Summer at the cortijo

August was a busy month. At the end of July the builder, Jacinto came to take out the old fireplace and extend the chimney in preparation for the installation of the new stove. At the same time, he took out the small window in what we call the 'study' and put in a much bigger window. Now the view from that window is wonderful and in winter the sun will warm us as we work (we hope).

After they had finished we painted over the whitewash in the living room and installed some kitchen furniture from Ikea. This took rather longer than anticipated - a return trip to Ikea (Malaga) as the sink was too big for the unit we had planned to pt it in an had to be changed, and many, many trips to ferreterias, and DiY shops for various bits of pipe and connections. The plumbing in the cortijo is somewhat heath robinson and required much ingenuity on Rodney's part to fix the new to the old.

Last Friday, 5 September, the long-planned-for stove arrived. Three men and Rodney carried the 100 kg carcass down the track from the camino! We haven't lit it yet as the cement in the ceiling and at the topof the chimney has to dry first. Plus, we need to chop some wood.