Nice Socks

Frost and Storks

We had the first frost on the roof this morning. The weather is very clear during the day, but this has meant the temperature has dropped a lot at night. It has been very mild.

The weather is perfect for cycling, in fact, I think this is my favorite time of year for cycling. It is nice that I can go any time, whereas during the hight of summer, there is actually just a relatively short bit of time in the early morning or evening because of the heat and in the autumn it is still hot during the day, but gets dark early so it's even more limited. Yesterday I did a round trip between here, Usagre and Bienvenida, I wore Ian's florescent jacket as there is a lot of hunting going on at the moment, and I didn't want to be mistaken for a wild animal. I am enjoying my new bike a lot, it's fun to ride and a lot more comfortable than my old one. I definitely made the right choice.

Apparently it is also perfect asparagus weather. The front page of the local newspaper featured a man from Monestario with a big armful of asparagus - two months early. I've kept an eye open, but not seen any yet. It did remind me that I wanted to make an asparagus bag for my bike.

We went to Merida today to do our Christmas shopping, which was basically a wine shop as we are trying to buy what we can in the village. We did need to stock up, however, on some nice wine for the festive season. We did make sure that the posh red wine we bought for Christmas day was local. We wanted to try something different so we picked one with an understated label, thinking that the money would go to the wine and not the packaging. On the way, we saw a flock of stocks circling. I tried to count them and there must have been over 100. They were all looping round in a clockwise direction, it was quite impressive.

Last week of classes this week before I break for a couple of weeks. I think we'll be having manualidades here on Saturday - crafts - as they all seem quite keen. That will be the usual mix of glitter, glue and over excited youngsters. Oh joy...

What a difference!

Here's Rosie now, doing one of her favorite things, which is making herself wet and muddy, compared to exactly a year ago when she first arrived.

2 Drips

Here is Anne, Rosie's sister winning a prize at a dog show in Galicia. It was for a category called 'gorilones' which isn't a word I know, however Galician is spoken in Galicia, so it could be a Galician word.

They say that Rosie and Anne are 'two drips', which is the same as saying that they are as alike as two peas. Two drips, however, is so much more appropriate...

Tiny Egg

Our chickens are very weird. They steadfastly choose to ignore the lovely snuggly bed they have, opting to huddle under it, rather than go up into it. I even tried putting the food up their. We then had to resort to picking them up and popping them in. However they just pecked at their food and then running down the ramp. They look so miserable huddled under the bedroom - however, as they say, you can take a chicken to the coop but you can't make him roost.

One of the chickens laid the tiniest of eggs. Here it is, compared to their normal eggs - which are small anyway - and compared to a euro / pound coin.

Bees Knees

There is a bee farm not far from us - we were interested to see that the hives are made from metal. I would have thought this made a rather nice little oven in the summer - but apparently the bees don't mind.

Happy Holidays!

The holiday season has begun. There are two holidays this week, tomorrow which is Constitution Day and Thursday which is Day of the Immaculate conception. There's then Christmas Day, which is a Sunday this year so Saturday and Monday will be normal working days as people aren't given a day in lieu if a holiday falls at the weekend, then New Year's Day, and then the Three Kings.

Some new decorations have been going up today - some rather splendid fairy light bell things, and not the paint sprayed footballs that were here when we first arrived. We went to Pepes at lunch time and enjoyed tapas of potato and roast pepper, while listening to someone at the bar whistling Jingle Bells with a Pasadoble beat. It was nice to have tapas that didn't look like some nasty remnants from an unusual part of an animal.

I am sure that the happy mood is no doubt due in part to the lovely weather. Huge turquoise skies and a bright winter sun. The fields are turning green again too. One of the nice things about living here is that we can go for a walk at 4.30 and the sun is still put until gone six. Just a shame I have classes most nights!

One of the saddest things about living here is that our cats keep disappearing. Tibs disappeared a couple of weeks ago. She is our last jumping cat, as the others are Pirata who would love to jump but can't see, Babbity Bumble who is too small, Miss Moppet who is too pretty to do anything so ungainly, and Schnukems who is, er, a little too chubby. We'd already agreed that we wouldn't get any more cats that can jump so we won't worry about them going out of the yard.

First Storks - 2011

Friday we saw the first storks of the year. There was one sat on the church tower. No signs of any others yet, and needless to say we immediately mused about what time they normally return. Hence the heading of this blog post, so I can take a look back this time next year when we have one of our ".... well what time did they return last year" conversations.

Etiquette

Now that it is cooler, the undertable heaters are coming out, blankets being put over tables and people gathering round table in bars. We really don't know what the etiquette is and when we are at Pepe's, do we just go and snuggle up with a group of old men sat round one of the tables, do we sit on our own - or stand at the bar shivering forlornly?

This is a problem that we haven't had to face before as we haven't been to Pepe's much in the autumn or winter before, however we try to go a couple of times a week now, so we will have to decide what our strategy is going to be.

We are going to Pepe's once or twice a week for two reasons, firstly, it is good to get out and see people over the age of 12 and secondly we are currently on a drive to spend money in the village. So we are doing the majority of our shopping in the village and frequenting Pepe's. The aim is to spend at least what I earn from classes back in the village. It is pretty much acknowledged that the crisis is passing us by, and the reason for this is that the village is very much self-sufficient with it's own micro economy - what's earnt here is spent here. We realise that in order to support this, we shouldn't be going to Llerena to buy things we can buy here. We're considering a new stove and found that we can get one in the village for the same price that we could buy one for online, so hopefully we'll find we can get most of what we need.

It's the general election soon and this is being treated with absolutely remarkable apathy. The national parties don't get much support here, nor does it appear that they bother canvassing. There's no posters, leaflets or anything else that even vaguely suggests that there is an election pending. This is completely different to the fervor and excitement that surrounded the local elections.

Rocky Ride

I was a little disappointed to find that the surface of my favorite cycle route had been washed away in part during the heavy rain. While it was passable, it turned what was a pleasant pooter through the countryside into a navigation of rough rock. I couldn't do this on my new bike so I had to look for a new route. I thought I'd try the track to Bienvenida on the other side of the main road and was delighted to find that not only was it in good condition, but the surface has recently been scraped, and channels dug at either side for drainage. It is perfect for my new bike. However it is not such a pretty ride and I can't help thinking of Cary Grant in North by North West, as I cycle over a definite plain. If I ever see a crop spraying aeroplane I will probably throw myself on the floor.

Happily the cold and wet spell has moved on. On the day I bundled myself up like the mitchellin man it rained when I was cycling, and I soon discovered that none of my layers were waterproof and I risked getting waterlogged and sinking. So I headed home. But after that the weather was perfect for cycling.

We were supposed to be getting our identity cards renewed today, however I bought some books from Amazon for my class and they are supposed to be coming today -so hope we don't get asked for our cards over the next day or so...

The Intrepid Cyclist

I nailed Kate's feet to the ground to get this shot without any motion blur. As you may have guessed by her gear, it's not as warm as it has been and I suspect she'll be achieving quite a pace just to keep warm.

Rad Doodette

A real rad doodette in her sick cycle gear.

Word!!

Burglars Beware!

Here they are, the three big dogs alert and primed for action as ever.

I accidentally managed to crop Kate out of this shot - she was sat on the floor in the foreground. Don't worry, she had a soft dog bed to keep her off the hard tiled floor.

Hail

We had a massive hail storm on Thursday. I'm not sure what the weather conditions are that cause hail, however I've never experienced hail storms like the big ones we occasionally have here. The hail stones were several inches deep outside after the storm and Rosie and Bentley were playing in it like children in snow. There were still hail stones left the next day. We had a little water in the house, but this time it wasn't too bad. Obviously as we weren't expecting guests the next day...

Wilbur has been making us smile as he snuggles down on the sofa and now in an arm chair. It was very funny as first we say Bentley get onto the sofa. He was very wobbly and looked very uncomfortable (although now he is confidently growing into a sofa dog). And then we saw Wilbur looking at the sofa and next thing we knew he was on it! I wonder if perhaps Bentley had a few failed attempts that bought Wilburs attention to it. He quite happily lies there surrounded by cats and dogs which is a nice way to integrate him.

We took Rosie for a walk through the olive grove where there was a pond that she used to swim in. I think the combination of a dry summer and Rosie now being fully grown, meant that she ended up standing in the pond up to her knees rather than swimming. She very much enjoyed it, and happlily dried off by the time we got home. I'd love to take her to a river or sea so she could swim, however perhaps we'll just wait for a while and find her a pond near here for her to enjoy.

Lovely sunny day today, so a pasty ride could be on the cards....

Wilbur has discovered the sofa

And Tibia has discovered Wilbur.

After almost a year of living here with the sofa in the same position, on Friday morning Wilbur suddenly climbed up onto it and has barely left it since.

Floods and Friends

Well, true to form, the day before Ed and Emma arrived the house flooded. In fact it was the morning before they arrived and we woke up to stand in water and find there was no electricity. It was also the day of the ITV which is the equivelent of the MOT.  Oh, what fun! The electric was off for about 12 hours, but luckily a board that we had put across the back door managed to keep much of the water out. We will get the step raised and that should stop the water from coming in. Lots of houses flooded, however, and a man without legs had to be rescued. Apparently we are lucky with our flooding here as in Usagre, the flood water is always muddy, where ours is clean.

Happily the rain was confined to the one day and it was lovely while Ed and Emma were here.

Ed and Emma had a nice wedding and we enjoyed spending time with them. Hattie was terrified of the dogs to start, but decided she'd quite like to take Tinkerbelle with her and didn't scream with quite so much hysteria as the time went on as Rosie came to say hello. She was quite happy to tell Wilbur what she was doing so she didn't surprise him.

The bit to my bike arrived - needless to say the day before the weather turned. However I went for a ride a couple of times last week, and we went for quite a long ride yesterday and I shall squeeze in another couple before the weather changes again later this week. I find the bike easy to ride and comfortable, but the hills are a little challenging with the more limited gears. I will try to go to Usagre later which is my favorite ride and see if I can get up the hill to the village. If I can, I will be happy.

Had a tranch of trick or treaters round over the weekend, and I guess there will more tonight. Luckily we'd stocked up on sweets!

Green

After months of waiting one of my cotton buds finally opened. It was one of the green cotton plants and I was amazed to see how green the cotton really was. I was expecting it to be a light murky green, however it is really quite a bright green. I should also have had brown and long egyptian cotton too, however it looks like this is the sum total of my cotton harvest this year. However, seeing how green the green cotton is, I shall definitely try the green and brown again next year as it will be fun to spin with. Rosie was showing a suspicious amount of interest in the cotton. I'm not sure what she thought it was, but she was definately fascinated.

It is raining today. The first time it has rained for ages. It has been very dusty, I think it is exacerbated by the fact that the farmers are ploughing fields, which are dry, and this is creating more dust. So hopefully the rain will dampen this down a bit. We've closed the windows today, for the first time this autumn. The weather has been lovey but the rain is bringing the temperature down.  I can tell it is getting cooler as there are piles of puppies snuggled up with a cat or two joining in.

Yesterday's picture of me gazing gormlessly into the camera was to celebrate Ed and Emma's wedding. They got married at 10 and asked if we could take a picture of ourselves toasting them. Instead of having floral button holes, Emma and Ed had badges made with one of Ian's photos of a flower on them. They sent us the badges so we could wear them in the photo. We'll be seeing them later this week, so hopefully the rain will have stopped.

Congratulations to Ed and Em

Explorers

We've been promising ourselves that we'd do some more serious exploring on the tracks on the other side of the road towards Llerena. We thought that the cycle ride we did a couple of weeks ago ought to join up with one we did a while back - but we weren't 100% sure and maps don't show the tracks and we can't identify tracks accurately on Google maps either. We were hoping that instead of turning round as we did the other week, if we head off round the corner we would eventually pick up the track from our initial foray.

So, given that we were heading into unchartered territory and expecting we could be in for a long ride, we were well prepared - to the tune of three pasties.

We headed off, retraced our steps from the other week, turned the corner into unchartered territory and found ourselves almost exactly where we'd turned round on the other track. Here I am eating a pasty where we picked up the other track. This was markedly shorter and easier than we were expecting and we ended up being completely over pastied for the journey.




My ruffley scarf is coming on - it is fun watching the ruffles grow.





Here's Henry's in his new nest!

It's a Cat's Life

...and Tinkerbelle pinches Rosie's chew

Harvest

Our harvest this year has been decidedly disappointing. Our chillies resulted in the princely total of two, my cotton buds have failed to open and our tomatoes were rubbery. Lots of things failed to grow at all, and I can only think that the soil has become alkaline from where the cement was mixed last year. The trees on the other side of the yard are growing fine - so it just seems to be our vegetable patch that is affected. Typical!

We've been playing cold relay. I've had it, Ian's had it and it's come back to me again. Generally we keep lurgy free, so these are our first colds for ages.

My new bike arrived this morning, however it has been dropped in transit and one of the forks is bent - so we are awaiting instructions as to what happens next in a case like this.

And if small chilli harvests, colds and damaged bikes weren't enough to contend with, I fell off my old bike on Monday. It was marginally more exciting than the last time I fell off - when I was stationary and toppled over in slow motion. This time I had just been watered by the water lorry that sprays the road to keep the dust down, and I'd stopped to get out of his way. When I started to pedal again I went over a stone and the bike skidded. I went one direction and the bike went the other. Although I hadn't actually really got going and was going no speed at all, I still managed to scrape my elbow and bruise my big toe.

Two Peas

The first picture is Annie - Rosie's sister. The second pic is Rosie. Seems like the sofa flopping gene runs strong through the family...

Feria and Scrap Yards

It was the 558th annual feria in Zafra and we went along after we had been to the scrapyard. We needed a new mirror for the wing mirror on the car. As many cars that we in the scrap yard with newer than our, I think they were impressed. So impressed that they gave us the mirror for free. Either that or the felt sorry for us. We were also stopped by the police, however this is such a regular occurrence and part of life here, that it is no longer traumatic.

We then went to the feria. I don't know if it was because we were later going - both in the time we went and also that we went on the last but one day - however we saw more animals. We saw some pigs this time, which we haven't done before which I have always thought was odd. However, the pig judging was on Monday, so perhaps they don't bring the pigs until then. We got there about 11 and it was starting to get hot - and busy. We could have bought anything from a gold fish to a combine harvester. I also saw the 'magic' flouring boxes that Rick Stein was enthusing about when he visited the area. There was certainly a buzz around the place and yet again, it is difficult to reconcile the reports of recession with the look and feel of the feria.

We left about 1.30, when it was getting very hot. There are special trains and buses that run to the feria, and they run through the night. I can imagine that the night time would be a great time to go as it wouldn't be as hot, and the massive paella pans that were constantly being stirred suggested there was plenty of food on offer.

We see quite a few field fires this time of year. We never know what to do. Lots of farmers set light to their fields and then plough through the fire. A sort of extreme farming. This is illegal, however given that they happily run their tractors full of diesek through a flaming field, the threat of a fine probably seems a bit tame in comparison. So while burning fields with a tractor near by are apparently under control, we often see ones that are smoking with no one around. I know that Adelardo's country house last year had a fire spreading out of control towards it, so it must be a worry.

We bought some plastic boxes today with a view to storing things properly instead of in heaps on the floor. Obviously the plastic boxes are now stored in heaps on the floor, however it is a step in the right direction....

Dust Off Those Pasties

As the weather is cooler we decided to go for a midday cycle ride - and of course this was a great opportunity to dig deep in the freezer and find a couple of last year's pasties. These were of the surprise variety as needless to say my 'don't worry about labeling them, I know exactly what they are' policy failed after about 10 minutes. We found ourselves with a breakfast pasty and a lentil pasty -both of which were good. The dubious ones are the ones that where the fillings were made from leftovers. Each one, however, is truly unique.

We aimed for a circular cycle ride. On our new favorite route to Llerena and then heading back around the bull farm. However the route seemed to go through the bull farm rather than round it, and the sign warning of dangerous beasts was enough to get us turning round. Franco's hunting lodge is also in the vicinity and to get to that apparently you have to go through the bull farm - I would want to make sure that the bulls are firmly the other side of the fence before venturing across the farm.

We were on new grounds, and found a little pond plus plenty of far reaching views. There were hundreds of frogs round the pond and as we ate our pasties, we could just hear a continual plop plop as the frogs were jumping into the water, and then more plopping sounds as they were hopping in the shallows of the pond. As it so happened there was a cool breeze, otherwise I think we would have found it too hot. Perhaps another couple of weeks before it's pleasant enough for a midday outing.

The village is very quiet today, I think they may have decamped to the Feria in Zafra.

Fireworks!

Fiesta!

This weekend is the village fiesta, so far we've avoided the festivities, however Ian did stand on the sun terrace last night and took some firework pictures. I hid with the nervous dogs - which surprisingly included Rosie who stuck her head under the sofa. We sat in Ian's office with the radio on and it disguised many of the bangs. Pirata, needless to say, just wanted to go out and find out what all the noise was.

One thing that always makes me smile during the fiesta is the Sunday morning band that marches through the village at 10.00 to wake people up in time for mass. The band is aways a drum and coronet band - designed I am sure to wake up even the heaviest of sleepers and those whose fiestaing only broke up a couple of hours ago!

The other thing that makes me smile is our ritual every year of saying 'what time does the procession start?' as we stare at each other trying to work out what time to go to the square. We then try to remember what time it started last year, then we make a note of the time when it does start and promise ourselves that we'll remember for the following year. Which, of course, we don't.

I started off the day with a long bike ride. I did the bike ride that I did two weeks ago, however this time I did it without my spontaneous detours and it was successful. I was home to hear the band, which was nice.

Jim's Piano

I should have added this on Friday, but better late than never. It's fitted in nicely in the hall where we hoped it would.

When time allows, I'll be learning to play that big piano favourite, The Ace of Spades by Motorhead.

Bentley Goes for a Walk

We took Bentley for his first walk outside the house yesterday. Poor chap was very unhappy to start. It is difficult to know when a good time is to take him out, it was the same with Wilbs too and Sam. As they have been abandoned we don't know if they remember that the last time there were out with a human they were left on their own - if indeed that was the case. We need to make sure that they are feeling safe in their surroundings, but not leave it so long that going out is traumatic. We had to carry Bentley through the back gate and he did panic a bit, but after a while he settled down. I don't think that it was his happiest experience, but I'm sure it won't take him long to realise that it is supposed to be fun and we won't be leaving him. When we were out on our walk we saw two puppies who were the absolute splitting image of Rosie when she was a puppy. So there could be more slug slurpers around - what a terrifying thought!

After a year of umming and aahing, I've decided to buy a new bike. This is what I have finally decided on:It is more of a road bike than my mountain bike, but it is made from steel and quite rugged, so I will also be able to use it on unmade roads. I will keep my mountain bike so I'll be able to use that for more rough tracks. The larger wheels and thinner tyres will mean that it will be better for road use, so I'll be able to go further afield - well, that's the theory. The new bike will also have fittings for a basket or pannier, so I could use it for shopping if I wanted - or indeed fill the pannier up with pasties on a day out. The colour of the one in the picture is 'robin egg blue' and that is the colour I will go for (it's either that or black).

Jelly Legs

We went for a picnic after we'd been supermarket shopping on Saturday and went to the Moorish castle at Reina. We'd been to the bottom of the hill before with Mum and Susan, however we'd never been to the top. Well, at least I hadn't. Going through the castle is part of the spring hike to the ermita, but when I did it (carrying Bob and Tinkerbelle - when Ian 'couldn't find' the 2000 walkers) I went round the hill rather than over it. When Ian did the walk the following year he did go through the castle, but that was before work had been done on it. It is now open to the public and we walked up there. Oh, what a walk, the walk up was bad, but the walk down was like walking down a wall. My legs turned to jelly and were shaking uncontrollably, which gave me a rather odd gait. It was definitely worth it, however, as the views were tremendous.

I headed out that way again on Sunday, on my longest yet solo bike ride. Needless to say it didn't go quite to plan as I got lost in Llerena and then took the wrong road out, so instead of going up a pretty path in the country side, I ended up in a field. I gave up trying to find the land and just went up the road towards Reina again, which I managed fine, and I didn't see another person let alone car so it was quite pleasant. It was a lovely day for a bike ride as the rain we'd had last week had reduced the dust and there were hazy clouds in the dips in the hills.

...and then there was light

I bought a light for my bike. While I don't intend to do much (any), with the darker mornings now meaning that it I really can't go out until after 7.30 without lights, I thought I'd get one. I got quite a powerful light to light up the paths and tracks and was able to head off over to near the moorish burial mound and see the sun come up. I've not needed a bike light before, and I think the last one I had was a dynamo one, which I could never go fast enough to get it lit.

It was the last day of morning classes today, however, so at least I can go out a little later and not worry about not being back for class. I've started getting interest in afternoon classes. So far I have about three new names from the summer who want to continue. However I'm refusing the 5 year olds and there are two sulky teenagers that I'm avoiding . I've got about 7 hours worth of classes a week booked, and I am stopping at 10 hours, otherwise I can't keep up with everything else.

We're in the middle of a major storm and poor Wilbs has been trying to hide behind the sofa. Pirata, however, is ready to go out and explore the big bangs - he is a little cat with no fear!

Extremaduran Cycle Team

For the first time this year we cycled into Llerena for breakfast on Sunday, which was fun. We cycled on our new favorite track, which is great as long as the long horned cattle aren't wandering loose. We went into a bar on the square, only to find it jam packed with lycra clad cyclists - all wearing the Extremadura colours. While I don 't know for sure that they were the Extremaduran cycle team, I can't think of any other reason why they'd all be dressed identically. Although I have said that I want to join a cycle club, I felt that I'd give them a miss. I don't think I could pour myself into that much lycra. Nor do I have the required number of pockets to carry bananas - something else they were all carrying. I did wonder where they were heading off to, they were riding racing bikes rather than mountain mikes, so I guess they were sticking to the roads.

Classes end this week for a couple of weeks. I've fallen behind with so much I need to catch up. I was planning on writing a book about tiara making this summer, so that might need to be an autumn project now. I do have some interest in classes for later in September - I guess I'll carry on for a while anyway.

Pigs and Elephants

I had a crafty session with two of my students yesterday. I will do a few now before the end of the holidays. In the past I've done some group sessions, however there are too many of them now and the ages are spread too wide. The two who came yesterday had seen the Good Luck Dragon that Mum made and wanted to make something similar. I decided that we'd use air dry clay and not real clay. They ended up making pigs and elephants, however they really enjoyed it and it was relatively tranquil with few problems - other than the odd ear falling off. Off the clay animals and not the children, of course. It was definately easier with just two of them.

I'll need to think of things to do with the others, as the two I had yesterday were old enough to follow instructions carefully - where as the younger ones may be more challenging. The very little ones will be happy doing colouring in things, the slightly older younger ones may enjoy making things with shrink plastic as they can do the colouring and then I can 'magic' it so that it shrinks. I am thinking (hoping) that the teenagers won't be interested.

Rosie has come into season and it is nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. In fact, if anything she is more subdued. I had fears of her trying to make herself attractive to the others, however it seems to be passing without event. We can then get her sterlized.

It's been very hot this week, with a yellow alert again for today. Hot, hot, hot....

Oh, so 'that's' what you meant...

My favorite cycle ride in the morning is to Usagre. I like this road because it is quiet. Generally I only see a handful of farmers and a shepherd or two. Since they obviously don't see many panting cyclists working their way slowly up 'hills', I know I get a second glance or two. In fact, I get a lot of cheery waves and words - I hope - of encouragement, and the sheperds wave to me from across the fields.

However I was a little surprised when a farmer in a combine harverster bothered to stop for a chat. Given that it was still early in the morning and I'd just climbed a mountain (small incline) - and of course that he was speaking in fast Spanish - I stood there just trying to understand a word or two. I understood 'small', 'road' and 'dangerous'. I took advantage of the stop to drink some water and muse over what he could be saying. I'd heard the work 'luck' too.

So, he was obviously saying that with good luck the road because it is dangerous....? Unlikely as I cycle it several times a week.

I continued.

Or, perhaps it wasn't 'luck', the Spanish word for luck also sounds a bit like 'smooth'. Could he be saying that the small road was going to be resurfaced - could be, but would he really be stopping me to say that the road might be resurfaced. Or needs resurfacing. Unlikely.

I continued.

As I headed, with speed down a hill, I remembered that the word also sounded like the Spanish word for .....

I braked as I was nose to nose with some loose very long horned cattle. Yes, the word I was thinking of was 'loose'.

I turned and broke most speed records. I have no idea whether they were bulls or nasty-horned cows, I just saw the horns, and remembered the farmer's cry of 'peligroso' - dangerous. I must admit that I got a lot more cheery smiles today - I wonder if they think I am mad cycling woman who is not afraid of boldly confronting the odd bull or two!

Two and two makes...

A couple of weeks ago I commented to Ian that I thought that perhaps they had changed the way that the temperature is calculated as the weather forecast was showing temperatures in the early 30s and this time of year it would be near 40.

While at the same time we were debating whether the weather was cooler this year or if we'd become acclimatized. I've not found it too hot to sleep at night, for instance, that I know I've done in previous years.

Ha! Well silly me. If I'd put the two together I'd have realized that the reason why the weather forecast was showing lower temperatures was because the temperatures were lower! It has been described as a 'phenomenon' with temperatures here lower than Madrid, which is unusual. I think it's been quite nice, but I think things are changing as there is a yellow alert warning tomorrow for heat in the afternoon.

I am wondering also if this is why my cotton's not been growing.

Cycle

It was our anniversary this week. After we finished arguing about whether it was 8 or 9 years (it's 9), we decided that next year we'll do something special. I thought about buying a tandem, I can't think of anything much more romantic than that. Ian made 'that face', which suggests that he could think of a lot of things that he'd prefer.

I'm still cycling - in fact I am getting quite good (by my standards - obviously pretty lousy by anyone else's standards!). I'd like to join a cycling club, but I'm yet to find one. But I think that if I can cycle 20 or so kilometers with reasonable confidence that I won't collapse in a panting heap, then perhaps if there was a cycling club around I'd be ok to join it. Of course, I am thinking about pootling through olive groves - not pouring myself into lycra and trying to emulate the tour de france.

One thing that I've really noticed as I cycle first thing in the morning, is how much later I am going to coincide with sunrise. I try to leave the house when the solar fairy lights go off - and that was 7.20 yesterday! I have bought a light for my bike, as having so many classes that need preparation daily, I like to go early in the morning as it is hot in the evenings.

I picked our first tomato yesterday - something had started to eat it, so it looks a tad sorry for itself. We do, however, now have three okra. So that's one and half each.

Look what Pirata dragged in!

Fickle Rosie

Rosie is not being very loyal to her special friends at the moment. She has transferred her attention from Wilbur, to Sam, to Petal and now to Bentley, who is the little mastin that we found. It is quite funny watching her. She still makes the incredibly annoying and unlikely high pitched yelping as she tries to get him to play. Meanwhile she pushes one of her sticks closer and closer and closer to him, until eventually he either has to move or pick the stick up. She then pinches the stick back and the process is repeated. It doesn't seem much of a game, but it gives her hours of amusement.

We've started feeding Bentley with the others. We thought it was important to socialize him - particularly as he was starving and then recieving special attention - he may have become protective over his food. It has been quite amazing watching him - he's a completely different dog now. Two weeks ago he was a cowering wreck, peeing every time something looked at him in a strange way and hiding behind the door. We let him in last week to be fed with the others and the first couple of days I had to hold him as he thought that all the food was his, however he now sits and waits for his food and waits till last to get it. He also plays nicely too. He is VERY much like Basil. He has endless appetite for shakey paw, and plonks a paw on our laps when he wants attention. Henry plays with him like he used to play with Basil too. We've not let him in with the two small pups for a couple of weeks now, as they are likely to be going to the pound, and we didn't want them to continue living as a family unit. While he's still a way to go before he's full weight and size, he is definitely a long way from the bag of bones who had been eating stones and snails that we found.

While we'll have to take the two small dogs to the pound next week we'll keep Bentley for as long as it takes to find him a home, and if we don't find him a home then it won't be too much of a trouble to keep him.

Hot Hot Hot

It feels as though the temperature has been cranked up again another few degrees this week. The house is full of floppy dogs and cats. We'd both noticed that it didn't feel so hot - and wondered if we were getting acclimatized, however I think it's more been the case of it being less hot so far.

Our veg garden is looking sad. We're doing OK for tomatoes, and we do have an okra plant producing okra. Admittedly, it only has two okra pods. We're not going to be worrying about an okra harvest. The cotton plants haven't started flowering yet either, and are much shorter than they were last year. So all in all, not a great start to our new kitchen garden. But, with a bit more work over the cooler months and perhaps we'll be off to a better start next year.

We're been working on a new version of FreeNeedle and Make For Baby. Both sites are doing really well at the moment so it is a bit nerve racking as we don't want to do something that might turn people away - however we can't stay still either. Make For Baby will be launched at the end of the week and we'll see how that goes before launching the new FreeNeedle - exciting times...!!

Puppy Love

Rosie has developed a crush on Sam. Quite literally, as this generally entails her squeezing in beside him. She has also developed a slightly annoying high pitched bark. She uses this bark to get Wilbur to play with her, however, she's started doing it to Sam now too. She sounds like a strangled seal. Perhaps in the puppy world this is a slightly coy and endearing noise, however to us it just sounds peculiar.

She acts to Sam like Petal and Tinkerbelle used to act towards Basil. However, little poodles and a big 11 stone Pyranean Mountain Dog was a relatively fair match, as they hung off his chin in the morning, or pulling at his neck. Tinkerbelle used to put her head inside Basil's mouth and lick his teeth, completely ignoring the fact that he could have eaten her up without any problem at all. Rosie now does this to Sam, which seems rather odd and a little one sided. She tries to lick his teeth and this does not seem like a fair match at all. Happily, Sam seems to take it in his stride.

This has reminded us that she hasn't come into season yet. This must be some time soon and is not something we are looking forward to. We will get her sterilized after, however the vet wants to wait until after her first season when everything will be fully grown.

My cry-baby class have stopped crying, and today were on the verge of being annoying, which is probably good news.

Tour de Higuera

One of the leading cyclists in our house.

Zillions of Children

I seem to have half the village coming for classes this summer. I have 13 hours of classes and I have at least one other child who is interested and I have an unspecified number coming this morning, which I may need to split into smaller groups.

Two of my original students have been recommended to go into a bilingual stream when they go to secondary school (this is regarded as very good), so I hope that this isn't setting high expectations amongst the parents. I think that these two were probably naturally good at languages anyway. The bilingual stream is actually multi lingual, as they learn Spanish, French and English concurrently. This follows how they learn in primary school, where they learn English and French from day one. Most of the youngsters say that they find French quite easy as there are lots of similarities with Spanish, however they find English quite difficult and they need to be of the same level in both French and English to pass their exams, which I think is where the interest is coming from. Of course, I say English, however it is of course, American. I have to remember that they are taught dates the wrong way round, and the past simple of 'to dream' is dreamed, not dreamt. However oddly they are taught coloUr and not color.

The youngest ones are five, and one started crying when she came into the 'classroom'. I think that the giant picture of Moulty, our sheep, glaring down at her might have compounded her nervousness. Hello Kitty is a quick remedy, however, and colouring Hello Kitty in different colours soon cheered her up. Just wish she'd followed the colours I was saying and not doing their own thing. I will hide the coloured pens next week as they spend too much time on the colouring. I'm also going to see if I can get one of my other students to help me with the young ones. I've had other very young ones, however they've had loads of confidence and haven't seemed to worry that they don't understand a word that I have been saying. These two just sit there on the verge of blubbing so they may need a little extra help.

No news on the puppy front so we are expecting to have to take the small ones to the pound. They broke into the chicken run, and worried the chickens. They weren't aggressive, just wanted to play, however their boisterous puppy play would have killed one of the chickens if Ian hadn't heard the commotion. Since then we've had to keep them in the barn, which isn't giving them a great quality of life. I'm glad that we didn't bring them into the house as we've been able to keep thinking of them as being temporary guests only. We'll continue looking for a home for the small mastin. He's not a problem and seems quite happy just mooching around the back yard.

Bob has been on antibiotics for a bladder infection. I noticed that he was weeing when he walked, which he'd been doing for a while, but had started leaving a trail in the house too. The vet said that he had a slight temperature and his bladder was swollen, and gave us antibiotics, which seem to have done the trick. Bob gets bladder problems when he's stressed, however I really don't think he has much to be stressed about at the moment!

Showers, James Bond and Salad Soup

We've been using our outdoor shower a lot recently. It is now so hot that it is a great way to freshen up. It is better sited now as it was in the middle of our eating area. Of course, we don't currently have an eating area on the courtyard as we are still outdoor furnitureless, however we'll try not to put this under the shower when we do get something to sit on. I'm glad that it took us a few years to get things sorted, as without a doubt the things we need for summer living are completely different to what we need during the winter. It would have been so easy to have made mistakes by planning things based on the extremes of just the winter or the summer.

The sun terrace is noticable cooler than the courtyard in the evening and we're really enjoying it. We don't spend the evening there, as we've been heading back to my workshop. This is because we don't have electricity on the sun terrace at the moment and I've got some audiobooks to review. One of them is the new James Bond by Jeffrey Deaver, narrated by Toby Stephens. We're enjoying it, but I couldn't say how true it is to the Ian Fleming Bond. It is very Deaver-esque. However I don't know if Jeffrey Deaver shares a writing style with Ian Fleming. I do know that he was asked by the Fleming estate to write the book, so they must have felt that his writing style is appropriate. It is full of twists and turns - I will have fun trying to write the review in 125 words!

I made some cold soup this week and Ian surprised me by tucking in without griping about soup not being a proper meal. We just liquidized tomatoes, onion, peppers and other salad stuff that was hanging around, looking on the verge of growing a fluffy coat. I don't think Ian ever truly recovered from when I made him a beetroot soup once. Admittedly, it was a startling shade of pink, and one that was not quickly forgotten.

Dog Training and Cotton Woes

I've been trying to persuade Ian to read some of our dog training books as I think we need to step up on Rosie's training. She's actually pretty well behaved, however, because of her size and strength, we definitely need to control things like her jumping up.

Ian is less than convinced by my dog training books, muttering 'mumbo jumbo' and other, less printable, comments. I don't think it helped when one of the books said that the answer to getting a dog to return when its off the lead is to roll round on the floor and look like another dog playing an exciting game. Something that Ian said he refused to do. However we have noticed that Rosie comes back if she thinks we are heading in the other direction, so Ian now tries the approach of running away from her when we call her. I am not sure whether this looked any odder to the small crowd of old men watching him than if he'd been rolling around on the ground.

I was looking at my cotton plants, and looking at pictures of the cotton plants last year and I can't help thinking that they aren't doing very well. The chilllies that came through don't seem to be doing very well either. I am wondering if the reason for this is that they are planted in the area that Manuel was using to clean out his cement mixer. And therefore the soil might be over alkaline. The other reason that things might not be doing well is that we might not be watering them enough. Last year we were watering with a watering can so we knew how much we were watering the plants, however now we are using a hose and it is easy to forget how low our water pressure is and how little water comes out. I filled a watering can the other day and it takes several minutes, which I'd forgotten, so I guess I'm not giving the plants as much water as I thought. Of course, cotton doesn't like a lot of water, so that's not the problem there...

Ian's finally got new tyres for his bike, so we both went out for a cycle this morning. It is San Juan fiesta, so I think we were passing people on their way home! We haven't been this year, but may pop up tonight to see what's going on.

We've got a yellow alert for a heat wave. There's hot air coming from Africa which is affecting much of Spain. It is hot...

Storks!

It seems to have been a bumper year for storks. The storks in the church tower seem to have had three hatchlings each - and now the babies are almost full size, it looks rather crowded. I don't remember seeing this many storks before.

This is a picture of a derelict building that I cycled past on Sunday and it was packed with storks. Of course, by the time I had taken my camera out they had disappeared, all bar these two. It was obviously a great place for storks and they were nested relatively low with little to disturb them - with the exception, of course, of a wheezing cyclist. I think we may head back there soon with the camera and tripod and see if we can get some close up stork pictures.

We do see the storks come close overhead on the sun terrace. I am sure that we've seen some baby ones on their inaugural flights. Certainly there were two who wobbled around the sun terrace when we were having tea yesterday.

Hot!

It's getting hot! I know because the house is full of floppy animals who embrace the cool tile floors rather than squeezing next to me on my chair. Yesterday I noticed for the first time that it was too hot for comfort walking on the tiles outside without shoes - a sign that summer is really on its way.

We've been happily surprised to find that the sun terrace is actually cooler than the patio later in the day. The patio sucks the heat up and there's nowhere for it to go, while the sun terrace is cooled by any breeze. We can also watch out neighbour working on his huerta (kitchen garden), he's obviously not gone for the free form planting style and last night he was making some sort of bamboo teepees that Ian was quite impressed with. Not sure what he was doing with them, but it sparked our imagination. He spends quite a lot of time working in his huerta, which I guess is why his is looking lush and green with plants laden with fruit and veg, while ours is looking a bit like a weed infested wilderness.

Basil's tree

Our garden

Our neighbour's green and pleasant land (I had to jump with the camera in the air to take this pic so I could get a good look at his plants, so I hope he wasn't watching me as I may have looked a tad strange / like a stalker).

Our garden tools - what we recognize as a spade can't be bought here - they are more shovel shaped, I guess to make it easier to cut through the sun baked earth and stoney ground.

Wilbur is has started getting very excited about his walks, and has started jumping with excitement. However, being Wilbur, I don't think his feet actually leave the ground so he just sort of bounces. He's got over the scared patch that he went through and is generally very happy when he is out, but he does get scared with unexpected noises.

Kitchen Garden

We are seeing small signs of life coming from our kitchen garden. That is other than the major signs of weed life. A few of our tomatoes have survived chicken nibbling and are flowering, albeit on slightly strange shaped plants, as the chickens seemed to apply their own unique topiary style to the plants. I have a few cotton plants coming through, but I had hoped for more. We've also got some chillies coming up, but only a few and I planted a lot more. However I did put some mouldy potatoes in the ground and they seem to be growing, so we might get a bit from our garden this year. We probably started a bit late, and I don't suppose that the soil is in that good condition.

I am wishing that we didn't go for quite such a freeform planting style, as I can't now remember where we planted things. I also wish that I didn't plant plants that need little watering next to ones that need relatively a lot of watering - but hey ho - we're learning.

Ian has started rewriting our sites - starting with Freeneedle. We're in a funny position where we could follow the old adage 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' as it is a risk changing a proven format, however there's also a very real chance that our site will start to look dated if we don't do something. The new version will include images, which will be a major step forward. I've seen the first page layout and it looks good. We'll be rolling it out to most of our sites. The social media marathon is near enough complete, I think I ended setting up about 25 different Facebook and Twitter accounts in total!

No interest in the puppies yet, which is a bit of a worry. We said we'd give it six weeks, and we're about half way through. They are still in the barn and we don't spend much time with them as we really don't want to risk bonding with them because if we don't find owners will take them to the pound. Donny spends much of his time outside in the back garden, he is putting on weight and has been cut back to three meals a day. We're hoping that we'll find a home for him with some people we know - it would be nice to think that he had a good home.

Busy Busy

There's a general sense of busy-ness at the moment. The farmers are in full harvesting mode and the fields are full of everything from combine harvesters through to donkeys and old men with scythes. The builders are starting work earlier too so everything feels well underway by 7 in the morning. We're soon getting to the time of year when what ever time you go out you'll see someone working - unless it's between 2 and 6 or 7, when the village is in complete silence.

The village is also gearing up to the summer when families return en masse. Houses are being painted and cleaned. Soon even the most rickety of houses will be filled for the summer as families gather.

I'm waiting to see how many children want classes during the summer. I'm not advertising and letting word go around. Schools break up in a couple of weeks so I'll start thinking about it a bit more nearer the time.

Anti Social Networking

We've dragged ourselves reluctantly into the world of social networking. While the New York Times Co set us me with Facebook and Twitter accounts for Rubber Stamping, for our own sites we've been less proactive. However the other week we were mentioned by a big Facebook account and really saw a spike in our figures, so this acted as a catalyst to pull our fingers out and get going.

So this weekend I have been busy setting up Facebook and Twitter pages for each of our websites. It's taken bloomin' ages and I've still not finished. At this moment I am felling pretty anti social networking...

Asparagus

The other morning I was cycling along the lanes when I saw a man who appeared to be picking pieces of grass. As I got closer he was picking what I thought was asparagus, however I couldn't be sure. I thought I'd slow down for a better look, however as I was going up a very slight incline at my normal snail like speed, I soon realized that if I went any slower then I'd end up going backwards. Which is never a good thing on a bike.

So at the earliest opportunity, we grabbed Rosie, our asparagus hound and headed off. And low and behold we did find asparagus. Admittedly, not enough for a full meal, but certainly more then we would have expected.

The swimming pool opens this weekend. I am sure this is earlier than normal. Perhaps they will be offering winter rates! We heard the boing boing boing of the tannoy, which we hear during the summer, but I thought that they were just getting in early with their system checks. However, as my over excited students informed me yesterday, the pool is opening today.

We still have the puppies and 'Donny' the mastine. I've got them advertised with the animal refuge in Badajoz, so hopefully we'll find them homes soon. Donny is still desperately thin, however he is eating well and I am sure that he'll look less like a bag of bones soon. He's a bit fussy with his food, which is where the same came from, we call him Prima Donny.

Rosie Has a Problem

Rosie can't understand why the rest of the pups can sit quite happily on the back of the settee but she can't quite manage it. That is her back leg by Ian's ear in the top two pictures as she is trying to squeeze in where Henry had been sitting...

Chicken Housing

The chickens have their new house and a penned area where they can roam. Ian has been working on this over the last week and this, and the other fencing, is looking really good. If you look closely at the second picture, you will see that the chickens have a squatter in their house. Fibs was under the distinct impression that it was her house.

We've had a few meals on the sun terrace and it's great! Admittedly it will be a lot better when we have some furniture to sit on, however even now we can get an appreciation of how we will use it. The sun goes out of the patio at about 7.30, however we can stay sat in the sun until 9.30 on the sun terrace. We didn't really appreciate the benefits of sun terraces when we moved here, however we now understand a little more about how things work, and the houses are generally designed to be in shade as much as possible to keep them cool, so many houses have a small sun terrace so people can enjoy the evening sun. We'd originally thought that we'd have a terrace in the patio, however when the roof fell in on the barn, it seemed like a good solution to put it there as we'd have to get it reroofed anyway. I'm glad we did, as it is nice to look out into the country.

So the outdoor kitchen is going to become a priority so we don't need to keep carrying things from the house. We use a lot of plastic stuff anyway, as tiled floors are particularly unforgiving, however we'll need to have a good sort out and get organized.

I've started cycling again early in the morning which is something I thoroughly enjoy. I love cycling through the lanes and paths and watching the countryside change. There is a great sense of freedom when I'm out cycling and it's a great start to the day.

Unsurprisingly, no owners of the puppies has appeared - so I've started to advertise them through some animal welfare websites. I don't think there will be a problem finding them homes. They are very friendly - and lively! Yesterday we thought that the mastin was going to have to be put to sleep, however today he has started eating. Not much, but this is the first that he's eaten since last Monday. He really well make a great pet and we think we may know someone who is interested.

Poppies

The poppies are still looking like a streak of red along the sides of the lanes. They are really quite a sight. The farmers are well into harvesting now, which is a sign that summer is on its way!

Nothing new to report on the pups and the young mastin. I hadn't really expected owners to turn up, so assuming that we don't hear anything by tonight I'll start looking for homes. We won't start looking for a home for the mastin yet, as he is still not eating and I guess it's a 50/50 chance if he pulls through. The three of them are in the barn, which gives the pups plenty of room to run around, we're not introducing them to our gang as we fully intend to find them homes and don't want them to become part of the family.

Aaaaagh

We took Mummy to the vet as she had sicked up an amazing amount of undigested food. A truly surprising amount. This meant that she was even thinner and wasn't drinking or eating.

We had steeled ourselves for several minutes of the vet grimacing while he prodded the dog with the tip of his toe. What we weren't prepared for was the vet's pronouncement that Mummy is in fact a boy. Not only that, he is a mastin puppy, and a very high quality one at that - or at least it would have been.

So what a mystery!

But also what a concern. The puppies are very fat and well. We assumed that the reason that 'Mummy' was in such a poor state was because she was doing such a good job in looking after the pups. But, apparently not. The mastin is definitely a stray, but this made me think that the puppies aren't stray and perhaps are just lost. We have put up a poster and been to the police and to a couple of bars. I'll give a note to the children when we have class this week. I've also stopped trying to find homes for the minute to give it a few days to make sure that the owners don't turn up.

The police said they could arrange to take them to the dog pound, however the mastin would definitely die, and the pups will make lovely pets, so I'd prefer to keep them here and find homes for them. But first we need to establish that there aren't any owners. If the pups were thinner I'd definitely think that they were stray, but with such little fat puppy tums, I have a nagging doubt...

House Guests

Well, garage guests. This young dog and her puppies are currently living in our garage. They were stray and living by the pilar and the puppies were chasing cars, so weren't likely to last long. We bought them back here to find them homes, but the mother is in quite a bad state so she might not recover. She went downhill really quickly after we bought her here, almost as though she knew that the puppies were safe and just gave up the fight. I don't think we'll have a problem rehoming the pups as they are very friendly and playful.

The fields are red with poppies

Well, this one was...

One Photo from La Arbuela

I picked this one as I like the mix of reenactment uniforms (center stage) and modern military (behind). It sums up the strange mix between fancy dress and commemoration.