Well maybe not so lonely actually. The bells have been ringing across the valley as the goat men and their goats plus some sheep roam the campo letting their animals feed. They always have numerous cow bells on them like you see (or hear) in places like Austria. It's a lovely sound as they wonder freely with the new baby kids leaping on rocks or seeking their mother's milk.
As in all things modern, times have even touched the goat men. Max had taken them down a bottle of cold water as it's hard work sitting in the shade of an olive tree watching goats. I had my camera out and was just getting in position to take these photos when he whipped out his mobile and started texting, most probably his 'mujer' (woman) to say 'not goat again for dinner tonight'. You can smell and hear them before you see them and the goaty smell lingers in the air well after they have moved on, but it's another part of Spanish country life that we love so much.
Paella fiesta came and went, then we had Easter celebrations (Semana Santa) which are major here. We went and watched the Palm Sunday procession through the village but didn't get around to the following Friday, Saturday and Sunday processions and events. Yolanda our housekeeper looked shattered through lack of sleep when she came back to work. She lives in the village and the very loud music and drums go on till the early hours.
Alistair has been busy writing and I have been painting, the children have been over which provoked tearful journeys back from the airport and much discussion about our future plans.
The olive trees are just about to burst into blossom which I was photographing the other day thinking how pretty the little buds looked. Like tiny cotton balls. Then i realised they were in fact little balls of some insects eggs. I now know how the olive tree fly gets its grubs into the olives, and I have to decide whether to use a chemical spray, go around rubbing them off with my fingers (could take weeks) or leave things to nature. I have a feeling it might be 'nature'.
The campo is also covered in wild flowers at present and is looking amazingly beautiful. I feel moved by the beauty of what mother earth can produce, and walking along the track with only the sound of the birds singing makes me realise that I could not be away from the country side for too long.
Our plans have changed for the future due to children and what we want to do for them and their future, and I will say more in my next blog when things are a bit more settled.
We may yet be making charcoal in a forest somewhere and producing honey from our own bees!