Being back in Spain is mostly great – we’ve pretty much fixed the water issue and are no longer running out. The lower pump has been replaced again and seems to be doing the trick. We’ve put up another raised-bed garden container and planted more veggies.
We all went for lunch together at the bar in Los Cericos and the bar cats had a feast. Colin fed them bits of his swordfish and they got bits of pork tenderloin from me. The small female is pregnant again – she still looks like a baby herself but no one seems to ‘fix’ their pets around here. Max, as usual, was very well behaved – he sat on one side and the three bar cats completely ignored him on the other side.
Having solved our water woes we now have a problem with the pellet burner – after getting a ‘computer’ issue fixed we now are dealing with a broken motor. Our plumber has ordered a new motor (still under warranty, thank goodness) and we’ve now been waiting several weeks for delivery. In the meantime the house is freezing – it’s actually quite warm outside but the inside is a different story. We’re constantly running several small electric heaters and our electric bill has tripled, even with our solar panels.
Colin and I had to return to France in early Feb for yet another hospital appointment and more blood tests. We took a different route north as we wanted to visit Sad Hill Cemetery – Colin has been watching a lot of behind-the-scenes videos about The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and thought seeing the cemetery would be interesting.
Finding the place was a bit of a challenge, but we finally narrowed it down and got on the right road just south of the village of Contreras. It was a chilly, cloudy day and there was a small amount of slushy snow on the ground and the gravel road. I voiced my concern about the road but we plowed along anyway. The road was narrow and about 2 ½ km along we spun out and couldn’t make it up a very small incline.
With nowhere to turn around we proceeded to back up very slowly with me hanging out the side door to watch the right-hand ditch. About halfway along we met a jeep coming up – they backed up to the only possible turning area and waited for us. After consulting with us they recommended a course of action and Colin followed their advice. The place was a very small side track with a deep ditch on either side of the access ramp – I knew it was a problem but had no time to shout a warning before the right rear tire slid off the edge and the campervan completely bottomed out with the tire in the ditch.
More consultation between the two spanish fellows and Colin, and out came a brand-new tow rope. The jeep they were in was pretty heavy-duty – they attached Colin’s tow-hook to the front of the campervan and the younger fellow took over the driving – one good tug and it was freed! After about a twelve point turn the campervan was heading the right direction down the road and we were on our way. Such super nice folks – we would have made it to the main road eventually with our very slow backing up but it turned out to be another unplanned adventure and meeting a couple of friendly and helpful locals. We could just imagine them going home for lunch and telling their family about the crazy foreigners!
Apparently we were only about 1 km away from the cemetery – now that we know where it is we’re going to return at a better time of year.
Back at the junction of the main road we parked for a few minutes to un-wind – the local storks are building a nice large nest on top of the bell tower.
We made it to the border by late afternoon and spent the night in the flat, spacious car park of one of the local shopping malls. Being right on the spanish side of the border the town is always packed with french folks coming over for cheap goods and gas. It was a nice, quiet night and we got going at a decently early time in the morning. Once again the only way you realized you had left Spain and entered France was a slight change in the road signs.
We made it back to Mansle in good time and are glad to have the wood-burner – at least we’re not freezing! Colin had a good blood test and his oncologist is happy with all of his results. We went to the BMW dealership in Angouleme but weren’t really that serious about shopping for a new one – I really liked a blue one but it was gas rather than diesel so that eliminated it for Colin. We made an appointment to get the campervan serviced, and also got the BMW done since we’re here.
We’re currently having a bit of a problem with people blocking the car in at the house – we’re on the end of a small local parking area and when we have the campervan and the car parked there is still space for six or seven other cars. However recently we’ve been blocked in more than once and been unable to get our car out. I’ve now left two typed notices (in french, of course) and hope that at least those folks won’t block us again. What if we had an emergency and couldn’t get out? I can’t believe how inconsiderate some people are – we never block roads, gates or any kind of access, even if you can tell by the length of the weeds that it doesn’t ever get used.
There’s some very sad news from the bar – their adorable little dog Snoopy has passed away. He’d been poorly for several weeks and they found out he had a brain tumour. Everyone is very sad as he was super friendly and well loved by all. RIP little guy.
Sally McKenzie's European Adventures 