wet wet wet

We holidayed in Galicia during the last week in October before now and it rained like a monsoon for the whole week - doing the same this week so there is some consistency in the weather but the locals say it is all wrong compared with the weather patterns for last century. There has been a lot of snow in Asturias and the inland SE of Galicia - tempting to go and play in it but I need to get a new set of tyres on the van before we drive up and down hairpin hills in snow.

Our 200 euro stove decided to crack so that is going back and we will prob buy a slightly better one - it only had to last a few months to pay for itself (compared to the cost of bottled gas we would use on central heating) worth a gamble but I am not gambling twice so we hope to exchange it for a more robust model this evening. The opening hours of small shops here are extrodinary by UK standards more like the kind of hours Spar shops do; 9 - 2 ish then 4pm - 9 or 10 pm..even things like shoe shops and stove shops are open until 9 pm even estate agents stay open til 8pm - very handy but I would not like to work those hours. Sunday virtually everything is closed including big supermarkets and most shops are closed after 2 pm on Mondays too.

Next weeks task is to grapple with the transfer from UK Inland Revenue to the Spanish Hacienda re taxes eeek its a huge form and can take 9 months or more to sort out or so I hear...then there is importing the car and all that entails and oh dear my UK car tax runs out today and the insurance next month.. that needs sorted too - life does not half get in the way of living sometimes.....mucho papel y la mucha administración.

courgette and ...

Weather is a bit cold at night now down to around 7 C but still 15C during the day during this cold snap and feeling a lot warmer than that in sun.
We grew courgettes in Cornwall but they were nowhere near the size of the one we have here..yes that is one plant; Jenny at one end Rowan at the other.

The hens are getting a bit too confident.


Wild mite is now gaining confidence and weight and re-named RRRRonnie.... Ronnie has a rolled R in Spain....we still need to work out if he / she is a boy or girl ..as the local tom seems to be moving in to our downstairs too and they are not fighting Ronnie might actually be not a Ronnie..time will tell.

praia Os Botes and club nautico

The boys much prefer to go barefoot these days, here they are walking down the road from Lisa's casa yesterday. Lisa's husband managed to spike my coffee with some clear innocent looking drink from Portugal, after two coffees I could hardly walk, after a third I could no longer work out what they were saying so we beat a hastyish retreat and I planted a wobbly hedge down the side of our garden and can't remember what else happened.

We headed out to Os Botes near Valdovino today...the sea was wonderful although a bit dangerous on the small beach at high tide....

so we went for a walk along the coast and played in the dunes.

Jose, Violeta and Alexandro arrived not long after we got home and not long before sunset but wanted to go kayaking at club nautico. By the time we got there it was getting very colourful and we had time for a half hour paddle. It was getting chilly by the time we got out the boys were just starting to feel the cold as we landed and Violetta was waiting on shore with Jenny and fed us with lots of chocolate. It is so easy to let time go by and not go out in the evenings but so worth doing. We are going to Jose and Vio's house for Samhain / hallowe'en. I think Vio said she was going to be a witch and make a witche's brew- they take the Celtic celebrations very seriously here as far as we can gather. We have a big marrow and some butternut squashes but no pumpkins or turnips as yet...ah well we will have lanterns of some sort. Weather is still very hot during the day - the thermometer says 18 but it feels like 26 or more in the sun..almost too hot for me but Jenny is loving it.

wild mite and happenings in the hen house

Wild mite or wild thing or crunch the kitten has moved into our downstairs and shouts for food every few hours, he loves sitting under the lemon tree but doesn't venture very far from the house neither can we get close enough to touch him but hopefully we now have less mice than we might have had if indeed we ever had any.

He has a nest in the hay that must remind him a tad of early days in the henhouse at Rioforcadas ..talking of which it is all happening down in our hen house, snowbird was eventually allowed to share the hen house but not on the same roost as the other hens, she had to hide in the hay for a few days then was allowed onto a low roost and eventually onto a high one a few feet away from the others. Two days ago I felled a couple of eucalyptus trees and one landed close to the hen house, well actually it hit the fence attached a couple of feet from the hen house but anyway next morning snowbird is on her own on the roost previously occupied by the 4 red hens and the four red hens are on the roost previously occupied by snowbird - the latter being the roost furthest away fron the felled tree incident. When we let the hens out they run or sort of gallop towards our spinach plants aiming to devour the lot so we have to fend them off and herd them into the old cabbage patch. Lisa and her husband came in today for the first time - they live up the road and are ancient as the hills - they loved the hen run and were impressed by the veg patch but due to a slight misunderstanding (one amongst many) we now have to go visit them to learn how to cook chestnuts properly on saturday afternoon...I think that means boiling them in water and fennel leaves hmmmm. We managed to by a mandarin tree and an orange tree and an olive tree all for 25 euros at Moeche market yestrday so have started our little orchard. Weather is still hot during the day but getting cooler overnight now.

Callum's Birthday

Callum had a quiet 7th birthday but enjoyed it well enough especially all the phone calls in the evening and a video skype with Kate and Luke. Liz and Graham came round in the afternoon for cake but our camera batteries went flat so we don't have a lot of pictures.

Present opening started the day and you can see our new 200 euro cast iron stove in the background what a bargain.

The cake was a shield with crossed swords although that may not be obvious from the picture :-)