HOLA!!! Our Andalusian Adventure

HOLA!!

Gosh! What a busy week and a bit!!

A much needed week away in Spain.

It started off slowly, queueing for over an hour in the 'Brexit made' Passport Control queue!!!

 Such a sad and unnecessary outcome of an unnecessary event!! 

This wasn't our queue.....our queue was this x4, at least!!

Anyway once in the taxi, heading to Nerja, we quickly forgot about it!!

Day one of our Andalusian Adventure. 

Exploring the beautiful town of Nerja!

First swim in the sea for Jeff!

I paddled!!

We based ourselves in the coastal town of Nerja, for four nights. A resort about 40 mins along the coast from Malaga, and an area we've not been to before. All we really wanted from this resort, was a nice town near the sea, and it delivered!

Day two!

And a pre-booked bus tour, to walk the 'Caminito del Ray', 'The path of the King'.

A 7km walk through the gorge, with the most impressive scenery. Absolutely brilliant!

We went as part of a tour, as it was the easiest way to get there, access the gorge and get the helmets etc. We separated off and walked it independently, rather than stay with the group. It wasn't difficult, all one way and most of it on a level.

Would highly recommend going, if you ever visit Malaga.

Day three!

A visit to Frigiliana and an afternoon on the beach.

Frigiliana is a really pretty hillside, white housed village. 

It is home to the last remaining working sugarcane factory. This factory in the centre of Frigiliana is the only one in continental Europe that produces sugar cane honey. We spent a lovely 3 hours exploring the town and the maze of cobbled streets.

Then back to Nerja and a chilled afternoon on the beach....

.....perfect!

We tried the local delicacy 'berenjenas en tempura'  - aubergine in tempura, served with the Frigiliana honey. Our tour guide yesterday suggested we try it, so we did, at our first opportunity. Deeeeeelicious!

Day four!

Final day in Nerja. A breezy morning and a couple of degrees cooler.

We walked west of Nerja along the coast for a hour, to an old lookout watch tower.

Then headed back for food, a last swim in the sea for Jeff and some afternoon sun.

Day five!

Adios Nerja, Hola Ronda!

Took two buses and 3 and a half hours to get to Ronda but

15,000 steps later, I can say it was worth the effort!

Absolutely stunning scenery and a fantastic afternoon exploring.

Ronda was beautiful but Ronda was cold....unseasonably cold!!

Could've done with an extra layer and a hot water bottle for the evenings.

Day six

Our final full day in Ronda.

It may have been unseasonably chilly, but we dodged the rain and still packed in a lot.

Day seven

After a stormy night, with four hours of loud, rolling, thunder, we very much had a day of two halves.

We were leaving Ronda and heading to Benalmadena, on the coast for our final night.

More torrential rain, thunder, lightning and landslides throughout our eventful bus journey,

from Ronda to Malaga.

Thankfully things brightened up eventually in Benalmadena, our final stay of this trip.

And we got to enjoy a final beer and meal, sat outside, along the seafront.

Nerja, Caminto del Rey, Frigiliana, Ronda and Belamadena.

Many more pics and much more info, as always, over on our travel Instagram account @ha_pea_travels 

The storms that hit the region were devastating. A year's worth of rain fell in 8 hours and there is a mounting death toll as a result of the flash floods. This was the view from the plane. All the debris from the floods fully visible from the plane.

Valencia, in the South East was worst hit and is a scene of utter devastation. It is the worst flood in Spain's history. 100's of lives have been lost and tragically more casualties will be found during the clean up. From just our bus journey, we were shocked at the speed at which the torrents of water developed and the extent of the water running off the mountains, made worse from the long dry summers the area has endured.

 Certainly made our road closure and access to the house, or lack of it, small fry in comparison. We got home to find our whole road was closed and being resurfaced, for the next two weeks!!! No letter, no notification!! The man guarding the top of the road, did let us drop off our cases and move Sam's car, which was due it's MOT the following day! (which it failed!!) Makes coming and going a bit harder over the coming week, more planning required!!

It's always nice to be home, even when you've had the best time away! 

And, it's even better to wake up to blue skies and sunshine!

Autumn at it's best!

We were home in time for Halloween.

This was the only pumpkin activity for us this year. With being away for a month over the summer, our pumpkin plants at home didn't produce anything and we had no trick or treaters!! A bit of a none event but it marks the end of the month!!

So farewell to October.....

....and hello to November!!!

Sophie came home on Saturday, spending her birthday weekend at home this year!

We popped over to the Newt this morning.

A damp, dull, murky, mizzly morning but the autumnal colours outweighed the grey skies. We had a lovely wander around outside. It felt very mild to be fair, probably warmer than it had been in Ronda!!

Sophie is here for her actual birthday before heading back up to Cardiff. Sam is in London for his reading week, spending time with Poppy. Jeff goes back to school tomorrow, a five week term, but a busy one, with year 11 mock exams kicking off the term, which I'm in for, for the next two weeks. So we settle back into our routines before the festive season creeps in!!

Finally, some dry weather!!!

Started the week with a little catch up time with my two!

I popped up to Cardiff on Sunday, to see our two before we go away at half term. 

Went to Cribbs en-route for a quick look around before continuing on.

I love the fact they're both up in Cardiff and .....

....I can stay over at Sophie's.

So I got up around 2pm. Had arranged to meet up with Sam and go to the coffee shop. It had been his mate, Smithy's birthday and they'd all been out, semi hungover and all in need of Breakfast!!! All, being Sam, Poppy, Smithy and Celia. So good old mum to the rescue!! Sophie met us there, having already been out for brunch with friends. I then went back to Sophie's, stayed the night and then we went into town together the following morning.

Found Paddington!!

Did a little shopping....

....a few more tree decorations!!

Met them both for lunch, paid for by Sophie! Then headed back home!

Tuesday, I met up with Lynn. We both had free National Trust day passes, so we wanted to squeeze in a visit to Stourhead before they ran out and whilst the autumnal displays were at their best. It was a misty, murky, damp day but we made the best of it .

And got to see the bonus pumpkin display there, ready for half term visitors.

Wednesday was wet and I mean biblical rain again!!

I used my time to organise my wardrobe space, sort out the holiday cupboard and got my Christmas 2024 notebook all set up and ready. Whilst in Cardiff we decided on our breakfast bag categories, and so I can now start to squirrel things away and decide on a few extra rounds.

Thursday was dry, so I went to the woods. 

My first time this year. 

I've either been working or it's been raining on my days off! 

It was super wet underfoot and was dripped on but......

....I found what I was looking for!

Their was an abundance of fungi finds but most had already been munched on by the slugs.

And the autumn light and colours were stunning.

Sam popped in for tea, a flying visit. Smithy had some stuff stored at a friends house, that needed shifting, so Sam drove him down, they popped in for tea, then headed back to Cardiff. Annoyingly Jeff was at school and I could have had a night where I didn't need to cook, but still, it was lovely to see him!

Friday, was another dry day, so I headed to the Newt. I have a tick list of places I need to go to when it's dry. And I want/need to go to the Newt at least once a month, to make the most of my membership.

I love it when it's Apple Day celebrations.....

..the displays are always beautiful.

Unfortunately the woodland/deer park is closed off until March, as they need to treat Ash Dieback. There won't be anything left and it means no deer spotting for a few visits.

There is enough other stuff to see...

...and always a lovely 'something different' to see too!

Plus the pain au choc and coffee are worth going for alone!!

Each season, time of year, time of day, gives you something new to see.

How fabulous was this spiders web!

Jeff broke up for half term on Friday. He spent yesterday doing a few jobs out in the garden, whilst it was dry. We got loads of washing out on the line, did all the bedding etc. It has just been so wet lately, that you really do feel you should make the most of any dry weather.

I however, spent my day de-bobbling!!!

I was in two minds the other other day, when sorting out my wardrobe, whether or not to keep half of my jumpers, as they were looking so badly worn and bobbly! Anyway, I researched lint removers and de-bobblers and bought one off Amazon and I'm so pleased with the outcome. Why have I not had one of these before!?! Not only do the jumpers look great but it is such a satisfying thing to do!! I'm 7 jumpers down, about another half a dozen to go!! But I feel I have a new wardrobe and doubled my jumper availability!!!!

Today has been a 'do jobs' kinda day! We're off to Spain for a few days and the kids will house sit between them! The joys of being able to work from home! Am not gonna lie, I am so looking forward to a little sunshine and blue skies. I really have felt down with the constant grey, wet, rainy weather we've had to endure recently. We can't have a wet winter, the ground is already soaked to capacity and off the back of a pretty miserable summer, I need some blue skies, warmth and sunshine. So the cases have come out of the holiday cupboard, ready to be packed with shorts and t-shirts, and I can't wait!

My stint in the gallery is done!!

What a busy week.

So on Monday I met up with my mum and dad, two thirds of the way down to Cornwall, just past the 'Nearly there trees'. It's a good spot to meet, as dad only has to drive one third of the journey and there's a nice spot for lunch. It was my mum's birthday the day before, so perfect timing.

And their seasonal displays were looking fabulous. There's a café there, and a restaurant and a lovely gift shop and farm shop. Resisted lots of the yummy bits!!

Tuesday was horrible! It rained all day, relentlessly!!

I had a couple of exams to invigilate in the afternoon and I got soaked!

Wednesday, it was back in the gallery for my last couple of days.

Thursday was the final day!

I enjoyed my day off on Friday. Met my friend Sam for coffee early afternoon, then headed into Bristol for the evening to meet my sister, after she finished work. 

It had been her birthday the day before and we always try to do something together, rather than buy each other gifts. So this birthday, we got tickets to see the newly reformed Fairground Attraction. We first saw them when I was 17 and Jo 18, at Birmingham Hippodrome in 1988!!

Eddi Readers voice was still just as brilliant as it ever was, and it was great to hear the many tracks of our youth from the album 'The first of a million kisses'. A 'PERFECT' evening.

I was tired this morning, going into work. But I was only there to liaise with the artists collecting their work, and did a little tidying. So that's it for this exhibition and that's me done now for the next few weeks, until it's back in after half term to invigilate the Yr 11 mock exams. Hence, I'm writing this a day early, as I'm heading up to Cardiff tomorrow to touch base with the kids and have a little retail therapy in Cardiff! Jeff just has this next week to get through before it's October half term. I do feel the last few weeks have whizzed by. It doesn't feel like 5 minutes ago, I was starting this run in the gallery and now it's done. Looking forward to a week of catching up with friends and just stuff in general before we go away!

OCTOBER!!!!

Pinch and a punch.....

....how is it October already??

I started the week/month off, getting my hair cut and coloured.

Back to white blonde.  

Walked with my friend on Tuesday. It was raining to begin with, so we had a coffee and then once dry, headed off to find a few new murals in Glastonbury.

The bittern.

This dahlia mural, will forever be my favourite.

It's on the side of the Heart of the Tribe Gallery, 

which is holding an exhibition to mark 5 years of the Glastonbury mural trail. 

Well worth a visit. It's on until the 20th of October.

 We still have plenty to see.

I've had a very enjoyable week in the gallery. 

Yesterday was Open Day, so really busy. Lots of lovely people to chat to. 

I will be sad when it ends on Thursday.

Ending today, is Somerset Arts Week. So I dragged Jeff along to the ZigZag building this morning, to catch an exhibition on before it finished today.

It's such an incredible space. The building alone was worth going to see  

And there was a fab selection of work on display.

Check out 'Old as the Hills' Instagram account to find out more.

The afternoon has been wet! Had a family group chat with Sophie and Sam this afternoon, which was lovely. Had a catch up with my sister, phoned my mum this morning to wish her a happy birthday, so a check in with all the family xx

So next week is busy. I do my final two full days in the gallery, possibly in for art work collection too. I've also signed up to do a couple of exams. Meeting my mum and dad for lunch tomorrow, a friend for coffee on Friday, then my sister for a night out in Bristol. Let's hope the weather is kind x