Cycling B&B in the foothills of the Pyrenees

[Bonus]

Had a bit of a homesick moment this morning :-(

We asked to have a towbar fitted to the new car when we bought it last week. Earlier this week I unpacked and checked over the Thule bike rack we brought with us from SA and yesterday I bought a couple of new number plates. One for the bike rack and one for our trailer - which we also bought over from SA.

This morning I put the bike rack on the car and tested the lights etc, then took off the old Johannesburg "GP" number plate and fitted one of my new Spanish ones.

In a previous life, we would have been loading our bikes onto this exact bike rack and driving out to Northern Farm or The Cradle of Humankind for a Saturday morning ride. That thought just struck me out of the blue and for a moment I missed our old lives :-(

 

[Bonus]

Ramon the Friendly Farmer has given us permission to use as many building stones from his land as we want to, for our house. This pile used to be a sheep refuge for bad weather but it fell down sometime before he was born! So these stones have been laying here for at least 75 years and the last time people worked with them was probably around 150 years ago!

I'll pick out all the useable ones :-)



Thankfully the stones are in the middle of nowhere!

 

[Bonus]

Sorting out stones from the ruins of the old Casette down on Ramons land . . . .

 

[Bonus]

Ramon the Friendly Farmer going down with his old trailer so we can load the first lot of stones.

Two loads later and we have enough stones to keep us busy for a while! We've piled them on the edge of our neighbour Javi's land. Ramon introduced us and Javi is more than happy to help :-)

It is nice when everyone works together!

 

[Bonus]

Dismantling the existing retaining wall . . .

Taking down the retaining wall is easier than expected.

It's a dry stone wall, so once you clear the vegetation from along the top of the wall and cut the grass in front of the wall, you can unassemble the stones quite easily by hand or with a crowbar. Then gravity puts them down on the ground for you

We're taking away the front face of stones, which go back about 30cm and then clearing away some of the loose rock that lie behind the front face. All of the stones can be re-used. Ones with decent flat faces can be used on the new front wall again and anything odd shaped can be cemented behind the front face for additional strength.

The final concreted wall will be between 40 and 50 cm thick and behind the newly concreted bit we will leave the original loose stones. Not sure how deep into the hillside the existing wall goes but it looks like it's around a meter! So, with the new cemented front face, the cemented loose rock behind it and the existing loose rock that is tied into the hillside - we should be fine!

 

[ColinJ]

Looking good!

My passport is due to elapse next year, but I think that I will renew it in case I decide to come and check out the B & B.

How is your Spanish coming on? I know someone who has lived on the Costa Blanca for over 20 years and he can get by ok in casual Spanish, but as you said in an earlier post, it is important to use an interpreter when discussing technical subjects. (I am not sure that I would be too keen on having a 3rd party present translating intimate details for a Spanish doctor though! )

 

[MacB]

Bonus, love your write ups very informative and entertaining, would say don't overthink the retaining wall. There's nothing to stop you putting something cheap, quick, functional and ugly up then face it with the drystone at your leisure.

I'm no expert I watched them doing it on one of the C4 Grand Designs programmes accompanied with words of wisdom from Kevin McCloud.

 

[Bonus]

After one day of wall building with our friends from the UK who live down the road - Ben & Corina

Corina & Mrs Bonus on the cement mixer, Ben laying stones and me labouring!

We concentrated on getting the corner started, and in the right place according to the limits of the property, and then working our way up the hill. We left one very big base stone in place and after a few meters we were able to incorporate some of the exiting wall "as is" . . .

 

[Bonus]

2nd day of work and the wall is looking good!

The corner is solid and the front wall slopes back "mas o minus" the 15 degrees it needs.

We're making use of some of the very big stones that are there from the original wall. They aren't going anywhere and they're in the right place - so it's fine.
Filling behind the wall with small rocks & stones and cement to give the wall enough depth.

:-)

 

[Bonus]

Promo Clip for the "Inframundo" race the other week . . .

 

[Bonus]

After two long hard days of working with our friends (and with lunch supplied by Rosa, the farmers wife!) we'd made a great start on our retaining wall and we were left with the beginnings of a good strong wall with a nice level top for Mrs Bonus and I to continue building on.

Yesterday we added a bit to it on our own, following the lines that we'd already started . . . and I think we're doing ok . . .

Rufina and Luna (Ramons sheep dogs) came with me to check out the wall in the sunshine this morning. Luna (in front) is the attention seeker, Rufi is the naughty one!

:-)

 

[Bonus]

A phone was found by someone out on one of the trails used for the Zona Zero "Inframundo" race the other weekend. They handed it in to the Tourist Information Office in Ainsa and now it has been reunited with the person that lost it.

Firstly, it's cool that it was spotted - dropped "somewhere" on the 66km long route!

Secondly, it's cool that it was handed in.

I do love this community we live in here in Spain.

:-)

 

[Bonus]

Yesterday was my birthday . . .

Wow! It was like Christmas & Birthday all rolled into one!

I got . . . 2 tons of sand - which I had to fetch and then unload myself with a shovel . . .

#feelingblessed . . .

LOL

 

[Bonus]

I thought there might be a surprise in the cement mixer. There was just sand!

 

[Bonus]

Last night we went to bed shattered!

The retaining wall is coming on nicely but it's hard work. Buying a property on a hill means you can have great views and (eventually) beautiful terraced gardens with water features etc, but actually working on a garden that slopes this much is hard work.

Every wheelbarrow of rock or cement has to be dragged up a hill, or equally has to be rolled down a hill. A runaway wheelbarrow is no fun at all!

Happy days. It will look good when its done :-)