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.
…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.
…
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.
Colin got back from France as scheduled, and all of his tests were ok. While there he helped the cycling club with their annual youth races in Angeau – the kids are so cute.
And the winning team was – the local organizing club Guidon Manslois (Colin’s club)!
I’m glad for many reasons that Colin is back but a big one is that I really don’t like being alone in the house at night. It’s frequently windy and things blow around and make noise – kind of freaked me out a couple of times.
The garden is coming along nicely – the weeds are tenacious, but so are the gardeners!
The Tour de France has started – the first three stages were in northern Spain and now they’re working their way north, then east. We’re both very sad that Mark Cavendish has crashed out as we were sure he would break the stage-win record in this, his last Tour. I was somewhat cheered up yesterday, however, when Michael Woods won on the Puy de Dome.
We’re trying to find a used pram or stroller for Henry – he can’t walk as fast or as far as he used to and Colin often ends up having to pick him up. In search of one we drove south yesterday to see if we could find one at a large second-hand furniture place but she didn’t have anything appropriate. She did have a beautiful german shepherd guard dog and a black cat with orange eyes.
We’ve put up a fly screen on the french doors so we can now have them open in the early part of the day – nice breezes come through. But all windows and shutters get closed by noon or so to keep the heat out. Our swims are later now also – usually around 7:30 or 8:00 in the evening because of the heat, and also the angle of the sun.
My arm rash has come back and I’m treating it with apricot kernel oil so I don’t end up looking like a leper. As long as I stay out of the direct sun it subsides and isn’t itchy so mostly I’m staying inside during the day and doing any of the outside stuff in early morning or late evening.
The herb garden is doing very well, especially the basil. I’ve made pesto twice now (for pizza) and it’s awesome to be able to go out and pick it, then crush it. I don’t have any pine nuts so have been using almonds – but what else would I use in almond-growing heaven?
We’ll be having fresh cherry tomatoes soon as one of the plants has gone crazy and already has fruit on it – small and green now but in a week or two…
Most mornings I do a bit of tai chi and chi gong on either the front terrace or the side terrace – it’s so peaceful and quiet and I get to see the sun come up over the hill to the east.
The birds have finally discovered the bird feeder and we now have to fill it every couple of days.
We had a nice lunch out at the bar in Los Cerricos – once again the cats were hiding from the heat.
The Ikea delivery arrived! We met the truck down at the restaurant/gas station and they followed us up to the house – now the office is full of the new kitchen in boxes.
Henry tried to walk on the pool cover again – luckily I spotted him right away. It was ok when he got out on the winter cover as it was tied to the sides, but the summer cover just floats and even a smallish dog like Henry caused it to start sinking. Fortunately he was near the shallow end so I just went down the stairs and fished him out – wet shorts was a small price to pay.
I finally went for a bike ride – not long but getting hot by the time I got home – I’ll have to leave earlier next time.
We’ve taken a couple more trips – the first was back to Ikea in Murcia to meet with the ‘kitchen planner’. As we had done a lot of measuring and looking at their choices online we were very prepared and the meeting went well. It is going to be beautiful and I’m very excited.
The second trip was to the coast and the peninsula of Cabo de Gato which we’d read about and seen on a couple of cycling videos that went through the area. Once we passed Vera most of the drive was past mile after mile of tattered plastic greenhouses so we were quite disappointed – it looked like a moonscape.
But the town of Cabo de Gato wasn’t bad – we found a nice bar that had excellent tapas and wine, and then drove a short way to a lovely beach.
There’s also a bird sanctuary in the salt marshes.
We’ve had more work completed – Steve (our carpenter) has done a bunch more stuff, including installing a door between the guest bedroom and it’s bathroom. Carlos has added three more outdoor taps as well as fixed the outdoor shower near the pool, and our wonderful gardener and her husband have planted the jacarandas, oleanders and cedars.
They also gave some advice on the cleaning of the pool – I need ‘shock’ and ‘floculant’ and then some vacuuming – hope to be able to use it soon as the weather is finally turning hot and sunny.
Our solar panels have been installed! Our roof is now covered with them – we don’t have batteries to store the energy but are going to be feeding it to the grid when we have excess – I’m so happy!
The summer pool cover has been fitted and installed – it will help a lot to reduce the evaporation rate, and also keep it warmer.
I finally had my first swim of the year! Our ducky thermometer says the water is 30 degrees – it was very refreshing and just what was needed on a hot, muggy day.
For the second time I had a couple of unexpected visitors – two larks (I think that’s what they were) were suddenly in the lounge flying about. They got in through the front door which we like to leave open for the breeze. The first time they found their own way out, and today I managed to get the french doors open to release them.
I didn’t have my camera handy but did manage to get a quick photo with my ipad – as usual the quality is a bit disappointing to me.
We now have a beautiful herb garden…
…the potted tomatoes are doing great…
…the oleanders are finally flowering…
…and while other plants and flowers are showing off their beauty…
…the agave is still working on it’s one-and-only blossoming before it dies…
Water is still sometimes an issue – the ‘canal’ that belongs to the co-op that we’re a part of is being repaired at the moment and the tanker truck can’t deliver to us until next week. I’m using as little as possible but have stocked-up on large jugs of water from the store – enough to keep the garden and new trees alive, and make a cup or two of tea in the mornings. The quantity of water available at this time isn’t an issue here – it’s just the delivery of it that is a challenge!
We’ve had some fierce storms in the last few weeks, and twice our normally dry rambla…
…became a raging river.
As far as the raging rambla was concerned it didn’t affect us that much – not like the folks who use the rambla to access their driveways. They were unable to leave their houses for a day or two each time as the rambla is the ‘road’ that leads to their driveways.
The torrential rains did do a number on our driveway, though. We already knew we needed to get it fixed up a bit but now it’s got huge ruts from where the water washed down.
The day after the first big washout I drove down to Albox to do some grocery shopping. As I went down our driveway it was very rutted but as I turned left to enter the ‘road’ we share with our neighbour-across-the-way I almost stopped and turned back. The dirt/mud road was so deeply rutted I wondered if I would get stuck but I made it down. Then all the way into town I was wondering if I was actually going to make it back up to the house. When I was finished the shopping and was back at the bottom of the shared drive I just put it in first and gunned it, barely slowing down for the sharp right-turn onto our driveway. I fish-tailed a bit but made it!
We also encountered a couple of other issues – we had small floods from both the front door and the french doors as they don’t have proper weatherproofing on the bottoms. I spent some time mopping and laid down some towels to prevent more seepage.
And another problem we had was a drip into the kitchen very near the fridge. It wasn’t from the rain but from a backup between my shower and the toilet in the guest bedroom.
Carlos – when he was able to get out of his house from the flooded rambla – came over and unplugged it, and is partway through re-caulking my shower as that’s where the backup was going, and from there down into the kitchen.
We’ve been out for lunch a few times – at the bar in Chirivel and also at the bar in Los Cerricos. The bar cats are still there, and there are a couple of new babies that are very cute. They hung around our table and got lots of little nibbles.
The second time we went there the bar cats weren’t around, but the ‘dumpster’ cats were. I, as usual, had leftovers of my pork tenderloin so ended up giving it in little bite sized pieces to the many stray cats as well as one very cute little dog. I wish I could help all of them but the best you can do is catch them and take them to the local vets to have them ‘fixed’. Apparently the vets do this for free and all you have to do is catch them, take them in, then return them to the street they came from. They’ll still be scrounging for food but at least they won’t be having six kittens four times a year…so sad.
Colin and I both got haircuts – mine is the shortest it’s been since the cut I got in Navarrete in Sept of 2018 – I love it!
We took a trip to Ikea in Murcia almost two weeks ago to have a look at kitchens. Looking in the online catalogue is one thing but we both like seeing something in person to really get a feel for what it will be like. We did pick up a book shelf for the snug and have since rearranged the furniture.
All around the area are beautiful flowering trees with lavender coloured blossoms. We found out what they are – jacaranda – and the local plant store finally got a delivery in – they’re very hard to get.
We picked three of them up this morning along with four more oleanders and I can’t wait for them to be planted. The jacarandas are very tall, but of course won’t flower until next year.
The winter pool cover has been removed but we’re having a heck of a time drying it out to put away – it rains at least a bit almost every day so it’s been impossible.
We’re having solar panels for electricity installed – hopefully next week right before Colin returns to France for some medical appointments.
The ‘giant asparagus’ hasn’t changed much – we’ve been told it will be a few weeks before anything happens. And it’s not a yucca (as I called it previously) but an agave and once it’s done flowering it will die.
They’ve completed a new display at the south end of Albox and it’s a very good one – showing the story of the area and the people.
Colin’s doctor’s appointment was a great relief – he was asked why he wasn’t still getting the twice-yearly shots and was taking the one-a-day pills instead. He was instantly given a prescription for the shot and we took it right away to the pharmacy in Mansle. The nurse came to the house the next morning and administered it. Hopefully that does the trick with the very high PSA.
While back in Mansle we did the usual – had a lovely fish-and-chips lunch, visited Tony and Joyce, said hello (a couple of times) to Edith and Sylvain at the bar. Also on Colin’s birthday Tony and Joyce joined us for a lunch at the Marmite – very nice.
We started the return trip to Spain a week ago, and since we were in the car it was much quicker. We stopped at a hotel just outside Zaragoza that accepts dogs – we’d stayed there before. Arriving at the house mid-afternoon was wonderful – we even had water! Except until the power kept cutting out and thus the pump wasn’t working.
After a call to Carlos he came right up and got it running again, but not for long – apparently something got wet and just needed to dry out. It was very frustrating until partway through the next morning when all was working again.
Our ‘handyman’ Steve has done a bunch of stuff – stained the outside doors and some of the window trims, installed several solar powered motion triggered lights and another security camera. Lots to do but it’s all coming along…
Our fantastic gardener was hard at work again – one of the large yuccas is about to flower, and then will die – it looks like a giant asparagus.
Colin and I made a trip to several different places to collect flowers and trees for Ali to plant for us. We now have orange, lemon and lime trees, two bougainvilleas (one of my favourites!), several small cypress trees and a bunch of various colourful things for the planter boxes.
I’ve spent three days vacuuming and cleaning – first day the ground floor, second day the sun-room (including washing the floor) and today the upper floor – so much dust! Slowly but surely the boxes from Worcester are being unpacked so it doesn’t look so much like a storage place.
Everything is starting to look so lovely – more like a ‘home’ than just a house. I sit outside in the evenings and just drink it all in – can’t wait to get the pool uncovered and jump in! Although right now it’s probably a little cold – we need to get a solar heater and summer cover.
Leaving the Poggio early the morning after the race we went west to Nice where we turned north, stopping for the night at an aire in Bédoin which is near Mt. Ventoux.
The second day of driving took us to what we refer to as ‘the windy place’, which is Lachamp-Raphael. Everything was closed – even the cafe/bar, although it was a Monday so that might explain it.
The next day got us back to Mansle – nice to be in a house again. We spent several days getting organized – picked up the Renault that is going down to Spain, got some things from the charity shop, had a nice lunch at the fish-and-chips place.
We also saw Tony and Joyce and I showed Tony a photo of my little guy Sly that he offered to make a painting of for me. Several days later we went back as he’d already finished it – a real masterpiece! Sly is a very cute kitty but doesn’t seem to like posing too much – I was lucky to get a pic that shows his beautiful green eyes.
We were all packed up for our trip down to Spain when Colin had a blood test the morning before we were planning to leave. That evening we went to the bar where they had a steak and chips dinner – very delicious. We were just getting ready to retire for the night when Colin got the results of his blood test by email – not good. We decided that going to Spain was not in the cards at the time and both went to bed with heavy hearts.
At 6 the next morning Colin knocked on my door and said we should go to Spain anyway – the campervan and trailer (that I will pull in the Renault) were all packed and his furniture from Worcester is on the way so he figured we might as well go. We were on the road before 8:30.
Getting used to driving again and pulling a little trailer wasn’t that bad – shortly after we passed Bordeaux I started to relax a bit. Very near the Spanish border we encountered a road-block – no police or road-works folks but just a barrier. Like those before us we went around it and down a very narrow road. After several km Colin in the campervan was trying to turn around while I continued forward past another barrier. It seems there was some kind of rally on with quads, but there were no wardens or any diversion markers and it seemed very unorganized.
Rather than try to find Colin I drove on to the small town just across the border where all the French folks go for the cheap shopping – I parked in the lower parking lot of one of the shopping malls that we’ve stopped at before and waited for him to find me. I waited 20 or 30 minutes and he and Henry arrived – we had lunch in the parking area and then continued on our way.
We got past Zaragoza on a secondary road and stopped for the night at a trucker’s stop just off the motorway – it was surprisingly quiet and the sunrise in the morning was lovely.
We got to the house in late afternoon – I felt like I was coming home. Seeing the work that had been done while we were gone was great – bathtub installed, Colin’s re-done bathroom, the pellet stove.
The only problem was that there was a layer of dust everywhere – some strategically placed poly would have been useful when the work was in progress.
I did many loads of laundry and washed every dish in the kitchen because of the dust, but eventually started to relax and just enjoy being here.
The full moon came and went and it was Easter.
I made a roasted chicken pie, except I burned the bottom crust. I’m not used to a gas oven yet, but as long as you scraped off the burnt part it was delicious.
We got an excellent gardener to tidy things up – a lot of things to trim and prune as it’s probably been several years since it has been properly taken care of. She seems to know what she’s doing and is giving us advice on what to plant behind the wall, etc.
We went for our first ride of the season this morning – we have a bit of fitness to find but it was nice to get out.
Upon leaving Trasimeno we went west a bit and stopped for a visit with Colin’s estate agent to update the offering of the house in Papiano. The agent and her partner have a large, old house on a hill with a lovely swimming pool and fantastic views of the valley below.
Afterwards we continued west a bit before turning north towards our destination just outside Torino that we chose to watch the next race from.
We made it just past Genova and a bit up the highway north when we encountered major roadworks and traffic slowdown. As it was getting late anyways we left the highway and pulled into the town of Masone that was supposed to have a couple of aires. We found the quieter one and parked up for the night.
In the morning we had a quick cup of tea then proceeded north via the smaller road rather than the motorway. It was a very nice, pleasant drive – we had to stop several times at rail crossings to let a train pass. It was a passenger train that stopped at all of the small towns along the way and we kept overtaking it, then having to wait for it to pass at the crossings.
Having picked the town of Avigliana we were very pleasantly surprised – the town itself was alright but it’s the area in general that impressed us. On the map it looks to be surrounded by motorways and seemed like it might be very congested but it wasn’t.
We passed through the town and stopped on the edge at a restaurant right on one of the ‘lakes’ – there are two of them, one being Lago Grande di Avigliana, and the other Lago Piccolo di Avigliana (big lake and small lake). To me they were more like fair-sized ponds, but never-the-less they reminded me greatly of home and I loved it there.
Lunch was wonderful – I had wild boar stew with polenta and a side of grilled veggies. The boar meat was so tender and flavourful and the sauce was both sweet and savory – just delicious. It’s one of the few times I actually finished a meal instead of taking half of it home for later.
After lunch we drove just a bit further along the route and found a large paved parking area right on the smaller of the lakes. There were walking and riding paths and many folks were out with their dogs.
There was also a nice little bar that served a good local red wine. Sitting in the sun on the shore of a lake, beautiful mountains as a backdrop and sipping red wine – almost heaven!
The wind howled and rocked the campervan most of the night but we were snug and I slept well.
Race day was sunny and beautiful, with the wind having died down early in the morning.
We took Henry for a short walk, then had a cappuccino at the bar on the lake.
Milano-Torino is the oldest race in cycling, with the first edition being in 1876! We were very close to the finish – maybe 15 km or less – and when the race arrived the breakaway of four was about to be caught.
The whole race passed us so quickly I barely got 25 shots even in sports mode.
As per usual now we watched the finish on GCN, and one of the riders from new pro team Tudor won! The team was started only four years ago and is now owned by retired Swiss great Fabian Cancellara – the main sponsor is Swiss watch-maker Tudor. They’re not a World Tour team yet but do get invites and this was their first ever win at the top level – kudos to them.
After we’d watched the finish and they’d opened the barriers we got going the short distance down to Pinerolo where we stopped at the quiet aire for the night.
More bike rides – we alternate direction each time, going either south/east to Taberno or north/west to Los Cerricos and beyond. There’s a small village on the way to Oria that has some pretty blue flower pots all over an old stone wall.
About ten days ago there was a festival up at the Sanctuary – it actually started the evening before with dozens and dozens of people walking up the rambla beginning around 8 in the evening.
The procession continued the entire night – every time I woke up and looked out the window I could see individuals or small groups with flashlights moving along up to the Sanctuary.
The next morning we took our ride up to Los Cerricos and were astounded by the number of vehicles – hundreds of cars and dozens of buses, and even police directing the traffic and parking.
The village has a lot of cats – some of them strays that forage for food in the dumpsters, and others that belong to the bar.
The folks came to put on the winter pool cover but it didn’t quite fit so they took it away to trim it a bit.
That’s ok, though, as I’m able to get in a few more swims.
They’re starting to bring in the almond harvest – there are piles of them in the strangest places.
We went out for lunch on my birthday, intending to go to the bar in Los Cerricos but it was all closed up. We then decided to go up to Chirivel, but…same thing! On to Veliz Rubio where we had success at the steak house, and was it ever good. The portions were so large that even Colin couldn’t finish his and when the waitress came to collect our plates she looked very concerned and asked if we didn’t like it. We assured her that no – it was delicious and we would like to take the leftovers home – she was very pleased to hear that.
I must say that I’m not feeling my age! The next day we met Carlos and Maria for lunch at the restaurant just south of us – it was another excellent meal and we were there for over four hours. They are great to visit with and Carlos will be doing a lot of work on the house for us over the next few months.
We’re really looking forward to having all of the work completed – new pellet-burning stove, having my bath-tub installed, and a complete re-do of Colin’s bathroom, just to start.
Lots of other things as well, both inside and outside, including screening of the sun/pool room. Sitting out there is lovely, except for the flies and wasps so having it fully screened will be great.
Oh – Remco won the Vuelta – woo-woo!
Leaving on Thursday morning was kind of sad – I love the house and the area so much already, but have really missed travelling and seeing the races live.
We chose to take three days rather than just two to get up to Mansle, and stopped the first night at Horche, which is just south of Guadalajara. It turned out to be a lovely hotel just outside the town and we spent a couple of hours on one of the outside terraces enjoying some refreshing beverages.
The drive up to Logrono the next day was much shorter and we passed through some spectacular scenery.
We’d been to Navarrete before, staying in the campground just south of the town. This time we were in a hotel that used to be a seminary – it was also very nice.
Our friend Richard met us there around 6:00, delivering two cases of Rioja and some floor polish for Joyce and Tony back in France. He also gifted us with some local chorizo that he says is very tasty, although quite spicy – we’ll have to eat it sparingly!
The last day of travel was somewhat longer, but not stressful. In fact getting past Bordeaux was possibly the best ever – hardly even had to slow down, let alone the usual bumper-to-bumper crawl.
Getting to Mansle in late afternoon we had time to go down to the bar and were warmly received by Edith and Sylvain, as usual.
We’ve gone on a few more nice, slightly longer rides. A couple of times to Taberno for coffee, also to Los Cerricos, again for coffee. The little bar cat has had her kittens but we’re not sure how many – she looks like a baby herself but apparently this is her second litter.
Another ride was to Chirival, and it ended up taking much more time than expected as there was a diversion just before the town that sent us west. We knew we were going a bit far out of our way when Colin hit a large, unexpected pot-hole and got a flat!
Even the smaller roads here are in so much better condition than almost all the roads in Italy that perhaps we weren’t being as careful as usual. In any case we made our way to a nice cafe on the ‘main’ east-west road through the town and had a nice coffee. Then Colin hopped on my bike and rode back to the house to pick up the car and return to retrieve me and his bike. The wait wasn’t too bad – I had one of his phones so was able to read the news, etc, and also they had a very nice red wine.
A few days later we rode towards Albox and stopped for a coffee – we were halfway back when two things happened. The first was seeing an old woman hand-washing her laundry in the water channel. My first thought was ‘oh, she’s getting free water’ – then Colin mentioned that if we were downstream from her we could be brushing our teeth in water she’d used to wash her knickers in – yuck!
We were a few km further on when once again Colin had a flat – this time the front tire went. Luckily we weren’t too far from Las Pocicas, where once again he rode my bike home while I sat and enjoyed another nice red wine. I especially like it when it’s chilled, and it’s always served chilled in Spain.
We’ve been out for lunch a few times now – twice to the restaurant in Los Cerricos. We’re usually one of the first tables to order food as they eat so late here. The last time we went the place ended up being totally packed – I had a delicious pork loin dish with fries, with enough left over for at least one more meal at home.
We’ve been watching the Vuelta on tv rather than going to the north coast as we normally would. They moved down to our area on the rest-day and young Remco is still in the overall lead. He rode a blistering time-trial yesterday and we just hope he can hold on for another 10 or 11 stages. There are others I would cheer for as well if he cracks in the mountains, though.
Finally we had some deliveries get to us – IKEA met us at the restaurant/gas station and we exchanged one of our light fixtures that had been missing a piece for another that was complete. Then a couple of days later the bathtub finally arrived – the delivery company had it for 3 weeks and it finally took Carlos (our plumber) to speak with them for them to bother finding us.
Another thing that got completed was the metal gate being installed for the french doors – it was the only really vulnerable entrance to the house so now we feel a bit better about our security. They also fixed a metal plate to the bottom of the new gate in the back wall so Henry can’t squeeze through any more – he seems a little confused that he can’t get out now.
I’ve still been swimming almost every day, although it got very stormy yesterday so I gave it a pass. The wind overnight was fierce – it blew a couple of my shutters back and forth so bad I had to close them and I haven’t done that since we were here back in frigid May. The storm was worse in other areas, though, as I read about hail the size of tennis balls.
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