The castañar walk in Montanchez, amazing bluebells this year

 

Another visit to the molinos near Botija, one of our favourite walks, Spectacular after the spring rains

One of the most wonderful walks from Finca al-manzil. Totally emblemic of the Extremadura dehesa and the meandering Tamuja river with an original molino as an historical architectural attraction. Bird watching is amazing in this totally untouched environment. If you walk beyond the molino there is a celtic-iberic site Villaviejas, super interesting, see the blog post here:

 https://finca-al-manzil.blogspot.com/2017/05/botija-and-walk-to-villaviejas-celtic.html 

An evening visit from a white wanderer

We have opened the gate from the horse pasture so the  horses and donkey can wander freely on the finca, they are taking full advantage, munching on all the summer dried hay. Lovely to see them close to the cortijo, they come to say hello in the evening and maybe get an extra treat of dried figs or old bread.

Up above the clouds at Montanchez castle

Walk around Presa de Ayuela

Another lovely walk around this small lake near Casas de Don Antonio. Very easy and flat, good views of Montánchez in the near distance, lots of animal activity. Today it was a baby donkey and a perfect performance by two sheepdogs guarding and herding a flock of about 100 sheep around the lake. It was incredible, the care and discipline the dogs demonstrated, we passed the shepherd who was in his car going home for lunch, he left his flock in the sole care of the dogs who were gently herding them back to the village by themselves.

Walk along the Tamuja

The last time we did this walk it was in May, with lack of rain the cattle and sheep had eaten the sparse grass down to the earth, the scenery was dusty and brown with just a trickle in the river. 
Here in Extremadura the coming of the rain transforms the landscape almost within hours. With the sustained rainfall we have had spread over the last two months we knew the walk along the Tamuja would have been restored to a verdant paradise, a perfect example of the iconic Extremadura eco system at work.  And so it was, the river was brimming, lush green grass, Iberic pigs, cows and sheep grazing under the holm oaks, stunning.

 Our usual destination, an ancient watermill only added to the beauty of the environment, as usual it was all for us, not one other person in sight.At the mill we crossed the weir to walk back on the other bank to see different aspects of the scenery.

On our way home to the finca we stopped off, as usual, in Salvatierra de Santiago for lunch at the Bar Fé, our favourite place for many reasons.

Christmas pursuits 2019

What a gorgeous Christmas day in the Sierra de Montanchez!
After several days of storms, strong winds and torrential rain we have arrived at a tranquil haven with the benefit of lush green meadows and flowing fuentes, something magical after a year of meagre rainfall almost to the point of desperation towards the end of last summer.
After a sumptuous brunch we started our walk to Manfred's olive grove high up in the sierra overlooking the village of Arroyomolinos, we love this walk because on reaching the olive grove there is the most marvellous sense of peace and isolation, the camino goes no further and the grove hangs over the precipitous gorge with vast vistas beyond.

The hike was certainly enough to work up a good appetite, we were happy to get home to the finca for yet more food and drink, in this case gravlax tapas with dill cucumber, dates wrapped in jamon and some excellent cava, that was enough until dinner.

Oh yes, this is a Christmas food fest even though it's just me and Manfred this year.
Dinner…..duck breasts roasted with clementines, sesame seed, soya sauce and garlic with asparagus, roast potatoes and parsnips….and we still haven't reached the red berry pudding with cream and nuts.
In the meantime we are messing around with the new "smart" t.v. and streaming possibilities, ooohoo! For us this is an amazing technical advance, we will see if it will change our daily rhythms, it's seductive but quite limited in what could be of interest so perhaps back to books and music....here's one of my most wonderful Christmas presents, endlessly stimulating, a great resource for art projects.

Well Christmas day is drawing to a close but looking forward to tomorrow, we will be visting our favourite bar in Salvatierra de Santiago and going for another walk. Love this peaceful time of the year before the start of the renting season with new acquaintances and lots of fun.

Battle of Arroyomolinos re-enactment: the French retreat

Every year on or around October 28 our nearest village of Arroyomolinos re-enact different aspects of the battle fought in the village in 1811. The British, Spanish and Portuguese troops made a surprise attack on the French who were occupying Arroyomolinos on the morning of October 28 during a torrential thunder storm. Several thousand troops and cavalry were involved, the French were soundly defeated, nearly all captured but a small contingent escaped over the mountain to Trujillo, their base at the time. The re-enactment this year portrayed the efforts of the allied forced to cut off the retreat across the rugged terrain of the mountain side. 
As usual the local population of Arroyomolinos made a wonderful effort with convincing costumes and very loud canon fire. 

 After the battle…...