Another week, another fiesta.

This time it was the fiesta here in Montenegro - Santa Fatima.   The rockets started at 11am,  a signal for Pip to go at high speed under the bed,  again at 11.30,  at 12.00 the rockets signalled the start of the service and unlike other years,  we stayed here preparing food to take for the picnic afterwards.  As soon as we heard the 'end of procession rockets'  fire off,  we packed the remaining food and cold drinks and headed up.  By then the pews were  moved into a square shape under the only unpruned mulberry tree,  a table with a wine box (from one of the Paco's)  plus jamón and bread and crisps were laid out and then we arrived with our offerings.   Not typical Spanish food at all,  a variation on English I suppose,  we took  pasties but made with a spicy filling,  onion bahjis, (I'd made 96!!!!! the day before and took half up)  fresh strawberries and strawberry wine plus locally made Tempranillo wine.  Then other friends arrived with a variety of spicy chicken,  tortilla,  breads,  spicy salsas,  more crisps,  more wine - they have different grapes to us - all together I think there were 5 different wines from us, our friends and the two Pacos,  all local, all different.  Some fruity, some hefty.  Plus of course beer and water.

Everyone tried everything,  they really don't get the  'wine from anything but a grape'  idea, after all wine from grapes is free and ours needed sugar added..... but they are all willing to taste and maybe taste again just to make sure it's ok  and then try a strawberry....did you buy them ?  oh no, all grown here in Montenegro....oh!    then there are lots of nodding of heads...maybe they are starting to realise that we do grow things, make wines, produce something from our land.


And now a few photos from inside the chapel.....

Did I mention that it was hot as well?  Sunday afternoon the thermometer hit 30.1 on our terrace,  Monday was slightly cooler at 27....yesterday we had a nice bit of breeze,  possibly because the chapel is on a more open area which helps.  Today back down a bit more to 25,  but nothing changing on the forecast.  We use eltiempo  which has an accurate forecast although the temperatures are usually off by anything up to 5 degrees.  Not surprising when you think that the weather stations are - as far as I know - at the airports.  Not near here.  But if you look at this site of John's  you'll see that it has an average temperature from the airports - Malaga, Almeria and Granada - and that is within a degree or two of what our terrace thermometer records.