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Archive for the ‘Galera’ Category

Another nice evening at the bar downtown last night with friends but we managed a relatively early night and today we took a drive (about an hour or so) to Embalse De La Bolera (on recommendation last night) – i.e. a lake – but not just any old lake – the place is clear blue-green – superb and the water not only looks great but feels great.

Yes, that’s Maureen in there in the image above – we certainly had plenty of room – there were others but we weren’t in each others way at all.

Along the way we went through Castril – it’s not the first time we’ve been there but I love to stop and take pics – it’s a very special looking place. The whole drive in fact is nice but the party piece has to be the lake – where we stopped there’s a little bar/restaurant though we could not tell if they actually do food – no matter it has seats with spectacular views.

Don’t forget you can blow most of these pictures up to a larger size just by clicking on them so for example the map on your right is quite readable when enlarged. We went over just before lunch so sadly all the shops were closed in the various places we passed through. Sandwiches out of the way we went for a dip – I have to say that at first getting into the water I felt a heart attack coming on but it took only minutes to get used to the water – which will warm up further in the summer – by mid-August I should expect it will be heavenly.

I think we stuck around for an hour or so then headed off to Lidl in Baza for supplies before returning home. I’ve a little more plastering to do and some work on my home control stuff – I hope to start building a second board this evening but you never know, in Galera there’s always a chance of someone popping in and that’s not so bad. Next time we come back to Bolera we’ll be staying somewhat longer – great trip out.

When you get to Castril, Pozo Alcon is another 25km and the lake is around half way on the right.

Tonight is likely to be a quiet BBQ night, once I’ve finished plastering I’ll be fit for nothing by lying around with a glass of wine – another benefit of this area, there are some decent inexpensive wines and we just stocked up!

Check out the colour of the water in the photo below – just superb..

First Sunday night of the summer in Galera. Amazing how quickly the first 6 days went by. I worked on my home control (making a complete mess as the “No Mas Clavas” I was using to stick the boards inside a case would not dry!) and then went out to take some pics of the night sky. Here’s the best (though it could be better) – combining 3 identical shots to minimise noise.

Today we’ve several jobs to do now that the shops are open. I need some mortar and filler and we need to find a source of PVA. Looks like another stunningly warm day. 9:30am and the sun is out. More later.

Not a lot happened today, we decided to stop in today and then have a tea-totalling night – yes, I know, Saturday but we’ve had a good week, time to let the liver recover.

We spent the morning finishing off the Gazebo – it’s still a little temporary but we’ll fix that when the shops open Monday. I’ve been working on my home control board (which doesn’t work and as it’s midnight I’m about to give up on it for the night).  I did start to put up a set of colour floods only to realise I’ve left the relevant remove control back in the UK!!

Instead I sat through X-Men Wolverine which showed the history of Wolverine before he joined X-men. The only problem with it was the ending as Patrick Stuart gets out of the aeroplane to welcome the young X-men – erm, isn’t he supposed to be in a wheelchair?? Oh, I know, it’s only fiction but it you’re going to do something, you may as well do it properly yes?

Tomorrow a lazy day I suspect, time to get the miniature oscilloscope out to see what’s wrong with this pesky board… and perhaps a walk. Can’t really get stuck into repairs until I can get some plaster and cement so may as well make the best of it.

Don’t forget you can click on any picture in this blog to see a higher quality version.

It’s been a great first week here in Galera, met some new people who’ve been great company and we’ve already gotten a fair bit of work done.

Yesterday I went off to Huescar in the morning in search of washers to complete the gazebo (or carbuncle as Maureen calls it – after she bought it!!) over the hot-tub. On the way I popped into Spanish Inland Properties to pick up the solar panel delivered from England – I’ve tested that and it’s chucking out 2.5 amps reliably during the day so now I just need to find a suitable 12v 20amp (or so) “deep discharge” battery. I can get one overnight in the UK for around £40 but they won’t deliver to Spain.

We spent the afternoon putting up screens on the new carbuncle – and immediately ran out of screen so last night we went off in search of more – turns out the local Ferreteria in Galera stocks the stuff so that was easy -  of course we had to drop into the pub (La Poza) on the way back and that was the end of that night – we sat outside all night had a great time.

Got back very late but not too late to get the camera out as it was a clear night with a smashing view of the edge of our galaxy which you’ll see in the first picture. – look over on the right and you can see it coming out of the corner of the image (the left corner is light pollution from the village). That was a 16-second exposure incidentally – tonight I plan to try taking a bunch of them and averaging out the noise.

This morning I’m taking it easy – slight alcohol poisoning and it’s quite warm out there. I can see a quiet night in coming along and with luck we’ll get some more wall patching done (it’s a never ending task) and maybe we’ll finish off the carbuncle. I’m doing some work on the home control stuff but I’m kind of stuck waiting for parts to arrive from the UK which might take a few days.

I took the shot below late last night – most of the lighting you see there is either solar or LED or both.

Things I’m short of it anyone local has ideas for suppliers…. I need a couple of posts for the Pergola (to run horizontally for fencing off one side) – maybe 75mm diameter, 3 metres long.. and a deep discharge battery (camping type) 12v at maybe 20ah or so – got to be cheap as the solar panel is just an experiment for now.. haven’t even figured out where to mount it yet 🙂

The plan this morning was to walk down the hill, get cafe-con-leche at La Posa bar and then walk up and start a spot of painting. The reality? We got half way down and started talking to friends, that took so long we gave up on La Posa and instead headed back up only to end up talking to more friends. At the top of the hill we stopped and talked to a third set and by the time we were done the morning was half-over!  Since then I’ve been mixing cement and filling holes in walls while Maureen has been spending her time staining windows.

Watering system repairs done, ceiling holes filled, solar lights more or less in place. Yesterday we headed off to Baza for supplies and a rather nice pizza lunch up at the top of the hill just up from Consum, not to mention re-discovering a great Chinese store at the back of the town where we bought a little clock for the bedroom and THE smallest USB power supply I’ve ever seen (I need more of these for projects – not much bigger than a European 2-pin mains plug). 

My big electronics project kind of fell to bits when I realised half the bits I needed were back in the UK but at least I’ll be able to leave a working temperature monitor here.. that is, IF the router keeps working – some cheap “Trendnet” router I bought last year from the store in Huescar, turns out it needs resetting occasionally – just been doing it the last month or so… I’m guessing the insides are covered in dust or something – in the summer I’ll bring back a Draytek. The place is starting to look habitable again – hopefully by the time we leave it’ll be all set up for the summer. I’ve given myself a couple of switchable mains sockets outside to save having to run extensions all over. Thanks to the fairly simple wiring over here that didn’t take too long.

Stopped in last night for an early night and to mess with the lighting. Tonight we’re planning a trip down to La Posa for a few beers and some company. Head is somewhat burned – it’s a tad windy out there but the sun remains far more powerful than anything you’d see in the UK.

Finally the first grapevine is starting to look serious… mind you it’s a good job it’s been rainy as my watering system had fallen to bits on this particular plant.

A lovely day here in Galera – could have been sunnier at times but most of the day it was clear skies and maybe 25c – not enough to warrant a trip to the lake but fine for getting jobs done along with the odd spot of sunbathing.

Tomorrow I’ve a brief trip to pick up Maureen after some shopping, the list for which is growing by the minute then we’re off to a BBQ at night.

Weather at the coast is apparently marvellous so I may set off extra early – there’s a rather nice coffee stand just outside of San Javier airport. That and a spot of shopping at the REALLY large Chinese store down there.

Got some good advice on weed-killing today, apparently the weedkilling (herbiceda) stuff here called “Glyfos” is cheaper and more powerful than the UK and now I know where to get it… watch out, dandelions….