The time since we arrived in Spain has zipped by. Proof that we are utter foodies was our 'to do' list - visit our fave bargain breakfast cafe - ham & cheese toasted roll with a coffee and juice 2.75, visit our little hole-in-the wall coffee shop, go out for a three course lunch for only €18 between us (managed that three times - officially regulars now as our wine glasses are always filled to the brim). Been to the Tuesday fruit & Vege market and been blown away, as always, by the quality and prices... still working our way through a kilo of avocados (€1.15 / A$2.25 say). Pomegranates are in season and decorate our fruit salads so beautifully - this time last year we were picking them off the ground in Turkey - but €2/kg is still jolly economical. Even strawberries have shown up just in time for Christmas at €2-3/kg. Won't be touching cherries though - at €20/A$30 per kilo that is just crazy money. We also spend hours wandering around the Saturday Flea market each week - wondering in fact if it will be on tomorrow (Christmas Eve)... will definitely trundle down and check. So far our purchases probably won't support the economy too much - but we can't bear to go to the market and not come home with something. We bought James a bangle or 'wrist ornament', cheaper than we could have bought it in Morocco where it was made. Bought myself a little wool and cashmere jumper at the flea market the very first week we arrived back in Spain just €2 (2nd hand of course) and I've been wearing it to death - it goes a week without needing a hand wash and weighs almost nothing - so perfect for us travelling types. Paul (our mate here) doesn't have a canister for cereal - so got a nice big IKEA storage jar for not a lot. The stall holder started at 5 euro (choke!) and I was happy to pay 1 euro which we got to eventually... but it involved him changing the only other money in my purse - which was a €20 note. He took the rats and mice instead so only 73 cents! During one market I thought I'd actually have to buy a pair of sunglasses. My current pair have done well since we bought them in Turkey last December - lasting a year is a miracle. I was rummaging through a box at one particular stall and they slipped off and into the box... then we spent around an hour retracing all our other steps, stalls and stops... only to return to that original spot and see them still there. Phew! Nonchalantly put them on my head again and wandered off.
Weatherwise, the last 2 and a half weeks have seen the sublime to the ridiculous. That old chestnut from My Fair Lady about the rain in Spain staying mainly on the plain? b******s it seems. For the first week or so the Costa del Sol was in danger of being rechristened the 'Costa del Pissing Down'. The night we arrived was just after flooding rain - six months worth of rain in only 3 days - the road outside our community was about a foot deep in mud. Thankfully that's been cleaned up and is now spotless. To be fair, since we've been here, the rain has fallen mainly overnight - in fact last Saturday's market was super pleasant to walk around as it was still raining until 10 am or so. When it stopped we took a punt on there being a stall or two set up (just us and 100s? 1000s? of other people also tired of the rain) and whilst there were a few stalls and gaps it was still a huge market - they got a good 2-3 hours before it rained again at 1 pm when they close up anyway. Not sure who was the most surprised - the buyers who saw so many stalls or the stall holders who saw so many like us out and about for a walk. Warm days and copious amounts of sunshine (18 degrees or so but has gone over 20) now abound and there's no rain forecast for the next week. On the cooler days (13? 14 degrees), we have a bit of a late afternoon post-walk-and-snooze tradition of running a hot bath to warm up. We've even nipped into the charity shop for some paperbacks for reading in the bath purposes (currently on "The Girl on the Train" which was a bestseller in 2015 and is now a movie starring Emily Blunt). As long as we don't mix up our individual bookmarks we can read the same book in the bath! Then it's nibbles and drinkies followed by dinner. We don't often go out in the evening as it's an uphill hike home and the buses are rarer at this time of year. That and going out for lunch in the fabulous sunshine suits us very well. Evenings involve binging on box sets via Netflix - one of the best inventions of the 21st century. Absolute favourites we have watched include Homeland (from the USA) - utterly addictive. The Fall (based in Northern Ireland) and Marcella (another detective series from the UK). If you've not yet discovered Netflix - get your wifi sorted and sign up (we can't actually remember the last time we watched TV - though we've already diarised for the Dr Who Christmas special on Christmas Day - BBC1)
We had a massive walk yesterday (Thursday) about 9 kms in total. We covered a huge amount of ground and even checked out an Asian buffet on the other side of town for James's birthday in early January. With Christmas Day literally just around the corner we were chuffed to stumble over the Iceland/Overseas Supermarket way down the other end of town. It was chock-a-block with expats loading trolleys with christmas cake, pudding, turkey, crackers etc - felt like we were in a Tesco's in Ireland. We actually had Christmas in November this year whilst we were in Ireland and it was snowing outside - loaded up on roast turkey, Christmas cake and fruit mince pies... just in case they only had European Christmas goodies down in Spain (we're not food-ist... but the local delicacies just don't cut it for our Christmas traditions). As it turns out... needn't have worried. We bought some cake and mince pies - which were certainly quite a weight to lug but added to the exercise nature of our jaunt. 
The cats who used to live here (we've housesat here several times in the past), were taken by the lady up the road, so they turn up every so often for love and head scratches. They are hilarious, they have seen doors open and movement and periodically come by for some love (which they get) and food (which they don't). They've all increased in sheer size by fifty odd percent so the neighbour who adopted them rather than see them go to the shelter is certainly looking after them. One in particular was a little feral guy (Claude/Clawed) who was always very highly strung and nervy - but he came and sat on our laps the other night and watched a detective series with us. We think they are still confused as they don't live here anymore but keep looking for their dad who's in the USA.
Plans for the immediate future? Well Christmas obviously - though Sunday will be a very relaxed affair including a pre-cooked roast chicken so as to not grubby up the oven. Roasted veges, gravy, too much Cava (Spanish bubbles) and Christmas movies on the telly... followed by a big walk. We're here until the end of the month theoretically then not sure what we're up to. Feeling very lazy and only have until 27 Jan in the Schengen zone anyway - so unless a great housesit turns up which is easy to get to, we may just decamp to a budget hotel down on the beach until the 27th of the month... then who knows where - a housesit in a non-Schengen zone country would be ideal - so fingers crossed for Croatia/Romania/Cyprus or similar!