the solar panel man is coming tomorrow and this time i believe him because he was quite adament. we also managed to pick up the tile sample from the tile shop and then take it into the kitchen shop to try it against the proposed colours of the kitchen cupboards. a good morning all in all we got back home in time for the electricity to have been put back on, the electricity company was doing some work somewhere, we were warned before hand, pepe was using a generator which was very noisy. he had to go and get it last night after our hot mince pies and mulled wine night in the bar.
when i got home i tried my hand at making an oval table top out of the old wardrobe that was in the garage.
so with any luck next year Bruno will come round in Jan to knock out the old fire place, the first 2 weeks of Feb the kitchen should be going in, some time around then we will be getting solar powered hot water put in if its not too expensive and then once that is all done the door will be knocked through onto the balcony and we will have a new floor put down ( hopefully some time in the spring because a hole in the wall would be a bit to cold at the moment) , so i had better get some work to help pay. once all that is done i can start painting the living room and new kitchen.
talking off money i rang up the tax man yesterday and im sure he said i will not have to pay any tax next year infact they owe me money.
will we need more wood?
didnt work today due to the wind, its that windy, we dont need wind we need rain, there are villages all over catalonia without water, our water has been switched off most of the day, so i have painted the shutters in the living room instead. i just noticed while i was watering the lemon tree, and drawing up some water from the well just incase we still dont have any water in the house,Â that i missed a bit.
we should be off to Figueres later on, moira wants to chase up the people that said they would get us a sample of stone for the floors, and to get some more paper for her work.
We’ve just been to a Sardana, its a local dance, apparently a very social dance more complicated then it looks as the dancers keep time by counting the steps, its also very funny to watch as the older generation of the village shuffleÂ about in a big circle, some of them were quite light on there feet, Moira was nearly wetting herself which was naughty as it was a very serious thing. the music was quite good, a brass band, looking very serious. we are going back later as there will be a concert to listen to.
Natalie and Andy where here yesterday, they got here the afternoon before and after some cava we went to the cafe colon. we took advantage of people that like to walk and went up to the castle above Sant pere de rodes, it was beautiful you could see for miles, there is the most amazing monestry there, we didnt bother going in, but it was quite a sight when you turned the last sharp corner and there was this enormous statuesque building pretty much hanging from the cliffs. we then went down via Port de selva and then to Llanca for lunch, then we went along a bit on the coast road and went for another walk to a nice little bay that we new off. Andy strolled offÂ and found an octopuss in one of the rock pools it wasnt the brightest of creatures you dont come up and say hello if you are an octopuss in a country that loves to eat octopuss, it was prettyÂ impressive though how it changed colour to match in with the rocks bellow it.
we had a lovely day and topped it of by lunch in the hotel, i finaly tried there goats cheese salad and i wasnt dissapointed.
ive just tried spraying one of the shutters with paint rather then painting it with a brush, im not sure its that much quicker as you need to do a few more coats and as there is water in the paint to thin it it takes a lot longer to dry, and if you over do it, it drips all other the place and thats not including having to mask the whole window of with news paper as the spray gun shoots paint everywhere. maybe i will go back to the brush, its just a nuiscance that you have to keep washing the brush after every use.
i saw a snake trying to eat a ghecko this morning, it was only a little snake, about arms length, if you are using the arm of a cat as a measure and ignore the fact that cats dont have arms. it had wrapped itself round the ghecko to try and stop the ghecko running away. jesus and i took a couple of photos of the action on our mobiles then left the snake to get on with its buisness.
ive forgotten to mention the christmas lights are on in Garriguella, thats Gar as in car, roll the rrs, the i sounds a bit like an e then you say the gue with the toungue pulled to the back of the mouth then flick the tongue back to the front again to pronounce the 2 lls, jesus has been trying to teach me to pronounce it properly.
fife has been to the vets and has now got her medication, i have a sneeking suspision the vet speaks english fluently but she wasnt letting on.
much to Moiras horror i was using a chainsaw for pretty much all of yesterday, i havent told her about the snake yet.
the preserving lemons havent gone green yet, which is good.
what have we done today? i had to ring the vet because fife has cystitis that went ok and we are taking her to figueres tomorrow because our vet is on holiday and the nice vet lady told us, as fife was still eating and doing some wee (peepee in spanish) aslong as we kept giving her water she should be ok till tomorrow, she seems happy enough. we also went for a walk along grifeu beach, on the way back we bumped into a couple taking there pig for a walk along the shore, it was a pot bellied pig and seemingly very well trained, add that to watching a cow eating a sandwich on a beach as things we will probably never see again. its so lovelly at this time of year as we have pretty much the whole beach to ourselves.
we went to Girona yesterday for christmas shopping there is a big shopping centre out off town that you pass on the way to the airport, we got a few things as presents and a few things for us, naturaly. im getting used to this having to drive every where mallarky.
the ladies in the shop asked me how my job of work was going with jesus this morning.