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Summer celebrations

Andalucía, 25th September

We knew that the Spanish love to party but it really has been non-stop this summer. Not that we have seen much as everything starts so late that we are generally asleep just as la fiesta, the party, is starting. But we hear los fuegos artificiales, the fireworks, and la música, the music, going on all night. The main event in Competa is La Noche del Vino, the night of the wine.

Free Competa wine made from the local muscatel grapes is served all day and there is grape treading and canto y baile, singing and dancing, going on far into the night. We were eating dinner in the square so that we could watch the main events but had to head home to bed exhausted at about 1 am just as the first singer, came on stage!

Feeling at home

Just lately we have been reflecting on our first six months in Spain and we are still delighted with the choices we have made. We love living en el hermoso campo, in a beautiful countryside, but are glad to be near a town that offers so much. Owning our little apartment in town is great because we have met so many people just by spending time there doing the painting and cleaning. Once we get past the ¡Hola, buenos días! stage of the conversation I'm not always entirely sure what people are saying to me but they certainly seem to approve of all the improvements, especially the plants we have put on the steps by the front door. ¡Qué bonita!, how pretty!, they say.

Building work

Memories of the dreadful three months we spent surrounded by building work and living in chaos are obviously starting to fade. We are planning to have a small extension built so we have room for guests and we would really like a swimming pool, too. All those long hot days would have been much more bearable if they could have started and ended with a cool swim. We'll have to see what the costs look like but if they are okay we hope that work will start after Christmas. Somehow I know I'm going to regret commissioning more building work when we are mud bound once more!

Sent by: Sue

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