De Perros y Limones

June

At the moment we are sweltering in silly heat.  It is constantly in the high thirties or more  at the moment and it doesn’t show any sign of getting cooler.  We have learned some lessons from last summer and have made the house a bit more bearable downstairs.  This hot weather is, apparently, abnormal for this time of year and it means that half the village is in the rather spiffing municipal pool for hours on end.  It is great way to cool off, it has to be said.

It is a real pity, therefore that we can’t take the dogs to the pool since it is they who suffering the most – we have seriously considered shaving  Dora’s fur off for the summer but we reckon she would be too self-conscious to go out.

This month of June has been unbelievably busy entertaining many guests who we hope have had a good time with us.  Not working means that we are able to host many times and have done so happily.  Actually, we think that it is wonderful that so many of our friends and family have made a great effort in terms of time and money to come and see us.  It has meant an awful lot to us.

June has also finished with a couple of very upsetting incidents which have left us coming to recognise that taking a year off from work does not mean that you take a year off from life and all that it throws at you.

Last weekend, on the way to Cordoba with Kate in the back of the van, we were smashed into by a 4×4 coming from behind us.  It was a deeply unpleasant experience for us all.

It all began when one of two abandoned dogs by the side of the road decided to saunter into my path – I was driving – and just stand there.  I braked hard and stuck on the hazard lights because I didn’t want the erratically driven car behind us to overtake and smack into the poor hound.   I had forgotten the habits of rural Andalusian male drivers,  which define the word careless.

We’ve seen it thousands of times.  If they’re not tailgating you in a macho effort to get past you quickly, they are driving and talking to their mates/family.  Most people would keep their eyes on the road whilst passing comment. Not here.  It is customary to turn and face whomever you are discussing something with, even if they in are in the back seat.  When we see cars weaving all over the road we know the driver is just turning his head to speak.

Anyway, the car behind was obviously not paying an attention to the road and crashed into us heavily.  It’s scary when it happens.  Really scary.  It happens so suddenly.  Luckily, our car wasn’t turned or tipped over.  The brakes went but the handbrake was working.  Everyone seemed okay at first glance.  Sonalee got out first and legged it up to the other car to check they were okay – luckily they were.  I was all over the show to be honest.   Kate and I had been whiplashed a bit and I was slightly groggy.  No serious injuries though.  Phew.

  • Their car and ours

The three men from the other car were shaken as well.  A kind passer-by stopped and helped us set up the  red triangles and also called the Rozzers – the Guardia Civil.  Everyone calmed down and the driver of the other car looked very sheepish – as well he might.  The police came, filled out forms, were very helpful, our van got towed away, the insurance company and Sonalee were amazing in getting a taxi and details sorted.  The other driver admitted he was wrong which he would have had trouble denying given the state of the cars – his was worse off than ours.  We went home and got drunk and thanked our lucky stars we were able to do so.

The dogs were fine.  They buggered off somewhere.

So we have a hire car for the next three weeks.  Hopefully we will get our van back in that time.  Given we need it to get to Morocco we really need it soon.   What to do?

We both felt for Kate.  Travelling half the globe to see us and she ends up in the worst crash we’ve ever been involved in.

It didn’t get better a few days later when we lost our little cat Tango to illness.  He hadn’t been eating well for a week but we thought it might have been anything from eating something he shouldn’t have, the extreme heat, being injured after yet another fight, having teeth knocked out after yet another fight or any number of things that can affect cats, especially ginger ones who have a tendency to get involved in trouble all the time.

It was, in the end, renal failure.  Something very common in Sri Lankan animals and humans.  There is something very wrong in the water there. 

It was so sudden.  He was due to go to the vet on Tuesday but buggered off somewhere where we couldn’t find him – something he did a lot of.  Tuesday night he went downhill fast and spent the night with us being confused, incontinent and very very pissed off – Tango was prone to being pissed off from the day we brought him home four years ago.  It was heartbreaking because there was nothing we could do for him except make him as comfortable as we could.

The morning came and in came the dogs.  Bindi jumped up on the bed and pleaded with him to play and snuggle up like they had been doing ever since she had been introduced to the household as a puppy.  Bindi and Tango had always been extremely close and she couldn’t understand why her best friend didn’t want to have fun with her.  She is still a bit of puppy in many ways.   Dora sniffed Tango intently and understood.  She lay down on her stomach, put her head between her paws and looked as forlorn as it is possible for a dog  to do. 

We took Tango to the vet half an hour away more in hope than expectation.  He had transformed so quickly from a little tyke, a proper ginger shitbag of a cat, always ready to cause trouble to one that was struggling for breath.   It was so painful to witness. 

The vet tried her best but he was beyond help.  After an hour of treatment she took the decision to end his life and our beautiful little boy was put to sleep with no pain.

God, we miss him.  We miss him so much.  He was so full of life, so naughty, so affectionate and so adorable.  Of all of our animals, he was the one who demanded attention, who made it his mission to make you love him.  And he did it so well.

Our last picture of him in the garden

We’re not the only ones who miss him.  Monte looks lost and cannot understand where his little brother is.  Bindi is confused and seeks him out constantly.  She stands in the garden not quite sure why her little buddy isn’t here to play.

  • Cool Cat

And as for Sonalee and I, we haven’t really stopped wondering about the huge hole in our lives and how the house seems less fun that it was.   Our boy was irrepressible, annoying, inquisitive,  vocal and just so loving.  We miss him.  We miss him so much it hurts.

Typical. From Sri Lanka

This is what they do to you, these little creatures who invade your hearts.   They leave you bereft yet smiling at all of the naughty things they did that made you fall in love with them.

With his adopted brother in Sri Lanka

We weren’t even supposed to have Tango at all.  Sonalee had chosen Monte to take back with her from the animal shelter.  But Tango was quite insistent that we take him so I thought, “Hey, he can stay with me!”– we hadn’t yet moved in together at that point.  He wasn’t keen on my apartment – in fact he was pissed off that he couldn’t go out.  He enjoyed his stay at Sonalee’s  for Christmas to the point where he tried to rip my face off when I attempted to return him to my place.  We gave in to his wishes and left him each day to be cared for at home by our maid Clara who fell in love with him.  And he loved it.  He was, of course, extremely pissed off when Sonalee dislocated his tail with her car one fateful day,  but he got over it.

He was also pissed off about being a crate for 36 hours  to come here to Spain but he got over it and thrived.  He didn’t have a good life here, he had  a great life.  A doggy BFF, lots of other cats to fight with, daily fresh fish from that tall man whom he allowed to serve him, chickens across the road to frighten, dogs to laugh at and a mummy who absolutely adored him unconditionally.   No room or space was off-limits to him (you try doing your business in the bathroom with a cat on your knees) and this very laptop was a place to dance and demand attention – he once pressed a series of buttons that locked me out of the computer for days.  I got over it.

I’m genuinely not sure how long it is going to take us to get over losing him.  It was a real shock when we had to do what we had to do to say goodbye to our beautiful little boy.  The house feels empty somehow, which seems ridiculous when we have so many animals and us here.  Each morning that we wake up there is something missing, something that made our Andalusian adventure just that bit more fun, that little bit more “Oh, FFS Tango do you have to do that?” and that little bit more furry. 

We cannot believe that he has gone.  It will take a while.  We buried him in our garden so that he will always be here with us.  One day, one day long hence I hope,  Sonalee and I will make that journey that we must all make.  We will cross over to the Rainbow Bridge and we will meet Tango again and tell him just how much we loved him.  We will also meet those other souls that we have had to let go and who have given us such joy.  It is, whatever you choose to believe, a simply lovely thought.

For now though, we will revel in the fact that we have friends and family who love us and who make their way to this outpost of Europe to see us.  We have five other little creatures whom we love.  We have been blessed to have so many different visitors at so many different points in the year and we have so loved showing them this rural retreat.  We hope that they have enjoyed their stay in our weird house of animals. 

We have entertained friends who are Irish…
British…
Colombian…
And a kiwi
Sorry, this Kiwi

We only have six weeks left here before we begin another adventure.  It isn’t long.  We have much to do.

Hasta Luego

Paul

Dora
Bindi
Dante

Paul

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