Officially hot!

We knew it'd been hot and here is the confirmation....

from The Seaside Gazette  ....

It’s been a long hot summer, not so much because high temperatures have been reached, but because they have been just so prolonged.
Take July, the hottest one on Spanish records with an average temperature of 26.5C, which easily beats the previous record holder 2003 according to the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET).
As the meteorological agency pointed out, there was just one long heatwave, rather than a series of them.
Day and night temperatures; i.e., daily maximums and minimums, have exceeded the previous record by 2.8C – that doesn’t sound much, but try telling that to people who couldn’t sleep because of the heat.
The heatwave began on the 26th of June and it wasn’t until just after the 15th of August that it let up a little with the hottest days being on the 6th and 7th of July where temperatures reached 45C in Western Andalucia and inland Valencia.

A new visitor to Montenegro recently...

For the last few years,  Fernando has grown maize here and harvested it for animal food.  This year instead of cutting it and taking it to the  animals,  the horse came here.  Another  horse arrived a day or so later,  much smaller and very dark brown.  I don't know anything about horses but Shetland pony would be my description of it.  Not a good photo I know but the best I could do....

it is there, in the middle, honestly!

The end of August already.

I thought it was about time I came inside and put fingers to keyboard for  this months update.  It's taken longer than I thought to look through the photos I've taken during August! So here it is,  a month in pictures.

Long early morning shadows on our way home from an early morning walk..

Morning Glory just beginning to bloom as they clamber up an olive  tree

 Figs ripening....

John spotted this,  the smallest of newly hatched gecko's  on the terrace wall one evening..
probably not more than an inch or so long...

And another baby,  this time a praying mantis on the back of a chair also on the terrace,

This was a bit of a surprise because the capers bloomed in May,  and we picked them in June,  but on this plant were a flower, and 2 capers plus the final stage when it gets big and bursts.

The pear tree in the front garden suddenly decided to turn autumnal and shed lots of leaves.  Not all of them though and the rest of the tree is still green!  Weird.

I've mentioned before, maybe a year or so ago,  about the Juan the upholsterer in Cadiar.  There isn't a shop sign to let you know what is there,  someone told me years ago,  and we have had a cushion on the settee recovered, very quick work, good price too.    I went in a couple of weeks ago to ask him if he could repair or replace the zip on a leather handbag.  The teeth come undone as I zip it up, so not safe to use.  He looked at it and said that the leather would have been cut, the zip stitched in and then the bag constructed and that he couldn't fit it on his machine.  Hmm.  But he got a couple of tools,  pushed and tweaked,  tried the zip,  repeated the process and hey presto!  One fixed zip!  Wouldn't take any money for it, as it hadn't taken him long to do. 

I went back the following week with 2 chair seats and the arms from the computer chair.  These oak chairs we've had about 30 years and the leather look-alike material is badly worn and the stuffing is coming out.  The arms of the computer chair have worn badly catching on the underside of the desk.  In on Tuesday morning and collected on Thursday morning,  everything re-covered and re-stuffed,  all for 15 euros,  which is almost £11.  What an excellent service!

from scruffy......

to smart!

Another 30 years life in these now! 


And finally,  sunset a few nights ago.  We haven't had many colourful ones recently as the sky has been clear and blue day after day.  Actually this was taken on the 21st,  so a week ago now.

And us?  We are fine,  it's been an incredibly long hot summer.  We had a week of humid as well as hot weather which was unpleasant,  during that time we also had 2 afternoons of strong hot wind - a bit like sitting in front of a hairdryer - I'm usually to be found in the shade of the olive tree reading or cooling in the pool but that wind sent me indoors.

September should bring slightly cooler weather although it's still 31 right now.  It's also the time to start planning our winter house maintenance schedule,  things that can't be done in the heat;   painting and decorating,  then pool emptying and repainting.  When your roof paint  costs 150 euros you make sure you follow the instructions on the tins to the letter!  Not too hot,  must be dry,  no rain for a week at least afterwards.....we'll be keeping a close eye on the forecast.  Time to do a stock check for sandpaper and paint brushes!

Summer news

It's been a while!  And it's been a very long hot summer so far and it's not over yet, although today is hazy and only 25° at the moment.  We've had temperatures regularly up in the mid to high 30's,  the worst  was 38°.  It is now officially the hottest July since the Spanish Met Office started keeping records in 1942,  this article relates to Malaga province - we are in Granada province but the whole of Spain has been extremely hot. 

At the end of June we picked the pears from our tree,  they were beginning to drop and although this looks like a decent bowlful, a lot were bad inside.  I peeled, sliced and cooked them with a bit of sugar and water to freeze for a winter pudding.  Probably only enough for 1 pudding though. 

 Tiny, aren't they??

For a couple of days at the end of the month,  the big thunder clouds grew and grew during the afternoon,  the thunder rumbled around to the north but it didn't rain down here.

Sitting in the garden late one afternoon and John spotted a lizard climbing up amongst the plants, 

Can you see it in the rosemary?

So to July,  8.30 in the morning of the 1st July....you don't often see a swimming pool going past your house!

July 14th in the afternoon,  I was just about to go for yet another swim in an effort to cool down, when I heard a rumbling of something truck-like,  looked out to see a JCB coming down the pista doing the annual-ish cleaning.  Very hot dusty work so when they stopped outside for a break I offered cold drinks.....small price to pay for a smooth road. 

Man and machine

his helper waiting to smooth out the edges

all done and off up to Yegen

Market day in Cadiar,  July 18th,  coffee and churros with friends

July 23rd - the first  peaches and proper big pears - from tree to breakfast table in 2 minutes,  lovely and juicy and warm from the sun.

The next batch of peaches I've peeled and diced and frozen with the spices that go to make mango chutney.  When we ran out of mango chutney last time it wasn't mango season,  John's idea is to use these super-ripe peaches instead....when the weather cools down enough to be indoors,  we'll do some chutney making.   Right now it's 27 or so in the kitchen and we don't need it any hotter!


July 25th:
Wild fruits and flowers...

Clematis

Honeysuckle

the first blackberries

A regular afternoon visitor to the pool  is a pied wagtail which runs round the outside, sometimes flying over the surface for insects,  sometimes it hops onto the chloro float and bobs around before hopping back onto the concrete edge.

As I said, a long hot summer - early morning walks,  anything that needs doing gets done as soon as possible but not too quickly as that makes you hot!   We are watering alternate days in the late evening,  a lot of the fruit trees haven't produced much this year - no apples,  only 1kg of strawberries, hardly any mulberries,  the figs are all hard and green and even their leaves are small and shrivelled looking,  but the chilli plants now in their 3rd year are doing well.   The lettuces, basil and parsley bolted and went to seed.  The Jerusalem artichokes haven't appeared at all!  John has got more chilli plants growing which we will over-winter and plant out for next year. 


Hot now!  Going for a dip, although the pool water is 28° it still feels refreshing compared to the air temperature and my hot skin.

Festival Aéreo de Motril

We were outside on Friday morning, when  7 planes in formation went past, shattering the peace and quiet.  John is the plane person - he knows where to look to find out what they are and where they're going.....it turns out there is an airshow in Motril every year and we didn't know about it.   Actually it is over the beach as the nearest airports are Malaga and Almeria although we think they came in and out of Malaga yesterday.

So down to the beach yesterday,  not very busy at 11am.

The flying takes place over Playa Poniente, at the centre of which is Chiringuito Sumo,  a beachside bar and restaurant.

Flying started at midday,  and at 1pm all eyes were looking up following  a French Military aerobatic display when a Guardia Civil helicopter came in to land on the beach!!  A dusty dry beach....

You can see people beginning to turn away from the dust.

One of the  stars of the show which got the biggest build up from the commentator was SoloTurk,  an F16 from Turkey which came in from the mountains behind us and roared low overhead and out to sea,  climbing as he went.  Sends shivers down your spine.

But the biggest stars were Patrulla Aguila  Eagle Patrol,  who are the Spanish equivalent of the Red Arrows.

 

A last drink while we wait for the crowds and cars to go..

My new sunshade, I don't like hats but this is brilliant.

And all this,  except for the drinks of course,  was free.  No car parking charges, no entry fee,  nothing.

The restaurants were all too busy afterwards so we stopped on the way home at a place we've been to before,  it's on the old road from Motril to Granada.  Menu del dia,  €15 each (£10 at todays rate)  for  starters, salad,  main course, dessert and a drink.

Salmorejo, a rich thick version of gazpacho topped with chopped egg and jamón

Sopa de marisco (shellfish soup) and our salad

beef in almond sauce

pollo a la brasa - chicken cooked over hot coals

Of course bread,  and a beer each,  then triple choc cornettos for dessert.  Plus what I couldn't eat in a doggy bag for P and M.

The road the restaurant is on follows the river and winds through a rocky gorge.  The restaurant is built almost under huge crags...

Tonsillitus!

Well, who'd have thunk such a thing! Pip has been struggling recently when we've been out for a walk,  breathing noisily and sluggish.  Last Wednesday she stopped eating properly - no dog biscuits, only soft food,  by Saturday she was eating less and yesterday she couldn't eat anything.  We'd both felt her all over for lumps and bumps and found she had a swollen neck hence no food.  Worryingly though was her lack of water intake,  she wanted to drink, sat and looked at her bowl for ages,  but it didn't magically pour down her throat.

We were outside the vets surgery when he opened up this morning at 10am,  described her problem to him,  he felt her neck and said " tonsillitus".  Well actually he said  "amigdalitis" followed rapidly by an antibiotic jab and an anti-inflammatory jab.   We've to go back tomorrow for another antibiotic jab and as soon as she is able to swallow she can have antibiotic tablets.

Off now to make a small bowl of porridge for her with water not milk,  but maybe a bit honey for flavour and energy.

One thing that puzzles me is how did she get tonsillitus because

a) neither of us are ill

b) neither of us have tonsils!  We both had them out longer ago then we care to remember!

Strange,  don't you think?

Monty - touch wood - is ok.