Feliz Año Nuevo

We hope all our family and friends have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.......

Feliz Navidad

Well Christmas is here and the year has nearly come to an end. Time seems to pass so quickly and despite our relaxed environment, the days never seem long enough. The weather is bright and warm during the day but cool and frosty on a night time. The Christmas festivities in and around Ribadesella and fairly low-key but never-the-less interesting to see and very different to our time in England. We have friends staying this week which has given us the opportunity to visit a few pre-romanesque churches in the Oviedo district. The picture is of San Miguel de Lillo, a beautiful church from the 9th century AD. The fountain in Ribadesella has been decorated with lights and traditional music and dancing has entertained the small number of tourists that have travelled here for the Christmas break.
The is no Boxing day in Spain and the main holiday is for the Epiphany on January 6th when the three wise men deliver the presents (not Santa Clause). Luis and I wish all our friends and Family a happy and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous and healthy 2008. Feliz Navidad.

Winter Beckons.......

Winter is well on its way now with gathering winds, cooler temperatures and a general slowing down of growth. The last few days have brought strong winds and extremely turbulent seas. The cliffs at Guadamia are brilliant at this time of year with impressive jets of spray being forced through limestone blowholes - sometimes reachin 100 meters into the air. We have been busy painting the garage/workshop, making large batches of membrillo (fruit jelly) from quince and apples, helping to make (and drink) cider, clearing leaves from the garden and going for brisk and sometimes bracing walks along the cliffs.

Luis is due to leave for a few days to assist with the Matanza (slaughtering of the pigs) at his sister's. Needless to say I will not be going. Not that he enjoys it, goes to help as it takes three days to process all the meat into black pudding, hams, joints of pork, chorizo, salami and fat for soap making.

The kittens are venturing further each day and growing in confidence. You may remember we acquired them to help control the rato (small rodent similar to a mouse) that seems to think that the vegetable plot is his own personal hypermarket. The kittens, taking notice of this are sharpening their hunting instincts and their claws, already successfully catching an array of creatures great and small.