Oh the joys of living in the country...

It gets pretty cold up here in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas and just lately the wood burning stove has been burning 24/7, refuelled from sources such as AKI and Brico.

With its tendency to devour fuel like a wood burning version of the  Flying Scotsman,  this has proven to be an expensive time. One of the neighbours saw me off loading the latest batch of fire logs the other day and recommended a guy in the village who woud supply for about half the cost, so on Friday last week I went around to see him...

"How big do you want?"

"No more than 40cms long and 15 to 20 cms diameter" we said...

"OK" says our man "will bring to your house on Monday..."(He didn't say which Monday...)

Monday came and went with no sign of him so I went to see him around 8.30 last night...

"Lo Siento... I forgot" he said... "Manana at three oclock."

At six oclock just as I was beginning to get a bit annoyed along come a tractor with a huge trailer attached, the contents of which he ceremoniously tipped outside my front door.

About half a ton of sawn olive trees are now blocking the doorway which is our only point of access to the house.

I handed over the agreed 30Euros and away he went.

We dont have a patio, our only outdoor storage area is on the first floor under the staircase leading to our sun roof. So all of this timber has to be moved through the living room and upstairs.

Then the hailstones started to fall...

So not wanting to drag all this timber through the house, dripping soil and melted ice all over the place, I've stacked it against our front wall and covered it with a poly tarp where it will have to stay until the morning.

There is a problem though; I think Spanish centimetres must be bigger than everyone elses; with the exception of  just a few pieces, every  log will have to be recut...each one is at least 60cms long and far too big to fit in the stove, some are the diameter of telegraph poles so I guess I know what I'm going to be doing for the next couple of days. Handsawing is out of the question si its going to involve my trusty Skill Saw and it will all have to be done in the street.

I'm just hoping that it doesn't rain (too much) tonight.

Knowing our luck recently though we will either have strong winds that rip the covers off followed by prolonged heavy rain or some other villager will come along and nick it!

I'm not bitching; its just par for the course!

Just one of the joys of living in the country!

Sounds like a bargain though.

Laury

Foxbat

Thank you so much for giving us a laugh even though it was at your expense, we needed that tonight just as we are ploughing through more OVP drivel and disappointment, perhaps one day when we get our money back we will be in your position - looking for good logs at a cheap price!

Good luck hope you are sitting cosy and warm.

Jojan

Well Foxbat,

           Well I thought that was quite funny, it did make me laugh. You will be busy tomorrow by the sounds of  it. That will keep you going for a while I should think.

           It sounds really nice and cosy enjoy.

                        Take care Pat 

By the time the guy had delivered yesterday it was far too cold and wet to do much with it, so having stacked and covered it I sat down to watch the CNN Online Inauguration Parade.

I'll say one thing for the Yanks they dont do things by halves do they..?

Today however and down to work...Cold but Sunny thank goodness

Needed the original and two new blades for the skillsaw plus an axe!

After 4 hours I still couldnt cope with some of it so I donated it to a neighbour who uses an open fire like you find in some of the old coaching inns in England.

Strangely enough, I had mentioned my need for firewood at the village shop about a week ago and when I was in there again this morning, I was approached by a lady who gave me her name, address and phone number. It would appear that the guy that delivered to me is a sort of second string choice around the village and this lady is the supplier of choice...

So next time I will go to her, suitably armed with a log and the definite message 'no mas largo que esto!"

Another valuable lesson learned.

fb

Foxbat,

if you are not going to fit a boiler and produce some steam!!!!!!

you really ought to slow the beast down and fit some restriction or is the chimney glow necessary as a local direction beacon when the street lights go out?

Regards

Norman

You know there are times when living out here in the campo is a bit like living in the third world...

Trying to run a small pin money internet business requires two things; power and an internet connection...

For the last three days we have have high winds and lots of rain...Lots and lots of it...Culminating today with gale force winds and the occasional burst of torrential rain.

I did a shopping run into Granada this afternoon and due to the weather and heavy traffic took rather longer than the two hours this exped normally requires. As the third hour approached I was actually returning home, still on the Granada ring road when my mobile rang...Big Green and White Jeep behind me with a big blue light bar across the top so I just let the phone ring...

At the first opportunity I pulled off the road and tried to return the call; it was from my wife on her mobile; I got an immediate Network Busy signal from Movistar, so back into the traffic and yet more rain...pulled off a second time and tried again in response to another call; still Network Busy...Yet again back into the traffic and the rain and eventually into the village which lies about 10Kms from home; I tried again no response but as I hung up my phone rang again and this time I was able to answer it...one very worried wife wondering just where the hell I'd got to since I was now well over an hour overdue. Having set her mind at rest she informed me that the power in our village was off and had been for nearly 90 minutes. The reason she was using her mobile rather than the landline was that we have one of these wireless phones and it relies on mains power for the wireless connection.

So just five minutes from home I set off and arrived just as darkness was falling. in the pouring rain I unpacked the shopping. Our kitchen and bathroom have no natural light from windows (they dont have windows!) so everything was haphazardly stowed in the dark.

I then set about lighting up the Flying Scotsman Stove referred to in earler posts on this thread. This at least gave us light in the living room.

Finally after I had been home for nearly two hours mains power was restored...We then played catch up by making coffee and dinner and then set about warming up the computers...great we have power, we have internet, god is in his Heaven and all is well...well for ten minutes anyway...the power went off again...half an hour then it was back...then it was off again...We have a UPS on our main computer as it is particularly sensitive to power breaks, but of course having been without power itself for so long meant that every time the power glitched so did the router so my wifes computer kept losing its internet connection...

I suspect that although the main Telefonica switching centre in the village is self powered there must be a mains supply driving the computer network that keeps it operational; I also suspect that this mains supply has its own UPS to take over when the mains goes down; so having been down for the best part of four and a half hours I guess the batteries in their UPS are just about flat because now every little glitch in the village power is dropping our ADSL connection.

Life for us here revolves around the computers and the internet, so we need constant power, and for the most part we get just that but it seems that somewhere in the power network to the village something isnt quite weatherproof; the first sign of rain and it breaks down. When the phone system goes down we have to walk to the end of the street to get a decent signal for the mobiles because they wont work in the house... the village cell mast did work properly for two weeks last year though...

The Rio Cacin flows through our village in an underground culvert and even in high summer there is always a plentiful supply of water...so how come a) the water from our taps isn't drinkable (not even the locals will drink it!) and b) without any notice the local water company cut off supplies to the village at least twice a week, usually at a time when it is needed the most...like bedtime or first thing in the morning for a shower?

This country has an awful lot going for it; one of the most advanced rail systems in Europe and generally good roads and traffic management systems, good food, but the basic rural infrastructure is a total shambles and the relevant authorities cannot or will not improve these basic requirements.

Having said all that I still wouldnt go back to the UK...

You are so right foxbat, no matter what happens, I too have no desire to return to the UK.

I was told before I came to live permanently in Spain, that it would never last, I was far too English. That was five years ago!

It was quite a pleasant experience to see people "eating their own words".

Yes, I get frustrated sometimes, even with a wife who has Spanish as a first language, who constantly tells me "uno momento mi amor, I ´splain´ you".

We too, lose power after heavy rain, although we are on a fairly new urb., five minutes away from the town!

All part of life´s rich pattern, in the country of our choice, with a culture that is very different.

España es mi vida!!

I bought a basic phone from Carrefour to use when I had the line re-connected.  Later I bought Dec phones with an extra handset,  brilliant phones but useless when the power goes off.

I retrieved the phone from the cupboard, installed  a double adaptor in telephone point and both systems work together.   Saves me playing hunt the handset now when it rings and I'm near to the Kitchen.  I only return it to the base station last thing at night to recharge it.

I have the same problem here in UK, I can't leave the basic phone set up as it takes me over the limit.  At least I can plug it in if when we have a power cut.  Luckily they don't happen very often but after being caught out recently for over 5 hours I decided to err on the side of caution.

...and now the latest update from the Weather department...

Granada Campo; Winds Gale to severe gale force 8 to 9, west northwest; continual driven rain horizontal at times...

From the pet department; "You really dont expect us to go out in this weather do you?"

I just retrieved a couple of boxes from the street that had blown off the roof terrace...thankfully empty apart from rain water...

Usually we have a problem keeping up with the demands of our Flying Scotsman log burner; today we have the opposite problem; trying to keep the thing alight! There is so much downdraught...

Power has been on and off all night and continues to be something of a problem; I dont envy the Endesa guys stuck up a pylon in these conditions; I think they might just give up til the wind drops...

No point in trying to watch TV: the wind has ripped off the reflector on the back of the mast and the aerial itself is now pointing in entirely the wrong direction!

Ah the joys of living in the country; just great; now just where did I leave my sou'wester...talk about batten down the hatches!

fb

Just testing...

and testing again...

testing...

Having a few problems today but given the way the mains power is i'm not reaaly surprised...

Its stopped raining, but its still blowing a hooley. The sun is desperately trying to break through the gloom; time for a bit of Python;