March 1st - 15th 2006
Written by Geoff Forster
A misty start to the day, low cloud is sitting in the Genal Valley.
I've been working on our Spanish website, I've been adding photographs to the Feria Gastronómica page.
I've also added a Swedish and Dutch page on our apartment pages.
A beautiful sunset with peach coloured clouds in the valley.
The sun is out and it's a lovely day, with fluffy cumulus clouds drifting overhead. We had a late night so we're up a little later than usual.
I've added a Polish page to our Spanish website.
We're offering quite a number of different currencies and languages now.
Thanks to Jayne for arranging the Polish translation for us.
We wish you and Manny, good luck in your new life in Murcia.
Najlepszy apartament hiszpanii
A busy day in the house. I've been working on the www.benarraba.com website. I'm starting to add some photo' galleries. Using photographs taken from this website but reorganised into specific sections.
Jane's been cleaning and cooking.
A quick walk with the dogs and I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker in an Olive tree only metres from the apartment.
A dull but dry day, we hope to get out walking over the weekend.
Thanks to Tina for correcting my Swedish spelling mistakes.
Spaniens bästa lägenhet
A quick plug of an event currently on in Benalauría.
Jaime Becerra Galindo a woodcarver has an exhibition in the Restaurante Mesón La Molienda.
It's on until 12th March 12:00 - 16:00 all days, 12:00 - 23:00 Fri, Sat.
Another mild, dry day. However clouds over the mountains are threatening rain which is forecast for today.
We hope to get out and about more next week as the long range forecast looks good.
Visitors to the website increased to an average of 465 a day in February peaking at the end of the month with a massive 648.
The March total is already averaging over 500. Visits do fall at weekends ... meaning that a lot of people visit the site from computers at work ... dreaming of the Spanish sun.
I listened to Newcastle win 3-1. Things are looking a lot better.
Jane has been cooking. A large jam tart and a vegetable lasagna.
Both were very good.
We watched Spiderman on DVD, then some late night poker.
Still alive after Jane's lasagna.
A beautiful day. Blue skies and a fresh wind. We had some welcome rain during the night which is good news.
We took the dogs for a walk into the campo.
It was lovely and warm in the sun. If we get regular rain from now until May I think it is going to be an excellent year for the wild flowers. Spring in this part of Andalucía can be spectacular.
We watched some TV then more late night poker. I've ordered a couple of books from Amazon on 'No limit Texas Holdem'. It's a fascinating very skillful game.
A lovely day. Warmer than yesterday it must be at least 18C in the sun.
Which is also the temperature in Sweden today, but minus! Tina has written saying it is pretty cold there -18C, it's making me shiver just typing the figures.
Jane has just got a DVD through the post. 'Chocolat' which she's wanted for a long time. I guess we'll watch it later.
We're going to take the dogs out for a walk in the sunshine.
The path at the side of the house is carpeted with a diverse number of small wild flowers.
This is a view of the Valle del Genal from behind the apartment (right).
The air felt cold out of the sunshine. It was a clear day, the mountains look wonderful.
The best day of the year so far. Real spring weather. The air feels lovely and warm.
Tina, who is from the South of Sweden has given me another weather report. Today it is -20C there ... and that's in the South!
I was talking to our neighbour Cristóbal as we chopped logs for the fire.
We need more heavy rain before April and May as the actual volume of rain that falls reduces as it gets warmer. He did say we'd had more rain this winter than last.
I've been busy working on a few small jobs around the house. I've done another webpage for www.benarraba.com. I've been adding a gallery of photo's a day to the site. So far I've done Horses, Mules, Goats, Sheep and today Donkeys (Burros).
This is a link to the main animals gallery. See links down the right hand side for the different animals.
Animales Galería
Tonight we're cooking a curry and Jane wants to watch "You've got Mail" starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. A romantic drama ... What no aliens or machine guns?
What a stunning day! Blue skies, not a cloud to be seen warm air and a hot sun. Is it really the beginning of March?
We decided to go to Ronda. We love Ronda and it has been a few weeks since our last visit.
It was a very clear day. From the road above Benarrabá we looked down the Genal Valley to Gibraltar and beyond into Africa.
We headed to Ronda. These photographs are were taken between Atajate and Ronda looking down the Genal to the Sierra de Crestellina.
We got to Ronda and sorted out some paperwork.
Sometimes getting paperwork sorted in Spain is a series of trials by waiting. Shuttling from office to office with increasing amounts of paper, hopefully with the right stamp and the right date in the right place.
We got some photo's printed and watched some Chough's and Crag Martins flying in the gorge.
This is the view from the famous Puente Nueva, looking East.
This is the view from the other side looking West. It looks very green. A few more weeks of sunshine like today and it will be golden brown.
We walked to the Plaza del Socorro.
This is the famous Ronda bullring. You can get a horse drawn carriage ride around Ronda for a few euros. Very romantic!
It was really hot in the sun. This next photo is dedicated to Tina in Sweden ...
Okay this isn't too accurate. 32F/90F it was in direct sun light. Another in the shade was a little over 68F/20C. We walked a few miles around Ronda and it was like a hot summer day in the UK.
We drove back to Benarrabá. This is our oldest cat Laura (14) enjoying the sunshine in the long grass beneath the Olive trees.
We sat on the sun terrace. Not a bad view!
We had a walk in the evening sunshine.
We called into see Pepa, Dami and Andrés Sánchez ...
Carmen, Cristóbal and Adrian called over with some photographs Adrian had taken over eighteen months ago! We looked very young.
Carmen also brought a plateful of Salmorejo de patata. A potato salad with egg and tuna. Jane has the recipe, I'll put it on the blog.
I'm off out again tomorrow to get more firewood, I've just about recovered from the last time.
I spent the morning out in the campo, collecting firewood. It was another beautiful day. we drove not far from the Rio Genal. This time a rotten Cork Oak had fallen and we sliced the trunk into two foot chunks and rolled them down the hill to the car. At the car they were chopped into smaller pieces and loaded them into the boot.
A strange misty cloud was sitting on the road between the Genal and Guadiaro valleys. As we drove up to the road the temperature plummeted. A few hundred metres down the Benarrabá road and we were back in the hot sunshine.
We cooked a pizza for lunch and more of the Salmorejo de patata that Carmen had given us.
A late night watching Morse and then poker.
Another beautiful day. Temperatures are soaring and the sun seems to gain strength each day.
We're going to do a few jobs around the house and outside.
We have some plant pots that need tidying ready for planting up with marigolds and verbena.
Friends Marilyn and Michael are calling in to see us late this afternoon.
They flew into Gibraltar and pass us on the way to their house in Torre-Alháquime. We haven't seen them since January. We're hoping to meet up again during their stay for a walk and a meal.
We met Marilyn and Michael in Café Bar Guayacán.
They'd had problems getting their hire car in Gibraltar. It seems the company keeps the cars across the border in Spain. They also keep strange hours, closing in the afternoon. So they had a long wait and a long walk with their luggage.
It was good to see them both again. They'd had bad news about one of their cats 'Jasmine'. She had to be put to sleep this morning. Not a good day.
We had a few drinks and they set off to Torre-Alháquime.
We're going to meet up on Sunday for a walk in the Alcornocales forest.
The weather continues to be good.
We're going to the Mesón Bodega Mirador de la Sierra to photograph the Mujers Asociación de Banú Rabbah celebrating Women's day with a meal. Women's day was a couple of days ago but a lot of them were working, so today's the day they are holding their celebration. After the meal they are going to sing in the towns library.
We photographed the ladies before their meal. I'll put them on the www.benarraba.com website.
Outside the restaurante Jane spotted the first wild sweet pea of the year. It was in flower beneath a gnarled Olive tree.
If we get regular rainfall between now and May it will be everywhere. A fantastic splash of vibrant colour.
Benarrabá taken from near the school.
We went to the Restaurante Kábilas to sit in the sun on their terrace.
This beautiful young blossom tree was in flower.
Jane is skillfully balancing a pine tree on her head.
Jane spent half an hour trying to photograph a bee that was buzzing around the flowers. Which was very brave as she really doesn't like insects too much.
We stopped to watch a game of football. This is Marta our neighbours daughter. She was very good. She scored a great goal and had time to do a dance whilst organising her team.
A lovely afternoon, we enjoyed being out in the village.
I finally succumbed and in the evening we watched 'Chocolat'.
We've arranged to meet Marilyn and Michael in Cortes de la Frontera at 11:00h.
We left Benarrabá at around 10:15h. It was another beautiful sunny day. I can't believe its only the beginning of March, what fantastic weather.
We passed the limestone outcrop and were thrilled to see two Griffon Vultures perched up there against the perfect deep blue sky.
I got really close to this one.
Finally it flew off, I could hear the sound of its huge wings beating through the air as it launched itself off its rocky perch. The closest I've managed to get to one of these massive birds.
We drove across to Cortes de la Frontera. It's Carnival time in Cortes. There were amusements and stalls along the street. It must have been a great night last night. Today however only a few old men were out and about. The rest of the pueblo were recovering in bed.
Marilyn and Michael arrived and we went for a walk around Cortes. We were looking for a Bar to get a coffee.
We found a bar open near the Ayuntamiento.
This is the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) of Cortes de la Frontera.
Taken from the balcony of the bar.
I'd taken the photograph when I noticed I wasn't alone on the balcony.
This dog growled, barked and curled up its lips to reveal a mouthful of huge teeth. Fortunately it was on a short chain.
We had our coffee and drove to the Alcornocales.
Here's Marilyn and Jane.
Jane, Marilyn (what are you doing?) and Michael.
Here's one of us kindly taken by Marilyn.
I'm wearing a Newcastle United T-shirt because we play Manchester United later. I'll miss the game but this is a token gesture of support. (We lost 2-0 so now I'm glad that I didn't listen)
We didn't see too many animals. A few goats, horses and cows.
We enjoyed a couple of short walks and collected some pine cones for using as firelighters. Thanks to Marilyn and Michael for their sackful.
We stopped in Estación de Gaucín for a drink outside the Mesón las Floras bar. It was a lovely hot afternoon.
We stopped in Gaucín to take some photographs.
This is Gaucín castle.
We drove to Benarrabá and went to Pub Bar Dami for tapas.
Dami's mother Anna makes a fantastic tortilla.
We said goodbye to Marilyn and Michael. We enjoyed their company as usual and had a great day out. We look forward to seeing them again either next month or in May.
Blue skies again ...
Mota de Oro.
Jane in the 'Entrada'
Jane and 'Motty'
Jake our beautiful Border Collie.
It was another really hot day.
We walked around the village in the afternoon sun.
This is the Plaza de la Vera Cruz.
Benarrabá is a very beautiful village.
Another great day.
We went for a walk with the dogs. We did the 'Blue' route in reverse.
There were lots of wild flowers along the track.
Lavender is starting to appear everywhere.
This blue flower is very pretty.
This seems to be a variety of the same plant.
The sky was a lovely blue. We watched a Common Buzzard hovering as it hunted above this ridge.
The puddles have all dried up. So the dogs were getting hot.
We walked down to the arroyo, the dogs loved this pool of running water.
I've been working on the websites. Jane's been cleaning.
Our new table and chairs were due to be delivered today.
Now they are coming mañana ..
.
A beautiful sunny day.
Completely wasted by having to hang around the house waiting for the furniture delivery.
They phoned to say it would be at 15:00h.
They phoned to say 17:00h.
They phoned to say it had left the workshop.
It never arrived.
I phoned them at 20:00h as it grew dark. There had been a problema.
We would now be getting the furniture tomorrow morning.
This has been a really annoying and frustrating day. Compounded by their promises to deliver throughout the day.
Laraga S.L. Carpenters in Estación de San Roque, named and shamed. We ordered the furniture on 26th January 2006. So don't believe the four week waiting time they give. Certainly don't expect delivery when they, say even when they telephone to give an exact time!
I did lose it a bit on the phone and vented a tirade of poor Spanish and Spanglish at the girl in the office.
We finally relaxed with a cup of tea and watched a little TV.
They are coming mañana .. of course they are ...