Personality of the month Joaquin

We are please to tell you that our lovely daughter Bec is engaged to be married to a wondeful young man, Joaquin is Spanish and has lived all his life in Rojales. He is quiet, caring and you only have to see him with Bec to know how much they love and care for each other. Time to start planning the wedding now would be great if the economic crisis was not an issue. As it is Joaquin is like so many others at present, struggling to find work. He is an excellent tiler, painter and general handyman plus a careful driver. Becs loves the fact that Joaquin is like her dad and can just about fix anything. We are all looking for work for him so feel free to put some his way. Joaquin is very patient with my poor Spanish and helps us a lot in learning the language. All his family live in the Rojales area, as with most Spanish families they are very close and do everything they can to help each other. Great big congratulations to the happy couple,

Angel moves in

We have been thinking about it for a while and on Saturday finally made the decision to give foster care to a dog. So while we were at the K9 animal rescue, La Marina animal welfare charity shop, we left our details with Brenda, later in the day we got a phone call to tell us that there was a dog that needed a temporary home, So yesterday morning Brenda from K9 club and the dog arrived. She is a medium sized dog called Angel and after a short while she is settling in well. Fostering a dog is an easy process and no expences need to be incurred as food, bedding and any vets fees are covered. It is a great idea for people who would like a dog or cat but cannot through other commitments have one permanently, and of course it is great for the animals as they have a caring environment while a permanent home is found for them.

Wild windy weather

Yesterday was a wild and windy day, winds were recorded at 150 Kilometres an hour. At La Nucia in the Benidorm area an electricity pylon was blown down which started a massive forest fire, this was fanned by the strong wind and by evening around 15000 people in 25 neighbourhoods had to be evacuated from their properties. The fire brigade, police and army from the Valencia and Madrid regions were still struggling to bring the fires under control at 01:00 this morning. There are three Canadair planes and a Kamov helicopter standing by to join in as soon as the wind conditions allow.
Elsewhere in the region roads were strewn with broken branches, fallen trees, tiles and TV aerials were blown from roofs. along the coast exposed to the wind, massive waves battered the sea walls. It looks like we were relatively lucky here on the Vega Baja although we did loose electricity for a small part of the day.

Cometh the hour cometh the man

Even in our little backwater there has been some excitment about the US getting a new President. Most people you speak to are happy and relieved to see the new President take office. We watched on CNN, courtesy of a 5 euro satellite receiver bought at a boot sale, regular readers will know we do not bother with UK TV. It was very moving to see the American people welcome this change. I thought President Obamas speech was quite uplifting. I particularly liked the line "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist" lets hope the thought takes hold.

British Indoor Market

A new British indoor market has opened on the road between Rojales and Formentera, the market hall was formally the alumininium window factory next to the Paint shop, when we visited today there was around 20 stalls, these comprised of food and household products, UK brand clothes, antiques and collectables, fresh fruit and vegetables, Meat and pies, Home made cakes, greetings cards, Videos and DVDs, second hand books, A Dutch food stall, Furniture, British sweets and jewellery, Jacuzzis, electrical goods and Aqua massage, Tea and coffee is available.
The Market is open every weekday from 10:00 - 14:00.
Its clear that someone has gone to a lot of trouble to set up this venture and we hope that it remains a success.