Saturday 18 February 2012
Those of you who have eaten here will know that Jill is an exceptional cook. Well, yesterday she tried a new dish. As chief taster I had the pleasure of first go. It’s a pasta dish with a special vegetarian sauce. Great with garlic bread. We had it as a main course, but I think the diners will have it as a starter.
Sunday 12 February 2012
We went up to Puerta de la Ragua today, which, at 2,000 mts is the highest point on the road in this area. It was 8c in the village when we left, and -4c at Puerta de la Ragua just 35 minutes later. We (that’s 4 adults and 4 children) walked in the snow for an hour or so, before wreaking havoc in the bar in Laroles for another couple of hours. Such fun!
Thursday 9 February 2012
We have the family here this week – daughter, son-in-law and four children under 6. As you can imagine, we are quite busy. Mind you, we love every second of it. I won’t bore you with the photos.
Wednesday 1 February 2012
I didn’t realise it was over a week since my last entry. We have been busy. The weather is still glorious, but the forecast is that it will be cold overnight for a couple of nights now. Still, we don’t often get frost on the cars overnight here.
Monday 23 January 2012
It was the Fiesta in Laroles, a nearby village, yesterday, so Jill and I went to see what it was like. I made the mistake of not taking earplugs. Anyone who has been to a Spanish Fiesta will know what I mean. I have put a couple of photos in the gallery on this page.
Thursday 19 January 2012
Welcome back (again!) We have been to England to have Jill’s cast removed. All seems well, but it will be some time before she is back to normal. It’s a slow process. Jill’s straight back in where she left off – she is giving the first dancing class of the New Year tonight, just hours after landing at Almeria.
Wednesday 11 January 2012
I don’t mention it at every post, but my regular followers will know that Jill broke her arm a month ago. It’s still in plaster until next week, so in the meantime my washing, cooking, ironing, cleaning etc. skills have been honed almost to perfection. So far neither of us have died of starvation or food poisoning, so I must be doing something right!
Saturday 7 January 2012
I should have put this up yesterday. In Spain they celebrate 6th January – the Epiphany or Feast of the Kings – more than Christmas. We went to some friends on the night of the 5th and had a traditional Christmas meal, with turkey and all the trimmings. Some drinks and some party games made for a great evening. A cloudless night gave us a stunning moonlit walk home.
Wednesday 4 January 2012
I have just come back from playing Bridge. We have a Bridge club that meets once a week and we meet at one of the local bars. Today we played outside until 6:00pm. Not bad for early January.
Sunday 1 January 2012
A Happy New Year to all my followers. We saw in the New Year in the Plaza. It’s customary to eat a grape on each strike of the church clock at midnight, so the Church Square was full with “revellers”. It was a clear, dry night, which I think contributed to the numbers in the square. The crowd broke up almost straight away, with people going off to their various celebrations.
Thursday 29 December 2011
If you have never been to this part of the world at this time of year you don’t know what you’re missing. We went for a high mountain walk yesterday, and it was absolutely glorious. The air is so clear, and the sky is so blue – you don’t need to Photoshop your photos – that you can’t help but have your spirits lifted. As a bonus we saw a soaring eagle (I don’t know what type) and a couple of cabra de montes (mountain goats).
Tuesday 27 December 2011
With Jill being incapacitated I cooked a full Christmas dinner on Friday for us and some friends. Pretty good if I do say so myself, although copious quantities of Champagne, wine and Port may have helped. We had a lovely Christmas Day, too. We had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and then went out to meet some friends. After a short pub crawl we went to a friend’s house for lunch. Excellent food and company.
Wednesday 21 December 2011
Welcome back. Jill and I went to England for a week, but we had to stay for 2 weeks, because Jill fell and broke her arm in 3 places! She won’t be going to those 3 places again. No, seriously, she is quite badly hurt, and we had to spend all night in A&E. You would have to be in a bad way to do that if you know what English A&E departments are like. We are in Spain for Christmas, and the reason for the visit to England was to celebrate Christmas early with our daughter and her husband and 4 children. Steve, our son-in-law, did us proud with Christmas Dinner. He is an excellent and well organized cook, and prepared turkey and all the trimmings for 10 of us. I take my hat off to him.
Tuesday 29 November 2011
We went for a lovely walk on Sunday, organised by the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) in Mecina Bombaron, which is two villages away. It’s a walk I have done many times before, but if the local people organise something Jill and I like to support it. Without going into all the details, it was scheduled to start at 9:30. Jill and I were first to arrive at 9:25. More people started to drift in by about 9:45. By the time six horses (don’t ask!) arrived the walk eventually started at 11:00.
Thursday 24 November 2011
Jill keeps the roof terrace looking beautiful all year round. That’s why I know that when she asks me to take down the hanging baskets winter is upon us. She keeps about 8 hanging baskets around the sunshade on the roof. Now they are down it looks a bit bare, but the time was right. Earlier this year Jill took the view that we should change over to more succulents on the roof terrace. This is working very well.
