No snow

Also www.windytv.com/ thought 35 cm of snow a bit too much, and therefore changed their website layout. The snow has gone, and only some rain is left, but a lot less than predicted. Which is good, because today the roofer was dropping by to repair the fissures in the roof causing leaks. And, as it happens with contractors: something else had come up, and he would get to us on Saturday. After the floods.

Sent a help-us mail, that this was quite a nuisance, as a lot of rain and snow were predicted. He dropped by the same afternoon after all, with a tub of cement, which was nice. And good, see the pictures. In days-long heavy rain that gave us some leaks.

35 cm of snow

Even more crazy! (and frankly, a bit unbelievable)

Doomed! (4cm snow predicted)

 

We're doomed! DOOMED!

Confit Christmas

We don't have to miss out on our favourite christmas dinner: the confit de canard is readily available in our simple supermarket! 3 minutes microwave, et voilá. And it's good! Even better if seared after heating up, in a hot pan.

New Bobby O: Perception of One

A highlight in the year is a new Bobby O album, usually around Christmas. Not this year. I was almost disappointed, but just before the year's end: "Perception of One". Get it at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bobbyo175

And it's a great one again. Oh, "Angels in the Sky"! Love it! Best electronic choirs ever.
"Bring the coffee", ha!

Get the lyrics at: http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Bobby_O

Coffee

/Back "home" we bought our espresso at online "boutiques" like the Golden Koffeebox, etc, but were only half happy. Here we just buy a bag of beans at the Mercadona, and it's great! Good strong espresso, and a nice crema. You can see it's a mix of various kinds of beans: dark and shiny, and light ones.

Fridge, dishwasher and sliding puzzle

Unpacking makes a mess, especially if you haven't found a spot for everything. At the moment the house still is one big sliding puzzle. If you need something you first have to move a hundred other things. And back.

But the new fridge-feezer has arrived.

And the dishwasher. Doing dishes by hand is a very social thing, but it gets old quickly.

Books

/We have a lot of books, but less space than in the old house. Assembling these racks I had many a thought about SARA, where these racks were in the library. A lot of time was spent next to these racks, talking with coffee, and non-coffee...

Yes, that is Asterix in Hispania.

Heating

I

We have a wood stove, in the "snug" room, a meter above kitchen level, and a meter below the living room. Very cozy, but also quite draughty. Especially if you're not experienced in making a wood fire.

A fire like this takes an hour.

A bag of wood lasts you an evening, and costs ca. €3,50.

But what did we find in the cellar? Two of these electric radiators, and a few butane stoves. Apparently also the previous owners thought it chilly here at times. On the Canaries it now is 20º during the day, 17º at night. Here its 16º daytime, but 6-7º at night.

(Who thought an island too small a world? Hm? (Not me.))

Well, the places we looked at in France have frost at night now, so, even worse. But still.

Anyway, this radiator has three settings. Setting 2 (800W) keeps the room next to the kitchen, half a meter down, nicely warm. And for less than a euro for all of New Year's Eve. This room has a decent door, and thus no draughts.

The blanket on the Tango is there for the dog's nails, not to sit under. We're not that old you know.

The tv is here too, now. You can reasonably stream Youtube and Vevo via wifi. The satellite we'll connect later some time.

During the day it's great, and you even need a parasol.

Sun after rain

For a bit of jealousy :-)

Rain December 16

Nice, but this means: rain!

And lo.

Oei oei.

We take measures. We're Dutch you know.

And here is what caused the car to be wet, water splattering on that wall. But a cunningly placed piece of board...!

You see,

it's not always

Not always dry here.

Waterfall running. Does not happen often. One day a year?

Age old buildings are damaged.

Arrival of stuff (December 15)

 It has rained quite a lot. The road is pretty soft. It only just went well.

That puddle of water is in exactly the wrong spot.

After 3 hours of unloading the van, which is a lot quicker than loading, you house is full of boxes, and one big sliding puzzle. If you need something you need to shift ALL other boxes. And back again. Lovely. NOT!

14 december 2016: Midi Ocre

Tomorrow, December 15, the removal van will arrive with our stuff. So, if we want to get rid of that dirty horrible distasteful snotty duck poo light-green mint in the living room, then today is the day. At the very last moment the tubs with white monodeck were put back onto the shelf, and exchanged for midi-ocre, a soft orange yellow.

Very handy: you can buy a roll of plastic here with a sticky edge, so you can easily protect the floor.

And so it happened.


No, those lamps were already there.

Sunday December 11th - flying

4 AM, and we're wide awake. On to Rotterdam, flying. Breakfast with krentenbollen. Skip shower. M&M did put on the alarm clock, even though we stressed they needed to stay in bed.

If your one hand luggage is below max weight and your other is a bit above you still need to pay. Another 15 euro poorer. Security checks with dog are more fun. Everyone loves her, and with reason. Car keys? Um, they need to be handed in still! Just in time..

Everything is on time, which is nice.

Flying. The lady next to me grumbles the coffee is thin and cold. She's right. That is why I have hot chocolate. Which is thin too, but not cold, as the water was reheated after my neighbour's complaints.

Alicante is still there. Luggage and dog arrive quickly, and we're on our way with the second rental car that day.

Two hours and a bit, and we're... eh.. yes, home!

 Leaving your house behind 4 months does not always work well, as there are attempted burglary traces on our terrace door. Which is a nice old thick wooden door with three big latches and a lock. The door bravely withstood the attempts, no entry. The lock is bent, but we were able to buy exactly the same again.

The bastards also cut our internet cable, as they feared we had remote security cameras, as many people here have. We'll have one too, soon, with an SD card and rechargeable battery. We'll get you next time...

Next Comunicaciones were so kind as to fix the internet cable the next day, and at a nominal fee. Very good service. Thanks guys!

And we'll install grills in front of the front- and terrace doors, as all other windows have.

Our efforts to keep the workshop/garage dry have not worked well. The new wooden doors are bent because of the damp, and does not close currently. Worse is that the ceiling was completely soaked, and there was an atmosphere as in a tropical greenhouse. Which is not great for the car. The leather chairs were completely mouldy. No worries, it was washed off quickly with a bit of soap. But it was a shock. We better not have stayed away another few months.

Cause is that the walls are porous, and rain water from the roof and the terrace canopy fall right on top of the garage walls. I took care to redirect that water already, and we have asked for a quote to plaster the garage walls properly.

But a beloved car as wet as this was not great I can tell you. Even though the sun was shining, and the temperature was 20º.

Moving house, Friday, December 9-10 2016

Moving house. Like it, or not.

Are you enjoying yourselves?

/Very well done, gentlemen of Kuiper [www.kuiperbv.nl] from Weesp: great work. Nothing broken, well planned, and very little stress for us. Next time the coffee will be stowed last.

/Saturday December 10 2016: cleaning. Around 12:30 the new owners will pay us a visit, so we have to crack on. Of course we're very clean, but there are a few things to do. By seven the house is cleaner than ever before, and we have to say goodbye. Bye sweet house, our home since May 6th, 2005.

 Forgot one thing, as it was in the cellar behind a white sheet of something. The jack of my dad, het used to lift the boat. One of a pair. Too heavy for hand luggage, but I am devising a cunning plan to get it here after all. It's a great tool.

Dinner at M&M's. Lovely sauerkraut, and, as a proper old fashioned farewell dessert: Saroma! We're so grateful to you guys for dinner and staying the last two nights, including a Zoomba. We were planning an air bed and sleeping bag, but staying over in an empty house is no fun. Where do you sit? The stair are the only place you can sit. But not the whole evening.

And, we're very grateful for our neighbours of nr. 6, for allowing us to fill their rubbish container with all the stuff that did not fit in ours any more. And, for being great neighbours. We're sure we'll see you in Spain! :-)

/Someone else moved on this day, only a little bit more definite: Peter van Straaten. Sadly missed already, but thank you for all the laughs and smiles. (Portrait ©Siegfried Woldhek)