The Very Best Blog Ever!

It's been a long hard winter but at last the first sign of spring is here with the almond trees being in blossom.To see the image full size, click left on it.Last year the blossom was out 3 weeks earlier. Let's hope the weather keeps improving....

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Saturday was the fiesta of Santa Águeda which is celebrated by all the women of the village of Torre del Compte.To see any photo full size, click on it with the left mouse button.The celebration starts with breakfast in the bar. You can see that the diet is going well!Members...

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We have just returned from a most enjoyable 2 week holiday in Puerto Rico on Gran Canaria. The weather was exceptionally good only let down by the last 2 days which were rather wet.To see any photo full size, click left on it.The view from our apartment was terrific across...

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San Anton is celebrated every year in Torre del Compte by having a bonfire in the Plaza Mayor on the Friday evening, it's just what is needed for a chilly night. The bonfire is massive with olive trees, not branches, being burned.To see any photo full size just click left...

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It snowed lightly all day yesterday, (snowy drizzle), but during the night the wind got up and rearranged the snow! So for comparison, here are a couple of photos taken in the same places as those yesterday.Above is the nísperos tree but much deeper in snow.Today the fountain seems even...

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Three weeks ago we had snow - see the blog entry for December 14th 2009. That snow lasted almost a week without snowing any more as it was so cold then. Since then it has been reasonably mild, we haven't had a frost, with only a couple of wet days....

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The eve of the 5th January is the time all the children here have been waiting for as it is on this evening that the 3 kings bring the presents as they did with their gold, frankincense and myrrh over 2000 years ago. Rather than travel by camel, in Torre...

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The weather has been great up to now. We had our first frost on Saturday morning and apart from it feeling "fresh" we have been treated to blue skies with very little wind. Yesterday, it started snowing, very lightly at first and once again with little wind.Click left on any...

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One of the reasons we live here in the village of Torre del Compte is for the fantastic views, we love them. Although we have views in all directions our favourite is to the west, across the valley of the Matarraña river, towards the village of La Fresneda.Click on any...

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The "new road" from the bridge over the Matarraña at Torre del Compte to the main road, the A231, is nearing completion, having been only 6 months, (so far), in the making. It has been widened, had bends straightened and a major bypass to "dead man's curve".See it by clicking...

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"La noche de los muertos" or "The night of the dead", "víspera de Todos los Santos or "eve of All Saints". Whichever form you go for, it's Hallowe'en! To see the photo full size, click left on it.15 ghouls, zombies, witches and vampires gathered to celebrate this event in Torre...

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Since posting the piece about giving Maxxy his pills, a friend has sent us some advice. I thought I should pass this on so here it is... How to Give a Cat A Pill1. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left...

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You have no doubt heard of Silverstone, Le Mans and the Nürbürgring. Well this weekend, having been to these other venues during the season, the Renault World series came to Alcañiz, or to be precise, Motorland, which is just outside Alcañiz. Quite a catchy name isn't it?To see any photo...

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We noticed that one of our 2 cats, Maxxy, wasn't well on Monday 5 October and took him to our vetinary practice in Alcañiz that afternoon. After much testing and eventually some x-rays, Olga, the vet, decided that his abdominal organs were not in the correct place and had found...

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Not much has happened this last month. Work is gradually progressing on the improvement of the road into Torre del Compte. However, it currently is no longer a "road" - more like a rough track now that the tarmac from the existing road, where it still exists, has been dug...

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For the eve of San Ramón we had another meal at the peña; ham, carved by Pablo, bread, cheese and olives.Click left on any picture to see it full size.The bread is not buttered but spread with garlic and tomato.This morning, Monday, (not Sunday), we had mass in the church...

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In the ayuntamiento, the town hall, there had been an exhibition of the work produced by the "amas de casa", housewives, in their various enterprises undertaken during the year. Some paintings produced by a course run by the "pensionistas", pensioners, (but not necessarily exclusively for pensioners), were also being exhibited....

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To see a full sized view of the photo, click left on it.This evening the meal was going to be different, or at least where we ate it was. The idea was to make the meal as usual at the peña but to set up our tables and chairs for...

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At midday there was a mass for San Ramón which concluded with his statue being paraded around the streets of the village. You can spot him in the picture below.Click, with the left button of the mouse, on the picture to see it full sizeThere were more people than ever...

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It's time for sausages at the village yard and many small bonfires are lit and chorizos and longanizas are cooked and served in pieces of bread by each peña group.Click left on any picture in order to see it full size.There were even more people there this year, young, old,...

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So the village fiesta of Torre del Compte 2009, has begun. On Tuesday 11th we all arrived at the peña, (after our art class), and gave it a clean and on Friday 14th we went shopping to buy the drink and some food for the celebrations.To see any photo full...

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It had been a long time coming but we finally got around to having a day out with Floyd and Jordi to see a monastery and have lunch at a restaurant in Ortells, 76 kms from Torre del Compte to the south west.Click left on any picture to see a...

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On Saturday evening, after the meal and Lina Morgan performance, we had been invited to the opening of an art exhibition being staged by our friend Andrea. It was in the museum of Juan Cabré in the nearby village of Calaceite. Juan Cabré was the the famous archeologist, born in...

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It has been a very busy, but most enjoyable weekend this weekend. It really started on Friday when we celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary with an outing to Benicarlo for the day. On Saturday we had the womens' lunch followed by the "Lina Morgan" sketch and Andrea's art exhibition in...

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This evening we went to see a performance of contemporary dance in Valderrobres castle.Click left on the picture to see the full sized image.Each performance took place in a different part of the castle so we all moved around and sat on the floor or leaned on the wall to...

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