Apple Festival at Villaviciosa

My little ray of sunshine and I decided to do some Saturday shopping with a treat of churros and chocolate thrown in. We headed off to Villaviciosa which is about 10kms from Santolaya de Cabranes and is where we do most of our shopping and day to day admin.
We arrived at the town centre and heard music so naturally we followed it! Seems that we had stumbled upon the Apple Festival!

There was a great market with handicrafts and all things appley. We headed off to the indoor market and were met with a sea of apples. It was laid out like a village/country show with produce on display. The only difference being that the produce was nothing but apples! None of your fancy cakes, scones and jams - nope, apples, apples and more apples! There was the obligatory bagpipe band playing too.

Shanna had a go at processing her own apples. She had to squish them and mash them (technical terms!) and finally press them before she could taste the lovely apple juice.

We went back into town in the evening to meet with friends for dinner. The menu was, of course, apple related. The starter was a lovely salad with apple and the delicious Asturian blue cheese. Next came pork stuffed with apple and almonds and finally apple sorbet for dessert. With wine, sidre or water and bread, it costs 25 euros each! Not bad for a three course dinner. Another great day for the Bell girls! 

             

Autumn is here!

The beginning of October signaled the arrival of Autumn here in Asturias. We have bright sunny mornings with a little chill in the air. The trees are slowly losing their leaves and the farm folk are busily harvesting their produce to see them through the winter.

A beautiful sunrise greets us most mornings.

Wondering where our day will take us.

Autumn also means it's time to gather all those apples! Sidre (cider) is big business here in Asturias. Everywhere you go, there are apple trees. Every garden, park, and field has them. There is even an Apple Festival (that'll be the next post).

Chestnuts are everywhere too! Here is our haul of castanas from the garden.

If I find a chestnut festival I'll be sure to attend! Yum!

Have a great Autumn folks!

Photos - part 2

A few of my favourite pictures from our time at El Molin de Riu Tendi.

                                    

A reminder that there is no mobile reception here! 

Lovely carving everywhere!

A lovely chicken house - sadly no chickens were there!

My 'washing machine'!

My cooker! We didn't starve!

Forgotten Photos

Now that we are all settled in Casa Verde, I have taken some time to go through the photos that I had taken since being here. Not the ones on my phone (so convenient) but the ones on my Fuji Finepix which is fast becoming a bit old and clunky.

The next few posts will be a mish mash of pics from different days out and trips but hopefully you will like them nonetheless.

This was the Sidre Festival in Nava. Sidre is big business here in Asturias. There are over 30 different varieties of apple commercially grown here and it is a skill to mix the right combination of sour crab apples with the more sweet tasting varieties to get that 'perfect' sidre.
Once they have awarded the prizes and made their speeches, the barrels are opened and you can grab a free taster! There are also plenty of food stalls, funfair rides and music and entertainment.

Moving in and moving on!

Oops! I realise that I haven't posted any updates for a while. Standby - it might be a long one!

We finally moved into our new rental home. We will be living at Casa Verde for a year or maybe more depending on what lies ahead and only Mystic Meg can predict that!

The Green House as seen from the woods

We have relocated to a lovely village called Cabranes.

It is perched high on a hill giving great views of the surrounding area. There is your usual bank, pharmacy, 3 bars (two  double up as a shop), sports centre and school. There is also an Ayuntamiento which is the equivalent of the Town Hall where you can carry out anything 'official' that needs to be done. Its a good source of information too! 

Shanna also attends the local school here. There are only 8 pupils in her class. A good class size to introduce her gently into the Spanish education system. I'm pleased to say that she is enjoying it so far and long may it last. She has made friends and likes her teacher (always a bonus). A happy Shanna = happy parents! Phew!

Cabranes hosts a market on the second Sunday of every month. Anything and everything is for sale but it is mainly local produce, artisan breads, yummy empanadas. 

Some of the stalls.

This lady was selling seeds and plants along with a huge jar of goldfish and 2 siamese kittens!

Delicious empanadas! Yum!

Cabranes also hosts a rice pudding festival in May. A party with singing, dancing and rice pudding! What's not to love??! Rice pudding, or Arroz con Leche (literally rice with milk) is big business here in Asturias. It's one of their national dishes - think Ambrosia with a creme brulee top! Its delicious and varies from restaurant to restaurant. I, for one, will certainly be heading for the tasting table! Yum!

On the move!

We have been a bit quiet of late.

The news is that we are leaving The Mill and moving to another home - a more permanent one without the need of a generator. It has a 'real' shower, not a waterfall, there's hot water too (can't wait!) and we won't have to share with bats, mice and the odd escaped sheep!

At times its been hard living here. Having to adjust to a different, pared back, simple way of living is not for everyone but we have survived. I have great admiration for those who follow this way of life. It has certainly made me appreciate what is around me more. 

We have seen an array of creatures which has kept Shanna happy - me, not so! Did I mention the bats - urgh!

 Nathan has enjoyed revisiting his childhood (some will say he's never really left!) and being a little bit 'Huckleberry Finn'. 

We have laughed and cried but we have come to realise that we will always have each other, no matter what situation we find ourselves in - good or bad, we are blessed. 

Whatever you do - be happy doing it!

Fab Fiesta Frenzy!

Its August which means in Asturias its fiesta time! 

Every village hosts their own and they are  either a day long or last a full weekend. They normally come to an end mid September.

Close to The Mill are the villages of Priede and Samalea so we went along to see what it was all about.

After a 3km trek uphill (for uphill read mountain!) we arrived and had a cold beer.

The beer was cold - I was hot and almost the same colour as my t-shirt!

We arrived to silence! The menfolk were in a serious card game. Nathan went to watch. There were only 40 cards in the deck but he couldnt figure it out which game they were playing. 

Next came the childrens games!

Despite having only a smattering of Spanish Shanna joined in.

Huddling together to think of a team name.

Hoopla!

Carrera de sacos.

The children were from ages 3 to 10 years old. They all got on, there was no sulking or moaning. It was quite refreshing!

The finale was a tug of war!

Needless to say Shanna was thrilled with her prizes!

We headed home soon after as the music and singers weren't due to start until midnight! Eek! It had already been a long day.

We couldn't leave without a final go on the bouncycastle!

The bouncycastle with a view!

We are busily trying to find out where our next fiesta will be...