A WALK THROUGH THE DEHESA TO VISIT BOTIJA MOLINO ON THE TAMUJA RIVER

Botija is a small village buried in the deep peace of the Extremadura countryside. It is surrounded by dehesa, rich grazing land for Iberic pigs, cows and sheep.
We walked along an ancient path to an 18th century mill complex recently restored.
There has been no rain for weeks so the Tamuja river was very dry, just some isolated stretches of water, no water running through the mill but we will return after some rain to see the dramatic rocks surrounding the mill forming a cascade as the water falls from the millpond back to the course of the river.

Manfred went ahead to deal with these cows, they went running off but those horns looked rather alarming.
On the way back we crossed an ancient stone bridge only just wide enough for a small cart.

Lots of pigs in the woods devouring the acorns, enjoying the sun and taking a wallow in mud pools. Delightful life until the day of the matanza and transformation into wonderful jamon .

A CELEBRATION OF AUTUMN

The chestnut woods are just at that magical moment between green and gold. The chestnuts have been harvested and roasted or preserved for use in delicious recipes throughout the winter.
It's now that a walk through the ancient chestnut woods of Montanchez is especially exhilarating, today was the day!

AFTERNOON WALK TOWARDS MONTANCHEZ

Another gorgeous day in the middle of November. Our afternoon walks are usually up the camino in front of the finca and maybe detouring through the woods on the way back.

Even though we have done the walk hundreds of times it never gets boring, depending on the time of the year there is always something new to observe.

Always love seeing the view of the cortijo surrounded by trees with the vast view of the olive groves in the background.

The dogs love every moment and difficult to disappoint them if we are not walking the whole way to Montanchez but only up to the point where the castle appears.

Sometimes we take a short cut back through the wonderful woods and olive grove on the high part of the finca.

MEDIEVAL MARKET IN CACERES - NOVEMBER 12 -15

JOLLY SUNDAY LUNCH IN NOVEMBER SUNSHINE AND A BIT OF BOATING

LOTTIE'S LEAP

A sunny day on the 1st of November in between the autumnal showers. We went on one of our favourite walks around the lake at Aldea del Cano where the Arroyo de Zafra has been dammed to create the Embalse de Nogales. Always delightful, especially now with all the green shoots coming up after the rain.

Lottie as usual made a beeline for the water, the Weimaraners are very cautious of cold water.
We went the long way around to take another look at the Visgoth anthropomorphic tombs still above the water line, they have a common east-west orientation, facing towards the east, following the Christian rite in the late-Roman and Visgoth period which in the Iberian Peninsula lasted from approximately AD 409 to AD 711, ending with the Arab conquest.

We relaxed for a while within the magical copse of ancient trees by the lake, such a timeless atmosphere of tranquility.