Pointless Parade?

On Friday, I discovered that there was to be a parade in town and another fiesta. "Great fun", I thought, "but what was this one in aid of?" It turns out, that the entrants of the Moors and Christians Parade, hold another parade in March, to celebrate the 'half-year' of the parade! Excellent - any excuse for a party.

Sadly, this year, because of the wet and cold weather, there was every chance of it being cancelled. Still, Ed and I dressed up nice and warm, and found a sheltered spot on the high street, away from the drizzle. We waited patiently, but only a few more spectators arrived. Finally, rather late, a gaggle of girls (about 40 in total) slowly paraded down the street, with their following band making as much noise as possible. There were two 'filas' (groups), the first of them wore matching trendy yellow jackets with arabic scarves as a consession to the 'moors' and the second fila all wore long black kaftans. (They looked a little odd, as they all wore jeans and funky boots underneath - but who could blame them?)

There was no sign of anyone else, so we quickly scurried to a nearby bar, for a coffee and a warm, before going back home. Walking back to the car, we could hear the sounds of parties in all of the fila bars, so I'm sure there were plenty of sore heads about today.

Pretty in Pink

All around, there are flowers on the trees, and buds forcing they way into the world. I think they are in for a shock, as we are due another cold snap, but in the meantime, they are all most welcome...

New Toy for the Boy

Ed has had a new toy delivered - a welder. A while ago, he got a second hand one, but, although he was able to do a few things with it, he found it more frustrating by it's lack of ability, rather than his own lack of experience. Time to buy one that works properly!

After it's prompt arrival (thanks to Rose & Shay in England), Ed has had a play, and come back upstairs as happy as a dog with 2 tails! Not only does it work properly, but his struggles with the previous one have been a good self-learning time, enabling him to produce good results in no time at all.

He has created a new garden feature for me - another man, so now I have a couple of original, fun characters at the base of my plum tree. Brilliant. I love them.

Going, going, (nearly) gone

After a great deal of debate, we have decided to paint the house white!

How boring? Well, true, but here any nice colour soon fades and coloured paint is also horrendously expensive. Not only is white cheaper, it is available everywhere, whereas coloured paint (in large volumes) is best ordered in as a special purchase.

The pink that was done here a few years ago, was so faded that it certainly made me think twice. To be honest, we both wanted a nice soft caramel colour, but since the houses on both sides are yellow, ours would have been a bit inconspicuous anyway.

So, white it is. This also gives the advantage of refreshing just a single wall at any time, without having to re-do the whole thing.

Thankfully, last week was reasonably dry, So Ed has attacked with a vengence. It's looking really good, although another coat is needed. Even visitors to the neighbour thought it looked great! The underbuild still needs to be done, but it won't be this week, as we have snow forcast again for tomorrow. The next job, will be to clad the bottom meter of the house against the winter weather!

English Country Garden

I now have a beautiful front garden, done in the English style, with rock borders and a stone path!

However, needless to say, the plants are not too English! In a flash of inspiration, we have emptied out most of our tubs, and put the shrubs into the ground, where they will probably do much better. A few strategically placed rocks and it looks great. I will sneak into the countryside and obtain some lavender, sage, and thyme which will finish it off.

It's amazing how much you can get done, in a short time, when you have the right tools, and the knowledge of how to use them.

Almendras

The almond trees are now comming into flower in our part of the valley. We are a little benind, as we are further inland, as well as around 1000ft above sea level. Further towards the coast, there will be orchards full of flowering trees.

The smell is really sweet, and evidently attractive to the bees, which are busy doing their job...

Spring Has Sprung

Well, I'm very sorry for not having posted much on here this month.

Just like the rest of Europe (or even the whole world), it has been a long cold winter in Spain. Thick snow in places (several sprinkles here) terrible winds (we got them too) dreadful rain (missed that this year) and thick fog (got that, since we live so high up).

Last week, looking at the outside thermometer at 7 degrees or so, I lamented that there should be a 1 in front (preferably a 2)and this week it has arrived. In the space of a few days, we have day time termperatures nearing 20 and night time temps in double figures. At last. Wonderful sunshine and warm days. Ed has gone back to finishing off the front wall and my nasturtiums have decided to show their little heads. 17 seedlings so far, with more popping up every day.

Hope to take the bikes out this weekend, and gets photos of the cherry and almond orchards in full bloom (if we are not too late).