FINALLY, AT LONG LAST..........

Rather a long break.......but we have been busy. On Christmas Eve the dining room extension in the cortijo was finally finished......that is the builders left after the last swipe of the trowel leaving walls and ceiling saturated with the 100s of litres of water necessary for the building process. It has taken 2 months for the walls to dry out sufficiently for painting and another month for me to paint doors, cupboards and arrange the room around the long dining table.

An added bonus is that above the dining room there is now a wonderful roof terrace leading off the upstairs bedroom of the cortijo with the most beautiful views of the mountain and across the trees to Cornalvo.

Also some added book shelf space as we have separated the sitting room with tall doors bought in a junk shop set into an extended wall of books. At last I may be able to lay my hand on exactly the right information in exactly th e right book.......thank goodness internet has not taken the place of my beloved books.

Books in progress..........still lots of gaps for the books being brought up from the barn and of course the constant new editions

Besides being busy, busy in the house we have been taking long walks with the dogs in the splendid Spring weather. At the moment the white and yellow broom is drenching the air with a very heady scent, the slopes of the whole finca are swathed in yellow and white, really gorgeous. The fig trees are just coming into their first delicate leaves with tiny figs beginning to swell.

Animals are all well, no new foals this year. Roxy and Zeru are 6 months old now, getting lanky and more adventurous but continue to delight us with their antics, they are now micro -chipped which is apparently obligatory.

We have had our first b & b guests and dinner parties in the dining room so it is well and truly inaugurated and seems to work well especially as there is now access to the back terrace without having to go through the sitting room. I think the focus of the house will be more defined for Summer/ Winter use with the kitchen/ dining room/ terrace being more used in Summer and the porch/kitchen/ dining room and sitting room more used in Winter.

By the way we have some huge clay wine tinajas for sale, about 1.60 tall , about 60 years old and in perfect condition, also 40m2 of granite flag stones which you can see here in situ...........sadly this house is going to be renovated by the owner and this apparently means ripping up the traditional passage way floor which was always laid with strong granite flags as there was constant traffic of donkey laden with produce destined for the bodega in the cellar or the lofts for grain, olive oil and jamons. Shame because this is a wonderful house in Montanchez and it will now be lost in an avalanche of shiny modern tiles and ornate fixtures and fittings....que pena!!

Please enquire if interested in purchasing tinajas or flags.