Not your normal Christmas....

Belen in Cartagena (a small corner of a
very large display)

A Spanish alternative xmas tree

G.  Well it's been a very different run up to xmas! Sunshine, warmth and no pressure!  We went into Cartagena with our friends for tapas and to look at the Belen (the Spanish take on the Nativity scene) and the xmas lights - a nice change from 'over-the-top' UK. 

Miami or La Manga strip?

Very tropical looking.

Next day ( 22nd ) we had a walk along the Mar Menor at Mar de Cristal and the sea was so calm you could see the reflections of the hotels on the other side on La Manga. It was so quiet and peaceful it felt like the 21st Dec had really happened! . 

Juvenile black necked grebe (unless you
know otherwise)

Avocet

A proper tablecloth!! (thank you
Dorothy & Brian)

Bolly from Bron - excellent

Xmas day was spent cycling to the wild beach near the nature reserve at San Pedro for a champagne picnic.  Little bit cloudy but still warm enough to eat out! On the way, as well as seeing some flamingos, we saw avocets and some young black-necked grebes.

The Yaris has left the building.

Sunrise in Torre

Sunrise in Torre

Sunrise in Torre

After 10 years of sterling service, our trusty Yaris (which never let us down) which got us to Spain through gale force winds and mountains, has been sold. Really sorry to see it go but it was surplus to requirements, so sold it to an English estate agent/wheeler dealer who has lived in Spain for 20 years, who I suspect already had a buyer for it to go back to UK. I have no doubt it will get back to UK with no problems, and give many more years of service there - great car!

Sunset from the roof

Storage space is turning out to be a problem here, so numerous trips to local furniture shops and Ikea in Murcia have been necessary. We have enough to manage with for now, and will re-assess in a month.
Sunsets have been stunning over the last few nights due to the low cloud last thing at night. Also managed to get up to see a sunrise on the coast on Friday, which was equally as stunning.

Sunset from the roof

A faulty phone box from the aerial meant we had no phone for 4 days (which we didn't realise - we just thought no-one was ringing us), but all sorted now after a visit from the Teleast engineer.

Sunset from the roof

Still need to get some bits (headlamps etc) to get the Mazda legal in Spain, but all in hand now with a UK supplier I've used for years - just the Spanish paperwork to deal with now!!

Connected !

Our link with UK

We are now connected to the world wide web courtesy of Teleast, who have put us up a very nice satellite dish so we can get on t'internet from our house. They supply a wireless router, so we can get connected in any room (or outside) which is just what we wanted. Speeds are not great, but we have all the time in the world to wait, so that is not an issue. We also have a landline phone with free unlimited calls to any UK landline, and 60 mins of free calls to any Spanish mobile. All this through the satellite dish! Cost is only €38 per month, which is quite reasonable.
We have also utilised the satellite pole ( which they charged us €20 for!) to put up an anemometer to gauge the windspeed and direction, so it was put to good use.

A pan and a half still left 

Also today went to a huge paella for 500 people in the local tent used for council events, organised in aid of fund raising for the starving of the world. A very worthwhile cause which was very well attended.

Feeding one of the 500 

A very worthwhile cause - please support.

If you were wondering....

Sorry to do this folks, but if you were wondering why we came out here...  It's 3.00pm on Sunday, 2nd of December 2012, and we're on the roof terrace in full, glorious sun!! (After a hard day cycling along the Mar Menor.....)
Keep warm and safe in UK, and think of us shivering when the sun goes in!

Definitely NOT Bolton!