home sweet home/hogar dulce hogar

2009-10-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

After a long hot summer when i wasnt able to do anything during the day except read and drink we finally got around to constructing the new bathroom.

First of all we had to set up a base to raise one of the terraces -but this is going to serve as the compost ´bin`.Then it just a matter of laying out the beams once the blocks were all levelled out.

As its all from a bought kit then the walls are just panels that need joining together.

Then it was nail the roofing on and ta-taaa one new bathroom.......well the outside at least,next week the floorboards and the rest of it!

good job that the foreman is on hand to keep us on the job or we´d be skiving off for a beer!!!

SUMMERS HERE

2009-07-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Well not much being going on so far this year. We had a lot of rain this spring which didnt allow much building work but helped the garden a lot-had a good crop of beans and peas.There was one weekend when a tornado came over and lifted the roof off,so now its weighted down with blocks!

Now summers got here and the sunshine-too hot to do much physical work thats the only problem! Its still daylight until 10 though so on an evening we get a bit done-well carmen does a lot during the day too but then shes a local!! Shes been building new garden plots and at the moment weve started on the compost base for the new bathroom-the shed will go up at the start of autumn(hopefuly).
Also started to arrange the steps to be able to enter the path to get down to the house safefully at last...before the arthritis sets in and we cant manage it anymore.

As it rained so much the arroyo is still running well and giving us enough water to be able to look after the veggies ok!

WINTER WONDERS

2009-02-04T05:13:00.000-08:00

This winter has been a strange one weather wise to let us do much work.There has been a mix with rainy days ,sun and high winds -the only thing that we haven´t seen,although they tell me that some fell when we weren´t there,has been snow.Also the freezes at night have killed off some of the plants and affected the beans,i did manage to rescue some early spuds though!
Therefore we´ve just been doing maintenance work along with the odd decorative touch.Cleaning out more space and burning on windfree days,finishing off the sink and wiring the electric system up from the new solar panels being the more important.

I´ve also started setting up this springs project of a toilet on top of the compost,although taking a second(and third)look at it i think that the compost base is going to be better with a fixed wall base rather than the pallets.

This last weekend we went and found that the previous weekends gales had blown off the plastic and part of the roof,although as i had to rush to put it back on before nightfall and the rains came then we weren´t able to take any photos-but the fog did give us a different view of the mediterranean.

Autumn cleaning

2008-11-21T04:34:00.000-08:00

At this time of year i generally cleasn out the undergrowth that has grown over the last year and push back a few metres more leaving a fire limit that bit further away-it also leaves me with a bit more space for the veggie patch. And as its rained so much then its all damp so ive made the most of a wind free weekend to burn all that ive cleaned out.

rain stops play

2008-11-21T04:17:00.000-08:00

As its been raining so much throughout the beginning of autumn this year we`ve not been able to do much. The only problem is that the more it rains then the more holes you find in your roof so i ended up renewing the plastic layer with the help of our mate Dave .....unfortunately Carmen decided to take the photos at the end of the work and not during so you dont get to see much!!!

Not being able to do things outside then i didnt have an excuse for not setting up the sink inside-its getting too cold for Carmen to be doing the washing up outside! So i got going on the structure at least.

QUE LLEGA OTOÑO

2008-09-24T10:25:00.001-07:00

Summers over and autumns here, the waters running dry but at least the plants have survived.Its not so hot anymore and one can get some work done on an evening -although nights falling earlier every day,until the hour changes at least.Ive got some new steps put in so that Carmen can finally get down the terrace without tripping up and shes carried on with the wall to finish off the pool base.

Then when we started to think about how long the beck would run for it started to rain -leaving it all a bit muddy so that Carmen made the most of the opportunity to do a bit more work on the porch floor.

EL PORCHE

2008-09-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well its been a long dry summer and theres not been a lot going on at home -just regular visits to water the garden and sort the drip system out. Unfortunately the hosepipe kept blocking and the neighbours horse walked on it and opened a junction so i kept on losing water or it didnt arrive at the deposit. Thats meant that the veg patch has suffered dryspells so not much of a crop-the only thing that ive had much of an exit with has been the onions cause they dont need much looking after!
Anyway its been so hot that during the day theres not been much that one can do but sit around reading-well me anyway ,Carmen is more used to it being from this area so shes been doing bits of her walls and suchlike. The problem is that we havent had any shaded areas outside to sit under to do the reading in so we finally got around to setting up a porch,on a day when it was cloudy.
Next year no more problems with the shade!!!!!

The most surprising thing has been the frights given to Carmen by the squaters! Lo mas sorprendientes ha sido los sustos dado a Carmen por los okupas!!!!

LA NOCHE DE SAN JUAN

2008-07-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

La noche de San Juan y claro tenimos que montar una hoguera. Una buena manera de quemar unos restos de madera que he tenido tirado por alli por unos años. Y para aprovechar del fuego pillamos una docena de sardinas para hacer a la brasa. Lo disfrutamos tanto que el dia despues lo repitimos con unas patatas!

Summers here

2008-06-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

At last the rain has stopped and let the sun come out. Everything is looking lush and shooting up, all the transplants have taken well besides having a battle with slugs and caterpillers and soon we shall be collecting the onions-earlier here than what im used to.this years experiments lentils and soya are looking good but the chickpeas are a bit of a letdown after doing well over the last few years.And in the compost the gherkins and marrows look as though theyll be taking over the area soon.

After all the work one needs a good cool off!

RAIN

2008-06-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

Well at last it seems that the gods -or whatever you want to call them!-remembered that theres a period that comes between winter and summer called spring and decided to let it rain for the last month and a bit.Came just in time to fill up the waterbutts and pool and also do some transplanting but its put everything back behind schedule, at least now that the grounds all wet and with some sunshine that should change quickly.
It also allows us to carry on working on projects that seemed to be put to one side for the time being but as it was muddy the stones went in easy!

spring flowers

2008-05-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

With the Spring the flowers are starting to show and as Carmen has finished her wallgarden (the first one anyway) colour has come to home.

Con la primavera los flores han salido y como Carmen ha terminado su jardin murallada -bueno,el primero por lo menos- color ha venido a casa

la balsa

2008-05-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

Cuando hice la casa encontramos unas balsas de salvavidas tiradas en el basurero y de eso construi un deposito de agua con paredes de madera sujetandolo arriba. Pero las lluvias que cayeron en octubre (y la carcoma!!) me han tirado un lado abajo.Entonces la he quitado y puesto una nueva para tener algo de agua(esperamos!) para la huerta este verano, y a ver si nos bañamos antes que se ensucie.

la huerta -spring

2008-05-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

Bueno la primavera ya esta aqui-solo hace falta que caigan unos ´spring showers` (lluvias primaverales). En la huerta ya esta dando señales de vida -las patatas, las cebollas y los ajos van bien, el cilantro esta en flor y los semilleros estan llenos de plantones para ir transplantando estos meses, lo unico son los guisantes que van pobres y los garbanzos que despues de años de exito solo han salido 4!!!! esto de la huerta tiene sus lios.

Lo mejor es que cuando tienes vecinos a lo lejos uno puede estar trabajando agusto!

la casa

2008-04-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

la structura

2008-04-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

los partes

la structura

2008-04-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

situada abajo

la gran muralla de carmen

2008-04-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

bulbos

2008-04-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

spring cleaning

2008-04-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

tokecitos de carmen

2008-04-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

tokecitos de woody

2008-04-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

miscelaneos

2008-04-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

el montaje1

2008-04-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

el montaje

2008-04-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

la huerta-preparacion

2008-04-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

la huerta-invierno

2008-04-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

2008-04-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

amiguetis

2008-04-23T09:47:00.001-07:00

coco

los amiguetis

2008-04-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

mimosin

cielos1

2008-04-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

el panadero

2008-04-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

LA CALABAZA GIGANTE

2008-04-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

straight from the garden

de la huerta

cielos2

2008-04-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

los almendros en flor

2008-04-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

interior decorating

2008-04-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

aqui teneis algunos imagenes del interior de la casita

here we have some views of the inside