pig butchering and other fun

the digger didn’t arrive on saturday. my very first day of obras was foiled by the rain. but such is a building project.

instead me and bernat went driving to find peñaroyo, the most mountainous town of the mattaraña. we stopped in fuentespalda for a quick walk up to “la coveta de aigua”. but it was a proper cave with a locked box for hard hats, and a metal gate, also locked. i managed to drop my new smartphone the wrong side of the gate and watch it sliding down into the cave… but not out of reach of a stick. oops. it would be a shame to lose it just when i’m starting to love it – i’ve learnt how to update my blog on the bus!!!

we drove around the town, inluding up a street that kept getting smaller, to the point where we had to reverse back though some very narrow arches while a couple of locals watched on. always nice to make an impression when arriving in a new place.

peñaroyo itself didn’t inspire us to get out the car. so we went for an anna style adventure and got lost on some muddy dirt tracks while taking the back way home past the lake.

valderrobres was heaving with people. which seemed strange because it’s the mattaraña in january. The reason why was one of the freakiest town fiestas i’ve been to. they butchered a pig in the town square while people ate donuts, drank herb liquor and watched on while avoiding the pools of blood.

read more and see photos here 

OH MY GOD!!!!!

today is a day for good news, read all about it here

yurt interiors are us

version en castellano

there would have been photos but i accidentally deleted them all, i blame the stress i’m suffering through changing to my new smart phone, but you’d be surprised to see how good a ripped up sheet stapled to the roof looks.

In other developments this week:

The kitchen has moved down to the bar and the space in front of the house is back to nature ready to be destroyed by a big digger.

On monday i had 6 visitors to the land – 3 architects (to put metal sticks in the ground), a digger man and his sidekick (to persuade me to take the top off this rock. in the end it will be a flat terrace so it really is the most practical solution) and the forestal. i think it’s a good idea to stay onside with the forestal, and since getting permission to cut down 7 pines took all of five minutes i think it was worth it. he spotted the fire pit and i was quick to point out that i have a licence, then after giving me a leaflet about how fire risky my place is, he said “hmmm and nothing tastes quite like meat cooked over an open fire”. so i think i’m good

he was out in my valley all day looking for an eagle. it’s tagged, but they haven’t picked up it’s sensor for a while so he came to hang out and look for it. strange kind of a job

digging

version en castellano

the ajuntamiento promised again that they will have my permission to build (the shed) next thursday, i found someone to come and chop a tree down for me next saturday, and i spoke to a man about digging.  i went for the traditional approach of asking around town where he lives, then ringing the bell and interrupting his pasta lunch. at which point he said “why don’t you call me?” but then kindly offered to come round and have a look. he knew exactly where my place was, which could be seen as either worrying or reassuring depending on your mood that day.

he took one look at the hill that i want to dig into and said it would be impossible with a mini-digger. then marched off towards the toilet (“don’t find it” i was thinking) and stopped just before it. he looked down a steep wooded bank and said “the mixta could get up there”. i was horrified at first, but really, he knows better than me what is, and isn’t possible. i explained i didn’t like destroying trees and he said he could drive around the olives. i said i was worried about making a big mess and he showed me where he would throw the dirt behind a large oak. in the end i figured that since only 3 more trees will be taken down, that a path up from that terrace wouldn’t be a bad thing, and that my original plan was impossible, it’s probably the best option. i’ll call him in a couple of weeks. i think the destruction he causes might make me cry, but it’s all for the greater good right?

storm damage

the yurt two weeks ago

version en castellano

the yurt yesterday

in the uk there were hurricanes, on the spanish coast there were weather warnings and trees down, in the yurt there were maurice and natalie.

the weather forecast looked great from the diagrams and temperatures, but somehow, as i sent them off to arrive in darkness without a car, for their january holiday at the land, we missed that key part of the forecast that gives the wind speed. they arrived and were actually trying to sleep in the yurt when the roof got ripped off! natalie said she could hardly keep her feet on the ground as they abandoned ship and took their bags up to the house at 3am.

two weeks ago i had a nagging feeling that, after spending 150 euros and a day of my time on sheep’s wool insulation, i should put up more guy ropes. that insulation is now spread around the hills. the giant tarpaulin ended up in a tree halfway up a mountain, hooray to natalie for rescuing it. the most astonishing thing though – the sofa got flipped on end, and that is a heavy sofa.

i like to focus on what stayed up. you’ll see from the pictures that the wall built from adobe bricks collapsed, but that the wall which is just mud on mud has survived. and the super natural thatching effort on the roof of my tiny shed (grass, mud, linseed oil and nothing else) half survived. if i’d though to put chicken wire over it earlier i think it would have been fine.

the forecast wasn’t lying about the temperatures though and over an extremely mild and sunny few days the damage has mostly been fixed

have sheep been grazing behind the yurt? no, that's my insulation in the bushes

broke

my three hour thatch job didn't come off too badly. notice it folded back rather than fell apart

john's xmas tree planted. fits right in i think

green confessions…. (or ANDORRA is DESTROYING ITSELF!!)

this christmas time i                                   castellano aquí

- flew to the uk but it was with easyjet who’s offsetting scheme only funds UN approved projects, and the flights were full.
- drove many km’s to visit friends and family in a car on my own but it was a really good wedding and my nieces won’t be babies much longer
- ahem.. went skiing. let’s break that one down:

andorra is one huge tax haven which has negative effects on just about everything, good old nick clegg agrees with me on that one

the whole country exists to encourage shopping for stuff we don’t need and they still haven’t banned smoking – gross (i like to say that’s because it’s a tiny country ruled by big businesses and one place the tobacco industry still have a say)

grandvalira resort has the cheek to put posters saying “BE GREEN – in grandvalira we adopt water saving measures” next to a tap that you have to turn down because the water gushes out too fast.

i ate in a mountain restaurant with disposable EVERYTHING including bowls, plates, and packets of plastic cutlery where every single customer has to take a knife, fork and spoon pack then just throw away the spoon if they don’t use it. and they don’t recycle either.

people use andorra trips as an excuse to drive 4×4′s (aggresively) all the time

snow canons waste water and often contain chemicals which get thrown onto the mountain too

wildlife and trees are ousted as people like me flock to the mountains

entire villages of “second homes” can be found around the place

i ate far too much meat

the uninsulated terrace restaurants had up to three gas heaters, many the old style which are banned in the UK

but

these guys are selling recycled ski clothes

someone wrote this guide to sustainable skiing

it’s not as bad as going there to drive around on a snowbike

and.. erm.. no there’s nothing else. skiing is an all time bad for the planet activity which i, unfortunately, LOVE. there must be more eco places to do it than andorra though.