Hello one and all, apologies for the appalling length of time between updates - this is largely due to one thing - wind!! (not the human kind!) - seriously we have had very heavy winds which have played havoc with our internet connection and phone line so the internet has been out of bounds for a while.....the engineer came a few days ago and go us all fixed so away we go....
There seems like lots to tell since the last update was talking about the removal firm!! We have now had the balustrades fitted so the stairwell is now safe and we have felt secure having visitors round....
The major improvement on the house front since the last update (apart from the balustrade) is that we have had the land 'scraped'. This means that a man on a tractor comes along and clears all the weeds and scrappy vegetation to leave the area around the almond and olive trees clear. In our case this means we have a massive boules court across our land! Nigel has built a rustic table out of our front door and that now sits in the shade of the olive tree at the end of the land.
This photo shows the tractor in progress...
And here's the tractor itself that did all the hard work!
Aside from the activity clearing the land at the back - Juan Miguel also cleared the front and we now have a space to park our cars in front of the house. We were waiting for rain to 'set' the hardcore which makes the base coat of secure land to park on and we have just been rewarded! It's now our sixth or seventh week here and we have only had rain once up to now - unfortunately at the moment it is making up for this and we have had about six weeks worth of rain in the last day and a half!! (ok so that may be an exaggeration but it seems that way!) Now that the hardcore is set we can go and get the gravel (or marble chippings) which make up the top coat and finish our frontage off nicely.....I will hopefully be posting some photo's next time on this!
On the visitor front we had a great time when Dad and Margaret came over. They had been with Caroline and Jon in Madrid for the weekend and came down by train to see us - we had a brilliant time and the weather meant walks were possible along with the odd afternoon outside on the terrace. Our next visitors are Ed and Rache and they are currently (fingers crossed) on the plane from Bristol as I write. We have also had friends round and started the Umbria9 boules table going - each time we have a gathering the obligatory boules is started across the land. Round One was won by our friend Brian after a close final between him and Melissa. Round Two was won by Dad - the visiting expert (no suprises there then!). Weather permitting Round Three will include Ed and Rache and hopefully Pat and Ray too at a minimum so we will see who wins....perhaps one of the hosts could be in with a chance !!
It's a few weeks ago since we had the almond blossom but I thought I would update this entry with a photo taken of the back of the house a few weeks ago to show the blossom. It was stunning as all the trees around and about were covered in white confetti....it only lasted a couple of weeks though before the high winds came and blew it all away...
Ok - I shall be off now to continue preparations for our guests.
Do keep in touch everyone and I shall try to update this log again more promptly next time!
Hugs all round,
Adios!
Sarah.
