Blowing in the Winds of Change

*Robin*

Fell asleep after dinner so awake again now.. :cool:
Cancelled Prime, thought about banking but not enough brain-cells awake to guarantee getting ducks in line [as it were]. Emailed Spanish solicitor who is wondering when I'm going to see her; she has a lovely tax bill for me to pay and needs autographs on some other official bumf. Made mental notes to look at B@rclays SO, also email [and pay] UK solicitor.

Just took Himself out for his last comfort break of the evening - curses! The snow has caught up with us - which explains why the hourly tolling of the local church bells sounds so muffled..
Still, we had a great walk in the National Park earlier when the leaden clouds parted for a couple of hours - saw blue sky for the first time since getting off the boat.
Tomorrow we'll head South - not got a site booked which may be awkward if it's still freezing at night; have no confidence the leaky gas bottle sold to me by the UK site is safe to use overnight for fridge and heating. At the moment am just putting it on for as long as it takes to make toast or dinner, while leaving the locker door open to let leaking gas disperse.. Very tempting to just dump the thing - if only compatible replacements were available here!** :mad:
**I'd have to find a qualified gas engineer to change the van's connections then buy a Spanish contract and new bottles - which would swallow the rest of m' funds that are supposed to last until the New Year. Ha - broke again; situation normal.. <sigh>

NoOneAround

Lovely to have you back posting again Robin
NOA
x

*Robin*

Good morning, :hello:

Just South of Madrid, -2'C inside the van but petrol station next door means I dare not connect the gas. Lorries getting on the road woke us up a couple of hours ago - not as bad as it sounds because we were shivering in bed before 8pm last night and I fell asleep pretty fast. Yes, I let M sleep under the top covers, he's a great hot-water-bottle! As soon as it's light we'll get moving..

Need to keep reminding m'self about the B@rclays SO - must adjust the thing before it goes out on the 20th [I think!].

Hi NOA - hope your festive prep is going well. Is our fair city still white n' sparkly? ..As usual I only just got away before the first major snowfall; must admit am thinking longingly of centrally heated houses right now. :rotfl:

Dansmam

Good morning to you too Robin:wave:
Hope you find somewhere to park up to put the kettle on - sounds as though a hot cup of tea is what’s needed but I can see why you’re avoiding lightning the dodgy gas. Temperature here back above zero this morning so we’re back to dreary drizzly English weather. Envious of people heading south! Right, work is calling. Safe travels and enjoy your day!

Knit_Witch

Hope you and the pooch get home safely and can get warm! (and then you can write to whoever provided the gas cannister and complain)

*Robin*

Good evening Diary-People, :hello:

We made it! At last, into the warm.. such a novelty not having to put on three layers and find gloves before going outside! :rotfl:
Am exhausted; twitching, munching pain-killers, forgetting words in English [doing quite well in Spanish I think - have already had welcome-home hugs from half a dozen neighbours ].
Going to cook m'self some wholesome soup and fall over. Hopefully will be able to function tomorrow - we have the joyous reunion between M and GrandPup to orchestrate (preferably somewhere where nothing is going to get broken!)..

NoOneAround

Hello Robin
Our fair city was only white and sparkly for a day before turning into a slushy mess, now just cold and grey and wet House has been lovely and warm but the bills this year sending a chill down my spine.....direct debit up by £30 a month after last delivery.
:eek:
What lovely neighbours Stay warm and safe,
NOA
x

*Robin*

Hello MSE People, :hello:

Well, we ended up at DH's cottages, which the last visitors left so sparkling clean it was an easy decision to stay on in camper-van - plugged into the power supply though in order to minimise use of gas while able to keep warm in the evenings (given that I pay the bill anyway).
Not sure who if anyone will be staying for Xmas, but this way I don't have to add 'removing M's shed hair from the houses' to my "To Do" list.

Last night eventually enough brain-cells woke up for a Bright Idea to percolate through.. Have stuffed the hole in the gas bottle where the gauge is missing full of blu-tack! It hasn't totally stopped the leak but reduced it by about 90%. Also warned everyone else in the pueblo not to let any visitors smoke near the van (none of the residents puff the filthy weed themselves).

DS3 was very patient with me, getting us settled in and bringing over supplies. Am slowly remembering stuff like where the water mains tap is and how to turn on the outside lights, and Musketeer is enjoying exploring the orchard paths (he's not stayed here before).


Just lost the second half of this post! No idea why but going to press 'submit' before the rest disappears.. :cool:

Sun_Addict

Glad all is well. I agree dogs are better than any hot water bottle

Dansmam

Morning Robin, glad all’s well with the cottages and you can take a bit of time to rest up in the warm with your Musketeer. Like your reasoning about staying in the van and keeping dog hair in its place! That gas cylinder is a worry but if you need it for cooking I suppose blutak will have to do &#55357;&#56863; hope the brain fog is clearing now x