Some dates for you

Knowing that there are residents here at Villas Andrea who organise to have their family and friends over for the annual fiesta, here are the important dates to put in your diaries.

There will be a special party organised for third age citizens on Friday 10th August.

The coronation of the fiesta courts will take place on Saturday, 11th.

The tape race will be on Sunday, 12th, the same day as the children's parade and the concert by the Bigastro band.

Tuesday the 14th is the date set for the floral parade and Wednesday 15th for the comparsas parade.

The 16th is the day when the town will celebrate Mass in honour of San Joaquin and at night the procession of the statue followed by fireworks.

For full details, see the official programme that should be available shortly.

The work is now complete

The Provincial Council of Alicante has completed the tasks of reordering and updating the Municipal Archive of Bigastro , a project that has involved the organization, analysis, description and classification of 663 files along with about 3,800 computer records.

The work, developed over eight months, has also included the digitization of 8,000 images belonging to the minute books and the installation of 112 linear meters of bookshelves. The oldest documents correspond to the year 1800 and are part of the funds of the Court of Peace and the Book of Records series of the Municipal Board of Health of 1804-1805.

Collaboration with the Town Hall of Bigastro began in 2002, when the first agreement was signed to organize its documentary collections. Since then, a total of 2,065 files have been organized and 6,969 computer records have been made.

Biker's lunch

The ear splitting roar of finely tuned engines, the gleam of polished chrome and the smell of oil and petrol mixed can only mean one thing - the 3rd edition of the biker's lunch in the park.

It will all kick off as the various bikers clubs and individuals ride into town and follow a circuit around. At the end of their tour, they will park up on Calles next to the park where there will be food, drink, music and Gogo girls.

Fonta and I will be there with our cameras to bring you photos. 

That's what I call hot

My friend in England tells me that it was very hot in Liverpool yesterday. I wonder what he would make of the temperatures here in Bigastro.

Serious running

There is nothing to stop anyone taking part but be warned, if you are not at your peak of fitness, you will be quickly left behind.

I expect my friend Fonta will be there to take some more excellent photographs.

Permanent residence

It seems that the Town Hall was just a temporary location for the Bigastro Archive.

Beach life

Look at the beach at Torrevieja in this photo from MeteoOrihuela. We're not even into July and the beach is a sea of parasols, not a scrap of sand left for any latecomers.

Star gazers

Following an interesting talk and a presentation by Aurelio about the life of Thomas Villanova, the townspeople got to look at the the stars through the two telescopes that had been set up.

Dead fish on the beach - not good!

This from MeteoOrihuela

Yesterday, hundreds of dead fish appeared on LaMarina and  LaGola Beaches near the small communication channel between Santa Pola and  the Mediterranean.

According to some people, if it is not due to chemicals in the water, it is most likely natural. The waters stagnate in the river, the sun heats the waters, the level of nitrates and CO2 rise, leaving the fish without oxygen.

A different viewpoint

Lunch sorted

Note, this is not at Camping La Pedrera, This is the newly opened cafe next to the swimming pool.

Turning up the heat

A big improvement

You can see the completed new roundabout in this photo from the Town Hall. It joins Calle Joaquin Moya Martinez to the CV95 and gives safer access to the industrial estate.

First photo

As a beginner pilot, I have taken my time getting to know my drone and the first few flights were just to familiarise myself with the controls. I am delighted with the performance so far, Dji have done a great job making this drone easy to fly and control.

 Today I thought it was time to check out the camera and see what it was capable of. Again, I am impressed. For a 12mp camera that is so small in size, it takes good photos. Next stage is to take it to other locations and get more photos and then move on to video.

A dronie! 

True blue

We are blessed with a blue sky most days in the summer months - that is true.

I'm not sure I have ever seen it quite as blue as in this picture posted by MeteoOrihuela on Facebook.

My opinion is that the photographer went a bit over the top with the saturation slider!!

Gorgeous

Did I mention my admiration for the Skoda Karoq?

Skoda, Spain keep trying to tempt me with pictures of the car on Facebook. This is their latest shot of  a Karoq 1.5 TSI (petrol turbo) with a DSG gearbox (7 speed automatic) in the beautiful Red Velvet colour.

Yours or mine for only 24,710 euros in the Ambition version or 27,350 euros in the Style version.

Is this take 3?

Clouds and bad weather marred the first two attempts. Surely, this time the sky will be clear enough for a good view of the stars.

Third time lucky?

Nothing phases Spaniards

When they extended the wall behind the houses on Calle Alemania upwards, we did wonder whether they were going to leave it as grey concrete blocks. We also wondered how they might get up there to finish it off. The answers came this morning when a huge crane arrived and parked across from the road below. Its purpose was to carry a cradle holding a man who then had the task of rendering the wall. Hiring such a crane would not have been cheap nor would it be an easy task to position it right. No pasa nada - they just got on with it.

Sung with passion

Last night, Tony Ortuño, Antonio Larrosa and Efrén Pamies played a concert for us in the newly inaugurated Lo Chusco park in Bigastro.

Their style is what I would describe as Spanish poetic ballad rather than flamenco music. Easy listening is probably the right category for the songs, certainly delightful to listen to and well worth going down for.

Thank you Jean

One of our neighbours kindly looked after our raffle tickets for us when Pam and I left the Charity Event yesterday.

I can count the number of times we have won in a raffle on one finger (possibly two) so it came as a great surprise this morning to find Jean at our gate with not one but two prizes. Thank you Jean, that was very kind of you to bring them round.

As I said in my previous post, I hope the event made a lot of money for AECC. After a quick check, there was about 850 Euros in the pot before we left which is a fantastic amount.

Disturbing facts

AECC (Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer) tell us that half the population will have some form of cancer during their lifetime. That was certainly born out by the tales we heard today. So many who have or had one form or another of cancer, it was frightening. The only encouraging fact is that detection and survival rates are improving year on year.

We sincerely hope that those who are currently undergoing treatment or who are now being monitored succeed in their fight against the big C.

Sadly, there are a few of our neighbours who lost their battles with cancer and are no longer with us including the husband of one of the organisers who passed away eighteen months after retiring to his dream life in Spain. Joan is a very brave lady who works hard to help others and gives tireless support to AECC.

A great afternoon in excellent company

It was great to see so many people we haven't caught up with for so long. It was also delightful to find so many of our Spanish neighbours enjoying their day in our company.

Many, many thanks to Darren and Joan and everyone else who was responsible for organising the event - I hope you made a huge stash of cash for AECC.

PS I apologise to anyone who was there that I missed.

Take care in the sun

It almost seems that there is something for every day of the year.

Today it is about protection of the skin from cancer.

Fortunately, chemists like Farmacia Medina on Carrer General Banuls can help out by advising  on the appropriate skin care products to protect you from the harmful rays of the sun.

A reminder for today

This should be a good day for a long overdue chinwag with the neighbours and also an opportunity to donate some money to a very worthwhile cause.

Be on your guard

We don't often hear about burglaries that happen in the rest of our estate so I can't tell you whether we are in a bad spell or not.

Our next door neighbour has had some issues with his alarm going off during the daytime. Each time we (well Pam actually) go to check on the roof and so far she has seen nothing untoward. Our neighbour across the road also comes out to check each time.

The alarm is connected to a central station so the police and he get an alert.

Last night, at about 10:31pm, the alarm went off again and sounded for a couple of minutes. Again, Pamela went to check on the roof but could see nothing. However, when our neighbour returned he said that someone had been in his garden. It wasn't clear whether they had attempted to get into the house or not but obviously that would have been their intention.

PS That house has been burgled twice.

• The first time was when the original owners lived there. On that occasion, the house was ransacked. The thieves even pulled off the cupboard doors above the wardrobes. They had clearly been inside for sometime. 
• The second time was when the current owners left the door from the conservatory to the lounge open for their dog. Strangely, the thieves only took clothing.  
• On another occasion, there were signs that someone had climbed over the wall to break in but I don't think they managed to get inside the house. 
• As I said, this time there someone had been in the garden but I am not sure whether they managed to get into the house or not. 

I'm up for that

A photographic contest is right up my street.

However, there is some very stiff competition in the town from some seriously good photographers so I will have to up my game to prevent myself from being disgraced.

Apart from the challenge of taking part, the biggest reward for me will be seeing the entries on display in December.