Weekend to date

Not much to report. I was invited to watch Rugby with Brenda and her husband at the International Cafe...a new discovery, and enjoyed the game. At last somewhere to watch the rst of the Rugby.....alas this was not the case, as close rest of weekend, and missed all the games Saturday, but caught the Ireland Argentina game on Sunday.

Did a lot of spring-cleaning of terraces and patio on Monday, scraping off caucho and paint off the tiles and applying agua fuerta (fierce water), but not much improvement.

Managed to get hold of Ricardo this morning (Tuesday 2nd) and "he has been very busy getting ready........" I reminded J was coming over tomorrow (to scare him), and sure enough ...."we will be there tomorrow 8.00 - 8.30"

Also heavy rain is forecast today and tomorrow and it would be good to test the roof.

Here in Fuengirola posting blog belatedly, and back home on the 13.00 bus to finish shopping and cleaning in preparation fr J's arrival tomorrow.

Sorry no pics.

Weather & Painting

Friday 28th September

Forecast thunderstorms coming from an ominous depression off the coast of Africa moving north. Weather already cloudy and thunderclouds massing over the mountains. I felt under pressure to at least paint all the patches to seal the wall before the rain came.

Popped down to see Antonio and low and behold, he was there …he’s been on his holidays apparently. Anyway he’s coming at 11.15 on Monday to measure up the banister. Also popped in to see Brenda in the Second Hand shop and chatted briefly, as she was busy with quite a few customers.

Home to finish painting the wall as had brightened up. However, it became a never ending process, the roller laden with white paint kept on pulling off more loose old paint, exposing bare concrete that needed to be cauchoed, so took another couple of hours to get it done as best as I could…not perfect, but its not even our wall !!

Painting & Panther Story

Thursday 27th September

Weather and tasks much the same as yesterday, and Ricardo’s continued absence. Applied caucho to all the patches of concrete exposed by scraping, and painted the small wall ajoining our terraces. After lunch and siesta (these are becoming a habit), also cauchoed the patches and painted some of the main high wall with my extended paint pole.

I obtained another paper , Euro Weekly produced for the huge English population here, with more stories of last Fridays storms. Apparently, 4 towns Nerja, Almuñecar, Marbella and Coin are applying for emergency funding for “catastrophic damage”.

However the story that caught my eye was about a panther being sighted by several people in Mijas, under the headline “Feline on the loose”. The first witness claimed to have seen the beast running loose in a park near his home in La Cala Mijas. He said the animal had climbed up a tree, ….and I quote “which led Police to believe it was not a large dog”…..A vet confirmed from the photo he took on his mobile phone that it was indeed a panther. The beast has yet to be caught.

Scraping Paint

Wednesday 26th September

Another glorious day and spent most of the day scraping paint off the neighbours wall on the roof terrace. No Ricardo of course, and no Antonio the metalica man when I popped down there before lunch.

Such were my exertions, I needed a siesta after lunch, as was knackered from the scraping. Carried on after for a couple of hours and removed most of the worst, ready for caucho (sealing) and painting tomorrow.

Recycling : Rubbish & Blood

Tuesday 25th September

Got up early at 7.30 am just in case Ricardo came at 8.00 , but did no appear, so enjoyed a glorious morning of sunshine whilst remaining a reasonable temperature. Popped down to see Antonio the Metalica man about a new banister for the lower stairs which are quite dangerous, but he was out….manyana @8.00am. Also dropped by the second –hand shop to say hello to Brenda, but she was about to start a meeting with her partner Marlene.

After lunch, had a session on Dreamweaver, my fancy web development software which is a bit advanced for me…anyway, managed to retrieve my 5 web pages constructed in Frontpage (an inferior Microsoft html webpage editor), and put them in Dreamweaver format as a web site on my laptop, so quite a big step forward.

Went for a walk late afternoon to dispose of a weeks recyclables (3 bags ), which was about 80% of my rubbish since being here…mainly wine and beer bottles it has to be said, but also tins, plastic bottles and general plastic wrapping, polystyrene trays and tetra-cardboard packs (milk, fruit juice etc) which most Councils at home refuse to take. Found some bins and bottle bank (vidreo) in the main high street and deposited my stuff…If Spain can do it, why cant we ??.....end of rant.

Also spotted a luxury coach in the high street which turned out to be the travelling blood donor vehicle….nice comfy seats for the tea and biscuit ….well what ever they have….sorry didn’t venture inside to donate …I’m of the Tony Hancock school “….if God gave me 8 pints, then I’m hanging on to them !!” The Spanish are more generous, and the bus was doing a roaring trade.

Kitchen ceiling & Drainage Solution

Monday 24th September

Spent the morning hacking off the plaster from the kitchen ceiling. It had started with the objective of scraping off the loose paint, but it was quickly apparent that large areas of plaster were loose and not bonded to the surface above it. Hacked off about 2/3rds of the plaster.

Rang Ricardo about lunchtime, when I knew he would probably be at home having lunch, and he said he would be round in half an hour. Sure enough, he was , although said he was in a hurry and didn’t have much time….as per usual.

I went over my solution for the roof….regulating the flow of rain off the roof terrace in periods of very heavy rain to allow the drain to cope. This would be achieved by blocking most of the holes at the lower end of the terrace, and creating 4 or 5 holes at the higher front end of the terrace, effectively holding a maximum of 1000 litres of rain on the roof as a safety buffer. When the roof terrace was “Full”, ie holding 1000 litres, the water would drain from the newly created holes at the front into the street.

Ricardo thought this was “a very good solution”, and was happy that the roof could cope with the extra weight of water (1000 Kg or 1 Ton) for the short period it would have to, until the rain abated, and the remaining water would flow slowly to the drain.

He also inspected the kitchen ceiling and said he would skim it again and then I could paint it. He would install a vent in the bathroom.

Phoned Mum in evening …worrying about bills.

Aftermath of Storms

Weekend - 22nd/23rd September

The weather during the weekend was great after the rains of Friday – cloudy in the mornings but the sun burning through in the afternoons. According to the local paper headline “Chaos as storms and hail batter Spain”, more than 200 litres per square metre of rain fell on Nerja (just up the coast) , the equivalent of 5,000 litres of water on the roof terrace alone if the same amount had fallen here, so it was no wonder the drain struggled, albeit with lesser rain.

Apparently, hailstones the size of golf balls damaged cars and roofs in Marbella and Coin, with an estimated 1500 vehicles damaged and 30 people injured.

Spent most of Sauurday in Fuengirola going to the market and posting the blog. The Swedish wifi internet café was closed, but managed to find a locutorio allowing wireless laptops.

Also spent a relaxing Sunday, having a long walk round the town and noting changes. Calle Iglesias is to upgraded as the oldest street in Alhaurin, as the main road up to the church, and another little park at the top. Work has commenced on the upper stretch, with the road up and houses supplied with water by large piped looping between the houses.

I also came across a vending machine with a difference….selling live fish-bait …..I think one of the signs on it said it was awaiting patent, so it must be quite new……wonder if they will catch on in the UK, as angling is supposed to be the biggest sport in the country ??

Treated myself to The Sunday Times @ 5€, and read for a couple of hours. I had hoped to watch the Rugby (Scotland v New Zealand), but was thwarted by the Chelsea – Manchester United game beamed in all the English and Spanish bars alike. Trying to follow the Rugby World Cup games here is very dispiriting, as the Spanish are just not into rugby….luckily the English bars show it when there is no football clashes.

One is also struck by the cultural differences on spending a Sunday afternoon….the Spanish sitting in large family groups drinking coffee and eating ice-cream outside, and the English tanking it up with lager, watching the football in smoke filled bars, followed by karaoke after the match……