Dog liked it too

This is one of the little balconies with improbably high trees growing on them, hanging like swallows' nests over an abyss, probably 50 metres at least over the treetops below. I shit you not - this place is pretty amazing. Damn, we are such bad photographers... 

Went up until the road ends

in the Cardo valley. There is an old monastery being converted into a spa and a spring-water company has its facilities there. The monks in the monastery, when it was used for spiritual purposes rather than its future purpose of pure indulgence (hey I have no probs at all with that), encouraged hermitage and solitary contemplation. Hence there are a range of impossible little structures perched as precariously as the pines, on the tops of rocks, seemingly sustained and supported by nothing but rock and the mountain air, all around the actual monastery. I am in one of these in this picture. Crazy construction!! Reason that there is no pic of it from a distance is that camera memory got full...Next time, and there will be a next time...This valley retreat rejuvenates and exhilarates the spirit (and all the rest) like few others I have experienced. 

Half-decent shot of kitchen table

stroke my workplace. Don't mind the silly grin. 

Lots of pruning stuff to burn

And man do those fresh twigs of olive tree burn!! Not to mention the carob ones, sound like firecrackers. Good fun. 

Same date, just looking the other way

Mist rising from the higher valleys as it always does in the morning, sometimes looks like a boiling cauldron. 

Mas de Garrido, late November 2006

I like autumn in Spain. 

Hello...
well, newbie blogger that I am I didn't realise that I couldn't just upload piccies and comments and then not move them around to make sense...so it's all a bit of a mess I'm afraid. As you have probably realised by now. Or perhaps you CAN move things around, I haven't spent that much effort doing this. However, I will just shove up a few new piccies and try to be more coherent and make more sense in the future. No that is just referring to the blog not me as a person, awright? ;-)

Load of s***t ready for another trip to the Rasquera dump...

 

This is called a solar shower

Showering this summer involved waiting until the builders had gone, timing it right so the shower wasn't in the shade yet, then running around under it to catch the few drops that weren't blown away by the fierce winds. And then just hoping they were somewhere around body temperature when you managed to get a bit wet. And that was a good day, as it meant that the water pump had decided to work for a little while. Can't fault the view though... 

When I said a little bit of a cleanup...

multiply this with 50. At least. We are on first name terms with the rubbishmen in Rasquera. 

Here you find

everything a farmer in Tarragona needs. Olivenets, a wooden spade, double handsaws, loads of sacks (for olives and almonds) - and a desiccated goathead! Check far right on the shelf... 

Our lovely kitchen...

sweet little touches, the curtain and that...This room later became my office, after a rather thorough cleaning. 

Yeah. Facilities weren't great for a start...

 

 

Last chance

In about a week all this beauty will be ripped down... 

Loft

Lights are pretty cool although we never have then on because Paul is an electricityfascist. 

Only for peope obsessed with building

Turned out pretty cool in the end. In spite of... 

No it's not me, the house is askew

That's what the builders said anyway.

And behold

the donut dog. 

Cats didn't mind much

that their ovaries were ripped out, as we bought a gas heater at the same time. As a treat. 

Sorry.

Gotta have some more petshots. After about 6 weeks of incessant treeclimbing, growling and clawing (cats) and tailwagging and just general annoying stalking behaviour (dog), ground rules were established, ranking (cats rule) was sorted out and all could sleep on the doorstep in harmony....

Full frontal....

 

Isn't this just lovely?

 

And well....Ta-ra!

 

Then we don't know quite what happened but.

the little garage grew and grew... 

Had garagey things. Like doors and ladders. And things.