Rambling Stories

One of my favourite things to do in Spain whether its Cadiz or Almeria is to find a cool relaxing spot for that first morning cafe con leche. In Vejer its a quick uphill stroll to the Plaza de Espana where you join builders. the local barber and the obligatory tourists to sit and reflect, ruminate and readjust to the already sultry heat and plan your day. In the Rambla I found a great little Venta just 500m up the old river bed from La Ermita, my village. There is no sign to it but a grape encrusted entrance with blooming bougainvilla beckons you in from the dusty slip road.

Once inside you are generally the only person there but then again there might be a local campo character slurping a drink at the bar or an ex pat or two. I will sit and savour the first cafe whilst smoking my morning Fortuna Azul and then onto a tostado and aceite and tomate (toasted crusty roll soaked in olive oil with fresh chopped tomato and salt). Recommended highly. Outside the bar and kicking up the dust one morning was a local goatherd with his muzzled dogs and a very well trained group of goats marching briskly head down along the Rambla.

In this bar one morning Dave and I met HiFi Dave and Glamourous Sue, a couple who had been out here for four years renovating their 200 year old Cortijo further up the Rambla. He had installed home entertainment systems in England in a previous life while Sue looked and dressed like an ex model, an incongorous sight in the wilds of the campo. They were trying to do their bit to create a social agenda so had recently organised a twice weekly meet up at their home for xpats plus also twice a week they had a film society showing movies on a big screen in their converted garage. Hi Fi Dave also went to Archery classes or raced his buggy up and down the river bed whilst also spending his day on renovation work. We agreed to see them at the wednesday social and he gave us directions to their house a few k up the Rambla, uncharted territory for me!

Work at the house was coming on nicely and Dave and I felt we both deserved a few beers at the end of a busy day. With HiFis directions we headed up the Rambla missing all the signposts he had given us and within only 3k we were in a different environment totally with majestic craggy mountains flanking both sides of the Rambla and quite deserted apart from a secluded farmhouse here and there skulking in the scrubland. We looked out of the car window half expecting to see a troupe of Apaches or Navajo in the heights above, it was that kind of Wild West vibe. Realising we had overshot our destination we doubled back and found Hi Fi's cortijo, perched on a high ledge with sweeping views of the mountains in the distance. Lots of English voices confirmed we were in the right place. There was my taciturn neighbour Jack chatting with a disparate bunch of expats, some Northern, some old, some interesting and then again some not. The usual. The beers and nuts flowed courtesy of our glamourous host Sue and the conversation turned a bit wacky. After maybe his third beer Dave was into his stride and regaling the table with tales of life in Valencia. Apparently they like their pigeons up there but unlike in England where they race them passionately in Valencia there is a slightly different slant on things. Apparently they let a female pigeon on heat out first and after an appropriate amount of time they let out all the male pigeons. With all the owners squinting through their high powered binoculars they have to ascertain the winning pigeon ie the male who first gets to the female and does the dirty business, if you get my drift. This being Spain of course lots of alcohol, laughter and heated discussion is involved in confirming the winner!

Another expat went into a very detailed and thorough story about an artist who created works of art in minature, for instance on a grain of rice. He said that to get the requisite composure to do the work he had to go into a Zen like state for 40 second bursts of work so that he effectively stopped breathing whilst concentrating so that his hand was steady enough. We were all paying rapt attention to the story until after a pregnant pause after this information was divulged Glamourous Sue piped up"My Daves like that in bed". Cue raucous laughter as Sue hadnt quite thought through what she had said and its possible implications. So welcome to campo life and expat experiences. Roll on Friday and the home cinema experience.

Life in the Campo (Rambla style)

Have you heard the one about a Bolivian, an Argentinian, a Romanian and an Englishman, well they all got together to form my creative building team. They also seem to have a bit of Trojan in them as they work like proverbial donkeys as I frantically try to capture their progress on the camera. What I've found is if I leave them for a few hours I come back to find them forging ahead either plastering, putting a door in here and there or recently I came back to find a room competely tiled in my absence. A nice problem after my last multi delayed project in Fes which ultimately took a year to finish. With the cortijo we are less than three weeks into the job and already we have broken the back of it. The new lounge has a new beamed roof and glorious old style roof tiles (as in picture), it is fully plastered wth an archway built leading down the stairs to the kitchen and old style granny pantry. The old doors that I bought in Vejer, and labouriously stripped on the terrace are now being framed ready to be put in place as the main lounge doors leading to the rockfaced patio.

Dave has been busy and thorough evaluating the whole electrical system and rewiring behind Daniel and his crew, whilst also buying the kitchen cabinets and setting out the layout with the cooker, and wash machine and double belfast sink. He very rapidly plumbed and wired in the kitchen so it is now operationable. He talked me out of buying the granite work tops which at 100 euros linear metre would end up costing 750 euros!! Instead I ended up buying granite laminate at 48 euros for 3.6 metre board so for whole kitchen worktop the cost was just over 100 euros a saving of over 600 euros. Thanks Dave. So all I need to do now is choose kitchen doors and kitchen is complete.

Project Progressing

Had to leave the house reluctantly after being involved in the first weeks work but left very impressed with Daniel, Luis and Ferdinands hard graft. In photos Ferdinand is plastering over the bamboo that runs between the old beams and then knocking through the thick walls to create space for the double balcony doors, which were literally in place only hours after his photo. They dont mess around. At this rate I estimate they will be done in under 2 months especially as Dave the builder has now turned up. He immediately turned his attention to the kitchen, measuring up for the cabinets and so when I leave I will have two teams cracking on, Daniel with major construction upstairs and Dave assimilating the kitchen cabinets and fitting appliances.

Cracking on

Daniel wastes no time in attacking the project from all angles. This in precis is what has been achieved in four days on the job. Rock face behind house levelled off, area for pergola cleared, building supplies arrive and lounge wall built, lintels in place for new doorways and windows, wall constructed in master bedroom, rendering of lounge walls, ordering of new doors and windows and beams for the lounge roof, plastering over the bamboo between beams in third bedroom, making doorways by drilling through metre thick walls as well as gouging out channels for electricity . Not bad for four days work really. Myself I have been out and around scouting the area and checking out stores. On Tuesday bought, fridge, stove top, oven and washing machine ready for Daves imminent arrival so that he can buld kitchen around them. Found a great Butler sink (double) to finish the kitchen buying. Also on a trip to Huercal Overa, the next major town after Albox and very Spanish, found a great granite and marble factory tucked awayin a side street and the father and son (who spoke broken English), with great patience, showed me the different types of granite and marble. They recommended the cheaper granito nacional as a counter top and explained it would cost 100 euros per linear metre with all cutouts, travelling costs and installation included in that price. Not bad.

Diggers, Dave and Demolition

The diggers here, the diggers here!! Yes I know calm down Louis but eight months after buying Cortijo Mercedes, sorting out finance, hiring architects, making plans, appling for permission, waiting for permission.........and then waiting some more, the happy day is here cos the digger can start demolishing. This has to be one of my favourite parts of the renovation process clear out the old ready for the new. In one picture the digger has cleared the rockface and levelled the upstairs lounge and roof leaving a lovely blank canvas for a new improved lounge (bigger) with new roof and private secluded patio are leading off it. In the other picture Digger is resting in the driveway after his labours and in the foreground you see the blossoming grapevine, ready to eat grapes in a few weeks. As I write I am listening to the happy sound of the cement mixer churning and Daniel and his labourers Luis and Ferdinand already laying bricks and foundations for the new wall, and its only the first day at it, go on my son(s).

But anyway I am getting ahead of myself in my excitement lets just backtrack a bit....

Things are coming together nicely methinks. Went to see my friendly bank manager Christian Kampfe of Cam Bank who somehow wangled me a mortgage even though I have no proof of income. He had on his desk a large pile of banknotes I had ordered for the renovation, so I now have hidden several thousand readies, cant tell you where, but its in an old sock....somewhere. Also arriving this week was Dodgy Dave my builder friend. He had dumped another vanload of his furniture plus tools at the cortijo and then driven over to Vejer with his partner Heather to check out property on the coast armed with his profit from his house sale in Valencia.

Meanwhile Daniel my Argentinian builder friend in Almeria was finishing up his last job before tackling mine. He promised to call when he was available and would have digger and labourers ready yippee. The call came and the start date was Monday 12 July whew which meant I could watch the World Cup Final with my Costa mates before heading east to Almeria. Dave turned up on the Friday so was able to give him a whistlestop tour of the coast, Vejer and hot surf beaches and cool funky restaurants. On the Sunday after Grand Prix picked him and Heather up from their campsite in trendy Canos de Meca and with my lovely plumptious ( two months to go) gal Jane in tow we headed off to watch the Final of the World Cup. We had chosen Las Dunas a huge Flintstone type beach bar on the Cabo Trafalgar to watch it. Alongside sweaty, nervous, face painted, flagwaving Spanish cool cats we had a royally good time exploding into happiness as Spain won in the dying minutes. The road back and through the old town of Vejer was a maelstrom of mirth and mayhem with the main Plaza awash with fountain jumpers, horns were blaring and whole families joining in on this momentous occasion. It was a fitting end to a superb day but I had to sleep as I had a six o'clock start to drive to Almeria because it was Digger Day.

Next morning after five hours drive nourished by Janes Cheddar and Pickle sarnies en route I turned off the main road onto the winding sliproad that led to the Rambla de Oria and my little hamlet of La Ermita. My mind was racing, would Daniel have started, would there be some unfortunate delay on proceedings. I hope not. I want to see a Digger I want to see a Digger! I want to see a Digger digging. And there it was demolishing the back part of the house. Its definitely a boys thing, watching heavy machinery demolish stuff. I was paying for this so I gave directions, demolish this, demolish that, hit that rockface hard, clear that area for a pergola and off it went, bish bash and most definitely BOSH. I was a happy boy.

Moving Ahead

The grapevine in bloom along the front patio fence was a sight to behold as it threatened to thread its way around the house. Across the olive fields you can see the Ermita or Hermitage sitting proudly above the little pueblo. It is this that gives the village its name, La Ermita, nestled on the banks of the dried up river bed or Rambla of Oria province. Each hour its bell chimes sonourously, ringing out across the valley to the numerous campo communities.

I had made another trip cross -country, 500k along traffic and bollard free motorways (England take note) to the cortijo in Almeria. The reason this time was to meet and greet Dave the builder who with a van load of furniture from his house in Valencia was preparing to set up base in Almeria prior to the renovation. As his house was now sold he was between homes and his initial idea of renting a villa for the duration of the work had been dismissed as unsuitable for a variety of reasons (cost mainly). Instead he suggested moving into the house while the renovations took place using the garage as a storage facility whilst also basically furnishing the property with his old furniture which I could possibly buy at the end of the work. This way we would both win out which suits me perfectly. His plan is to buy another property with his house profits but is not particular about any specific region in Spain. As I told him, nor was I, when researching properties I just wanted best value for money and after long internet searches it just happened to be Almeria, where there is also a strong British presence. They could be potential purchasers of the Cortijo when finished.

Funnily enough Dave had been doing his research on his next property purchase and it turned out one house that had turned up was in Chiclana de la Frontera, only 15 min drive from my home in Vejer de la Frontera in Cadiz province. Strange. So Daves plan was to drive over to check it out which could mean I could surrepticiously load up his van with some of my belongings here including some antique doors I had been stripping for use in the cortijo. So again everyone wins. It is always a surprise to me when a synchronicity of events occur so that everything drops into place at the right time but then again as I have always said things happen when they are supposed to happen.

So anyway, Dave turns up at the house in Ermita with a huge van full of sofa, dresser, kitchen table and chairs, bedding, garden furniture etc etc which we unload in minutes. A quick tour of the house reiterating the work schedule and Dave was back in the van and off back to Valencia. He had been at the house for approximately ten minutes. He doesn't mess around. His plan is to come back the following week from Valencia (300k) with his last load of furniture plus tools, drop them at the house, then next day drive straight across country 500k to check out the Chiclana property!! As I said he doesnt mess around. A man after my own heart. After all he is an ex yachtie like me and we relish being on the move. Onwards and upwards.

Daves work mission in the cortijo is to create a country style kitchen around the log burning stove but also to put some funky features within the walls such as lintels, bookshelves also rewiring and plumbing. Upstairs I also want him to create a modern, swish ensuite bathroom alongside the massive, beamed master bedroom. Working with Dave will be Daniel, an Argentinian builder, who has diligently organised the architect, plans and permissions successfully. He will be in charge of the upper floors, bulldozing the rockface to create a patio area behind the house and also renovating and re-roofing the winter lounge with massive fireplace and another bedroom. When finished we should have 3/4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms, 2 lounges, 2 terraces and front and upper patio areas and parking for 3 cars. There is also a large garage and room off it that could in future be a self contained apartment alongside the house. Daniel is a busy cortijo renovator and will be ready to start after he has finished his latest project, should be 2 weeks. So the puzzle pieces fall into place. Now I have permissions, Dave moving in and onto the job, Daniel almost ready, monies in place at the bank, I am ready also eager to finish the renovation before my next big project materialises......the birth of my daughter in September.

Permission Granted

This is the land behind the house, rocky and rugged with king cactus, olive and plum trees and wildflowers, needs landscaping....any takers??

As I write a wry smile is on my lips. After emailing Daniel my project manager about my frustration about the tardy permission approval and whether we can just carry on regardless with the rebuild, he replied to say the town hall has today granted full approval. Yabba Dabba Doo!!! We can begin. Anyone involved in renovations will know the sometimes lengthy process involved with plans being revised and resubmitted especially in England where it can take years. It has actually taken about 5 months here in Almeria, Spain since the architects plans were first submitted and its been relatively painless albeit slightly frustrating as I have Dave ready and waiting to help in Valencia as well as Daniel here in Albox.

But first rule of Renovation Club is if you are going to do it, do it LEGAL as in Almeria there are the worst examples of fleeced expats who thought they were all legalled up till finding their new villa was built on rustico land and not urban. Buildings and land should be on urbanised land with a full escritura recognised by the land registry. Then for renovations get full architects plans authorised by town hall and pay all TAXES. This is what prospective buyers will want to see. Even after doing all this you should feel reasonably safe and certain but there is always a small element of doubt as we all know how corrupt some of the town halls are, it goes all the way to the top. But as Albox has had a bad reputation my theory is that now they will be more transparent in their transactions as they have drawn so much attention to themselves.

The story of Dave in relation to his helping me on the cortijo has been getting increasingly complex and convoluted. He is helping an Irish couple near him him renovate their flat while at the same time he is in the process of selling his house. The house is now sold with Dave having to offload his furniture to the Irish couple and some to me whilst also trying to decide his next move. With his girlfriend in the process of moving from Mexico to Valencia to see him she could find him (and her) homeless. Does he move to Almeria in readiness for my forthcoming work, no not yet I said, as permissions arent ready (well they are now) or does in hang on in Valencia to finish off his house move and help the Irish and greet the girlfriend? With me so far? As always in life things come together when they are supposed to not when you want them to. So its looking like the pieces are falling into place starting today. Daves house is now sold, hes out in two weeks then he can truck a vanload of furniture down to me in Oria and look for a place to rent for a few months near the cortijo so we can crack on. He is in charge of rewiring and plumbing and kitchen fitting downstairs whilst upstairs Daniel is doing some creative demolishing and rebuilding a large winter lounge with fireplace, outside patio area and spacious bathroom. As for me I will be stripping old wooden doors and windows and co-ordinating proceedings. It all sounds good in theory and shouldnt be too drastic especially compared to the Fes mission which involved 5 stories, 5 bathrooms 2 kitchens and endless stress but thats another story, refer to http://www.louis-fes.blogspot.com/ for 150 pages of fun and games.