We’d only been home a couple of weeks from Portugal and decided to make the most of the fine weather and head off again in the camper for another couple of weeks to a wetland birding area about two thirds of the distance from our house to Madrid.
In between the two trips I harvested some lemons for preserving in salt and made some lemon curd.
The lemons were just the tip of the iceberg because just look at the glut of oranges we had and still have!!!
Whilst we’re on culinary matters……when we were boating in France we became very fond of Iles Flottante for dessert, in particular at L’Ecu in St. Jean de Losne. I subsequently tried and failed to make them at home. I’ve recently had another try at making them, this time with much greater success! The spun sugar wasn’t great but the custard and meringues were spot on!
We enjoyed our next trip enormously with mostly good weather and a mix of birding days and lazy days. The birding areas we were in were alive with rabbits so Poco and especially Ditto were on high alert all the time and covered some kilometres in the chase if they got the scent before we realized.
Hearing about the wet weather in the UK and seeing friends photos of their muddy dogs on walks I thought I would show you just what we had to put up with …….
Of course it wasn’t all about birds, no Crompton motorhome trip would be complete without a castle or two and this one was no exception. Add to that a number of Don Quixote windmills and we have certainly rung the changes!
The next set of photographs were taken at the lovely old town of Alcala del Jucar in Castilla-La Mancha which we stopped at on our way north. We visited the castle and then had a meal down in the town before departing. We had actually been here before when visiting Bob and Ann Brown, friends originally from the UK who moved out to the Valencia region of Spain many years before we came to live here. We had lost touch and then “found” them again in 2011 with the help of their local tourist office who passed on our phone number to them. They took us to Alcala, we have photos way back in the archives of Belle and Dash cooling off in the river.
The first set of windmill photos above were taken at Alcazar de San Juan, then we read up about some more, further north at Consuegra, near Toledo. As we were only half an hour’s drive away we decided to go and investigate.
Next we stopped at a nature reserve to walk up to this waterfall. A week or so after we got home, we read in the local news that the whole area was almost cut off due to heavy snowfall. Glad we left when we did.
Nearby was the town of Riopar where we stayed a couple of nights., before driving up to the old town up many hairpin bends but the view was worth it!
As we headed south towards home, we visited the town of Yeste for yet another castle fix. Had a very pleasant menu del dia in the town afterwards before moving on to a barrage (reservoir dam) near Cehegin for the last night.
Meanwhile back at home it has remained fairly chilly, we’ve not had an evening without the pellet burner being on yet, although last night, 18th March, we only needed it for an hour or so. It is very warm during the day but as soon as the sun goes down we need some warmth.
I’ve just had another quick visit to the UK to see Andrew, Alana and the grandchildren. It was grand to see them and collect my Mothering Sunday cards in person, Richard had thoughtfully posted his to Bolton so I could collect it on the day. On the Saturday we went to RHS Bridgewater, still waiting for spring to arrive it was not particularly colourful but I have wanted to go since it opened and all the better for being with the family. No photos as requested by them.
And finally, we have spent some more of their inheritance to make life easier for ourselves as we get older and frailer and what a difference it has made!!!! We’ve had the gates automated so that they open and close with the press of a key fob or phone app!
