Our new home in the Orba Valley, Alicante

So....it's still very hot here but Ian is pushing through and working on our en-suite bathroom, about which more later.  And we did actually get some rain over the weekend - proper rain, not the five minutes of dirty rain filled with sand and which make your terraces, car and pool completely filthy - so that was nice as we haven't seen proper rain here for about 10 weeks or more!

I can report that I have renewed my domestic goddess credentials BIG time this past week by making a seafood paella for the very first time ......and very tasty it was too if I say so myself 👌

It got the thumbs up from Ian and I will definitely be making it again subject to a couple of small tweaks.  I'd always thought there was quite an art to making paella and maybe there is and I just got lucky, but using bits of a couple of recipes and some of my own instinct from having eaten so many, it seemed to work.  But an appearance on Masterchef is still a way off I think 😜

In other domestic news, our little bunch of grapes ripened and, as it is grape picking time here, we picked ours and got these sweet juicy grapes:

Not exactly a bumper crop but we enjoyed them!  Whilst grapes are being harvested in the Jalon (neighbouring) Valley, the fruit crops here in Orba aren't ready yet but we see plenty of tractors and trailers about town all the same.

Last Wednesday we went to visit a friend from the UK who was staying in her villa in Calpe and went for lunch with this view:

Absolutely wonderful view and the food, once it came, was ok but the service was really not great and apparently we couldn't have paella unless we'd pre-ordered it.  Given that this was really all that was on the menu, it was more than a little problematic finding something to order 😳 and they were less than helpful......  But more than anything we just found it too busy, frenetic and crowded with Spanish tourists, and if we hadn't been with someone, we'd have got up and gone to be honest.  Nothing to do with Covid, we're just used to quieter living now, so once we were back in Orba we headed off for a quiet and peaceful drink at our favourite little Spanish bar.  Bliss 😍

Work on the en-suite bathroom continues apace following delivery of all the bits from the big Leroy Merlin in Gandia which arrived neatly packaged:

The only thing we're still awaiting delivery of is the heated towel rail to replace the radiator that was there before, but this isn't a problem and Ian has installed the new bath, shower and screen as well as tiled and grouted two and a half walls.  Here's a before and after:

Today he started on the remaining full length wall by removing the giant blue basin and, temporarily, the toilet in order to plaster, tile and grout the walls as well as chase wiring for our new 'touch light' mirror.  This time next week he should have it all finished including the new floor 🥳  And then we'll turn to the kitchen in the autumn.......

Covid-wise, things are still very good here.  Ian has now had his second jab and today they rang me - ahead of expected - to come in next week ie. at 8 weeks rather than the expected 10.  The health service app here states that anyone under 60 who is waiting for a second jab after a first Astra Zeneca one, will be getting a Pfizer one unless they state otherwise.  I don't mind on many levels but made it very clear that I want a second AZ one to keep open my options to visit the UK without having to quarantine.  The UK government website makes it clear that both jabs must be the same one if given outside of the UK (hmmm, why might that be I wonder 🤔) in order to not have to quarantine and a fact which seems to have escaped quite a few people I've mentioned it to.  In any event, I'm nearly over the finish line and am almost as excited to get my second jab as I was to get my first!  I'm aware there are no guarantees but it does make me feel much safer, especially given that I have asthma and am quite fearful that it would kick in were I to catch Covid and not have had help from the vaccination.  

In other news, I should be starting teaching again later in September in a lovely local school for two evenings a week which is wonderful - watch this space.  And now that I'm back on live radio, next week the show will be moving to 2 hours so why not tune in on Thursday 7-8pm (6-8pm from 9th Sept) on valleyfm.es for some great music 🎶💃

Stay safe and hasta luego!

Our new home in the Orba Valley, Alicante

To say it's been hot here lately is to understate things slightly!  Temperatures have been in the mid 30s plus and then on Sunday it surpassed itself by rising to around 42 degrees and so humid that just getting up and going into another room meant you had to mop yourself down.  In any event, around 6.30pm on Sunday, we had a sort of weather phenomenon I guess when a wind started to build up whilst we were in the pool.  The sky went very grey and weird and it somehow felt that something was imminent so we got out, battened down the hatches and went inside, shutting doors and windows.  And it's a good job we did because the wind built up into a sort of mini tornado bringing with it air that was as hot as if it was blown by a giant hairdryer and the temperature shot up by several degrees.  It was quite freakish!  It left our lovely clean pool filled with vast quantities of leaves and also dust.....oh so much dust 😱 

Despite the scorchio temperatures, Ian has decided to re-commence work on our en-suite bathroom.  He's a glutton for punishment!  We spent two hours in the large Leroy Merlin (like B&Q) in Gandia and by the time we'd finished my head was spinning because very little English was spoken and building vocabulary is not my strong point, but we managed!  Afterwards I was in medicinal need of coffee 😳 and, after spending so much money, so was Ian 😂  And despite the extreme heat, Ian has removed most of the tiles, replastered the walls (those who are in the UK and into DIY will find the Spanish approach of putting a large slug of concrete on the back of a tile and slapping it onto a wall with no spacing or grouting, unusual to say the least!) and taken out the cast iron bath:

The bath had been installed on a brick support on 2 sides which is a different approach to a wooden or metal frame I suppose.  But water had been going down the wall and getting under the bath so it is pretty damp underneath and even in the current hot weather is taking some time to dry out.  I guess we're just grateful that it's concrete drying out and not the wooden floor and joists you'd more likely find in the UK because we would have had a big job on our hands!  The 'lovely' giant turquoise basin is still in place until the bitter end but then again, it's pretty easy to deal with compared to a bath.  In truth the room would make a lovely walk-in shower room but I do like a bath in the winter and the other bathroom here isn't big enough for a bath so even when we reform it next year, it will have to remain with just a shower.  Anyhow, Ian is in his element and we hope the Leroy Merlin order arrives soon so that he can get the first major part of our house reform ticked off before we brace ourselves to tackle the kitchen which will be a whole new level of disruption 😝

Alongside the hot weather there is the ongoing battle against mosquitos - for Ian.  I have no problem with them at all!  It seems so unfair that I can go anywhere with no mozzie spray at all whilst Ian still gets bitten even with liberal use of it.  We've tried all sorts of things but they just seem to like the taste of him.  However the other night we saw this little fella in our living room:

We have a number of geckos outside but were delighted to see one inside as of course they love to eat mozzies.  Ian has invited him to bring friends and family so we will have to see if they accept the invite!

Covid-wise, things are still very quiet and settled here and long may that continue.  There have been no further changes to the regulations locally, and Spain has now started offering vaccines to those in their late teens which seems incongruous given how hard I had to fight not so long ago to get my first one at my age!  In any event, Ian had his second jab this past week so he is now a done deal for now.  I have to wait until late September as they are leaving 10 weeks between Astra Zeneca jabs here.  But patience is a virtue....apparently......

I am now back on live radio with Valley FM on Thursday evenings between 7-8pm (6-7pm UK time) so please like my Hits House Show FB page and tune in via https://valleyfm.es if you want to hear an hour of some great upbeat music.  Hopefully I'll move to two hours soon but while I find my feet in a new studio, one hour is just fine!  It's great to be back with a live broadcast - it's definitely my happy place 🎧  Another activity that makes me really happy is my painting which is coming on quite well, I've just started a portrait of a well known person and am starting another shortly but I'm hoping people recognise who they are without being told!  I was carrying the one I've started (at that point just at a really basic level) to the car the other day and a random passer-by recognised who it was so fingers crossed!

It's safe to say we're settling in really nicely here and bracing ourselves for the forthcoming building work which will keep us out of mischief both now and this autumn/early winter that's for sure 😛

Stay safe and hasta luego!

Our new home in the Orba Valley, Alicante

 A bit late this week as we have had relatives staying and it's been pretty hectic!  It's also been very hot - well up into the late 30's on quite a few days - so we definitely need a bit of time to re-gather ourselves.

Our family guests were wonderful and we had a fantastic time but my goodness, we'd forgotten how much teenagers can eat! 😂  They descended locust-like on industrial quantities of crisps, biscuits and other similarly 'healthy' snacks, it was quite awesome how much they could devour - and of course they were slender as reeds.  I remember being like that once but it was a looooong time ago 😂  Anyhow, I was surprised they hadn't all shrunk by the time they left earlier today because they spent hours in the pool and it was lovely to see it filled with young people and inflatables and to hear the happy shrieks and splashes.  It all seems suddenly very quiet.......  Yesterday we had a lovely time at the beach at Deveses jumping the waves and enjoying the great outdoors in glorious sunshine 

but most of the time we stayed local and everyone just relaxed.  Mind you, I now need to cut right back on food intake as we've eaten out quite a lot and a teenager's metabolism I do not have!

Now young people in our pool is one thing, but spiders are quite another 😱 and it seems that this is the time of year that they decide to take a swim in our pool too.  I think I've mentioned tarantulas before and that possibly they are linked to the fruit trees which carpet most of the floor of the Orba Valley.  We don't have any fruit trees directly next to our property so I thought we were safe but.....they're smaller than I had feared if I'm honest, but very tarantula shaped and slightly furry.  Apparently they look dead but they're not!  As Ian discovered.  Three times.  

The Orba Fiesta is currently underway here but it's a fairly low-key affair due to Covid.  There are concerts in the main square with audiences sitting on well spaced seating, and on Saturday there was a wonderful fireworks display - the Spanish do love their fireworks!  We've been told the other villages in the valley all try to outdo each other with their displays so apparently for the Spanish size really does matter 😳  One thing I am actually pleased about it not happening is the bull running which is normally part of the festivities.  Basically people stand in protective cages to watch as a number of young bulls are encouraged to run through the narrow streets with people running alongside them.  They are not killed but I don't like to see animals used like this and quite simply don't want anything to do with it once things return to normal in the next year or two.  I've been told it should be seen once but nope, it's not for me.

What with guests and the heat, we haven't done very much to the house and garden although Ian installed our new water deposit just before our visitors arrived.  Basically it's a giant (the old one was 2000 litres, the new one is 1000 litres) stainless steel tub with a lid down the side of the garage which fills with water from the mains via a ballcock (similar to how a toilet cistern refills).  There's a pump in the garage which, when switched on, brings the water from the deposit which greatly increases the water pressure.  So of course it's perfect for use when there's a full house.  Ian advertised the old deposit on Facebook for offers - it was perfectly usable but just very old and we wanted to be safe regarding drinking water - and a lovely couple who live off grid in the mountains bought it for use in watering their produce.  Normally they have to do it all by buckets which sounds back-breaking, but now they can keep it filled by a bit of homespun engineering and it will make a huge difference to them so we're really happy it's gone to a good home.  And they're ecstatic as they don't have much money and were so excited to have it.  Mind you, seeing them drive off with a round 2000 litre fibre glass and steel tank strapped on the roof of their car was something to behold!  I really admire them for living totally off grid but whilst I would enjoy roughing it for a few days I must admit I like a few creature comforts in my home.

We've both been accepted on an online Spanish course run by Rosetta Stone on behalf of the Alicante region which provides 400 free places for non-Spanish speaking residents.  The placement test was a challenge in itself and Ian couldn't do any of it but is happy with the total beginner level they've unsurprisingly placed him in.  My placement test put me in a category which is higher than I know I am however (must've got lucky!) and after a bit of a struggle with it I asked them to bump me down a level as although I was getting there, the reality is it was a step too far.  So I'll give it another go later today but it's a great offer and one that would have cost us a lot of money otherwise so we feel very grateful to be doing it.

Recently I decided to resurrect my domestic goddess skills which I made strong efforts to hone during last year's lockdown; my greatest triumph last year was carrot cake, this time I tried Rocky Road with a twist - made with white chocolate:

It was fab and I'll definitely be making it again 👍  And my painting is going extremely well, I've nearly finished my first portrait and will be starting another one soon.  Ian is going to create a studio for me in the garage/workshop once the weather cools down a bit which is pretty exciting.  Watch this space.....

And so now we're into August and the summer is flying by.  Ian should have his second Covid jab very soon (there's a 10 week gap for Astra Zeneca here) and it seems that he will then be able to enter the UK without the 10 day quarantine.  I will have to wait until late September for mine but there is nothing to be done but be patient.

Stay safe and hasta luego!