May in Jimena
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In the first half of May the countryside around Jimena is still in full flower. We had an American artist staying at
the cortijo during Easter and he was so impressed by the wild flowers in the fields and mountains that he came back
again during this month to capture more of it in his oil paintings. The amazing thing about this anecdote
is that he has lived in Spain for 30 years but has never seen anywhere so beautiful as this little pocket
of Andalucia.
A swimming spot at the river
And if you really don't
want to swim...
The river valley is always a beautiful place for walking but when the water is warm enough
for swimming you can spend the entire day there and not get tired of it. It is not just people who appreciate the
warm water; the aquatic wildlife is much more in evidence. One evening we went to the river at the bottom of the village
where we saw dozens of terrapins (tortugas in Spanish), hundreds of little fish,
grass snakes swimming in the water hunting the little fish, an eel making its way upstream after making its amazing
ocean crossing and a Kingfisher; a real treat.
Leading the mule
Loaded mule
Jimena hosts its Horse Fair in this month and there are lots of Romerias
in the surrounding villages. A Romeria is a bit like a gymkhana, the main difference being that here in rural Andalucia,
outside the cities, almost every man has a horse and a significant number of men still work with
mules or horses so a Horse Fair is an important community event. In addition to horse-trading and general horse business,
there is a cork loading competition. The muleteers race against each other in
pairs and have to
load the mules with cork, lead them round a slalom course, unload and weigh the cork. It is a really nice social
event with horses and mules everywhere and a bar serving copious quantities of sherry (and other drinks).
Andalucian Horsewoman
Horses and Mules
Can we have a look?
What's happening on the
Farm?
Swimmimg Pool
early in the morning
Swallows in the Cloister
This month we have been doing the annual painting of the farm. Instead of paint we
use whitewash (in Spanish, Cal) which was traditionally used by everyone but is sadly being
replaced by plastic paint. We buy the unslaked lime in lumps and put it in
cold water in a big metal pot where it starts to heat up, eventually reaching
boiling point and spitting all over the place!! When it has cooled down it
is ready for use. When you first put it on the walls it goes a horrible washed-out grey colour
but when it dries it leaves a wonderful brilliant white finish.
The stream is now nearly dried-out and by the end of the month the pastures
are beginning to go brown ready for hay-making.
