Today is the Fiesta Nacional de Espana (Spanish National Day). With the local holidays, that's the fourth fiesta day in the last eight! So all is quiet and the interminable rumble of the cement mixer has ceased until Monday (although the generator will be on later this afternoon as I've loads of washing catch up on).
Yesterday was a l..o..n..g day away from the cortijo. Having arranged to pick up from Orgiva a (very) cheap wet & dry vacuum cleaner (found on the aply-named 'Second hand tat in La Alpujarra' Facebook page), I got a call from the shop in Lanjaron with the news that the tracked barrows
(remember this from a previous post nearly 3 weeks ago
)were due that afternoon.
So having handed over my 20 euros for the vac (ideal for the pre-grape harvest cleanout that is under way), I found myself with 5 hours to kill as the alternative (come home and go back) would have meant nearly 2 hours driving. Given my push to remediate my 'overslim' physique, I went for a 3-course lunch with wine and coffee (all for a tenner) in Orgiva and then drove to Lanjaron and has a short snooze parked up overlooking a lovely gorge. Arriving at the shop at 5.15, I was told that the owner wouldn't be there for 20 inutes and perhaps I'd like to go for a coffee in the bar next door. This I did and found that the tab was being picked up by the shop.
When the owner arrived I had an opportunity to drive the barrow and it was immediately plain that it is going to be my saviour on the farm. With the ability to carry 4500kg and deal with severe slopes, it will save so much time & effort shifting crops, stone & wood around the place (plus it will be able to pull me up the hills!). It's narrow enough to get through the door of my workshop but the sides can be pulled out to accommodate larger loads. Looks like I should also be able to attach a tow bar which may allow me to attach a harrow for 'stimulating' the soil here without ploughing which I am trying to avoid.
I stopped in Orgiva to re-stock with food and then had a drive in the twilight back to the cortijo arriving just as dark fell. Too dark to see what the builders had achieved that day so that 'excitement' awaited me this morning.
Due to the bank holidays, getting the cash for the barrow (as card won't do...) is proving problematic so not sure whether it will come Saturday (ideal) or Monday morning.
The latter is not ideal as:
a) the builders will be back to continue finishing off (nearly there!; pictures to come)
b) the plasterers arrive to do the inside of the house
c) the solar engineer arrives to replace my batteries etc
As you can see, it's going to be a busy start to next week! The cleaner is booked for Friday & Saturday as my first major influx of guests (Dad, Elsie & Adam) arrives next Sunday. With other friends arriving in the south of Spain at the same time, it looks like (in terms of help around the place) I'll be going from feast to famine. There's plenty for them to do though!
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