First and last

The first thing I want to say is that the Fiesta in Yátor is the last weekend in January,   the weekend of the 25th and 26th which is after the day itself.

I only know this because I went shopping today,  the first time this year,  and bumped into one of the many Lola's of Yátor who after asking about Christmas,  family,  Montenegro,  etc said 'will you be down for fiesta'   Well, yes,  but which weekend is it? 

We needed shopping because, unusually for us,  we were out of a lot of things.  We've always kept a well stocked kitchen - living 2 kms up a track from a village that only has daily bread and fish deliveries,  plus a weekly fruit and veg lorry,  plus a bar,  makes you keep a good supply of food in,  but there comes a time when it all seems to run out.  So we were down to the last milk, orange juice, and 1 egg;  a few potatoes,  no onions,  no mushrooms....
time for a restock.  I left it till today as Monday was a holiday and I hoped the shops would be refilled by today, plus the weekly fruit and veg lorry comes on a Wednesday to Yátor so if I time it right,  I can get the shopping in Ugijar and be back for 11 to 11.30 ish and catch him.  He arrives with a blast of his air horn at about 11am on Calle Triana,  then moves on to the plaza by the church - another blast of the airhorn -   then on to the plaza in front of the bar.  If we're at home we hear the horn - yes, even from up here,  and have time to go down if there's anything we need.  It's a very well stocked lorry,  and he does a good job of selling stuff.  Last time I was there,  the wife of the olive mill Eduardo came out with a bag and told him what she wanted.  Once that was done,  he said need any more?  what about puerros (leeks),  lechuga (lettuce),  boniatos (sweet potatoes)  bananas or plátanos and so he reels off whatever she hasn't bought.   Surprisingly she needed most of these things!  And today  I put some boniatos to one side while waiting for one of the women to pay and then she saw what I'd got and said ' oh, I need some of them too'.    Me, I go with a list and just buy what we need. Some times he sells me more than I intended to buy,  it's the  1 kilo for 1 euro but if you buy 3 kilos then it's only 2 euros,  type of sale,    and over Christmas when we bought  mandarinas that was worth while. 

Another first,   the first narcissi are in bloom today.  And the oranges look very orange for the time of year,  I wouldn't normally start to pick till maybe late January or even early February but I'm going to try a few this week.  Yes, I know I bought some cartons of OJ today but they'll keep if the fresh oranges are sweet enough for juicing ,  if they aren't  it will be marmalade time.  Didn't make any last year,  but the year before we did orange marmalade,  orange and lemon,  and also orange, lemon and chilli.  And that was well worth making again.  Not too spicy but with an underlying warmth. 

Talking of warmth,  clear blue skies,  sunny t-shirt weather during the day and clear but chilly overnight -and that's the weather here for those of you who will be over soon for their January break!