ALMOND BLOSSOM

In late January the almond blossom comes into flower. For us, this is one of the first signs of Spring. We took these photos today in the morning sunshine. In one of the photos the heat of the sun is evaporating the overnight due. We have several different varieties of almonds on our land. The nuts vary in shape and size and so does the flavour, from bitter to sweet. The colours of flowers vary, too. Some are a dazzling white while others are the deepest shade of pink. Another sure sign of Spring is the sound of birdsong from our row of poplars this morning.

Last week we had a visit from some friends from Scotland who have a holiday home near our last house in Los Guajares. They were delighted to escape to some sunshine. We had lunch on the terrace of a restaurant overlooking Loja and after being snowed in for seven weeks they could hardly believe that they were sitting out in the sunshine in a temperature of over 20C.

If you click on the photos they will enlarge.

Some links that may be of interest.

www.paintingsofgranada.wordpress.com

www.fotosdegranada.wordpress.com

www.countryhouseforsale.wordpress.com

A TRIP TO GRANADA

Yesterday the Asociación de Anglo-Parlientes de Loja organised an outing to Granada to see the Matisse exhibition at the Alhambra. We met at Loja station and boarded the 1020 train to Granada. It was a beautiful, sunny, winter’s day, perfect for a visit to the city. Disembarking from the train at Granada, we were greeted by a splendid view of the Alhambra and the Sierra Nervada, glistening in the sun like a giant meringue.
We walked from the station, through the bustling city centre and up the hill to the Alhambra. It was extremely busy with throngs of tourists enjoying the sunshine. Although the exhibition was free, we had to queue to enter as only so many people were allowed through at one time. The exhibition was magnificent. Matisse was the most famous of Les Fauves (Wild Beasts) and, although I didn’t really like the decorative simplicity of the paintings for which he’s best known, I loved the portraits and pencil and charcoal drawings. It gave me fresh inspiration for my own exhibition of paintings in Granada next month- www.paintingsofgranada.wordpress.com.
After the exhibition, we walked to the nearby Carmen de los Mártires and strolled around the beautifully laid out gardens. From here there were stunning views of the City and the Sierra Nevada.
We walked back down to the City centre for a late tapas lunch. We thought we would try the Calle Navas which we call the street of bars. This was packed with diners and all the tables outside were all occupied. We noticed that the temperature was displayed as 21C on the neon signs. We tried a couple of the bars before walking back to the station to catch the 1725 train back to Loja.

Private Mortgage

Most of you know our country house is for sale. One of the problems with the property market at the moment is that banks in Spain have virtually stopped offering mortgages. I view of this we will consider offering a private mortgage of about 50% on our property (deposit 125000 euros). We can offer a 10 year mortgage at a reasonable rate - 5%. Another possibility is that the deposit would be paid but the mortgage payments deferred until April 2012. In this case interest would be charged on the outstanding amount and this added to the mortgage in 2012 which would run for 9 years. Also in the latter case, although it would be legally tied up in a contract, the escritura would not be signed over to the new owners until April 2012.

We have checked this out with our lawyer in Granada who considers it an excellent idea.

To view details of our property go to www.countryhouseforsale.wordpress.com.