Wow, it’s 3 months ago that our Irish adventure came to an abrupt end.
One of the last things I commented on was that the almond harvest was just about to start….that’s history of course, as now the olive harvest is just beginning in our area. Surprisingly actually as they are still very green. Our two trees are merely ornamental now but we were both marveling at the weekend on our return from a short motorhome trip that the area we were driving through between Granada and Jaen was olive groves as far as the eye could see in all directions. The land was very contoured and how they are harvested on those steep hillsides I do not know.
We had some issues with the motorhome during and after Ireland which we got sorted eventually and had plenty of other jobs to do at home.
First time I’d worn a fleece for months!!!! Oh and a waterproof jacket too as it was Cumbria!
I had a short trip to the UK in September to see friends and to catch up with my younger son and partner and the three grandchildren who we hadn’t seen for almost a year. No photo’s of the children at parents’ request.
Also had a brief meet up over coffee at Starbucks (before catching my train back to the airport) with three ex colleagues which was very pleasant indeed.
We stayed at home for a few weeks getting jobs done in the slightly cooler weather as the season began to change slowly.
Then it was time for visitors from the UK our first this year! Mary and Martin arrived for a few days with us at the end of September and we visited a couple of places while they were here. One such was a hermitage about a 45 minute drive away in the Sierra Espuna mountains, a quiet contemplative Sunday morning, we thought…..(but so did the rest of the Murcian population it seemed.) Parking was difficult and full so Nigel dropped us three off and we waited for him to park elsewhere and join us.
Then we took Martin to Cartagena while Mary stayed at home with the dogs and enjoyed a swim. She had been before with us and wanted a rest day.
Martin declined!!
After their departure it was time for us to get away in the motorhome again, we decided we would head to Portugal for a couple of weeks. Owing to Ditto’s ongoing mobility issues we didn’t get there, instead heading for home after a week via some places on our wish list. By the time we got home he was much improved so we didn’t need an extra vet visit, thankfully.
which we had seen in passing a few times.
Our next destination was El Barco de Avila where we had another couple of nights in a little village with a castle to explore.
Our next destination was in the Sierra de Francia, an area we were choosing as a north easterly cross country trek towards Portugal but it was here that we decided to head towards home as Ditto was struggling to get in and out of the camper and was also refusing to eat…a sure sign that he was under the weather and feeling pain.
We stopped briefly as we were relatively close in the Monfrague National Park to catch a glimpse of Griffon vultures.
No overnighting is allowed in the National Parks in Spain and so we wended our way home from Monfrague, via the outskirts of Cordoba.
En route through Andalucia I took these photos through the windscreen and used google lens after to identify them….
And to finish this time, we first noticed on 7th October that one of our succulents had sent up this flower spike. It’s an Agave filifera and only flowers once in its lifetime and then dies!
Hasta Pronto, todas