Bonus & Wendy's Big Adventure . . . .

[Bonus]

Christmas is nearly here again. We do like Christmas!

 

The shortest day of the year has just passed - things can only get better now...

 

I've been helping Ramon the Freindly Farmer to cut and chop firewood for next year (we did this years wood last year) and I've done a few days of winter maintenance work at the campsite while it's closed. 

 

It's funny - last year in Spring I worked at the campsite for the first time. I managed about three months before Juan, the Boss (owner) finally drove me nuts and we parted company. I left on "ok'ish" terms but man I was happy to be going. Then last Christmas - about this time of year and having not seen or spoken to him for many months, I dropped him a "Happy Christmas" text. He replied in kind and then in February he asked me if I was available to work there again this year. I popped in to see him and we had a chat - he seemed genuinely pleased to see me and I started back there first week of March to do prep work as the season approached. I worked straight through until mid October, two weeks after the end of season, shutting down and closing up everything. Since then I've been back half a dozen times to do bits and pieces. I was there on Saturday for the day and before I left his daughter - the manager - gave Andrea and I a big hamper full of Wine, Champagne, Baileys, Spicy Sausage, Cheese, Chocolate, Biscuits . . . .  So I must be doing something right!

 

Juan and I both wound in our necks a bit, he realised that I don't need to be micro-managed and I realised that he's a bit of a perfectionist...

 

Adapt or die - as the saying goes.

 

Happy Christmas everyone!

 

Bonus.

[Stretched@Birth]

Happy Holidays to the two of you. I’ve been following your story from the start, and always feel some excitement to read what’s next when I see it pop up in the timelines.

 

Though things have not gone according to plan, and they have by no means been easy, I still do envy you guys, as you’ve created a life there filled with rich experiences, good people and what seems from the outside, a simplicity that many of us should actually be aspiring to.

 

Thank you for showing us that life doesn’t need to be about the 9 to 5, the big chase (I stil wonder what it is that we chase after), and all of the stress that we put ourselves under. You guys are an inspiration, and I appreciate the stories you share!

 

Merry Xmas to both of you, wishing you much happiness as your adventure continues!

[DJR]

What the tall one said! 

 

Merry Christmas Bonus

[Loose cog]

Feliz Navidad

[Bonus]

Feliz Navidad

Gracias, igualmente.....

[Bonus]

We're on the last day of a 10 day trip to the UK. Going to miss my son and our grand daughter when we leave tonight. It has been lovely.

 

Andrea came down with flu between Boxing day and us leaving Spain on the 28th, and I got it the day we arrived here. Thankfully my sons house is warmer than our flat back in Boltana and we managed to keep warm, take meds and get rid of it before it could turn into anything worse. Reading on-line it seems the usual waves of winter Flu are sweeping across Northern Europe. Let's hope that's it now. Our first proper illness in nearly two years.

 

Today we will do some last minute shopping before packing our bags and heading to Gatwick for a 2 hr flight home.

 

Tomorrow is a public holiday in Spain - "Kings Day". The day the three kings arrived with gifts to visit the baby . . . .

 

We will have the day to ourselves, washing clothes and cleaning the flat no doubt, before getting back into normal life - whatever that may be - on Tuesday. 

 

We're hoping for good things this year - nothng extravagent, we dont need to win the Lotto, we just want to set up our business, become self sufficient financially and do the stuff we love - hosting and guiding visitors.

 

Fingers crossed!

 

Happy New Year to everyone.......

Edited January 5, 2020 by Bonus

[Bonus]

There are literally hundreds of Fiestas here in Spain every year. A “Fiesta” is the celebration of the day of a particular Saint and whatever that Saint was the Patron of. Some fiestas are specific to a particular region of Spain whilst others are recognised countrywide. Some of them are also Public Holidays (Bank Holidays), many of them are not.

 

Last night in Boltaña was the Fiesta de San Pablo (The Feast of St Paul) who was the Patron Saint of Missionaries. This particular Fiesta is big deal locally, and the town council had erected a dozen or so bonfires of various sizes, scattered throughout the town. At 7pm they were lit and the people of the town all met up at the various locations with their cooler boxes of food and drink. Once the fires had burnt down to a reasonable level they cooked their meat on them. We are renting a flat in Boltaña - about 5km from the village of Guaso where our Project is - at the moment and one of the biggest bonfires was on a small green just 100m from home. We took a couple of bottles of wine, some French loaves and a nice piece of Longaniza (the Spanish equivalent of Boerewors) and had a fantastic evening. A huge communal BBQ at each bonfire with 50 odd people cooking their food, drinking wine and talking nonsense!

 

We took some friends, a local British couple from a neighbouring village, with us and spent the evening catching up with them and with all our local Spanish friends. There’s a great feeling of comradery at these events, talking to people I ride with, people I work for or who sometimes work for me, chatting to the small group of Spaniards who attend the weekly “Learn English” Class – the equivalent of the weekly “Learn Spanish” class we go to.

Everyone wanted to know how our trip to the UK went, and how was our granddaughter. A big bonfire, a drink, a Boerewors roll and a load of friends. . . . .  As “Wendy” said afterwards, it’s just what you need sometimes to keep you going when you don’t feel like you’re making enough progress with your “dream”.

 

Happy days . . . .

 

 

 

[Bonus]

Had a couple of rides through January and also did a bit of Guiding. Now we're into February and the sun is warm enough to ride in short sleeves and get this years tan going! 

 

What an amazing place to live . . . . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by Bonus

[Bonus]

Whilst storm Dennis and storm Ciara before it, batter northern europe, here on the southern side of the Pyrenees we have been enjoying unusually warm weather for the last few weeks.

 

The days have been sunny, temps have be as high as 21 and 22 degrees and the trails are dry, dusty and fast - when I'm not riding I'm working outside in shorts and a t-shirt..... not bad for February!

 

It's still cold at night, in fact it probably feels colder after a warm day than it would feel after a chilly day. This week last year we had snow on the ground and there's still plenty of time for that to happen this year - but for the moment we'll enjoy riding, working and hiking in the sunshine.

 

Yesterday on my way back to Boltana from Ainsa I had a view of the sun setting behind the church up in the village of Guaso, where our "project" is. I took a quick picture thinking it probably wouldn't come out any good but was pleasantly surprised.....

 

  

 

  

[Bonus]

We've had a bit of encouraging news re our Project. Not quite as good as finding a suitcase full of money, but certainly a step in the right direction.  

 

We are friends here with a couple from the UK who arrived about the same time as us. They bought a big old house in a village about 20km away from us and they've been renovating it. 

 

They came here with the necessary funds to build and, like us, they are very "hands on" - so they've made good progress. This year they were open for business with four rooms and they were failrly busy. Now they're just finishing the last couple of rooms ready for this summer. I've been helping them on and off with their build and in return they've been watching our lack of progress!

 

They are currently away on holiday for 3 weeks but just before they left they said to me that when they get back they want to go through our architects project with us (the architects build schedule) and see how many jobs/tasks we could manage to do ourselves between the four of us if they were to help us.

 

I have already got a list of quite a few jobs that we don't need to pay a builder to do. Now with their help we could potentially add many more. He does bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, makes wooden doors and window frames . . . all things that are a little beyond my abilities - but I can do all the spade work for thse jobs. So, when they get back we'll see how much we can wittle down our overall "build bill" by. 

 

With their help and if we concentrate on just getting the first section of the Project complete (Ground floor - Lounge, Diner, Kitchen and Middle floor - 2 bedrooms with bathrooms), we should  be able to bring down the amount we need to borrow considerably. Also, If we can cobble together a temporary basic bedroom & bathroom on the top floor of the Tower for ourselves and stop renting this little flat we're currently in, then we can put was is currently "the rent money" towards paying back any loan we can secure.

 

As soon as we start to generate any income from the two rooms we would have ready for customers we can start looking at "Stage Two" of the build - which would be the third and fourth rooms on the top floor.

 

They are back this week so let's see what we can work out . . . . 

[Wannabe]

Best of luck, trust it will work out for you, as planned. 

[Bonus]

We've been watching YouTube videos of last weekends "Cape Argus" bike race. We did this race several times ourselves so we recognise bits of the course. Brings back some happy memories.

 

Well done to any Hubbers that took part! 

[Bonus]

Wow! Tough times in Spain at the moment. Along with some other European countries, Spain has opted to go into "Lockdown Mode".

 

The key points are these:

 

1) People are being asked to remain in their homes unless they have to go out for food, medicine or in some cases, work. No socialising, no visiting relatives - nothing.

 

2) All hotels and other holiday accomodations are closed, as are all restaurants and entertainment venues.

 

3) Schools and Libraries are closed. School Easter holidays have started early.

 

4) All sports events are cancelled until further notice.

 

5) Going out to run/ride as a form of exercise is prohibited and has been deemed a fineable offence.

 

6) Tonight the Spanish frontier was closed. Only Spanish citizens or people with Spanish residence visas will be allowed to enter the country. As far as I know foreigners are allowed to leave if they are "on their way home".

 

 

This is all terrible news for an area where so many people, including us, rely on tourism for their livelyhoods - but I know we are not alone. Literally millions of people are as badly off - or even worse off - than us.

 

Let's hope as many people as possible can pull through this and come out the otherside with minimum damage.

 

Good luck everyone!

 

B.

[Bonus]

The lockdown in Spain continues. New rules/laws and been added/modified daily as quarantine procedures are fine tuned.

 

In fact, most of the "updates" are just a case of the authorities tightening up in areas of the law where people are taking advantage. For instance "Yes, you are allowed to walk to the shops to buy food - please go alone and go straight there and back again" has had to be written down because "technically, I can walk to the shops and back three times a day via the scenic route and just buy some chappies when I get there". People hey?

 

Here are a couple of photo's of the main road in Boltaña which runs past the flat we're renting. Normally on a Saturday afternoon this close to Easter the place would be pumping - pavement cafe's open, cyclists riding, families walking etc etc.

 

 

 

I didn't break any laws taking these photo's btw!

 

 

[DJR]

Vasbyt Bonus. (Hope you know what Vasbyt means.) I think we are just a week or three behind you guys.

[Bonus]

Vasbyt Bonus. (Hope you know what Vasbyt means.) I think we are just a week or three behind you guys.

 

I do :-)

 

We're hanging in there.

 

Cheers man.