This week's catch up

The spell of bright weather (and the accompanying cold!) continued which was good news from an electrical power perspective and allowed the track down the hill to dry out a bit more. Not such good news for the stocks of wood but, with the help of a friend from across the valley and his beefy chainsaw, that was swiftly remedied when the beams that were taken down during the re-roofing of the bathroom got a chop.

Monday marked the 'passing of another year' but the birthday post (thank you) which had been sent well in advance was not to be seen when I took a trip to the pharmacy in Torvizcon. Having made the trip out I decided to explore and took the back road from Torvizcon which heads southwards (but circuitously!) up the to ridge of the Contraviesa range. With fabulous views looking back to the Sierra Nevada and a surprise at the top (not telling!), it will be a wonderful route to take in February & March when the almond blossom is all out. The trees are all bare now but the valleys leading up are full of them and I look forward to seeing them fully clothed.

Much effort has been expended this week in finding a replacement for 'La Furgoneta'. With sister Karen having agreed to re-house her in Northampton, I had to find something to come back to when I return from England after Christmas. After dropping Adam off last Saturday at Granada airport (no snow but VERY thick frost), I took the opportunity to view a Suzuki jeep though was unable to drive it. Bank holidays here complicated arrangements for seeing the vehicle again. With Thursday and today being fiestas, a lot of people take the day in the middle ('el puente') off as well. Eventually managed to co-ordinate the vendor plus a mechanic plus the insurance company to set things up for a visit last evening and, although I have to go to Granada next week to complete the transfer in a couple of government offices, am pleased to report that my new means of transport is, as we speak, sitting outside the house having bought it last night and driven back from Granada. I feel slightly disloyal driving it with 'La Furgoneta' still here and pray that I can bond with the jeep in the same way when I'm down to one vehicle. With the advantage of 4 wheel drive, it should open up a lot of areas of the Sierra Nevada and Contraviesa for exploring which I'm looking forward to doing.

Before the solar engineer arrived today to complete the work started on Thursday to fit two extra solar panels (yesterday's efforts being postponed due to a small of amount of rain that rendered the roof a bit slippery), I took the jeep up the steep tracks on my land for a work-out and she came through it successfully. This now opens up the  land to me and makes life one hell of a lot easier.

One of the pieces of news that I haven't reported so far is extremely good and regards a small piece of land (known as parcela 58) which sites well away from the main block of land and is located, in fact, alongside a neighbouring group of houses 10 minutes walk away. I've known about this land for a while and visited it in August after I had bought the house. Though smallish (allotment size), it is flat and holds the only examples I have of an orange tree (withered with one orange when I last saw it) and an olive tree. The recent visit, on the day before Adam left, revealed a revitalised orange tree full of (currently) green oranges and olives on the cusp of needing picking. On the way back we met an English couple who are resident there and, over coffee, determined that there was every likelihood that I would be allowed some of the spring water being fed to the surrounding land. Subsequent investigation by incredibly well-networked neighbour José has confirmed that I am allowed water (3 hours every 16 days!) and this should allow me to eventually be pretty much self-sufficient in vegetables, a.k.a. over-run with tomatoes.

Unfortunately (though not for the animals involved), the 'matanza', i.e. the despatching of the wild boar next door, has been postponed until the New Year but it does free this weekend up a bit.

Having secured the car, this morning has been a frantic rush to book ferries/planes for the trip back for Christmas when I hope to see quite a few of my 'avid readers'!

My 'to do' list before I go is somewhat large so there may not be too many more updates before Christmas.