April '09

April is here and its going to be a busy month. The puppies are all over the place. Over Easter, we fenced off the left side of the almacen and built a pen for them. At least they can stay in there while we work, because up to now, it was a two person operation to keep them all out of mischief. They now have their own dedicated page here.

Working on the Finca

The tractor has been working hard as has our other machinery. We have been cutting the trees on the front terrace and to keep cars from being able to drive onto the finca from the road, moved about 25 large rocks and spaced them down the edge of the road.

Water Tank

At the beginning of the month, we had a 26,000 litre fiberglass water tank delivered. It sits behind the almacen and will be filled with the water collected off the almacen roof.
Having got the guttering up and fitted the downpipe into the tank, I was inside giving its final clean (the water will be potable) when the heavens opened and a thunder storm deluged us in rain and hail. The timing could not have been better. By the end of the half hour storm we had a strong flow from the outlet valve and a smal lake in the bottom of the tank, so we most probably collected about 600-1,000 litres. We plan on using the tank as the main water supply for the house. If need be, during a dry spell, we can pay to get it filled with drinking water from one of the local wells.

Snow Joke

We are still getting snow on the Els Ports mountains behind us. This is the first year we have seen any, and since the first fall on the 31st October, we have had about seven others, with the last on on Easter Sunday.

Family and Friends Visit

Pondgirl's brother and his family visited us for a few days. It is just as well puppies cannot be taken on Ryanair, because we would be missing a couple.
Our Irish teacher friends came to stay on their finca for Easter, so they arrived pretty much the day after PG's brother family left and are staying for 10 days. They flew Ryanair as well, or more puppies would have gone.
Chris (Sgt Bilko) & Adrian (Santrix) made a overnight pitstop on their way back to the UK. Likewise, puppies don't go in panniers.