Category: Animals

Seaside Lunches, and (Finally!) Sad Hill Cemetery

The house painting got finished and it’s beautiful!  We got the sun room painted the same colour, even though we just got it painted white two years ago.

The Renault was ready before the campervan, and when picking it up we just continued on to the coast to Mojacar, where we stopped for a drink at one of the hundreds of cafe/bars along the coast road.  At least at this time of year it’s not quite so infested with tourists, although there were still quite a few brits around.  I imagine that many of them do live here year-round.

 We arrived in Carbonaras and had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant right across from the beach.

It’s owned by a brother and sister and the meal was one of the best we’ve had in a long time.

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A few days after picking up the Renault we retrieved the campervan – they still have a couple of little things to do but as we’re going back to France soon  we couldn’t just leave it there.  We took another little road trip to a bit further down the coast and ended up at the Isleta del Moro.

We had another lunch, but not quite as good as the one in Carboneras, although we did have some ‘entertainment’.

There was a ‘photo shoot’ happening on the beach with two very bored looking young ladies – it went on for almost the entire time we were there.

There were also some diving lessons going on…

We got on the way back to France and decided to take our time for once.  The first day was a bit long, but we stopped at Santo Domingo de Silos to try – for the second time – to find Sad Hill Cemetery.

The hotel we’d booked was quite nice – very quiet at night and good breakfast in the morning.

Once again it was a challenge to find the route to Sad Hill.  We ended up going the ‘long way’ and approaching from the north, which was, in fact, the easier drive.

It was well worth the effort of trying to find it – not once, but twice!  It seemed to us that a little bit of signage on how to actually get there would be beneficial.  It’s quite funny but in Spanish they call it ‘The Good, The Ugly and The Bad’ – not sure why!

The site itself is well presented, and even at this time of year there would have been at least 50 or more folks there throughout the day – as long as they could find it!

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The cemetery was originally made by the Spanish army for the film, although the site was left derelict and now has been reconstructed by a society.  There are what look like some real graves and there are many crosses for folks you know have never been there.

It was pretty cool to see the stone circle where the final confrontation happened in the movie, as well as the ‘hanging tree’.

Apparently Robert Redford is buried here – NOT!!  Although there is a cross with his name on it right next to the circle.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen little Max so excited – he ran around like crazy and literally flew over the ‘graves’ whenever we called him.

We took the other road out – the one that goes to Santo Domingo.

Near the top there’s a good view point where you can see the whole place, including the valley that Clint (the ‘Good’) rode down when the movie ended.

The remainder of the trip was pretty good, and also quite entertaining.  We took a less travelled road, and it was so nice!  The scenery was beautiful, but the really unique thing was that there was all sorts of ‘livestock’ everywhere, including on the road – cows, horses, donkeys.

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It was a nice short drive up to Logrono to pick up a few cases of Rioja, and a  one night stay at a nice hotel – Max had his own bed (although he still slept on my bed between my feet).  There was a very good breakfast in the morning – maybe the best since the place in Austria several years ago.

The rest of the journey home was alright, although we sometimes wonder what planet Miss GPS thinks we’re on.  In any case we got here just before dark, turned on the water and water heater and got a fire going in time for a nice cozy evening.

Return to Rio Luna, and Vuelta up San Lorenzo

We left the house on a Thursday morning and made it as far north as the lake just past El Tiemblo, where we’d stopped a couple of years ago.  I took a lovely photo of the lake near sunset, and when looking back at the last time we were here I seem to have taken an almost identical photo – I guess when I like something I like it!

After a nice quiet night we got going north again fairly early, avoiding toll-roads and arriving at our favourite campground Rio Luna.

We spent a few days just chilling out, going for a couple of nice walks, and watching the Vuelta on the tv in the campground’s bar – while sipping some nice Rioja.

On our second day here I had a fight with a folding lawn chair…

…I lost.

Two days before the stage we came to see we took a little re-con drive to the general area, and decided to go to the second-to-last climb rather than the last one.

There are a couple of places along the way where the fires had swept down one mountain, across the road and up the other side.

Luckily there aren’t any bad ones around the area at the moment, although it was a horrible summer in some places.

Back at the campground one of the local ranchers was moving his herd of sheep, taking some time for them to graze in the field just outside the campground’s fence before moving them along.

We got up quite early the next morning to head to the mountain we’d chosen for Saturday’s race, leaving just as it was getting light.

It was still misty when we got to the top of the San Lorenzo, and we found a wonderful wide spot that only had two other campervans parked.

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We had a couple of nice walks – there are lots of horses and cows on the hills and they’re not all fenced in.

By evening there were many more campervans both behind and in front of us, and during the next morning we couldn’t believe how many more managed to squish in.

An enterprising fellow brought an ice-cream truck up – he also had chips and beer – looked like he was doing a good business.

Our ‘Belgian friends’ arrived in their huge bus, this time with Tudor on it rather than Quickstep.  They stopped and said a quick hello to me (I was out walking Max) before heading back down the climb to park.  Later in the day they walked up and we had a really nice chat – we first met them several years ago and have seen them regularly at many different races in several different countries.  They are Alaphilippe supporters thus the sponsor name change on their bus.  It was really nice to see them again.

At one point one of the black horses and her little foal started walking down the road and a car was coming up from below us – I made the ‘slow down’ motion to him.  When he stopped I realized he was the horses’ owner and he got them back up the track where they would be safe.

The Palestinian protesters had been busy – there were slogans painted on the road, and stickers on all of the signs denouncing Israel, etc.  Colin and I, and also one of our neighbouring campervaners scratched off as many as we could.  Then later Colin noticed that many of the signposts up and down the road had cardboard painted with Palestinian flags tied to them. I walked down about ½ km and tore them all off the posts – almost every single person parked along the road either gave me the ‘thumbs up’, said ‘good job’ or ‘thank you’!  

There was one woman sitting on the road almost across from our campervan who actually said ‘don’t you support other people’s right to their opinion?’ and I countered with ‘I do, but this is a cycling race, not a political forum’.  Our neighbour also told her to shut up.

We did get, of course, a marker for ‘top of the climb’, along with a bit of barrier – also several well-armed policemen.  I had a nice chat with one of them and they’re not going to tolerate any guff from any protestors.

There have been a couple of issues with protestors intefering with racers, and  there’s talk of changing the final day into Madrid.  Not to mention that the Israel Premium Tech team is under pressure to withdraw – they’ve already removed ‘Israel’ from their jerseys and I’m sure some of the riders are more than a little anxious.  Again – it’s a sporting event!

As usual we knew when the riders were getting close because of the helicopters and motos, then we could see them snaking up the hairpins below us.

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It took a while for everyone to pass, then we walked up to where a group of folks were gathered outside a campervan.  The fellow had swivelled his tv out the door and we all got to watch the final climb up past Saliencia with Soler – a spanish rider – triumphant at the finish.  A really, really good and fun couple of days on the side of a mountain.

Sweet Little Sly

Very very sad news from Spain – my dear sweet little Sly guy is no longer with us.  He’d been losing weight over the last year or so and was obviously getting more frail.

He had to be taken to the vet in town and, while his heart and lungs were good his kidneys were failing.  His bloodwork was awful and they said there was nothing they could do for him.  He was almost 17, so had had a good long life in a safe, warm home with a ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’ who both loved him dearly.

While he was a fierce hunter and would catch and face off with full sized rats, and twice caught a magpie, he was also the sweetest and most loving little fellow.  He always enjoyed a good combing and would never turn down a cuddle.

My adorable little bunny buddy – I miss you.  RIP

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

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.

Lazy Days in Sunny Spain

The trip back to Spain in late June was pretty good and we made it in two days as usual.

We stopped not far from the border before crossing over to buy some sheep cheese from a local producer, and it was delicious.

Getting back to good weather was great, and having the sun shine every day was wonderful.  We had a few high winds, and as usual have been dealing with water issues.

We ended up getting the tanker truck up to top up the pool, and also the lower tank as getting water from the co-op is kind of hit-and-miss at times.

We thought we were going to lose a bunch of the new oleanders but we got the water delivery just in time.

Also, the pump from the lower tank to the upper died so we had to get a new one – the new one was defective so had to be exchanged for another one, and that one only lasted a week or two.  Luckily the store we got it from is very kind and took the pump back and we got a different kind from another store.

Then the pool pump wasn’t working, but fortunately it wasn’t the pump that died, just a ‘condenser’ that was cheap and easy to replace.

Colin and I both had a health issue – he had a UTI and spent most of one day at the hospital to get a test, then wait for the results and get a prescription for antibiotics.  My illness was similar to what happened in the spring and I wondered if it was covid, or perhaps a sodium deficiency – many of the symptoms are surprisingly similar.  In any case I was tired and had no energy for several days but luckily it passed and I seem fine.

Max seems to like it at the house as he can easily jump over the wall and go exploring.  He has three favourite places to go – up the steep hill to the east of the house, up the track past the neighbour’s house (he gets their dogs barking so we usually know if he’s over there) or else down on the rambla.  

We don’t Iike it when he goes on the rambla as he has to cross the road to get there but he almost always comes running if he hears me whistle.

The Tour de France was better than usual, and Tadej Pogacar won in very convincing fashion, with Remco Evenepoel coming third overall.  Then the Olympic time trial and road race were both won by Remco – it was great to watch!

Saying goodbye to my fur-baby we once more had to return to France for Colin’s prescription.

It was quite funny going through the tunnel on this route – leaving sunny Spain and several km later entering foggy France.

Having enjoyed the sheep cheese so much we got some more on the way back, this time a more mature/robust one.

We took a slightly different route than when we came down, following smaller roads rather than taking the peage so we did see some new sights along the way, including some interesting roundabout displays…

…as well as some roadside statues…

Arriving back in Mansle we were glad to find that the almost constant rain we experienced in June had finally given way to nicer weather.

Flooding in France, Lack of Water in Spain

The town of Mansle is doing lots of ‘beautification’ work – putting in planters and some lovely cobbled sidewalks, etc.

It’s a bit of a pain while the work is being done but should look great when it’s finished.

The nearly constant rain has caused the local rivers to flood and the Charente is no exception.

We can’t take Max down to the campground for his run anymore as it, as well as the hippodrome next door are completely under water.

Colin goes out each Wednesday afternoon driving the ‘pickup’ car for the local cycling club and I’ve developed a habit of popping down the the kebab shop for a donair and fries to eat while he’s gone.

Max is ok when he’s with me but he does look for Colin.

They’ve completed pruning back the trees around the square – it’s amazing that in a few months they’ll be shading the whole place again.

The trip back down to Spain was good – a bit of rain on the way but not too tough.  Getting back to the house was great – and the weather was so much better than it had been for weeks in Mansle.

There’s still a lot to do in the garden – getting water at first was a bit of a pain, but once the local orchardists and farmers started using it again we had no problem.

The pellet burner was great – having it on for a couple of hours a day gets the radiators heated and the whole house gets warmer.

We haven’t been out on our bikes at all, and both Colin and I were struck down with covid (we think).  He got sick several days before me and we both lost almost two weeks being unable to do anything.

Max has settled in very well – he just needs at little more exercise to work off some of his energy.  He’s a very well behaved fellow with an extremely gentle disposition – I think Colin lucked out with him.

Little Max

Well, it’s been awhile!

I had a bit of an adventure going up to Madrid to pick someone up from the airport – hope I never have to do that again!  It’s quite a long drive so I opted to stay at a hotel before making the pickup and returning back the next day.  I ended up getting help three times along the way – all at Repsol gas stations.  The first time was just outside Lorca when the dash display indicated that one of the tires was low, and the other two times when, despite using GPS, I got mixed up in the maze of motorways around Madrid.  I eventually made it and was very glad to book in and relax.

The drive back the next day was much better – at least I only got turned around once but basically knew where I was going.

Despite ongoing water issues, and another plumbing problem things were pretty good over the next couple of months.  The pellet burner was great, until it conked out with an ‘auger motor’ problem.  The weather is generally very lovely during the day – lots of sunshine and very little rain – but it does get very pretty cold at night so having a heat source is nice.  A couple of small electric heaters just doesn’t provide enough warmth for the whole house.

Colin picked up an adorable little rescue dog that came from North Macedonia and they arrived back at the house right before Christmas.  Max is wonderful – he seems very well trained and is fairly young with lots of energy.  He’s a good jumper so the walls around the back terrace don’t keep him in, and he can run like a greyhound when off the lead.

We headed back to France the third week of January and took it easy, making the journey in three days rather than two.  We chose a different route than usual since we both agree that the part between the border and Bordeaux is incredibly boring, and getting around Bordeaux is usually a pain.

The choice had mixed results – the countryside was more interesting but the road wasn’t as good.  As soon as you left Spain – going into a tunnel and coming out in France – the road deteriorated (might as well have been in Italy!).  Also we had to try to avoid road blocks from the farmers – they’re out in force with their tractors blocking every second motorway in protest.

They’ve also turned many of the road signs upside down.  We got diverted a couple of times, and always just said to each other ‘follow the big trucks – they always know an alternate route’.  We were delayed a bit, but made it back in the early afternoon.

Since our arrival we’ve had an excellent fish-and-chips lunch at the NutHouse and Colin has had a very positive blood test.  Max has settled in quite nicely and seems to know we are now his family.  I’m missing the weather in southern Spain – not much rain here but lots of low cloud and mist.

Stray Cats, Hunting Dog, and New Kitchen!

We’ve had a few nice bike rides…

…always with a good cup of coffee at the halfway point.

There was a beautiful full moon that set just as the sun was rising…

We made another trip to Vera for a couple more plants…

I always drive with a bag of cat food in the car to feed the strays in Las Pocicas – one time I stopped there were at least 13 of the poor little things.

I joined another local facebook group that has some members that also like cats – apparently one of the local vets gives a discount for neutering feral animals but there are also a lot of rules that make it somewhat complicated.  I’d like to help somehow, though.

We took a nice day trip down to the coast to the village of La Isleta Del Moro which was very lovely.

We had an excellent coffee at one place then walked around and picked a nice restaurant for lunch.  

There are lots of date palms in the area, and now that I know what they look like compared to all of the other palms I see them everywhere.

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There’s a hunting dog across the way that we always hear barking and recently she’s begun to come over to visit us.  They keep her very hungry so we’ve been feeding her – she loves the food but loves the attention at least as much.  Colin has named her Jayne, but I call her Lady J.  She’s very affectionate and just adorable.

Our kitchen renovation was started!!  Neil arrived and the transformation was made from:

..to:

…to:

I love it so much!  Colin had to return to France for some appointments so he hasn’t seen the end result yet other than what I’ve been able to show him via facetime.

In addition Neil solved a major electric problem that happened the morning he was planning to leave – it took two days to solve and if it wasn’t for him I would have been totally hooped.  The house is fairly old and the electrics are crap, to put it nicely.  Luckily Neil’s an expert and after tracking things down like a detective all seems ok now.

The last few days we’ve had some extremely fierce winds – one of the jacarandas has been torn apart as has one of the potted yuccas.  Neither one seems to be dead as there’s some growth at the bottom of each so hopefully we won’t completely lose either – we’ll see.

From Rio Luna to The Angliru

The day after the TT we headed north towards one of our favourite campgrounds to have several days of rest.  Along the way we stopped for Henry to have a break and noticed a memorial stone.

It was from the Spanish Civil War and named several villagers who had lost their lives – very simple but quite touching.

We took our time getting to Rio Luna, taking the ‘scenic route’ rather than the motorway.  The reservoir was the lowest we’ve seen it.

It was so nice to be back at a familiar place – we had chips and eggs for lunch at the campground bar before taking nice hot showers.  The next few days rained off and on most of the time – we did manage to get some laundry done and dried during one of the sunny spells.

Mostly we staying inside because of the rain, going up to the bar for coffee each morning and again later in the day to watch the Vuelta on tv.

One of the campground cats had kittens a couple of months ago – they’re very cute but a bit skittish.  The owner (whose name, sadly, I can’t remember) asked if I wanted one – I said I’d take two if I could but I don’t think Henry would like that!

One day we took the short drive to San Emiliano for coffee – on the way back to the ‘main’ road we had to stop for a small herd of cows that were walking up the road towards us on their way from one field to another.

We then drove further west to the town of Villablino and continued south a bit along a small lake.  Not finding a decent cafe or restaurant we stopped at a nice pull-out and had lunch in the campervan.

After our nice interlude at Rio Luna we headed to our next race watching place – partway up the Angliru.

We weren’t sure how far up we would get as the road does get closed to traffic.  I think we made it about halfway when we encountered several police cars that were turning people back.  There were some campervans a little further ahead but apparently no more space beyond that so we turned back.

We ended up at a nice pullout that was on very solid ground – with all the rain lately many of the spots that look good are very soggy.  We saw a few campervans in spots that we wondered if they were going to get out of but our place was ok.

On race morning fans started cycling up before it was even light out and during the day literally thousands of cyclists and walkers passed us on their way to the top.

I wouldn’t have wanted to walk up – we’re a good nine or ten km from the top so it’s definitely a bit of a hike.

I found a great place to watch and photograph from – you can see down the hill a ways and the valley opens up for a beautiful view.

Just down from us some folks have painted the Quickstep rider’s names on the pavement and they’ve covered up the ‘Angliru’ sign with ‘in Remco we Trust’.

Unfortunately Remco lost a ton of time on the Tourmalet a few days ago so is out of GC contention but he still had something to prove – he was the first racer to pass us…

…although the peloton wasn’t far behind.

The descent of the fans after the race was the largest I’ve ever seen – it took almost two hours for all of the cyclists, walkers, cars and motos to get past us on their way down.  They kind of came in waves – a bunch of cyclists, then a bunch of walkers, then a lot of motos and some buses and campervans – then it started again.  We stayed put rather than trying to fight the traffic and get nowhere fast.