What an amazing first week we have had and what a learning curve!
According to the Spanish news, it has been the
hottest July for 50 years and we are experiencing daily temperatures of around 38 C. Even the Spanish are saying it is too hot! We
are getting used to these temperatures and how to adjust to them: waking and
starting the day early and doing the most strenuous work then, siesta at 2pm (it
would be wrong not to!!) and back into more gentle action about 5pm. In the
past, Mark and I have always struggled with the idea of eating late when on holiday
and are usually ravenous by 7pm (how very English!) but we find we are eating
later and later each day and adjusting more and more to the way of life.
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| I can't wait to go our and explore |
Our cats are starting to settle in and becoming bolder. Only another 3 weeks before we introduce them to The Great Outdoors!
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| I'm starting to like it here |
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| I'm really too hot to care |
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| I'm finding it OK but you must remember I am a princess and I am only used to the very best! |
We have also sampled our local municipal pool at the end of siesta on two afternoons. Its a 25 metre pool with good depth, even in the shallow end. A lovely way to cool off and shake out tired muscles. It sure beats going back into the office after lunch. Next week I was thinking we might go there for the afternoon with a picnic, book and umbrella. A longer time spent there will let me get in a few lengths, something I love to do, before the teenage boys that dive bomb the minute the lifeguard turns his back arrive!
Last Tuesday the removals lorry arrived with our furniture and belongings. The boxes are in our storage area and we are starting to open them. I have had such pleasure in rediscovering some of the objects that I packed away a couple of months ago. It's like a great big Christmas! I would recommend to anyone that every couple of years or so they pack all their worldly belongings into boxes, throwing away the things they forgot they even had (because if you don't remember you've got it you definitely don't need it) and then unpack again two months later. What a great way to fuel reflection, nostalgia, memories! It is also very empowering to realise just how much you can actually live without. On a lighter note, some of our more essential tools and other such items have arrived, which we are grateful for. As we have definite seasons here, I am going to pack my winter clothes away in boxes, something I never did in the UK owing to the unpredictable climate. I wonder if I will experience the same delight in rediscovering my winter clothes when the Autumn comes!
Comida rica
We have had some lovely fresh local food and I am getting time to cook more, which I love doing. It is going to be a while before we have the chicken accommodation set up, so currently we are buying eggs, the best we can find at the time. On Thursday we laid our hands on some rather nice organic free range eggs from an organic stall in the market. As they were rather special, I made a crema catalana dessert. Not wanting to waste the egg whites, I also made my first ever almond macaroons from the almonds that have already ripened. They were vey nice, even though I say so myself!
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| Almond Macaroons |
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| Coffee with triple dessert: crema catalana, almond macaroon and liqueur. |
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| A keen triple-deserter! |
There are days when we don't go into town, which calls for homemade bread - pan casero. Our kind and lovely neighbour has given us a big bag of peaches from one of his trees - and they are beautiful, some of his honey he extracted only the day before, and some massive tomatoes which I have made into pomodoro sauce. The slo-cooker I brought out is useful as it supposedly runs on very little power, and we are running entirely on solar. One evening we went into the seaside town of Salobreña as we needed to make a journey further afield to buy a printer/scanner. We called into a favourite restaurant on the beach and ordered a fritura de pescado (selection of local fried fish) and an ensalada Costa Tropical (a salad of the region with lots of fruits in it). It is good to feel the airmiles coming down and the taste of fresher food.
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| Mister Sparrow at work/ admiring the views |
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| Mister Sparrow's view |
It sounds as if you are having the same weather as us. And yes, our local Bulgarians are complaining as much as we are! But at least we have limitless water.
ReplyDeleteI envy you your almonds. We were given some fresh ones and they were a revelation, almond flavour without the extract, absolutely delicious. Although our walnuts are great too.
If your cats are anything like our's, they will be spending more time inside flaked out on tiles during the day...and keeping you awake at night. Enjoy!