A new day...

What a difference a day makes. After yesterday's gloom, today was lovely and sunny with temperatures at around the forecast 15°...still chilly in the shade though. Apparently, Spain is having a spell of early wintery weather in some area's, particularly in the northern area's of Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque country with rain, snow and high winds expected to last until the weekend.

So perhaps we shouldn't complain.

We walked up old Moorish streets near our house to the oldest part of town, known as the "Casco Antiguo", from where you get some of the best views of Olvera.
























The Calle Barriete.

Walking along Calle Manco (I think), towards the Church at the top of town.

The Plaza de la Iglesia.

Looking west towards the Peñon de Zaframagon and Cadiz beyond.

Mucho frio en Olvera

We woke up this morning to a cold, grey,wet and misty day.

The forecast temperature was a bearable 15° but walking past the bank, the indicator showed it to be a lot cooler.....and it felt like it!!

It must be an indication that we are getting acclimatised to the weather here, when 11.5° feels cold.

Anyway, just a few pics of our walk down to the bottom of town to the Ferretaria, to try again to get some grout or tile cement.

Looking up to a cloud covered church and castle.

Looking across the Plaza de la Concordia to the Avenida de Julián Besteiro.












The view from our roof terrace.

Alcalá de Valle

Alcalá del Valle, a town of approximately 5,500 inhabitants, about 14kms southeast of Olvera.We had passed through Alcala on a previous occasion on the way to somewhere else, so it was due a return visit.

This is the view of Alcalá from the main road.

The welcome sign on the outskirts of town.




I drove into town and parked up not too far away from the sign pointing to the Ayuntamiento.After a short walk, I came to the square.
On one side was the impressive Iglesia de Santa Maria del Valle (the Church of Santa Maria), the patron saint of the town.
This ceramic plaque was on a wall at the rear of the Church.












Opposite the Church was the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall).


























This plaque and tiled image was on the wall of a house just down the street from the Church.













































This river culvert ran through the length of the town.













The Plaza del Emigrante and a statue dedicated to those who had left Alcalá in search of a better life.










Overall, not the prettiest town that we have visited but in parts quite attractive.













On leaving town, I came across this crop spraying plane that had landed on a makeshift runway in a field and had just re-fueled with insecticide to spray the local olive groves.
Linked posts:
Alcala del Valle re-visited

Feliz Cumpleanos Ruth

Party time again at Pepe Rayas. This time for Ruth, who was celebrating her eighteenth birthday.

Tetricia, pictured here with Ruth, had kindly invited us to the party and we were pleased to see many of our friends there.

This is Laurie, usually seen on the other side of the bar.












Tetricia, strutting her stuff with Antonio, one of our Spanish friends.

Helen and Phil with lads Billy, Jimmy and Pip, friends of Tetricia visiting from Manchester.

Jordan on the left with Laurie.

John with birthday girl Ruth.

Our friends. Left to right Lidia, Paqui, Tetricia, Alfonso and Alexis.

Mel doing his Chinese waiter impression...another story. Me doing the "I've had a few" impression.

Pauline and David with Ruth.

Alan, Elma, Geraldine and Ray.

Paqui, Anne and Alfonso.

Mick and Jane.

In perfect harmony......Lewis, boyfriend of Ruth with mum Tetricia.

As always, a good time was had by all and was still being had by the time we left...whatever time that was.

Fiddler on the roof....

....and anyone that knows me would also know the the title of this post is very apt, as my lack of DIY skills are legendary.

However, needs must, and after the recent heavy rains a leak had appeared in the bathroom ceiling.

So no option but to call upon Bodgitt and Reckitt, with his trusty silicone gun.

The builders mate (or should that be slavedriver).... a bit slow with the tea though!!












While on the roof, I took the opportunity of taking a couple of "unobstructed" pics of the views.