CASA DEL ABUELO.

Friday 26th September.

After the floor repair man and the cleaner had arrived first thing in the morning we shot out to the bank in Estepona and on the way passed the garage only to see that the Winnebago was still on the forecourt;it turned out that DHL had not delivered the trade plates due to technical problems,so it will now leave on Monday! We then called into the house as we needed some chargers that we had left behind and on the way back we called into the local supermarket and the English butchers to stock up for the weekend.When we got back we made arrangements to see the James,the floor man and the cleaner on Monday morning;as it was still warm and sunny we went for a swim in the early evening and then had supper and watched BBC/ITV for the first time in a long while including Jools Holland ! During the night another heavy rain storm hit us as forecast,as I went to bed late everything was all right in the house.

Saturday 27th.September.

As we got up and opened the door into our lounge in the old part of the house we found that we had a problem,It was under two inches of water !! It was coming from under a door which leads to some steps down to the main patio between the old house and the new,from a broken roof gully and faulty down pipes which are just above the door! We started to make sure that all the electrics in the lounge and the stored IT equipment where safe and then started to brush away the water through the now open door,it’s a tiled floor so it was not so bad to get rid of the water,we also found at the same time that another drain on yet another patio outside the laundry was blocked so we called Miguel the gardener and he came and unblocked it with a long trenching tool as the patio was under a foot of water! As the rain stopped we then were able to get rid of all the water and then covered the floor in newspaper’s to dry it out.We then closed the door and filled in the space at the bottom with newspaper,old curtains and pillows to form a barrier on both sides to stop the water getting in again-for now! I then went all around the house and checked and unblocked all the drains and gullies.After the excitement of the morning we then watched some TV in the late afternoon and saw the most superb and exhilarating women’s cycle race from the world championship in Italy,Nicola Cook,the English Olympic champion won in a thrilling finish!she comes from SouthWales !! In the evening we had steak and frits for dinner and then watched Strictly Come Dancing for the first time since we left Wales last year!

Sunday 28th September.

The flood defenses have worked ! During the night and first thing in the morning the rains came again but we have not had any flooding and all the drains are working; the Sextons Flood Defense and Risk Assessment Plan has worked !! We have just had our usual Sunday Brunch, a little later then normal, and are now settled down to some reading in the late afternoon,We have spoken to Carolyn and she is arranging for the builder to call in at the start of the week to see what repair he can do to the roof and gullies. As I’ve said before ,watch this space!