Biking & Baking in Las Alpujarras

I've just had an email from alpujarrahoy to say that there's some good music tonight and on 1 April at the Mora Luna in Mecina Fondales.  If you've never visited, to eat great pizza and listen to live music (anything from boogie-woogie to mandolins to Beethoven), then check it out.  Carlos is the Argentinian proprietor and his daughter does the cooking.  For music nights you need to book a table if you want to eat.

Now...chocolate brownie cake...briefly:

* preheat oven to 180C/375F/gas 5

* grease & line a square tin at least 3 in deep

* melt 225g black choc and 225g butter

* beat 3 eggs, 225g caster sugar, 2 tbsp strong coffee

* add the cooling melted choc/butter

* add sifted 75g SR flour & pinch salt

* add 150g chopped walnuts & 1 tsp vanilla essence

* add a few other nuts or some dates/cherries - anything you fancy - if you want to

* bake for maximum 35 mins or when just firm to the touch

* leave to cool then turn out and cut into squares

* eat cooled with a little cream, or chilled & firm on its own

* ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY!

We experimented today with getting one of the bigger bikes onto the trailer, hitched to the van and then seeing if the c90 would fit alongside; then the wretched ball-hitch wouldn't come free so Steve had to make use of various tools, muscular activity and strong language- whichseemed to work.  Does anyone have any advice on taking trailers across Europe?  We know the lights etc need to work but are the police in France and/or Spain particularly interested in them?  Anybody want to buy it from us once we're done ?

I can see it's 18C in Granada...spring must have arrived...a bit cooler in the mountains no doubt and a bit warmer on the costas...lovely.

Only 4 days to go and I have finished working full-time after a non-stop run of 24 years!  Since my youngest was 3 years old I have done the 40+ hours per week that has 'brought in the bacon' and it feels really good to be stopping.  I left school at 16 and though I have had spells of travelling and motherhood and studying, I have earned my pension.  The last 10 years in the NHS has been immensely rewarding (intellectually as much as financially) but it has also taken everything I had left to give.  Public service takes it all, but the sense of achievement is huge too.   I have some real 'trophies' to hold up from time to time...real improvements to people's lives, things that I am proud of.  We all need to leave a faint footprint in the sands of time, before we go.

Our footprint will look remarkably like a tyre tread!  Steve was out today in the sunshine on the Guzzi.  He just had to nip off to Sudbury, a mere 60 miles away, to collect a book worth £1.99...and on Sunday we met our friends Bob and Vee for a picnic in North Norfolk, sitting in the sunshine enjoying early spring warmth and Vee's excellent beef sandwiches.  We are encouraging them to come and visit us in the Alpujarras and will lend them the Suzuki GS500 to go sightseeing on - unless they bring their own Honda Deauville.  They have never visited Spain and are longing to see the Alhambra, Cordoba's mezquita and the wonderful urban mysteries of Sevilla.  We need to revisit them too.

That chocolate brownie ...go shopping and I'll pass on the full recipe next time...250g of black chocolate, at least 70% real cocoa and the same quantities of caster sugar and unsalted butter (or at least 2/3 salt- free), and you'll need a few drops of vanilla essence, 200g of walnuts and 3 eggs.  Oh, and some grease-proof paper or a non-stick baking tray.  More anon.

I hope the house in the mountains has stayed watertight through all the rain.  It was dry in January, but you have had a lot of 'watter' since then.  We will find out more in May!  If anyone in the Alpujarras wants to comment on the rainfall, please do so!

Well, 3rd time lucky to get this uploaded...either I'm cack-handed or I've watched too much rugby today or my keyboard skills are pathetic.  No matter - tomorrow should be sunny, we have biking friends to meet in North Norfolk, and the count-down is on for Spain.  And it's all about the bike!  Our beautiful blue 1100 Sport is lurking in its lair, ready for a ride-out, all muscle and silk with a deep grunty growl when the engine fires up.  It likes long, slow bends with the rider down low over the tank, the pillion too.  No rails or backrests or anything to hang onto - and a top speed of 235 kph.

This takes full concentration; no chance of contemplating what's for supper or how your hair will look when you take off your helmet.  This is just about being in the moment, in the zone.

We have 4 weeks before we bring the furniture out (and return with an empty van in case anyone needs a cheap load back), then a few days to break out the other bike, load up the tent and bid farewell to Blighty.  By the time we get to the Alpujarras we might be badly in need of a comfy bed and home-cooking - which reminds me that next time I will have to pass on a good recipe for chocolate brownies with walnuts...

We're just at the beginning of our Spanish adventure!  We have been planning this move since 2002 and at last we're nearly on our way.   By mid-May we should be leaving the UK on the Honda VFR (800i pre-Vtec to those in the know)  and wending our way through Provence,Milan, Mugello, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Valencia, Guadix, Granada...and finally reaching our little house in the Alpujarras.

We have less than 8 weeks to complete the house sale here in Norfolk, do a quick run to Spain in a van with the furniture and 2 more bikes, finish work (Steve is already chilling but I have 2 more weeks with the NHS), organise money transfers...all the usual stuff that most of you have already done.  Last weekend we took a load of furniture up to my son and his girlfriend in Scotland - too smart for a village house - and by the time we are finally done we will be sleeping on the floor here for the last week or two.  At 60 we should be complaining, but that's not our style.

I'm not sure how long this first blog should be or if the machine will time out before I'm done...so I'll stop now and come back tomorrow.  Then I'll tell you more about Steve and his culinary skills - and about the Moto Guzzi!