Deep joy! We are settling in to our new life in the high Alpujarras, poco a poco, and delighted to be here. We have been made very welcome by the village in general and because of our many visits over the years, we feel part of the community already.
The Santander ferry was uneventful, the road down to Burgos through the Picos mountains absolutely great. We recommend the N623 to bikers, ornithologists, walkers - and those who hate motorways. We passed an inland lake with red horses grazing in pale green fields; squadrons of wind turbines waving their arms slowly in the warm breeze; limestone gorges; fields of poppies; many soaring and circling eagles.
Finally we joined the A1/E5 to Madrid, climbing up the plateau of the Sommasierra (still some snow on the peaks) and trundled on south. The car was well laden but valiant, though some air conditioning would have been welcome as we sat in the city traffic jams. Somewhere we passed an old church with storks nesting high on its parapets and bell-tower. It's amazing how they balance their nests up there, great bushes of twigs perched on fragile-looking brick pillars.
As we drove through Andalucia into the evening (it's a 12 hour journey, minimum) we became aware of the balmy air laden with the fragrance of broom and wild herbs, and the pink, white, rose-coloured oleanders down the middle of the carriageway. Sublime.
Waking up the first morning to that clear blue sky was delightful. But we have a lot of unpacking and sorting to do, let alone the dusting, clearing and organising of furniture. Steve swears that we have too much and the lower 'cuadra' will be stuffed with boxes forever. I am more optimistic but do agree that we may have brought too many books, pots, pictures and 'things' in general. We want to keep the house simple, with space to appreciate the occasional pot or piece of sculpture. And then there are the 4 bikes to accommodate! Lucky that we have a covered patio area at the side of the courtyard, although we are sharing it with the builder's kit as well.
One of our first actions was to rush down to the land and water the young plantas. Emilio had placed them perfectly, where they would benefit from maximum shade and water, creating what Steve referred to as a 'fertile crescent'. Very appropriate in a Moorish landscape. Since then we have been to the market, created a small vegetable patch and put in tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, gourds, a few lettuces and onions (cebollas). It will be trial and error to see what will grow and how able we are, but we can see what the locals do and that is as useful as any book.
I have also started to fulfill my dream to have flowers everywhere and the balcony overlooking the street already has geraniums, fuschia, jasmine and rosemary flourishing in the sunshine. My little green watering can is coming into its own. We will also have jasmine and honeysuckle climbing up to our private terrace so we get the benefit of sweet smells on summer evenings.
Today is Sunday and though it has no particular sugnificance for us, we will have a more leisurely day, go out on the VFR (though of course we have already ridden out on the Guzzi, to check out Spanish lessons in Orgiva, and the C90 to get provisions) and find a bar to watch the Italian MotoGP. Steve has battled to get a satellite receiver functioning but though it all appears to be working, the signal is just not strong enough or so it seems, and only one satellite out there. Anyone got any suggestions?
I will sign off now – this is a long blog – and we will get back to the 'baking' element soon (the locals have already instructed us that they want a local panaderia).
'Ta luega' mis amigos.