Seriously Mum, What's an Alpaca? by Alan Parks

Author:Alan Parks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: alpaca, spain, andalucia, streetcat bob, Driving Over Lemons, Victoria Twead, Two Old Fools, Sara Alexi, George Mahood, Ben Hatch
Publisher: Alan Parks
Published: 2015-02-16T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Christmas

Animal count: Four dogs (Geri, Carlos, Blue and Arthur), three feral cats, one pot-bellied pig and two chickens.

As we broke the back of our first summer in ‘The Frying Pan’, the days slowly started to shorten, and the heat gradually began to lessen. September was upon us and the house sale was completed. We were able to buy our first pots of paint, and finally able to start getting down to some work. I’m sure it is an image no one needs, but due to the heat, and to save on washing, we found it easiest and coolest to paint in our pants! It became much easier to just jump in the shower and wash paint off rather than try and remove it from clothes. So there we were, up ladders and painting walls, in the unflattering combination of pants, socks and trainers.

We were also able to set Neil to work, renovating our new open-plan living area, and repairing the ageing roof. This was where the bulk of our money was going, and we hoped we had made a good decision. We got on well with Neil: we had become friends and we felt we could trust him, and of course we spoke the same language. That meant Neil was around for a few months, so for four days a week we were not alone at the Mill. It made a nice change to have somebody around, but it did mean we had to start to paint and work in our clothes again. It also meant that at the weekends we also began to appreciate being on our own, enjoying the peace and tranquillity of our new home.

As we progressed into winter, the spectre of Lorna’s first childless Christmas was beginning to loom on the horizon. We decided to try not to make too big a deal out of Christmas deciding to paint the new living area and keep ourselves busy. So we spent two weeks over Christmas, barring Christmas Day and Boxing day, outside in the cold painting. The skies were blue and clear, however the wind seemed to be coming from the north and it was bitterly cold - for those two weeks even our breath froze as we worked. We wore two layers of clothes and fingerless gloves.

On Christmas Day, we allowed ourselves a lie-in, and after Skyping with both of Lorna’s kids, and of course a few tears, we decided to start a tradition for our new life. As the weather was sunny, we decided a barbecue would be a great idea, if only because we could!

We set up our outside dining area on our terrace and lit the barbecue. What we had not accounted for was that our new (animal) family would want to join in the celebrations. By now, Blue and Arthur had grown in to two very large, very playful puppies. They were six months old, and still growing of course: they were now up to our waists, and beginning to put on some bulk.

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