Our new home in the Orba Valley

This past week quite a few people have asked us if we had any regrets about the move - the answer is unequivocally, none at all.  Everyone is friendly, the scenery is stunning, the house is shaping up nicely, the garden/pool are fab - what's not to love? 💕

Soooo... what have we been up to this past week? 

Today our palm trees were pruned (not sure if that's the right word but...!).  We've never had palm trees before and are now the proud owners of 1 Washingtonia and 3 slightly shorter ones (like the ones around the marina car park in Puerto Pollensa if you're a regular reader) and have been regaled with horror stories of palm weevils which kill the tree and you're left with one of those sad and very ugly lopped trunks.  The weather over the last week has been pretty wet and at times torrential, so they couldn't be done until today.  The tree man, who looked like a bearded pirate, shinnied up the Washingtonia with boots that had crampons and a length of rope to hug the tree with - not a harness or helmet in sight for we laugh in the face of 'elf and safety in Spain 😜 - and the dead bits came crashing down all around as they were chopped off with a pretty impressive machete type knife:

More building work has taken place - was that ever in any doubt 😂 ?  Ian's making great progress in creating a walk-through wardrobe area out of half of an over-large ensuite, first having to move a doorway sideways.  He's also removed a lovely sky blue bidet (matches the sky blue bath and basin plus sky blue floor tiles so you can imagine why we're going to be changing that as 1980's retro is NOT the look we're going for!).  In a slight digression - does anyone actually use a bidet?  I do know of a couple of people but not many.  I remember the first time I saw one as a child and thinking it was something to wash your feet in.  Quite why my juvenile mind thought that a foot spa would be at least 18" off the floor I'm none too sure, but certainly I had a rude awakening when my mother informed me which part of the anatomy it was actually used for 😳  In any event, our bidet has gone the way of doubtless many others and is currently the crowning glory of a pile of tiles which also needed to be removed in order for Ian's next task which is to build a new wall and doorway into what will be the new and more bijou ensuite.  Here is the bidet in situ before it met it's untimely end:

Incidentally those strange circles on the wall are cement - tiles here used to be put on with blobs of cement and just pushed into place and there was none of your fancy mortar and grout nonsense oh no!  The problem with this is that if you want to just remove a strip of them, all the surrounding tiles want to crash down too as you can see from the picture; it really is a voyage of discovery......   Still, next week with a bit of luck we'll have wardrobes in which to put the several boxes of still unpacked clothes, probably doorless but definitely progress.  The ensuite itself is planned for later this summer so the sky blue suite is with us a while longer although at least the loo is white!

My DIY this week has been painting a large Castilian style dresser with cream coloured chalk paint and I'll then distress it a bit.  Mind you, I've been pretty distressed myself because it's a very dark wood and has taken three coats on the top half which is as far as I've got paint for (more is on order).  I've not painted it all and have left some as natural wood.  When it's finished I'll post some photos.  

This week we also ordered our new front doors - yep, that's plural.  The doorway is wide so we're having two doors made in a rustic Spanish style and think it will really make an impressive official entrance and sort of 'finish' the front of the property.  The current 'front door' goes straight into the kitchen which is reasonably standard in many villas round here but not always the ideal route for visitors.

In other news I start my Spanish lessons tomorrow and am very excited 🥳  I met the teacher earlier in the week and we chatted in Spanish for about 20 minutes so he could assess me and I could tell him a bit about me and my language journey.  I need the discipline of actual classes but also enjoy the camaraderie that you get in a class situation and prefer it to 1-1 learning.  We've also done plenty of walking around the town and tried a few new places for a drink, coffee or as today, a delicious 3 course menu del dia for 10€ including tortilla, bread and aioli and a drink and where the portions were not only delicious but quite sizeable!  One little Spanish bar we've found (conveniently opposite where my Spanish classes are) charged 8,60€ for 3 beers and 2 wines - yep, you read that correctly 🍻  Don't mind if we do!

This past week I also spent some time with lovely Vernon from Valley FM, talking about radio, music and music software.  Valley FM is a great 24 hour local radio station with a huge variety of music, local and international news, and topical discussions.  Once I've got to grips with the software (which rather inconveniently isn't compatible with my MacBook Air so cue some grovelling to Ian to use his HP laptop 😬 ) .....well, I'll keep you posted.

Stay safe and hasta la próxima semana!