Flying solo

Hello Diary and Dear MSE Friends, :hello:

Thank you for being with me yesterday Lucky, Piq, Granny, and Chev. It's amazing how your support really helps; I value our scattered community in The Box very highly, and do hope some of us will get the chance to meet in RL one day.. :T

Yesterday afternoon El Divo Four noticed that I was sad so reluctantly, I reminded him of the date. He was mortified; quickly deciding that he and Number Three would cook me dinner.
Luckily the larder, fridge and lads were all up to the task. It was an excellent meal; gazpacho followed by baked salmon and a medley of roast veg with cheese sauce, then Tiramisu for pud (the latter not home made but still pretty good).
I even found a dusty bottle of bubbly and enjoyed a small glass - gave the rest of the bottle to Three 'n Four to take on to Night Two of the riverbed party which had provided our musical accompaniment all evening, and was in full fling at midnight when they left the Nest.

Today the campo is very quiet and dare-say the village looks like a ghost-town, although scents rising on the breeze suggest that paella and a bbq feast is ongoing in the riverbed.
Hope my absence has not been adversely commented upon; was there at the beginning to see the parade of horses, including the Shetland pony who sometimes grazes on the hillside near the Nest. He was pulling a little cart decorated with flowers and a colourful hooped canopy, in which rode some of the smallest children all dressed in their finery. Most of the youngsters and many adults were wearing traditional flamenco costume - all looking fantastic as they accompanied the statue of Virgin Mary from the church to the riverbed. She was riding in the most beautifully decorated cart of all, of course.

That was Friday. Stayed for a while soaking in the atmosphere, but not really enjoying it because last time I'd seen this spectacle, I'd not been watching alone.
We camped with everyone else that year, enjoying the incongruity of shifting practically the whole village population to the riverbed; putting up rudimentary shelters with scrounged second-hand materials (made comfy with old furniture saved from the tip for that purpose). Kids collecting wood for communal bonfires, braves racing their magnificent horses, mammas cooking, toddlers playing, men gathering beneath a huge tarpaulin set up as a bar..
It's pretty well organised, given that the location is a riverbed: Electricity points and lights, drinking water taps, toilets are all supplied. There's even a concreted dance floor (which sometimes washes away in the winter).

Ayee, memories have been crowding this weekend - but I've enjoyed being close enough to hear the music and merriment, and see the lights shining up through the trees.
Do feel grateful for the good times PC and I enjoyed together, and can now appreciate the memory prompts this year's Romeria has sparked - next time will join in, once all these painful 'firsts' are over.

CD appears to be a little brighter after her jabs. She's also almost stopped sneezing so maybe Dear Vet is right that this symptom is incidental, nothing to do with anything sinister. DV said she's seen lots of sneezing dogs in the last month; diagnosed allergic rhinitis aka hay-fever, much to my surprise. CD's never had it before but as DV said, CD's immune system is under stress and she's not a young dog - at which point we realised CD has passed her eleventh birthday, unnoticed at the time (oops ).
Anyway, it looks like the cocktail of meds is working - second dose due tomorrow.*

<*Note to self - better book the van in for the technical inspection to keep it legal-ish (will carry garage receipt to prove faults have been rectified if can't get an immediate appointment).>

ETA: Music has just started up again - an accompaniment to this evening's session of plant-watering.

Hello Diary and Dear MSE Friends, :hello:

Thanks for your comments, Missrlr, HAW and Lucky. Yes, the young Divos rescued my anniversary night; PC would have been proud of them. I was.
Number Four appears to have made me his project as he obviously thinks I am too much alone, so he keeps turning up and trying to be helpful, bless him - it's just unfortunate that the current most important job is strimming, which has a terrible effect on his hay-fever..

Last night I watched the first campo blaze of the season destroy about an acre of land on the other side of the valley - no personal danger, but a convoy of folk went over from the closest houses to deal with it as soon as the crackling flames became audible. Luckily it was a very still evening so the neighbours were able to beat out the flames without calling the Fire Brigade. The trees were lost though, they burned for quite a while - olive and almond; full of flammable oil!

..Which is why strimming off the tall dry weeds is a priority; can make the difference between stopping a blaze or losing everything. Doesn't help that Nasty Neighbour is only strimming under his own trees - not bothering with his fallow fields that adjoin my land; grrrr. :mad:

Of course this is the other side of the coin, Missrlr; yes it is lovely and warm here, but fire will be a constant risk from now until the autumn - doubt it will rain again before September; all plants that aren't being watered are already dead and tinder-dry, and the earth is parched.

Started watering my lawn a couple of weeks ago - justified to help as a fire-break around the house. Luckily have enough water to do so, but it still resembles a stubble field more than a lawn, lol.

Changed plans yesterday after managing to book an ITV inspection for the van this afternoon. Dear Vet agreed that as CD is doing well, her second batch of meds can be given today without delaying the treatment plan.
So instead, we all went to visit PC's cottages; having Divo Four as support seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

It was very quiet, only three neighbours in residence. The cottages were a bit sad, it makes a big difference when they're not lived-in full-time. The garden is very over-grown but I didn't have enough enthusiasm to do much to it as the air was full of flies - attracted by a neighbour's chickens (another disadvantage of summer in Spain).
CD forced a path through the long grass so I followed her to discover that our Jacaranda tree is flowering - so glad I caught that as it's a beautiful sight; royal purple blooms creating an amazing splash of colour in the dry landscape.

We 'lost' FD for a while which annoyed Number Four; made him go and look for her as she's supposed to be his dog.. Think she was watching the chickens; a forbidden pleasure as they often escape and are then in danger, even from an old girl like Fatty.

Ah, time to go - CD's just told me that DS4 is about to arrive..