El Sequero

This weekend was a long weekend, as was probably the case in most of Europe, May the 1st, May day, Labour day, call it what you will, it meant one more day to spend in El Sequero!

When we arrived we found, to our surprise, that one of the two rhododendrons that I planted last year was beginning to flower, a dark red. The pity is that we won't see it in full bloom as that will probably be sometime this week and we won't be there.

Maria Jose and I spent the better part of Friday mowing the grass. The "lawn" mower which I bought last month has really made an impact on the appearance of the meadow next to the house. Last year it was overgrown with wildflowers and tall grasses. Maria Jose, May and I took turns at cutting it down with the brush cutter. This generally took several days then the grass had to be raked and deposited somewhere out of the way, usually the job of my mother or anyone else who happens to be staying and is foolish enough to ask "Can I help?". Now the job is done in a day and a bit and the best thing is we only have to do this every other weekend.

Given the everything was so nice and trim, our "sandpit" had began to stand out like a sore thumb. It was originally put there over a year ago by the workmen for their use in building the entrance. We had expected to use it up with the odd jobs we do around the house, but one year later and the thing is still there, much to the amusement of the families younger members and Bilbo (May's dog), who sits there surveying his domains and keeping guard when May is not around. Maria Jose decided it was time to transfer the pile of sand to a more discrete location.



Now we just have wait for the grass to grow and hide the eyesore, where once there had been a sandcastle, of sorts.