December 16th - 31st 2004
Written by Geoff Forster
Thursday 16th December 2004
Up again at 8am to switch the lights on for the builders.
Jane had a parcel to collect from the Post Office. The Benarrabá post office is a small room in the postmans house. It is open from 9:15 to 9:45 am. Jane got there about 9:20 and was told she needed her passport number before she could have her parcel. So I was sent with my passport and told to get the bread. I also called in to see our super friendly bank manager and got out a bit of cash.
The builders have been taking up the floor in the balcony and have continued working on the tiling in the bathroom.
Onno & Marion Henke phoned and invited us to dinner at their house tonight. It should be a good evening as we get on well with them both, also Onno is an excellent cook and we all like a good Rioja!!! Fiesta!!
Here's a good photograph of our Spanish kitten "Moto de Oro" (Speck of Gold) which Jane took in front of our kitchen fireplace.
Friday 17th December 2004
What a beautiful day it has been.
I watched the sun rise over the pueblo and then we went to Ronda to do some shopping.
Here is a picture of the plaza in Ronda. Check that sky out!!!
Came back and watched the sun set!
Here's a shot of the moon. I took tonight. The sky was still blue but it came out black on the photograph???
Saturday 18th December 2004
Another beautifully warm and sunny day probably even hotter than yesterday!
We went to Gaucín market and then to Algatocín to check the prices of some white goods and to buy paint.
We came back out to take some photographs. Here's one of Benarrabá from the road above.
Got more painting to do this weekend ...
Sunday 19th December 2004
Painted the kitchen in the apartment, listened to Newcastle lose again ... Bring back Sir Bobby, we never wanted him to go!
Went to Andrés Sánchez bar and then to Dami's bar, drank too much beer, red wine and then cider. Made a curry ...
Monday 20th December 2004
Never Again! Feeling really ill .. can't think why. To make things worse my eyes are all red and swollen. We think it's an allergic reaction to the paint ... every cloud ...
Made friends with the builders, 'boss man' brought around a new water cooled ceramic tile cutter, it must of cost all of £20 .. rubbish.
Decided its too hot and fantastic to stay in .. so we're off to Marbella!
To do some Christmas window shopping and check out the leathery old wrinklies on the beaches.
We had a lovely drive down through Gaucín and then east at Sabinillas up the coast road to Marbella.
We thought parking in Marbella would be easier in winter ... wrong.
The main resorts are a nightmare to park in. We found an underground Car Park at the Plaza de Andalucía. It should get an award for being the smartest Car Park ever! It charges 1.20€/hr as do most public Car Parks.
We emerged from the fantastic newly painted underworld to find a beautiful seating area full of statues and fountains.
Then the street market. (New age tat)
Then we walked along the busy main street, window shopped. We saw lots of over tanned peroxide blondes, with large designer sunglasses and little white designer dogs. (One in a bag with just his head sticking out!)
We then headed to the beach Playa del Faro (Lighthouse beach) This is a lovely beach with restaurants and tourist type shops. Here's a photo with the temperature on the board it was taken at 13:30 on December 20th - 25C -77F wish I'd brought my swimming trunks.
Lovely palm trees and blue blue skies ....
Here's the Med in December
Well there's always one ...
... and for a change it's not me!
A great day out. We drove back and took a back road to Casares. It was being resurfaced ... a bit bumpy but lots of Goldfinches in fact a flock of 100+, Stonechats and Black Redstarts.
Here's a not very good photo of a Goldfinch.
(They are very small and very fast little flockers)
Tuesday 21st December 2004
Yet another lovely day. The builders have started tiling the main room, it looks really good.
We drove to Cortes de la Frontera to check out the prices of white goods for the apartment. We had a tostada and coffee in a Café we like. Then we drove through the Alcornocales National Parque, I think this is my favourite drive out of many! The forest is so tranquil and the views are stunning. A must for any visitors to the area.
The builders had most of the floor down when we got back.
We bought a chicken for our Christmas dinner.
We had a quiet night in. Jane wrote Christmas cards, I did the website and played my X-box. Halo 2.
Wednesday 22nd December 2004
A grey day! The first for a while, it is even raining ... still mild but not so nice. A trip to Ronda tonight to see the street lights has been postponed, we don't like driving in the rain on the mountain roads unless its absolutely essential. Too many idiots going to fast for the conditions.
'Boss man' came for a photocopy of my passport for the electricity company. We are having a separate supply upstairs so a new metre and line in is required. Hopefully it will be on by early in January 2005.
I walked Kyra our friends Onno and Marion's dog, they are away for Christmas. I updated their websitePainting Holidayssome dates are fully booked. A good sign for next year. Andalucía is a great place for a Painting Holiday.
The tiles came for the stairs and upstairs bedroom ... beautiful, really pleased with the finish and the quality. It should look fantastic.
We delivered a few Christmas cards and walked Kyra.
Thursday 23rd December 2004
Up before the dawn and here's a photograph to prove it!
What a fantastic place the Genal Valley is!
It was a lovely morning. picked up a parcel from the postman's house, bought bread, walked Kyra.
Tried to update website ... Dreamweaver start up problems, site cache was corrupted so I have spent four hours, deleting, reloading, searching for help before I worked out what it was, nightmare.
It's clouded over this afternoon so tonight's planned trip to Ronda is off. We're getting the chicken ready for cooking tomorrow. It's still got its head on .. don't worry it is dead and plucked but needs decapitating. Jane is going for a walk while I do a radical Headectomy! Apparently you can fry the head and eat it whole for breakfast.
Strong stomachs these Spanish lads.
We went out delivering Christmas cards. Unfortunately they were to people who own the bars in town! Got back around 3-4 am ...
Friday 24th December 2004
Never again! I feel terrible. I've got to walk Kyra and get the bread.
Back from the walk and I still feel a little rough.
We took the camera and here's a couple of photos of last nights revelry. I vaguely remember playing that huge drum. I think we made quite a noise in the early hours with our Navidad band.
Saturday 25th December 2004
Jane was up early by mistake! She thought she was getting a present!!
No she did really well, she walked Kyra and made me cups of tea in bed.
We opened our pressies .. thanks to all in the UK for cards and gifts.
We got a bottle of anis Dulce from Carmens mother Maria . so we sampled some, a few beers cooking the roast potatoes in Onno and Marion's house, then carrying them up the hill (we don't have an oven yet!). Cava with our lovely meal. Our first roast lunch for over seven months! Bellota an Acorn liquor in Carmen and Cristóbal house. Sidra a high quality apple cider when we got home.
Feliz Navidad to all friends, family and visitors to the site .. Merry Christmas.
Here's a picture of Jane up in the apartment.
Followed by one of me opening the celebration Cava in front of all our cards.
Sunday 26th December 2004
A quiet day in. The sun shone but it was quite windy.
Jane walked Kyra while I lay in bed drinking tea!
We cooked roast dinner number 2 and I listened to the football 2-2.
I walked Kyra, sat down in front of the fire and watched Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice ... all 5+ hours of it in one go.
Monday 27th December 2004
Both of us are up at 8am for the builders.
It's still dark, the temperature outside got down to around 2C during the night, the coldest so far.
Jane's out walking Kyra. I've got a pot of chicken bones boiling for homemade soup.
We are planning a night trip to Ronda to see the Christmas lights, the shops, the bridge lit up and to have a Pizza in Da Vinci's the best pizza restaurant on the planet.
I finally finished the Granada section this afternoon. Lots of photos of the Alhambra! ---> Granada
Tuesday 28th December 2004
Jane got up to plug the builders mains lead in. I managed an extra half hour in bed before they rang the doorbell for a mop.
No Kyra to walk as Onno and Marion got back last night.
I've been working on the website .. changing all my relative links to absolute links .. life doesn't get more exciting than this!
A trip to the shop to buy another mop was sidetracked by helping our neighbours mother, Maria, carry her shopping home. We were rewarded with an Anis Dulce each, a couple of marzipan sweets and a tour of her house.
The builders are working on the sun terrace today.
We went to Onno and Marion's house in the evening.
Wednesday 29th December 2004
A quiet day in. I worked on the computer, cleaned the tiles in the kitchen.
The tiling on the sun terrace is finished. It looks good. I can't get up there to photograph it yet because they have started to tile the stairs.
I think in about another week we can start fitting the kitchen and bathroom.
Listened to Newcastle lose again.
Thursday 30th December 2004
The builders are still working on the stairs it looks fantastic.
We had a walk to get the bread, it is lovely and sunny.
We may go for a longer walk out of the village on one of the many tracks into the countryside. The dogs love living here.
Jane has taken a good photograph of our Spanish kitten Moto de Oro (Speck of Gold)
We have to buy a chicken today for New Years Day. The chickens you buy here in the village are all free range running around the campo. Their eggs have orange yolks and taste amazing. The chicken we had at Christmas had a great flavour, unlike the bland factory produced chickens in the UK.
Friday 31st December 2004
Well it's New Year's Eve and Jane woke me at 4am to ask me if it was 8am. She did get up and make me a cup of tea ...
I got up at 5am because there's been a minor problem with the builders. They are doing the stairs and where the stairs turn and the steps are wider than your usual step, they are supposed to be rotating the tiles except the edge ones by 45 degrees so they look like diamonds and not a chess board. This makes the edge of the steps stand out and is muy bonito (very beautiful).
I popped in yesterday just before they went and Antonio explained that they had done what I wanted at the bottom but not on the turn at the top as it looked better his way and meant less cutting of the tiles ie less work. I was not happy. I couldn't see what he meant because I couldn't walk up the stairs because the cement was still wet to get a look. I explained that by the morning when I would be able to walk on the stairs to take a look at the tiles they would have set solid and would be hard to change ... so I'm up early.
I have had a quick look this morning and what they have done looks good. I don't know if ripping them up to do it the way I wanted is now necessary ... it might look better ... it might look worse ... according to Jane's sister Carol the earth has tilted on its axis and we're all going to die anyway .. so in the light of tsunami's and planetary oblivion three little pieces of floor tile don't really seem to important.
I'd have a beer to celebrate this new sense of proportion I've brought into my life but it's only 8am. It is New Year's Eve however so what the hell.
I have been working hard since 5am .... The Olvera web page has been completed.
We visited Olvera in late August and it has been on the list of things to do for quite a while!
This is the magnificent church in Olvera.
I'm about to start the Osuna page.
The builders arrived and just about managed a buenos dias.
They haven't asked about the tiles.
It's 10:30am and I've just finished the Osuna page.
I'm going to walk down to the Pandería and get the bread.
It's a lovely sunny day ... again.