A Day at the Press

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Veragooner

Local unloading his Olives wearing slippers in the rain

I normally try and paint a rosy picture about life here but this was a truly miserable day.

We cobbled together 500kgs of Olives and headed up to Arboleas, our 1st time at this particular press, for our 1 O’clock appointment. After picking the Olives in 20+ degs we now had 13 degs and rain. After hanging around for 2 hours we finally got to empty the trailer at 3 O’clock. Now we’re there we thought until Señorita Olivo decided it was lunch time, “Can you come back in 2 hours!”

We retired to the filling station next door for very nice 3 course Menu Del Dia for 8.5 euros. Refreshed we headed back to the press to be told that our 500kgs only weighed 440kgs on their scales, it started to rain again. After an hour waiting for the people in front of us to bottle their oil we were ON! We ended up with 83 litres of oil.

Dave trys the hard stuff

Dave trys the hard stuff

There are a few more pictures here

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The Olives are picked

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Veragooner

The weather on Monday and Tuesday was fantastic for picking the Olives, 20degs and sunny, today a bit cooler with the chance of a shower tonight. We have about 500kg and will load up the trailer and head for the press in Arboleas in the morning. The haul is down a bit this year and it seems a general trend in the area, a couple of neighbours have thrown their harvest in with ours as we need 500kg to get a single pressing of local organic extra virgin olive oil.

I´ll report the amount of oil we get tomorrow.

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That time of the year again.

Posted on November 5, 2008 by Veragooner

The date is set, November 20th, the day we plan to press our Olives. It’s not our biggest crop but they look very healthy and we hope the weather will be kind between now and the 20th. We will pick them between 17th and 19th depending on the weather.

We have a few local friends who have offered to help but we have space in the Villa and Apartment if you fancy a week away from it all.

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Reality check

Posted on October 30, 2008 by Veragooner

Reality check
With the worlds economy in tatters, 11,000 people had their homes repossessed in the uk last quarter, I’m pleased that we haven’t lost sight of the important things in life and 27,000 have been motivated enough to complain about a stupid joke on a radio show they didn’t even listen to. The show received 2 complaints when it was aired.
Here in Vera our friends had their Villa demolished by the regional government in a planning/political dispute, most of their “friends” and neighbours closed their doors and chose to ignore it.
Now if it had been something serious maybe more people would shown support.
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Holiday Plans?

Posted on October 11, 2008 by Veragooner

Strange times these aren’t they, we have noticed a slow down this year for Autumn bookings but next summer is starting to book fairly fast now.

What’s it like here now?….wet but warm, but we have to have some rain don’t we. Last year October was also wet but the rest of the winter was very dry.

Between showers I just went to pick some Figs and Apples and found the first ripe Satsuma of the season..gorgeous, fresh, sharp and sweet.

The flight companies are falling over themselves to get you to spend money, Murcia, only just over an hour away looks a good bet why not take a look, all the info is on the web site or send a mail if you need some help.

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San Juan

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Veragooner

SAN JUAN about 20 minutes up the coast from Finca Arboleda has some fantastic beaches. They are sandy and very gently sloped making them ideal for small children and not so strong swimmers. They are also popular for snorkeling.

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Bedar

Posted on October 5, 2008 by Veragooner

Just had my Mum to stay for a few weeks, not bad for 88 is she. We made a couple of trips up to Bedar, fantastic views and you really should try the shoulder of Lamb at the Miramar restaurant, it’s to die for!

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New Hollywood movie to be filmed here.

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Veragooner

Miramax are going to make a movie about the Palomares incident here in January 1966 when the mid-air collision of two United States planes led to the release of four nuclear bombs over Almería province.

None of the bombs exploded. Two were recovered intact from the sea.

The film will be called ‘Thank You, Bob Openheimer’ and will be turned into a romantic drama, focussing on the United States soldier who is sent to the Andalucian fishing village after the bombs have fallen, where he starts a romantic relationship.

As soon as I confirm Brad Pitt’s booking in the apartment I’ll post the dates here.

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Beckham was here

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Veragooner

Well not actually here but he was in Mini Hollywood in Tabernas for the filming of a pepsi ad but that was in 2003 before we were here.

Sexy Beast was made just down the coast at Agua Amarga and has some nice shots of the desert area, beware although a great movie the language is extremely colourful to say the least, Ben Kingsley as you’ve never seen him before.

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Aerial Picture

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Veragooner

I’ve added an aerial shot to the Finca Arboleda page of the web site, not great quality but it gives an idea of our layout and the pool looks nice!

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