Roof without caucho

Friday 17^th November

It rained most of the night, but dawned reasonably bright and sunny. Heard the falcons and saw them briefly, but too fast to take any pictures. After breakfast, drove down the camino rural road, which had a few streams across it, with the ford through the river at the bottom still passable.

Tommy and Sergio were concreting the patio, kitchen and bathroom, hoping for no rain today and Saturday to allow it to dry. Most of the caucho on the bathroom had washed off in the rain overnight, and Tommy agreed it would have to be re-done.

Back to the village about 4 pm, and had a walk round town. By now, it was very cold and windy…..cold enough to get our winter coats out. After tea, we went for another walk and saw a herd of goats returning at dusk, holding up a bus. We then discovered a nice bar and had a couple of wines and tapas …..a sort of fried sardine type fish and enchilada rusa. Stopped off at our regular bar for a wine, and then back to the house for blog update, reading and cribbage.

Getting wired

Wednesday 15^th November

C got up early again to watch the sunrise and to see the falcons, who again flew near the house……too fast to get a picture but will persevere over next couple of weeks. After breakfast, drove to house via the camino rural road and J chatted to Timo for about 45 minutes on various problems he was encountering…….cement not adhering to the old walls in the kitchen, walls of crumbling dust where electric sockets needed to be inserted, wooden joists buried in the walls etc…..The cold water system is now functional and the tank full. J a day too late in requesting her tap on the first floor for a reticulation system for plants.

Then drove to Marbella to Leroy Merlin to get more grills for curtain walls, and extractors for the bathrooms. Then on to La Cañada to take back long wave radio which could not pick up the BBC, and wandered around Mall looking for boots for C, and J put her pics on disk.

Thursday 16^th November

Light rain overnight and cloudy and overcast at dawn with steady rain…..no sign of the falcons. After breakfast, drove to house via camino rural and saw an unusual bird by the roadside. Medium sized bird of pinky/orange plumage with large crest……will try to look up.

Met with Tommy who was happier, with yesterdays problemos sorted. More electrical work planned for today, with cable casings being concreted into kitchen floor and walls. They have used white caucho (sealant)yesterday for roof and 1^st floor terrace, leaving a milky lake on the first floor after the overnight rain. J to ask Ricardo why red exterior caucho not used.

We decided to go to Malaga mid morning to look for boots for C …(made of Spanish leather…..as the Bob Dylan classic goes), and parked at AKI/Carrefour and started to walk in to Larios Centre near the bus station. Walked for awhile completely lost, and eventually asked directions and caught a bus, and eventually recognised the new train station (near bus station) and alighted.

We were starving by then and has tapas at a bar in the Centre….mixto bocadillos (queso & jamon) …that’s cheese and ham….and paella and enchilada rusa + drinks amounting to 10.45 €…..not bad for central Malaga.

Wandered through umpteen shoe shops , some with a few boots…..most with none, giving up about 2.30 pm. Went to the bus station to find which bus went near AKI…..numero 31. By now it was raining heavily, and we made our way to the main terminus at Alemada Principal and found our bus. It took nearly an hour to get back to AKI in a modern bus which leaked in the heavy rain……so much for “ lets park at AKI and walk into town….”

Back to house, where Sergio was cutting out channels upstairs and didn’t hear us …. Lots of white water in bucket, so house had obviously flooded again in the heavy rain

Punto Limpio

Tuesday 14^th November

C got up early to watch the sunrise – red sky in morning shepherd’s warning, and saw a pair of peregrine falcons near the house. After breakfast, drove back via the camino rural road to the punto limpio, and took pics as I promised in one of the early posts. Punto limpio translates literally as “clean point”, and is solely for “clean” rubbish and recycling. The Spanish Ayuntamientos (town hall/councils) are obviously keen on recycling, and have several categories we would’nt have at home, such as cooking oil (aceite oil), aerosols, batteries used in all electronic devices, fluorescent light tubes, and X rays, which I find intriguing. There were quite a few in the bin, and I can only assume that patients keep their X rays at home, and when they are no longer required, they dispose of them at the punto limpio.

On to house to see Tommy and Sergio, who was cutting plaster for plugs and cables – very dusty work, so C went to buy some dust masks.The main job today seems to be the electrics, and it was lucky we had done the switch and lighting plan for Tommy. J phoned Ricardo as he needs more money …2500 €, making it 8000 € spent to date, with 1000 € in hand…..not bad for nearly 2 months work.

We went to the bank for the money, and then went for a coffee and bocadillo mixto (warm ham and cheese roll) which was delicious. We met Ricardo at the house for general chat on progress and queries – all in a jocular mood. He started forming the arch to the kitchen by knocking off plaster …. He must have known there was a large void above the door for some reason. Tommy wanted to form a window in the front wall, but J said no, as Alberto the architect had said the wall was too bad. Tommy still wanted to try ….”.if the house falls down, we build you a new one ……if it doesn’t fall down, you have a window….simple…!!.”.

After the rain

Weekend 11/12^th November

The weather was bright and sunny over the weekend. Visited the coast on Saturday to post the blog……ironically, the wifi café internet was down, but the signal from a neighbouring Locutorio was strong enough to post the blog.

Saturday evening, we had an excellent meal….starting with an unusual house salad with chicken livers ….J had bacalao with a tomato sauce, C had chicken, and finishing with a sort of crème brule sweet.

On Sunday, we walked round the village and el campo, taking pictures of the olive groves and walnut trees, interspersed with orange and lemon groves. The land now has a lush green covering of grass after all the rain, a change from the scorched brown of the summer. We also saw 2 pigeons (palomas) ….one with painted blue and yellow wings, and another with red and yellow wings ….see pic. We saw their owner near his loft, and gathered from his proud smile and gestures that they were his …..rather an odd way of identifying ones birds. Picasso named one of his daughters Paloma ….he was from Malaga of course, and this month is the 125^th anniversary of his birth…..some link ? …not really !

In the afternoon, we drove to three high villages in the mountains, traversing some very hairy roads which have yet to be upgraded. J did not enjoy !!

Monday 13^th November

The day dawned bright and sunny again, and J spotted 2 peregrene falcons from the balcony.

After breakfast, we drove to the house and showed Tommy the new shower taps which he was happy with. The main job today would be cementing the roof with 10 cm of cement ……just hope walls hold all the weight. We walked into town and went to a Café to draw the light switch plan, which we had been putting off for a week or so, and would probably be needed imminently. On to Malaga to AKI for 2 terracotta uplighters, and back to house to review progress. The roof was cemented, curtain walls started , but no grills in the walls. Sergio drilled out a space for the glass blocks for downstairs bathroom, which will provide some light.

Then back to the village via camino rural road following the valley . It is very steep in places …..1 in 3 as a guess, with many run offs for flooding arroyos (streams) across the road, which can become raging torrents. C rescued a tortoise in the road….not sure if it is an indigenous species or an escaped pet.