A busman's holiday?

One of my most important roles at Cortijo Opazo, besides being chief taster of the morning biscuit, is the maintenance of standards, particularly where they may affect the enjoyment of our visitors. With this in mind, and the time of year being a quiet one, I suggested that we carry out a test of the two holiday rentals by having a mini break in them. This being agreed upon, myself, Ella and our two taller companions have this last week spent two days and nights in La Corona, and the same in El Lujar. All we could take was a small bag of personal items - a few boneos and a brush - but everything else had to be provided by the accommodation itself. It was also decided that at least one significant meal had to be cooked in each apartment - not that Ella and I saw much of this!

It was, I must say, a little disorientating waking up in the night in a strange environment - dogs, as I have said before, like nothing more then regular and repetitive routine - but this apart the experience was most enjoyable and I am pleased to report that the apartments are jolly comfortable indeed and, not surprisingly, we thoroughly recommend them. The whole experience has been a little too confusing for Ella since she is usually told to keep out of the holiday accommodation in case she is a nuisance. A girl with such a small head must surely have an even smaller brain to go inside, so we must make allowances for her undoubted reduced capacity to understand what is going on.


As for other matters, well you may recall my enthusiastic description of a plastic greenhouse tunnel that was installed here in December. This was going to change the way that seeds are sown and plants are cared for. We were all very positive about it. Unfortunately, during the harsh weather we experienced over the Christmas period the aforementioned poly tunnel has now gone, with the wind, and landed on our neighbour's in a tangled mess.



Obviously it was not the practical solution. Not to be defeated, the two tall ones have been constructing some rather elegant, wind defying boxes they call 'cold frames' under which the season's seeds will be cultivated. Very sturdy and solid and likely to last this time.

One of our two new 'cold frames'

Now, in secret, I have been gathering up some scraps of bone and am wondering, if I plant them carefully in a seed tray and place them under the protection of the cold frame, will they grow into a brand new tin of dog food. But let's keep this information between ourselves for now, not a word to Ella.

Yours, ever hopeful,

Fergus