The hills are alive with the.....sighting of dolls!!!

This morning we got back into our 'routine' of going out for a nice drive in the sunshine and as usual I took along a couple of dolls so that I could photograph them.  Today I took two of my Little Darlings, Ellie, a number 1 sculpt and Gem, a number 2 sculpt, both hand painted by Dianna Effner.

We drove up into the hills behind Torre del Mar, into the area of Lake Viñuela and beyond to the edge of the town called Rio Gordo.  The roads were very quiet except for the usual groups of cyclists....I really admire how they cycle up those mountain roads, it wears me out just thinking about it!

The clouds love to hover over the mountains like a protective wrapping of fluffy white cotton wool!
 

As in most parts of Andalucia, there are olive groves everywhere.  Always planted in straight neat lines!   

We stopped at a point in the mountains where the girls could get out and stretch their legs and of course have a few photos taken.  The lake can be seen in the distance.

Ellie was glad she wore her hat because the breeze picked up a bit as we got higher up.....Gem wasn't so fortunate ;)

The girls spotted their first ant of the year, quite a biggy too.  He seemed to be on a mission and was completely oblivious to us pointing the camera at him!

We drove a little higher....

Gem's hair really got windswept!  

Before turning around and heading back down to the lake.....

We've not seen the level of the lake this low before....it is incredible.  There has been so little rainfall that it's beginning to look more like a large 'puddle'!!!

Even Ellie is looking a little concerned about the level of the water ;) 

Whilst Gem just wonders how I can dare to show her on my blog with such messy windswept hair!

Olives, olives, everywhere!  As far as the eye can see...

After we left the lake area, we drove to a local bar where we sat outside and had a welcome cup of coffee ...

And you really can't have coffee in a bar without sampling the tapas, can you? ;) 

We chose a half portion each of......

Pork meatballs in almond sauce......

Ensaladilla.....which is tuna, hard boiled egg, olives, boiled potato, raw tomatoes, onions, orange and peppers all mixed together in a light mayonnaise.....

And another ensaladilla, this time chopped up peppers, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, chopped up prawns, seafood sticks and pulpo (octopus) all mixed in olive oil and vinegar....delicious!!!

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you have had a great weekend and that the week ahead is a good one for you :)

Estepa, a pictorial tour for Dee...and anyone else who'd like to tag along!!

After Wednesdays rainy photos, it was a pleasure to see the sunshine again yesterday and today, both outside AND on my laptop, where I have loads of photos stored of our town!

At Dees request, I'm sharing some of these photos, and hope you'll enjoy!  I have so many different ones that I might do an 'Estepa or Spain' theme now and again if anyone is interested!

This is a view from the convent above our town, it's actually situated at the top of our street.  The tower below is called Torre de la Victoria and at it's base are some attractive walled 'ruins' which are often used these days for weddings when the couple don't want to have a church wedding.  You can just see these to the left of the base of the tower.

This is the usual colour of the sky here, a deep and beautiful blue.

 

This is the top of the town, taken at dusk, and includes the Convent of Santa Clara, a silent order (The Poor Claires), The Monastery of San Fransisco, as well as the old cemetry, and was once surrounded by a protective wall....remnants of the wall can still be seen.   In the bottom right hand corner hidden in the pine trees is the municipal swimming pool, open from late June until early September and the building  in the middle with the red doors is the Fire station, which is manned by volunteers.

The local goats (and sheep) keep the grass down on public land and are regularly herded through the town.  It is not unusual to be held up in the street by the goatherd and his very large herd.

Looking across the olive groves towards Cordoba and beyond!

I couldn't resist adding this photo of the lemons on our tree, it is so packed with fruit at this time of year!

Looking from outside the Convent de Santa Clara....here you can see parts of the old wall and here is the same area although looking up from below:

The tower below is part of the monastery of San Francisco

The white arch/gates were apparently once part of the old cemetary

Looking down over the town from above:

Photos taken early on a January morning, looking down the hill from outside my house

And looking up towards the Convent - the road and pavement have since been 'tiled' with cobblestones, which kept the road closed for several months while the work was done!!! (Yes, think shopping and having to drag bags of heavy groceries all the way up the hill!!!)

And finally for today, it is a tradition here that when a couple get married, their parents or friends might hire a local group of minstrels to come and serenade one or both of them,  during the early hours on the actual day of the wedding!!  I was lying in bed at about 4am one night and heard the most beautiful voices and music being played, looked out the window to see this group outside my neighbours window.  Until then, I wasn't aware of this tradition, but several neighbours were in the street in their nightclothes, so when another neighbour called me down, I joined in too, grabbing my camera on the way of course!  The group played for about half an hour, then the mother of the bride to be brought out trays of 'dulces' (sweet little cakes made locally) and Anis (aniseed flavoured liquor) which was passed around the singers and the neighbours!!!

And I have to say that even after all this activity during the night, the bride, Rosana, still looked beautiful at her wedding later the same day!

The bride to be, Rosana, and her future husband!

I hope you've enjoyed this brief 'tour' of Estepa, el corazon de Andalucia (the heart of Andalucia) and will join me another day!!