GHOST STORY FOR HALLOWEEN

I posted the article, Ghosts of Granada, on this blog in October 2008.
Please have a look at it again.

Some time later, I was asked by someone who'd read the published piece if
I'd ever seen any physical manifestations while we were living in the
villa. I replied that although I hadn't seen anything or anyone, I had
formed in my mind an impression of a man. He was bearded, wore spectacles
and was neatly dressed in - unusual for a Spaniard from the area - a light
coloured tweed jacket and a shirt and tie. I sensed that this person had a
deep loathing of dogs and that our presence in the house was resented. My
husband said, on hearing this, that he'd seen the landlady not long ago in
the company of a man -evidently her new boyfriend - who fitted this
description entirely. From this, I conclude that she's attracted to this
type of man and that the person whom I'd pictured in my imagination was
her dead husband.

The other day, I was chatting to a woman who asked me to drop in on her
should I be passing. When I asked her where she lived, and she told me
that her house is on the same urbanization as the rented villa which we
were forced to abandon, I explained that I was reluctant to return to the
area in question and gave her a brief account of what had happened to us.
She then told me that she, too, has experienced strange happenings - in
this instance, the kitchen- where objects have been moved, lights
unaccountably dimmed and a strongly felt presence of whom she believes is
the son of her friend, a young man who committed suicide from an overdose
of drugs.

I'm wondering if it's possible that some kind of unusual radiation,
emanating from the geological fault lines with which the zone in question
is riven, could be a reason for these curious events. The whole area has
an unpleasant 'feel' about it, and there is a sense of it having a dark
history. Indeed, it is known that a number of Nazis, fleeing retribution
after the German surrender in WW2, settled there.

This article is being set up for discussion on the American web site on 19th October
http://www.phibble.com/halloween
and will be talked about on the radio (link from the site) on the 26th October.

GUAJAR ALTO - LENTEGI

Today is a public holiday in Spain - el Dia de la Hispanidad - so we decided to take a drive over the mountains to Lentegi. As the eagle flies (no crows up in these mountains) Lentegi is only about 6km from Guajar Alto but to drive to it up and down the winding mountain track takes about 40 minutes.

The journey is worth it for the spectacular mountain views, particularly on a day like today in the lovely light of the soft October sunshine. As you climb above Guajar Alto you can look back at the Sierra Nevada mountains but no snow has settled on them yet. In the opposite direction the jagged peaks of the mountains of Malaga, the Sierra de Almijara, soon come into view.

Lentegi is a pretty, well kept village and we sat on the terrace of the little bar next to the church and had a glass of wine and tapas before going for a stroll through the avacodo and nispero orchards that surround the village. The rock formations around Lentegi are fascinating and the soil must be fertile to support such an abundance of fruit trees. I hope you enjoy the photos.

OCTOBER MORNING

We are having a spell of beautiful, warm weather so I took these photos of our house this morning with the cosmos daisies in flower at the entrance to the terrace. To read more about this property go to www.countryhouseinspain.wordpress.com.

ROMERIA DE ROSARIO SALOBREÑA

This morning we drove down to Salobreña, on the coast, to see the annual procession and fiesta of The Virgen de Rosario. She is one of the patron saints of Salobreña and every October a romaría is held in her honour.

I was particularly keen to look at the parade of beautiful Andalusian horses as my most recently published book, The Adventure of Princess The Pony, is about horses and I was hoping to get some inspiration for another book, or perhaps for some paintings of horses.

I certainly wasn’t disappointed: the weather was glorious and the light, the colour, the noise and the festive atmosphere created a wonderfully vivid scene. There were numerous, brightly decorated floats and horse-drawn carriages. The men were elegant in dark trousers, waistcoats red bandannas and boater hats, and the women and girls resplendent in frilled dresses, their hair adorned with ornate combs and flowers. The immaculately groomed horses gleamed in the bright sunlight, as did the two oxen pulling the lavishly decorated carriage on which reposed the Virgen de Rosario.

Led by the band, the procession made its way through the streets lined with spectators and down to the beach, where a solemn mass was held to honour the virgin. Afterwards, the horses ‘strutted their stuff’ along the beach. We took lots of photos and I hope you enjoy these images.

PRESERVING OLIVES

Olives destined for the table are picked while they are plump, firm, and just beginning to turn from green to yellow, as they are now. When the olives become soft and black, which will be in a month’s time, they will be harvested for oil.

Having selected the best of the olives, the next step is to make a slit in each one with a small, sharp knife. This is very important, as it draws out the bitterness. The olives are then covered with spring water, into which a handful of sea salt has been dissolved. After four days, the olives are drained and covered with a fresh solution of brine. This process has to be repeated at least four times, or until the bitterness has been removed. Some people preserve the olives in water, but I prefer to put them into jars, with plenty of peeled cloves of garlic, plus a bay leaf or two, and cover them with last year’s olive oil. After a few days, they are ready to eat. Prepared this way, olives keep well, retain their nutty flavour, and don’t become soggy.

WINTER VEGETABLES

WINTER VEGETABLES

There has been more torrential rain to the north and east of us, and this morning we were watching on Spanish TV film footage of the floods in Almeria, Murcia and Alicante. These areas are still on orange alert for more heavy rain. Up here in Los Guajares we have escaped the worst of the weather and the rains have been welcome. Showers, punctuated by long spells of warm sunshine, have provided ideal conditions for replanting our vegetable garden with winter produce.

We have sown broad beans, carrots and spinnach. Broad beans (habas) are a very popular crop in Andalucia during the winter. They are very sweet and because they don’t have the tough skins of beans grown in colder climates, they’re often eaten raw. When the first crop is ready, you often see piles of discarded pods on the floors of the local bars, where they’re offered as tapas. Habas need to be sown early because later crops suffer from blackfly infestation, a garden pest which is on the increase, and occurring earlier with each consecutive spring, due to climate change. We have also planted seedlings of winter lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, red cabbage and onions. Our vegetables are grown without pesticides and we compost all our kitchen waste. We also collect goat manure from the nearest corral.

Our organic vegetable garden is a wildlife haven. The compost bin is literally alive with all kinds of insects, worms and grubs. Spotted flycatchers perch on the bean canes all day long, making frequent forays to snatch flying insects. Frogs and toads have also taken up residence by the compost bin, again because of the plentiful supply of insects. I’ve seen numerous male spiders of the Argiope lobata genus, which favour rank vegetation, but only one female example. Five times larger than the male, it is a most striking creature with a pale, yellowish abdomen, lobed around the edges and shaped like a limpet’s shell. Small rodents are also attracted to the vegetable garden and are hunted at night by owls. By day, eagles circle overhead, looking for the lizards and snakes which feed on the insects.

A STROLL TO FARAGÜIT

Today, on another beautiful September morning, we set off to walk along the old mountain track to Guájar Faragüit. You start this walk by taking turning left at the entrance to Guajar Alto. You can either follow the old mule track upwards, as we did earlier this week (see previous blog), or stick to the wider country lane. Either way, when you come to the first junction, turn left.

This wide track, passable in a 4x4 vehicle, hugs the contours of the mountains overlooking the valley of Los Guájares. We wandered through pine woods and olive and almond groves. When Guájar Faragüit comes into sight there are some spectacular views of the village, looking into the light through the pines and olives, with the Contraviesa mountains as a backdrop.

Although I am not a geologist, I found the rock formations and the lovely shades of the different minerals, in the form of very fine sand, along this walk fascinating. Next time, I shall take some containers so that I can collect samples.

The track ends abruptly in the middle of an olive grove, but from here we picked up a narrow path which winds in a steep descent down precipitous slopes to the Rio Toba below. We were glad we had good walking boots for negotiating this path. The going is muddy as you approach the valley, and the stones are slippery. Curtains of maidenhair fern tumble from the damp rocks, and there are frogs and darting dragonflies.

When we got to the river, the dogs had a welcome drink and a swim in the clear, turquoise green water. We then forded the river and found a path that took us up the opposite bank to the main road and through the valley outside Guájar Faragüit. We returned to Guájar Alto along the road, stopping for some refreshment at the communal picnic area along the way. The walk took us 4 hours.