Things You Save In A Fire
“That’s the thing I always love best about the human race: how we pick ourselves back up over and over and just keep on going.” Katherine Center, Things You Save in a Fire
We have been shrouded in cloud recently as winter properly arrives in Moclín and, after a few false starts, the Sierra Nevada is finally draped in a generous covering of snow ready for the winter season. We have a huge pile of logs stacked up, and soup bubbling on the hob. I have even gone so far as to order a new set of lights for the Christmas Tree, which will, no doubt, be making its annual appearance from beneath the stairs. So, we are prepared for our quiet, tucked-away Christmas and it seems like a good time to think about what we’d like for Christmas.
That said, this post is not about the things we’ll be wrapping up and placing beneath the tree. It’s more about all the things that we are hoping for as we get to the stage where we can say goodbye to this wretched year and look forward to some positive times. So, dear Santa, can we eschew the socks this year (although, on second thoughts…) and look forward to the following:
Family
We are tremendously excited that we have been promised a visit for at least one month from my son James, his fiancee Hannah and their gorgeous baby, Georgie. It goes without saying that, of all the things we wish for this coming year, this is top of the list. The thought of a protracted stay, getting to know our granddaughter and having fun with our children is everything we could hope for, and we can’t wait. If my daughter, Lucie, and her partner George can come for at least part of that stay would be the icing on the cake, and we can’t wait to see their own new flat!
Andrew’s Dad and Sister were also both due to come out this year, back in April, and we are hoping that 2021 will allow this visit to be rearranged. John, Andrew’s Dad, may soon start to find travelling by air a bit of an ordeal, and we would love him to get to see our home as soon as he can.
In fact, we’d quite like to be utterly surrounded by family for as long as they can stand our company.
Friends
The list is endless, and we want to see everyone, so if you would be so kind as to start making your plans right now, we will all have something to look forward to. Topics of conversations that will be strictly banned over gin and snacks will include: Covid-19 and Brexit. Please bring Twiglets, teabags and trashy magazines…
Adventures
Oh, this is another list that is getting increasingly lengthy. We have so many places we want to visit and explore and, in no particular order, these will be first on the list:
Skiing! Now that there is snow on them there hills, we are becoming increasingly excited at the prospect of another season of skiing. Given the current situation, we still have no real idea when the ski resort might open but, rest assured, once those slopes open we will be there - everyone else had better stay away as we will NOT be mingling with anyone!
A roadtrip around Spain. We have been thinking about this for some time, and did seriously consider slotting it in to the 2020 schedule, but something rather got in the way. We fancy hiring a little camper van (possibly from Flamenco Campers) and doing a circuit of the country, driving up through Extremadura, hopefully popping in to see a few chums along the way (Finca Buenvino and Adventures in Extremadura). Our route would then run up past Portugal to the north coast of Spain, across to the Picos de Europa and then a food-fest in San Sebastian. We’d then weave our way down south, but perhaps first hitting the Costa Brava to visit places like Cadaqués - famed for being a haunt of artists such as Salvador Dalí and Picasso. My parents left me at home when I was a mere baby to go on holiday to Cadaqués and when they returned I had learned to walk, so they missed that particular milestone. That’s what you get when you abandon your babies…I should add that I wasn’t left home alone!
We want to visit Portugal, and it is a travesty that we have not yet been since we moved to Spain. We have previously visited Porto, but we’re very keen to see Lisbon and, perhaps, stay with one on our fabulous #MyTravelPledge supporters in their hotel on The Algarve.
Mallorca will always be on our list, and we have both mentioned that we’d love to return to a lovely little house near Campanet, in the north-west of the island. This was one of our first holidays away together, and it was such a glorious time. It may be a mistake to return to somewhere that has such lovely memories, but wherever we decide to stay, Mallorca will always be one of our favourite places.
Home
We have lots of plans for Casa Higueras, and first on the list is the completion of the garden. The winter seems like the perfect time to get these outstanding jobs done, and one of our friends in the village is popping round next week to discuss what we’d like to do.
We are going to create a paved dining terrace right in the middle of the garden, with paths leading from the house and from the studio. We also have a walled area, complete with cave, and we would like to create a ‘secret garden’, here - a paved area around a fig tree, perhaps some trickling water, and a hammock; definitely a hammock. This private little oasis is perfect for those high summer days when it becomes just too hot to sit in the sun, and shade becomes essential. We are toying with the idea of an outdoor cinema, or is that too much?
We’ll finish the terrace outside the studio with pebble mosaic, and create raised beds for fruit and vegetables - with plenty of fencing to keep the marauding Ibex at bay.
We have other exciting plans for the house, but our priority is to get the place looking gorgeous ready for our 2021 guests.
Businesses
Oooh! Where to start?
Despite 2020 being so grim as far as travel has been concerned, 2021 is already looking positive for Granada Concierge. We have bookings on almost every one of our Cultural and Creative Course holidays, and we haven’t been actively marketing these while we have been so tightly restricted. However, now that the end of this year is in sight, we will be concentrating our efforts on creating memorable experiences for our cultural guests.
Casa Higueras will be open for reservations from 11th January 2021 and we are really looking forward to welcoming lots of guests to come and stay, and fall in love with this beautiful corner of Andalucia. We will be offering cooking sessions, cave picnics, tapas hikes in Granada and so much more. Or guests may simply want to grab a book from our growing library and plant themselves in the hammock beneath the shade of the fig tree in the cave garden.
We are already working with many friends and colleagues to promote inland, rural tourism and we have plenty to do to keep us occupied.
We will (we say with much conviction) launch the publishing company, Fig. Andrew has achieved so much throughout his career in publishing, designing beautiful books, and this seems like his destiny! When we moved here, our goals were to do all the things we love doing, and have control over those things. We have done so much, and many of the projects we have undertaken have resulted in productive parts of our portfolio. Life in Spain has undoubtedly given us the freedom and confidence to experiment and develop ideas to see what materialises, and we have had so much joy following these various avenues, and met so many wonderful, inspiring and stimulating people.
2021 will, we hope, be another year of projects, development of ideas and creative collaboration! Yippee!!
Carousing
We cannot wait for life to get back to that level where we can nip into Granada, and elsewhere, for a beer and some tapas. These bars and restaurants will be amongst the first to which we return:
Granada City
Enoteca Pacurri
Cisco y Tierra
Restaurante Carmen de San Miguel
Tras Tienda
Pacurri, Granada
We will also be beating a path to Algarinejo to visit Casa Piolas. We have heard so many great things about this restaurant, so time to give it a go!
Needless to say, friends will be an essential part of these visits, and we will be journeying hither and thither in the quest to find many more delightful tapas and wine experiences.
Well, this list of dreams could go on and on, given the pent-up need to venture forth. However, when the clouds have planted themselves on top of your home, and the rain has driven Alfie to retire to bed for the day, what better way to fill the time than to imagine the unfettered joy of getting out and about once again. The neighbours had better watch out - as soon as we are able to have a fiesta again, here in the village, Andrew will be whirling them round in frenzied fandango! I don’t dance, so can be excused.
View from Casa Higueras 29th November 2020
