As summer is drawing to a close, it's time to bring in the harvest of produce that grows so easily and abundantly here in southern Spain. Because all of our ministry team are out of the country at the moment, no one is picking all the figs that grow in the garden of Villa Eden. So I asked a neighbour if she'd like to come on a fig picking outing with me. We took the dogs for a walk in the countryside, picking figs and pomegranates that were growing wild. Then we headed back to Villa Eden to pick the figs that were growing on the trees there in the garden.
Then, as we were filling out baskets with figs, Matilde noticed that all the almonds were ready for picking too. With great enthusiasm, we got a shopping bag and began to fill it with kilos of fresh almonds. Mati picked the ones on the lower branches, while I found a broken chair that had been thrown out, and used it to reach the almonds growing on the higher branches. Well, I underestimated the weakness of old plastic that has been perishing in the sun; I'd only been harvesting for twenty minutes, when suddenly there was a horrendous CRACK and I found myself falling right through the seat of the chair and scratching myself to bits as I landed clumsily on the soft soil below. Fortunately, no serious damage was done.
We took time also to pick some walnuts, before I had a quick swim and doctored all the scratches down my shins. Thrilled with the adventure of picking several kilos of fresh almonds, Matilde is going to make me "ajo blanco" - a cold almond and garlic soup that is a speciality of these parts. If you'd like to know how it's made, click here to find a recipe (in Spanish) by one of our well known TV chefs.
I think I almost committed a crime this weekend. When I was walking the dogs yesterday, on one of our usual routes in the countryside behind my house, I noticed to my displeasure that someone had tied strips of pink plastic to many bushes and stones along the way. Fortunately, before I started to remove all the offending "litter," I realised that it must be be for the Spanish Mountain Biking championship, which is being hosted by Alhaurín de la Torre this year.
The cyclists left Alhaurín at 9 am this morning, and they're weaving their way across mountain tracks, almost to the towns of Alhaurín El Grande and Mijas, climbing to an altitude of 2,800 metres, before heading all the way back and finishing here in Alhaurín de la Torre again. It's a total of 72 kilometres.
So, this morning I had to adapt my route with the dogs, as 800 cyclists from all over Spain were beginning to follow the mountain track that we usually take for our morning walk. For two years now, I've been walking my neighbour's dog, Buba, on those mountain paths every morning and evening. (Buba's the white dog in the picture above - a cross between an English Setter and a Catalan Shepherd dog.) More recently, I've also been taking a puppy with us. Another neighbour found Nelson, a little black labrador cross, lying almost dead in the fields; they adopted him and he's now four months old, so I'm doing a little obedience training with him.
I'm actually very thankful for the dogs. I've had a lot of challenges with arthritis and fibromyalgia pain in recent years, and getting out with the dogs every day motivates me to get some exercise and not allow my joints and muscles to seize up. The dogs have been God's gift to me... even though their owners think I'm the gift, because I've been exercising and training their dogs.
This morning, we saw the first of the cyclists go by on our usual trail, already breathing heavily as they pedalled up the slope. I felt very content to be a dog walker and not a cyclist; it's much easier to enjoy the lovely setting when you're proceeding at a leisurely stroll and not a strenuous uphill cycle.
It's been three weeks since my last blog post. No, I didn't drop off the planet; the reason for the long silence is because my parents, now both in their eighties, arrived for three weeks of summer holidays. Although I continued with some ministry responsibilities (mainly coaching sessions and emails relating to upcoming training courses) my main jobs over those three weeks were tour guide, driver, hostess, cook and dishwasher :-)
It was lovely to have time with Mum and Dad, and to be able to visit some of the beauty spots and nearby towns, both coastal and inland, here in southern Spain. We had use of a larger car while they were here (mine is tiny!) which made it much easier for us to transport my Dad's mobility scooter on our day trips to different places. I've just dropped them off at the airport this morning, and they'll be back in Scotland by this afternoon.
Then, as we were filling out baskets with figs, Matilde noticed that all the almonds were ready for picking too. With great enthusiasm, we got a shopping bag and began to fill it with kilos of fresh almonds. Mati picked the ones on the lower branches, while I found a broken chair that had been thrown out, and used it to reach the almonds growing on the higher branches. Well, I underestimated the weakness of old plastic that has been perishing in the sun; I'd only been harvesting for twenty minutes, when suddenly there was a horrendous CRACK and I found myself falling right through the seat of the chair and scratching myself to bits as I landed clumsily on the soft soil below. Fortunately, no serious damage was done.
We took time also to pick some walnuts, before I had a quick swim and doctored all the scratches down my shins. Thrilled with the adventure of picking several kilos of fresh almonds, Matilde is going to make me "ajo blanco" - a cold almond and garlic soup that is a speciality of these parts. If you'd like to know how it's made, click here to find a recipe (in Spanish) by one of our well known TV chefs.
