Colin's 69th birthday!

The day started with breakfast on the terrace and opening 2 of the presents which had arrived. First was a Brush Robot.

To see the video of the assembled Brush Robot performing, click HERE.

The 2nd present was a  lovely cotton top which will be well used later in the year.

The main event of the day was lunch with friends, first course, gazpacho soup with all the trimmings.

 2nd course was stuffed pork loin en croute...

...served with ratatouille, broccoli and potatoes.

For dessert, Margaret had made a Summer Pudding...

...served with cream - splendid for this time of the year.

Then the birthday cake - we had this made from at our favourite pastelería, Guarc in Valdealgorfa. Although it resembles a Yin-Yang symbol, there are 2 numbers which make up the design and reveal my age!

 And of course it is served with cava.

 After the cake, more presents...

...and then Maria made the ultimate Gin and Tonic for each of us. 

What a wonderful celebration!
To see the video, click HERE.

Sasha meets her new mam and dad

On the 17th July Gimena gave birth to her litter of puppies.

2 days later we made our choice of Sasha, a brown female puppy. The brown colouration is also termed red or red rust. 

The photo above shows Sasha at 2 days...

...and the one above at 9 days.

We visited and met her when she was 12 days old.

The lighter areas are clearly seen on her paws, around her mouth and above her eyes.

In the photo above Sasha almost has her right eye open...

...but then it's feeding time and Gimena gets on with the task so well. 

Sasha will be coming to live with us in September.

Celebrating our wedding anniversary

This year we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary early by going to one of our favourite restaurants Les Moles...

...and we were not disappointed with what was on offer in this Michelin star restaurant.

For starters Margaret had the Vichyssoise, I had sauté vegetables, salteado de verduras.

2nd course, Margaret had Merluza a la Romana, battered fried hake, I had Magret de Pato, roast duck breast shown in the photo above.

For the sweet course or postre, Margaret had fresh pineapple, I had Crema Catalana, one of my favourite dishes at this restaurant. This was accompanied by a bottle of their own label red wine from the local Terra Alta region and a bottle of water - Margaret was driving! Incredible value for €18 each. A great celebration.

A visit to meet our new Dobes mum.

Her name is Gimena and she is adorable. She is still quite young and this is her 2nd litter. The father is Koktebel de Grande Vinco who has an impressive pedigree.

There should be some very nice puppies born on 15th July and ours, a female, will be one of them. Hopefully, a worthy successor to Hona.

All the Dobes here had wonderful temperaments and immediately welcomed us as long, lost friends. They like sitting on your feet as they rest so that they know immediately when you move so they can be with you.

A wedding in the ermita.

It's the big day for our friends Christina and Carlos who are getting married in the ermita.

The ermita is packed full of friends and family for the proceedings.

San Juan oversees the service from his position behind the altar...

...and rings are exchanged.

As Christina and Carlos leave there is the traditional throwing of rice...

...and then drinks are served while the official photographer takes photos of everyone.

San Juan

The midday mass takes place as usual in the ermita with the statue of San Juan, Saint John the Baptist, often known as Saint John the Forerunner, overseeing the proceedings from behind the altar. Today marks his birthday, 6 months before Christ.

The ermita was packed out, standing room only,...

...and the choir were in fine voice as the musicians gave it their all.

The day is split into 3 parts; the mass, the meal and then the dancing in the camino. Notice Margaret's dress changes!

The meal took place in the polideportivo, (the still unfinished sports hall - at least it provided welcome shade),...

...and consisted of 3 courses, even the wine was specially labelled.

Everyone was in good festive spirit.

Margaret was taking a low profile as it was still only 11 days since her major surgery but she managed to smile throughout.

In the evening people congregated in the camino outside our house next to the ermita...

...where the group played, everyone danced and drank cava and ate cakes.

Our peña wore garlands as we were also celebrating the forthcoming wedding of Christina, 5th from the left in the front row, to Carlos which will take place in the ermita next Saturday, 1st July.

Although it had been quite a hot day the coolness of the evening meant that people could start to enjoy the dancing.

The dancing went on until late and everyone really entered into it.

Certainly a great celebration of San Juan's birthday!

Margaret's operation

It is Tuesday 13th June and we head to the Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet in Zaragoza getting there at 10:40. Margaret checks in and at 14:45 is taken to the operating theatre for the operation on her lower back.

At 20:20 she is returned to her room after spending a while in recovery and she is bright and alert. Three of her lower vertebrae have been secured with 2 titanium plates, one at each side, held in place by 6 screws. This is prevent further degeneration and provide support.

She remains in bed all day Wednesday but on Thursday feels that she wants to get up - she is given permission to sit on her bed which she is able to do for several minutes until she starts to feel a little faint and dizzy.

On Friday she again sits on her bed and in the chair, longer this time and in the afternoon has a slow, short walk.

She has 28 staples holding her wound together as well as 2 tubes which are effectively draining her kidneys into bottles, a catheter tube and bag and a needle into the back of her hand through which she is fed with a calming drip including pain relief 

On Saturday all her tubes are removed and she walks along the hospital corridor at a slightly faster pace. On Sunday she even manages to walk up and down 2 flights of stairs. Monday she is discharged. 

What a recovery! However, now she has to take things easy for a while. I had imagined taking Margaret from the hospital 10 days after the operation in a wheelchair - Margaret imagined at least she would be on crutches. This would be followed by a few months of gradually getting back on her feet and gentle physiotherapy. Today the surgeon said she should take gentle exercise such as walking to the village bar for a coffee - very Spanish! We'll see how it goes, maybe the surgeon doesn't know that our village bar is quite a distance away so we'll start off with a few walks around the garden.

We are just so full of gratitude to the surgeon and the hospital for the fact that the expertise and technology exist to make all this possible.