Sparrows - 1, mosquitos - 0

Today we went a long way to fulfilling our plan to cover existing openings in the house with mosquitero. For the time being, this will allow circulation of air in the bedroom and allow the cats to see out and experience fresh air and the breeze without leaving the house. In the next few months it should stop mosquitos from coming in and feasting on us. We have used metal, rather than the normal plastic net in case we have an aspiring escapee.

It's surprising how long these 'little jobs' can take, and the task has occupied most of our day as it involved a trip into town to buy the materials. The frames covering the French doors require a little more painting and the window frames downstairs require a second coat of paint before the plastic mosquitero goes up. That will have to wait until the morning.

The water arrived to our property this evening. It is diverted to properties on the hillside through irrigation chanels known as acequias (a-say-key-az) and comes to us every eight days in summer months. It provides us with domestic and irrigation water. Drinking water is collected from a nearby spring source or, my favourite option, we go to one of the fuentes in the Poqueira villages higher above us. The alberca, a water deposit that is used to irrigate two of our terraces, has now been filled by the water. Tomorrow we will look at topping up our domestic tank. It is lovely to hear the gushing of water around the property, very refreshing! 

Tonight a mass of cloud filled the valley whilst we were eating on the terrace. We could see the village below us on the other side of the river but the mountain peak opposite was shrouded. The day has ended with us being exhausted but with a sense of achievement and excitement for tomorrow.