June 1st - 15th 2006
Written by Geoff Forster
We've been to feed Rosie and Domingo. As we walked through the Olive grove towards them, Rosie ran to us and Domingo brayed. It was the first time we've heard him eehaw. It took a little time to build up to the full blown eehaw eehaw eehaw but he finally got there. Very impressive! A lovely welcome.
No news yet on Juan's mare.
We keep wandering over to have a look.
She's making everyone wait.
A quick trip to the Super Genal in Algatocín. To buy some vegetables.
Jane spent the afternoon washing, ironing and cleaning.
I spent all afternoon working on Onno and Marion's painting holiday website. I've added dates for 2007.
The following courses are available in 2006.
June | Sunday | 4 - 11 | 11 - 18 | 25 - 2 July |
|---|---|---|---|---|
July | Sunday | 2 - 9 | ||
September | Sunday | 3 - 10 | 10 - 17 | 24 - 1 October |
October | Sunday | 1 - 8 | 15 - 22 | 22 - 29 |
November | Sunday | 5 - 12 | 12 - 19 |
Courses marked in red are already fully booked.
Please book early to avoid disappointment.
Courses with tutor Marion Henke
April | Sunday | 15 - 22 | 22 - 29 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
May | Sunday | 6 - 13 | 13 - 20 | |
June | Sunday | 3 - 10 | 10 - 17 | 24 - 1 July |
July | Sunday | 1 - 8 | ||
September | Sunday | 9 - 16 | 16 - 23 | 30 - 7 October |
October | Sunday | 7 - 14 |
If you wish to attend the Painting Holiday course you can stay in the beautiful apartment which we have to let. This allows you to be independent with meals etc. Also you have a large spacious apartment with all facilities instead of a small hotel room.
A fee of 150 euros is charged to attend the course.
After a busy day inside we went to see Rosie and Domingo in the campo. It was a lovely evening the sun was shining and a lovely breeze was blowing up the mountainside. We sat enjoying the scene.
Rosie stood in the sun below an Olive tree. Domingo lay down a few metres in front of us basking in the sunshine.
Back home Jane wrote letters to friends in the UK. I worked on www.benarraba.com adding some new pages of photo's sent to us by e-mail.
A beautiful sunny day. I've taken the dogs up the track by the apartment.
Juan's mare is still keeping us waiting.
We're going to see Rosie and Domingo.
We drove up to the campo. We fed the donkeys.
Jane noticed a lot of flies around Domingo's jaw. The new halter has rubbed an area skin off. Domingo has never had a halter on before so I guess this is the equivalent of getting a blister after putting on new shoes. We decided to walk them back to the house to put some Iodine on the wound.
We put Iodine on the back of a teaspoon and rubbed it into the grazed area. This worked surprisingly well. Poor Domingo. We've loosened the halter, which was put on a little tighter than normal so that a cut on his nose wouldn't be rubbed. This has healed well ...
Both donkeys enjoyed the walk, ambling along the camino eating the hedgerow.
We took them back to the field.
I did some work on our website. Later we went back to the campo to feed Rosie and Domingo and to put some fly repellent on them both.
It was a lovely afternoon.
It's a tough climb.
We spent a few hours in the sunshine. Domingo lies down a lot in his favourite spot. Rosie stands nearby. They get on very well. Possibly too well. The gestation period of a donkey is one year exactly! So watch this space in June 2007.
We put the fly repellent on them, so hopefully they'll have a pleasant evening and night.
We walked back to Benarrabá, then went to Dami's for a Mc Dami burger.
We passed Gina on her boyfriends quad bike. Usually we see her on her white horse.
Then we called in Café Bar Guayacán, where we had a fantastic glass of Sangria.
On the way home we saw this pair of amigos.
We're cooking some wonderful pork from Carnicería Antonia. Washed down with a bottle of Gran Reserva Rioja. It's a hard life ...
It's a beautiful sunny day. We walked into the campo to see Rosie and Domingo. Then we walked them down to the natural spring at Chorruelo. They enjoyed a cool drink and we let them eat for half an hour. We're getting them used to walking with us, they are pretty good but the pace is slow, lots of stops for munching. Rosie is a one speed donkey, she likes to take things very easy.
We got back home and I watched the football. A 6-0 England win over Jamaica.
After the match we're back out to feed the donkeys. We walked in the late afternoon sunshine. The donkeys are always pleased to see us. Especially Rosie. Domingo is a little more laid back.
He gets up if there's the chance of food.
A lovely setting.
We were just leaving when Sebastian gave us some more dried grasses.
The donkeys both like it.
This is another Sebastian ploughing the earth in the Orange grove in Finca Las Hazuelas.
We got back to Benarrabá at around 19:00h.
Juan's mare looks well but still hasn't given birth.
We've done a lot of walking and we've been out for most of the day.
Stuart and Christine have just phoned inviting us to a housewarming party tomorrow in Benadalid. Lyngard and Jean who are staying in Montejaque will be there. It should be good, the weather forecast is for another perfect day.
Up at dawn, just in time to see the sun appear above the Sierra Bermeja.
I walked the dogs up the track beside the house.
Juan's mare has yet to give birth. Every time I go up there I think the big event will have happened but no ...
We're going to go to see Rosie and Domingo. We'll take them for a walk. They can feed on the long grasses and drink from the cold spring water in El Chorruelo.
The donkeys have been fed watered and walked.
Jane's not feeling too well and has gone for a siesta.
I sat in the sun with the dogs and drank a few ice cold beers.
Jane's still off colour with a bad headache and sore eyes.
I went to feed the donkeys. Domingo gave me a welcoming bray.
A beautiful evening.
I had to phone Stuart and Christine to say that we couldn't make it to Benadalid. I left a voicemail message.
Jane's managed to take a tablet so hopefully she'll be feeling a bit better soon.
A quiet night in.
By 22:00h Jane's feeling better and manages to eat a bit of a curry I cooked earlier. I thought I was doing it for myself, so I was generous with the chilli. That should sort her out one way or the other ...
A beautiful sunny day. I've been watering our plants which now is a daily task. They do look good this year the Passion Flower on the front of the house has been flowering since April. At one point there were over thirty flowers open on the same day. (Each flower opens for around two days). The bougainvillea which was cut back to the ground by the previous owner has rejuvenated itself over the last two years and looks wonderful. We've found Gazanias to be good pot plants as they often last the winter. The seeds can be collected plus they also self seed very well. Marigolds of different varieties also do very well.
Pelagoniums (Geraniums) don't do so well as we expected. They seem to be prone to caterpillar attack. The caterpillar bores into the stems and the plants die. 80-90% of all Geraniums seem to die. Interestingly Pelagoniums (Geraniums) on balconies flourish. The butterfly must only visit plants at ground level.
Juan's mare has yet to give birth.
We're off to see Rosie and Domingo.
Jane's feeling better and we're walking to see them.
We've been doing this walk twice a day for around a fortnight now and we're beginning to feel the benefit. We're certainly going a very dark brown colour.
We walked the donkeys down to El Chorruelo.
We met Nick Chadburn. Lina his wife has e-mailed us a few times. They live in a finca near Jubrique.
It was good to finally meet Nick. I'm sure we'll meet Lina and Ginger eventually.
The donkeys exercised and fed, we walked home.
On the way back home we both saw a Meloncillo, known locally as a 'Melón'. This is not a fruit, but an animal. It is the size of a large cat but has a longer body and looks more like a hairy otter.
In English it is known as an Egyptian mongoose. (Herpestes ichneumon).
A solitary animal thought to have been introduced by the Arabs to Iberia.
A quick drive to Algatocín for supplies. We were just leaving when we spotted an unusual fruit. It looks, feels and smells like a peach, but it isn't round . They are only about three centimetres high. We asked Carmen what they were called, she said 'Paraguayas'. I'm not sure about the spelling but it sounded like Paraguay + a's.
Back home we took the dogs for a walk to Cerrillo de la Cruz and back.
This is Benarrabá. It was a lovely hot afternoon. The sky was a beautiful blue.
The dogs had a great time running around fetching sticks.
Jake our Border Collie likes rolling in the dust and leaf litter. Just like Rosie.
Sitting with the donkeys in the evening sun we heard the first Cicada of the year. The males make quite a noise trying to attract females.
Back home we're not in for long before we walk out for a third time to feed the donkeys. We are going to be so fit soon ...
We are too tired to cook. We went to Café Bar Guayacán for tapas.
Yolanda had cooked a delicious pork dish with a great sauce.
We had a large dish full each.
We followed this by having Serranitos. This is a pork fillet, fried green pepper and a slice of Serranito jamon in a toasted bread roll. Washed down with an ice cold beer. The bill was 5 euros /£3.50. Great value. Inland Andalucía is the place to come for a fantastic low cost holiday.
We're up at dawn. An earlier start today with the donkeys. The sun is already coming up and it looks set for another glorious day here in the Valle de Genal.
We're meeting Elaine and Theresa later for tapas.
Elaine and her mother Theresa are from Glasgow. Elaine is renovating a house in Gaucín. They both read the blog. They want to see beautiful Benarrabá and to sample Flora's famous tapas.
It was a fantastic morning. Warm sunshine ad a gentle mountain breeze. About as perfect as you could wish for.
Back home we changed and went to meet Elaine and Theresa.
We enjoyed some great tapas. Victor a friend from Gaucín was with them.
Theresa, Flora, Elaine and Jane.
We went back to the apartment and showed Theresa, Elaine and Victor around. They all really liked it.
We said goodbye until tomorrow, when we're off to the coast.
Jane and I walked down to Bar Andrés Sánchez. We had a couple of beers in the sunshine outside and bought a scrawny limping cat some gambas (prawns) tapas.
We went to feed the donkeys and sat with them in the early evening sunshine. A pair of Booted Eagles were hunting in the valley.
We decided to go to Café Bar Guayacán. We had a great time. It was Ibrahim and 'La Pepina's' birthdays. Here's Ibrahim.
Guess what ... It's a sunny day!
We've been to feed Rosie and Domingo. They are fit and well.
We're off to San Luis de Sabinillas for a paddle in the Med.
We were going to go with Elaine and Theresa. I phoned and Elaine hadn't had much sleep and didn't feel up to it.
We enjoyed our paddle. The sea was a quite calm. Huge eighteen inch waves were crashing down on the beach, not very good for surfers but great for paddlers.
We drove passed Gibraltar to near Los Barrios.
We did a quick shop in Carrefours, had lunch in McDonalds. Then Jane took me for a long walk to find C&A. Who believe it or not have a branch here. We finally found it and guess what ... we didn't buy anything. We called into another shop that sold the sort of things you find on market stalls. Sets of cheap alloy screwdrivers that bend if you use them, plastic mushrooms for the garden etc. Life's essentials. Jane bought a straw handbag.
Back to the car and a drive passed the White Storks. Lots of young on the nests. Most have two well developed chicks so it looks like a good year for the Storks. We also saw a Booted Eagle and a few Griffon Vultures.
We called into the nursery at San Pablo de Buceite. we bought some basil and a few plants for our pots.
There were a few young kittens dotted about in amongst the flowerpots. The mother has had five kittens, they are about three weeks old.
Jane took these photographs.
Back home at around 18:00h. We drove to see the donkeys and topped up their water barrel.
Domingo came running to see us and brayed a series of eehaw's. He's a lovely donkey. Little Rosie is always the same, very gentle and trustworthy. You could sit kids on Rosie and not worry. Domingo is a little livelier ...
We're cooking a delicious chicken curry based on a Murghi aur Aloo. A creamy Persian meat and potato dish.
The sun is shining, a few clouds over the mountains but no rain is likely. (Watch it pour down now!)
We're just about to walk over to see Rosie and Domingo.
The donkeys are well. We took them up the track to eat the drying grasses and flowers along the verge.
A quick trip to Algatocín and the Super Genal to stock up on refreshments for this weekends football.
I potted up the plants that we bought yesterday.
Later in the evening I walked to see the donkeys. I spent a couple of hours with them. I walked back home in the evening twilight.
Jane has been cleaning the house.
A few clouds around again at dawn.
No doubt they will disappear shortly to give us yet another beautiful days weather. It really has been perfect temperatures with a gentle mountain breeze for the last few days.
We walked to see Rosie and Domingo passing Cristóbal and Sebastián's huerto on the way. Sebastian was waving to us. We walked across and saw the vegetable garden had been trashed. Wild black pigs had come up the arroyo and trampled a lot of the young plants. Whether they had actually eaten any was hard to say. We're yet to see one of these black boars in the wild as they are very wary of humans.
Such a shame as Sebastian puts so many hours in preparing the terraces and soil. Then he goes daily to water the different sections of the garden. I used to worry about greenfly and slugs ...
We walked Rosie and Domingo down to El Chorruelo. The grasses and plants are still green ad lush near the natural spring.
Back up to the campo and we put fly repellent on them to give a bit of relief from the incessant aerial attack donkeys and horses seem to suffer.
Back home Jane is cleaning the bedrooms and I am cleaning the computer. Deleting unwanted files before defragmenting the registry. Then the hard drive with an new program Raxco PerfectDisk 7.0. This is a great program to run if your PC is over a year old. The Windows defragmenter is very good. You can get a 30 day trial. As you only need to run it once every six months/year, home users can take advantage of this evaluation period and never have to buy it.
We're back out to feed the donkeys. We walked up a little earlier than usual. I want to watch the football.
Back just in time for the Opening ceremony and build up.
Germany won 4-2 against Costa Rica. I was supporting Costa Rica, they did give the Germans a couple of scares and for a while a shock was possible.
Later I watched Ecuador v Poland. 2-0 to the South Americans. They deserved their win against a poor Polish team. Ecuador may give Germany's shaky defence a few problems. Poland make do likewise as they now have to beat Germany to get through the group stage.
Jane cleaned during this sportsfest! We could have the cleanest house in the village by the time the trophy's presented to Beckham.
A sunny day. Again some high cloud but less than yesterday.
We're up early and going to walk out to exercise Rosie and Domingo.
It' the big day at last. England's first game, against Paraguay. I hope we get off to a good start with a solid performance that is going to make everyone want to avoid playing us in the later stages.
We walked down to El Chorruelo then up the camino to Algatocín to get the donkeys. We walked them almost back to Benarrabá before turning and retracing our steps. It is quite hot, not scorching as there are some high clouds. The start of June has been very pleasant.
We're back home at 12:30h. Walking into the house where it is lovely and cool, is a relief after two hours of walking up and down the mountain paths.
An ice cool beer goes down really well. Jane says I shouldn't blog about football as its boring ... so I'll try not to go on about it too much.
Well we won 1-0. Not very convincing in the second half.
We walked to the restaurant Kábilas and sat on the sun terrace.
We went to Café Bar Guayacán where Flora gave us some wonderful tapas. Salmorejo de carne a traditional pork dish of Benarrabá. We've had quite a lot of Salmorejo de carne since we arrived here. This is the best we've tasted. Flora also gave us a delicious salad. Tomato, onion, green pepper and octopus chopped very finely in vinegar.
Here I am telling Yolanda all about the football.
Later we headed down to Pub Bar Dami.
This is Eva Sara. Pepa's daughter. We had a drink with them outside Dami's before they opened up Disco Bar Embrujo.
This is inside Dami's.
Later in Disco Bar Embrujo.
Jane, Eva Sara and Pepa.
We got home quite late. Ingerlaaaaand.
We drove to see Rosie and Domingo. They look fit and well.
A quiet day spent around the house.
I managed to watch all three football matches whilst Jane was eBaying and writing e-mails.
We drove to see Rosie and Domingo in the evening.
We watched a Argentinean Film about some con men. It was subtitled which usually puts us off, but this was a really good film. "Nueve reinas" which is "Nine Queens". Well worth watching.
Another pleasant day. A strong breeze and some high cloud cover are combining to keep temperatures down. June has been a lovely month so far with temperatures in the low to middle 20'sC/mid 80'sF.
We walked to see the donkeys.
Here's Jane with Rosie.
Here's Domingo trying to get Rosie's food. He's a greedy burro. she's a bit of a barrel so he's probably doing her a favour.
We walked the donkeys into the campo to eat on the verges.
We walked back to Benarrabá.
Then we got the dogs and walked back into the campo.
Here's a photo of a lizard we spotted.
We stopped at Cerrillo de la Cruz. Jane took these photo's of Chumbos (Prickly Pear Cactus) in flower. Later in the year you can eat the fruit. (Very Carefully!)
The dogs enjoy a bowlful of natural spring water.
We spotted this large Dragonfly. It was about ten centimetres long. It was very striking. I've never seen one this colour before.
We walked back to Benarrabá.
I watched Australia v Japan. Which was a good game.
We walked out for a third time into the campo to feed Domingo and Rosie.
A lot of walking today.
We're back in time for the remaining two matches. Both very enjoyable.
The Czech Republic looked very impressive. As did Italy. Ghana looked like they were going to cause problems but Italy were passing the balls through the channels with great guile and skill. Probably the best two performances so far.
Jane worked on the computer sending out some e-mails.
A surprise thunderstorm at midnight last night. Lots of lightning and long rumbles of thunder. Not a huge amount of rain.
It's another pleasant day with a slight breeze keeping temperatures perfect.
We're cleaning the apartment for surprise guests Martin and Davina. They've e-mailed us a few times over the last few months and are in Spain. They've decided to spend part of their holiday with us in Benarrabá. They want to try Flora's tapas. People are traveling from far and wide for this experience!
We met Davina and Martin and went to Café Bar Guayacán. They'd driven from Olvera (Where there had been more of a storm than we'd had last night). Instead of coming straight to Benarrabá they'd taken a circuitous route via Bornos so that Davina could see the Jardines del Palacio de los Ribera.
We had some of Flora's wonderful tapas. A really good Montadito and a dishful of Hibea (Cuttlefish).
We took Davina and Martin to see the apartment which they loved.
I worked on a website for a few hours before we drove out to see the donkeys and fed them.
Back in Benarrabá I watched the end of the France v Switzerland game which wasn't great.
Later I watched the Brazil v Croatia game which Brazil won 1-0. Not a great Brazilian performance. If Croatia had scored and they should have, I think Brazil could have moved out of cruise control into a higher gear.
There was a light shower at around 22:00h. Weird weather for Spain in June!
A few flashes of distant lightning during the night and a little rain.
In fact it is still raining now as I type this at just after 09:00h.
The ground is wet so we've had a little more than yesterday.
Jane's been to the Post Office (Vincente's house) to collect a parcel (more stuff from eBay!). Benarrabá's Post Office opens for half an hour a day between 9:15 and 9:45!
We're driving across to fill the donkey's water barrel up.
It's raining! A steady misty drizzle. We drove up to the A369 to go to the Post Office in Gaucín to post some letters, but turned back because visibility was very poor. You have to respect these mountain roads in bad conditions and if your trip isn't essential, do it tomorrow when it is safer.
We drove out to the spring at El Chorruelo. Filled up three huge water containers for the donkeys barrel and then up to the campo where they were sheltering under a tree somewhere. We left them to enjoy the cool, wet, but fly free day.
Back home I worked on a website and Jane watched TV.
Spain play Ukraine today at 15:00h so we went to Bar Andrés Sánchez to cheer them on. Davina and Martin were out exploring the village and were in Bar Barroso eating tapas. They finished their meal and came into Andrés to watch the match with us.
Here's Jane with Davina and Martin.
The match was going well. Spain won 4-0. A great result. A poor turnout in the bar, I'd expected more people to be watching.
The rain had stopped whilst we were watching the football and it was a lovely sunny afternoon as we walked out to feed Rosie and Domingo.
The long and winding road ...
We stayed in and I watched the other games. Germany v Poland was a good match, with the Germans scoring a late injury time winner.
A better start to the day today, the sun is shining.
Martin and Davina are off to visit a couple of the nearby villages.
First Gaucín and then Genalguacil.
Gaucín
Genalguacil
Before Davina and Martin left they showed me a huge moth that was perched on the rear door trim of their car.
It was very impressive. Easily the biggest moth I've ever seen.
We're off to Gaucín as well. To post the letters that we were going to send yesterday.
We went to Gaucín at around 12:00h. As well as posting the letters we bought a 40 kilo sack of mixed seeds and pellets for the donkeys which costs 10 euros / £7. This lasts over a month.
This is the view up the Guadiaro valley to Cortes de la Frontera from the North side of Gaucín.
We called into the Super Genal at Algatocín. Vine tomatoes are 59 cents a kilo, 20p/lb. Cherry's 1.25 a kilo 60p/lb. Great Value.
We stocked up on refreshments for the World Cup!
Back in Benarrabá we walked over to see Rosie and Domingo.
They both look well. It was a lovely afternoon. No too hot, but quite humid.
I watched the match between Costa Rica and Ecuador which Ecuador won 0-3. They look a well organised team. We could play them in the first knock out stage if all goes well later this afternoon.
Jane went to the hairdressers for a trim, she got back just in time for the match.
A tense, tight game with England missing some good chances, they also came close to going behind a couple of times.
Owen missed a sitter, so did Crouch. Owen was subbed again to let on Mr 'Metatarsal' himself. With Lennon flying up the right wing we looked a better team and started to pressurise the Trinidad and Tobago defence. It looked just a question of when we'd score, or would the clock run down before it happened. Crouch bundled a header in. It looked a bit dubious as he was on top of the defender with a handful of dreadlocks but it was a great relief.
Gerrard scored a beauty in the dying seconds to seal the victory.
We went out to celebrate. Yolanda has some special glasses.
We were joined by guests Davina and Martin.
We had a good night out. We watched the Sweden v Paraguay game on the big screen in Guayacán. Sweden scored a late equaliser which is a shame as England could have taken it easy on Tuesday. When we now have to play Sweden to decide the winner of the group.
We ate lots of tapas and drank lots of beer. Later we ate more tapas and drank lots of spirits.
Flora and Bernardo came back from Ronda with the news that her son Jesús and his wife Anabel have a new daughter 'Paula'. Congratulations to all the families. We saw a 'phone photo' and she looks cute.
We walked home through a silent Benarrabá. The skies were crystal clear and there were millions of stars in the sky.
Another unconvincing win but another good celebration ....
At least we're showing consistency in our performance.
Ingerlaaaaand !