Conservation

I mentioned that great efforts are being made to re-establish the flora and fauna that were once the natural cover on this beach. The area from the road to the area of beach where people congregate has been codoned off replanted and is now tended .

Bamboozled

It might not look like much of a chore but fixing bamboo to the gates and the railings was no mean feat and not without hazard. Anyone who has handled bamboo knows how sharp split bamboo is and the dangers of splinters which in Bamboo are prone to going septic. The fencing is held together with wire. two strands twisted together and then a crossover pattern with a piece of split bamboo between. Pity the poor Asian who does this. Cutting it to size and avoiding bamboo cuts and splinters was tricky to say the least I could not get at it with plies and a hacksaw sort of juddered perseverance paid off . I had to do this because a house up the road has this , climbing trailing plant that covers most of the front and is there to give privacy. Dead leaves and fallen flowers festoon the road and end up in my and everybody else's garden. The fence which I quite like is to block the debris and keep the house more presentable 

The umbrella is new as well

Having done it, we both liked it. It gives privacy and shade but lets the breeze in and goes well in Spain I think

certainly given privacy and I rather like it, it sort of 'goes'.

Just liked the picture sort of hemingway

Pondering the future

I was in Bournemouth a while back and thought how nice it would be to live on the coast. Since I have been here in Spain I realise I do live on the coast. .Its just all in the mind. The beach is down the road, there is a pool at the end of the road , walks and exercise equipment are all around and though I would have scoffed at such things in my youth I realise as I age that I need to keep my body working (in a mildish way) to stop it seizing up.  Its not even that far from Basingstoke. So why not settle here?

I don’t feel at home is why. I don’t know how things work. I don’t speak the language. Okay I can learn though linguistically I have never been adept , truth be told I just feel more at home in the anglo saxon nations , I never felt so out of my depth in America or Australia or New Zealand I instinctively know how things work , I am part of the whole , Spain baffles me, and deep down I don’t think they welcome me.

There are several nationalities in the street where I live IN SPAIN and they all say the same, the Spanish smile when they take your money and no comprendi the rest of the time. The police are positively unhelpful twice now I have asked for help and they have just shrugged and walked off . Would a British bobby shrug and walk off if asked for help by a Spanish speaking Spaniard ?

The Rain in Spain

Tuesday 15th August and its raining , heavily. I don’t mind its warm and its refreshing. I went to the beach at 0730 and the storm clouds were gathering. No pics because I travel light on the beach. Its bad enough having the car keys. I don’t take any clutter just me, shorts and the car keys. By the time I got home It started to rain so I went for a swim in the pool at the end of the road. It was very enjoyable. There is an old boys club of daily swimmers. I mean old boy in both senses , they all go every day and they are all old. I still put that even though they are probably my age. Some women turned up after 20 minutes. Put towels and beach mats in the branches of one of the trees and left. I think its a bit like the Germans putting towels on the loungers. Do they still do that or is that in the past.

I don't mind that it rained its refreshing but rain and heavy rain in spain - in August !

Early one morning

Its been pretty good having a month here, not having the holiday graph where I spend the first three days trying to relax and 4 days relaxed and the rest thinking I have to go back in 5 days .. 4 days ..3 etc.

You do need the internet though , its a pain going to bars and restaurants to connect. You cant do what you want to do easily. Everything keeps wanting me to update it or warns my subscription is about to expire. I tried run updates i it looked like it did it then said failed . Never mind these are the kind of challenges I feel I need , there is sense of achievement when I do overcome whatever the problem is.

I wish whoever develops these apps had better testing though. Its OK sticking up a message saying oops sorry martin  we couldn’t connect to the internet , but not clear when a e mail says if you exceed your data allowance you will need a mortgage  to pay it off. If it Is it saying I have exceeded my allowance or just warning the consequences if I do ? Why doesn’t it have a line that says hey Martin we will warn you when your allowance is running out and tell you when it has?

went for a run this morning at 0800 , actually did the beach end to end with some stops !!

Early one morning

Its been pretty good having a month here, not having the holiday graph where I spend the first three days trying to relax and 4 days relaxed and the rest thinking I have to go back in 5 days .. 4 days ..3 etc.

You do need the internet though , its a pain going to bars and restaurants to connect. You cant do what you want to do easily. Everything keeps wanting me to update it or warns my subscription is about to expire. I tried run updates i it looked like it did it then said failed . Never mind these are the kind of challenges I feel I need , there is sense of achievement when I do overcome whatever the problem is.

I wish whoever develops these apps had better testing though. Its OK sticking up a message saying oops sorry martin  we couldn’t connect to the internet , but not clear when a e mail says if you exceed your data allowance you will need a mortgage  to pay it off. If it Is it saying I have exceeded my allowance or just warning the consequences if I do ? Why doesn’t it have a line that says hey Martin we will warn you when your allowance is running out and tell you when it has?

went for a run this morning at 0800 , actually did the beach end to end with some stops !!