Yes, we have a red sky tonight, but sadly it is for all the wrong reasons. We woke up to a heavy grey sky today and this morning we even had a short thunderstorm with just a little shower, but it wasn't enough rain to clear the very sticky air. Then we sat outside for our lunch and I watched what I thought was another bank of cloud forming behind the hills to the back of us. But I soon realised that it was smoke and I knew there was another fire out on the campo. (Campo is the spanish name for all the open land. I guess it just translates as countryside). America has forest fires, Australia has bush fires, and here in Spain it is inevitable that we will get some campo fires. But we have already had too many around here and there is some talk of arson. Today's started as a reasonably small one though there was soon a line of smoke filling the sky to the south of the village. This gradually darkened until, by tea-time, Mojacar and the mountains had disappeared completely. It was one of our more breezy afternoons and the wind had blown the smoke along the valley and over the town. We heard sev
eral sirens as police, ambulance and 'bomberos' hurried to the scene. After my Spanish lesson, we drove towrds Turre and from a roadside view point we realised that the fire was getting out of control. We watched as a single helicopter with a large 'bucket' hanging below it, hovered over an agricultural reservoir to fill its bucket and then flew off to drop it on the fire, and it repeated it over and over again, but it really needed many more to help, and the fire was rapidly spreading, with the wind carrying sparks and starting new outbreaks all along the valley. You can see from the fore
ground in some of these photos, there is not a lot of vegetation but what there is, is tinder dry, and it catches fire very easily. Some areas quickly burn themselves out, but the rows of trees surrounding them burn long and hot, and being mostly pines, they give off sparks that start the next field burning. As we finished our tea, we could see long lines of flames licking up the side of the mountains, so we got in the car and drove to a nearby urbanisation for a better view. There were a lot of people there before us and we didn't feel so much like 'voyeurs' when we realised that most of them were spanish, so this must have been quite a big fire even for them. We watched as the flames
intensified and got higher, and then died down again, only to start again somewhere else. Sometimes it crept very close to a farmhouse or villa, but we didn't see any buildings actually on fire, but there must have been some very valuable agricultural land ruined. Every now and then a new field would catch and there'd be a big sheet of flames again. We suddenly saw that there were new outbreaks a long way off so the whole area must have covered several miles, and some lines of fire had climbed right up the mountain so there were small patches of red and orange right up in the smoke clouds. We took a couple of pictures after dark and although I can't hold the came
ra still for a long, slow night exposure, they do give an idea of the glowing sky, and all the separate outbreaks of fire. We took a lot of pictures but I'll only put a few on here and the rest I'll put in a folder on my gallery. I have just looked out the back again and the sky is still red and I can see several small areas that are still burning. I hope the wind drops tonight so it will burn itself out, and there won't be too many people facing devastation tomorrow.P.S. It is now Wednesday morning. When we went outside we found there was a fine layer of 
ash all over the patios. The main fires have stopped but it moved over the mountain and there is still one area 'active' just beyond them, This is the picture I took of it from the house. The helicopter with its water bucket is up again so it must still be quite big. The wind is more gentle today and it has completely changed direction so the smoke is now blowing inland, and we can see Mojacar again.
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 ar
e 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 do
wnside 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!
Yes, we have a red sky tonight, but sadly it is for all the wrong reasons. We woke up to a heavy grey sky today and this morning we even had a short thunderstorm with just a little shower, but it wasn't enough rain to clear the very sticky air. Then we sat outside for our lunch and I watched what I thought was another bank of cloud forming behind the hills to the back of us. But I soon realised that it was smoke and I knew there was another fire out on the campo. (Campo is the spanish name for all the open land. I guess it just translates as countryside). America has forest fires, Australia has bush fires, and here in Spain it is inevitable that we will get some campo fires. But we have already had too many around here and there is some talk of arson. Today's started as a reasonably small one though there was soon a line of smoke filling the sky to the south of the village. This gradually darkened until, by tea-time, Mojacar and the mountains had disappeared completely. It was one of our more breezy afternoons and the wind had blown the smoke along the valley and over the town. We heard sev
eral sirens as police, ambulance and 'bomberos' hurried to the scene. After my Spanish lesson, we drove towrds Turre and from a roadside view point we realised that the fire was getting out of control. We watched as a single helicopter with a large 'bucket' hanging below it, hovered over an agricultural reservoir to fill its bucket and then flew off to drop it on the fire, and it repeated it over and over again, but it really needed many more to help, and the fire was rapidly spreading, with the wind carrying sparks and starting new outbreaks all along the valley. You can see from the fore
ground in some of these photos, there is not a lot of vegetation but what there is, is tinder dry, and it catches fire very easily. Some areas quickly burn themselves out, but the rows of trees surrounding them burn long and hot, and being mostly pines, they give off sparks that start the next field burning. As we finished our tea, we could see long lines of flames licking up the side of the mountains, so we got in the car and drove to a nearby urbanisation for a better view. There were a lot of people there before us and we didn't feel so much like 'voyeurs' when we realised that most of them were spanish, so this must have been quite a big fire even for them. We watched as the flames
intensified and got higher, and then died down again, only to start again somewhere else. Sometimes it crept very close to a farmhouse or villa, but we didn't see any buildings actually on fire, but there must have been some very valuable agricultural land ruined. Every now and then a new field would catch and there'd be a big sheet of flames again. We suddenly saw that there were new outbreaks a long way off so the whole area must have covered several miles, and some lines of fire had climbed right up the mountain so there were small patches of red and orange right up in the smoke clouds. We took a couple of pictures after dark and although I can't hold the came
ra still for a long, slow night exposure, they do give an idea of the glowing sky, and all the separate outbreaks of fire. We took a lot of pictures but I'll only put a few on here and the rest I'll put in a folder on my gallery. I have just looked out the back again and the sky is still red and I can see several small areas that are still burning. I hope the wind drops tonight so it will burn itself out, and there won't be too many people facing devastation tomorrow.
ash all over the patios. The main fires have stopped but it moved over the mountain and there is still one area 'active' just beyond them, This is the picture I took of it from the house. The helicopter with its water bucket is up again so it must still be quite big. The wind is more gentle today and it has completely changed direction so the smoke is now blowing inland, and we can see Mojacar again.
