Thursday 20th November.

Momentous occasion! We took our first step towards becoming Spanish residents. The very patient lady at Cajasol ( local bank) after much shouting down the telephone, managed to set us up with a non resident bank account. YEAH!!! We have money! Well strictly speaking we will have access to our bank draft in a month from now...Spanish rural time, you understand, seems to move at a different pace. This can be frustrating but is mostly welcome. Not so much of the live to work but more of the work to live. I think Torontonians would have a heart attack trying to get anything accomplished. We then went to the bakery for our daily bread (amen) and had a great laugh at the fact we could buy the very same packet of Tortas from for 85 centimos that would cost $7.99 in Vancouver.Hmmm could be an opportunity for some export we think. After yet another trip to the ferreteria (yes you guessed it, more weather proofing) we finally sealed off the drafts in the kitchen and raised the temperature by about 5 degrees, which will be greatly appreciated come January. Half way through Simon trying to make a fabbo lunch the door rang and a couple of family friends decided to show up.Ruben, who lives in Portugal, has a finca for sale near Cortegana (please view the Inmobiluz website) so comes through town periodically and always drops by to check in with the family. Peter Jan, who owns a lovely set of rental cottages called the Molino Rio Alajar with his wife Monica, was also cruising through the village and stopped by for an impromptu beer. This was our first chance to meet some of the other local expats and was a welcome break in the day. After a sumptous if not hasty lunch, it was time for lessons to begin, so we made ourselves scarce and watched the local farmer grazing his goats in the nearby field from our back patio. It is wonderful to be able to spend only 1.35 euros on a decent bottle of wine and sit out in the sunshine and watch the myriad of birds fly by. It is a blessing that the predominant sound is that of our avian friends, not the roar of money being made.