Red Hot......

It's been a while since I've been on this bloggy thing. We're now in the Alpujarra, Andalucia, following a journey that was little short of Hell!

The van played up for the entire time, with dash lights flashing etc. Then, just to cap it all, having reached Spain, shortly after crossing the border from France - where, as usual, there was no trace of immigration or customs controls - my car, an ageing Honda CRV, began to run a tad hot!  Not ideal when facing a lengthy traverse of the country from North to South!

I had to resort to driving with all windows open, sunroof open, and....and......and.....the bleeding heater on, just to take the excess heat from the engine!  Far from useful in hot, steamy, summertime Spain.

Running Hot!!!!

The temperature stayed like this for the entire run through Spain, a troubling sight.

The van was carefully loaded and Janet did all of the driving with it: it was a relief when The Pyrenees finally hove into view in the distance:

We finally stopped for the night at a Motel we knew, which is passable and takes pets - almost unheard of in Spain!

On the second day, it was back to endlessly following the bleeding van down the steamy, Spanish autovias:

Jack was fairly good, albeit fed-up, and needed frequent drink breaks, as did we all, including the car!:

We finally arrived in the village, at the house, in early evening of the second day, after a gruelling twelve hour drive South from the overnight stop. We were all knackered but relieved to have arrived and survived the ordeal. Even Charlie was prepared to forgive us, I think. He spent most of the journey quietly in his cage, with the occasional whimper and demand for attention/affection:

We unloaded on the next day, with help from friends from  a neighbouring village:

Kitchen Chaos

Sitting Room Equally Chaotic

We had no electricity, of course. Just what we needed in hot Spain, where temps have been around 30 degrees every day since our arrival. No electricity of course meaning, no fridge! Tenants who had rented the place for about six months, a few years ago, upped and offed without paying the electricity bill so the meter had been removed. That took me over a week to sort out and a payment of about 500 Euros to the supply company. I finally got it sorted, together with phone/internet access only today! Manana, indeed!

J is in London today but returns tomorrow, flying into Malaga airport from Gatwick. The place is now fairly organised, so hopefully she'll be happy! The views are fine, though the heat is a tad too much for me, enervating and exhausting, especially at night. Maybe we'll have to invest in Air Con - 'twould certainly be welcome!

A bit more order now in place:

I've already seen a pair of one of my favourite local birds, Golden Orioles: 

Views from roof terrace in no particular order:

The hill behind the house, Natural Parkland, part of the Sierra Nevada National Park:

Surprisingly, given the temps on the journey down, all of the plants survived intact and in fruit!:

The fountain by the front of house:

And the same Fuente being put to good  use by a few of the locals: 

Jack finds the heat hard going at times, I'm sure. But, then again, don't we all!? He has taken to napping on the cool tiled floor whenever the opportunity presents itself for a bit of R&R:

Charlie, as I'd expect, is a trifle more unsure at times. His curiosity, however, tends to win, though he has taken to leaping from this first floor sitting room window to the Calle below when unexpected or unknown visitors call!:

At other times, and just to flummox me, I'm sure, he's pretty laid back, albeit draped over a significant three storey drop!!:

He has met his nemeses here though, a feral/stray ginger tom with a remarkable appetite for violence towards my buddy! No doubt, he'll get the hang of things in time. For now, he spends more time indoors than usual, obviously avoiding the threatening behaviour of the local Toms!

For my part, I'm content to sit of an evening as the place cools a bit, with a glass of plonk and a book in the shade, listening to the sound of the fountain, running in the background, with fresh mountain water:

And it was good to come across this optimistic fellow traveller about one hundred Kms North of Granada, probably Africa-bound. It made me feel that despite our overheating and other mechanical problems, we'd probably make it okay. I only hope he did, too!:

Anyone fancy an olive?......: