The heavy rain comes

We have just had our first heavy rain since last year, although Joaquin spent a week last year repairing the roof we still had several leaks, although the really heavy rain only lasted an hour the pool filled up a couple of inches, so i had to pump some of the water away, the good thing is the ground has had a thorough saturation which will really plump up the olives and lemons ready for a good crop in November.
Last week signs went up on the road into Blanca as there is a real subsidence at the riverside by the old wash house, this is just as you go into Blanca there are big cracks in the road and Mary always asks me to drive fast over it. i should not think this rain will do it any good and the town hall will need to dig deep to find funds for what looks like a costly repair job. Apparently the rains caused a large rock slide above the town but no  people were hurt or property damaged.
The two new footbridges over the river are still not finished, they  have been constructing them since spring and now they are putting the wood on them, i have heard they cost 250,000 euros.

Crafting in Spain

It is strange but I often find that having mentioned something on the blog I then see its being done or in the pipeline. I was only saying this area has so much to offer and then I find a neighbour has been thinking along the same lines! Whats more along with all the natural assets of the area they have talents galore to share. So if you are looking for a nice break with lots of interesting ways to pass the time look no further. Do give Yvonne a call, she can organize your stay for you. We can almost certainly  throw in some sunshine too!

Crafting In The Ricote Valley, Murcia Spain

Card Crafting - 10 euros 1st hour (6e per hour thereafter) take what you make.

Jewellery Classes - *from 10 euros per hour take what you make.

All inclusive 2 day craft course

All materials, light lunch & refreshments both days, 3 course evening meal with wine or beer. 1 night stay at my bungalow with breakfast 110e per person for card crafting or130e jewellery making. Crafting from 10.30 am -1 pm and 4 pm – 6.30pm both days or 1 morning seeing the sights, its up to you.

* (additional fee charged to work with semi-precious stones or Swarovski Crystal. To be specified when booking)

Take a day or two away from the crowds at the beach. Blanca is a typical Spanish town surrounded by mountains and lemon trees. You can walk along the meandering river into town(perhaps stopping for a drink at the riverside bar) where you will often see people picnicking, fishing, swimming and canoeing, carry on out of town to the lake or take the mountain walking trails with fabulous views. There is a municipal park where the townsfolk play bowls, tennis courts, basketball and football courts. Indoor & outdoor swimming pools. Canoeing (water rafting can be arranged).

Spanish cafe bars offering tapas, an Al A Carte Restaurant, shops, supermarkets and banks. The Theatre has occasional Spanish dancing & orchestral music. We must not forget the now famous Pedro Cano Foundation Art Centre and the Light & Water Museum. Local market on Thursdays. All this is a two minute drive or 10 minute walk of the bungalow. Sunday Artisan craft markets, restaurants, architectural and cultural interests can be found in towns within a 15 minute drive. Just a twenty minute drive to the Spa hotels and pools of Archena.

Blanca is just 1 hour drive from Alicante Airport and Murcia (San Javier) Airport and the coast.

Menu of the day can be arranged (to be specified when booking).

Call me, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised

Yvonne 625997049

Riverside fire

The bamboo at the side of the River Segura in Blanca town has been cut down and set alight, whether this was on purpose or not i dont know, but a team of at least a dozen fireman were on hand this morning keeping control of the blaze and damping down the cliff face. the heat was fairly intense and could be felt from the other side of the river.

Let the Lion roar

This is wrong, very wrong indeed. As reported in a posting a few days ago the pool is ready, Johns reputation as the best pool keeper in Blanca is unchallenged its looking great. So whats the problem? quite simply its cloudy weather for a third day and we have rain forecast. We had just about given up on getting any rain at all this winter having nearly got through February and  March without any much to write home about. Not that we do not want rain, indeed we are pretty desperate for a good downpour. Looking over the campo we can see many citrus trees that are suffering from lack of water. We are guessing that growers are hanging out for at least some free water. The price of lemons is through the floor, with Turkish imports killing the local market. Incidentally its not only the growers who are suffering because of this. Packers work on an as and when basis and there has very little call to work for the ones at the local warehouses this winter.
Water costs money and although it may seem cheap if you only want to water a few terraces like us if you have to work it into the cost of growing commercially it looks like many are just not able to afford the price. We are hoping the rain does come in reality, our leisure  activities can hold fire, It is so much more important that the local market gardeners get that free water before the summer. They may not sell the lemons this year but the trees need to be taken care of for the coming ones. So fingers crossed for a bit of drip drip drop little April showers and maybe the reverse of the old saying, March having come in like a lamb will go out like a lion.
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footnote

Photo taken from Villa Alba yesterday.
I wrote this post last night - then it started raining and its not stopped since!

Wierd Experience

Around 3.00am this morning, i was woken by the dogs around the campo all barking like mad,then i heard the sound of what seemed like a very powerfull engine go overhead, i sat up in bed and looked out the window and the sky was a bright red which faded silhouetting the hills over Blanca. I jumped out of bed and went to the window but by then the red glow had faded completely,and there was no sound,(even the dogs had stopped barking). what ever it was moved very fast although the engine seemed like it was just idling, because this happened in no more than 5 or 6 seconds. Today we have been smelling a indistiguishable chemical type of scent in the air, Was the happening chemical spraying? was it a UFO?

Celebration

Yesterday afternoon was the celebration of David and Adrians 1st year at their house just outside Blanca, as the crow flies they are about 500 metres from us, but by road its about a 1.5 kilometres, they have had a lot of work done and its certainly starting to take shape, although there is still plenty to do,-always is though..... they have had many ups and downs with this property - poorly done work having to be redone and work not completed. so hopefully all is now on the up. So about 15-20 of us celebrated their first year with plenty to drink and eat, a bathe in the pool and some great company,it was nice to make some new friends, Of course the weather was perfect for being in and around the pool relaxing.

Cieza Market

We decided to go to Cieza and its market today, and it was very good with loads of stalls with a good variety of products, there must have been at least 30 fruit and vegetable stalls with lovely fresh produce, and very very cheap, potatoes were 30 cents a kilo, tomatoes on the vine 70 cents a kilo,large lettuce 3 for a euro, cherries and small plums 1 euro a Kilo, i would say it is as good if not better than Guardamar market.
We had a walk round part of Cieza after we had shopped and it is a lovely town with many of the streets tree lined and shady and quite a few pedestrian only areas.

Lorca Earthquake

Around 17:00 on May 11th there was a small shallow earthquake at Lorca Murcia, 2 hours later a stronger one of 5.2 magnitude which has caused substantial damage to the town and latest reports of 9 fatalities and 327 injuries, 3 of them serious, 420 military personnel are helping the local emergency services with Search and Rescue and any other help needed, around 40% of the buildings have been damaged in the town,
A team of 150 technicians have performed inspection tasks in Lorca and have been responsible for cataloging the damaged properties 17% from those inspected received a red circle. A red circle means access is dangerous and refused. 44% had a green circle marking (safe to enter) and the remaining 39% received a yellow circle, allowing only access to collect furniture and other belonging.
3500 beds have been made available for victims of the earthquake.
Emma and family passed through Lorca at around 16:30 on a return trip from Cordoba, and nearly stopped for a meal but luckily decided against it.
We were in Blanca (around 100kms from Lorca) at the time and did not now anything about the event until around 22:00 as we did not have the radio or TV on. We felt no ground tremors at all.