Author: Franco

Yucca Transportation

Francine has been wondering how to give our balcony a little lift, apart from its being adorned by Odonata examples of Octodoptera murdochii  and Gomphus oxfordiensis, that is. Our friend Jim, the discoverer of O. murdochii and who lives a

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Playtime at Last

The constant round of either waiting in for deliveries, waiting for (so-called) tradesmen and assembling things is drawing to a close. Fortunately, the bad weather that accompanied our work schedule also seems to have drawn to a close. At last

Posted in Spanish Venture Part 2

Cantabria Tales

Yes, I know, we’re about 8 hours drive away from Cantabria on the northern Spanish coast but I simply couldn’t let that sort of pun pass me by. At least we’re in Spain. Prologue When we leapt into this little

Posted in Spanish Venture Part 2

Traffic Chaos

From our little hacienda just up the valley from Jalón, there are three possible ways into the village (or it may be a small town) itself. The primary route is via a road bridge over the Riu Xaló [Jalón river].

Posted in Spanish Venture Part 2

Today’s Spanish Lesson

In my admittedly rather limited trips to Spain, I’ve never experienced anything like this. We’ve been coming here for two or three weeks at a time for the last seven years but I’d have to describe the weather that we’ve

Posted in Spanish Venture Part 2

Fit for Purpose?

Back in the UK our bed is what we Brits amusingly call a king-size, 5’ wide by 6’ 6” long. Acting on advice, we bought English bedding with us including fitted bottom sheets for a UK king-size bed. Having got

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Buzzing Bees, Chirping Crickets

Different weather in the valley. Friends more experienced than us at living here have often mentioned the varying weather from valley to valley. If the weather is pants in the Jalón valley, try popping over the hills into the next

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Still No Sign of Jalón

“Drip, drip, drip little April showers …” Actually, it’s March, still, and it’s more like March downpours than showers. Yes, we awoke once again to the sound of the rain which has now been with us for over 24 hours.

Posted in Spanish Venture Part 2

(Waking) Up in the Clouds

There have often been times at our favourite dog-sitting house down in the Jalón valley that we’ve stared westwards up the valley and watched the mountain/hill tops being obscured by a threatening set of gloomy low clouds. This morning waking

Posted in Spanish Venture Part 2

Two Visits

One of the challenges we’d begun to organize on Spanish Venture Part 1 was to get a quote for fitting shower screens, one to our upstairs/guest bathroom and another to our downstairs/main shower room. Upon our return this time, the

Posted in Spanish Venture Part 2