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DIARY DAYS IN SPAIN

Much as it pains the PC brigade in the UK I become very nostalgic when the circus comes to town, it takes me back more than 50 years to when Bertram Mills came to Sleaford when I was about 9 or 10 years of age. 

I distinctly remember leaving the circus and mum asking me what I found most exciting –

was it the lions, was it the tigers or was it the horses?

No, was my response, it was the lady on the trapeze in the sequinned leotard! 

Not a lot seems to have changed as despite my adoration of the cat family I have spent my life preferring a leotard to a leopard! 

It se

ems to me very sad that so much has been lost in the UK and the only place you can see wild life now is in the towns and cities outside the pubs on Friday and Saturday nights. 

It is astonishing to remember how little we knew of “the wild” in the days before Armand and Michaela Dennis, and David Attenborough.

Those were the days !

  

Life here continues to be difficult for retired ex pats...

 as due to the mis-management of the UK economy our incomes have been cut by over 30% in the last year due to the weakness of Sterling. 

But as the Spanish say “ At least we have the sun”

Suffering from a surfeit of grapes we decided to strip the vines of fruit at the beginning of the month

The red grapes (which have few pips) were laid out on straw trays in the sunshine to become raisins to remind us of summer in the long winter evenings when,

with cubes of cheese and a glass of wine in front of the television, they provoke delightful memories ...

The white grapes, which tend to be more seedy, were given away in a fit of mad generosity.

well there are lots of reasons. For example the cost of wine-making equipment, the storage space required for fermenting bins, the time, trouble and care it would take to produce what at best would be an uncertain rustic wine, which then needs to be bottled and stored.    

Not really a cost effective exercise when we can buy local Vin ordinaire  for as little as 50c a litre.

The sky has become active once again with the Magpies reappearing after a few weeks of absence ...

And, early in September, we had a magnificent display over the Arroyo of a veritable flock of Bee Eaters performing aerobatics  against the setting sun.  

The sun's rays shining through their beautifully coloured translucent wings  was an absolute delight. 

MIGRATION LINK

... and whilst I am sure everyone thinks they are beautiful birds Susan has long been obsessed with them, indeed it is something of a family joke mainly between my son and I that when driving along Sue used to suddenly shriek...

“There´s a Heron, There's a Heron”  - 

“Oh look there's a Tree, there's a Tree”;   

...We can still become hysterical with laughter at the memories.....

FAMILY LAUGHTER

Another of our obsessions dates from the time Susan said short temperedly , “Oh go away flies, I'm not in the mood!” 

This had Charles and I in paroxysms of laughter and creativity as we conjured up songs such as “I´m in the mood for flies”...  “A six Legged friend”  etc....

Undoubtedly there are occasions when we are not the easiest people to live with as we roll around the floor in pain over some small  event.

Still in the sky

this looks to be a particularly good year for Starlings, which have returned in droves after two or three years of relative scarcity.  Whether this is a good or bad sign we don´t know. 

We are then entertained to the most incredible air display by thousands of birds before they go to roost in the reeds in the Arroyo.  

CLICK TO SEE SOME AMAZING VIDEOS OF STARLINGS

Getting all four feet firmly back on the ground I am pleased to announce the formation of the Zoo Zoo and Smoky, our Synchronised Sleeping Team, which hopefully will be prepared for the 2012 Olympics.

See picture below ...

It is reported that up to 30 litres of rain per square metre fell in the region in one hour.  Drains, such as they are, can't really cope as on the odd occasion that we get this kind of rain they would fail to have sufficient capacity...

The turn in the weather inspired us to put a summer weight duvet on the bed and I even started to wear long sleeved shirts!  We also enjoyed some “cold weather food”,  like roast chicken and stuffing etc.,

I even started to think in terms of socks! 

However, this was not to be as the cool rainy spell lasted all of four days before we got back to normal the duvet was taken off,

the short sleeved shirts came out again

...and food went back to grilled fish and salad

 and this looks set to continue in the medium term. 

Wood burning stoves are the traditional and preferred source of heat here  ...

and there are ample supplies of olive wood to keep everyone going.  

There is also the fact that we don't have to stoke or clean our gas fire!