In typical Pullen style, we spent part of yesterday trying to work out if we were lucky or unlucky. Our car needs the work done on it that Ian feared before Christmas so we can’t drive it. Not only are we facing a hefty bill, but we will also be without it for a while. So yesterday, not to be thwarted at the start of the asparagus season we cycled up to the olive groves to see if there was much around. We took my super-padlock with us, as although it is highly unlikely that any bike thieves would be passing the olive grove, we didn’t want to risk losing the only transport we have that works at the moment.
We found a little asparagus and headed back to the bikes – only to find that we couldn’t unlock them. No amount of key twisting and turning was going to open the lock so we were forced to leave the bikes there and walk back to the village. We got one or two odd looks as we were strangely dressed – not least the fact I had odd socks on which were clearly visable under my cycling trousers and Ian was wearing his cycling kit which made him look like he was wearing leggings.
Ian then had to head back to the bikes, armed with assorted tools to break the lock. Good job the police didn’t see him as that might have been a difficult one to explain.
So – the lucky or unlucky conversation came about because we were only two kilometers from the village. We could have been much further away which would have made the whole process a lot more difficult.
Today it is snowing! After a very mild winter – so mild that I’ve still had a bedding plant flower throughout the winter – the weather suddenly became cold yesterday and we’ve got heavy snow forecast for today. It is settling on the roofs and slushy on the ground, but I guess it will be more significant higher up. The animals are very suspicious of the snow. Pirata was sat on the back door step wondering who was dropping bits of ice on him. The electricity is flickering – which I guess means we will loose it at some point today.
Ian is currently sitting getting showered by bits of millet. Larry has a very good aim when it comes to throwing things out of his cage so they land on Ian’s head!
I think I know why there has been a sudden interest in speaking and listening classes. The Junta of Extremadura are offering free study-at-home courses in one of seven languages, which includes English, with a formal qualification at the end of it. In Zafra they have French and German language speaking and listening nights in one of the bars where people who are learning a language go and talk in the relative language. Perhaps I ought to start an English night at Pepes!!