Getting into practise.

What are we practising for? Well next week, Thursday through to Sunday, is the main fiesta of the year for our village. It is the fiesta of the Virgen de Carmen, who is the patron saint of fishermen and sailors, and also of our village, and she is so important that she gets three - four days of celebrations in her honour! We have been warned about this fiesta as it is non-stop fun and NOISE nearly 24 hours a day, the only respite being for siesta time in the afternoons! We have been told that there will be bands and fairground rides all evening and then at midnight the disco music starts and continues until 8.00 in the morning. We have been warned! Some English people even go away for a few days to escape from it, but we are looking forward to celebrating with our village. I am sure we can survive on minimum sleep for a few days. We will make the most of our siesta time, and then go out and join in the fun until we are so tired that we can sleep through the rest of it. On Monday we will go up to the town hall and pick up a programme of events so we know what is supposed to be happening. Right now they are getting into practice for it. Men have been stringing lights across the roads, and last weekend some big lorries arrived on the land at the back of us. Men were soon busy assembling some kind of structure which turned out to be a huge stand of bumper cars. They operate every night from 9.00p.m. until just after midnight, so we are getting a taster of what it will be like next week. I don't care for the music, both spanish and english songs, but all with a heavy bass beat, but the young folk are enjoying it, and the coloured lights brighten up a very dark area which I can see from this room.

Despite the thumping music, we are spending most evenings on the back porch. Here are Chris and Jonathan, each with their laptop. I was sitting with them until I went to get the camera, but I prefer a book of sudoku puzzles to occupy me. The dogs are keeping us company, laid out after a boisterous romp around after their tea, and too hot to be interested in a walk before bed time. Little Foxy is there too but she is hiding behind Chris' chair. It is the spot she has adopted as her new 'fox-hole' and she goes there when she wants to rest. It is very hot for all the animals now, and for us too. It is above 30º every day and has been up to 40º in the sun. We try to get up fairly early and do what we have to do then, as later it is too hot to walk around the town. Usually now, Chris and I are up around 7.30. Chris feeds Chico and Miki while I walk Foxy, and then he takes his two out while I coax Foxy to eat. She is not used to regular meals, and unfortunately she seems to be used to getting 'human' food when we are eating, but she will have to get unused to that now. I only give her the same as the other two and she will now eat enough of it, but only off the floor. She doesn't like it in a bowl. I expect she will get used to it in the end. I then feed the cats and let them out to play with the pups. They are both able to hold their own against them now. Next I try to do a short session on my airwalker, which is in the garden, followed by a swim to cool down. If all goes according to plan, I am usually sitting down to a bowl of fruit, yoghurt and muesli by 8.30. After that I do the days housework as fast as I can and then do as little else as I can until it is time to cook our evening meal. It's a good life. I have lost most of the weight I had put on again after returning from Thailand, so I am pleased about that.

The one downside to outdoor living is the bugs, but we are luckier than some folks. We do get some flies, but not in enough quantity to make sitting outside uncomfortable. We do get wasps, but they are mainly in the pool. They come down to drink and then take off again, but I don;t like them.Sometimes they get water-logged so they can't take off, and then we fish them out and kill them. One day, Jonathan and I had a whole dustpan full of 'corpses'! Here is a photo of one Jonathan caught on the table. They are a bit prettier than the ones back home, and nothing like so aggressive. Maybe they are too hot to do anything more than hunt for food and drink the pool. I guess I am getting my comeuppance for preserving their nest a couple of months back!

Yesterday, my friend Sylvia had another problem with her computer so Chris went to sort it out for her and I went over there with Jonathan so we could have a swim in her pool. She has a larger than average pool (9x5m) in a very nice garden, and she has given us an open invitation to make use of it. Usually our small pool is all we need to cool down in; we are in and out of it all day; but just occasionally it is nice to go and have a good swim in a bigger area of water. We are so lucky to have our own pool. It would be quite hard to get through some days without it. It is very relaxing and cooling to just float around in.
Anyway, we are going to try to persuade the dogs to have one last trip out before we all settle down for the night. There will, no doubt, be more news about the fiesta soon. Watch this space!