Blog - written by Oska about life in and around the self catering holiday destination Cortijo Opazo in the Alpujarras, Andalucia, Spain.

This is my page, and that's me sitting on a rather uncomfortable blue ceramic stool - boy does it get hot in the sun!. As pedigree dachshund in chief, and officially awarded a prize as best puppy in my class - see link here - my job is quality control and looking after the welfare of the guests staying at Cortijo Opazo. Big responsibility, don't know how I find time for it all, but I think I'm doing OK. Anyway, on this page I bring you up to date with the various happenings at Cortijo Opazo and the world around us. I welcome comments, just address them to Oska at info@cortijoopazo.com. Thanks for reading!

By the way, I am supposed to mention that it's a pretty fab place for a holiday.

Click here to see past blogs:

March 2012

February 2012

January 2012

Blogs from 2011

Blog from 2010

April 24th 2012

A rustling in the chicken house

The content of this blog is very serious indeed for we have been the victims of a grand theft. A few evenings ago, undoubtedly in the dead of night, all eight of our girls were stolen, yes my eight sisters, lifted off the perch where they were roosting and carried off into the dark. It was a shock to discover the empty coup on Thursday morning. The obvious thought was that it must have been a fox, but can foxes undo a latch situated at 2 metres above the ground? I don't think so! It can only have been a thief, and a pretty low down one at that - I mean morally 'low'; as a dachshund I can see nothing corrupt with actually being 'low' of stature. We're all feeling a little vulnerable; what if they were stealing to order, "Eight chickens wanted on table three"? What if the next thing that someone orders is a delightful dachshund. I must loose my absolute trust in humans from now on in order to survive!

But since the chickens are an important part of the household economy - don't think Ella and I don't appreciate the odd yolk that comes our way - then they had to be replaced. Yesterday, Robert drove to Padul near Granada, to buy six more beautiful girls. Before setting off he did what he could to strengthen the defences of the chicken house and has added two strong padlocks. A determined thief will, of course, be able to get through a wood and wire construction using the right tools, but we hope the padlocks will be a deterrent.

It wasn't as easy to buy the young 'point of lay' chickens as it had been in the past, and this might give us a clue as to what happened to ours and why. Robert phoned three times to find out if the agricultural supplier in Padul had any chickens for sale - not wanting a wasted trip. Even this very yesterday morning they said they were still waiting for a delivery. He phoned again at 13.00 and was told that the chickens had arrived but that he had better hurry since they were selling like hot cakes - does this simile even work? Robert was determined not to miss out so arrived at the suppliers at 15.40, ready for a 16.00 opening. He was first there but soon a queue started to form, a father and his son, a retired couple in their four by four, then a dodgy looking group of six men who arrived in a run down Ford Sierra. Obviously, there was keen interest in the chickens that could be heard twittering behind the fence - by this I don't mean they were engaged in sending messages to a social media network, but simply that they were making the curious sounds that chickens make. When the owner arrived and opened the gate, Robert, accustomed to exerting himself in the market, announced: 'I'm first' and insisted the assistant load a plastic crate with six of his finest birds before he could even say 'Buena siesta'. When paying for these beauties - €5.30 each - the owner was remarking that he had never known anything like it, people are going mad for chickens. He is selling them as fast as the lorry can deliver them. Unbelievable. Perhaps this is how Spain is reacting to the economic crisis, with chickens! Think about it, they make sense. Once they start to lay you'll get almost one egg a day for the first six months, so that's about 150 eggs per bird allowing for a few days off. Basing the price of a supermarket egg at about 15 cents, that's €22,50 worth. If they are going to be free range then 25 cents an egg is a reasonable going price. Now we are up to €37.50 worth of eggs, and that's in the first 6 months! After that, if you so wish, you can kill this fattened beauty and pop it in the oven for a Sunday roast and there you are, a direct return on your original investment of €5.30 (how much is an oven ready chicken anyway?) plus all that value in eggs. And none of it declared to the bureaucrats in Brussels - Merkel and Sarkozy didn't take that into account did they? So now you can see how the Spanish tortilla is going to save Spain. That's why our two year old girls were stolen, the sudden high demand for chickens, especially the ones that are laying the golden eggs - we'll have to wait about six weeks before this lots start, which messes up my economic prognosis but you get my point.

On to other matters, although I find it hard to get over the loss of my 'chicas'. Easter has been and gone again. For us, there was a little rain, enough to dampen a few parades and pointy hats, but not enough for the growers in the area. Spring has continued to unfold gently, with warm but not hot sunny days - perfect for a dachshund to start looking for good places to bask in the warmth of the afternoon. Spring flowers in the garden are out in profusion, and today we saw the first of the bright red roadside poppies. From the vegetable bed the tall ones are enjoying their rhubarb obsession, but have been safroning it with plates of boiled asparagus with melted butter and black pepper. Ella and I are continuing on our diet of dry biscuit meal and 'Covidog' meat from the supermarket. Some very kind visitors earlier in the year brought out a bag of dried pigs' ears which we are given as an occasional treat - and fabulous they are too. So, there's a hint for anyone coming out soon, never mind the bags of loose leaf Yorkshire tea that the tall ones request, just bring out a bag of dried pigs' ears and we'll show you how grateful two dogs can be.

Today is the day of Saint Mark, him of the Gospel writing fame. A very popular fiesta around these parts, a fiesta in which cooking various parts of a pig will no doubt feature - ears for me please! Then we will see and extended weekend to take into account the May day holiday on Tuesday May 1st. A four day weekend, how novel! What a way to beat the austerity measures.

As for me, I'm helping the country with my own Make, Do and Mend approach to life. The tall ones Make cushions for the sofa, I Do some damage to them by emptying out the stuffing, and they have to Mend it again. Works for me, hours of fun that costs not a penny nor a euro cent.

Yours, in cotton wadding,

Oska

New security measures

Our new 'girls'

I'm standing on guard this time.

A Dog Toothed Violet - what a curious name.

Some lovely fresh asparagus

A delightful orchid found growing on our land. Now that's rare.

To view the March 2012 blog, click here.