Busy

 There are still a few hot spots appearing from the fire, they have been using thermal imaging drones to detect possible problems then dealing with them, so grateful for technology

A busy week, we suggested that R & A could store their belongings in the casita, thus saving them 90e a month from being in storage, so we had Theo whilst they borrowed our car to move as many boxes as they could, then we had great fun cooling off in the pool, still more to do before the end of the month

I bought some cat litter trays only 2.95 each, we then used one for dried rice, using tubs and scoops for fun, hardly any spillage and the other I put in lots of sparkly pom poms of various sizes which was great fun for  sorting, colours, counting and then incorporating cars and lorries as transporters. That kept Theo entertained for ages.

Theo has been doing potty training for the last 3 weeks and he has taken to it so well, hardly any mishaps, he was ready and now he accepts it as the norm.

During our call tonight he said the car had a broken light because it hit a tree, I asked who hit the tree, "Oh Daddy did" lol out of the mouths of babes eh, lol

I have been making beaded anklets for my board at Maria´s, we haven´t been there for ages so it was nice to go and catch up, we came away with 80e from my board and post cards, wow, incentive or what to update and continue

Keep forgetting to take pics, must rectify that, anyway keep safe

take care

xcx

Update

Gosh what a week, constantly monitoring the situation, seeing the fire expand, licking its flames onto some of the larger towns. People rallying round to help others with accommodation and pet rescue. Then it suddenly spread sideways coming nearer, but that was hit with plane upon water plane and helicopters.

Then out of the blue, a weather front appeared and saved some of the towns with 43mm of rain in a couple of hours, it certainly helped the progress but not enough to extinguish it. Our valley didn´t get any rain, so we are still parched. When you consider the weeks on end we had so much rain earlier in the year it all just evaporates

Hot spots kept appearing and it would flare up again, apparently due to the ground being so hot  that flares keep appearing. 

There are 4 stages to the fire according to the authorities, stage one has been raging all week, but thank goodness, news has just come in that its reached stage 2, so under control but not out. 

The forest area will take ages to regenerate but as we know the seeds lay dormant then with rain they will spring back and start to spread, nature has it´s ways 

I suppose you could say life can be complacent, so never under estimate nature and enjoy today just because.

take care

xcx

Very scary

We had a thunder storm on Sunday, mainly in the next valley to us, only a little rain though, but the horrific part of natures storm is that it started a wildfire. This area is mainly campo with animals, forests and farming.

I woke Sunday night to smelling smoke in the bedroom then hubby said the lounge was filled with smoke too.  Then Monday came the news that the fire was out of control and spreading. We have access to a fire watch site which allows us to see what is happening. The air was acrid with smoke, our valley was filled with it and we could see the amber glow of the fire away in the distance. Unfortunately, August is when we have a lot of wind, not helping at all.

Again Monday night we had smoke hanging in the air in the house. Today it was reported that there are 26 plane and helicopters in the vicinity, 65 personnel, the fire was covering over 65km and so many town have been evacuated and over 1200 people displaced. It´s heartbreaking, on the site there are people people volunteering transport and housing for animals along with requests for housing.

This evening it is reported the fire has widened, encompassing more towns, villages, with more evacuees. Back in 2016 the area around Javea had huge fires, which were frightening and horrendous, but this one is 11 times bigger.

The advice is to prepare evacuation bags containing essentials, medication, documents etc, so scary, we only have a normal car so how would we transport 8 furries in their carriers also where would we go. We have two ways out, one is through very wooded  twisty road, the other our normal is similar. 

Imagination running riot at the moment, it spreads so quickly, the dedication of the personnel dealing with this are too be applauded, these brave people continuously bringing the water planes and those on the ground, they are amazing.

We are safe at the moment, wind change or mishap, I just ask for protection from the powers that be, all we can do is wait 

xcx

Fiesta

I am so pleased for Rebecca, she has secured a new position, Monday to Friday which works with nursery, although a few Grandma duties needed here and there. It means weekends are relatively free for altogether time and a few adjustments into menu planning etc means it should work out.

Well, a week has passed since the fiesta, where it went I don´t know, the numbers attending were vastly down on previous years, to be honest I didn´t make an appearance for one reason or another, Friday I needed to get some rest ready for Grandma duties the next day, although the band was so loud that was very difficult, then Saturday I was pooped, luckily they band wasn´t so loud enabling me to sleep. They didn´t finish until 3am. Sunday with not so many attending they finished early. The charengito was collected, along with the extra bins, the bar was dismantled, all the bunting removed and you wouldn´t have known anything had occured.

Sunday morning church service where Santa Barbara is paraded around the plaza followed by the congregation 

This is the little church were we had our wedding blessing

I hope you are all finding ways to keep cool in these high temps, we are up again today 38.5 with a hair dryer wind, grey water being used for plants as usual. I´m so pleased that we have our new taps as it´s much easier to turn them off whilst teeth cleaning washing hands etc.

Theo has been doing his potty training, he took to it straight away, very little mishaps, marvelous 

He has gained so much confidence in the water that pool time has been great fun.

Keep cool, enjoy the weekend

take care

xcx

Not a lot

Been keeping our heads down as our temps have been quite high. Several occasions reaching 40c but mostly between 34-36 now. Consequently the temp in the pool is a very pleasing 30c, no cold water shocks, bit of a wimp with cold water. Managed to increase the lengths to equate to 400m, not every day but every little helps. Theo has been enjoying the pool too, he loves to jump off the side and is gaining confidence in the water, with that and the trips to the beach, he is quite the water baby.

Rebecca has been looking for a job, always a difficult search but in the mean time with Theo going to nursery every day for full days she has taken what she could which has mainly been villa cleaning. Not a particularly pleasant job, especially in these temps so I take my hat off to her. I´ve been doing Grandma duty for the times when work and nursery conflict. She had an interview yesterday so we are keeping our fingers crossed for her.

It´s been quite busy in the plaza, they are having the annual fiesta weekend again, first since covid. trimming, strimming, freshening up. They delivered the charengito on Monday, basically a portable lock up bar, although beer is free, or rather comes out of the funds collected,  other beverages help pay towards the bands etc. At the risk of sounding like a wet blanket, I have not missed these weekends as they party on till 2 or 3 in the morning so sleep is out of the question as the plaza is just below us. The furries are not happy either as we have to round them up and keep them in especially during the evenings and the Sunday morning church service. It goes from being sleepy to probably 5-600 people 

I have tackled a few indoor jobs, like clearing out the bodega and shelves, finding little treasures and things like the citronella night lights tucked away. I used cut down 8l water bottles to give storage solutions, cheap and cheerful, but they work. It´s tidy and free from items that we really do not need any more

Started another crochet throw, great to keep fingers busy but not too taxing.

Off to download a book, hiding in the cool in the lounge 

take care

xcx