Diary of a Nobody

We are well into Advent now, with the "puente" of 6 and 8 December, Día de la Constitución and Inmaculada Concepción, behind us. The Christmas Party season is about to start.

Preamble

For workers there will be the dreaded “Office Party”, where some folk will get drunk and behave badly. And that’s just the women!

For the retired there will be no work ”dos”. But maybe a “freebie” offered by the local town hall.

There will also be Christmas bashes for clubs and associations of different kinds, from the golf club to the painting group, from the yoga class to the reading circle.

[Image courtesy of Amazon]

As for me …..

I’ve got two Christmas meals this very week, the first with the Club de Prensa de la Costa del Sol (the Costa Press Club) where I am a long-standing member. That’s in Mijas Costa (Málaga) on Tuesday.

The Ayuntamiento de Montejaque (Málaga), the village near Ronda where I am empadronado, is offering a free Christmas lunch for its senior citizens, of which I am one.

In addition, my lovely Rita is going to invite me out for a Christmas meal next week. I think she feels “guilty” that she is abandoning me for Christmas and heading off to Germany, leaving me “de Rodriguez” at home in Ronda, while I look after our newly acquired kitten Paulinchen.

Last Christmas we were in Germany in Talheim, Uetersen and Dresden.

The only other Christmas party/meal in the pipeline, is my own at home on Christmas Day. I am determined to enjoy my first ever Christmas “home alone” in my seven decades of life on earth.

    [Poster courtesy of Facebook]

To that end I’ve already started decorating the house a bit, have dug out the Christmas tree from the “attic” and I’ve planned my meal, NOT a traditional English roast. I’m going for:

Rita's alternative Christmas Dinner

Primer plato

Crema de calabaza y naranja con marisco (Cream of pumpkin soup with orange and shellfish)

Segundo plato

Lubina rellena de gambas a la vizcaína (Sea bass stuffed with Biscay prawns)

   [Photo courtesy of ¡Hola! magazine]

Postre                                                                                                                       

Christmas pudding

Bebidas

aperitif: manzanilla sherry;

wine with the fish: albariño (rías baixas);

dessert wine: Pedro Ximénez;

coffee: cortado doble

digestif: Asbach Uralt (German brandy)  and LOTS OF WATER!

[Photo courtesy of Navarro Bodeguita]

Click here for the recipe: Christmas "de Rodríguez" - Rita’s alternative Christmas Dinner

My family

My two “families”, Amy, Simon, Felix (8) and Jude (5) in Stratford (London); and Tom, Su, Wilbur (6) and Buckley (1) in Hastings (East Sussex) will be celebrating at home. I’ve already sent their Christmas money.

Their mother/grandma, my ex-wife Jeryl, has her birthday on Christmas Eve, so they will all celebrate together in style!

During the Covid-19 lockdown Tom organised a family quiz via WhatsApp/Facetime. Wonder if he’s planning to do the same this year …..   

                                                                                           Archive photo of my "families". Tom and Simon missing 

My Christmas Quiz

Hidden in the text of this article are the titles of half a dozen Christmas songs, carols, films and TV programmes. .

Answers on a postcard to …..

(Answers will be posted on Diary of a Nobody before Christmas).

Endword

All I want for Christmas is for everybody to be happy and safe.

Personally I’m looking forward to Christmas 2024. Being alone has its advantages. I can watch what I want on TV, sing a Christmas carol or two, play loud music in the house or opt for a silent night, and I can go to bed and get up when I want to.

¡Felices fiestas!

© Diary of a Nobody

Links:

Christmas "de Rodríguez" - Rita’s alternative Christmas Dinner

CPC in Cala de Mijas - Christmas Party - 2023

... de Rodríguez? - Secret Serrania de Ronda

Fish for Christmas and no gifts? - Secret Serrania de Ronda

Acknowledgements:

Karl Smallman

Paul Whitelock

Rita Whitelock

Secret Serrania

Photos and Images:

Amazon

Facebook

¡Hola!

Navarro Bodeguita

Tom Whitelock

Tags:

6 and 8 December, Advent, Amazon, Christmas bash, Christmas Parties, Christmas Party season, Día de la Constitución, Facebook, freebie, ¡Hola!, Inmaculada Concepción, Karl Smallman, Navarro Bodeguita, Office Party, Paul Whitelock, puente, Rita Whitelock, Secret Serrania, Spain 2024, Tom Whitelock, work ”dos”

The Ronda Valley Hotel, known to locals by its original name, Hotel Don Benito, suffered major flood damage last week. It’s not a pretty sight [bonito = pretty].

Hotel Ronda Valley before the flood [Photo: Facebook]

What happened?

After the torrential rain last Thursday, the track leading up to several farms opposite the rear of the hotel broke up and a mass of water, stones and mud cascaded down from the hills above, swamping the hotel and filling the cellar with water and mud.

This knocked out the pump and other equipment and cut off the electricity and water on the ground floor where the bar, restaurant and kitchen are located.

The hotel guests were evacuated to sister hotel, Ronda Moments, in Arriate.

A hundred metres further on the lower-lying Hotel Molino del Puente was not affected by the weather and remained undamaged, much to the relief of owners Ian and Elaine Love, after being flooded out twice in 2018.

“In 2018, the river rose, burst its banks and flooded the whole of the lower ground floor, knocking out the dining room, kitchen, library, terrace and car park,” recalled Ian.

“This time the river did not flood, the acequias [water channels, ie road drains] were clear and the system coped. I must admit I was worried, however!”

Clean-up

Since the incident, hotel staff have been switched to cleaning up, sweeping mud out of the hotel and surrounding area and repainting damaged paint work. Protección civil volunteers and bomberos (fire brigade) have worked non-stop to empty the cellar of water and damaged furnishings and contents, filling two skips.

The electricity company and plumbers have been in and fixed the services.

The hotel is keen to re-open but keep having to push that back because of the time they need to put things back in order and re-equip.

I went along a couple of times to talk to staff, professionals and volunteers and to take photos.

Some of the PC volunteers had just returned from the Valencia region, where flooding and damage was much worse and where over 200 people died. They had been despatched there to help with the clean-up.

“It was a terrible situation there,” Carmen told me. “Although a lot of the press coverage was sensationalist and didn’t show the true picture.”

What struck me was how cheerful these volunteers were. They were exhausted, filthy and had worked hard, yet the bonhomie was remarkable. And they were all quite young, women as well as men.

Outside, the road from where the deluge emerged was blocked with rubble, so that local residents were trapped. Contractors were on the case very quickly and a JCB cleared the blockage. A pile of chippings was delivered to assist with repairs to the road.

The road leading to the pedania of Fuente de la Higuera was covered in mud and stones washed down from the fields. The drains on either side of the road were blocked, but heavy plant was soon “on the case”. There is still work to be done, but at least it’s passable.

My local

The Don Benito is my local “watering hole”, so I have had to find somewhere else for an evening drink. The afore-mentioned Molino del Puente is closed for the winter, so the next nearest is the admirable Venta El Puente on the MA 7401, the road to Benaoján.

Manolo, wife Isa, and their three daughters have upgraded since they took over the lease last year.

This inn is full of interesting and friendly locals, and they serve great beer (El Aguila on draught) and well-priced and tasty tapas and meals.

What next?

Life will swiftly return to normal. The people round here are very stoical. They just knuckle down, clean up and get on with life.

As for who pays for all the damage, loss, emergency services, etc, you can be sure that the insurance companies will wriggle out of their obligations to stump up and will claim acto de Dios.

The buck will no doubt stop at the Consorcio* which will take over the financial responsibility.

* All insurance policies include a levy payable to Consorcio which takes over responsibility for insurance claims arising from major disasters or Acts of God.

STOP PRESS:

The Hotel Ronda Valley re-opened this morning at 7.00 am.

I'm sitting in the bar now as I write this. It's 7.00 pm. Not many people about, yet the hotel is fully booked with guests!

I chatted to Maria and Andrea who have "worked their socks off" cleaning the hotel for the last four days, along with other staff from the hotel, cleaners, kitchen staff, the lot.

"All the staff worked really hard to clean up." said a member of staff, who wished to remain anonymous. "And funnily enough, we were all women!"

I say: "Well done!"

Given the amount of damage, it's remarkable that they have re-opened within four days.

© Paul Whitelock

Photos:

All by Paul Whitelock except photos of Hotel Ronda Valley, Protección Civil and Venta El Puente [all courtesy of Facebook]

Links:

For information on the hotels mentioned above click here: PLACES TO STAY - Help me, Ronda

Back to the “Bridge” – St George’s Day

Kilómetro 26 - Help me, Ronda

Run of the Mills - Help me, Ronda

Tags:

acequia, Acto de Dios, Acts of God, Arriate, Benaoján, bomberos, bonhomie, cellar, clean-up, cleaning up, Consorcio, contents, damage, damaged furnishings, Diary of a Nobody, Don Benito, electricity company, emergency services, Facebook, hotel guests were evacuated, Ian and Elaine Love, insurance claim, insurance policies, JCB, levy, loss, major disaster, major flood damage, MA 7401, Molino del Puente, mud, Paul Whitelock, plumber, Protección Civil, pump, repainting, Ronda Moments, Ronda Valley Hotel, skip, stones, sweeping mud, torrential rain, Valencia, Venta El Puente, volunteers,  water, “watering hole”

By Diary of a Nobody

These good British folk – seven of us in total – are all neighbours who live near each other just outside Ronda (Málaga).

Ian 1 and Elaine 1 from England

The longest-serving residents in Spain by a country mile are Ian and his wife Elaine. English-born they met on a beach in southern Spain in their early 20s, some forty years ago. They’ve been together ever since, first in Cabopino where they ran a very successful restaurant, The Harbour Lights, and subsequently in Ronda where they own and manage the prestigious Hotel Molino del Puente and highly regarded Restaurante La Cascada.

This restaurant, one of our favourites in the Ronda area, serves high quality and imaginative dishes. After Ian retired as chef, the cooking duties have been taken over by son-in-law and trained chef Tom.

Ian, Elaine, Carly and Tom

Welcome to our beautiful country retreat hotel in Ronda, Málaga

Ian has since opened an Estate Agency, Love Viviendas, with daughter Carly, Tom’s missus.

Love Viviendas

The one-and-only Nick

Next-longest resident is Nick, who has been here for nearly 20 years. Married to Hungarian-born Julia, they have two sons, Oliver and Daniel, who were born in Ronda and are, of course, truly bi-lingual.

Nick and Julia have holiday rentals in Ronda (Finca Retama) and Casares Playa (Casitamar).

Daniel, Oliver, Nick and Julia [Photo: Paul Whitelock]

self-catering holiday home Ronda Andalusia Finca Retama

Self-catering Front Line Beach | Casa del Mar Casitamar

Paul 1 – yours truly

I qualify as the next-longest. I’m also the oldest in age. Born in Devon, I studied Spanish and German at university. I emigrated to Spain when I retired (early).

I live just up the road from the afore-mentioned Hotel Molino del Puente. German wife Rita and I moved in in 2011.

We’re both retired, although I still translate the odd thing; transact the odd house; rent property; renovate houses and work in my large garden.

Help me, Ronda - HELP ME RONDA

Paul and Rita enjoy a break on the coast [Photo: "selfie"]

3 Bedroom (Sleeps 6) House in Montejaque, Málaga (P50774) - No Booking Fees

Ian 2

The next-longest resident of this area is Ian from England, who lives here with his Californian wife and their 9-year-old daughter Zoe. They have lived in other parts of the world before settling in Ronda.

Elaine 2 

[Text deleted at the request of Elaine 2.]

Railway station at La Indiana [Photo: ronda.net]

Paul 2 - the New-Kid-on-the-Block

The latest to move here is another Paul, 53, who bought his “finca” just across the main road from the splendid Hotel Ronda Valley, which is the “local” for most of us, just two days ago. I met him yesterday and we got on very well. He came with his pal from Essex, Thom, who used to live here and work as an estate agent. In fact, Rita and I bought our house via Thom, and we’ve remained good friends. Thom still has his company Sierra Estates with partner Paco.

Photo: Sierra Estates

Paul owns a building company in Essex and also has a small portfolio of properties, including in Thailand, England and now in Andalucía.

Postscript

Several of us meet fairly regularly at our "local", the Hotel Ronda Valley, formerly the Hotel Don Benito.

A comfortable environment with a bar, breakfast room, restaurant and a large terrace. Outside in the large grounds are a large swimming pool, a tennis court and a padel court.

The large car park is free for those who prefer to drive.

© Diary of a Nobody

Useful links:

Help me, Ronda - HELP ME RONDA

Love Viviendas

self-catering holiday home Ronda Andalusia Finca Retama

Self-catering Front Line Beach | Casa del Mar Casitamar

Sierra Estates

Welcome to our beautiful country retreat hotel in Ronda, Málaga

Acknowledgements:

Love Viviendas

Paul Whitelock

ronda.net

Sierra Estates

Tags:

Casa Real, Diary of a Nobody, Finca Retama, help-me-ronda.com, Hotel Don Benito, Hotel Molino del Puente, Hotel Ronda Valley, La Cascada, ronda.net, Sierra Estates,

My social life revolves around the pub, el/le bar or das Gasthaus. Wherever I have lived – Australia, France, Germany, Spain, UK – the local hostelry has always been the place to meet people and to find out what’s going on; what’s for sale; where are the best places to visit; anything at all, in fact.                                                                                         

[Photo: Freepik]

When I could legally drink alcohol, aged 18, I was living in a village called Alphington just outside Exeter (Devon). It had two pubs, The Admiral Vernon and The New Inn.

Pubs in Alphington, Ide and Exeter

The family moved from Barnstaple (North Devon) to Exeter when I was 13 (1963). We moved to Alphington, near Exeter, in 1967. I was a sixth-former at the time and would leave for university the following year. My dad liked a drink and the conviviality of the pub, so he was quite pleased to get his elder son as a legal drinking companion.

The Admiral Vernon, Alphington – My dad’s local after we moved to Alphington. The Admiral Vernon was a typical unmodernised pub with a tap room (bar) and a snug (lounge). They served a decent pint, but I never found it very friendly or welcoming.

The New Inn, Alphington – The other pub in the village, this place was badly named. My recollection is that it was old and tatty. We went more often to the Admiral Vernon. It was cosier.

The Admiral Vernon, Alphington [Photo: Exeter Memories]

The Poacher’s Inn, Ide, near Exeter – Scrumpy was 3d a pint – brilliant! Very popular with Exeter University students attracted by the cheap alcohol!

The Turk’s Head, Exeter – Claims to be the smallest pub in England. Very nice atmosphere, although I haven’t been for years.

The Poacher's Inn, Ide                                             The Turk's Head, Exeter

[Photo: Exeter Memories]                                       [Photo: Facebook]

The Imperial, near Exeter St David’s Station – As a late teenager I used to go here for the open-mic folk club. A good night out. I see it’s now a Wetherspoon’s pub, so cheap beer, but whether the folk club still happens I have no idea.

Salford, Eccles and Greater Manchester

At 18 I went up North to university. What an eye-opener: great beer, which was cheap, and lovely, friendly, salt-of-the-earth people.

Several pubs in Eccles – I lived in digs in Eccles in my second year at university along with four other students. We went out most nights and tried several of the pubs. They were all good in their different ways. I can’t remember the names of the pubs, other than Ye Old Cheshire Cheese

Star Inn, Broughton, Salford – My pal Mel and I got a gig as the resident folk singers on a Thursday night. The landlord called us Hobson’s Choice. It’s where I met the girl who was to become my first wife – for 30 years. Jeryl was her name.

Union Bar, Salford University – Back then it was on the 3^rd floor of Maxwell Building, pending the construction of the Students’ Union building. A good place to meet and pick up girls.

The Star Inn [Photo:Trip Advisor]

Cheetham Hill Sports Club, Manchester – I played hockey, tennis and squash here. 2^nd team hockey, 1^st six tennis and on the squash ladder.

Several pubs in Middleton, Gtr Manchester – I worked in Middleton for four years. My best mate John lived in the town. We were both Spanish teachers at Cardinal Langley Catholic High School. Middleton is a Lees town (John Willie Lees was a local brewery at that time).

Warrington, and other parts of Cheshire

Warrington used to be a brewing and a wire town, home to Greenall Whitley and Tetley, and important wire producers. But that’s going back a good few years. Greenall Whitley was taken over by Whitbread plc and soon closed. Tetley is also part of a conglomerate and now brews in Masham, Yorkshire.

I lived in Warrington for a quarter of a century.

The Pickering Arms, Thelwall (Cheshire) – The most unfriendly local I have ever come across. The nearest pub to where I lived for 25 years, it was most unwelcoming. I preferred …..

…..The Little Manor, Thelwall – a factor in us moving to Thelwall (Warrington) was the fact that just across the park from our house was a Boddington’s pub! Both Jeryl and I “lurved” a pint of Boddies!

The Spread Eagle, Lymm – Just about the only John Willie Lees pub outside of Middleton and Radcliffe. Very quaint and quintessentially English.

The Little Manor, Thelwall [Photo: WhatPub]     The Spread Eagle, Lymm [Photo: TripAdvisor]

Red Lion, Stockton Heath

Popular community pub in the heart of the village, handy for public transport. A former Georgian coaching inn with separate vault and snug, Old Stables bar with two competition darts boards, courtyard with heaters and a large beer garden. There is a large screen showing sporting events in the main room. The pub regularly hosts live music and celebratory events throughout the year. Area winner in the Thwaites hospitality awards 2023. The Stockton Heath Playmakers used to go there after rehearsals and performances.

High Lane, Stockport – we had a canal boat moored here, so we got to know a few of the hostelries, which we frequented for a few years.

Warrington real ale pubs – There were several in the town centre, three of which I visited regularly.

Baden-Württemberg, Germany

I lived in this southern German Bundesland (state) for six months in the early 70s. I was a languages student on my year abroad and spent the time in Stuttgart working as a translator for Daimler-Benz AG, the makers of the prestigious Mercedes-Benz cars, coaches and lorries.

Nowadays, married to a German lady, who used to work in Knittlingen (B-W), and who has two children and four grandchildren living in the area, I go to this charming part of Germany at least once a year.

Schozacher Stuble, Talheim (Germany) - The first Gasthaus I went to when I visited Talheim for the first time with my German girlfriend Rita (now my wife of 14 years). It was rather fun - so much so, that we chose it for our base when we got married in Germany two years later.

Zur Steige, Talheim (Germany) – A hostelry next-door to my German daughter-in-law’s house in Talheim (Baden-Württemberg). Alas, it closed a few years back. Fascinating place back then. A real old-fashioned German pub. The local menfolk’s Schwäbisch dialect was incomprehensible, even though I have an honours degree in German and speak German at home most of the time! Thank God, I could converse with the landlady. She spoke proper German, even though she was Greek!

Ronda and the Serranía, Andalucía, Spain

I first discovered Ronda, the City of Dreams, in 2000 during a silver wedding anniversary tour of Andalucía. My wife at that time, Jeryl, and I were both stunned and smitten by this mountainous area of southern Spain. So much so that a year later we bought an apartment in the town, and two years after that a tumbling-down house for me to do up.

Piso Blanco, Ronda [Photo: Paul Whitelock]

We were still living and working in the UK, so we used both properties as holiday rentals when we weren’t using them ourselves.

By 2005 I was early retired and divorced, and “stepping out” with another lady, Maude, who had bought a house in the centre. I did the house up, so lived in the town for long periods.

In 2008 my somewhat chaotic life sorted itself out when I met The Lovely Rita, a German living in Montejaque. I have lived in and around Ronda since then. Rita and I “jumped the broom” in 2010 and recently celebrated 14 years of marriage.

In that quarter of a century, I’ve got to know lots of bars. Here are my favourites:

Bodega San Francisco, Ronda – This was a great bar, with delicious tapas, and main meals at affordable prices. Paco and his English-speaking wife Paqui, became good friends. I even bought a house off them! (see above)

It’s still a great bar but they moved up into town several years ago. I don’t understand it and nor do most of the staff, who preferred it in the barrio.

Bar Benito, Ronda (closed) – This was my favourite bar in the Barrio de San Francisco when I bought my flat there in 2001. They were so friendly and welcoming. Sadly, Benito retired, and the bar is now closed.

Bar Restaurante El Almocábar, Ronda – In its day, one of the best restaurants in the whole of Ronda. Now under new management (Manolo the owner retired), it’s still worth a visit.

Irish bar (old) (closed) – As with Irish bars the word over, these are the places to meet people and find out information. This version was owned by a Swedish lady and run by an Argentinian, but fulfilled all the requirements. Sadly, it has been closed for many years.

Bar Faustino, Ronda (closed) – Opposite the old Irish Bar, this was a great locale with super tapas. When the couple who ran it split up, it was the beginning of the end.

Bar La Farola, Ronda – Also in the same vicinity as the previous two (closed) bars, La Farola still thrives on its mainly Spanish clientele. Open early in the morning, a great stop for coffee and a chupito (a shot).

Snack Bar Alegria, Ronda – This “sports-bar” has six screens which show all sports. I’ve enjoyed many a Champions League football match, Six Nations rugby game or a Formula One race here accompanied by a choice of good beers and tapas. Landlord Antonio is an avid Liverpool FC fan.

Bar La Melli, Montejaque – Twin  runs this with the support of son Dani, husband Alonso and daughter Beatriz. A friendly, welcoming bar which serves great breakfasts.

Entre Ascuas, Montejaque – This is the bar of the Hotel Palacete de Mañara, run by husband-and-wife team Álvaro and Ana. Normally the first bar to open in the mornings in the village, it is all things to all men (and women).

Bar Rincón, Montejaque - A great little bar with tapas and raciones. Mine hosts are Antonio and Ani. Both from Montejaque they lived and worked in Knittlingen, the German twin town, for many years. Their two sons were born and went to school there. Juan is probably the only German-speaking builder in Montejaque, Broither Diego works with German tourists in Malaga City.

La Terraza, Montejaque (closed) – Arguably one of the best-ever bars in the village, it closed as a result of a dispute with the owner over rent. A real shame.

Bar El Encuentro, Benaoján – A frequent early-morning watering-hole for me over the last few years. Great coffee, chupitos and interesting people. Lunches are also very good.

Bar Stop, Estación de Benaojan – Now renamed Bar Ankanita since the retirement of former landlady Ani, this bar was and remains a great venue for an early morning coffee, breakfast and lunch. The menu del día at 12 euros is first class.

Bar El Encuentro, Benaojan                                    Bar Ankanita, Benaojan Estacion

Hotel Ronda Valley (formerly Hotel Don Benito) – This is effectively my local, being just six minutes walk from my home in Fuente de la Higuera and two minutes by car. Open every day from 7 am till midnight, it’s a great mix of local agricultural workers and international hotel guests. I have many a great conversation with American, Canadian, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese and Scandinavian visitors. Also, with Antonio Mecánico, Antonio “Polvorilla”, Luis “Registro de Propiedad” and sundry vineyard workers, builders, and others. 

Regular foreign residents include “posh” Englishman Nick, Hungarian wife Julia, Scottish Elaine and Irishman Tim, Scot David and German Dagmar. The genial bar staff include Argentinian Gastón, Uruguayan Andrea, plus local “girls” Caro, Eugenia, Maria 1 and Maria 2.

Venta La Vega, La Indiana – This roadside inn has had a few “owners” over the years, yet it remains a great place at any time of day. Mainly patronised by locals, there are also a few guiris, plus at weekends coaches full of Spaniards from elsewhere in Spain. Current boss is Manolo, a builder. My favourite was bbbbb from the Dominican Republic.

Bar Allioli, Jimera de Líbar – Originated by Yorkshireman Paul and his Danish wife Synnove, they have now retired. New owner Andrés has continued with the tradition of live music at weekends and reasonably priced food and drink. Right by the railway station. A great place to pass an afternoon, listening to great music, with the mountains as a backdrop.

Rita enjoying live music at Bar Allioli [Photo: Paul Whitelock]

© Diary of a Nobody

Photos:

Exeter Memories, Facebook, Freepik, Karl Smallman, Paul Whitelock, Trip Advisor, WhatPub

Tags:

Alphington, Andalucía, Barnstaple, Cheetham Hill Sports Club, Cheshire, City of Dreams, Diary of a Nobody, Eccles, Exeter, Gasthaus, Greater Manchester, Ide, Manchester, Maxwell Building, Ronda, Salford, Salford University, Serranía, Spain, Students’ Union, Union Bar, Warrington 

My Covid-19 Diary - March 2020 to date

The Coronavirus pandemic has hit the world hard, with over 120 million global victims. I am British, married to a German and we live in Andalucía in the Serranía de Ronda. This blog contains articles I've written over the last 14 months which are about a weird life of curfews, lockdowns, masks, hand gel, rules and regulations and, for those of us who have been affected directly, the vicious after-effects of the virus, long-Covid, bereavement and financial ruin.

Covid-19 is a thing of the past – or is it?

This is a rewrite of a post by Paul Whitelock on Sunday, August 20, 2023.

As scientists warn of a new mutation of the Coronavirus, in the post-lockdown world, where the vaccination programme appears to have brought the worst effects of the virus under control, are there any positives coming out of the pandemic?

Paul Whitelock and his wife Rita caught the virus in January 2021, and suffered quite badly. There were no injections back then. Paul stood and watched as his wife nearly perished at the hands of the Spanish Health Service, who didn’t know what they were doing two and a half years ago. They had to send her to Germany, the country of her birth, for months, in order to get her well.

Two and a half years later

Both have been left with post-Covid issues, but at least they are alive and grateful for that.

But are there any positives about the worst pandemic to hit the world since the flu epidemic of 1918?

Definitely:

1. Covid-19 ultimately did for BoJo, Boris Johnson, the disgraced former prime minister of the UK who thought it was OK to break his own rules. The country is unlikely to see a worse leader ever. For this writer at least, a massive positive.

2. Covid-19 revolutionised work practices when the government insisted that people not in the front line had to work from home. Now the same politicians, eg Jacob Rees-Mogg, want everybody back in the office. Thankfully, many are resisting this, as they think they are more productive, waste less time and money on commuting and some companies are saving money by shedding or cutting back on their expensive office space. Working from home is another huge positive.

3. Being sick with the Coronavirus or losing family members made many people take stock of their lives and adopt a different outlook. Definitely a positive.

4. For a while the Coronavirus caused us to improve our hygiene, particularly hand-washing. I fear people have become complacent and have backslid. I am astonished at the number of men who leave public lavatories without washing their shitty mitts. A potential positive missed.

5. On a personal note, Covid “saved my life”. It kicked me out of an eight-year-long depression and got me doing things again. The greatest positive of all.

So, we don’t know what the future holds, but I fear as a people, we have gotten complacent rather too quickly.

Comments:

© Diary of a Nobody

Acknowledgements:

Eye on Spain

Paul Whitelock

Links:

Covid-19 is a bastard! Don’t mess with it! A cautionary tale of our times (eyeonspain.com)

Tags:

Andalucía, bereavement, BoJo, Boris Johnson, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Covid-19 is a bastard, curfews, Dave11, financial ruin, flu epidemic, hand gel, hand-washing, herd immunity, hygiene, Jacob Rees-Mogg, lockdown, long-Covid, masks, Pablo de Ronda, pandemic, post-lockdown, regulations, rules, Serranía de Ronda, vaccination, virus

This is Part 2 of a re-working of an article Paul Whitelock originally wrote in 2020 as part of a trilogy which describes, in diary form, his history of property renovation and development in the UK, Spain and Luxembourg.

He has owned three properties in England, three in Ronda (Málaga) and one in Montejaque (also Málaga).

He has also worked on several building projects for other people – two in England in Luton and Yate, two in Luxembourg, two in Ronda and three in Montejaque.

10 November 2020

Following my annus horribilis, when I was made redundant, my wife divorced me and I had a nervous breakdown, I found myself living with a new lady, Maude, in a beautiful cottage in Bryn-y-Maen, North Wales. 

I did a few bits and pieces of DIY there to keep my hand in, and then, when I took her to Ronda for a long weekend, Maude bought a small house in the City of Dreams on the spur of the moment (She was quite well-to.do!)

The little house in the corner

We called it El Rincón, because it was tucked away in a corner.

It needed a lot of work, which I happily took on. Maude was still working full time in the UK, but I was retired so spent months in Ronda re-wiring, building a new bathroom, tiling floors and creating a rather delightful terraced garden at the rear of the house.

A good lick of paint and El Rincón was finished.

A blast from the past

The end of that relationship put paid to my DIY activities for a couple of years, until an old university friend, Jac, who lives in Luxembourg, invited me to spend the summer of 2008 in the Grand Duchy helping her daughter and son-in-law renovate an old house they had bought there.

That was great fun and I developed some new skills, since building practices in Luxembourg differ significantly from the ones I had become familiar with in the UK.

I also did some remedial work at Jac’s house in Hesperange.

After that busy but enjoyable summer of 2008, which included a summer romance with Jac, I was “footloose and fancy-free” again.

So I headed off to Ronda to stay in Piso Blanco for a few days, prior to moving into a house in Latchford, Warrington, which I’d bought with the proceeds from the sale of Casa Blanca, the Ronda house I’d done up a few years before.

A “new” old house

The Warrington house was a real bargain. Tunstall Villa, as the “new” house in Latchford was named, was a “do-er up-er”. A Victorian detached villa, rather down on its luck, it had the potential to be a great house again.  It only cost me £119,000.

Still “unemployed” – by this time I’d been retired for three years – I had plenty of time on my hands, so I set about the renovation.

Over many months I created a delightful winter garden, renovated the rear internal area to provide a WC and laundry room, re-decorated throughout, and then, after two and a half years … I sold it!

Why on earth …?

A new life in Spain

Well, on that visit to Ronda in September 2008 that I mentioned earlier, I’d met a lady who had emigrated from Germany a couple of years before and was living in Montejaque. I nicknamed her the “Meter Maid”.

Yes, you guessed it, her name is Rita.

We dated in Spain, the UK and Germany, where she is from originally, and quickly fell in love.

I immigrated to Spain at the end of that year, 2008, to live with Rita in her lovely village house, Casa Rita, in Montejaque.

In 2010 we got married, in Maulbronn (Baden-Württemberg).

The DIY at Casa Rita didn’t stop, however! I built a kitchenette in a bedroom that we set up as a B & B and handled all the maintenance work at Casa Rita.

Both of us having committed to living in Spain, we needed a house that better met the needs of our respective families, eg her disabled grandson, my ailing mother.

So I sold Tunstall Villa in Latchford and we used the money from the sale to buy our dream house in the campo just outside Ronda. That house is known as Villa Indiana. That happened in 2011, the year after we “jumped the broom” and we still live there after 10 years of married life [now 14].

The DIY and gardening have continued, of course, although, as I get older, I rely a bit more on local paid help to keep on top of things.

In 2019 I decided to sell Piso Blanco in Ronda after 18 years’ ownership. We had been using it as a holiday rental, but all of a sudden the bookings started to dry up, so it had to go.

Property development Spanish-style

In October 2020, I used some of the money from the sale of Piso Blanco to buy a charming old house in Montejaque, where we had previously lived. I needed a project again and so I am currently restoring it to its former glory.

To be sure, I’m 70 now, but the mind is still willing even if the flesh is weak. With the help of professionals, Casa Pablo is currently being re-configured and re-wired, prior to re-plastering, installing a new bathroom and extending the roof terrace.

Then it will have a lick of paint prior to being offered as a vivienda rural to any tourists who might possibly pass this way again during and after this challenging Covid-19 life we are currently living.

The work is progressing slowly, because of repeated Covid lockdowns, but surely. And after it’s finished, who knows?

Maybe I should just hang up my DIY boots!

Update - 4 years on

This is a re-working of an article Paul Whitelock originally wrote in 2020 as part of a trilogy which describes, in diary form, his history of property renovation and development in the UK, Spain and Luxembourg.

Paul is now 74, yet in the last four years he has project-managed several renovation and improvement projects in the area.

In Ronda he managed the complete re-decoration and preparation for sale of a large house on behalf of the owners, a couple from Liverpool.

Unfortunately, he hasn't been paid yet for his work and the matter is currently in the hands of lawyers.

In Montejaque Paul managed upgrades to two houses owned by an English artist from Essex.

One was made ready for sale and has already been sold.

The other is a large rental property, which is renting well. This time Paul has been paid in full.

As for Casa Pablo in Montejaque this "do-er up-er" has been renamed Casa Real, in honour of the family he bought the house from (Real is their surname). All three phases of the renovation are now complete, and Casa Real is available to rent:

CASA REAL, Montejaque (Malaga) - Help me, Ronda (help-me-ronda.com)

Casa Real is also for sale:

CASA REAL, MONTEJAQUE - Large modernised traditional village house in beautiful pueblo blanco - 149.000€ - Help me, Ronda (help-me-ronda.com)

© Diary of a Nobody

Links:

www.help-me-ronda.com

www.secretserrania.com

Acknowledgements:

Paul Whitelock

The Olive Press

www.help-me-ronda.com

www.secretserrania.com

Photos:

AirBnb

Karl Smallman

Paul Whitelock

Rightmove

www.help-me-ronda.com

www.secretserrania.com

Tags:

£11,000, £119,000, £37,500, amateur, A new life in Spain, A “new” old house, Baden-Württemberg, balcony, Blogging, bricklayer, Bryn-y-Maen, building a new bathroom, building project, campo, carpenter, Casa Blanca, Casa Pablo, Casa Real,  Casa Rita, collapsed floor, Covid-19, divorce, “do-er up-er”, DIY,  drainpipes, dream house, early retirement, electrical work, electrician, El Rincón, England, ensuite bathroom, extending the roof terrace, “footloose and fancy-free”, four-bedroomed, four reception rooms, garage, gardening, Germany, Grand Duchy, Greater Manchester, guttering, Hesperange, installing a new bathroom, interpreter, Jac, Jeryl, journalism, languages teacher, Latchford, laundry room, lounge-cum-music room, Luton, Luxembourg, Málaga, Maude, Maulbronn, “Meter Maid”, Montejaque, Montejaque Diary – First Ever Stay, mortgage interest rate, M6, My God! What Have We Done?, North Wales, painter and decorator, painting, painting and decorating, patio, Paul Whitelock, pergola, Piso Blanco, plumber, plumbing, professional, property renovation, re-configured, re-decorated, redundancy, remedial work, re-plastering, retirement, re-wire, re-wiring, Rita, Ronda, school inspector, semi-detached, shower, southern Spain, Spain, summer romance, terrace, terraced garden, The houses that Jack built, Thelwall, Thelwall Viaduct, third WC, three-bed detached, tiler, tiling floors, tradesman, translator, treehouse, Tunstall Villa, two bath-roomed house, UK, university friend, upgraded the kitchen, Victorian detached villa, Villa Indiana, vivienda rural, wall-papering, Warrington, WC, winter garden, www.help-me-ronda.com, Yate, YouTube 

By Diary of a Nobody

This is a re-working of an article Paul Whitelock originally wrote in 2020 as part of a trilogy which describes, in diary form, his history of property renovation and development in the UK, Spain and Luxembourg.

He has owned three properties in England - in Walkden (Greater Manchester), Thelwall (Warrington) and Latchford (also Warrington) - and four in southern Spain – three in Ronda (Málaga) and one in Montejaque (also Málaga).

He has also worked on several building projects for other people – two in England in Luton (Beds) and Yate (S. Glos), two in Luxembourg, two in Ronda and three in Montejaque.

10 November 2020

Paul Whitelock was a languages teacher, a school inspector and a translator / interpreter. Since retirement nearly two decades ago he has also dabbled in journalism and blogging.

But what he really wanted to do when he was younger was to be a tradesman, eg. plumber, electrician, carpenter, bricklayer, tiler or painter and decorator. But he was encouraged to go to university where he gained an honours degree in German and Spanish.

Over the years he’s had a go at all of these “trades” on an amateur, DIY basis with relative success. Here’s the story of the houses that Jack – Paul – built! Or helped to build…

First steps in DIY

I first started doing bits and pieces of DIY when, as a poorly paid young teacher, I bought my first house, a semi-detached in Walkden, Greater Manchester, for £11,000. A lot of money back then and the mortgage interest rate was a massive 16 per cent!

Unable to afford to employ professionals, I informed myself from books (no YouTube videos back then in the late 1970s) and tentatively did a bit of electrical work, plumbing and painting and decorating.

My first wife, Jeryl, and I then moved to our second house, in Thelwall, Warrington, not far from the infamous Thelwall Viaduct on the M6.

A three-bed detached it cost us just £37,500, a huge amount in 1980. Over the next 20 years, the house grew in size to become a four-bedroomed, two bath-roomed house with four reception rooms and a third WC plus garage and large balcony overlooking the adjacent park.

Although builders did the main construction work, my DIY skills had developed so much that over the years I was able to re-wire the whole house, convert the original garage into an extra lounge-cum-music room, turn the separate toilet and bathroom into an ensuite bathroom with new suite, install a shower, replace all the guttering and drainpipes and build two patios and a pergola. Not to mention wall-papering and painting throughout. I even built a treehouse for my two kids.

Buying property in Spain

In the early 2000s Jeryl and I bought two properties in quick succession in Ronda (Málaga). The first, Piso Blanco, was a small flat that needed little doing to it, but the second, an end-terraced house, which we named Casa Blanca, was virtually a ruin.

Piso Blanco facade in 2001                                                         Daughter Amy posing in front of Piso Blanco in 2023

Over the next couple of years I re-wired Casa Blanca, replaced a collapsed floor, upgraded the kitchen, re-built the terrace and decorated throughout.

Then disaster struck .....

..... or should I say three disasters!

Redundancy, early retirement and divorce in quick succession, in 2005, had a profound effect on my life.

To find out what happened next click here:

The houses that Jack built! Part 2 (eyeonspain.com)

© Diary of A Nobody

Note: This article and its 2nd part form part of a trilogy with Montejaque Diary – First Ever Stay and My God! What Have We Done?

Links:

www.help-me-ronda.com

www.secretserrania.com

Acknowledgements:

Paul Whitelock

The Olive Press

www.help-me-ronda.com

www.secretserrania.com

Photos:

Karl Smallman

Paul Whitelock

Rightmove

www.secretserrania.com

Tags:

£11,000, £119,000, £37,500, amateur, A new life in Spain, A “new” old house, Baden-Württemberg, balcony, Blogging, bricklayer, Bryn-y-Maen, building a new bathroom, building project, campo, carpenter, Casa Blanca, Casa Pablo, Casa Real,  Casa Rita, collapsed floor, Covid-19, divorce, “do-er up-er”, DIY,  drainpipes, dream house, early retirement, electrical work, electrician, El Rincón, England, ensuite bathroom, extending the roof terrace, “footloose and fancy-free”, four-bedroomed, four reception rooms, garage, gardening, Germany, Grand Duchy, Greater Manchester, guttering, Hesperange, installing a new bathroom, interpreter, Jac, Jeryl, journalism, languages teacher, Latchford, laundry room, lounge-cum-music room, Luton, Luxembourg, Málaga, Maude, Maulbronn, “Meter Maid”, Montejaque, Montejaque Diary – First Ever Stay, mortgage interest rate, M6, My God! What Have We Done?, North Wales, painter and decorator, painting, painting and decorating, patio, Paul Whitelock, pergola, Piso Blanco, plumber, plumbing, professional, property renovation, re-configured, re-decorated, redundancy, remedial work, re-plastering, retirement, re-wire, re-wiring, Rita, Ronda, school inspector, semi-detached, shower, southern Spain, Spain, summer romance, terrace, terraced garden, The houses that Jack built, Thelwall, Thelwall Viaduct, third WC, three-bed detached, tiler, tiling floors, tradesman, translator, treehouse, Tunstall Villa, two bath-roomed house, UK, university friend, upgraded the kitchen, Victorian detached villa, Villa Indiana, vivienda rural, wall-papering, Warrington, WC, winter garden, www.help-me-ronda.com, Yate, YouTube 

Paul Whitelock visited Montejaque (Malaga) for the second time in his life back in the year 2000.

Accompanied by Jeryl, his wife at the time, and their son, Tom, then aged 13, they rented a house in the upper part of the village for the October half-term holiday.

What happened?

The couple, from Thelwall near Warrington (Cheshire), had already fallen in love with the Serrania de Ronda and had decided to use a windfall to buy a property in the area. They had narrowed their search to Ronda or Montejaque, and were using this village stay to try to sharpen their focus. Here’s Paul’s diary from nearly a quarter of a century ago.

Puerta Verde, Montejaque [Photo: Karl Smallman]

Paul Whitelock and his then wife Jeryl were considering buying somewhere in Montejaque as long ago as the year 2000. So they decided to rent a holiday home in the village, in order to get a feel for life there and to ascertain whether it might be somewhere they would enjoy having a bolthole. The stay would also give them the chance to view some more properties in the area.

Here’s an extract from Paul’s diary of the time.

Sunday 31 October 2001

Up at 3.30 am  and left for the airport at 4.20 am. We arrived at Liverpool John Lennon airport at 4.50 am.

Small queue, checked in, no problems!  Saw Janet T and her husband; also Anne-Marie, a teacher from my last school, St Aelred’s Catholic High School in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside.

Front seats again!  Guess who was sitting across the aisle from us? None other than 1985 World Snooker Champion Dennis Taylor (Doppelgaenger). He had his eyes shut throughout the flight. Fear of flying or a signal that he didn’t want to be disturbed? I left him in peace just in case.

We took off on time and arrived early in Málaga.  I went for the hire car while Jeryl and Tom waited at the belt for our luggage.

Had travelled 10 kilometres or so when Jeryl asked if my bag was handy or was it in the boot – no! It was at easy.rentacar.com! I’d left it behind!

We turned around and headed back to the airport on the ordinary road. Have you noticed how Spain seems to have fallen in love with the roundabout and the sleeping policeman? It was getting on my nerves, having to continually brake and slow down, so we resumed our journey back to the airport by motorway, as soon as we could.

With my reclaimed luggage on board, we recommenced our journey to Montejaque. The journey to Ronda took us about 90 minutes, winding up the hill from San Pedro de Alcántara. After another 20 minutes we were in Montejaque.

Collected key and went to our casita, Puerta Verde, which, despite its name, has a brown door, not a green one!  It was nevertheless nice and rustic with many attractive features.

It had been pouring with rain, however, so everywhere was rather wet.

After unpacking we went to La Casita for lunch on the terrace overlooking the gardens and pool and the mountains beyond.  Excellent lunch, though unfortunately I had to drink all the wine as Jeryl was still on penicillin.  The post-lunch brandy had to be the biggest I have ever had!! After lunch I went ‘de chiquiteo’ while J and T went back to Puerta Verde, only to catch up with me later.

Bumped into ‘Camper Van Couple’ again. We’d met them at La Casita that lunchtime. They are actually quite boring.

Joined up with Ron Watt and his latest ‘client’, Carol, who’d just bought a place for 5.000.000 in Calle Manuel Mañara, 5. Found out quite a lot about the housing scene from Ron (subsequently found to be false, or, at least, exaggerated!).

Juan, dueño del Bar Alemán, had sold his mum’s house (Calle Manuel Lopez, 24) to a retired English bobby, Philip, and his wife Sandra, who were later to become good friends. We’d looked at that house the last time we were here and were quite interested, but, hey … Juan told us his father’s house was for sale (Calle Manuel Mañara, 2).  Arranged to view on Tuesday.

Which we did, along with other properties in Arriate and Ronda. After a gruelling day viewing mostly totally inappropriate houses, we finally fetched up at a flat that had apparently come onto the market just that day. The estate agent showing us round hadn’t even seen it!

Well, we bought it there and then, agreeing a deal that very evening!

Small but ideally located in the Barrio San Francisco in Ronda, it was part of a comunidad of 10 dwellings with a shared garden and, wait for it, a pool! Practically unheard of in the town itself.

Needless to say, we spent a sleepless night worrying about what we’d agreed to.

To find out what happened next, click here.

Note: This article forms part of a trilogy with The Houses That Jack Built and My God! What Have We Done?

About Paul Whitelock

Paul Whitelock is a retired former languages teacher, school inspector and translator, who emigrated to the Serranía de Ronda in 2008, where he lives with his second wife, Rita. He spends his time between Montejaque and Ronda doing DIY, gardening and writing.

In January 2021 Paul Whitelock and his wife Rita contracted the Coronavirus after spending the end of 2020 in Cádiz. Both were very ill, Rita more so than Paul. Rita spent 10 days in hospital in Ronda, before the couple took the decision to self-discharge.

At home again, Rita was so weak she stopped eating and drinking. Then her niece, Dana, a physiotherapist, took unpaid leave from her job to come and treat her aunt. She did a great job, and Rita's younger son, Jojo, who came with Dana to help me, decided to take Rita back to Germany with them for further treatment. She was away for two and a half months.

This is Paul’s diary, written in 2021, describing what happened when Rita returned to Spain.

Preamble

Paul Whitelock hasn’t seen his wife Rita, except on WhatsApp video calls, for two and a half months. In early January, after a short post-Christmas break in Cádiz, the couple contracted Covid-19, Rita particularly badly. She spent 10 horrendous days in the Hospital de la Serranía, followed by 10 days bedridden at home in Fuente de la Higuera (Ronda).

Miracle Worker

Then a miracle worker in the shape of her German niece Dana, a physiotherapist, arrived from Germany. She had taken 10 days unpaid leave from work to come and treat her aunt. Rita’s son Jojo also came to relieve the pressure on Paul as lone carer.

The family then decided Rita would get better post-Covid care in Germany, so she returned to Germany with them on 15 February and was immediately admitted to hospital in Ludwigsburg (Baden-Wuerttemberg) for tests.

As fate would have it the doctors discovered another, potentially fatal, medical problem, and they had to operate straightaway. But it was a false alarm, thank God!

But, nevertheless Rita had undergone a major abdominal operation – no joke for a lady who was already physically weak from her bad experience with the Coronavirus.

After recovery in hospital and a period of recuperation at her daughter’s, Rita went to stay with her niece Dana and had a further 10 days of physiotherapy, which worked so well that Rita felt able to plan her return home to Ronda. She flew home last Monday 26 April after 10 weeks away.

***

Here’s Paul’s diary for the week:

Sunday 25 April 2021

"Off to Málaga Airport early tomorrow morning to pick up Rita. She’s due to land at 09.40 on the Ryanair flight from Frankfurt International.

"I haven’t seen her for two and a half months, except on WhatsApp, as she’s been in Germany recovering from a very bad dose of Covid-19 and a major operation.

"But she’s feeling well enough to travel and will be back home where she belongs in our home near Ronda tomorrow afternoon.

"I shan’t sleep a wink in anticipation."

Monday 26 April 2021

"Left later than intended, bugger! Happens every time we do an airport run!

"I estimate that, by the time she’s got her luggage, she’ll emerge in her wheelchair, being pushed by one of the airport wheelchair pushers, around 10.00 am.

"That didn’t happen in Málaga! Worked fine in Frankfurt and during the flight, but no-one came to get her on the ground at Málaga.

"So, with typical teutonic pragmatism she sorted herself out and when I arrived there she was outside arrivals, looking very smart indeed, I must say! But then she always dresses nicely, does Rita, doesn’t she?

"I wanted to “nip” to Leroy Merlin for stuff you can’t get easily in Ronda. Unfortunately, it was really busy. Pandemic? What pandemic? The world and his wife seemed to be there, spending money like there was no tomorrow! (OOPs! Tactless remark – for some there won’t be a tomorrow, sadly.)

"And the “nip” turned into an hour and a half.

"Quite justifiably, Rita, who had stayed in the car, was not ‘appy! Well done, Paul!

"We headed back to Ronda in silence, arriving late afternoon.

"I cooked a nice meal tonight. Cheated on the starter (Mercadona), but the main course and dessert were all mine. Genuine beef fillet pepper steak with mushroom sauce and freshly picked broad beans from my garden, and French beans from another supermarket. Dessert was berejenas con sirope de agave. First time for me – not bad. (By the way, I used sirope de agave cos there was no honey! Just as good, if not better, and natural to boot – like honey, of course.)"

Tuesday 27 April 2021

"We tried to have a quiet day recovering. Rita is still unwell. She’s as skinny as a rake and is in sporadic pain.

"One of Rita’s friends, Heather Cooper (Hike + Bike the Sierras), popped by in the afternoon. Heather is a fluent German speaker, so Rita enjoyed that interlude immensely.

"It looked like our neighbour Julian Marshall’s sheep had been rustled, until the four lambs (lawnmowers) were found wandering among the vines of the Badman Wines bodega, which is adjacent to our properties. Julian runs Cortijo Perla Blanca with his wife Jody.

"We had another nice meal prepared by me this evening – pez espada, swordfish, with a king prawn garnish, fried potatoes, onion and garlic, and, of course, fresh broad beans from the garden."

Wednesday 28 April 2021

"Today my British-registered VW camper van is due to have its ITV inspection pending matriculation.

"I was a touch anxious, but it sailed through the ITV. Just need to go to Tráfico in Málaga City now, to complete the paperwork. Then I can get my Spanish number plates.

"Bought a load of second-hand stuff for Casa Real, the house I’m doing up in Montejaque. There’s a great shop in Calle Monterejas in Ronda called Mi Atillo.

"We decided today we have to let Berti, our gorgeous German pointer, go. He’s still a puppy and way too boisterous for Rita the way she is physically at the moment. We do this with great regrets, as he’s such a loveable, yet mischievous pet, but at least his new owner, José, a friend of ours, lives nearby in La Indiana, so we shall see plenty of Berti. When José needs a dog-sitter, “we’re his men”, so to speak.

"This evening, Berti-free, we dined at one of Rita’s favourite restaurants in Ronda – Las Maravillas on Calle La Bola. Yummy!"

Thursday 29 April 2021

"I have to get a blood test in Ronda this morning for my urologist appointment on Monday in San Pedro de Alcántara.

"Rita is expecting a visit from three girlfriends from Montejaque: Jill, Tracy and Pippa. Pippa is a relatively recent arrival in Montejaque, compared to Jill, resident about 16 years, and Tracy since 2016, I think. Pippa is a trained masseuse and Rita is hoping she can help ease her (sometimes) terrible back pain. For more information on Pippa’s services go to www.montejaquemasseuse.com

"Blood test done and back home. Spent a delightful couple of hours sitting on our new terrace at Villa Indiana with Rita and her guests. Rita gets her first massage tomorrow.

"Slight panic late afternoon. Our neighbour Jody WhatsApp-ed me. Did I know there was a lot of smoke coming from my field? Went to check and sure enough, smoke was billowing from a mound of dead vegetation that had been piled up there. I went to go in to try to put it out but the gate was locked and the key, which for the last 10 years has always been left in the lock, was missing! It must be José, I thought.

"Rang him. Yep, he’d popped the key in his pocket automatically, without thinking. I asked him to hurry back, which he did, and we got in the field, extinguished the fire and bob’s your uncle!"

Friday 30 April 2021

"Today I have lots of things on my to-do list.

"LIDL for some stuff from their Bazar.

"Unicaja to transfer funds.

"Santander to the cajero for cash. Parked in a zona de carga/descarga for 5 minutes and got booked by the local fuzz – 200€. 100€ if I pay quickly. Bugger!

"GP for face-to-face consultation re Covid-19 jab, long-Covid, which I have, unfortunately, and to update my prescriptions on my tarjeta sanitaria.

"Peugeot workshop with car – driver’s window won’t shut. 36€ to get it fixed. This is turning out to be an expensive day!

"Ferretería to get some cupboard locks.

"Mi Atillo again to identify more bargains for Casa Real.

"Policlínica de la Serranía to get results of blood test ready for my urologist appointment on Monday.

"Venta el Puente in La Indiana for a quick drink and to pay my builders.

"Montejaque to deliver stuff to Casa Real.

"Ronda for Covid jabs. We got Pfizer.

"La Cascada for dinner.

"Bed and sleep."

Saturday 1 May 2021

"Just posted this on Facebook:

“Hi, everybody.

Rita Whitelock thinks I reveal too much about our lives on Facebook, and she’s probably right. I just felt it was the easiest and least time-consuming way for me to let people know how she was progressing.

Now she’s back home where she belongs and things are beginning to look good, so I should probably quit my bulletins while I’m still ahead. This will be the last one.

We both got our first jabs yesterday and get our second doses on 21 May.

We went for dinner last night with our good friends Kevin and Yvonne Speak at one of our favourite restaurants, La Cascada at Hotel Molino del Puente. Rita enjoyed her mejillones and so did I!

Today we’re hoping to make it to Bar Allioli for live music, a great choice of beers and burgers to die for.

So … no more FB updates. Lots of you will see us around; others will pick up info from my outpourings on www.secretserrania.com and elsewhere.

Mucha suerte a todos.”

Saturday 1 May 2021 continued

"Rita drove a car for the first time in four months today! She went to Montejaque to have breakfast with her good friend Jill La Pêche. They chose La Terraza, where they offer  a damned good desayuno inglés by all accounts.

"Me? I went to Ronda to get the newspapers to read later. I got SUR, Ronda Semanal, SUR in English and The Olive Press. That should keep me going for an hour or two. The Spanish Press keeps me informed about the latest news and helps maintain my level of Spanish, a good discipline to have (see “Top 10 Tips for learning Spanish”), while the two English “freebies” always come in handy for lighting the chimenea on chilly evenings. (Only joking!)

"Also popped into Mi Altillo to confirm the purchase of other items of furniture and décor.

A couple of hours gardening at Villa Indiana until Rita returned from her breakfast date.

***

"We later went to Bar Allioli in Jimera de Líbar, where Jens, a Dane from Alhaurín El Grande played two great sets of folk, reggae and soft rock. We ate well too. Plus I met Alan, a real ale importer who was at Bar Allioli for the first time in his life. He’d brought a barrel of live beer (a delicious mild from Hobson’s Brewery in Shropshire) and a selection of the Hobson’s bottled range.

For more information about Hobson´s beers, please , contact: realaleandciderdistribution@gmail.com

"With lovely weather to boot we had a great afternoon.

"In the evening I went to Ronda to withdraw some cash from the cajero and visited the Feria del Libro in the Alameda. Spent rather a lot of money, but got some great books about Ronda and the Serranía, together with some recipe books and a couple of classics: La Cabaña del Tío Tom and El Diario de Ana Frank.

"I prepared a nice dinner of salmon steaks with salad, before we called it a day."

Sunday 2 May 2021

"After breakfast together on our terrace I headed off to Montejaque to deliver stuff for Casa Real. I also watered the plants at Casa Rita and Las Hormigas.

"Rita had plenty to do at home in Villa Indiana after being away for so long. She also found time to chill out in the garden and do some “pottering”.

"I did some tidying up at Casa Real ready for the start of work on Monday.

"The week wrapped up with dinner (trio of roast sausages with Mediterranean vegetables) and an early night.

"It’s been a bloody good week, and well-deserved, I reckon."

A personal message

At the end of the best week of 2021 so far for both of us, we’d just like to say thanks to all of you for your continued enquiries, good wishes and offers of support. Some from people who have never even met Rita and who I haven’t seen since graduation in 1973. We were very touched.

I never thought I’d feel this positive about the good things that Facebook can do in the world. I love you, Mark (Zuckerberg)!

Paul Whitelock

Photos:

Amazon.com

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Karl Smallman

Paul Whitelock

Photowall

The Stay At Home Chef

VW

www.secretserrania.com

Tags:

Baden-Wuerttemberg, berejenas con sirope de agave, Cádiz, Casa Real, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Dana, Frankfurt International, Fuente de  Jojo, Germany, Hospital de la Serranía, Leroy Merlin, Ludwigsburg, Málaga Airport, Mark (Zuckerberg), Paul Whitelock, physiotherapy, post-Covid care, Rita, Ryanair, teutonic pragmatism, Villa Indiana, WhatsApp video calls,

This is an updated version of a post from 2020 about my life after I emigrated from the UK to live in Spain in 2008.

Life quickly settled down in Montejaque where I was living with my German wife, Rita, who I sometimes refer to in these blogs, for obvious reasons, as The Meter Maid. After a short spell at The Olive Press newspaper, during which time I also contributed articles to SUR in English, the Euro Weekly News and Olive Country Life magazine, the latter based in Alcalá La Real (Jaén), I became a blogger.

First steps

I got myself a website to promote my various activities, namely translating and interpreting, holiday rentals and house sales. The blog was a ruse to attract potential clients to the site.

In the meantime, after three years we left our little house in the village and moved to the campo just outside Ronda. I got a garden, Rita got a pool and we both got a house you could reach by car, which meant no more schlepping shopping up the hill to our house in Montejaque.

I was invited to write a blog for the online version of The Olive Press and for another local website, now defunct.

As time went on, I grew disillusioned with translating. It’s boring being cooped up indoors with a laptop and a dictionary. And interpreting at the hospital, at the bank, at the lawyer’s became a nightmare in that many clients didn’t really want an interpreter, they wanted someone to solve their medical, financial or legal problems.

So I gave that all up. I continued to help out friends in exchange for a cup of coffee or a breakfast, but that’s a different kettle of fish.

The house sales didn’t really work too well either – too much competition.  Around the same time, I got writer’s block. So I stopped blogging and my website lapsed.

Expanding family

Over the last six years I have acquired some grandchildren of my own to add to the six on the German side of the family. All boys, born in 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2023 two in Bow, East London and two in St Leonard’s on Sea near Hastings, East Sussex.

The coronavirus pandemic then arrived and ruined everything: the Confirmation of a grandson in Germany, my 70^th birthday celebration, an extended family knees-up in Germany, visits to the UK to see my children, grandchildren and brother and our annual tide of visitors from Germany and the UK to use our pool (sorry, I mean to see us!) were all cancelled.

Covid aftermath

The COVID-19 lockdown with its random fatalities and the death in a plane crash of a family member in Australia got me thinking about life and death – I was then 70, after all. I’m now 74 and still here!

Back in 2021 COVID-19  kick-started me into action: gardening, carpentry, mending garden furniture, painting, pressure-washing terraces and, after lockdown was eased, more socialising and eating out.

Rita and I tidied up our affairs and sorted out new Wills. I bought new clothes and new furniture and we spent a tidy sum on sorting our water out and becoming a virtually chemical-free home.

A descalzificador, a reverse osmosis unit, an ozone making machine, an industrial ozone vacuum cleaner and defumigator and an ozonised pool all meant no more limescale clogging up our pipes, boiler, radiators, taps, kettle and human digestive systems, no more bottled water and the contingent plastic waste, no more cleaning products and no more pool chemicals.

Back to writing

I decided I wanted to write again so approached Karl Smallman about writing a blog for his Secret Serranía website, and that’s what happened, I became a regular contributor.

Since then I got myself a website of my own again, www.help-me-ronda.com. That’s where I post most of my  stuff  these days, although I post also on www.eyeonspain.com.

So, that completes my odyssey from North Devon to South Spain … I hope you enjoyed reading about my journey and that you continue to enjoy my writing.

Please feel free to give feedback by using the comments section at the end of each article.

© Diary of a Nobody

Links:

From North Devon to South Spain in seven decades… Part One: The Early Years

From North Devon to South Spain in seven decades… Part Two: After The Hangover

From North Devon to South Spain in seven decades… Part Three: A New Life in Andalucía

Photos:

Psychology Today

Rigor Textual

Secret Serrania

United Nations

Tags:

70^th birthday celebration, at the bank, at the hospital, at the lawyer’s, Australia, blog, blogging, bottled water, Bow, carpentry, chemical-free, cleaning products, confirmation, coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19 lockdown, death in a plane crash, defumigator, descalzificador, Diary of a nobody, East Sussex, eating out, Euro Weekly News, family knees-up, financial, gardening, German wife, grandchildren, Hastings, holiday rentals, house sales, interpreting, Karl Smallman, legal, life and death, limescale, medical, mending garden furniture, Meter Maid, Montejaque, Olive Country Life, new Wills, Olive Press, ozone making machine, ozone vacuum cleaner, ozonised pool, painting, pool chemicals, pressure-washing, Psychology Today, Rigor Textual, Rita, reverse osmosis unit, St Leonard’s on Sea, Secret Serrania, socialising, United Nations, SUR in English, translating, visitors from Germany and the UK, www.eyeonspain.com, www.help-me-ronda.com,  writer’s block