August
began much as July ended with very high temperatures which did
not fall below 25 degrees even in the early hours of the
morning.
So far we have had one of the hottest summers on
record.
At this
time of year the demand for iced coffee increases but probably
not an iced coffee you would recognise.
In Spain one chooses
one’s preferred coffee and this is served freshly expressed in a
cup hot ...
then you are served a large glass of ice cubes
over
which the coffee is poured – delicious.
In Spain one chooses
one’s preferred coffee and this is served freshly expressed in a
cup hot then you are served a large glass of ice cubes over
which the coffee is poured – delicious.
Glorious as the weather is there are evil omens about, for
example the market on Saturday is now full of the woodmen´s
lorries, the harbingers of cold weather to come.
It is usual to
buy a whole lorry load of wood although some Brits still prefer
to go to the hardware store and buy small sacks – this is
obviously frantically expensive in comparison. The wood is then
piled up against the wall of the house until required.
I am
told that there are some pretentious people with gas or electric
heating who still buy expensive wooden logs purely to pile up
against the wall.
HOWEVER in the middle of the month we experienced an
extremely heavy rainstorm,
which although it lasted for less than two hours left our garden
under water, as you can see in the photograph.
No
wonder the Spanish word for storms is Tormentas – most apposite! No
matter what you may have been told by Eliza Doolittle The Rain
in Spain DOES NOT Lie Mainly in the Plain, it lies in our
“bloody” garden!
Also
shown is the water damage caused to the runway of our drive
which then had to be manually cleared. We decided ‘never again’
and called in a local tradesman by name of Miguel who is an
absolutely charming man.
He came
the following day and concreted the beginning of the drive,
as you can see,
which should prevent any future problems.
Mind you storms like
this are few and far between and it is easy to become complacent
and leave the job until mańana !
The
storm caused problems throughout the area as it moved across the
region. At Chirivel the main road was closed for hours and the
downpour cut off a number of cars that were parked on the
riverbed (rambla) .
Despite
the problems the town fiesta was up and running again the same
day with all the stalls and food tents in place as if nothing
had happened – There is no greater sin to the Spanish mind than
to interfere with a party.
The
torrent continued down the rambla reaching our local town of
Albox which is some 45 kms away from the problem area, however
Albox reported no problems.
In the
province of
Cordoba three people died as a result of flash
flooding, homes were flooded and rail travel restricted.
Meanwhile in the seaside town of Aguilas streets were flooded
and a number of vehicles washed away into the sea.
click play button to view this video
It seems at
times as though there is a sort of “it will never happen”
mentality here in Spain for Ramblas are commonly used as car
parks, football pitches etc and then when a freak storm hits the
recriminations rapidly follow!
In the
garden the plants are beginning to stir from their dormant
period aided no doubt by the copious watering they had
received.
The
“Red Sparrows”, the swallow display team, had an intake of new
pilots and by the end of the month I am pleased to say they were
all flying solo without mishap and at the evening hatch showed
their prowess at aerobatics. However, due to the surprising
lack of insect life the aerial displays have been somewhat
curtailed.
Equally
the Bee Eaters and Rollers have been conspicuous by their
scarcity as indeed have the Hoopoes. Why is it that the pretty
ones always seem to suffer whilst starlings, magpies, collared
doves and the like go from strength to strength.
You may
have read at home that Paul the Psychic Octopus which forecast
Spain´s victory in the World Cup has predicted that England will
host the next event. He is, evidently, English by birth and was
hatched at Weymouth Sea Life Centre in 2008.
click
Finally for this
month,
Moves
are afoot to resurrect Almeria´s prominent position in the world
of cinema with Nija Council in the van. Nija being a town many
of you may recognise as its buildings were used in the filming
of The Good the Bad and the Ugly and so on.
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In Spain one chooses
one’s preferred coffee and this is served freshly expressed in a
cup hot then you are served a large glass of ice cubes over
which the coffee is poured – delicious. 
keep looking ...
2006