An Andalusian Diary - The House Repair

Manzano Alto, Torrox (Andalucia)

When I am stressed, I´d stay on this terrace and watch the blue Med Sea for as long as there is no gusty wind. By just sitting and watch the distant sea and the ship that sails around, it keeps me calm despite thinking of the so many things that needs to be done repairing the house. It is always sunny in Spain and even if thick clouds are in the skies, they will just disappear as the day moves on.

In the last couple of weeks we´ve experienced a storm of gusty winds, that´s the kind of storm we have here on the mountains, a wind storm with rain is seldom. Sometimes we even experience sandstorm coming from the Sahara.

As I have already mentioned in my previous post we were able to get the necessary Covid papers to be able to fly to Southern Spain. Twenty two months of our absence here had been problematic as far as the property is concerned. Good thing is we have our Spanish friend Miguel who is taking care of the yard especially stopping the weeds from growing.

I remember the times when we came back to the property, the tall grasses were a pain in the butt. The car could not enter and had to stop-by the concrete pavement of the front yard... My driver friend avoided the scratches of his car. We needed to bring our luggage from our gate to the house manually, . Threading the way from the gate to the house of about 15 meters was tedious because of some wild bushes that grew during our absence. Despite the sand and pebbles covering the grounds, the weeds are still sprouting out. Besides, I am always allergic to the small insects found in the bushes and tall grasses since my skin easily gets irritated and wounds develop from scratching. Once these tiny parasites hit my skin, it was líke an addiction, I had to scratch when it is itching, lol!

Cacti and Succulent Garden .... a joy for the eyes!

The only positive thing that is worth mentioning is the cactus and succulent garden that survived even if the plants were never watered. Mother nature took care of these plants and there were not much plant casualties. In fact most even grew wild and robust.

Last week, the two bedrooms that were damaged due to the clogged drainage were already restored, the moulding which is an ornamental-cornice were again put in place as if nothing happened.

Below are links of some of my past contents related to the repair of the house.

1. The Birds were the Culprits, What Have They Done?
2. Stress-troubles-and-pitfalls-of-a-travelling-retiree-part-2
3. Stress-troubles-and-pitfalls-of-a-travelling-retiree-part 1

I started painting the wall today to camouflage the repaired part. I used acrylic based paint. I will still be making the 2nd coating tomorrow.

The other day, the painters came to repair the paint damage of the water tank and the facade of the house. They are not done yet and will come continue to paint next week as Monday and Wednesday are Spanish holidays.

I will be reupholstering the two headboards that have water stains. I got the fabrics now and I will be renewing both with a blue and white color Toile de Jouy fabric. I will keep you updated so please bear with me.

Have a lovely week ahead....I´ll see you around!

All images are owned by the author, @mers