April 1st - 7th 2007
Written by Geoff Forster
I'm up early working on the websites.
Not long to go before the first of many can be revealed.
I'm just testing that all the links and functions work.
So far so good...
Jane has hurt her foot. She's stubbed her little toe on a calor gas cylinder. It's swollen and bruised, she can't put any weight on it. She's not going to be able to walk too far for a few days.
It's Sally our Border Collie's birthday today. She's seven. I've had her since she was six months old.
Time flies ...
We worked until very late.
More photographs taken by Bryon Blackwell.
These are of the Alhambra in Granada.
Thanks to Bryon for allowing us to publish his photographs.
More of the Alhambra tomorrow.
More rain overnight. We've had a few flashes of lightning and loud rumbles of thunder.
A beautiful afternoon with blue skies and fluffy white cumulus clouds.
I spent the day working.
Jane's taking it easy on her foot, which isn't quite as bruised and swollen now.
She's getting through books very quickly. Another trip to see Alan on the bookstall will be needed.
I worked through until midnight.
Then we watched 'Casino Royale' starring Daniel Craig as James Bond 007. Judi Dench plays 'M'.
I'm not a big Bond fan. This film is different. No silly special effects and less of the 'Bond girls'.
We both enjoyed the film and think it's the best ever.Well worth seeing.
Here are more of Bryon Blackwell's photographs of the Alhambra Palaces in Granada.
Thanks to Bryon. Great photographs.
Another day spent working on the websites.
Jane's foot is still bruised and she's resting it. We're hoping that it will heal more quickly if she doesn't put any unnecessary weight onto it.
Our guest's Alan, Jane and Lisa Higbie who are from Colorado Springs in the USA have invited us out for a meal this evening. We're off to the Restaurant Kábilas.
Jane managed to squeeze a boot on, but we're driving across to the restaurante.
We hopped ;-) into the car and drove through the village.
A lovely meal.
A big thank you to friends Alan, Jane and Lisa Higbie.
Lisa is studying at Salamanca university.
A good evening.
We got home and worked until midnight then we watched 'Crank' starring Jason Stratham.
A 'different' film. Plenty of action. Although the storyline became a little silly in places.
I'm up at the crack of dawn. Which in Andalucia, just after the clocks have gone forward, isn't such a big deal. 08:00h.
There was a lovely dawn sky across the Genal Valley.
The sky was on fire just behind Jubrique.
It is amazing how quickly it gets lighter.
A few minutes later and the orange red skies were fading fast.
Alan, Jane and Lisa left for Sevilla to catch a train to Madrid.
We enjoyed their company yesterday evening and wish them a safe journey home to Colorado Springs. Good luck to Lisa with her studies at Salamanca University.
I spent most of the day working on the websites.
Sometimes progress is slow. Trying to get the layout to be consistent in all browsers is a constant challenge. The amount of time I spendmessing around because of inconsistencies in the interpretation of web standards is incredible. Microsoft, Sun/Netscape plus a few other minor players in the browser game fell out long ago and it seems the designer is now paying for this lack of communication.
I need of a break I walked with the Border Collies to the donkeys.
They are well. I fed them their seed and a few kitchen scraps.
Jane's foot is still bruised and althugh she can now walk a few metres it is still painful. The walk to the donkeys is out of the question for a week or two.
It does mean that I can walk faster.
I got there and back in one hour twenty five minutes. Which includes time spent with the donkeys.
The dogs looked tired having being route marched there and back. No time for breaks to catch their breath. They'll sleep well tonight.
We watched Ocean's Twelve. A sequel to the remake of Ocean's Eleven. An all star cast including, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bruce Willis ... not as good as Ocean's Eleven but entertaining stuff.
Start of the Easter Weekend in Spain. Semana Santa.
It's a fiesta day the equivalent of a Bank Holiday in the UK.
I spent the day working.
We went to Algatocín before we realised that it was holiday. We don't have holidays on Thursdays in the UK. Not the first time we've been caught out by a forgotten fiesta day.We missed getting a Spanish calendar this year which means we'll probably miss a few more ...
I went to see the donkeys.
This yellow plant has appeared in flower over the last few days.
I looked it up in the book. I think it is wild Rape but I'm not 100% sure.
A very pretty plant with domed clusters of flowers on quite tall stem.
It is appearing in the verges and fields all over the area.
This is wild garlic. Another pretty flower. It can be picked and the bulb and lower stalk eaten. It has a very mild onion taste. Great with cold new potatoes.
This beautiful flower is one not often seen.
It is growing in Sebastián's Huerto. A few cabbage like plants were left from last year and have bolted and flowered. The stems are over a metre tall and covered in a mass of flowers.
The donkeys were at the gate waiting for me. Clever donkeys.
Here's little Rosie.
Grace from the USA has taken a liking to Rosie and has written a poem in Spanish for her.
I'll publish it tomorrow.
Here's Domingo patiently posing. Rosie's on three legs scratching.
This is the track near Sebastián's huerto.
The trees are an amazing mix of green.
The two ghostly Poplars are yet to get their leaves.
The tree on the bend is a beautiful mix of red and green. Quite a lot of plants have new shoots which appear a striking red colour. This is a Pomegranate tree and is one of the best examples of this.
Back home I worked again until very late.
We watched 'Layer Cake' staring the new 007 Daniel Craig and Colm Meaney (Chief O'Brian in Star Trek Next Generation & Deep Space Nine). A good modern gangster film.
Good Friday. A beautiful sunny day.
We have no plans. Jane's foot is still giving her problems. So we're just staying in the house.
There is a procession of Jesus on the cross from the Ermita in the plaza to the church.
I worked all day on the websites.
Things are beginning to come together. Even with duplicate content in places creating eleven connected websites has been a challenge. Just as well I enjoy it. (Geek).
In the evening we watched two films.
Unexpectedly they had a back to the future time differential theme to them.
A little like 'Donnie Darko' which we watched recently. 'Donnie Darko' is classified as Sci-fi because there is a time travel element which moves him about eighteen days (or is it all in his mind?).
The first we watched was 'The Jacket' starring Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley (again), Kris Kristofferson and Daniel Craig (my name is Bond ... James Bond) again!
A good film. Worth watching .. but it's not Sci-Fi. Although it does try to claim to be in this genre.
The second film was 'The Lake House' starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in a soppy romance about a couple who find themselves communicating ... but there is a strange two year time slip between them. It's a fantasy romance. To give it credit, this is what it's claiming to be.
Jane enjoyed it.
We have a last minute booking of the apartment. Jane is cleaning and washing floors (she can hop and mop ...).
We drove to Algatocín. We need a few supplies.
We met Kev and Sue from Genalguacil.
We had a chat in the queue which was longer than usual. Kev was singing the praises of Skype which we must get.
We met guest's Christine and Steve Crewe. With their daughter Kate and son Justin.
Christine's been e-mailing for quite a while. She reads the blog regularly and is in the process of buying a holiday home in the area. It was good to finally meet.
Jane and I drove to see the donkeys. Jane waited in the car while I did the final descent.
They were way down the mountainside, so I put their feed in the feed bins and headed back to the car.
Here's the poem written by Grace Torpoco dedicated to little Rosie our burra.
Te Perdí
Yo tengo un burrito lindo
Que es mi único amigo,
Porque no quiero estar con nadie
Si no puedo estar contigo.
Por las calles del pueblito
Mi burrito y yo andamos.
La gente nos miran con pena
Pero nosotros los ignoramos.
Le digo a mi amigo
Que tú fuiste mi razón de ser.
Y él me dice con sus ojos
Que él no puede comprender.
Es que yo también no entiendo
Porque no más te veo.
¿Es que eres una ilusión
Por más que no deseo?
Algo se murió en mi alma
Por no poder estar contigo.
De eso sí estoy cierto
Y mi burrito es mi testigo.
Dedicated to little Rosie
Grace
Here's photograph Grace has sent in of herself in Triana on the way to the Feria.
A big thank you to Grace for taking the time to write such a beutiful poem.
In the evening we worked until late again.
Then we started to watch 'Finding Nemo' a film from the famous Pixar animation studios. Taken over by Disney.
They made 'Toy Story' which is still funny. I like animations.
Jane made me switch it off after about ten minutes. Not because it was bad ... but because she knew it was going to be really sad ... I'll have to wait to watch it alone.
We watched 'Children of Men' an adaptation of the P.D James novel. Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine and Pam Ferris
Set in an unpleasant and not so distant2027. The earth is a grimy police state where immigrants are rounded up into holding cells and there's a violent resistant movement.
Heavy, drear depressing stuff. Well directed, well acted but not one I'll watch again in a hurry.Hide the razor blades if your already down and play this movie.