A quiet Sunday

The two photos here are taken from our property looking south.   They were taken at 4.00pm with my zoom lens which is manual focus only.   As we look in any direction from here we see hillsides dotted with a huge number of properties.   There must be hundreds of them within sight of eye.   This particular district between Colmenar and Comares has a significant English population.   We met four of them in the local bar the other day.

This afternoon I decided to actually do something and drive the rubbish to the wheelie bins.   I had noticed a couple behind the bus shelter about 400 yards up the road so I took them there.   When I approached the bus shelter I realised that it was not a bus shelter at all.   It was the size of a bus shelter but better built with a tiled roof.   Inside where about 70 post boxes, many of which had the names and addresses of the local population.   There many English people with labels on their post boxes.   So now we know how the local postman gets the mail to the recipients.   They have to visit the post boxes to see if there is any mail.   I bet they curse when all they get is flyers!

Looking at the photos you ncan see how all the properties are spread along the hillsides.   In the case of towns and villages they seem to cling to great mountainsides.   You should see how steep the streets of Colmenar are!   To get here we drive up such streets which are also very narrow.   You have to park very considerately in these villages.   Other cars and vans need to pass up the narrow streets as well as yourself.

Today I spoke to my daughter, Sue, who passed on some sad news.   Mavis Butterworth, who was my Assistant Church Secretary when I was still living in the Rochdale/Oldham area, has died.   She was a lynch pin at our Heyside Church and the church owes a huge debt to Mavis for her leadership over the years.   I first met Mavis in 1975 when I joined the church there.   We always got on well.   She had one gift that we all loved and that was her singing voice.   She was a powerful soprano and often sang in church on special occasions.

Since travelling out here I have heard of the deaths of two people who I really valued.   It is a reminder that when we are on holiday all the many facets of life are continuing at home.