Arrived

After a two day journey ... here we are back in Almuñecar! It was largely the view from the terrace that sold this house to us, such that we forgot to ask a number of vital questions. It turned out that when we asked the estate agent about the internet connection, he said it was great, but he meant he had a mobile signal ... oops. It's really not like us to check this type of thing out properly. Certainly when we were working we wouldn't have let that slip past us!

Ines gave us a whistle-stop tour and a massive bunch of keys, and then left. The house felt a bit cold and gloomy as dusk fell; goodness knows how long it is since someone spent time here.

Still, we had a restorative cup of tea, and then S went into town with a shopping list while I addressed the practical issues around the house. We thought the reversible aircon in the living room didn't work, but it turned out it wasn't plugged in at the wall ... duh. That was a big improvement. And while the remote for the identical unit in the bedroom had dead, leaky batteries in it, I could now switch that on too. Then I used the good 4G signal to find a company that rents out 4G mifi units (a kind of portable router). So I got some way towards ordering one. Meanwhile I've figured out how to tether my phone to the computer with a USB cable, so I can blip.

S got home with the shopping ... we still could not get the gas hob to work, but he lit the fire having bought the necessary kindling, and our scrabbled together picnic was not too shabby ... prawns, jamón, foie gras on toast with onion chutney, wine, chocolates. Plus some poached hake for Mystère. Everything immediately looked a lot more cosy and cheerful. Even Mystère looked as if he believed we had settled in.