Finish cementing Shower & Reticulation

Friday 30^th March

I spent the morning cementing the last layer of cement in the shower, taking care to get the slopes towards the drain ……the lack of which being the original problema. J painted the stair banisters and built a reticulation system for the pots and garden……quite a feat.

After a farewell chat to Brenda and lunch, I had another go at solving the kitchen sink drainage system….again unsuccessful, whilst J continued with her reticulation system, which has a few teething problemas.

Cooked nice chicken, mushroom & garlic supper with 4 fresh veg for second day running…..very healthy !!

Kitchen Sink drain Test 1

Thursday 29^th March

Contrary to the forecast, weather cool but sunny with no rain….the North of Spain is getting torrential rain and flooding. I spent the morning cementing the shower and “wall”…….8 buckets of cement. Pefected a formula of 12 trowels of sand, 4 trowels of cement and a saucepan of water for each bucketful… quite knackering. J painted door frames and shutters of front bedroom.

We broke for lunch and market about 1.30 pm and bought 5 kg oranges, 2 kg beans, 1 kg peas and 1 kg runner beans……10 €……peas and runner beans bumped price up ! Shopped at Mercadona on way home for meals for next 2 days.

We conducted a leak test of the kitchen sink drainage system…..the picture tells the story…..a number of leaky joints. I spent most of the afternoon trying to fix the leaks and conducting further tests, culminating in using sealant rather than glue to stop a leak. J painted, taped banisters ready for painting, plastered holes, cauchoed and painted water-tank stand, painted all the grills (removing 4 screws from each one for aesthetic reasons) and junction boxes, and screwed the missing screws back on the 6 dining chairs (probably removed by builders for grills).

Plumber & Builder at Work

Wednesday 28^th March

The third day of cool, overcast, showery weather. Brenda from the second shop arrived about 10 am for a long overdue visit to see the house, and stayed until 1.00 pm. We had planned to stay with her at her B&B about 2½ hours north of here, but decided against it as I want to visit Cordoba on the way home, and she is 1½ hours south of there.

I finally finished the kitchen sink waste pipes…..anyone need a 60 year old apprentice plumber……..before lunch of bacalao at Bar El Timon. After lunch, J painted the other half of the stairs and I started concreting the shower base.

Finished about 5 pm to go shopping…….get kitchen aluminium end strip and sink screws cut at the Metalico place….(Antonio in Sevelle, but they did the cutting free of charge), light fitting and chain for front bedroom and 20 bricks from Barronuevo…..1.77 € inc tax….this gives an idea of the cost of building materials in Spain, and the huge profits being made in the building industry.

At J’s suggestion, laid bricks around the shower walls in the still wet cement before eating out….Italian for a change.

Start of the Shower

Tuesday 27^th March

Cloud and a bit of sun. J painter all day…..bedroom door frames, grey on stair risers and half steps (roja (red)). I started to fit the shower drain in preparation for cementing it, and continued with the kitchen sink drain and affixed worktops. Bought 2 good quality heavy duty beach chairs (10 € each) from the cheap shop. Dined at Chinese.

Final Jobs by R & T

Monday 26^th March

First day of rain for a month……since L was here. J painted all day….shutters in front bedroom and inside door (sort of streaked, stone washed sky blue), both bedroom doors Amarillo (yellow), and porch chairs (blue). I started the kitchen sink drainage system, contemplating the options, and fitting the pipes loosely without tightening any joints or glueing any joints, hoping that Ricardo would fit it !! …..then started painting the water tank base, but it started raining and dissolving the paint.

Ricardo and Tommy arrived about 3 pm …..R fitted the kitchen tap and T re-fitting the porch lantern……much swearing in German and T in a surly mood. Ricardo did not bother with the waste pipes, but lent me his glue can for me to fit . Tommy was off by 4 pm and Ricardo by 4.30 pm after getting his money….1,200 € as full and final payment …..!!

Popped down to Miramor and AKI in Fuengirola to buy PC desk and other bits and bobs. J wanted to go into the shoe shop there for J to look for wedding shoes….some lovely green sandals but not in beige….I bought 2 pairs of shoes….a nice pair of black shoes with silver studs @ 72% discount and a gold pair….yes GOLD @ 52% discount…….31 € for 2 pairs of pointy shoes ….J hates them !! (J says …”One thinks one may look a bit silly wearing them when back in Ingletera as methinks pointy shoes well out of fashion!!!”). Dined at the Garage.

Domingo Pasion (Passion Sunday)

Sunday dawned warm and sunny, and I got up early…..7.00am, wakened by the hum of engines…..which turned out to be water tankers supplying teams of spray cleaners. A lorry from the Ayuntamiento turned up with more potted flowers for the northern star point flower bed at about 7.30 am…..very early for Spanish workers.

We worked for a couple of hours in the morning. At 10 am, there were a series of thunderous bangs from mortar rockets signalling the start of the “Event”. We worked on until 11.30 am , when we noticed people gathering on the roundabout, and the sounds of approaching bands.

As we got down to the roundabout, it suddenly became clear what the “Event” was……the opening of the Guarda Seville Barracks , with marching bands from the 5 main churches in the town. As we arrived, it was clear there was a problema with the fountains, and someone had to get under the manhole forming part of the northern star point flower bed to get them going.

The Mayor greeted all the top brass of the Guarda Seville (tough National Police force left over from the rule of General Franco), local VIPs and dignitaries, and the 5 bands marched down in turn and did their parades.

The Mayor and VIPs went into the new premises of the Guarda Seville for speeches and a reception….we went home for lunch !

After all the urgent tidying of the roundabout area in the last 48 hours, it seemed extraordinary that it was basically for a two hour church parade around the roundabout!!

Father Jeffri ??

Recently, someone asked after Jeffri, the little dog who lives opposite. Regular readers will recall that his lady-friend Wendy was abducted whilst we were back in the UK at Christmas, and that he had been pining for her ever since.

I am pleased to report that Jeffri has met a new lady-friend….a similar datchund-cross like Wendy, and as she may be a typical Spanish street dog, with no owner, we have named her Wendy2. She was clearly on heat this week, with a following of Jeffri and 4 other dogs.

However, she only had eyes for Jeffri, and repelled the advances of the other dogs, and tried to get Jeffri “interested” by stimulating him in a number of ways (which I can’t mention, as this is a family blog), It was clear she wanted Jeffri to sire her puppies, and wanted nothing to do with any of the other dogs, which I guess is quite unusual. Jeffri was very slow to respond to Wendy’s advances, and was reluctant to”perform” in front of the other dogs, and was particularly submissive to a larger dog with a constant grin through barred teeth.

On Saturday, Jeffri and Wendy were observed in a compromising position……on his doorstep……..we shall have to wait and see.

Preparations for some Event

Throughout the latter part of the week, we noticed a number of jobs being undertaken by Ayuntamiento workers, obviously in preparation for some event, which we assumed was Semana Santa (Easter). However, as the week-end approached, the numbers of workers increased and the pace became more frantic.

Thursday saw the start of digging 4 points of a “star” on the fountains roundabout at the bottom of the road. On Friday they were still digging the last 2 points, and a team of 5 turned up to paint the wall of the derelect house at the end of the road facing the roundabout. I asked them if they were going to paint the ruin, but they just laughed…..

Planting out the newly created beds commenced on Friday afternoon, as did the tidying up of the building sites around the roundabout, including removing sand, bricks and other building materials. As we were leaving the house to catch the bus to Coin for the SACAB, we saw a Police car stop to look at our pile of sand (that Roberto has deliberately left, and charged for it, so it is technically J’s !), and making a note in their log.

On Saturday, police road blocks were strategically placed on roads leaving the roundabout, and parking restriction notices also appeared. We had planned to buy a fridge freezer and any other furniture bargains we saw at the Fuengirola market, and decided to leave them in the car if we were prevented from driving to the house.

In the event on our return, the Police-woman on the road-block let us through, on condition we drove back out after delivering the fridge/tv cupboard and Spanish chair which we scavenged from a rubbish bin in Fuengirola.

Saturday evening saw teams of workers painting road signs and markings, spray cleaning the roundabout, and JCBs flattening and landscaping banks and derelect land around the roundabout…….this was not for Santa Semana, it was for Sunday…..Domingo Pasion (Passion Sunday).