Bedrock

Things always look better as the sun gets stronger. It’s lovely out there today.

Maureen’s new inner walls are starting to take shape… and this weekend there’s a good chance of a visit to the coast. What more could you want (I know, gadgets – got lots of those too, recently). I just wish some of my pals in the UK could share this – but I don’t think they’ll be doing many European holiday trips for a while yet.

Not much to say about the weather here in Granada, mixed is the best way to put it. So we’ve had the odd trip out and the rest of the time I’ve been writing reviews while Maureen works on her garden.

On the left, an Espresso machine sent to me to review and very nice for the price, too. Just one of many gadgets, nost of which are more high-tech but less useful to the general population.

Today we headed off to the far side of Sagra to view the snow, none of which is visible from here in Galera. The sun stayed out all morning so that was nice though I’d not want to be stuck out there with no power and no heavy coat.

On our return we popped into Huescar for coffee and to glare at the cakes – can’t have any cake as we had friends over last night and ate too much – but window-shopping is another matter.

As for the trip, some great views even in March. The observatory near Sagra along with the restaurant next door, were, sadly, closed. By driving past La Puebla De Don Fadrique, we got to see the snow you can’t see from our side, i.e. from Galera or Huescar.

I’ve just realised I’ve put nothing in here since last November. Well, that could be because of lockdown or maybe the weather here being only a little better here than the South of England (ALWAYS better than the North of England). Let me see, NYE, the coast: as you can probably tell, restaurants there were quiet due to lack of hoards of Brits mainly – but most were open and Maureen and I had a lovely stay in Mojacar despite my favourite Indian restaurant being closed.

Now let me show you the view out of our room that same trip….

I can see why people stay in inland Spain year-round then head to the coast in winter.

Back in our local town we spent some time with our neighbours Dave and Karen in nearby Orce – despite the snow inland, another lovely sunny day as you can see below…

THEN we were locked down here in Granada (and at one point in Galera itself) where we’ve been ever since – but we’ve been to Granada itself a couple of times and the last couple of days have seen (on and off) a marked improvement in local weather – the boys are thoroughly enjoying themselves. We also had another trip to the coast but restaurants and bars closing at 6pm doesn’t really make for a good night out.

Meanwhile I’m now on the Spanish medical and we’ve sorted my driving licence etc ~(part way there with Mo) and this weekend we went to visit friends in the village. I’ve been working to dramatically speed up my PC – with success – from up to 15 minutes from OFF to full operation, I’m now down to 90 seconds max. SSD drives and more memory.

That’s it for now.

I took the two boys out for a walk late afternoon – met a few walkers – all with masks of course. A really nice day considering it is mid-November. Hopefully by new year, we’ll start the long slog back to normality. Things are looking up, vaccines for Covid on the way, Trump on the way out, many pro-Brexit people leaving government – nice weather – what more could we ask for.

It doesn’t take much to spook Ruffy – two young Spanish ladies walked by and he disappeared into the reeds for a while but we were soon back on track – just under 3,000 steps – it seems like much more but it’s a start given that out of no-where I’ve developed what seems to be sciatica. Hopefully enough walking and a spot of yoga will help that out.

Southern Spain has been in lockdown for the last few days and we can’t visit other towns and villages – much the same as many other towns and villages worldwide. That means that any thefts right now are most likely local in origin and sadly even an epidemic has not stopped some people being UTTER assholes..

For anyone who thinks “We’re all in this together” – a reality check: sometime late Saturday (October 31, 2020), it seems that three asswipes stole an unusual design of solar lamp from our small “garden” up at Calle Ceuta on the outskirts of Galera. See photo below.

If any locals notice a new light like the one in the photo – which may be bright and can be pretty much any static colour) we’d really appreciate if you would let us know so we can take appropriate action. In the same area (Calle Ceuta) as our property – at the same time, several jointly-owned inexpensive solar lights were stolen as were lights from our neighbours across the road. It seems that the same people caused property damage to neighbours over the hill from us at Calle Huelva. Up to now it SEEMS that the culprits were neither English nor Spanish but possibly had Dutch accents – that has yet to be confirmed.

As for our colour light, I originally reviewed this as I’d never seen this particular model before (absolutely NOT locally available) and around June 2020 one of these was stolen – shortly thereafter I replaced it with an identical model which has been in operation since late July.

There is no “grey area” about our property line – this was theft, pure and simple – in both cases, someone who needs SEVERE punishment – came up or down the stairs, leaner over or even came on our land outside and stole the lamp.

We will of course look out for our stolen goods appearing in the area as well as watching for any sales online or in markets – but any assistance would be most welcome.

Meanwhile, to anyone local reading this blog entry – while on the one hand we are always pleased to meet new people and make new friends – ANY unauthorised entry onto our property by strangers will now be treated as potentially criminal and anyone found wandering in our area without good reason will be challenged – with humble apologies to those visiting with honorable intentions.

For some time now I’ve been into having a simple Cafe Con Leche and Tostada Con Tomate breakfast – many of the local cafes do a decent job of that combo – and not expensive (2-3 Euros for the lot) which means going out for breakfast almost every day is very practical – not to mention that with no butter, the tomato is quite good for you. (obviously you would add a little salt and Olive Oil – well, I do anyway).

Well, didn’t we just discover this (thanks to our good neighbours). Mermelada Con Tomate does not taste as you might expect, the tomato flavour isn’t that strong – but it makes a great marmalade.

Now, if only they’d make a version that uses Stevia instead of sugar, I’d be VERY happy with this new variation, as it is I’m guessing tha occasional use will do no harm.