House-hunting Begins

Busy day today.  The shipment of fourteen boxes from Is' house in England was supposed to arrive at 1400. Then the shipper called and asked if it could arrive at 1600.  We said OK and rescheduled an appointment to view a house.  That was for 1700 then the shipper called back and said that it would be much later than 1600, blah, blah,blah.  We stood our ground , got the shipment at 1600 and went to see the house as scheduled.
All the time we were cooling our heels, I was on the phone to the third and fourth then third Travelocity agent trying to rectify a flight reschedule caused by a British Airways flight cancellation.  By the time the hassle was done, I had spent easily an hour and a half on the phone to those four agents, been disconnected twice and run around several bushes.  The bottom line is that our flight to Boston was delayed by thirty minutes and our flight back to Madrid was advanced by twenty-two hours.  All this was accomplished at no cost with the help of a very competent agent named Hazel who had a Philippine accent.
Back to the house-hunting.  We looked at a great house (a bank repo) in Formentera, a nice town about 4 km. away.  Right in town, three bedrooms, garage, lots of space and very little wrong with it...EXCEPT an awful stench of sewer gas (methane) leaking in through the garage floor drain.  If it weren't for the odor, we'd jump on it, but we have to hold and do some research on methane abation, drain re-construction or odor-eating plants.

Scapa, Tomintoul, Oban, Aberlour,Ardbeg, Strathisla and Singleton

One might think I am planning a road trip through Scotland, but these names are part of tonight's project.  They are the remnants of Russel's whiskey collection, which must be properly laid to rest before we all vacate early Saturday.  Ten mostly-consumed bottles sit on the table begging to regale us with visions of foggy crags, soggy bogs and sagging Haggis.  Well, forget the latter.
Among the collection are a couple of odd ducks; the Irish Tullamore Dew and some seven-year-old rum direct from Cuba.  Maybe I'll have a taste and raise a glass to the gorgeous, green-eyed Cuban blonde, who added spice to my time at the University of Hawaii where my "moveable feast" began.  
Back to Spain soon, for the next chapter.

Departure Imminent

We've our tickets outta here, and the cherry tree has produced a fine crop of blossoms.  They will do a lot to  brighten up the view of the garden, but probably have been rained off by next Saturday. We'll miss the greenery but it will be good to be back on the Costa Blanca.  No lawns to mow there.

Day 10 in Bedfordshire

Yesterday was a sparkling day, today not so, but at least it's dry enough to hang out another wash.  The house has been viewed several times, and there is one viable offer.  Every time a viewing is scheduled, I pack up the painting gear and wander around behind stray animals in the yard until the prospective buyers disappear.  Then I unpack my shoebox and go back to whatever painting.  I guess it's better than watching paint dry.  Haven't started anything big or even serious, but have done several experimental pieces or studies with which I'm pleased.  Am watching a lot of artists' demos on YouTube, and have been spurred to try some really different stuff.  Unfortunately my studio (space) is in Westbrook and a lot of materials are in Algorfa.  Someday I hope to have everything in one place.
It's beginning to look as though we may fly out on the 20th.  Hallelujah!