An arrangement of mutual benefit (or A Grand Day Out)

Paid a morning visit to the allotment, as I call it, to plant some broad beans. (The allotment is the flat piece of land I have 5 minutes away on the neighbouring settlement that I'm hoping to get irrigation water for...feel I need to construct some sort of map for the blog so readers can get an awareness of where I'm talking about; will end up looking like the map of Middle Earth from Tolkien as I keep giving names to special spots!).

After a chat and a coffee with the English couple who live there I decided to make the most of the good weather (sorry if you're snowbound) and drove towards Orgiva but took a turning I'd passed many times before to a village called Alcazar. While the freshly-laid road gave way to a rough track, for once this was accompanied by a very obliging sign saying 'fin de asfalte' though the transition was obvious.

Skirting the edge of the hill, some lovely vistas across to Veleta peak were to be had along with nice views of blossoming almond trees...

I blinked as I came in to Alcazar and very nearly missed it. The word 'sleepy' does not do it justice and, while pretty, the absence of any sign of a caffeine-dispensing establishment took me swiftly out the other side and on up to a restaurant I knew of on the hilly road linking Orgiva and the ridge of the Contraviesa. 

Managing to distract the barman who was tending to some meat on his wood-burning grill, I ordered a coffee and sat outside on the terrace in bright sunshine (albeit with a 'fresh' wind) and a view of the Mediterranean. 

After an exploratory foray along a track through some pinewoods, I continued up to join the Haza de Lino road from which I took the track down towards the house. 

On a whim I decided to turn off and drive up to my ruin only to find myself on arriving in the middle of a flock of goats and sheep. 

I was aware that the shepherd was around as he's been herding lower down a few days ago so was not too surprised. I stopped and introduced myself as the owner and kind of expected him to ask if it was OK to bring his animals on to my land.  This Nicky was obviously lost on him but he proceeded to make up for it by asking whether I wanted a kid goat or a lamb! Knowing that some form of 'trade' such as this is the norm, I accepted a lamb which he said he would deliver tomorrow. 

A certain degree of panic now exists with my not knowing in what form said animal is  arriving...think it's fair to say it won't be coming in neatly packaged freezer packs. 

From my perspective it's great to have the animals on the land as it saves me having to cut so much grass in the Spring, the ground gets lightly tilled by the traffic plus I get free fertiliser.

I think you can guess what the subject of the next blog post might be...