Spain

Today we had our first bit of drizzle in about 5 months. Yeah, and better than that, it turned into light rain for about half an hour.

Ordinarily I wouldn't bother commenting on the weather but summer here has been very dry, very dusty, and altogether unpleasant. Even the winds have been hot.

But about two weeks ago we noticed the evening temperatures dropping a little and most importantly the breeze has been cool. In fact the last couple of weeks have been very pleasant around sunset, neither too hot or too cold.

Last night some clouds settled over Ronda, and overnight they spread out towards the mountains and hovered long enough to actually give us a small amount of rain. People we know in these parts have said this is a sign of a wet winter, although every opinion can be countered by others who say it's a sign of a long cold and dry winter.

I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I must tell you it was wonderful having a bit of light drizzle on the arms and face, and the smell of the earth as the rain landed on the dust was wonderful. After the rain had gone the air felt so clean. Definitely a good day today.

Just because some of you are curious about these sorts of things

Doggy-do in spain is something you really have to watch out for as you wander around and Andalucian village or town. In Ronda in particular a lot of people who live in apartments also have dogs which get taken for a once a day walk specifically so that they can relieve themselves.

Now without being too disgusting, there are some streets where you literally have to play hopscotch to avoid the numerous little (and not so little) piles of doggy-do.

Well finally our city leaders have decided enough is enough and new signs have appeared around certain parts of the city, like the grassy area in front of the railway station and other local parks.

The wording is sort of quite official, basically it says Excm. Ayuntamiento de Ronda (Ronda City Council) - Prohibida le deposicion de excrementos de animales bajo multa de 500 Euros, which translated into English means the depositing of animal excrement is prohibited and punishable by a low fine of 500 Euros.

Not sure about you but 500 Euros doesn't seem like a very low fine, on the other hand anything that can be done to improve the cleanliness of our parks and sidewalks is a welcome step forward.

So far I haven't seen anyone actually let their pooch use the sidewalk, so by the same token I haven't seen the local Police whip out their note books, although rumor around town is that in fact a couple of people have received a caution.

Having been brought up outside of Southern Europe I can honestly say I don't really ever remember shops, hotels, private homes, even street signs being made of of painted tile frescos, but here in Andalucia they are very common.

Take most bakeries or butchers around the pueblos blancos, they have no need for gaudy signs or flashing lights, after all everybody in the village already knows where the shop is and who the people behind the counter are.

So in keeping with the white village look and feel, many of the shops use the same style of tiled fresco that you see adorning the entrances to local churches, and the idea has caught on, a fair proportion of houses have a tiled fresco giving the name of the house or depicting Mary or one of the local saints.

Looking at a lot of the tiled frescos you'd be forgiven for thinking a student of the great painters or map-makers of olden times had drawn them, most are really quite impressive given they are hand painted onto regular wall tiles just like the type we decorate our bathrooms with.

When we first moved to Spain I needed particular subject to form the cornerstone of my photographic interest and I was going to choose these tiled frescos before realising that every second building or street corner includes one. This is why I settled for taking pictures of manhole covers. At least most towns don't have more than a handful of unique designs.

Now, for those of you interested in a bit more to do with walking the streets of one of the pueblos blanco, let me tell you that starting your walk you are only likely to see house after house after house. Entire streets are made up of buildings joined together in a continuous line that may stretch several hundred meters or more.

Most of these will look quite unremarkable and you'd be forgiven for thinking there are no shops. In fact, quite the opposite is true, a fair number will have a front living room converted into a small supermarket, butcher, bakery, or hardware store.

The only thing that gives a hint to difference between a home or a shop is the tiled fresco next to the door, because let me assure once the door is closed you can't tell.