Well, not really, but because of the time of year, and because I’ve been up to my eyeballs in other projects I haven’t written anything on this blog for the last week or two. So this might be like the Christmas and New Year TV guides – a bumper issue! We’ve been away in Northern Ireland for a week, staying with Laurie and the grandchildren, and we had a fabulous time. Every minute spent with those wee dotes is so precious, and as you can imagine I was a bit of a wreck having to leave them. Still, I’m now planning the next visit over and keeping an eye on flight prices. Regrettably we didn’t manage to see half the people we wanted to – spending time with the children is always a priority and besides, it’s warmer for you to come and see us here!
One old friend we did manage to call with was Peter Thompson. He’s a very well known and well respected person around Dervock and Ballymoney, and is a brilliant historian, with a fantastic knowledge of the local area. He also has a military museum in his house, beautifully laid out and looked after, tracing the history of the military and police services in years gone by. Peter manages “The Dervock Page” on Facebook, and it is full of information about the village and its people. Have a look, I guarantee that you’ll wish you came from Dervock! Sign up and read it!
Because the pull of home increases with every year that passes, I think we will be looking to buy a place there as well as keeping our house here, so we can have easy access to both. It won’t be an issue given that we have Irish passports. We may, in the future, choose to be fiscally resident in Northern Ireland…why? Well our two incomes would have a personal tax allowance of at least £25,500 in NI, while in Spain the joint allowance is a meagre €12,000 and remember, the latter is in euros!
We’ve had a mini heatwave here over the last week, with temperatures hitting an easy 28C during the day, and around 14C at night. Lovely warm west and south breezes as well, as you can see from our weather vane on the front upper terrace. Really unusual though for December, even in southern Spain. However it’s been getting colder now, especially at night, and this week we are expecting temperatures of below freezing for a few nights. We’re very happy to have the two big log burners roaring away every evening, one in the sitting room and one in the snug. This is a sizeable house, over 250sqm, with the original 6 bedrooms and 4 reception rooms reconfigured to better suit our needs. We have no other means of heating except the hot and cold aircon unit in the bedroom, and it’s mainly used to keep us cool in the blazing heat of summer. We don’t need central heating as the log burners keep the whole house warm and cosy – the heat travels well upstairs, the thick walls hold in the heat and the whole house is toasty.
The husband has been very busy organising all the Christmas decorations. He loves it – he gets all the boxes out of the garage and goes through everything to decide what to use. We buy some new bits and pieces every year so this year we had far too many, and were able to bring a big bag of good decorations to the local charity shop in case anyone needs extra bits for their tree. So far he’s put up the tree and added some wee lights and bits in the snug, very Christmassy indeed! The photo above looks very plain without the decorations compared to the last photo in this blog issue.
I’ve started to plan the wee Christmas baskets we give to our fabulous neighbours. We don’t give presents, as such, but swop home-made goodies to enjoy. So from us they’ll be getting some limoncello, lemon curd and shortbread, all home-made. The shortbread is the easiest and most delicious thing ever, here’s the recipe:
Put 300g of plan flour, 200g of grated or chopped up butter and 100g of sugar into a bowl. Rub it with your fingertips as if you’re making pastry, till it looks like breadcrumbs. Sprinkle some sugar on the top. Put it all into a greased tin and press down – I use a tinfoil tray – and bake at 150C for about 45 minutes. If you use a smaller tin it will be thicker so allow an extra 15 minutes. Sprinkle on a bit more sugar if you like, and cut it into squares or fingers while still hot in the tin. Leave for a few minutes then put all the pieces on a wire rack to cool. Very, very moreish! You can add “stuff” if you like, even drizzle chocolate or icing over it – whatever you like.
If you’re wondering what this photo is about, it’s to show how busy the husband has been! Old houses like this one – well over 100 years old – need regular and timely maintenance, and I’m very happy to say that the husband is rather handy about the place. This is actually part of the outside wall in the side courtyard of the house – through there is the bodega, which from inside is accessed via a quite funky door at the far end of the kitchen.
Having noticed a few cracks appearing where the original pointing had crumbled, we felt it was time to replace it as quickly as possible. Peter did a great job, very neat and tidy, and it will last for many more years. He didn’t use the Spanish method – they scoop up the mix and fling it at the wall, meaning it’s very messy and there’s loads to scrape in and off both the wall and the ground. Years ago for doing a similar job in our previous house I had suggested he use a silicone icing piping bag which meant the mix went straight into the gaps like a dream, filling them well and leaving no mess at all. Teamwork – I come up with the ideas and he does the hard labour! He did a great job on the courtyard wall and it didn’t take too long to complete either. Incidentally, that faint line across the photo is only the shadow of the washing line and not an error in pointing!
Look at this, isn’t it lovely? This is one of our two local farmacias, or dispensing chemists in Fortuna, and the one we use most often. It is so beautifully laid out with items that hark to days gone by, with the older jars previously used to store all sorts of cures and treatments. It’s one place I never mind waiting in, there’s always so much to look at and admire, and the staff are just lovely! They never mind when I stumble over a word or two and are always happy to help me learn new terminology and pronounciation. Lovely, friendly people!
And speaking of lovely friendly people – here’s a couple more!
This is Loli and her husband Joachin – they manage our local bar, the Fuente Blanca. It’s also a little community centre and used to be the national school. It’s only 5 minutes away from us, in a tiny wee hamlet, and is a lovely place to while away an hour or two in good company. Loli is renowned for her excellent albondigas, or Spanish meatballs, and they are truly delicious! As you can see, they also make a very fine paella. We are always guaranteed a wonderfully warm welcome there and are met with hugs and kisses. Just lovely people!
All the public transport in Murcia city is currently free – a move to try to alleviate the amount of traffic while major roadworks are being undertaken. We always use the tram to go into the city, no hassle with other traffic, no parking problems, and a return trip only costs €1.40 so well worth it. We’re heading there in the next few days to see the Christmas lights. The city council had to hold back for the last couple of years due to the covid issue but have gone all out this year and spent almost €900,000 on putting on a great show. I’ll put up some photos next time. No need to batter round the shops or fight the crowds at checkouts – all my shopping is done, so we can just have a wee dander around the city and enjoy the magic of the lights and the little artisan market stalls. Well…..I suspect the husband hasn’t quite finished his shopping, he rather likes the mad melee of doing it on Christmas Eve – not wise, I say!
Oh for goodness sake, in the time I’ve been upstairs in the study writing this the husband has continued to decorate, adding a few more lights and bits to the snug! I think the house is likely to end up looking like Santa’s grotto by Christmas morning…but I don’t want to give him any ideas!
Tis the season, I wish you all a very merry everything and a happy ever after.
My life in Spain 