September '08

Family & Friends

At the Start of September with our son and his girlfriend moving out to Mas de Barberans to stay in a house just down the street from our flat. One of their friends, Loz, came out on the same flight and has made their flat his base of operations while he either works on our Finca or visits Barcelona, Madrid etc.

Soon after they settled in one of our good friends Ben arranged to visit for a week and coincidentally another friend Lisa took a weeks break which crossed with Ben's week.

All this meant that most of September was spent on the beach or visiting tourist spots to show everyone the local area. Great fun all in all.

Cacador de Bolets

The mushroom season is taken very seriously in Catalunya. Everyone piles out to the hills and searches for a all sorts of mushrooms, but the prize is the green and orange "Rovellones". Jaume took me out hunting rovellones with one of his friends. Good hunting areas are carefully guarded secrets and I had to promise not to tell anyone where we had been. Although it was early in the season and a bit dry, we managed to collect about six kilo's of rovellones and my share meant that we all enjoyed a delicious risotto of bacon and rovellones that night.

Creepy crawlies

It has been a good year for all sorts of little beasties. In the middle of the month, I got a bit of a surprise when I found a small viper slithering round our kitchen. It disappeared under the washing machine for a while, but soon came out to attack the broom which we then used to carfully brush it down the stairs and out the front door. The Wasp spider, was one of many that we have seen on our finca this year, although not nearly as many as the Praying Mantis. They have been everywhere. Big ones little ones, brown ones and bright green ones.Not sure what the caterpillar will turn into, but I am sure it will be big.

Still have not seen a scorpion yet, but we know they are out there.

PondBoy