Cortijo Los Lobos - Rural mountain retreat

16/12/2024

It's been so windy today, the horses paddocks were covered in leaves, the carob blossom was all over the car park, though the wind did also bring down some carob pods that hadn't been picked, so that's a nice treat for the horses. The tree house didn't blow down, thank goodness! A tree fell down and blocked the track up in the pines though ! I am impressed that the cover we bought for the sunbeds withstood the gale force wind. The grafted olive trees are doing really well, as are the stubborn weeds on the car park 🤣. Clive chopped them up with the strimmer this afternoon. Yesterday he finished the Nerja shower, it looks really smart. Photos popped up today of our grandchildren from last year, so looking forward to seeing them all here over Christmas! ( Plus our eldest granddaughter Myah who at 15, wouldn't appreciate me posting a photo of her 🥰. ) it will be the first family Christmas with all the grandchildren ❤️. On this day last year we were busy making toadstools, fairies and fairy houses for Matilda's fairy path. They haven't faired well, what with Milly eating them and small children kicking them out of the ground but it was nice while it lasted. I always talk about my wonderful Scarlett, but before her there was Capri, my very special old lady, a race horse until the end and like Scarlett, a complicated horse but was always a pleasure to ride ❤️. This photo also popped up, taken on the 28th February 2012. A very rare event, we were told at the time that it hadn't snowed like that for 50 years, it was so beautiful.

15/12/2024

Milly has got to be one of the most photogenic dogs 🥰. On this day 4 years ago our lovely Buffy died at the grand old age of 20. Olive, who is lucky to be alive, the amount of times she's destroyed things was looking the picture of innocence in my washing basket this morning 🤣. The full moon looked beautiful when I did the horses and Clive captured a fantastic photo of the plough between two vapour trails. As Clive has so many jobs to get done before Christmas I did the horses on my own while Clive stocked up the wood stores by the house ready for the Christmas fires. Once the sun came over the mountain and warmed things up I sanded down a table that had been looking very grubby. Funny old horses - I topped Blacky and Lola's bed up this morning with new straw and they decided it was more tasty than their hay. Clive got on with the tree house, it's really starting to take shape. His fit watch told him yesterday that he was doing too much and needed to rest more - not much chance of that 🤣. Sad to see this memory from 14 years ago, how the world has changed. We would regularly be very booked up for the following year by now but since COVID people seem to book their holidays last minute and we live in constant worry over when the next money is coming in. I wonder if it will ever go back to normal?

14/12/2024

There was a pretty pink sky and fog in the valley again this morning when we did the horses. We set off early to Nerja , driving via Zafarraya. The fields were white with a heavy frost and Zafarraya was also under fog, it looked really pretty. Mount Maroma has quite a lot of snow on top too. Clive built and tiled a shelf in the shower while I grouted. Just the door glass and tap to fit now. I have been busy cracking our walnuts and almonds , it's quite a task and I have bruised palms 🤣. On this day 14 years ago we were visiting Lily in a snowy Hamburg, the beginning of her travelling life, just before she set off on her diving journey 🥰

13/12/2024

We've been in Nerja all day, tiling one of the showers. There have been some interesting clouds, at one point it looked like smoke but there was also blue sky at times and it was sunny when I took Carlotta out for a walk to get her to sleep. The sea and mountain views were lovely. On the drive home the storm clouds were bubbling up over the Maroma mountain. The sky was pretty when we got home and it was good to notice that Leo's ribs are barely visible now, looks like the extra food is doing the trick 🥰

12/12/2024

We had some rain this afternoon and everything looked so sparkly. Twiggy seemed to be enjoying getting soaked too 🥰. There was a faint rainbow across the road . Matilda borrowed my waistcoat to help me feed the horses though she had a funny way of wearing it 😁. She tried out the tree house ladder and climbed it no problem. When it was too wet to be outside the girls helped me make a Christmas cake and puff pastry stars before having a teddy bears picnic 🥰. It seems we have another cat! The pale tom cat like Marmalade has been around for a while but is very shy. Today I saw him sleeping on top of the hot tub with Bella but he ran off before I could take a photo. Later, when it was raining he sneaked in to the courtyard and stole Lucky's food. We will have to see if we can tame him and get him sterilised.

12/12/2024

Yesterday's blog that I couldn't post due to Instagram issues :- Today the sky was amazing, almost as if the clouds were made of ice at times. It wasn't too cold when we did the horses and the sky was clear but by the time we left home to go to the hair dressers just after 9 a cold, wintery drizzle had started. When we got to Rio Frio it was so cold, I don't think it could have been much above freezing and one of the restaurants with a straw roof was covered in frost. The ducks and geese looked happy in the river though. When we got back home the drizzle had stopped and the sky has been changing all day, with storm clouds bubbling over the mountain. We decided to put the horses on the concrete in case we get heavy rain over night. I just missed the best of the sunset when I shut the chickens in, I think I was a few minutes too late but the lights in the ash tree looked pretty when I came back up to the house and Bella was looking very regal on her drift wood throne. The poor banana palm that Lily and Martin brought over from their house when they moved looks very sorry for itself. They don't like temperatures of less than 10 degrees so I am going to have to dig it up and put it in a pot so that we can bring it inside when it gets cold. At least we don't get too many nights this cold

12/12/2024

10/12/2024

It was another glorious blue sky day but we had our first frost down on the muck heap. We have some healthy looking cactus in the garden, just hope they don't also succumb to the cochineal bug. Lovely to see shiny new leaves on a carob sapling we transplanted. Clive has been building steps to the tree house and put in a trap door entrance. Nice to have the wire mesh off of the fish trough today, now that the ash tree leaves have stopped falling into it. While I waited for the sun to warm up I got on with the jigsaw, with a bit of supervision from Olive 🥰

09/12/2024

We are very sad to say that we found the poor stray dog dead on the road outside the house this morning. I noticed when I went to put her breakfast out near the bed we had made for her in our front patio that she hadn't eaten her food from the previous afternoon. Clive then found her 😭. We had been trying to get her tame enough to catch her and take her to a rescue centre, bless her. The silly thing had been running up and down the road for a few weeks so it was likely to happen, at least her suffering is over but I would love to meet the person who dumped her 😡. Ironically I had given the chickens some chopped apple this morning as I suddenly realised that as they weren't free ranging they weren't getting all the vegetation that they would normally have. Of course without the worry of them being eaten by the dog I was able to let them out. They were very happy to rake through the horse poo, I wondered what the flavour was that was missing in the eggs lately 🤣. Annie and Suzie made straight for the muck heap but later on we found Annie visiting Milly in the courtyard 🥰. It has been another beautiful sunny day but much colder, winter has finally arrived. It was only 6 degrees at 8am and with the wind chill that picked up later it didn't feel much more than that in the shade all day, though in the sun it did feel much nicer. I had memories pop up today of some lovely past pets - Lily's old dog Betty, lovely Elsie who also sadly died on the road and Casper, Smudge's brother, who disappeared when he reached maturity, before we could get them sterilised, we hope due to territorial issues ❤️. A little miniature rose that I was given in September has burst into life again and we literally have hollyhocks popping up all over the place, including the gravel paths. With the first day of winter I had to get a jigsaw out, this one had already been started last winter and put away unfinished so I have a bit of a head start 😁.

08/12/2024

The village was under fog when we did the horses this morning. It looked very pretty but it must have been cold under it! The animals have all been enjoying the sunshine again, I bet Twiggy regrets having such a thick and fluffy winter coat ❤️. The guests left the El Establo cottage this morning and I made the most of the views while I was cleaning it out ❤️.

07/12/2024

The sky was a beautiful pink this morning and it turned into another warm, sunny day. Clive trimmed Fern's feet and then I let Fern, Bracken, Lola, Blackie and Sierra out on the grass verge for a treat. They all happily trotted back in this afternoon though, so they must have had enough 🥰. Clive got on with the tree house, it's such a lovely jungly area. I climbed up to test it out, the view is great 😃. He also made a surround for his dart board, always busy 🥰. Martin's new office is almost finished! The 'daffodils' I thought were about to open are actually delicate Narcissus ❤️. We have daisies in flower all over the garden too and even the antirrhinum have burst into life again. I dug out Scarlett's unicorn horn as I want to turn Fern into a unicorn for our 5 little granddaughters for Christmas ❤️🦄

06/12/2024

This morning we took our olives to the little factory where we can load our own and see the oil coming through at the other end. Despite another year of drought we were very happy with our 34 litres from just 7 trees picked. It tastes delicious too and is totally organic. While the oil was being processed we spent an enjoyable couple of hours at Iznajar, walking by the lake and having a lovely lunch at . Clive looked like he had a parasol hat 🤣. Driving home there was a lovely view of the snow on the Sierra Nevada . Matilda had a picnic with her 'pretend real cousins' who she is getting very excited to be seeing at Christmas and is now on her way to Germany to see her German cousins for a few days 🥰. Marmalade and Bella were loving the sunshine today ❤️.

05/12/2024

The sky was incredible tonight when I shut the chickens in and gave the horses their last feed. It's been a really beautiful day and we've all made the most of being outside. I took the girls for a walk, the green fields against the blue sky was so pretty. Milly enjoyed laying in the sun, watching Lily and Martin finishing the electrics in the new office and Matilda doing her yoga 🥰. She's had a busy day, starting early this morning helping with the poo picking. Clive got on with the tree house after making some special bolts on his lathe. Matilda was very excited to help and also practice climbing ready for the tree house ladder. Carlotta was practicing Chino's hang dog look 🤣. I filled the trailer yet again with dead Agave cactus, it's never ending 😪. I was amazed to see the first almond blossom, I'm sure that's the earliest we've seen it.

04/12/2024

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we were picking the olives and sweating in t-shirts and today we were wrapped up in winter woolies and the sky was low on the mountains. Lucky Matilda and Carlotta had great fun playing with a tractor that a lovely friend gave them yesterday, they love it ❤️. We are trying to encourage the poor stray dog to let us catch it. It is now coming for food and strangely seems to appear whenever we are using something noisy like the olive shaker or when Clive is using a grinder - I wonder if it reminds it of its previous owner 😪. Milly was very relaxed when it appeared but Chino had a good bark. I found this preying mantis cocoon on an olive leaf, strange looking thing. When we had finished the olives Clive fixed my 25 year old Dualite toaster, I'm relieved it still lives on ❤️. I did Christmas crafts with the girls, it was a nice change to have wintery weather and be cosy indoors. The forecast is crazy, back to 21 degrees over the next few days but suddenly down to just 7 next Tuesday and zero over night- that will be a shock!

03/12/2024

I caught Bracken enjoying the warm sunshine, little cutie. We started picking the olives in glorious sunshine but by mid afternoon the clouds started coming in and it was quite chilly by the time we finished for the day. Matilda and Carlotta arrived back from Nerja just as we were finishing and discovered a plank of wood that was holding the fence up was fun to play on. I really can't believe we have daffodils about to flower, I've never known them be this early, though it has just been announced that Spain has had the hottest November on record so the poor plants must be confused.

02/12/2024

The asparagus fields are looking pretty with their golden hue. We drove down to Málaga this morning for a quick bit of d.i.y shopping. We parked next to these two greedy parkers, it really makes my blood boil. It was very hazy on the coast, you could hardly see the mountains but it was lovely and sunny when we got home. Sierra and Fern were enjoying a little doze 🥰. The stray dog had obviously paid us a visit while we were out which was extra frustrating as Clive had spent time this morning nailing chicken wire to the gate at the bottom of the horses field where he thought it had got in yesterday. The poor thing must be very hungry as it ripped down a bag of rubbish we had left hanging on the door and dragged a bag of cat food out from the cat station cubby hole. We have no idea now where it is getting in. I've tried calling to it when it walks past and rattling a food bowl but it is too timid. We really need to try to catch it and find somewhere to take it. We will have to see if we can borrow a dog trap from somewhere. This afternoon I prepared the El Establo cottage and put some decorations up ready for guests arriving on Thursday as I will be busy from tomorrow picking olives and also raked up leaves yet again! Clive filled a crack in the top of the courtyard wall. My Facebook memories showed me these photos of our old kitchen looking pretty for Christmas last year, I did miss decorating it this year, it always felt so lovely and cosy ❤️. I also had a reminder of the chocolate Christmas pudding I make - will definitely be doing that again this year 😋

01/12/2024

Poor Matilda has Carlotta's cold today so I tried to cheer her up by decorating the Christmas tree. We also had a roast dinner which Matilda insisted needed Christmas hats 🥰. This morning after trimming Bracken's feet Clive made a start on the tree house. Lily made this lovely wreath for Nerja out of false pepper and pine tree twigs. This afternoon I put the rest of the decorations up in the living and dining room.

30/11/2024

I love this time of year when we watch the sun come over the mountain as we finish doing the horses in the early morning. Before coming up, Clive gave Martin's new office floor a good clean so that it had time to dry ready for Martin to paint and finish off. Poor Carlotta is really unwell with a bad cough and cold. She mostly wanted to be cuddled but rallied a few times to go on the swing and play in the courtyard while grandad fitted an electric boiler for the El Granero cottage. Bless her, she just kept laying down to sleep but her cough makes it so hard for her 😪. when Matilda got back from her gym class she decided to strip off and show me her exercises on the pool patio 🤣. It reached 24 in the shade today, the weather is crazy really. While keeping an eye on Carlotta I started to put the Christmas decorations up. It's strange decorating our apartment, things that looked nice in our big kitchen don't look right in the new kitchen. I put some lights up in the grapevine as well. The Málaga Christmas lights were switched on last night, they are as spectacular as ever. We bought some new bottles ready for bottling up this year's oil for guests to buy, I like the squat shape. Marmalade was definitely enjoying the sunshine, cats do have the best life 🥰. We are babysitting tonight while Lily and Martin go to a concert in Málaga. The girls went to bed very well but poor Carlotta was soon crying as she can't breathe with her cold. A grandad cuddle soon sorted her out ❤️