Monday, September 29, 2008
Sam
I woke up this morning to find that Sam had not only got into the bed, but he was led on his back, with his head on the pillow and his front paws peeking out over the duvet. How on earth did he survive in living rough - with no duvets to keep him warm or pillows on which to rest his weary head - I asked Ian. Ian pointed out that it was probably Sam's quickness to learn that meant that he did survive. He certainly does appear to be adapting to a life of luxury! I do have to keep thinking back to how he was when we found him as he really is a different dog now!
He hasn't had a fit since last Saturday, nothing has changed other than Petal is no longer in season and we've increased his food to try and get his weight up a little. His fits didn't get any where near like they did last time, when they were coming within a 24 hour period. As always, there's nothing we can do other than keep an eye on him.
Bob is sulking as we washed Baby. In fairness, he'd left Baby outside for a week so I didn't think he'd notice if I popped it in the washing machine. He did. And he's not happy!
He hasn't had a fit since last Saturday, nothing has changed other than Petal is no longer in season and we've increased his food to try and get his weight up a little. His fits didn't get any where near like they did last time, when they were coming within a 24 hour period. As always, there's nothing we can do other than keep an eye on him.
Bob is sulking as we washed Baby. In fairness, he'd left Baby outside for a week so I didn't think he'd notice if I popped it in the washing machine. He did. And he's not happy!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Well Water
Of course, other exciting things happened too last weekend. Not least the fact that we measured the well. We've had a dry summer (until last Sunday, of course) so the well must be at a low point. We were delighted to see that there was still plenty of water. The water is about 12 feet down and there is about another 12 foot before you hit the well floor. We're going to sort out a pump as this will be excellent for so many things. The water pressure is quite low at the moment so it would be great to be able to use our well water. Jim worked out what sort of pump we would require so - soon - it will be all systems go! A can feel a pond coming on....!
We've also thought again about the building work. Ian has worked out that we ought to be able to run a waste water pipe from the living room to the drain without having to dig up the yard or the living room floor. This means that turning the living room into a kitchen could be feasible as it won't cost too much extra.
We've spoken to the builders and sent the a copy of the latest plan so we'll get a final quote for the work taking into account the latest developments and take it from there. The first priority will be the walls and windows and bathroom, so the rest of it will take shape later. We're not in any rush so as long we get the basics in place, everything else can slot in as and when.
How exciting!
We've also thought again about the building work. Ian has worked out that we ought to be able to run a waste water pipe from the living room to the drain without having to dig up the yard or the living room floor. This means that turning the living room into a kitchen could be feasible as it won't cost too much extra.
We've spoken to the builders and sent the a copy of the latest plan so we'll get a final quote for the work taking into account the latest developments and take it from there. The first priority will be the walls and windows and bathroom, so the rest of it will take shape later. We're not in any rush so as long we get the basics in place, everything else can slot in as and when.
How exciting!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
You're not going to believe this...
So, we were heading towards Seville to take Jim and Viv to the train station when, just outside Monestario, the car made a funny noise. Ian pulls over and takes a look under the bonnet and finds the remains of the fan belt.
Deja Vu anyone...?
We drive - slowly - to Monestario. Ian found a garage and we headed in - thankful for the fact that we left earlier than we needed to. We got to the garage at about 1.45 - and they would be closing at 2 for siesta.
This time the fan belt snapped because the alternator had jammed, so although we had places to go - the car was staying firmly put. The nice garage man informed us that no, we could not hire a car and no, there were no trains. But happily there were buses! He kindly said he'd take us to a bus station - this was a slight exaggeration. He took us to a bar with a bus stop outside.
However, things actually worked out OK. The bus came about an hour later and whisked Jim and Viv to Seville. We waited another hour and got the bus to Fuente de Cantos. J&V got a taxi to the Seville train station and the rest of their trip went to plan. We got to Fuente and found out that the bus to Villagarcia wasn't for another three hours - however we rang Mike who had us home within 15 minutes!
Phew.
However, this probably won't be the thing that J&V remember the break for, as they started it in style by having a case stolen from Malaga train station. When we met Jim at Seville all he had was what he was stood up in - literally. The only slightly positive point was that they didn't get his passport - but they did everything else. So, on Friday we'd planned to go to Badajoz anyway - and just as well. Let's just say that there are at least two shop assistants whose day - week - or probably month was made by the mad 'Ingleses' wandering round El Cortes Ingles trying to work out the sizing to buy Jim an emergency wardrobe. Luckily one of the ladies rose to the challenge - dressing him in the store to make sure that everything fitted.
Naturally things don't end there.
The Malaga and Seville police were less than enamored at the thought of writing a report - but luckily, accompanied with Adelardo who wasn't going to take no for an answer, the police in Llerena were happy to write up the report. Ok - 'happy' is a slight exaggeration - particularly as it took the best part of two hours to get a very detailed report.
Oh yes, did I mention there was a fiesta this weekend - how that pales into insignificance!
This morning I switched my computer on to do some work as we'd taken the weekend off and I stared at the screen in surprise - I was amazed that it was only four days ago that I'd last logged on - it felt like months ago!!
J&V got home safely!
The car will be ready tomorrow - who will be next for Will-We-Get-Home Roulette...?
Click here for a bigger map
Press the small 'x' to close the white marker that is in the middle of the map.
Deja Vu anyone...?
We drive - slowly - to Monestario. Ian found a garage and we headed in - thankful for the fact that we left earlier than we needed to. We got to the garage at about 1.45 - and they would be closing at 2 for siesta.
This time the fan belt snapped because the alternator had jammed, so although we had places to go - the car was staying firmly put. The nice garage man informed us that no, we could not hire a car and no, there were no trains. But happily there were buses! He kindly said he'd take us to a bus station - this was a slight exaggeration. He took us to a bar with a bus stop outside.
However, things actually worked out OK. The bus came about an hour later and whisked Jim and Viv to Seville. We waited another hour and got the bus to Fuente de Cantos. J&V got a taxi to the Seville train station and the rest of their trip went to plan. We got to Fuente and found out that the bus to Villagarcia wasn't for another three hours - however we rang Mike who had us home within 15 minutes!
Phew.
However, this probably won't be the thing that J&V remember the break for, as they started it in style by having a case stolen from Malaga train station. When we met Jim at Seville all he had was what he was stood up in - literally. The only slightly positive point was that they didn't get his passport - but they did everything else. So, on Friday we'd planned to go to Badajoz anyway - and just as well. Let's just say that there are at least two shop assistants whose day - week - or probably month was made by the mad 'Ingleses' wandering round El Cortes Ingles trying to work out the sizing to buy Jim an emergency wardrobe. Luckily one of the ladies rose to the challenge - dressing him in the store to make sure that everything fitted.
Naturally things don't end there.
The Malaga and Seville police were less than enamored at the thought of writing a report - but luckily, accompanied with Adelardo who wasn't going to take no for an answer, the police in Llerena were happy to write up the report. Ok - 'happy' is a slight exaggeration - particularly as it took the best part of two hours to get a very detailed report.
Oh yes, did I mention there was a fiesta this weekend - how that pales into insignificance!
This morning I switched my computer on to do some work as we'd taken the weekend off and I stared at the screen in surprise - I was amazed that it was only four days ago that I'd last logged on - it felt like months ago!!
J&V got home safely!
The car will be ready tomorrow - who will be next for Will-We-Get-Home Roulette...?
Click here for a bigger map
Press the small 'x' to close the white marker that is in the middle of the map.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Prickly Pear Scrumping
We went out prickly pear scrumping today. Based on the fact that our Aloe Vera has grown like a triffid this summer and we see them growing wild locally, we thought that perhaps we ought to look at other native plants, rather than trying to get BizzieLizzies to grow. The fig cuttings that I took earlier in the year have grown well too - so we settled on the other plant that we were certain that we saw a lot of - the prickly pear. Our plan was to find some and take a few cuttings which (should) be easy to root. Armed with leather gauntlets and Ian's (asparagus) hunting knife, we set off on our adventure. After an hour or so of driving around we the only prickly pears we saw were too close to a village to be able to start chopping cuttings off.
We did, however, find a lake - well, a reservoir.
We also wondered what these sheep were doing in the field - as they were walking exactly like they are in this pic, in formation. They were all in shadow from each other - except the poor sheep at the front of the row. They're not daft!!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Pictures from the Village Magazine
'A Year in Pictures'
To see the pictures full size, click on the picture. To get it back to the normal size, press the back button when you've finished.
To see the pictures full size, click on the picture. To get it back to the normal size, press the back button when you've finished.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Rain!
It is raining today for the first time in nearly three months. Interestingly this is exactly the weekend last year when it rained after the summer (and we flooded). I will always remember - not just the nightmare of the water in the house, twice - but the look on the kitten's faces as they'd never seen rain. Not only was it coming from the sky, it was also chasing them through the house!
No sign of any flooding, although the gutter will be in a worse state than it was last year, so we'll be keeping a close eye on things. Once the gutter is sorted we'll be fine. Half the water will go into the street and the other half appears to go into our neighbours yard!
We were going to go to the antique market again today, but we were thinking it might not run in the rain - so that will be a treat to look forward to for next month.
No sign of any flooding, although the gutter will be in a worse state than it was last year, so we'll be keeping a close eye on things. Once the gutter is sorted we'll be fine. Half the water will go into the street and the other half appears to go into our neighbours yard!
We were going to go to the antique market again today, but we were thinking it might not run in the rain - so that will be a treat to look forward to for next month.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Hummingbird Hawk Moth
We get a lot of these little fellows in the yard, by the Jasmine bush and they were featured on Radio 4 last night - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/species/humming-bird-hawk-moth/
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
September
Wow - how did that happen! One moment it was the beginning of the summer, and next we're at the end of it. Actually the end really ends after the village fiesta later in September. Then the swimming pool closes and shops start opening at 5 again instead of 5.
The village has started to get back to normal. It must double in size during August when families come home for a holiday. Houses get opened up and families descend on mass for the month, mainly from Madrid and Barcelona. There seems to be a fairly large population of ex-Villagarcia-ites living in Catalonya.
The weather is a tad cooler - by no means cold. We're not waking up to the sauna type weather that we were having. We haven't had to find anything other than t-shirts and shorts yet! Of course, it was this time last year that we flooded, so we are watching the skies with interest.
Needless to say, we've started to think about changing our plans on the house - turn the front room into a kitchen and the current kitchen into a bedroom. We're going to ask the builder to come round and talk about it. We popped into see the carpenter today too, I don't think that we got him to quote for the internal doors, so we'll have to do this soon so we know what the total cost for all the work we're planning. At least we can then prioritize - so far all we've really got sorted is deciding on light switches!
Sam has recovered from his operation well - very well in fact. Last time he was pulling on his stitches, however this time he is just ignoring them. The fact that his scar is on his thigh might have something to do with this and not where 'huevos' normally are - perhaps it wasn't so sensitive. He's had another couple of fits. Not a lot we can do, we'll just have to watch him.
Tomorrow night there's 'traditional dancing' in the square - sounds interesting!
The village has started to get back to normal. It must double in size during August when families come home for a holiday. Houses get opened up and families descend on mass for the month, mainly from Madrid and Barcelona. There seems to be a fairly large population of ex-Villagarcia-ites living in Catalonya.
The weather is a tad cooler - by no means cold. We're not waking up to the sauna type weather that we were having. We haven't had to find anything other than t-shirts and shorts yet! Of course, it was this time last year that we flooded, so we are watching the skies with interest.
Needless to say, we've started to think about changing our plans on the house - turn the front room into a kitchen and the current kitchen into a bedroom. We're going to ask the builder to come round and talk about it. We popped into see the carpenter today too, I don't think that we got him to quote for the internal doors, so we'll have to do this soon so we know what the total cost for all the work we're planning. At least we can then prioritize - so far all we've really got sorted is deciding on light switches!
Sam has recovered from his operation well - very well in fact. Last time he was pulling on his stitches, however this time he is just ignoring them. The fact that his scar is on his thigh might have something to do with this and not where 'huevos' normally are - perhaps it wasn't so sensitive. He's had another couple of fits. Not a lot we can do, we'll just have to watch him.
Tomorrow night there's 'traditional dancing' in the square - sounds interesting!