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Ecomercado de Abla

The Ecomercado in Abla

On Sunday the little town of Abla held its annual Ecomercado.

A display of squashes

Abla lies beneath the Sierra Nevada off the main motorway between Almeria and Granada.

Organic fruit and veg

Eco grapes for Alhama de Almeria

Eggs from happy chickens

Organic ale

Along the main street stalls were set up selling organic vegetables, fruit and beer.

The largest pumpkin in…

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Dia De La Vendimia - Alboloduy

Dia De La Vendimia – Alboloduy

Treading grapes at the fiesta

Yesterday we visited the village of Alboloduy, further up our valley, for its annual Dia de la Vendimia to celebrate the grape harvest.

A mechanicalmzle leading the procession

It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and temperatures up to 34C.

Carnaval queen and attendants

Women in traditional costumes

Alhabia town band

At about 12.30, a procession entered the…

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Quema De La Zorra - Alhabia

Quema De La Zorra – Alhabia

The procession leaving the church after mass

Last night we watched the ‘Quema de la Zorra’ (burning of the vixen) procession in Alhabia. It’s a tradition of the Alpujarra dating back to Roman times, it’s thought. In the old days, the men would go up to the mountains to hunt and kill some poor vixen and then it would be put into a wooden cage and burnt, symbolising the burying of all the ‘maldad’…

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El Gallo

El Gallo

This week we acquired a new, young cockerel. The old cockerel we inherited when we bought our cortijo died over a month ago but we waited for the weather to get a little cooler before we replaced him.

El Gallo with two of our red hens and our old, white hen

The new boy gets on well with our red hens and the old white hen and enjoys the freedom of our finca.

El Gallo with oranges and…

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Izzy and Ellie on Holiday - Alhabia

Izzy and Ellie on Holiday – Alhabia

Izzy and Ellie on holiday

Our granddaughters, Izzy (14) and Ellie (12) have just returned to the UK after spending 8 days holiday with us.

In the ruins of the convent, Laujar de Andarax

On their second day we took them up to Laujar de Andarax. They found the ruins of the old convent there fascinating.

Bodega Cepa Bosquet

We then called in the bodega of Cepa Bosquet.

Trying out the exercise…

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The Spectator This photo was taken in the dark last night at a concert given by the Town Band in the square of my village, Alhabia.

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Sun Dried Tomatoes

The ingredients: all from our land.

We have just collected our first batch of home grown, sun dried tomatoes and laid out some fresh tomatoes which we picked this morning.

Fresh tomatoes laid out on plastic over a pallet

This is how we dried them: We laid a sheet of plastic over a couple of wooden pallets and held this down with 4 lengths of wood.

Covered with netting

We cut the tomatoes in half…

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Home Made Gazpacho

Gazpacho Andaluz

During the hot summer months in Andalucia there is nothing to beat a chilled bowl of Gazpacho Andaluz. I made this cold soup this morning using tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, garlic and olive oil from our finca. White wine vinegar and bread were the only ingredients not home produced.

Tomatoes from our finca

Peppers from our finca

Ingredients

4 ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped

2…

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Ohanes

Ohanes

We are into summer now and every day is hot and sunny.

Street in Ohanes

On Saturday we decided to drive up to the little mountain town of Ohanes.

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Although only half an hours drive away it was cooler up there with temp in the high 20s which is not too hot for strolling around the town for an hour.

Rincon de Ohanes

Colourful flowers

More pots

Little doors ….

…. little windows

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La Barriada De Alcora

La Barriada De Alcora

La Barriada de Alcora

Olive groves in La Barriada de Alcora

Ten days ago we took Mike and Tracy. who were staying with us, up to the pretty little hamlet of La Barriada de Alcora in the Sierra de Gador above Canjayar.

Pine forests above La Barriada de Alcora

We drove along a wide track above the village alongside forests of pine.

The Sierra Nevada

From here there are striking views of the Sierra…

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San Gregorio, Granada This church and lane are near the bottom of the Albaicin, the old Moorish quarter of Granada

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Door, Window and Chairs The front of a cottage in the old gypsy quarter of Granada, Sacromonte.

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Door, Window and Chairs The front of a house in the old gypsy quarter of Granada, Sacromonte.

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Plaza Larga, Granada Plaza Larga is a busy little square near the top of the Albaicin, the old Moorish quarter of Granada.

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Inside a Cave This is an interior of a cave dwelling in the old gypsy quarter of Granada, Sacromonte

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Shop in the Albaicin, Granada This is a typical interior of a shop in the Albaicin, Granada. Colourful lanterns light the interior.

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Granada - The Albaicin and Sacromonte

Granada – The Albaicin and Sacromonte

The Alhambra from Sacromonte

We have just returned from spending a couple of nights in Granada. Here are some photos, taken by Digby, most of which are of the Albaicin and Sacromonte. The first photo is of the Alhambra from Sacromonte. It is not possible to take this view with a normal camera as it is seen through a wire fence but Digby managed to place the lens on his iPhone against a hole in…