Casa Rosales

Casa Rosales

Saturday 13 April 2013

Labouring the point

Our third weekend here at Casa Rosales and this time, the sun is shining down on us. The garden is dry again and we've been digging out the many weeds. Sadly, I haven't found a single snail, stoned or otherwise!

And we are still very much in love with our house, though FR is cursing the wooden windows, which have swollen in the winter rain and which need sanding down and repositioning in order to let some of the wonderful fresh air in. Before long, we will have to keep them firmly closed against the summer sun and the flies, of which I am sure there will be many!

We are adjusting to the travelling in and out of town to school, to shop and to work. I love the drive and already know the turns and bends and wiggly bits by heart. It is just ten minutes, taken at a leisurely speed to conserve fuel - exactly the time it took me to get the children to school when we lived in England. Not as many busy roads to navigate and whilst it was a nice enough journey then, now we have the view of the Sierra Nevada for part of our return journey. Not bad!

Today, FR, Romy and I went in to town to get a bit of shopping. I stopped off at 'A LITTLE Bit of BRITAIN' - a shop run by some lovely English people and which initially just stocked things that many Brits missed - Bird's Custard, Wall's sausages, Steak and Kidney pies, for example - but now, runs an Aladdin's Cave of a second hand shop, where people bring in the things they no longer want or that they want to sell on. Everything from antique lampshades, sofas, china tea sets to garden furniture, fridges and freezers. It's brilliant and there's so much coming in all the time. The locals are beginning to see what a great idea it is to buy quality second-hand rather than rubbishy new and so it's a lively place.

Every month, they run a 'market' and today I bought my first geranium for my garden and some basil to eat at lunchtime. At Christmas and Easter, I ran a chocolate stall and was delighted with the sales I made. At the Easter stall, when we knew we were buying the house,  I made my first 'house' purchase too. It was from Jan, who paints roof tiles, old bottles and these big 'jarrones' that contained wine.

It looks lovely next to my fireplace, don't you think?




Coming home, I really enjoyed a salad of tomato, garlic, mozzarella and basil, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. Meant to get a photo but had to tuck in straightaway!

And really, truly, not wanting to labour the point that we do like our home, I just wanted to share a little bit of the history that we've found out since arriving.


The house has a little blue cross built into the outside wall. I read that this was to commemorate the death of someone here at the turn of the twentieth century - not clear if they were killed or it was an accident though.


My neighbour Pedro told me that the brother of the person who put the cross there went one better.......




...and built this little shrine.

However, the date on this is 1952, whilst the date of the death against our wall was about 50 years earlier. So not sure exactly what happened. I shall continue to try and find out.

Pedro, who is 82, apologised for breaking off our conversation the other day because he had to fetch his 79 year-old wife from the gym! He told me that our house and the one behind us, were the original houses in Villalobos - which is neither a 'villa' not has 'lobos' (wolves). Romy wants to know why we are not number 1 in that case...good question!



I took this photo whilst standing in the 'era' or threshing circle which is at the end of the road leading to our house, seen in the centre of the photo. We are part-owners of it now, although no one uses it anymore. But it adds to the history and sense of old community to think that people came here to separate the wheat from the chaff and other such farming necessities.

Despite having been looking for such a long time for a property to buy and having been thwarted or unwilling to commit in the past, there really has been no sense of anti-climax in finding and moving into our home. No, rather the opposite. Every day brings another little discovery; another thing to think about or do.

So yes, I AM labouring the point a bit and I promise I will stop soon. But I do like Being Here....



20 comments:

  1. Look at that blue sky. You can have some of my snails if you want, the curse of a walled garden and English weather. They might be deep frozen now but I know they will be back.

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    1. Deep frozen snails! Is it still so cold...? The heat of the day here today makes it hard to imagine the damp, cold of England. No, it's very kind of you, but keep the snails and the weather - thank you!! Axxx

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  2. Labour the point as much as you like, Annie. :-) You've had a long search to find the house meant for you and you're entitled to revel in the result to your heart's content. It's a most beautiful spot you've chosen to put down roots and I look forward to hearing more about your house and area as you discover things.

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    1. Thank you, Perpetua. I had a card from Janice (snail mail!) and she hoped we hadn't lost the 'fizz' of moving in by the time the card arrived. We haven't. I'm so glad. Nothing is ever absolutely perfect, I know, but here is very good. I do hope you'll stay with me and enjoy what I find to blog about now I'm settled. Axxx

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    2. Try getting rid of me, Annie. :-)

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  3. So happy for you Annie, it must be wonderful to finally feel settled and find a home you love........even minus the snails!
    Kim x

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    1. Thank you, Kim. It is a pretty wonderful feeling and we are growing to love the house more and more as we settle in. As for the snails, well...there were some for sale today at the supermarket....!
      Axxx

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  4. All this is good to hear....labour away!
    One of the few things I miss is the sort of shop you describe...where you can pick up odds and bods. Don't exist here...so that's several hours a week saved!

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    1. The shop is a good 'centre' and whilst I don't buy much there in terms of English food, I am there quite regularly as I can use the space to do some of my teaching. Alan, the owner, is a great guy to know - always helpful, always friendly - and ours sons are friends too.
      Axxx

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  5. Annie, the picture of your house in the header is gorgeous. Is it all yours - the whole spread that can be seen? It looks huge, and so pretty. I hope and pray that you and the family have many happy years there. I am so enjoying your blogs (courtesy of Perpetua's until I get up and running for myself!) - do keep them coming. I drool over your chocolates!! All good wishes to you all.

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    1. Hi Helva, the house that you can see is all ours. It's very long but not very wide and is actually attached to the house behind us, though we never hear them or see them much. Thank you so much for your kind words and I shall be watching out for you to get started yourself. I wish I could send chocolates via my blog! One day, we might get there! Axxx

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  6. How exciting to have a little blue dated cross built into the house. I would not be able to stop until I had found out all about it Annie. What else do you know about the house's history ? Tell us more about the wolves..or lack of them.
    I am so pleased that nothing feels anti climatic...I imagine as the weather settles into a glorious Spanish summer, each day will begin with you looking through those windows which I am sure FR will insist on keeping shut...and just wallowing in it all. ( I'm hoping to be back in France exactly a month today...and intend doing some wallowing myself).Jxxxx

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  7. I bet you can't wait to get back to France, Janice. I heard from Cynthia yesterday, which was lovely and noticed you weren't friends on fb yet. She's on under her husband's name. I think they are likely visitors once we get a bit more sorted, which will be great.
    I shall keep trying find out about the history, but the locals all contradict each other so I think I shall have to visit the library - which will be nice as it's a beautiful place.
    I have discovered this morning it's having lots of silly little things to do that actually makes me feel so happy - where to put and keep things, what needs changing to make it better, what needs to be at hand and what doesn't - bit like being at work and looking to improve systems! I'm having great fun!
    Axxx

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  8. Your house looks lovely, I find spanish houses very deceptive, once you get inside they are like a tardis. I am sure you will love living in your village, we find everyone friendly and helpful, we even have our own fiesta in August and we are fiesteros again this year. Love finding out about the history too. Enjoy the sunshine

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    1. Thank you Chrissie - I've popped over to your lovely blog and look forward to getting to know you.
      Right now, the temperatures have soared and whilst outside it is roasting, we are really glad to find the house cool both upstairs and down. Something you can't always know until you have lived in a house, so we're feeling lucky!
      Our village fiesta is in a month's time. Should be fun, though it won't be a big thing. Looking forward to it.
      Axxx

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  9. I LOVE to hear about the house & it's history. Please carry on...

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    1. Thank you, Nilly - I shall keep on trying to find out as much as possible. I met another neighbour today who grew up in the house behind us but although she lived behind us as a child, she didn't know much about the house's history. I'll keep digging!
      Axxx

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  10. You can carry on talking about the house for as long as you like as far as I'm concerned Annie. It's such a lovely house, and isn't it great to find out some of the history? Glad you are settling in so well.

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    1. Thank you Ayak. I've been racking my brains recently for something else to talk about but my head is so full of 'house' that nothing else emerges. I'm hoping that the village fiesta day will give me chance to find out more.
      I can't believe how settled we are - and guess what. Yesterday my husband found a snail in the garden and it was a most unusual one...looked like it came from the sea not the land. I'm sure there must be something in that worth investigating.
      Axxx

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