Diary

Newest entries at the top.

November

All the wood has now been collected, sorted and sawn. We were very lucky to be given a trailer load of olive wood for free by one of the tractor drivers who brings most of the deliveries down to us. He also ploughed and seeded our fields and with almost 1 week of solid rain, everything has turned green. We have lit the fire a few times to keep the house aired, and the olive wood gives off a lovely smell.

Pete’s mum, dad and son, Arthur came for a weeks visit. It was wonderful to see them and thankfully the rains had stopped and out came the sun. Arthur really enjoyed exploring the farm and the river banks with Dill and Monty. Rafael and his wife invited us all for lunch at his finca. We had a great time. Rafael produced a Honda for Arthur. A Honda is a sling shot used by goat herders to move his herd away from olive trees. Arthur practiced from early morning and got very good. Antonio, his wife Chari and daughter Rosa Maria came to the farm to meet everyone and brought cakes and hot chocolate. Our friends really made our family welcome and Margaret thanked them for all the help and kindness they have shown us. It was sad saying goodbye at the airport but Arthur left knowing he has another home in Spain and many more adventures lay ahead for him, as the Spanish will have him driving tractors and goat herding on his next visit.

Again it’s a non stop work load trying to prepare for olive picking. The season is on us and thankfully the large net we inherited is intact. We have started the vegetable garden, of course Antonio is in charge and has planted our garlic and broad beans. The 2nd Sunday in November we were called to Antonio’s to help move some of the male baby goats, who were off to market. This meant putting them in the land rover and reloading them into the truck at the bottom of the track. It was ok as long as you didn’t look them in the eye. We knew they had been well looked after and the life of a boy goat (or not so good female goat) is errr short. I left Peter to do the change over into the truck. 1 hour later I got a call from him saying “bring a can of petrol to Rafael’s” And so another typical day in Andalucia begins….

Rafael’s milking machine had broken down and after many hours trying to fix it, he phoned Antonio who had a small one in his garage. Antonio milks by hand as he says you can’t feel if something is wrong with the teats with a machine, so he wasn’t sure if the machine would hold up to milking 200 goats.  So it was all hands to the pump. When I arrived Pete and Maria Paz were using the machine, Paco a young helper was very slowly milking by hand, Rafael was running around collecting goats, milking one, emptying churns and muttering swear words under his breath and Antonio, who found the whole thing amusing was milking at warp speed. It took around 3 hours to milk the herd. Antonio should have walked his goats at 2pm, but he wouldn’t leave a friend in trouble. When it was all done, Maria Paz made everyone fried eggs and sausage.

The weather has been glorious. First thing is chilly, but now we have the cooker and fridge in the main house, we can make a cup of tea and drink it in peace before facing the animal breakfast run.
We have Rafael’s beautiful grey Spanish/Arab mare staying with us for a while. Her foal, Linda is being weaned, so it was best she stayed with us. The first two weeks were very difficult for her, as Beau took an instant dislike. But slowly they have all become friends and she is in love with Hardy. The donkeys respect her, but Paloma is still boss over the boys. Blanquitta is around 16hh and very quiet. She is quite happy to be ridden out on her own, unlike the boys, so when I get a spare hour, I shoot off on her to explore the tracks. Trying to find those few hours at the moment is very hard. Our Spanish friends work at breakneck speed. If a job has to be done they want it done as quickly as possible. We struggle to keep up. Even digging over the garden is exhausting when they are around. Rafael pops in and sends his goats over the hill, out comes the mattock and a huge area is dug over. Then off he runs to pick the goats up on the other hill.

The trick to living in rural Spain is to be ready for anything. Last Sunday the day began quietly. Our neighbours popped in to ask if we had seen their 4 sheep, who had gone walk about. We hadn’t but said we would ask Antonio to keep a look out. As luck would have it, I spotted one on the river bank, while digging in the garden. I shooed it back to its home and thought that was my good deed for the day. I cooked a liver casserole and was only interrupted by Peter saying Antonio had phoned and he had spotted some sheep in the next valley. So Peter hotfooted to Juanies to give the message. I thought of tacking up Blanquitta and going to help, but the casserole smelt too good. The neighbours couldn’t find the sheep and gave up for lunch. At 6pm Antonio called again to say one sheep in the next valley looked in a bad way and he thought a dog had  worried it. So Pete went back again to the neighbours to give the message. Two hours later, Peter hadn’t come home so I texted him. The reply was  “two valleys away carrying a sheep on a stretcher with Antonio”. You really couldn’t make it up. Turns out the sheep had been worried by a dog and had a few minor bites, but it couldn’t walk. So Peter and Antonio made a stretcher out of cane and carried across two rivers with only the light of Pete’s mobile phone to help. Of course they both got the giggles when they looked at each other, and kept shaking their heads. “Ahh Pedro” said Antonio “just another day at Las Vicarias” Peter replied. Sadly the sheep died of shock during the night… But it goes to show how things are never, ever dull.

Horses in Spain have to be micro-chipped and issued with a green card, which is renewable every year. Yet again, Antonio to the rescue. Always one to get a good price he talked to the vet at the Cooperativa. It is the main place to buy all stock food supplies and everything else agricultural. A brilliant place if you can speak fluent Andaluz!!!  The young vet arrived and Antonio 5 mins later. The fun started when he couldn’t understand the breed Cob. “Look I’ll put down Percheron”.. “errr no” I said “they are cobs”. “What are cobs?”…“They are!” I gave him ‘the stare’. Antonio said the vet hasn’t got a clue what cobs are. Of course I wouldn’t let it go and named every type of breed in England and France I could think of, and asked if he knew of those breeds. He put down cobs. The micro chip was painlessly put in. I held Hardy. I thought I would have some fun with this poor youngster, so when he asked if Hardy was gentle, I said “Only if you talk very nicely” And he did!!! I then told Hardy (In Spanish) that big brother had got his number now. The vet showed Hardy the machine with his number on it. Ah the gullible young. Antonio held Beau, who although smaller, can be very strong. No problem, and when I said well done to Antonio, he smiled and showed me he just put his hand over Beaus eye when the chip went in. That was the easy part. The next day, after milking, all three of us went to the main office in Olvera to register the horses. I couldn’t have managed on my own. Four offices later we dashed out and headed for the first bar and ordered beer. It was that night that Antonio made an horrific discovery.

One of the kids that had been rejected by its mother was so sweet. The smallest out of the lot and I of course cuddled her and named her Suzie Q. She was going to be my goat and would live at Las Vicarias. Antonio, while checking all the babies before leaving for the night, discovered she was a he. Everything must have developed late or we were all too tired to notice. He quickly found me another and named her Lucy. She is a very good goat. Brown and white markings. Rafael was amazed that Antonio had let me have her as she will grow into a fine milking goat.

Our fields look fantastic. The grass is growing very tall, green and lush. The olives are just about ready for picking. All was well until Blanquitta came in for breakfast lame. I dashed to Antonio, as this was Rafael’s prize mare and wanted to double check that my first thoughts of her pulling a tendon were correct. Of course I was wrong, “no no, it’s her foot”. I told him there was no heat or pain in her foot. Down he came, picked up her foot, tapped her heel and boy did she jump, and boy did I feel stupid. He poulticed her foot with ash from the fire, soaked in vinegar. Change it twice a day for 2 days and she will be fine, but then we have to put 2 front shoes on her to raise her heel. After 2 days the swelling had gone down, and she was 99% sound. Pete and I went to the cooperative to buy 2 front shoes and 20 nails. Got the shoes but you had to buy a box of 500 nails which cost a fortune. I put everything back and ……told Antonio. The following day we met up at the shop. He asked at one counter and they said no not possible to sell them 20 a time, you had to buy the whole box. Right off to the next counter, he placed the two horse shoes on the table and the conversation went something like “I want 20 nails for these horse shoes”. “You need to buy a box sir”. Antonio looked him square in the eyes “Each shoe need 8 nails, correct, you sell horse shoes which are no good without nails. For a full set you would only need 32 with a few for spare not 500. Now I want 20”. Out came 20 nails!!! It’s good to know a feisty Spaniard.

Suzie 2

The last of the baby goats were going off to market. Antonio had picked 2 up from Rafael’s. Peter and I went up to help load. Out of the back of Antonio’s land rover jumped the 2 kids. Oh no, one was the beautiful baby that I had seen at Rafael’s when his milking machine broke down. Maria Paz had kept her. She is brown/black and very furry. She followed Antonio at heel while he was sorting out the other goats. I told him it was Maria Paz's and she is too beautiful to go to market. Antonio liked her too. As luck would have it the man who takes them to market phoned and couldn’t make it for another week. I had a week to persuade Rafael to let me have the goat. I didn’t know quite what to do as she was a big girl and worth a lot of money for meat. As the days went by, Antonio grew quite fond of her as she wouldn’t leave his side. He said “Go up to his finca and ask him as  time is running out”. So on ‘d-day’ I drove to Rafael’s and did the girly “please, please” bit. “Ok, she is yours”. She was minutes away from being loaded. Antonio phoned “Well??”. “She stays”. So now we have Lucy and Suzie 2. Then came Carmen. Rafael has a weird sense of humour. One morning he phoned at 8am and told us to come up to his finca. When we arrived he opened up his shed and …… a pretty white lamb was blinking at me. So Carmen got into the back of our car and became yet another member of the family at Las Vicarias. Suzi and Lucy still live with Antonio as they have to have milk twice a day. Carmen also needs milk and I had to break the news to Antonio that he had a lamb he had to feed too. He didn’t mind a bit. So first thing in the morning and last thing before end of milking we walk Carmen up the track. Antonio isn’t too keen on sheep, but the challenge of getting yet another animal to follow him was too much.”Caaaarmeeen” he calls in a sheep voice, and of course she runs to him whenever she spots him now. She is a good little sheep and sits on my lap waiting for her turn to get some milk. When Antonio calls her she leaps up and runs to him. We walked back down the track the other night with Carmen, Monty and Dill in full moonlight which lit the whole valley. The horses were grazing by the river and two eagle owls flew over. It was quite magical.

Olive picking at last has started. We were slow to start with, then Antonio popped down and showed us how to do it correctly. He generously pointed out that he has been picking olives since he was a little boy so it’s easy for him. We are now getting much better and took our first load off to the mill. They tot up the weight and pay you when your crop is in.

Fliss and her boyfriend James are here on the 14th December and staying for Xmas. Poor James doesn’t know yet that he is needed to help bring the crop in.

The weather today, 12th December, is glorious. Short sleeves and lunch outside. Also today was the grand opening of the new Mercadona. It’s a huge super-market and will save so much time, rather then drive to Moron which is 35 mins away.

Monty takes being a Mastin very seriously and now he has charge of a sheep, he watches her all the time she is out in the olive grove. When she is eating he just lays down beside her. He got in a bit of a muddle when Carmen decided it was time to go up the track to Antonio’s for milk. He managed to bring her back once, then when she went up again, charged in front of her and lay his long body across the track. He was scuppered though as Antonio had just returned from walking the goats and nothing was going to stand in her way. So off she trotted. Antonio spotted her “Caaaaarmeeeeeen”. That did it. She ran at breakneck speed to his finca.
We have harvested olives for ourselves to eat, and after soaking them and changing the water every 2 days for a week, Maria Paz came down with Rafael to show what ingredients to put in ready for eating. We had a smashing night. Rafael told us stories of when he was young and then worked with his father with sheep. He said his dad worked with the herd at night, in the morning at the town hall and in the afternoon in the slaughter house. “He worked day and night” said Rafael. I looked at Maria Paz and we both said “so when did he get time to father 16 children”. “He ate a lot of eggs” came the fast reply!

Summer - Horses arrived at last

The call came that the boys would be arriving around 6pm. We all waited at the top of the track and within a minute the lorry pulled across the main road and backed up the track. The ramp was dropped and Pete and I walked them out. They were fine except for a small rub on Hardy’s rump. They looked none the worse for their long journey across France and Spain. We walked them to the farm and after a long drink from the water deposit they put their heads down and munched!!. It is wonderful having them next to the house and they seem to enjoy popping in and out all day to scrounge a carrot. Jose came down and said I should take my fencing down and let them have the run of the valley by fencing off across the river. I sorted the fencing out and they now have so much freedom. Hardy has become an expert in rock climbing and water holds no fear to him any more. They splash down the river eating the lush vegetation and so far have thrived.

Fliss arrived at the end of May. We had glorious weather and all she wanted to do was ride Beau. We set up a schooling ring in the field and every evening she schooled him. One evening I said “Stop Fliss and look” Looking up from the space between Beaus ears she drew a deep breath as she gazed around the hills. Everything had turned gold in the sunset, it was stunning. The following day Fliss was back in the saddle and shrieked, as she pointed to the sky. Two huge low flying storks circled the valley and of course the camera batteries were dead.
A week later disaster struck. We had left the boys in the neighbour’s field for an hour to get some extra grazing. When Fliss and I went to pick them up, they were gone. After 2 hours of searching we phoned the previous owners son in law Jose, for help. Jose has become a good friend and a wave of relief came over me as he arrived with one of his sons, David. After exchanging mobile nos. David walked one way up the track, Jose, Fliss and Peter drove across country to get to a high vantage point. Meanwhile Malcolm had bumped into Rafael, who promptly left his goats and drove Malc in his 4 x 4 across country to meet up with Jose. All eyes scanned the landscape, then Jose called out “Antonio” .“Si” came a voice from way down in the valley. “Have you seen Diane’s horses?” “No”. – Fair enough! 5 mins later Antonio the younger goat herder and neighbour walked up the hill, told Jose and Malc to look after his goats and took off with David and Peter. Pete said it was like watching a Red Indian in the movies. He managed to find prints in the middle of a huge wheat field. Then the worst fear unfolded” They have headed towards the main road” said Antonio, who then phoned the Civil Guard to warn them of an impending accident. Antonio got Pete as far as the road and sure enough there was a hoof print on the tarmac. Jose and Fliss came down in another truck and the search continued. Pete was trying to keep a cool head as he knew I was waiting at the farm for news and of course Fliss was with him and could possibly witness a terrible accident. Then Jose said “got em” And there they were up in an olive grove. 1 hour later they arrived home none the worse for their adventure. The whole episode took 8 hours to play out. The kindness and help shown us didn’t stop there. Raphael and Jose gathered at the house for a beer, Antonio phoned, David phoned, Fran (José’s` other son) phoned, all to check the horses were safe and we were ok. The following day José’s family turned up en masse to see the boys and then took us out for coffee. We were humbled by the help given to us and after telling the story in the Tartan Bar a few days later, a local writer came down, took pictures and we ended up in the local glossy mag.!!

Monty

Rafael thought it would be a good idea for us to have a guard dog. So one evening he drove up, opened the back of his truck and hauled out a puppy, or should I say foal! “He is around 3 months old and perfect for you, have to dash see you tomorrow” and drove off. We were left with our mouths open, spluttering half sentences. “Let’s call him Monty” said Fliss. So that was that. It was 9.30 pm, I had not the correct `set up` for a puppy, what on earth do we do – we open a large bottle of red and drink it!! Two hours later I dragged a rug into our bedroom, left Dill in the living room and told Monty to go to sleep, which he did. For two months he slept in with us and it was the best thing we could have done as he bonded with us and is always by my side. Dill loves him and she enjoyed re-living her puppyhood. He has grown to a massive size. He is probably three quarters Spanish Mastin and we are not sure of the other quarter, although Antonio is sure it’s German Shepherd. He is very kind and lovable and not a scrap of trouble. I read all I could about Mastins on the Web. It said of them that they are good family dogs and naturally guard every one and every animal in their care. As Monty has got older, to the letter, Monty is a Mastin. Jake is still very much the boss, but has taken to the big boy, and Monty is a joy to have in the family.

Cats

Ahhh cats ---- Jake and Tilly have coped so well with the move to Spain. They first lived in the apartment then moved to the caravan with Pete and I when the horses arrived at the farm, then moved into the farm house with us, shortly afterwards. They accepted Enrique (Eric) and Buffy the Spanish campo cats. Tilly took up residence upstairs thinking it was her own penthouse apartment. Jake assumed the position of `Director of all the animals` and not one of them has challenged that. All was well, dogs, cats and horses then Buffy had kittens – on Fliss's bed at 5.30 am. Tia, or “moaning min” as we call her, the very wild campo cat, also had kittens but she took them way up in the hills. Stupidly we thought that was the end of that. When the kittens were 6 weeks old Tia slowly bought them down to the yard. Buffy took hers up to the hills when they were 2 weeks old. Great we thought that’s sorted – wrong, wrong, wrong!! At 6 weeks old she too carried them back down but not to the stables, no, she thought it best to carry them upstairs and plonk them in Tilly's private haven. Thinking quickly, which is a first, I put them in one of the large feed bins and there they stayed till Buffy tempted them down stairs to `explore`. What do you do? Well you don’t do what we did, which was to name them. One is cream with black paws and a black nose and the most beautiful blue eyes. He is the biggest and looks like he should be a boxer, we called him Jose, or as Pete refers to him, Hose B. Next is Junior as he has the same markings as his dad Eric, Olivia is the only girl and at 4 months she loves sitting on laps. She is the lightest in colour. Lastly is Dan or Desperate Dan Parker, named after Pete’s friend. He is fluffy and has no fear of just about anything. He snuggles in between Monty’s paws at night. They are beautiful and hopes of finding homes for them faded after naming them. But of course there is Tia's mob. 5 in all. All hopes of transporting them to another finca are fading too fast, so we have named them for convenience sake. The ginger one is Mostyn, 2 tabbies are Tabatha and Thomas, and the 2 silver tabbies are William and Belinda. MMMM . A problem which will need solving soon before their hormones start stirring.

Donkeys

We have been loaned 2 donkeys from our friend Marlene who breeds the Giant Andaluz Donkeys in Estapona. Paloma and Blanca (yes their real names) are smaller donkeys and we hoped we could give rides to children in the summer holidays. I had such problems with getting the Public Liability Insurance, that by the time it arrived it was end of Sept. Still the boys and donks get on fine and it’s been wonderful having them here. They roam the river bed and fields and woods all day, just popping in and out of the paddock by the house for cuddles.

Las Vicarias

The renovation on the farm house is going to be a slow on going process as we are doing most of it ourselves.  We truly appreciated the house this summer. Its thick walls keep the house very cool, so when you enter after sweltering outside it feels like its air conditioned. It’s a good solid building and very traditional. We have learnt so much from Jose and our other Spanish friends of how to live well in the farm house. In the evenings we sit outside and just look at the stars. Malc's sister Janet came over in early August and couldn’t take in how many stars filled the sky. The light at sunset is truly amazing from the gold that lights up the hills to the different blues crossing over the hills just before the moon comes up. The animals have kept the land clipped short and this Autumn, the tractors are coming to put the two fields down for hay, leaving a patch for a veg garden. We are very lucky to have such good land and lots of water to irrigate the crops. We have met so many older Spanish who have worked at one time or another at the farm and they have all said the land is fantastic. We discovered a wooded area by the well. Once the animals had eaten the growth down, Pete and I ventured in. It is full of trees and shrubs with bamboo cane surrounding it. I’m hoping next year to get some help in and create a natural garden there. Our Olives need to be de-suckered ready for harvest at the end of November, so that’s next on the list. But I jump ahead. August was the month I was a little nervous of. We are not used to such heat and I wondered how we would cope. The trick is to get up and be working at first light. By 11.20 am you slow down and by 1.30pm I was in the house!. The evenings didn’t cool down till around 8pm. We drank so much water and lost so much weight. The temperatures were around 115 deg in the shade by lunch time. But you do get used to it and work around the heat. The animals slept most of the afternoon. The horses, who I was most worried about didn’t mind a bit and happily munched at mid-day in full sun!. Pete coped the best and has worked outside till 3pm. I just kept him topped up with cool water. Next year will be better – I’ll get a plunge pool.

Rafael

He was the second Spaniard to befriend us after Jose and his family. He is 62 years old and a goat herder. He worked for some years in Germany, like so many Spanish in this area, came back and bought a house in the town, rented a finca and bought a herd of goats. He is married to Maria Paz and has three children. He is small and as fit as a flea and as strong as an ox. He is full of fun and a very honourable man. He also likes a drink and will find any excuse to have a quick beer if he sees you in the town. One evening, he and Mari Paz popped in to give us some melons, we thanked him very much for all his help and advice. He said “when you live in the campo, neighbours take care of each other, and friends may keep you alive in bad times”. His wife is a `lady` she told me not to listen how Rafael speaks” it is common, I’ll correct your pronunciation”. She is a giggler and the pair compliment each other.

Antonio

We first stumbled on him when Peter and I climbed our track in February. It was raining and we had welly boots on and my brother-in-law’s old post office red and black coats on. Bedraggled we reached the top of the track and was greeted by a huge Mastin barking madly, guarding a big goat shed. We started to back away very carefully when “hola”! Antonio came out, called the dog in and waved us over. I didn’t take much in as I was mobbed by a small curly puppy, also my glasses were steamed over with the rain. We mumbled a few words and ran for it. The next time we met him was in March when he `walked` down the side of the hill with his dogs and goats, long coat flapping. Pete and I whistled the theme music from the Clint Eastwood cowboy films. I, being a true coward, hid as he talked very fast. But the others said the usual `holas` and patted his dogs. Peter spoke to him a few more times and even he admitted Antonio was scary, because he talked fast and looked you in the eye. He of course had played a major part in getting the horses back, but I stayed on watch, at the finca and Pete didn’t talk much to him, just followed. Then it happened. It was shortly after Monty arrived and I found myself alone on the farm with Antonio, goats and dogs, walking towards me, while I was attempting early training in the field. There was no escape. We talked dog, he slowed down his speech and from that day on he has become our closest friend. He is 42, married, daughter Rosa Maria. Blue eyes (his great grandfather was English) with the same sort of humour as us. Peter told him we have to build a stable and it was his first construction!. Right, out came the tape measure and before we new it, the blocks had been ordered, sand and cement. We had a project manager. Peter labours, Antonio comes in after milking the goats in the morning and up go the blocks. In the afternoon he would walk the goats to our valley, leave me in charge of them for 2 hours and carry on building. He is very quick and works hard. Peter has grasped most of the building terms now except its in Andaluz. But what really makes Antonio stand out is his love and understanding of animals. He is truly the calmest and most patient man I have every met with them. All the dogs adore him. He is training two dogs at the moment, Chivitta who was the bundle of wool I met in February and Rafael’s pure bred water dog, Cubano, to herd the goats. His two best dogs tragically died and his one good dog Julia is very old, so his hopes are pinned on Chivitta.  I wondered how he trained them and walked with him one day to watch. The answer is very little. If he needs the goats headed off, he very quietly says “chivita off you go” if she tries he just praises her and slowly she is understanding the job she has to do.  Domingo is another dog he is training but he just likes to sleep. Luna is a pure Mastin and of course the great Puma another Mastin and his main guard dog. He doesn’t believe in bullfighting, hunting, hates the use of spurs on horses, will not kill anything and talks to his dogs. He worked in construction from an early age, and on farms, did his time of National Service and went to night school. He prefers goats, “a good life” and after many times walking with him, he is so right. Peter and him laugh and chat as if they have known each other for years. A good man and a good friend.

Feria

We heard so much about `feria week`. Everyone talked about it “lots of fun and no sleep” Like an idiot I thought it was like a big fete and wondered how could anyone manage all day in the heat. Well, things do go on during the day, horse parades and auctions but the fun starts around midnight!. Antonio decided that we should be with his family at Feria. So for four nights we arrived at his house around 10.30pm, had food then around midnight we would set off. First call was the kiddies dodgems for Rosa Maria, who at 7 years old is a brilliant driver. Three `goes` on the cars then we all walked the Feria streets. The first part was for funfare rides then both sides of the streets had huge marquees with bands playing. These are called Casetas. You pay into a club each month for a year and this allows you food and drink and to entertain friends. There were so many lining the streets and more long tables put out in the small back alleys. Street decorations lit everything up. Churros stands, cafes and right at the end of the main street is the sports hall and that was for the big bands who played traditional music and had well known flamenco artistes singing and playing. We were so very lucky to spend the time with a Spanish family, as we were invited into many casetas and were introduced to many of Chari’s and Antonio’s family. The Hospitality was amazing. Beer (sin alcohol for me) wine, ham, prawns, oh so much food was given as soon as we sat at a table. All ages mixed, babies, toddlers, teenagers, mums and dads and grandparents, equal in importance. Antonio does not drink! Always alcohol free beer, until the night we were invited into Rafael’s caseta. Peter and Antonio had eaten very salty ham, so when Rafael brought the beer round, Antonio sank one large cerveza very quickly, “not a sin Antonio” I asked and was met with a wink as he downed another. This set the tone for the night. Out came a huge jug of fino which was topped up with 7up. At 3.30am out came a hot broth served in glasses. This was to settle the stomach. We finally all left at 6 am and all walked to the churros stall and scoffed a vast quantity of churros which are like doughnuts but without the sugar, you then dip them into thick chocolate. We trundled home at around 7am, and still, as we passed other casetas, dancing and singing were in full flow. Just families having fun. A wonderful 4 days, little sleep but worth it.

September

On the 2nd September I became a grandmother!! Amelia produced a beautiful baby girl Keira Fae. I hot footed back to Swanage for the first cuddle. It was great to see friends, who fed and watered me and of course the Mowlem Theatre visit where Jaquie and Jim and Brian got out the red wine to celebrate. Felicity looked after me well and hopefully will be out to Spain again in December. It was difficult to leave the baby and Amelia, but she has a fantastic husband Joe who will take good care of them both. I left England in a thunderstorm  and 2 days later we had a huge storm that lasted 3 days. This bought a flash flood that swelled the river. It swept away 8 electric fence posts and a roll of tape that I had left on the `dry` river bed. A steep learning curve on how to read the weather and prepare for it. September has been a fantastic month, although we had the storms the rain has greened up the fields and riverbeds. The early mornings are chilly enough to wear a fleece but by 9am its back to shorts and t-shirts. It has been a hectic month too. The building of the stable is now on the home run. Antonio works at a killer pace. Peter is on his toes to keep one step ahead mixing cement. He needs to get it finished before the goats begin to give birth. He said it is hard work, as some give birth to four and he has to find other mothers to feed the excess. We were worried that our Spanish friends were helping us and we were giving little in return. But now Peter is often called upon to help Antonio fence or help load and unload tractors. Last May Peter found himself hay making with Jose and his sons. They said “have a go driving the tractor” Peter told them he had never driven one before. “Big field” beamed Jose “no problema”!!!!!!

Evenings

The summer evenings have been wonderful. Spectacular sunsets and a sky full of stars. The cats and dogs come out to play in the cool of the evening and the horses pop in and out to say hello. We now have a generator. We fire it up around 10pm, charge phones and batteries then play music. One particular evening quite late we found ourselves in the yard dancing to – wait for it – Chas n Dave singing an old song “Melancholy Baby”. Now our musical tastes vary from classical to rock and roll and in fact just about anything in between, but that particular duo, like `em or loath them it brought back Christmases when we were younger and all the family were altogether. Sadly of course most have passed on and Christmas is very different now, Playing the `old` songs didn’t make us sad for England, but we haven’t forgotten who and where we come from and after witnessing Feria where it seemed the families were having an old fashion `knees up`, old time dancing, children asleep on chairs and laps, I think our backgrounds are not so different after all.

We often wander up the track to Antonio’s finca in the evenings to help load churns or just have a chat. We are getting to know quite a few of the goats. A couple of them have taken to Peter and follow him around waiting for a cuddle. I think Antonio is planning on picking a youngster out for me to have. Just have to wait and see.

October

Our good friend Roni came for a visit. It was so good to see her. Rafael came to say hello and said next visit she must stay longer. Malcolm took her to see the sights of Ronda, which is a marvellous day out and only 45 mins away.  We walked the valley with her and she has already booked her next flight out! One evening we took her up to Antonio’s to meet him and the goats. Birthing time had arrived and Roni was lucky enough to see and photograph babies being born. The Tartan bar in Olvera, run by Ian and Antoinette, wanted to have a leaving get together for Malcolm and combine it with Pete’s birthday. It was a lovely evening but Pete missed most of it as Antonio called for help. Goats had been giving birth most of the day and he needed to erect little houses for them made from pallets to protect them from the sun and rain, on the hill next to the goat shed. Unless its very bad weather he likes to keep them out of the goat house as the big goats create too much dust for the babies and its also dangerous for them as they can easily be sat on by another mum. One goat gave birth to four, which means finding other mums to suckle the excess tow. By 10:30 pm Peter was climbing up the hill, carrying 2 babies at a time to put them in their houses and he said it was as if he had stepped back in time. Standing on a hillside surrounded by old olive trees and goats with a full moon in the sky. For the next 3 weeks of October most evenings were spent with Antonio helping with the goats. In all I think it was around 100 kids born in that time. Every kid is checked and how he remembered who belonged to who is a mystery to me. He has to make sure the kids that had been rejected had suckled from a surrogate mother. He was exhausted but patient as ever with them all.

16th August

Well…. It’s now August and all of this was a long time ago…. so sorry. I need tell you that the IBI did get sorted and we got the skip sorted too, although we had to resort to getting assistance from Gareth (a translator) with that problem, who also discovered for us that the skip man was related to the previous owners of the Finca!  Two huge skips saw off most of the rubbish and the small bits that were left got transported up to town in our cars and dumped in various rubbish skips.
It is with heavy heart that I must tell you this will be my last contribution to this blog, but Di and Pete will continue to regale you with their stories, there is a lot to catch up with for the period from when I started this until now….. not least of which is the day Hardy and Beau went awol out in the campo and it took us 9 hours to find them!...... well actually it was our Spanish friends that found them really.  So, myself Gail and Ross are moving back to the UK.  The Spanish life isn’t for everyone and soon I must return (Gail and Ross are already there).  Thanks to all of you for reading my nonsense, I hope it has been, in just a small way, entertaining. Please continue to log on to the web-site and support Pete and Di as they continue the work at Las Vicarias without us.

2nd May

Don't know where the week has gone again. A lot of weed hacking around the olives can explain much of it I guess. After Raphael's demo last week on how it should be done we managed to up our 'strike rate'. I did manage to do 2 trees in half an hour.......once! It nearly killed me, so I made the decision to be a tortoise and not a hare! Every day it got harder & harder as the soil dried out after the rain last week. By mid-week the temperatures were reaching nearly 40 deg C and the soil was doing a good imitation of concrete!
Yesterday (Thurs), however, we had a drop of rain again (not much mind) and the thunder as well, which seems to be a pre-requisite with rain over here. The thunder rumbled around for about an hour during the afternoon, then went away for an hour or so before returning ........ along with a considerable hail storm with not inconsiderably sized hail stones! Yes. That's right..... It's May and it hailed in Spain!
Last week's rain was great for the wild asparagus. We've now mastered the art of finding it for ourselves, instead of waiting for a kindly Spaniard to turn up with some! Well, actually, what happened was (as Jethro always says!) when Jose (the previous owner's son-in-law) was cutting the weeds for us last week, he took us into the hay field that he rents, which is next to one of our fields, and showed us loads of asparagus that you could see now that the hay was cut, and told us to help ourselves......red rag to a bull I'm afraid! We've had asparagus & scrambled egg (esparragos con huevos revoltos) for breakfast, asparagus in olive oil & garlic (esparragos con aciete y ajillo) for lunch, and boiled asparagus with dinner etc! I'd only ever had it once or twice before coming over here and wasn't overly impressed..... But with it  being so fresh it tastes so much better! Oh...... And best of all IT'S FREE!
Have to tell you about the IBI (council tax) & skip hire that I started last week. Both were due to be sorted out on Tuesday morning. Well I went into the office to collect the paper-work for the IBI, having first practised my pre-prepared Spanish phrase in my head all the way down. It worked, and I was shown through to the chap who I'd seen last week. After shuffling through various (large) piles of official looking papers on and around his desk, he finally remembered. He was supposed to have taken our documents to Cadiz the previous Friday, but hadn't gone. He said he would be doing it this Friday instead & I should go back & see him again next Tuesday! I don't hold out much hope as it's Friday today, it's an hour and a half’s drive to Cadiz & I saw him in town today at lunch-time! More on this one next week!
So.... after this it was on to see about the skip. In my bestest pigeon Spanish I asked if he could deliver one today. The best I could make out of his response was that all of his skips were tied up hauling concrete for the council (who were digging up vast swathes of the main street to lay a new water-main, an on-going job the council started last year..... councils are the same the world over!!!!). So no chance of one today and not much chance tomorrow it seemed. To be cont.....

Finally, good news.  Hardy and Beau (Di’s two horses) arrived safe and sound last Saturday evening, after a four day drive down through England, across the channel to France and finally through Spain, being transported by John Parker who did an excellent job.  They reversed the truck as far they could down our track and then we walked them the rest of the way.  They did very well, and managed the 20 minute walk despite a lot of loose stuff under hoof (especially on one of the steeper bits) with great aplomb and considering how tired they must have been after their long journey with no in-flight movie!  (I did suggest to Di that perhaps they should have shown them “Black Beauty” but it wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever said!).  They are now settling into their new environment and getting used to their new Spanish diet. I’m sure Di will give you more details soon.

written by Malcolm.

Friday 12th May

Don't know where the week has gone again. A lot of weed hacking around the olives can explain much of it I guess. After Raphael's demo last week on how it should be done we managed to up our 'strike rate'. I did manage to do 2 trees in half an hour.......once! It nearly killed me, so I made the decision to be a tortoise and not a hare! Every day it got harder & harder as the soil dried out after the rain last week. By mid-week the temperatures were reaching nearly 40 deg C and the soil was doing a good imitation of concrete!
Yesterday (Thurs), however, we had a drop of rain again (not much mind) and the thunder as well, which seems to be a pre-requisite with rain over here. The thunder rumbled around for about an hour during the afternoon, then went away for an hour or so before returning ........ along with a considerable hail storm with not inconsiderably sized hail stones! Yes. That's right..... It's May and it hailed in Spain!

Last week's rain was great for the wild asparagus. We've now mastered the art of finding it for ourselves, instead of waiting for a kindly Spaniard to turn up with some! Well, actually, what happened was (as Jethro always says!) when Jose's (the previous owner's nephew) son was cutting the weeds for us last week, Jose took us into the hay field that he rents, which is next to one of our fields, and showed us loads of asparagus that you could see now that the hay was cut, and told us to help ourselves......red rag to a bull I'm afraid! We've had asparagus & scrambled egg (esparragos con huevos revoltos) for breakfast, asparagus in olive oil & garlic (esparragos con aciete y ajillo) for lunch, and boiled asparagus with dinner etc! I'd only ever had it once or twice before coming over here and wasn't overly impressed..... But with it  being so fresh it tastes so much better! Oh...... And best of all IT'S FREE!

Have to tell you about the IBI (council tax) & skip hire that I started last week. Both were due to be sorted out on Tuesday morning. Well I went into the office to collect the paper-work for the IBI, having first practised my pre-prepared Spanish phrase in my head all the way down. It worked, and I was shown through to the chap who I'd seen last week. After shuffling through various (large) piles of official looking papers on and around his desk, he finally remembered. He was supposed to have taken our documents to Cadiz the previous Friday, but hadn't gone. He said he would be doing it this Friday instead & I should go back & see him again next Tuesday! I don't hold out much hope as it's Friday today, it's an hour and a half’s drive to Cadiz & I saw him in town today at lunch-time! More on this one next week!
So.... after this it was on to see about the skip. In my bestest pigeon Spanish I asked if he could deliver one today. The best I could make out of his response was that all of his skips were tied up hauling concrete for the council (who were digging up vast swathes of the main street to lay a new water-main, an on-going job the council started last year..... councils are the same the world over!!!!). So no chance of one today and not much chance tomorrow it seemed. To be cont.....

Finally, good news.  Hardy and Beau (Di’s two horses) arrived safe and sound last Saturday evening, after a four day drive down through England, across the channel to France and finally through Spain, being transported by John Parker who did an excellent job.  They reversed the truck as far they could down our track and then we walked them the rest of the way.  They did very well, and managed the 20 minute walk despite a lot of loose stuff under hoof (especially on one of the steeper bits) with great aplomb and considering how tired they must have been after their long journey with no in-flight movie!  (I did suggest to Di that perhaps they should have shown the “Black Beauty” but it wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever said!).  They are now settling into their new environment and getting used to their new Spanish diet. I’m sure Di will give you more details soon.

Wednesday 3rd May

So.  Yet again we seem to have got a bit behind with this.  Sorry!  There’s a lot to catch up on, Semana Santa, Romeria…… and I still haven’t finished the saga of the car-buying to tell you yet.  So, I think we’ll have to play catch-up with the bits we’ve missed when we have time and I’ll just fill you in on this week.

It’s only Wednesday (3rd May) but yet again we seem to have done so much (I really don’t know how I used to find time to go to the office in the UK!).  Sunday was good.  Our friends from Rute came over.  They hadn’t seen the farm before and after coffee and biccies in the flat we took them (and their dog Roxy) down to the farm around 1pm.  They thought it was a great place and we gave them the grand tour with a break for lunch that Di prepared down at the farm.  Roxy loved it too and did a lot of exploring…… unfortunately Jake (one of Di’s cats) seemed to take exception to Roxy and managed to give her a couple of “right hooks” to the nose!  How to win friends and influence people!  We didn’t leave the farm till nearly 8pm …. so it was then off to our favourite haunt for supper….. the “Entrecaiminos”…….(which we have knick-named the “It’s a Knockout” bar …. But that’s another story!).  So in true Spanish style we didn’t finish eating and get away from the bar till nearly mid-night….estupendo!  We all had an enjoyable day.

Monday (1st May) was May Day in the UK and over here it was a holiday too.  I think they call it “Viaje de Trabajadores” over here, which roughly translates as “Workers Holiday”.  So all the shops were shut, but work seems to go on for some folk regardless.  The nephew of the previous owners of our farm had been hay-making in a field next to ours the other week and offered to get his son to bring his tractor with brush-cutter down to our olive grove and cut the weeds down for us.  We’d been trying to work out how to tackle this problem for some weeks as we have 90 olive trees over quite a large area surrounded by 4 foot high weeds (because there was nearly 6 months between us buying the place and getting over here), and here was the answer…… So on the bank holiday Monday they turned up…… now…… bearing in mind it took us nearly an hour to scythe the weeds down from around maybe 2 trees…… it took the tractor two hours to complete the job!  Despite the large number of big stones it kept hitting and chucking out the back!  Fantastic!  Now all we have to do is mattock out around the base of each tree where the tractor couldn’t reach….wait for the weeds to dry out in the sun…….then rake them back around the base of each tree!

Tuesday (2nd May) was a challenging day!  Various bits of “admin” needed attending to in town all of which required lots of Spanish conversation!  First of all was visiting a government office to sort out our IBI (Impuesta sobre Bienes Inmuebles……Spain’s equivalent to the Council Tax…..only mas, mas, mas, barrato……(much, much, much, cheaper!).  Our opening gambit whenever dealing with a Spaniard we haven’t spoken to before is to say…”Lo siento.  Mi Espanol no es muy bueno!” (“Sorry.  My Spanish isn’t very good!”) along with a broad grin it usually makes a good “ice-breaker” and a response in Spanish along the lines of “That’s OK.  My English ain’t too great either!”…….. It worked, and a very nice lady was very patient with us and sorted out what we were on about and told us out that we didn’t need to pay anything for this year until September and made us an appointment to go back on Thursday to change the name over to us from the previous owner.  The next thing was to go to the Notaria’s office to collect our Escritura for the property (equivalent to the deeds).  Same approach taken and the same response.  It went fairly well and it appeared that the documents weren’t actually at the office and they were going to give us a ring when they had them…… there was a little bit at the end of the conversation that we didn’t quite understand…….. at which point the lady we were dealing with explained it to us in English!........ So she was happier to work with our basic Spanish than to use her (pretty good) English!......Hey ho!  The last thing to do on Tuesday was to hire a skip (contenedor) to get rid of the masses of rubbish from the farm that the previous owners had left behind.  We have about 25 cubic metres of rubbish consisting of various bits of dismantled machinery, about 6 old washing machines, 20 (yes…that’s right 20) beds, plastic crates, and barrels and loads of plastic sheeting that we dragged and dug out of one of the fields that had been the covering on poly-tunnels.  We had the address for the office of the skip-hire place but when we got there it was a normal front door for a house……. No signs or anything!  We knocked on the door and asked if it was the right place…..found out that it was the right place but the person we needed to speak to was having lunch so we had to go back later.  We went back and ended up with four members of the family trying to understand us!  We think we got it sorted and we have to ring up next Tuesday morning (which is when we wanted it delivered) and we think they’ll then drop it off!  I’ll have to let you know how it goes!..... Oh…and nearly forgot…the last thing that happened today was that Di got the call to say that her two horses (Hardy and Beau) back in the UK were finally being picked up to be transported out.  So they should be with us by the weekend…… needless to say Di is now a nervous wreck and will remain so until they arrive safe and sound.

So… on to Wednesday (3rd May).  Yesterday afternoon our friendly goat-herder (Raphael), who lives up the road and brings his goats across our land occasionally, popped by for a chat and coffee and we ended up being invited round to see the goats being milked.  So at 10.00 this morning we go round.  First thing is that  we get invited into the kitchen for a “copita”…small drink…..didn’t know what to expect…..turned out to be a small Anis!  Usually a bit early for me but one doesn’t like to be rude by refusing hospitality!  We were then taken into the milking parlour….. fascinating…… Similar idea to milking cows but on a smaller scale.  He has about 600 goats milked by machine at 24 at a time and it takes him and his wife (Marypaz) three hours every morning.  Gail was given a lesson on milking a goat by hand……. didn’t manage it first time so Gail apologised to the goat, which amused Marypaz, but after a second demo on the correct positioning of the thumb in the process and it worked a treat!  We then got to see the cutest eight kittens you ever saw…. with peculiarly large ears!  Finally, he shows us his 3 horses and then we have a coffee before getting back to the farm to start the mattocking of the weeds under the olives.  Each tree was taking us about an hour until Raphael turns up again late in the afternoon and ends up giving us demonstration on how it should be done! (I think he was just glad to get away from his goats for a bit because he said they were all running a bit too fast today and not eating enough!)  One tree took him about 15 minutes!  Hey ho…..more practice needed I think.  Two of us did manage to get 8 trees done today though, so we thought that was a good start, despite the fact that it was pouring with rain for most of the time.

Written by Malcolm

Sunday 23rd April!!!!! (Mi amiga…es “Abril”….. ahora tu es en Espana!... ed)

We have got a little behind with the blog. It’s been a somewhat hectic month. Weeds up to our necks and lots of meetings with builders and architects. We purchased 2 scythes and set too. Everyone stays well clear of me as I attack, but it works well and Pete and I managed to liberate 7 olive trees from weeds in a few hours, only another 80 odd to go. Gail liberated a beautiful lemon tree and with a good prune it should start to breath and grow.

Dill the dog

When we visited the farm last November to pick up the keys and sign a few more papers, a young Springer Spaniel was hanging around the farm. The previous owner said not to feed the dog and it will go away. Well of course when we moved over and spotted a bedraggled springer hanging around the neighbours sheep pen, out came the extra food. It took a week before Dill (named from the Herb family children’s program – we had had a few beers) would come close to base camp and eat. She wouldn’t let us approach her. One step too close and she took off. We kept trying and finally she let Gail and I touch her. In fact it was she who came up and gave 2 little licks, and we were accepted. She then started to follow us on walks, and although she bounded away in the undergrowth she always had one eye on us, enjoying our company. Now nearly 11 weeks on, she is a ‘family member’. She sits under the table at base camp, runs to Pete wanting him to go for a walk with her. She is very gentle and seems happy to be part of the group.

Living at the Farm

Pete and I moved down to the farm a few weeks ago. I was nervous of how our very English and mostly ‘house’ cats would cope. Shouldn’t have given it a thought as Jake loves it. Tilly is happy to potter from the camper van to the caravan, jump on the duvet and sleep, much the same as in England. Jake ignores the farm cats, has accepted Dill and climbs olive trees. Ok well I say climbs, he has never really had a tree to climb before, just the odd garden wall to sit on. His first attempt was pitiful as he kept climbing the tree until the branch he was on drooped to the floor and he skidded off. Enrique the young farm cat sat and watched and sniggered. We are not sure if Jake is incredibly brave to mingle with the tom cats and (more scary) the 2 female cats and dog or just plain stupid – mmm the latter methinks.

We met one of the goat-hearders, Antonio, who has 4 water dogs and a Mastiff. The goats are enormous. They seem to be a cross with an Anglo Nubian goat, huge but without the long floppy ears. The water dogs look like overweight poodles, but they are excellent goat dogs. The Mastiffs are used as guard dogs to the heard. I have to say Antonio’s dog is huge. We think he is called Pumba. He popped down to base camp the other night to see if there was any food for him. I held my nerve and said “I say sir” He ran away with Dill bouncing after him. As I suspected, a dosy gentle giant. He passed by last night with the look of “I’m not here please ignore me, just coming through”.

Pete rigged up a fantastic place to have a shower. One olive tree, large tarpaulin, solar shower bags on big hook in branch. Fantastic! It’s the biggest shower cubical I have ever had. We have got into a routine now of collecting the water first thing in the morning and sorting out the solar lights positioning, feeding umpteen cats. The night time at the farm is so tranquil. The sky is a mass of stars and the birds, frogs and cicadas have replaced News at 10.

Written by Dianne.

The saga of the well pump.

Before I get started on the pump story, there’s something I forgot to say in my last episode about moving in.  Half-way through unloading the van a small minibus came down the top of the road (which is a no-entry!).  It parked up and waited to pick someone up.  Some minutes later I noticed that one of the removal men was up at the van, which by this time we had noticed was from the local Alzheimer’s Society.  When he came back, and knowing he didn’t speak any Spanish we asked what he’d been up to.  Apparently the lady driving the minibus had approached him as she couldn’t get passed the removal van and couldn’t turn round as she couldn’t find reverse gear!  Our man saved the day though……..Now to those of us with a warped sense of humour we found it quite amusing that the driver for the local Alzheimer’s Society couldn’t remember where reverse gear was!

On to the pump……….

The previous owner of our property and land used a sizeable chunk of the land for market garden produce and had a wonderful irrigation system in place that was fed by the well down by the river and powered by a diesel pump.  When we bought the property we managed to negotiate for all of this kit to be included.  With the arrival of Di’s horses due in mid April and a sample required for testing by our well expert, we needed to get the pump running in order to draw water from the well.  When Pete and Di had come over last November, the previous owner had demonstrated how to get the system running and pumping water.  Pete went through it with me and we decided to give it a go…..well….. (no pun intended!)…….it didn’t quite go according to plan (but at least it didn’t involve a trip to Coripe!).

The first thing was to ensure that we had some diesel for the pump.  We didn’t have a fuel can so Pete went to the garage and asked…….and was presented with a plastic bag thing that the attendant filled with 5 litres of diesel…….only in Spain!

The basic workings of the system are simple.  A long 4” diameter rigid hose drops down into the well and attaches to the pump inlet.  A flexible 4” hose attaches to the outlet at the top of the pump, and then via a filter, and various valves, off it trots down rigid pipe-work to the field and deposito.  In order to get the pump working it has to be primed.  This was apparently to be achieved by detaching the outlet hose, and (according to the previous owner) pouring 3 buckets of water into it so that it fills the inlet pipe up past the pump’s impellor and up to the brim of the outlet. 

This is where the fun (!) started.  First of all the well is about 12 feet in diameter, most of which has a solid covering on it and there is only a gap of about 18 inches on one side to give access to the water……….6 feet below.  Now.  I guess I should point out that neither Pete nor I have had much (any!) experience of wells and were both pretty much “townies” till we got over here…..Theatre technicians and accountants don’t generally cover well-pump maintenance as part of their training!

Filling the bucket was our first challenge!  The previous owner, although leaving us the pump, had taken his bucket!  The only bucket we had on site was a bit larger and wider than your average bucket, but had to suffice.  The previous owner had thought to leave his bit of black nylon string that he used to lower and raise the bucket, so we tied our bucket onto the string and lowered it into the well. At this point we knew it was going to be a long day because, of course, it just sat and floated!  Jiggling the string did nothing.  So it came out empty.  After much trial and error (lots and lots of error) and no small amount of swearing (in both English and Spanish!) we finally worked out that the best method was to chuck it forcefully at the water trying to make it land upside down.  However, pulling it back up with that piece of thin nylon string was another matter.  Not thick enough to grip on, and if you wound it round your hand it was like a cheese-wire.

So……three buckets to prime it? After three it was still burbling back down the pipe past the pumps impellor. Four……five……still the same, perhaps it’s because it hasn’t been primed for 3 or 4 months…….six……seven…….still doing the same…..well, we eventually decide that we should give the pump a go, so we replaced the top hose and turned the key…….clank, clank, clank, clank went the solenoid but the motor never turned….tried again…same thing…..tried again and this time it turned over….just but still wouldn’t start!  After several attempts we decided that the battery needed a charge.

After an overnight charge and several more buckets of water (but now with a normal sized bucket purchased for €0.70 down the road and a decent bit of rope to save our hands!) we turned the key again and this time the old pump engine fired up in a choking cloud of diesel smoke.  However, after a short while we noticed that the flexible outlet hose didn’t appear to have filled and when I squeezed it, it felt like it was full of air……..so we killed the pump. More buckets of water were poured and still it just kept disappearing down the pipe.  What we couldn’t understand was how the water level was supposed to stay up there anyway.  As far as we could work out, gravity was always going to take over and return the level of water in the pipe back to join the level in the rest of the well pretty quickly. Unless there was some kind of non-return valve at the bottom of the unknown length of pipe in the well.

After much discussion we decided to get the well-water testing man to come down to see if he could get it primed…..the only problem was that we knew he spoke no English.

Some days later he turns up in his Fiat Panda with his girlfriend and looking far too smart to be playing with well pumps.  We showed him what we were doing to prime the pump.  He was nodding away and taking a look after every bucket and indicating for more.  Eventually, after innumerable buckets had gone down the pump he decided we should give it a go anyway…….so we fired it up…….he felt the outlet hose……..and told us to kill it……so we did.  We didn’t quite get every word he was saying (!) but the gist of it seemed to be that the problem was with the inlet pipe “abajo la agua”……..”under the water”……so perhaps there was a valve down there after all!  Anyway, he was happy to take a sample of our well water away in his bottle that we had drawn by hand in a bucket.  I have to say, the water looked clearer and cleaner in the bucket than most UK tap water that I have seen!

There was only one thing for it.  We had to pull the inlet hose out of the well.  But we didn’t know how long it was……….turns out it’s only about 12 feet long!  But sure enough when it came out of the water there was a heavy, rusty old chunk of cast iron contraption on the end which after closer inspection we found contained a rubber flap, as part of a seal between the top and bottom sections of the valve, that should have only let water up the pipe and not back down.  But the iron weight that should have been attached to the flap to hold it shut, had come detached and was not doing its job.  The two rusty sections were clamped together with two rusty bolts that looked to be seized up good and proper but it turned out that they had been coated in what looked like graphite grease and so came undone easily……..phew! A few hours were spent cleaning up all the parts and removing rust……then removing a stud from the centre of the weight with a hammer and drift…… and finally re-attaching the weight to the seal with a new bolt and putting it all back together.

Back went the pipe into the well….. one and a half buckets of water ……hey presto…. and the pump was primed up………couldn’t try it though coz the battery was flat again!  After charging it up over night we checked the pump again and it was still primed up from the day before….RESULT…….fired up the pump and we had water!.....So Pedro y Mal the ex-theatre technician and ex-accountant are now pump fixing experts!......Stage one of our Campasino training completed!..........So on to buying cars…..I’ll tell you about that experience soon…and I’ll try to make it shorter….promise!

Saturday 12th March 2006

Domestic Arrangements
So...an item on domestic arrangements en casa Elliott / Green.  Malcolm, Pete and Di have gone down to the farm in the new car (Galloper Exceed, like a Mitsubishi Shogun) biggest, smartest car any of us have ever owned.  They are working on mending the water pump and weed clearing in the olives at the back of the house.  Ross is doing the teenage thing and is still in bed.  Owing to a pulled calf muscle I thought I would stay behind and catch up on the Everest sized ironing pile.  Yes, it’s not all sunshine and sangria!  Ah well, the best laid plan... This being Spain of course el senor down at the power station has taken his finger off the button (probably while he plays dominos) and so we have a power cut. While I wait to be reconnected I can sit on the terrace in my shorts and tee shirt and tell you about domestic arrangements (sadly no sangria to hand).
  
When we first arrived we had a hob (gas) and an oven (electric).  Only 3 gas rings worked.  Still no matter, we still had the oven.  However, it seems that Spanish ovens also work on the “manana” principle and we had several meal times where everything was over or under cooked and took forever.  That is until one evening when there was a loud BANG and all the fuses tripped! The oven had reached the end of the carretera (road) and blown up taking a chunk of plug with it.  Luckily Malcolm had nearly finished cooking so we didn’t starve.  A trip to see Zoë the next day resulted in a phone call to the owner which went…
Zoë… “Senora, el horno no funcionar, el horno BOOM!  Muerto!”
Which loosely translated means, “The oven doesn’t work, it’s blown up…dead! “
Senora promised a replacement (manana). 

In the mean time this meant reorganizing menus and catering for 5 people on 3 gas rings. Still it’s amazing what you can do with a wok and a large saucepan. Dear reader my years in pub catering were not wasted!  Several days later 2 gentlemen arrived (just at the exact moment of dishing up the evening meal) to install a new oven.  I’m sure they found it highly amusing that we were about to eat at 8pm when the Spanish don’t usually eat until 10pm or later. We didn’t think it amusing when they promptly switched off the electric with no warning, shutting down the computer that Malcolm had spent all afternoon working on figures on and Ross was uploading the web site!  However, disaster was averted and we are now in possession of a fine white, clean oven that cooks properly…pity it’s only got one shelf!

P.S.3 hours later and still no power.  Salad for dinner.

Written by Gail

Thursday 2nd March 2006

The weather is still quite cool, but when the sun does break through it is wonderful.
We seem to be making headway with the farm cats as they now run down the track as soon as they hear the car to meet us. Enrique still in the front and the only one to want physical contact with us. The others want to get close and time and patience, I’m sure will win them over. What Tilly and Jake will make of them is any ones guess.

A bit of headway made on the 4 x 4. We found 2 that would suit us. Tomorrow Pete and Malcolm are going back for a second look. Malcolm quite shocked the garage owner by knowing the name in Spanish for a tow hitch.

Wednesday 1st March 2006

Builders and architects came to the farm to sort out quotes for the main building works. Electricity has to be sorted out and water piped over from the well.
It has been a warm day and we sat working out a plan of action on tackling the stables and hacking back the undergrowth.
But tomorrow is car hunting day and that gets priority as the hire car goes back in 2 weeks time.

Tuesday 28th February 2006

Andalucian Day and Malcolm’s Birthday. We walked to the square and watched a band who sang comedy songs. They must have been hilarious as the crowd roared with laughter so we took their que and did the same.  There was also free sherry and sausages. Had a birthday lunch for Malcolm at the Tartan Bar and Malcolm got a birthday candle in his burger !

Friday 24th February 2006

We all went to Ronda to sort out an NIE for Ross. The views, as promised in all the books we read, were breathtaking. We felt a full works day outing to explore the town fully is in order this summer.Had churros (sort of long doughnut) and hot chocolate for breakfast sat at a pavement cafe in the sunshine.
Pete and I went to the farm and walked some routes we may use for the rides. We saw 20 terrapins sunbathing on the river bank, as soon as we moved they plopped into the river. Over 30 Griffin Vultures soared above us. Absolute peace in the valley. We got back to the apartment to find no water or electricity, hey ho.

Tuesday 21st February 2006

The telephone is on! Thanks to the after sales help from Zoe and Melanie from Olvera Properties they managed to get an engineer round very quickly for us. By the evening we were on `dial up`. Rained and snowed.

Sunday 19th February 2006

Visited the farm and was a tad overwhelmed by the amount of vegetation that had somewhat overtaken the farm. The cats we had inherited from the sale had decamped to the neighbour’s farm. Gail has cooked up some rice and mixed in tuna to entice them back. It rained buckets in the night.

Friday 17th February 2006

We waited at arrivals, standing on tiptoes for the first glimpse of Malcolm, Gail and Ross. At last they arrived dragging their suitcases, tired but grinning and greeted us with “well, we’ve done it then chaps”.

Thurs 16th February 2006

Jake loves the apartment and Tilly has ventured out from under our bed to explore. We explored the town and popped into the Tartan Bar which is run by Ian and Antoinette. They have been most helpful, directing us to certain shops and passing on contact that may be of help to us. It’s very warm today but the forecast is not good for the Greens arrival tomorrow morning.

Wed 15th Februrary 2006

We left for Gatwick at 1 a.m. Malcolm drove Pete and I plus the 2 grizzly cats through horizontal rain and high winds. Colin from Cargo met us at 4 a.m. and swiftly took Jake and Tilly to the cargo bay. After waving goodbye to Malcolm, we headed for check in and coffee. When we were about to board I spotted the cats carriers being loaded on the baggage conveyer and sadly got caught by fellow passengers waving!!
On arrival we collected them from the cargo hold where they had been waiting on a pallet for 1/2 hours due to a hold up collecting the car hire. Another 1 ½ hours car ride later we all arrived safely at the apartment in Olvera.

Written by Dianne

Stage 3

Return to UK, tie up loose ends and fly back out with the rest of the families.

Written by Malcolm

Stage 2 Meet the van in Spain and unload the “stuff”

Pete and I flew off to Spain on the 25th January.  Flight arrived early but Malaga airport took 20 mins or more to get the luggage off, then when we got to the hire car Pete found it had a flat tyre! That meant getting back past the security guard at the entrance to the hire-car car park (who spoke no English.....but I managed it!) and then getting the car changed. So, the early landing paid off, otherwise we'd have never managed to get to the hotel in time for a beer or three! Oh, and it was raining virtually all the way from the airport to Olvera.

The following day we checked out of the Hotel, got as much cash out of the bank as they would let us have so that we could go meet our rental agent and pay the deposit and rent and pick up the keys for the flat. Things got a touch confusing when we got to the landlady with the agent as she had forgotten about a deposit but now wanted 6 months rent in advance! With the assistance of our excellent (and fluent Spanish speaking) agent we explained that we couldn't get any more cash out so would 4 months do.  This seemed to be OK!  We got our receipt and spare gas bottle and went on our merry way!

Spent the rest of the day familiarising ourselves with the flat and working out how and where two houses worth of "stuff" and 6 people were going to go in one 4-bed 2-bathroom flat, which, incidentally only had one very small (800w) electric fire for heating.  We thought we had the heating problem sussed because the supermarket over the road sold gas heaters (axes, mattocks, electric plugs, washing machines, cookers etc as well as a fine selection of foods!) and we had a spare gas bottle.  So we went and bought a gas heater in the evening.  Far too pleased with ourselves we got it back to the flat only to find it had no regulator or gas hose with it and we had no idea where we could buy them (at 8pm!).  We spent a very chilly night in the flat praying that the removals van would turn up the next day so we could at least have some decent bedding to keep us warm!

Friday 27th Jan at 8.30 on the dot the phone rang and it was the removal men only a couple of minutes away. We gave them directions to find the end of the road and said we'd meet them there to show them where our street was (no name plate or clear road markings!).  Hmmmm! Just arrived in the road at the end of our street was a cement lorry settling in to have its load pumped out.  This on its own would have been OK except for the car parked opposite. So NOTHING but a scooter could get through!  With no obvious doors to knock on and not quite being confident enough in Spanish to do so anyway we decided patience was the best policy! Fortunately the cement lorry driver was a sensible Senor and although he wasn't going to move his truck he did go and knock on a few doors until he dragged out this rather bedraggled and displeased looking young bloke who moved his car. Estupendo. The truck could now reverse up our street (blocking it, but then that's what the Spanish do so why shouldn't we!) and at 9am the unload commenced to our second floor flat up 32 steps!  The two guys from the removals firm were absolute stars and as long as we kept them supplied with plenty of tea and Filipinos (rather nice Spanish chocolate biscuits) they just kept on going. Finally by 3.30 (despite the fact it decided to start raining again around mid-day and didn’t let up) it was all installed in the flat and we could still get around the boxes. Although a couple of rooms were chocker. We then did 6 trips down to the farm to get rid of some of the stuff (that we'd piled up in the hall on the ground floor).

During the course of the day a couple of blokes turned up to install our electric oven (the word "install" is used lightly as all it entailed was slotting it into it's place in the carcass of the kitchen cupboards and PLUGGING IT IN to the nearest available electric socket! Spanish electrics are going to take some getting used to!).  Anyway while they were up stairs Pete collared the young lad and explained (in his bestest Spanish and with the aid of the gas fire instruction book) that we needed a bit of gas hose and a regulator. "No problemo!". He came back an hour later with the bits and fitted it, being overjoyed at the prospect of some decent warmth, we slipped him a few euros and everyone was happy. The upshot of this story is that on our next visit to the supermarket over the road we found on a shelf all the bits we would have needed!  Still, at least we know for next time and without his help we wouldn't have been sure about buying the correct bits anyway. With our work for the day over by about 9pm and realising we’d missed lunch we went to the bar down the road for some food.

The next few (!) days were spent shuffling boxes around and unpacking enough bits to try and make the flat look homely and habitable for when the girls (and Ross) come out in the middle of Feb.  Oh, and not forgetting the repairs to the bits of furniture that came with the flat! On our first night the arm fell off one of the arm-chairs when I moved it and the leg fell off one of the sofas when Pete sat on it!  We needed all of the seating for when the rest of the families arrived so it had to be fixed.  I knew I’d packed a drop of Evo Stick PVA wood glue in with my tools, but could I find it? Of course not. So. Out with the dictionary and off to the Ferretaria (Iron Mongers/DIY Shop). Couldn’t find any on the shelves so, deep breath and go for it. It worked! She understood me, I got the wood glue (cola blanca para madera), and a compliment form her on my Spanish!  So that was the furniture fixed…..except when I went to find some screws and cordless screwdriver I, of course, came across the wood glue that I had packed but still, I’d learned another useful few words in Spanish!

Sunday was interesting. Got up. Put the kettle on. Cracked open the metal shutter on the kitchen window.  Looked out.  “Golly gosh” I thought (well something like that anyway!). SNOW! About 2 inches of the stuff, everywhere. It was quite a sight and very rare. We later discovered that there had been snow in Olvera about 2 years ago but the time before that was 40 years!

So the rest of the fortnight was spent sorting, organising, tidying, cleaning, titivating, changing plugs on various appliances, making a handle for the oven door (!), checking on the farm (no cats now, we only saw two who seemed to have upped sticks and moved in to our neighbours place), checking out Campillos, Sierra de Yeguas (nicer than Campillos), and Morón de la Frontera (bigger town, more “girly” shops, nice church……dedicated to San Miguel…….estupendo!) where Pete spotted two Storks flying over and then later we say them nesting on the top of the enormous disused industrial chimney stack.  We also got a bit lost going in and out of Morón all roads seemed to lead to Coripe, a place I never want to visit again….but that’s another story.

Written by Malcolm

Stage 1 Load the removals van with two households of "stuff"

The company we booked had allowed two days to load the van, doing our stuff one day and the Elliott's the next.  Well, a large truck and 6 men arrived on the Wednesday morning at about 9.30 and by 1.30 the whole lot was done!  The Van went off and Pete and I were due to meet it in Olvera on Friday 27th Jan. Just over a week later.

Written by Malcolm

Friday 13th January 2006

It’s a grey day and the packing continues. We are now really looking forward to arriving in Spain and taking a few days off. We have viewed, over the last 2 years, so many fincas and cortijos. We had faith that there was a place out there that would suit all our needs.

When we arrived at the farm, all of us felt the peace and tranquility of the valley and with bee-eaters giving us an ariel display while we sat on the river bank, we all wanted this to be our home.

A big thank you to all our friends and family for their support and hope to see you all out at the farm soon. And so everything is in place, business plan is complete, arrangements are finalised. All we need now is a little luck.

Oops just noticed the date!

Last one out, turn off the lights!

Wednesday 11th January 2006

The first thing the vet asked was "Does Tilly snore?".  I confirmed that she not only snores but whistles and grunts in her sleep. Our vet, Ruanne, said Tilly had snored so loudly when under the anesthetic that she couldn`t hear her heart beat! The outcome was 3 teeth taken out and a sore gum.

We are losing our computers at the weekend as everything has to be packed up. Malcolm has his work cut out as he has 3 to shut down and make sure all the data is safe.
My step daughter Rose will be coming out in March and coming back over to England in May to sit her GCSE's. The school have been most helpful with providing revision schedules, and Rose will be able to revise on the terrace in peace for a couple of months.

Monday 9th January 2006

Took the cats to the vets to be micro chipped and have their rabies jab. All went well but it was discovered that Tilly, our ginger timid cat, had a few bad teeth. So I have booked her in for some extractions. I have booked the horses to come over in April.

We are all emailing each other, double-checking that we haven’t forgotten things. Gail has just reminded me to update our tetanus injections and get some more passport photos. We have all been very touched with how many people have wished us well and have given their support in our venture.

Thursday 5th January 2006

How do other people move abroad and make it look easy. We have watched the programs and it all seems to happen as if by magic. I have been cancelling “things” most of the day. The whole process of phoning and stopping a service takes forever as by the time I have listened to the 6 options offered, I have forgotten who I am actually phoning and why, so have to start the whole sad process again, not to mention the dodgy music offered to keep the customer “calm and interested”. It doesn’t work!! More electric fencing has arrived. In fact I have enough to fence in an elephant not just my boys. Also the very posh cat carriers. They have to be an approved carrier that the airline will accept. They don’t seem to mind our old cases that are held together in places with gaffer tape.

Tuesday 3rd January 2006
 
I have spent most of the morning sorting out the transport of our two cats to Spain. Finally have booked them on the same flight as us and have the dates worked out of when to micro chip them, rabies vaccination and health check. Gail has had confirmation of the booking from the removals and its all go for the 18th January. Next job is sorting out the horse transport. Our dear friends Phil and Tracy Brown will, with our daughters help, watch over the boys until they come out in early April. They have said they would come over and visit. Phil`s knowledge on land management will be a great help, also he will advise us on a good design for the stables.

Sunday 1st January 2006
 
A tad fragile, but there was work to be done, and horse equipment to be sorted out and boxed. No time to loose as we are on countdown.

Saturday 31st December 2005
 
Early start for the Elliotts and Greens. We decided to bring our boxes down to the house. They have been stored in our friend’s barn for almost 7 months ready for the big move. Thankfully my daughter’s boyfriend James borrowed his father’s trailer and 4 x 4 so the move was done in one trip. I ducked out of helping as I knew there would be rather large spiders lurking in the boxes. Our living room now is one big box, and I really thought we had disposed of most of my worldly goods. Peter has just counted 15 banana boxes full of books! It’s our last New Year in Swanage, which we spent at the Greens house with family and friends. At midnight we raised our glasses to new beginnings and a firm promise from Bert, our friend, to come and help build the stables - I just hope he remembered the following day.

Wednesday 28th December 2005

Christmas has come and gone. Gail and Malcolm had a Chinese! Gail has sorted out the removals and we should be just about on track to have all our worldly treasures transported around the 18th January. So for just under a month we will all be living out of suitcases. Still so much to sort out. The cats have to have blood tests and be chipped, and their flights booked with ours. The horses will come out around April time as it will give me breathing space to get the fencing up and food in. I contacted Tracy James who runs a Natural Horsemanship course not far from us in Antequera. She will be able to supply food for the boys and can do barefoot trimming. The horses have always been ridden without shoes, I was a little worried about finding a good farrier who would perform a good trim but now that weight has been taken off and she can also train either Peter or Malcolm to trim and rasp the boys themselves. Gail and I have ducked out of that as we both have backs that do not react kindly to Hardy's huge frame leaning on us, as he does for fun to my own farrier. I am looking forward to meeting Tracy as my daughter who is at college doing equine studies, wants to go on her course.

Thursday 22nd December 2005

Ross has been working very hard on the web site. He needs to get it up and running before we move over in February as our Internet connection for a little while will be via the internet cafe. He has to come back over to England to take his IT A level exam in May, celebrate end of school days, then back to the farm to clear ditches and build stables!

Malcolm and Peter have given notice at their work. Malcolm is an accountant and Peter a technician at our local theatre. I am sure that Malcolm's office will give him a farewell party - which means one of us will have to pick him up from work! and Peter's last working night will be the Mowlem's Panto `Babes in the Wood`, many beers all round I feel.

Tuesday 20th December 2005

A very hectic few days visiting parents in Birmingham, Kent and Chichester. Everyone has been very supportive and Gail's father gave her a sack truck for a christmas present which we all thank him for.
I had a great email from Marlene (ANCRAA) saying all is well with the donkeys and Bella Belinda the new addition is growing like "a green bean". We can`t wait to visit her and Steven again and meet up with the donkeys. The donkeys really do love to cuddle and rush to greet you, look at our links page and you can find out all about them and Marlene's project to re-populate the Andaluz Donkey staying true to the breed.

Saturday 17th December 2005

Malcolm has just returned from Spain. He went to find an apartment for himself, Gail and Ross to rent while we renovate the farm. Myself and Pete and eventually Rose (when exams are finished) will camp out at the farm with the animals. He found the perfect place on his first viewing. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and is close to the shops. Gail suggested that Peter and I stayed there with them for the first few months until the horses come over as it has all mod cons, also we have so much planning to do we can crack on in the evenings.

Written by Dianne

^ Back to top ^