Our lovely friend Miss C from The Kitchen’s Garden set us a challenge yesterday. She asked her Fellowship of the Farmy Friends to share their views from their back porches, or windows, or balconies.
Celia, you don’t know how good this has been for me. arriving back from the UK at the weekend and facing yet more DIY due to damp and winter damage, really dragged me down. It’s being dealt with right now, but for a moment I lost sight of what being back Up Our Mountain is all about. Blogging (and real life) Pal Claire from Promenade Plantings nudged me today to join in. Thank you ladies.
I stepped outside my back door just a few minutes ago, away from the mayhem in the house, and snapped. I didn’t set up the camera properly, I just snapped. And then I took the camera away from my eyes and really looked. And then I cried. Happy tears, not sad ones.
This is what it’s all about…now I remember how blessed we really are.
We drove from England to Spain and arrived home late last night after a fairly slow journey through a cold, sleety and snowy France. Brrrr!
We´re a bit “Up in the Air” (and it´s not just because we´re back Up Our Mountain). We don´t know where we´re going to be for Christmas.
Maybe Spain, or maybe back to the UK to finish off House Number 2 and possibly take on some more work or help my parents out with various jobs.
No matter. We´re here right now. The sun is shining, the garden and the veggie plot have been tidied and prepared for winter.
The dogs are happy.
The day started with good coffee, a walk around the garden snapping these quick shots and we´re off out for lunch! We are a happy Chica and Big Man. Well, we´re pretty much happy most of the time, but today we´re extra happy.
More news as soon as we know ourselves what is happening, and time this week to catch up with some blogging, recipes and nesting back into our Mountain Home. Have a great Sunday everyone.
The 15th May is the Feast of San Isidro Labrador, the Patron Saint of Farmers. He´s also the Patron Saint of Madrid, do pop over to BlueJellyBean´s blog and check out her beautiful recipe in celebration of this feast day.
One of the three village bars (and there are only about 250 inhabitants!)
Summer has arrived like an explosion. No gentle easing into gradually warmer days. It turned overnight from Spring to Summer and temperatures in the 30s just a few days ago.
View from the village
The celebration of San Isidro is one of the first big summer celebrations, and is particularly important in villages like ours. Most of the inhabitants rely on the land to employ and feed them to some degree or another. Things are tough in Spain right now and work is scarce. Today is symbolic for many of these land workers and planting today hopefully carries a blessing from San Isidro for a good crop. Tonight we finished planting the last of our vegetables garden…well, we´ll take help where we can get it!
Main Street!
The statue of the Saint was blessed in the little village church and processed down through the village to our little sports centre which has a large building used for village gatherings.
It´s a Pueblo Blanco, a white village. Perhaps not the quaintest or prettiest, but it has a certain charm. The streets were quiet today as most people were in the church when we arrived.
Obligatory Old Boys sitting on a bench in the square
Although our village celebrations were scaled down from previous years, there was still time to enjoy a plate of rice together and have a few drinks.
Andalucía is a region of contrasts. Magnificent cities, historic monuments, skiing, countryside and the famous Costa del Sol. It´s all there and usually not more than a couple of hours away from wherever you are.
At the weekend we drove slightly north from where we live, over the border from Malaga province into Granada province, Big Man´s heartland and into some wild and rugged scenery.
Near his home town of Ventas de Zafarraya is an area of fertile plains. A huge amount of vegetables are cultivated and grown there and this provides much needed employment for many people.
Moving north again you come to the beautiful town of Alhama de Granada and between these two towns are a series of lush green plains divided by area of rough, rocky, almost lunar landscapes.
Water comes up through the rocks and provides irrigation and drinking water for plants, animals and Cortijo dwellers.
Some Cortijos sadly remain abandoned, mainly due to the inheritance laws here in Spain which pretty much oblige you to leave your property to your offspring. When families have 10 or more children, it´s understandable that families were often unable to come to an agreement regarding whether to sell, divide or buy each other out.
After a magnificent lunch of goat cooked over an open fire we set off to walk to a local goat farm and buy cheese.
There were plenty of goats…
….and it was milking time.
Some of the group also bought milk, luckily I had been given some that morning by one of our local goatherds.
Posh Milk Bottles!
There were one and two week old kids….adorable!
A family of strange looking turkeys were keeping everyone in line out in the yard.
Our walk took us past a tree which the locals called a Millennium tree, because of its supposed age.
It took five women to get their arms around it….and sometimes it´s good to hug a tree!
And finally a walk back to the Cortijo for coffee and cake. Sometimes the simple things in life are just what you need.
So in 2016 I turned 50. I was in Italy for my 21st, 30th and 40th. To keep this birthday tradition going I always knew I'd be in Italy for my 50! This blog starts with my 5 week adventure in Puglia but my love affair with Italy continues.....
Chica Andaluza 