Friday, 24 November already. Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the USA and I was hoping to have a turkey dinner myself with Ivan and perhaps a couple of friends but that was not to be. We had to go to Malaga for the day because our bank that provided us with a mortgage required Ivan to have a physical and that had to be done in Malaga. So he had an appointment in Malaga at 10 AM which required us to leave Juzcar at 8AM. His second appointment was at 7PM, oh so convenient for us.... so we had to spend the whole day in or near Malaga.

The first appointment only lasted about 40 minutes and was on time as well so that worked out OK. We decided to go to Nerja afterwards as we had sold one of our puppies to someone who owns a hotel there and we wanted to see how she was doing. Our French Bulldog, Bandit, had 4 puppies in April 2006. We sold a couple of them, kept one and gifted one to Ivan's sister up in Castilla Leon. So off we went to Nerja, roughly 50KM on the east side of Malaga, a beach front resort town. As neither of us had been there before, it was a good chance to see another town in Malaga and to see the hotel as well.

The puppy had been purchased by Carlos for his daughter. When we arrived, Maria Carmen, Carlos' wife, was in reception and was very pleased to meet us. She told us they were very happy with Reina and that she is just adorable. She had grown of course since we last saw her several months ago but she appeared to remember us. Carlos told us that he had not seen her so excited before. Their hotel is quite nice as well. Very close to the beach, on a plaza so I'm sure they do a very good business.

After we left there, we had some lunch and then headed to Churriana. There is a dog "hotel" there and we are looking for a place to put the dogs while we go on holiday during Christmas and in January when we plan to close for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, they were booked up solid for Christmas but we made a booking for them for January. A very nice kennel with lots of space for the dogs to run around and they offer training as well which our German Shep could use. He's a big dog and wants attention all the time so he jumps up on people and many don't want a big dog on them, including me. So that all should work out nicely.

After that, we picked up some more plastic bags for vacuum packing as Ivan has been going crazy with vacuum packing. He also found out that there is a technician in the area who he called. The technician said he would pass by here one day when he is in the area as he understands Ivan's need to learn more about the machine.

We got back to Ronda around 9.15PM so we picked up some Chinese food for dinner and got back here to Juzcar around 10PM... a very long day indeed.

Here are a couple of photos of the area today with clouds, fog, fall colors and damp appearance:

Alto Genal, above Juzcar, 24 November 2006

Village of Cartajima, 24 November 2004

Today's weather is cool, grey, cloudy, a bit wet. It rained all last night but no leaks yet in the bar. All the chestnut trees have changed their colors now... lots of yellows of various shades. Not much in the way of reds or flame but nevertheless, it looks quite good.

Today is Friday. The rain stopped Wednesday night and we had a drying up day yesterday so today is beautiful.... clear skies, sun, light breeze, mild temps... very nice. It is rather quiet today as well.

On Wednesday, we had one booking, a couple who came from Israel, the first guests from that country. They stayed one night here during their tour of Spain; they flew into Madrid from Tel Aviv and have been doing a car tour. Unfortunately for them, Wednesday night was very, very wet. After dinner, I offered them a movie to watch in the salita (our salon) which they gratefully accepted as they could not go for the walk they wanted. Yesterday they were heading down to the coast and then off to Granada to see the Alhambra. The wife was actually Canadian and her husband was Israeli. We meet interesting people all the time in this business.

We also had a drop in couple, Swedes they were. They too were on a driving holiday of Andalucia. They had seen the website of a place in the next village and went there to get a room. On arrival at about 6.15, there was only a phone number stuck to the door which they called. The owner told them he would be back at about 7.45 and sent them to us for something to eat. After chatting with them for a while, they asked for our room price list and then decided that they'd stay here instead. So we had two rooms on Wednesday night .... for dinner as well.

Tonight, Ivan's brother Carlos and his father arrive for a couple of nights. They are coming to deliver some meat to us. We have Chuletón de Ávila on the menu as well as Suprema de Cochinillo but we have not had a supply of the meat for a few weeks since we sold the last ones. We always have it brought down from up north and we have a reputation in this area for being able to eat this authentic meat from up north here. In fact, a group from Málaga that booked the whole hotel last month requested that we let them know when we have the chuletón so they could come up for another fabulous meal and night's stay.

What is a chuletón, you ask.... it is a cut of meat like a steak ... lamb, pork, beef, any meat but in our case beef and rather large at 450 to 550 grams. And coming from Ávila makes it special as Ávila is famous for its beef.

The cochinillo from Ávila and Segovia is also famous in Spain. Ivan's method of preparation for the cochinillo has earned him rave reviews from every guest who has ordered it. Have a look on the guest book page of the hotel website to see what people have said about his cochinillo. He prepares it boneless so what is on the plate when served is completely edible. And it looks very nice as well. Here it is below...

Doesn't this look tasty? It comes with a spicy honey sauce and seasoned mashed potatoes. The shot glass has juice that it cooked in to pour on it or sip it... as you like.

Tonight we have one reservation for two nights....a Spanish couple who are arriving between 9 & 10 this evening and will dine then as well. Hopefully the weather will hold out so that we can have decent lunch business tomorrow.

Oh and as today is Friday, perhaps you remember that the power company was supposed to turn off the power today... all day. Well, they called and cancelled due to the heavy rain earlier this week. This is the second time they've cancelled.

On Monday, Ivan and I went pine cone collecting. On the other side of Pujerra village, which is a neighboring village and the village with the chestnut co-op... well there is a rather large pine forest on the slopes of the mountain. There are lots of pine cones along the road and pine cones are great for getting a fire going. Last year, Ivan's mother and I went and collected bags of them at about this time. They were not yet opened however so we've left them next to the stove in the bar to dry and sure enough they have been opening all week. We put them in the guest rooms with the wood for the stoves there. Nothing like a nice roaring fires on a cold night to keep warm by.

I received a piece of mail on Thursday which I had to sign for; it was from the department of statistics in Málaga capital. They maintain these statistics on room nights (how many rooms and where the guests are from) in the tourist industry in Andalucia so they send us this questionnaire every month. Apparently they did not receive August from us and so sent it certified informing us it is obligatory to complete. A few minutes after I opened the letter, the phone rang.... it was them!! Very strange... as if he knew in that minute I had opened the mail they sent to us. Anyway, I completed that form last night and faxed it them this morning so they are now happy.

Next up....... the story of Diego!