More rainy days..

Sunday 18 November

.....and woke up in the middle of a power cut. However it wasn’t long till the power came back on again and we enjoyed our first cup of tea in bed. The shower was interesting as no sooner had Kev lathered up his head than the electric went off again. nothing for it but to brass it out and in a few cold minutes the power came back on and he could carry on where he left off.

We really look forward to Sundays as Sunday is Brunch day. We have our breakfast and lunch at 11.00am and push the boat out with an egg and bacon meal. Petra cooked the Brunch while Kev cleaned out the fire and set it for tonight.

In the afternoon we went to the corner cafe and used the internet.

Saturday 17 November

We woke up a couple of times in the night to the sound of the rain doing it’s pelting down thing. I cannot express more equivocally, when it rains here it really does rain. It Hammered it down all morning with thunder and lightning and the electricity flickering on and off. When it rains like this the surrounding tracks become small rivers or it washes down from hills and rages over the roads undermining the tarmac and causing collapses. 

Driving back from Velez Malaga yesterday we saw the repair crew out repairing the road and a huge lorry dumping tons of boulders into a ditch they had dug. We also saw a massive gantry which was drilling 1m wide holes at the roads edge and filling them with concrete. Further the roads are subject to subsidence and you can see cracks in the road and a huge area that has simply sunk or started to slide down the hill.

We were not going out today and the weather simply got worse as did the thunder and lightning. No problem, out with the jigsaw and the afternoon was spent completing it and listening to Jeeves and Wooster on the iPod and player. 

At about 8pm we had an almighty power cut which lasted much longer than the few seconds we had experienced throughout the day. We ventured outside into total darkness as the whole valley was experiencing the the same thing. Nothing to do but wait it out. As it happens we don’t need a electricity for much in that we have our own light source if needed (candles) the heating is either gas of wood burning and we buy water for drinking so we have plenty of that. The only thing we need water for is the flushing of the loo and washing up and all that can wait. 

As it happened we sat in the candle light quite enjoying it. Petra read her book and Kev tried to distract her by talking to her. We both had a long drink of wine and brandy and who cares about the rest. We went to bed in the middle of another power cut....

Friday 16 November

We spent the morning and lunch time shopping day in Velas Malaga. Mercadona and Lidl. Nothing special about that other than it meant we had a typical English dinner. Salmon, New Potato's, Green Beans, Carrots and Parsley Sauce. followed by ‘Flan’ (Cream Caramel to us).

We also lit the wood burning fire for the first time. It really made a big difference to the feel of the house and made it feel lovely and warm and cosy. We sat in the lounge watching some of our music dvd’s all night and drinking the remainder of the wine.  

Thursday 15 November

Standing on the terrace this morning looking out down to the track below the house, Kev noticed a man riding by on a donkey. This is of course not unusual in Spain and in Riogordo we have seen a few. What made Kev smile was the man was wearing a ‘Donkey Jacket’ it looked the same as the ones we have in the UK but had florescent orange patches instead of black. Is the man aware of the irony of the situation or is the jacket called something completely different in Spain? Stupid observation of course but it was early and made him smile!! 

We hadn’t seen the cats this morning and it became clear why, all the dogs from the turkey farm had escaped and one of the cats the ‘skitty black and white’ one was sitting at the top of a tree looking down on the dogs barking their heads off. The dogs are not particularly bright as you would have thought as they have their new found freedom that they would be off....no and unfortunately not! Instead they spent the day on the outskirts of the farm and one has to wonder why they bothered to escape in the first place. We could hear the owner whistling them well into the evening, all to no avail. Still, as soon as they get hungry enough we are sure they will make their way back to incarceration and squalid life.

We were going to do the river walk today but the weather had turned cloudy again and although it was not raining it looked like it would. Instead we went to Riogordo and posted the packet to Kev’s Dad. The same man was there who dealt with us yesterday and seem to know exactly what we wanted, ‘rapido’ seem to be the buzz word of the moment and we were all set. Over to you Bill....

After sorting out the packet we sat in the corner cafe on the internet drinking coffee, beer and eating bacon rolls. The barman seems to be getting quite used to us now even though we can’t speak many words in Spanish spluttering out unintelligible words in total embarrassment. What makes it more difficult is the locals speak with their own dialect. It’s like being a foreigner who has come over to the UK for the first time having been taught Lymington English and having a conversation with a broad Glaswegian! The men at the bar have a hearty laugh when we order. We don’t care really as we seem to get what we order and hide behind the computer screen. Soon, we will not have to say a word as he will know exactly what we want as we walk through the door. Bring it on!!

Back at the house we had a really relaxed afternoon doing our own thing and doing what retired people do best, ‘not working’. In the late afternoon the sun came out and we sat on the terrace getting warm and drinking Gin and Tonic. We feel we are settling into the Spanish way of life now as we were going to do some food shopping this afternoon at Velez Malaga but in the end it was mañana and that was that. As it happens we have enough supplies to hold out for several more days if we choose, we have all we need and Riogordo can supply most things if needs must.

Quiz night again tonight and we did much better than last week finishing second and getting our entry fee back and turning a bit of profit to-boot. A good team effort from all.

The New Kev (Must get a hair cut!!)