Winky Pepito the Bandito

After the loss of our very original and beloved Sir Ratford of the Chicken Wing, we decided that we would get a rescue cat at the local shelter. We went yesterday to see what kind of cats they had at the base shelter, RAWL(Rota Animal Welfare League). We found a little kitty there by the name of Pepito.
I started calling him Winky Pepito because he has a problem with his left eye, where some hairs have grown into it. The shelter is going to pay for the vet to fix his eye. Once we got him home we could definitely tell that he had some issues with depth perception, but for the most part he is very happy kitty! We are hoping that he will be able to see normally out of his other eye after the surgery so he can use the cat tree more. Right now since his depth perception is so bad he cant see well enough to get down. He's a little different but we like that about him, and no cat is more loving.

There is a two week trial period just to make sure that he is a good fit, so far so good with the exception of a serious kneading habit, so we'll see how it goes.

El Casa

This week has been pretty great! But definitely tiring. Monday we packed up everything at the lodge for our last move!! Monday evening we got our keys to the new house, and we didn't waste anytime. We got in that night and brought over almost everything we had with us at the lodge. We also put together the new desk that we bought at Ikea. We were lucky enough to get placed into a 3 bedroom home which means we have more than enough space. The master bedroom has a HUGE closet, or at least huge to us since its bigger than all three closets combined in our Norfolk house!

The whole house is tile floors which eventually may mean some extra bumps and bruises for our first little one (and that little one is not on the way any time soon so don't take that the wrong way!) The living room is extra long so that we can squeeze in a dining room next to the patio doors. Its actually a really nice layout.
Just off the living/dining room is the kitchen. There is a lot of space but the cupboards are kind of small so finding the perfect place for everything my take a little time. The kitchen flows right into the laundry room and at the back of the laundry room there is a great big pantry! So like I said there is no lack of space going on in this house.


Tuesday morning bright and early the movers arrived and started hauling in all our stuff! We did our best to keep up with the five of them any by the end of the day we were both bushed! Here are some pics of the progress by the end of day one, and into day two. Not to shabby if I do say so myself!

We decided to get a new entertainment center while we were at Ikea. I think it fits really nicely in our new living room.

We went for a the "empty all the clothes boxes at once" tactic in the bedroom. The out come was pretty scary! I guess it may be time to get rid of some of clothes.... We also finally decided to get some dressers instead of sticking with all wire cube decor, Brad figured 30 was the right age to upgrade to real bedroom furniture.

The spare bedroom I hope to keep pretty much empty so that we don't end up accumulating too much(because we already have too much!) and so that setting up a place for the baby(when it comes...which isn't now...so don't read into that statement!) will be nice and easy. For now, its kind of like most spare rooms and has all the random things in it, but once we get the office all straightened up we should be able to clear it out.

Everything in the kitchen is put away, I am still doing some rearranging when I see that some thing will work better but at least everything is out of the boxes and out of sight! The office is going to take some work to get it all organized and livable but at least all the furniture we wanted in there fits! Now we just have to make all the other stuff fit too!

At the end of both of the first two days Brad and I were both pretty much dead on our feet! The bathroom set that we got as a going away gift looks pretty swanky! And the Pantry is already looks nice and stocked, thank goodness the movers shipped all our canned goods! We plan on knocking out all the rest of the unpacking this weekend so we will see what comes of those good intentions!

Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra

Saturday Brad and I took out first tour out to see some of the "real" Spain. Its easy when you live on base to succumb to the "base rat" mentality because everything you need is right here on base. Luckily Brad and I share a strong thirst for adventure so we will NEVER become base rats!

We took a bus from base to our destinations, but even on the bus ride, there was plenty of sites to see. Both the cities on our tour are referred to as "Pueblos Blanco" or white villages. Most of the cities in Spain share this mainstay in architecture of white concrete buildings. It makes a stunning backdrop for almost any photo which really inspired us both. Between the two of us we took over 300 photos! Lucky for you I made a few collages of just the really good stuff.


The first stop on our tour was Zahara de la Sierra where we walked through the city with a guide who told us facts about the origins and history. Along the way Brad and I listened, as we snapped away as fast our camera's could process.


After the historical tour of Zahara we got the rare privilege of touring one the few remaining artisan olive oil factories.
Here the very animated proprietor told us all about the process from the tree to the bottle. His English was as he called it "a great big gazpacho" but that only added to his flare. He talked about making oil the way that nature intended it, "a nice and slow" His most colorful comparison between the artisan oil maker and the corporate was summed up to be, "They have a big watch and little heart, where I have a little watch and big heart" They care most about time, so they rush the process which turns out an inferior oil, and when he does it, he lets it take the time it should so that his oil is the best that it can be. He was definitely a high light of the trip. I have not yet met one Spanish person who has been rude to me. I think I am going to like it here very much!

Brad and I both share a passion for capturing flowers and this place is lousy with them! So many beautiful subjects, the possibilities are endless.

My love of signs of all types is alive and thriving here in this land of new, I think my favorite from today is the "caution: you may feel the need for a romantic get away" sign...or children at play as I guess its actually meaning is, but I like my explanation better ; )

After a very refreshing Spanish lunch we hopped back on the bus, to make our way to our second pueblo, Grazalema.

I think that someday when I have huge house I am going to decorate a part of my house like the streets of Spain. No matter where you turn there is another calle(KA-yeh) or street full of depth, history and visual interest. It was hard to pick only a few pictures to put into the collage.


At the center of Grazalema there was a square bustling with people, and with all the lovely architecture surrounding it, there were plenty of faux subjects that allowed me to capture my strangers in a blissfully candid nature.


The squares main center piece was one of the towns 4 churches. It stood tall and foreboding, covered with moss and the very essence of time long since passed.

About 5 pm we climbed back on the bus exhausted from the being amazed at ever turn, so with full memory cards and dead batteries, we surrendered to the sandman while the bus motored us back home.


This was a great first trip out into our new home land, and although it left us tired, we are still wanting more! And you can go ahead and bet the farm, that we will be back at it as soon as our new GPS with European maps gets here!

Until then, Hasta Luego