First Post From Andalucia

I have finally got my computer up and running and have access to my camera again, which means the photos that have been languishing there, get to see the light of day. We have been in the cave house now since a week gone Sunday, and boy was the weather mean to us. Rain, Rain and more Rain.....GGGrrrr!!! We really did not need the rain, in fact it was the worst thing that could have happened. Due to the fact that nothing much is finished we had to store a creat deal of our stuff in the unfinished bedrooms and the unfinished caves. The cave rooms were dry so there was not too much of a problem there, but as the roof was not completed on the bedrooms the rain just came in and soaked everything. It was a bit of a mess for a while but there was nothing that we could do about it, and concluded that we would just have to weather the storm.


Finally the rain passed and we were able to get on with the work a little quicker. The rough render was completed inside the kitchen and then the final plaster went on. I wanted a rustic affect as I did not want the new kitchen to stand in stark comparrison to the cave, so I asked Chris if he could do the final render with that in mind. Chris is not only a brilliant builder but it seems he is also a mind reader. The finished effect was soooo what I had in mind.

The ceiling was a bit of a challenge due to the slope from the cave to the outside walls, none the less Chris tackled it with ease, but his arms were tired at the end of the day.

Next job was the floor and boy did they have fun with that. The floor was not even slightly level so it was decided to lay the tiles onto cement so that the level could be achieved. Wise decision as it turns out as the floor is now nice and level.

I decided on black grout as I thought it would stand out nicely with the tiles and with four dogs and 3 cats and assorted humans paddling in and out, white grout really did not stand a chance.


We have the wall and the fence up to keep in the mutts, my cat Dee likes the gate post as it affords her an excellent view of her territory, incidently I built that gate post with my own fair hands, much to the bemusement of one of our elderly spanish neighbours. He could not work out why him indoors was all clean and inside wiring the kitchen whilst the little woman was covered in sweat and cement and building a gate post.

The spotty one, Charlie has claimed the sand pile as his own. This is his vantage point where he can see just that little bit further whilst he guards his domain. He spends hours sitting up there watching, and the rest of the time he is lying further down the pile sunbathing. I had to put aftersun on his tummy the other night as he had overdone it and was feeling a bit sore.
This is Chris who is saying "that is the second one you have taken of me" .....lol Joe & Carolyn if you are reading this, your son is a lovely young man who we have become very fond of. He is an absolute credit to you, and you would be justified in being very proud of him. Besos...Van XX
Ah the lovely Aud, this was the day after her 82nd birthday and she asked for a glass of Ponche, her fav tipple, however she did not bank on it coming in a goldfish bowl, that really made us laugh.... :-))
And me as usual in full 'hiding from the camera' mode How anyone gets a picture of me is a mystery there are countless photos of someone hiding behind various objects.
Oh and this is my new bike or rather this is what I will be getting and mine is going to be in black, hells granny. Only about a week before I take delivery then Andalucia should be afraid, very afraid.

More to follow and you will not believe how much we have got done.