - there was even a makeshift dog kennel that had been hurled up in the air and landed up in someone else's backyard! However, thankfully, the bad weather cleared after a few days and calm was restored - along with warm sunshine and blue skies and it now seems very settled with temperatures climbing daily. Trips to the lake have become more interesting with some fascinating pieces of driftwood to be found floating around the lake edge as a result of the stormy weather. A number of pieces now adorn our roof terrace! I'm still working on how I'm going to get some of the most beautiful pieces back home!!
The harvesting of the olives is now well underway, seriously hampered and delayed with such a bad long winter for this area. It's fascinating to see how they shake the trees so the olives fall onto the nets laid out under the tree - just one tree at a time which is some feat when you see the millions (trillions?!) of olive trees mile after mile in this area of Andalucia. Those obstinate olives that still hang onto the branches are knocked off with long sticks and when the tree is devoid of the fruit, the nets are gathered and the olives tipped into the trailers pulled by 4x4s, small tractors even saloon cars - anything in fact that will pull a trailer - though not seen a donkey yet! (We hear them all trundling through the village early every morning.) Once gathered the olives are taken to one of three sorting machines in the village where they are tipped onto what looks like a cattle grid and manually pushed/swept through the bars - they then go through a sorting process via various conveyor belts to separate the olives from branches, leaves, stones and they are finally washed and rinsed before tipping from the last conveyor into a hopper which is opened over a large open truck which then takes the olives to the processing plant for bottling or pressing for the oil.
We have discovered if one asks for vino blanco in this region you don't get what you expect! A glass of 15% sherry-like wine is served - and it's most delicious! We're hoping to be taken around a vineyard to see the process from start to finish and sample some Fino.
I have decided it might be rather fun to do a photographic project on people - there are some lovely characters around here. Take the other day when our elderly next door but one neighbour was sitting out in the sunshine in the street on her little kitchen chair just outside her front door doing some sewing - she was very accommodating when I asked if I could take a few photos. Yesterday she was there again - this time prepping some beans for supper but sporting a lovely little straw hat to shade her from the fierce sun (it's now reaching 50 degrees C in the sunshine). I couldn't resist another attempt at capturing a snapshot of life in this village. I took her a print of one of the photos I took last week and she was so tickled with it! Though I'm feeling very happy with the way the Spanish is coming along I still have so very much to learn of this language so it was with difficulty that I tried to understand all she was saying to me. However, she soon took me by the hand and led me inside her house to show me her home and family photos including the black and white wedding photo of herself and her now deceased husband which had pride of place in her home. She talked me through all the folks in the pictures, who they were, their names - excellent experience for me even though I couldn't understand all of it! Finally we re-emerged into the sunshine - she back to her beans so I could take the photos - it was difficult to capture a natural pose since she was thoroughly enjoying 'playing' to the camera! I eventually returned home and was no sooner inside relating all this to Michael when I heard her in our lobby - there she was with her straw hat full of fresh oranges and eggs! What a touching gesture - I so love this place and the ways of the folks here. It's so unlike anything I've known in my lifetime.
We are now looking forward to sharing our 'temporary' home and our life here with all the friends and family booked to visit
We've just returned from The Alhambra Palace - but that's for another posting - such an experience deserves a slot all to itself!
Who said "The rain in Spain falls mostly on the plain" ? - well, they'd better come check the weather up here at 613 metres!
Weather aside, life both in this house and in the village continues to entertain and fascinate us and it feels like we've been here far longer than 5 weeks!
There was the morning we came across the pig in the middle of the street refusing all coaxing and cajoling by the guys and their sticks to go down the steep path off the street. When finally grabbed firmly by his ears he sat down on his haunches and had to be pulled/pushed, emitting ear-piercing screeches, down the path! Must be quite intuitive, pigs - a few hours later we saw one of the guys returning up the same path with some pork chops! And I think I want to witness the Matanza!
Not long after our arrival, desperately in need of some serious attention to my hair, Val (our neighbour and new-found friend) told me there was a hairdresser in the village and suggested we went up together one morning - visions of rollers and hood driers flew to mind!
So, that Friday morning (timed to coincide with the weekly doctor's surgery which means there's rarely anyone at the hairdressers!) we made our way to Incarne's house. This was a bit tricky as the entire little street had been dug up, out and down to about 4' leaving a very uneven, narrow pathway between the house frontages and the chasm beside us - it was nothing short of an assault course - including having to stoop down under the huge stabilising arms attached to the cement lorries and a very unsteady totter across unstable planks of wood where there was no longer any sort of pathway - health and safety? Then we had to repeat the whole 'course' again without much of a breather between since Incarne was out! Back to the village to get a couple of bits in the local shop and Val suggested a coffee in the bar where the fellas seem to enjoy their dominoes over their morning tipple. Hour or so later we were on our way back when Val suggested she introduce me to another English couple living in the village - so another hour or so later (very friendly, social folks here!) we finally headed back to Incarne - by now it was mid afternoon and 4 hours later so I decided I ought to pop in on Michael to let him know I was still on my way to the hairdresser!! Having survived the assault course first time round, we had to face the challenge once again - we found Incarne in. Val, being fluent in Spanish, explained what I wanted Incarne to do and she set to with speed with the scissors as I watched very anxiously! No rollers - no hood drier (though they were very much in evidence) my hair was blown dry - and to my delight an excellent result and all for 8 euros! However, she was determined that it would look 'mucha guapa' (very pretty) if I would allow her to do some highlights another day - as by now it was a very natural silver grey. A few days later Val and I returned - all I can say is, it took over 3 hours, looked absolutely fine and cost me all of 15 euros. However, the greatest revelation was the social event going to the hairdresser appears to be here. There's no appointment system - Incarne has a most flexible approach as clients arrive and it's not unusual to see her managing at least 3 clients at a time. When she reaches her limit folks wait their turn - helping remove rollers, washing hair, sweeping up - with constant chatter - how they all talk at the same time around here!! It seems that until reaching very mature years and allowing their hair to be a natural grey, all the women appear to have their hair tinted varying tones of brown. However, now Incarne has proudly shown them what she can do with my grey hair they all want highlights!!
Paying bills presents somewhat of a challenge - particularly the electric bill! The whole banking system in Spain is so very different to back home. We have a little bank in the village with the most helpful, accommodating bank manager I have ever met or are likely to meet in a lifetime and who is usually able to process utility bills. However, this electric bill is presenting some difficulties - it still remains unpaid over 2 weeks from our initial attempt. Attempt 1 was to pay cash at the village bank but for some reason cash couldn't be accepted. Attempt 2: we used our debit card from our Spanish account - no problem! Meantime, the electric company were giving us a deadline of 3 days before they would terminate the contract (ie cut us off!). However, a few days later we learnt our debit card payment had been refused! We had to pay into a branch of Caja Madrid only - OK, attempt 3: we go to Rute (nearest town about 20 mins away) to pay - ah, one problem, there is no Caja Madrid in Rute - but there is one in Lucena! By now we're out of time to get there before bank closing time! Attempt 4: off to Lucena well in time to get there (22 kms distance) and locate the bank before 2 p.m. Just as well as it took us nearly three quarters of an hour and visits to 3 other banks enquiring of non-English speaking staff, in my extremely limited Spanish, as to where we might find Caja Madrid. With thankful hearts we walked through the doors of Caja Madrid with half hour to spare - queued, reached the clerk, handed over bill and money - he spoke no English but I understood the messsage: "Martes - 09.00 - 10.30" - they only accept bill payments on Tuesdays between those hours! Was I to scream or laugh hysterically by this point! We headed for the nearest bar and enjoyed a glass if vino blanco with some yummy tapas which soon put us back in good humour again. Another interesting thing we've discovered: around here, if you order white wine, you get a rather dry sherry! So that's our saga of the electric bill - still unpaid and since we shall be in UK next and following Tuesday have had to hand all this over to Val to deal with next week! Hope she has more luck than we do - thanks a million Val!
We usually go to Rute together to get our gas cylinder refills but this morning I had a few bits to do so Michael tootled off on his own. He seemed to be gone rather a long time and on his return I found the reason why: he had had to stop to move boulders from the road in order to continue his journey as well as being held up while diggers pushed back the mud slides from the road - torrential and incessant rain throughout the night was the cause of all this! Speaking of mud slides - the week we arrived here (guess they heard we were coming) crash barriers were installed along the steep, winding road out of the village toward Rute. However, we'd already noticed on our walks that along one section of the road, where there was a steep drop a couple of meters from the edge of the road, the tarmac alongside that section was badly cracking - a few days after the barriers went in and after a particularly wet couple of days,the entire piece of land had completely dropped away by a good metre along with that section of road. We'd also noticed that a digger, that had been 'parked' very near this spot, had been completely ignored when erecting the barriers - which made us chuckle - "which way out now" we thought - and great planning! It's amazing the digger didn't topple down into the valley when the land shifted - it's so close! (see pics)
Sam and Sarah have been for a visit - it was grand to have them here for a couple of days. Day 1 the weather was dreadful: raining and very poor visibility so Plan B in place: we had a wander around the village, took the opportunity to introduce them to Pili, who runs the shop, a visit to Val and to see the amazing reformation going on in that wonderful large Spanish house she and Tim bought a while back. Then we took refuge in the local bar - starting with coffees then moving onto the stronger stuff....
So Sam and Sarah have had some introductions and a good initiation into village life! Day 2 the weather improved and we decided it was time to show them some of this beautiful area we so enjoy including a walk by the lake followed by lunch and rounding off the day with supper in our 'local' restaurant - a simple no frills bar/restaurant with the biggest fire place I've ever seen - where they burn tree trunks, not logs! We had a table right inside the fire place, snug and warm. We were a little concerned the youngsters may have expected a little more sophistication but no, it was just as Sam had hoped it would be. A sad moment when we said our goodbyes at the airport on the Sunday morning but we were much cheered by the fact they both want to come back as soon as possible! We shall be back in the UK for a week shortly then we will have Jon and Jen's visit end- March to look forward.
I think the weather forgot what it's supposed to be doing last Friday - the day dawned bright and sunny and warm. We were in the supermarket in Rute when we bumped into Val and Tim who suggested we meet up, when done with shopping, at a little bar in town- where we enjoyed a drink or two with the obligatory tapas outside in the warm sunshine - it was just like a summer's day! Next day winter was back but what a joy to experience that warm sunshine and reminds us of what's to come!
We've learnt not to check what's on the TV - best just to see what channels are available depending on the strength of the rainfall!
Sadly we've had to curtail our lessons with Meshe on the coast - we just can't justify the 3 hour round trip each week. However, in the few weeks we've been taking lessons with her we've become firm friends and will be going back end Feb for her birthday party and once the weather picks she's coming to visit us here. She's also organising some cultural/language trips - hiring a minibus and driver to take a group of us on day trips to some interesting places where we'll pick up an English speaking guide. Finishing the day with a meal where we shall all be encouraged to use the Spanish we've learnt. First one scheduled for second half Feb.
We're making the most of our time indoors and planning our trips. So far we've booked 3 nights in Seville to coincide with the Feria (the spring fair which follows on 2 weeks after Easter in most Spanish towns) and the best time of year to enjoy the heady perfume of the jasmine and orange blossom. Sounds like a week long party - most people dress in traditional costume; casetas (canvas tent pavilions) are set up to create a temporary tent city - rather like hundreds of hospitality tents/dance halls I guess with food and drink and dancing to the Sevillan music from lunch time to breakfast time the next day. The recommendation for tourists is to follow the lead of the Spaniards in pacing oneself in order to keep going!! Then there are daily parades of horses and decorated carriages. The atmosphere at these fairs is described as "typical Andalusian - relaxed yet intense." If you're interested in reading more check out the following link: http://www.andalucia.com/festival/seville-feria.htm.
We hope to combine exploring Sevilla with some partying - we'll keep you posted on that one!
A further 3 night stay booked for Cordoba to coincide with the patio festival - you will already know of this festival if you saw Monty Don's programme last year on gardens in the Mediterranean. We've managed to find a little gem of a hostel of Mudejar style architecture which will be an experience in itself.
The calendar is beginning to fill up with folks wishing to come and visit so there's lots to look forward to between now and end of June when we shall either be returning to the UK or continuing our life here for a while.
we walked to the ruin that we can see on a distant hill from our roof terrace. (Just visible to the left of the clump of trees on the hill) Suitably attired and well underway, we somehow managed to miss the footpath completely and found ourselves amidst the olive trees walking laterally across the downward slope of the olive grove that was becoming steeper and steeper by the minute! Never having been the most sure-footed person, I was finding it harder and harder to keep my footing and combined with a completely illogical fear of slipping - which conjured up a vision of bouncing from one olive tree trunk to the next all the way to the bottom of the hill - I became frozen to the spot! Wendy was faring much better than I but even with her encouragement I refused to move another step. At that point the lads decided to do a right turn up the slope to check out the possibility of a final vertical climb to the top. Thankfully, on reaching the top, they shouted down that we could reach the ruin from there so, Wendy and I began the ascent - on all fours - which prompted much giggling, only adding to the difficulty of climbing on the loose, crumbling clay soil! I finally managed to reach the top ahead of Wendy and burst out laughing when I looked back and, seeing Wendy struggling up on all fours, realised what a hilarious
sight we were - though humour seemed to have deserted poor Wendy who was moving upward two paces and slipping back one! Once we were reunited with the lads, we walked the last few metres to the ruin - only to find the perfectly good track we should have used! That at least dispersed the horrible nagging fear that had been fast growing into panic at the thought of having to g
o back the way we'd come and we all dis
solved into laughter at the silliness of what we'd just put ourselves through - though I have a suspicion the lads wouldn't have missed it for the world!! And it wasn't even a ruin worth the effort - just a very old, large, dilapidated old house. However, the views were spectacular and having got our breath back we headed off back to the main road - via the proper pathway this time!
