www.property-in-the-sun.com

Thursday November 4th 2004

Woken up by the alarm, got up to the routine of plugging the builders extension cable in for the lights upstairs and the cement mixer. Builders were bang on 8am as usual.
Jake (the youngest Border Collie, the son of the other two!) had an upset stomach ... cleaned up! You don't need to know this do you?
Had a cup of tea and walked the dogs up the track at the side of the house, up the hill behind to look down on Benarrabá and the Genal Valley. Cloud was hanging along the top of the mountains with tendril like fingers creeping down the hillsides. It was a little grey but still very beautiful. The sun was about to rise. It might rain later?

PM. I've been working on the website, a new Granada page but its a long way from finished. It did rain for a while but nothing too heavy. Now it is very foggy.
Our new kitten 'Mota de Oro' - Speck of Gold, is getting a lot of attention.I've answered two e-mails today from visitors to the site, we hope to meet up with both couples very soon.
Jane wants to walk in the fog ... poca loca!
Newcastle play tonight in Europe, as usual I'm (over)confident that we will win. I will listen to the commentary online.
Howay the Lads!

Friday November 5th 2004

Well no fireworks tonight for the first time ever. We used to watch the display in Ramsgate football ground for free from our bedroom window.
I've had a day off from website's today, after a late session last night working on our friends site.
www.paint-in-holidays.com
The builders didn't come today, we're not sure why, but we have been told they will be back on Monday.
Went to the Restaurant Kábilas this morning for coffee and anis which is a lovely aniseed / pernod type drink, it is very popular here it warms you up in the morning!
It has rained steadily today but it still feels mild.
The clouds hang on the mountains and are wonderful. Jane loves it .. she thinks its better than summer? I prefer the sun!
Well Newcastle won last night, so big smiles all day as we visited Bar Andrés Sánchez and Bar Dami for tapas. We also called in to see Pepa at Bar El Porón near the plaza.
Then we had a siesta to recover.
Never again ... but then its so cheap out here .... 16p for a can of good lager ..
£1.75 for a decent bottle of Rioja ...

Saturday 6th November 2004

Spent few hours working on a new website for a friend, she is an artist and wants a gallery website to showcase and sell some of her work.
You can find the site at www.marionhenke.com it is still being worked on so not the finished article! Listened to Liverpool lose ... shame.

Sunday 7th November 2004

A beautiful day completely ruined by Newcastle crashing to a 4-1 home defeat by Fulham. I listened to the match we should have been 3-0 up at halftime but for their goalkeeper and the ref. Gutted

Monday 8th November 2004

The sun shone all day. we went to visit our friend Jesús García's cortijo in Salitre, it was a wonderful day, we took photographs of the house which has been split into two separate halves for rural tourism.
The views of the Rio Guadiaro here are really great and it really is a tranquil place to stay we can recommend it.Jesús had brought his two children and we were joined later by his wife and her father. We had lovely curado cheese and a bottle of beer on his patio under a willow tree it really was idyllic.
We got back home at around 2pm and put on our walking boots and took the dogs for a walk up the steep path to the ridge between Benarrabá and Algatocín. My legs can handle it but this walk gets my lungs every time. We picked up some sweet chestnuts from the path, we've been told they were a little small this year after the dry September, these weren't very large. We also got a bagful of pine cones. Pine cones are used here as firelighters, they don't half work! They smell good as well.
Got back to find the lads working away on the house, then a large truck showed up and it was the man to spray the foam insulation onto the roof ... excellent news as we'd been waiting for a couple of really good days to let everything dry out, get it sprayed and then retiled.
Went with Onno and Marion Henke to Dami's Bar for a few beers and tapas, had a good night. they are good company.

Tuesday 9th November 2004

The day started grey but got out to be really lovely.
Had to sort out the car insurance. We went to Gaucín and then to Ronda.
In Gaucín we popped in to see Manolo for a coffee and watched some workmen demolish the house opposite his bar. No such thing as health and safety in Spain, which makes any sort of major construction work a spectator sport for the old men who usually loiter on the street corners and bars of Spanish towns.
Drove to Ronda. Jane shopped and I went to see Juan Macias at his hotel. I had a beer or two and some tapas, Jane joined me and we both had more beers and tapas, Hotel Macias is a beautiful hotel and the free food is top class. Had a pizza in the main plaza not as good our favourite place Da Vinci's which closes on Tuesdays.
Watched 60-70 Chough's flying around the bridge in Ronda, they really are great birds to watch. Later we went shopping in Plus, a very cheap supermarket.
Saw a lot of Crag Martins flying around an outcrop.
The chestnuts are changing to a yellow orange quite a sight as we drove down the Genal Valley on our way home.
The builders had most of the roof tiled, should be finished tomorrow.

Wednesday 10th November 2004

Busy day ... took Mota de Oro to the vets for her first jabs.
We've been asked to help the children at the local school to speak proper English like, pet! Should be fun!
Nineteen children turned up, with only blank writing pads and pencils, they were aged from five to fourteen! We did an improvised lesson on the blackboard, it went quite well considering it was unplanned.
We went to see our neighbours pigs and piglets in the campo. He also has a pony there and his dog (the one that bit me in May). We fed the eight piglets, pony and the hound from hell. Then we collected two huge sacks of pine cones and filled the back of his Landrover with firewood. Which he has kindly given to us. The pine cones are used as firelighters. They work very well!
Roof finished.

Thursday 11th November 2004

Lovely day. Coffee at the Restaurant Kábilas sitting under the pine trees in the sun. Worked on website's most of the day and evening.

Friday 12th November 2004

Happy Birthday to me ...Yes cards and pressies for me today. New XBox game Newcastle United 2005 .. Thanks to Carol, Michael, Bob and Esther.
4pm and we're back at the school in our role as English teachers ..
twenty one kids this week not enough chairs or desks in the room so we had to open another classroom.
I took six teenagers into one room and Jane had fifteen five to eleven year olds in the other!
Went to Dami's bar after to recover. Dami shares the same birthday and is ten years younger, although he looks older.
Cena (Evening meal) went to Restaurant Mesón Bodega Mirador de la Sierra.
We had a lovely meal and an expensive wine 18€/£12.50! Which is expensive in Spain, we usually only pay around 5/6 € for a decent Rioja.
The garlic soup is excellent. The venison very rich and neither us could finish it.
Jane had a brandy in a glass like a goldfish bowl. The owners son poured it out and put far too much in. The owner watched in horror. He was later seen overriding the 1.50€ price on his new fancy computerised till and upping it to 2.50€.
The service is good, the food excellent. It was very cold and the one log fire struggled to heat the very large room.
There were seven men in the restaurant when we arrived. They were joined an hour later by seven women (their wives). The men sat at one end of a long table, the women at the other. Both groups drank separate humorous sexist toasts. The ladies then left as soon as the meal was finished. Leaving the men to drink and smoke.

Saturday 13th November 2004

Another lovely day, the weather has been beautiful lately.
Worked on website's again this morning.
We then met Chris and Carol, a couple who are house hunting in the area. Chris and I have exchanged e-mails and Carol is a regular visitor to the website.
We had tapas in Bar Andrés Sánchez and they told us of their week. I'm not sure why but house hunting in Spain is always amusing. Tiring but amusing. Houses designed without toilets, tin roofs, miles of dirt tracks to pink finca's etc. We had an enjoyable drink and Andrés tapas as usual was excellent.
We took them to see our building site of an apartment.
A very likeable couple, they are clearly enjoying their search and are excited by their future life in Spain. Good luck to them.
Saturday evening and a visit to the Restaurant Kábilas where we met a large group of engineers from Seville and their families (75 in total). They had just completed a days walking in the Genal Valley and were having a meal before heading back to Seville.

Sunday 14th November 2004

Up early working on website's. It's Marta's (our neighbour Juans' (with the pigs) daughter) 9th birthday and we have been invited.
Worked all day, listened to footie .. another disaster.
Went to party. It was a strange affair. Women and kids in the front room. Men and beer in the kitchen around the fire. Jane was not amused. I had a good time eating meat roasted on the glowing embers, drinking lots of beer and later, Rioja. I saw the birthday girl once when she blew out the candles on her cake. Then the male/female division was quickly back in place.
Jane meanwhile was in a roomful of Spanish women and their very loud kids. She escaped once back to our house to phone her sister. Then guilt forced her back. She came into the kitchen hoping to be allowed to be one of the boys but was swiftly taken back to the women's section by the hostess. She was bitten by one of the lovely little darlings.
The party finished.
Not a good day.

Monday 15th November 2004

Our plumber had worked all weekend, the pipes are now all in place.
More work for me. Then a drive out on a glorious day to Cortes de la Frontera and through the Alcornocales Natural Parque to El Colmenar. Where we had to stop to let this huge vicious looking bull get off the road.Then we headed up to Gaucín for lunch.
A lovely stroll around Gaucín in the afternoon sun. Coffee in Manolos' bar. However Jane was curious (nosey) about a house Chris and Carol were interested in (strangely next door to Carols' brothers house where they were staying) so she's trying to match the houses in the area to their description ... when Chris says 'Hello' as we walk past their front door. So we meet again which was good and Jane's big beak causes only minor embarrassment. We got a tour of Carols' brothers house and its lovely views. We also got a glimpse over the wall to next door which may or may not be their 'Spanish Dream Home', time will tell.
Back home and a couple more hours working.

Tuesday 16th November 2004

Jane's got a cold.
Worked all day and evening.

Wednesday 17th November 2004

I've got the cold.
Worked all day .. nearly finished.
School for English classes, twenty five this week!
Monica a Romanian lady who lives in the village turned up to help keep order, she speaks a little English and good Spanish, so this helped.
Spain beat England at football 1-0 ... great, I'm staying in for a week!

Thursday 18th November 2004

Finishing touches to website, which is now finished !!!
It can be seen, if you are interested, at www.marionhenke.com
My cold is now a bad chest infection so I'm on antibiotics (which can be bought without prescription in Spain).

Friday 19th November 2004

Up early yet another sunny day, the builders are making good progress, nearly all plastering finished, it looks really good now all the concrete beams and bare brickwork has disappeared. The apartment might be finished by Christmas?? Anyone fancy a cheap New Years break? Although I think Jane fancies a few months living upstairs.
Finally got some time to do a bit on our website!
School again later. My chest is still bad. Jane's in bed with her cold. We should probably cancel classes or risk infecting the whole village.
We cancelled today's lesson, both us are feeling ill.
Watched Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring DVD and then went to bed.

Saturday 20th November 2004

Jane is really feeling sick, she stayed in bed all day, I spent some time promoting the two websites which I've been working on, then I listened to Newcastle actually winning a match!
Jane's got a high temperature and is refusing beer ...
I did a logo for one of my sites I'm giving a facelift.
Plumbers upstairs working.
Weather still fantastic.

Sunday 21st November2004

Jane still in bed.
Plumbers back again putting in waste pipes.
I've been cleaning ... I hate cleaning.
Going to work on my web design site.
Lovely day but a few more clouds on the mountains (Sierra Bermeja) opposite.
The sun is surprisingly strong, I sat on the doorstep looking at the wonderful view and it was burning me through my trousers.
Back to cleaning ...
It's not all sun and sangria out here you know!

Monday 22nd November 2004

Jane is feeling a lot better. So much so that we decided to go to Gaucín. We had a coffee in Manolo's and I had a medicinal anis. We had short stroll and then headed to Algatocín. The sweet chestnut trees are turning orange and the whole hillside was ablaze, a fantastic sight! We went to the local DIY shop (ferretería) and bought some plastic based paint and some chemical pipe un blocker as the waste pipes in the bathroom downstairs seem to be bunged up and back flowing with a rather foul stench.
Got home and used the pipe chemical, it sizzled and smoked as I poured it down the plugholes and toilet. I was confident it would work but after an hour I tried to flush the toilet and it still didn't work properly.
We decided the local plumber was needed so we set off to find him.
There were over eighty Griffon vultures circling overhead, the most we've seen at once since we've been here.
We spotted him later heading home and he came and looked. His first attempt to unblock the drain was to ram a mop down the toilet but nothing happened. Further investigation led to a spot just outside the house near our Bougainvillea, so armed with hammer and chisel he started hacking up the street. Our neighbour and good friend Cristóbal came to see what was appending. Soon hose pipes were being pushed up the sewer and the pipe suddenly unblocked, followed by lots of toilet humour and jokes in bad taste accompanied by a horrendous stink. The whole problem cost £28 for the plumber plus a few beers. Not bad for an emergency call out and digging up the street!
What would be a very expensive major problem in the UK turned out to be quite a minor problema/social event as our neighbours and their kids came out to help, watch and have laugh about it.

Tuesday 23rd November 2004

We got up early and headed to Estación de San Roque. We'd driven through Estación de San Roque a few times on the way to Tarifa, Algeciras and Gibraltar but we'd never stopped.
On the way two White storks flying about ten feet off the ground flew over the road in front of us, a wonderful sight. Plus lots of Cattle Egrets in the fields and flying around.
We had noticed that there were lots of Muebles shops (Furniture Stores) in Estación de San Roque so we decided it was worth checking out.
There was a funny smell in the streets a little like our drain the night before.
Jane later voted the ladies loo in the railway station of San Roque 'Spains Worst Toilet Ever'!! So possibly the smell came from there?The muebles shops were good and we found a carpenters where you can have tables and chairs made by mixing and matching tops, sizes, legs etc. to suit your requirements. You can then have them stained and waxed from number of different possibilities.
We then headed to the Poligono (trading estate) on the Algeciras road and went to Leroy Merlin's (DIY) and Jane found an shopping arcade with a Christmas tree which made her cry. We also had a Big Mac.
Came home, met with the builders and plumber sorted out some minor questions.
Went to Bar Andrés Sánchez I had a beer, Jane had a coke. Some of the women were having a makeover with facemasks etc. Strange thing to happen in a bar ... but this is Benarrabá.
Showed Carmen and Cristóbal the apartment.
Watched a film, Fight Club.

Wednesday 24th November2004

A really beautiful sunny day we put our hiking boots on and headed out along the track at the bottom of our road. The dogs love walking along these trails, they run ahead a few yards, never too far, they seem happy here in Spain.
We walked for about an two hours, bumped into our friends Marion and Onno Henke with their Husky, Alsatian cross Kyra, they had had the same idea, it is a perfect day for walking.
We carried on and reached a point where we could see Algatocín near a huge boulder full of veins of quartz crystals. We went a little further and explored a few smaller tracks then turned back and headed home. We have the English lessons at the school at 4pm, it's days like this we wished we had said 'no' because it is very tying, Wednesday and Fridays we can't really go too far, I'm not happy about it but don't want to let the kids down, also Jane seems to enjoy it.
Classes went well, couldn't open the school doors so we held lessons in the Gym. Classes have been split so we had about ten younger kids today, a much more manageable size group.

Thursday 25th November 2004

Went to Gaucín, bought some unpolished leather boots for general use. Met a lady in the shop who invited us to a Xmas Feria, on tomorrow and weekend.
Went to the coast, Sabinillas, weather fantastic could easily have got a tan.

Friday 26th November2004

Went to the Xmas Feria, Jane bought me a lovely hoopoe, we met a few interesting people, there were mainly English there not really our scene. Nice house in the countryside below Gaucín on the Algeciras road. Met James Nitchen and his wife again, we'd met them at a pool party at Ken & Frankie's. Bad news ... found out Frankie is in hospital again, will phone Ken.
Back for 4pm did the English lessons.
Out again to buy antioxidant paint for our new entrada railings and doors, which we have to paint before it rains.
Went to Art Exhibition in Gaucín, met Stephanie Thompson one of the artists who's work was on show. Lot's of people all English there, nobody else spoke to us left after about half an hour. Some of the art was good, very expensive, some outrageously so for what it was.

Saturday 27th November2004

Jane and I painted the 'entrada iron work' 5 hours .... very boring.
Looks great though.

Sunday 28th November 2004

Worked on Spanish Spider site, I'm redoing it with a cheap low cost web site option.
Listened to football Newcastle v Everton, we should have won ...

Monday 29th November

Worked on Spanish Spider site again, no builders today, going to pick doors tomorrow.
Went for a long walk again, the autumn colours are wonderful. Got back just as the sun set.

Tuesday 30th November2004

It's overcast today but still warm. We received three e-mails from people who'd visited the site. Always good to get e-mails, it encourages us a lot.
We went to pick the doors in Estación de Cortes. Lovely solid wood doors and very high quality craftsmanship. Price to follow ...
Went to see Marion Henke she wants to put more paintings on her website.
Watched the Matrix.