Man is back in Álora. Graft and Election promises.

The Sanchez trio were given the medical all clear to travel on Tuesday, so by Friday we were scoffing calamares fritos outside Los Caballos Dos as if we'd never been away. Our two house guests Colin and Iain had arrived before us and, to our delight, had  turned on the fridge and stocked it with beer,a packet of butter and a litre of milk.
I must say it was a relief to be motoring down through France as the Great British Public went to the Polls, especially after months of election fever. We'd voted by post. It seems that a majority of the Brits want more of the same so that's all right then.
As we turned left to enter Álora a giant image of our dear alcalde Jose´Sanchez (no relation) and known to his pals as 'Epi') greeted us. What a nice surprise! 'Álora nos une' the poster said, which means 'Welcome back to Álora!'

                                          El alcalde welcoming us back to Álora

After more than 5 months away there are a few jobs that need doing. The white paint has jumped off the walls again, the Dama de Noche needs cutting back and the fridge needs filling with food. May is the best time for putting 'insertas' (grafts) on to trees so I got on the  phone to Chuster who had said he'd sort out our fig and lemon trees.  Chuster was recommended by everybody as the man to go to for this kind of job and he was down here in a flash with his grafting equipment. He is very informative but talks very quickly. Apparently in a couple of years we should have some figs which are still on the tree when we return at the end of August 2020. I asked him about grafting some oranges on to the lemon tree. He showed me how to do the grafts which, frankly, is dead easy when you know how and I'm happy to take on any grafting jobs you need doing. He wasn't very happy with the lemon tree, though, which had been called 'feo' (ugly) by a neighbour, Ramon, a few years ago, and set about it with his pruning saw. Lemons went flying everywhere and after 5 minutes the tree had been almost completely dismembered. Apparently in a few years we can graft a new tree on to it. This chap doesn't mess about I can tell you. He refused to take any payment, which is very generous.

My watch strap buckle broke during the above horticultural procedures so on Saturday I went up to  Mamely the jewellery and watch shop to see what they could do. No luck. Mrs. Mamely said we should try at 'Maruchi', the stationery and magazine shop up the street. On the way we had to pass 'El Pintor' the ferretería (ironmongers) where the lovely 'Minti' works. Thinking that a watch strap buckle may be more likely to come within the remit of ironmongery than stationery I tried them. No luck there either, but they said I should try at the barber's shop next door!  Within 5 minutes Paco the barber had fitted a new buckle on the strap. No charge. I love this town!  As he was fitting it his brother, Pepe, managed to convince our guest, Colin, that he needed a haircut. (8€ plus tip).

It turns out that the 'welcome poster' is really an election poster so we've only escaped one election to be in the middle of another campaign. We are eligible to vote in the local elections so the alcalde is speaking to me again. Interestingly, for the first time a British person is included on the PSOE (ruling) party's list of candidates for office. I presume that this is to give the foreigners a voice on the council so I'm hoping that, if the PSOE are elected to office again, our new representative will be able get the council to put in some sewage drains on our street at long last. Isn't that what democracy is all about?

You may have noticed that on the 'welcome poster' Epi is standing on the Caminito Del Rey. I had tickets to walk on the Caminito on Sunday but I've lost them. Colin refuses to go near it but Mrs. Sanchez is very keen so I may have to get some more tickets and go through with it, especially as the ladies of the Molina family did it yesterday.We´ll see.

11th. June 2015