Our House in the Alpujarras

Well the month of bills with us again. We arrived to find Bassura and Agua bills for the year plus another one for recycling. It would seem that Granada province are now charging 8 euros twice a year for recycling. I can only assume that this covers the process for taking what we are being asked to recycle in glass, plastic and card and processing it from the bin to the recycled article. Not sure where this fits in to the carbon footprint but it is probably a charge included in our council taxes at home. Don't get me wrong I applaud the spanish government for steps towards carbon neutrality and it really is a small amount to have to pay to achieve this. The weather whilst not as hot as our visit October 2012 was pleasantly warm and with the sun out was shorts, t shirts and very nice. On the social scene 2 birthdays and a wedding anniversary so a hectic 6 days with detox in between. Paul and Biata the latest full time addition to the ex pats who arrived 11 weeks ago seem to have settled in well. The improvements they have made to thier house are very good quality. I was amazed to see how wooden an aluminium window could look. It cost a few quid but really the warmth and sophistication it adds far outweigh the costs. We too made a purchase whilst out, a new double mattress for the bed out there. Supplied and delivered from Muebles Cadiar the same day and worth e300. It has a summer and winter side to the mattress and is of substatial quality, a good investment. Muebles Cadiar run by an older couple is a vast emporium on 3 floors. A lot of the spanish mahogany furniture is to a particular taste but you could litterally go in and furnish a house in there. Friends of ours did just that a couple of years ago spending about e12,000 in there. They prefer the cash, who doesn't these days and as such wouldn't accept a credit card. Our friends happy to wait were assured they could deliver the whole amount in days and he could pay when he had the money. So this store owner who had never met our friend till that day was happy to deliver on tick and await payment. Imagine walking into John Lewis is the UK and asking for delivery pending payment without deposit or credit checks !! An example of what a trusting, obliging nation the Spanish are. Amazing but very nice to see.

We now have all mod cons in both lounges with Freesat and DVD. Of course we await the effects of the satellite change in what can be recieved at the house but our friends out there are already streaming TV and catch up through the internet so it would seem with software changes anything is possible and for the amount of TV we will be watching it should adequately suffice. Another trip where the log burner wasn't required.

We have mice in the house, probably encouraged by the ruin next door. Traps had been set by our friends and so we arrived in hope of releasing these fury creatures back into the wild. Now Spanish mice are either clever or very small as each of the traps had bate removed from them without engaging the trapping mechanism. I think on our permanent arrival next October a four legged rat catcher is a must.