San Anton's eve

Click left on any picture for a larger view

It's the eve of San Anton so we go to the Plaza Mayor for the bonfire - it's a good way of getting rid of the Christmas tree plus any dead olive trees. This evening, it is very windy, there are severe gales in north western Spain and south west France and we are getting our share here.

Most events are reported on and appear in the local newspaper or on local TV. Here Margaret and Lola are going over some of the finer points of what to say in the interview.



The bonfire is going really well and then every so often there is an almighty gust of wind and embers fly everywhere. Our peña group barbeque sausages and pork slices which we eat in chunks of bread.

San Anton is the patron saint of animals - maybe that's why a pig is killed and butchered. These days the pig is despatched before it is brought, previously the whole thing took place on the night.

Bits of pork from the pig are fried and these are served in more bread. You certainly can't complain of being hungry at these events. The remainder of the pig is raffled and the draw takes place tomorrow after the auction - more about that in the following bulletin.

¡Nieve! (Snow!)

It started snowing very lightly late morning but has been somewhat heavier this afternoon.

Click left on any picture to see it full size.

There is virtually no wind so the snow has just drifted down and settled.

Now we have a couple of inches on the ground!

The branches of the trees, almond and olive, look as though they are straight off a Christmas card.

The weather forecast for the week ahead says there is a good chance of rain along with cloud and some sun but no more snow.

We'll just have to make the most of this!

5th January, 3 Kings

Click on the photo for a full size view.

Monday, January 5th is the evening of the Three Kings. At 18:45 we go down to the village through the Plaza Mayor to meet everyone outside the ayuntamiento. In the Plaza Mayor are the decorated Christmas tree and the "Felices Fiestas" lights.

Lunes, 5 de enero es la tarde de los tres reyes magos. A las 18:45 bajamos a el pueblo a la plaza mayor y nos reunimos cada uno fuera del ayuntamiento. En el plaza mayor están el árbol de Navidad adornado y las luces de las fiestas de “Felices Fiestas ".

As we approach we can see a group of people who have their candle torches already lit. In the background is the tower of the church.

Mientras nos acercamos podemos ver que un grupo de gente que tiene sus antorchas de la vela ya encendidas. En el fondo está la torre de la iglesia.

This year, the church tower has a star illumination on it for Christmas.

Este año, la torre de la iglesia tiene una iluminación de una estrella en ella para Navidad.

We are given a torch and finally get them lit as they are new.

Nos dan una antorcha y finalmente conseguimos encenderlas pues son nuevas.

We follow the tractor and the trailer with the Three Kings and their pages on down to the Church.

Seguimos al tractor y el remolque con los tres reyes magos y sus pajes hasta la iglesia.

A king waves as he gets back onto the trailer.

Un rey saludar mientras que él consigue detrás legar al remolque.

When all the kings and their pages are seated, the tractor sets off for the hall next to the bar / restaurant.

Cuando se sientan todos los reyes y sus pajes, el tractor se dirige para la sala al lado de la bar/ del restaurante.

The candlelit procession follows through the darkened streets.

La procesión de las luces sigue a través de las calles oscurecidas.

We walk back past the ayuntamiento. Outside the hall, we extinguish our torches in a bucket of water.

Caminamos detrás hasta el ayuntamiento. Fuera de la sala, apagamos nuestras antorchas en un cubo de agua.

The kings take their positions on the stage.

Los reyes toman sus posiciones en la sala.

Do you recognise this king?

¿Usted reconoce a este rey?

The page reads the village proclamation.

El paje lee la proclamación del pueblo.

Everyone pays attention.

Cada uno presta atención.

Then, the names of the children are read out and they go to receive their gifts from one of the kings.

Entonces, los nombres de los niños se leen y van a recibir sus regalos de uno de los reyes.

Not only children but adults too receive presents from the kings.

No solamente los niños reciben regalos, los adultos también reciben regalos de los reyes.

With many thanks to Pilar for help with the Spanish version.

It's Hallowe'en, (again!)

I'm sure there's nothing that says Hallowe'en parties must be on the 31st of October so we had one last Saturday at Rosi and Pablo's house. We were met at the door by this group of ghouls...

Click left on the picture to see it full size

...here's one of the extras from the Scream movies and friend...

...and a very pretty pumpkin modelled by an old crone...

...and finally, Count Drac himself - fangs for the memory!

Welcome to sunny, er, snowy Spain!

We have been having a mixture of weather for the last couple of weeks. It has been nice and fine and then we have had a couple of wet days. But now it has turned colder and although we haven't had snow or frost here yet, there was snow on the mountain range in the distance and it has turned very windy.

Peaceful it´s not...

It´s not a JCB, it´s a Fiat-Hitachi and here it is outside our front gate this morning breaking up the concrete between 2 lines which were cut last week.




The concrete outside of our house seemed harder than that further down the road and needed a lot of effort to get through.




After the digger had chopped the concrete it then went back down the road removing the broken concrete. More to come no doubt.

It´s really peaceful here...

We knew that work was due to start on the ermita and last Friday and Monday we had this little vehicle, a "bobcat", clearing the site at the front and back.


Also due to start was the replacement of the water pipe from the water tanks to go down the road and into the village so another digger started at this end today.


Meanwhile, a rather larger JCB is making it´s way up the road towards us and cutting the trench for the new pipe - it should be right outside our door tomorrow - can´t wait!



Meanwhile, it´s time for the farmers to collect their almonds in the fields. This video shows the easy way to do it. The attachment on the front of the tractor grips the tree then shakes it. Almond trees don´t need much shaking - the same method is used to collect the olives in December only olive trees need to be shaken vigorously, so everything around shakes.