This was a fun way to spend the morning. A man with a flatbed truck and crane arrived to move the container and the Dog House (ex Wendy House). A crane is 'grua' in Spanish, and so the Company name was appropriately Gruafuerte. We (actually David) had to climb onto the top of the container to attach the lifting chains taking care not to put his foot through the rotten roof.

Then on to the truck and a quick trip round into the field where we had made a couple of concrete pads for the container to sit on.

After that the Dog House was a doddle. Everyone was curious to know what kind of huge dog we are going to have. I explained that the house needs to be reasonably large as this is also where I will be banished to if I don't behave. (It is nice when you crack a joke in their language and they understand).

I was somehow reminded of the Wizard of Oz as it was being unloaded. I could almost see Dorothy at the window.

After all the fun it was back to work. The large Hibiscus shrubs had to be dug out to make way for the new car port. (More of that later). As the ground was too stony and we did not have a breaker on the JCB we dug temporary holes and heeled the plants in out in the field. We did manage to dig one large hole and the largest Hibiscus was plonked in. This has a rather nice white flower with a red centre. The weather has been very very windy, so not exactly ideal conditions for transplanting large shrubs. I watered it well in and tied some shade netting onto the fence to shelter it from the drying wind. The colour of the netting looks good with the wall. We must extend it around the property.

Digging holes is building up a nice store of building stone. I have a number of small garden walls planned. The downside of digging holes is cutting through power cables. Oops!

We have planted Casaurina, Canary palms, and Dragon trees outside the front gate to demarcate our land and to provide some shelter from the north east wind.

Antonio, the JCB driver, is a policeman in his spare time (or is it the way around?). Anyway, he is back tomorrow morning to finish the new drive.

Yes it does still look like a building site but believe me it is starting to take shape and when I get it planted it is going to look really nice. 

The island has been becoming steadily greener by the day since it rained. But now there are broad swathes of colour from the wild flowers. It is quite breathtaking. There are many different species with the colours chiefly blues and yellows. Perfect spring colours. 

These pictures were all taken from the main road between Antigua coast and Triquivijate, and the back road from Triquivijate to Puerto del Rosario. 

The dark blue colours with hints of pink are Viper's Bugloss (Echium plantagineum), shown above. Many of the yellow flowers are the wild Brassica oleracae from which is descended Oilseed Rape that covers much of the landscape back in England. The Brassica family is also known as Cruciferae which describes the cross arrangement of the four petalled flowers.

This plant below is very abundant and lends the soft lavender colours to the hillsides (the second picture above).

This next plant is growing at the top of our road and looks rather like a Calceolaria.

I really need to identify this next one since it is growing just near our gate and I suspect it will shortly find its way into my new garden.

On the work front we are progressing fast, with the kitchen almost (finally!) complete. The concrete has been poured which will allow us to move the container into the field, and the dog kennel to its final resting place. We have also had installed the new solar panels. The bad news is that the inverter (a magic piece of electronic gadgetry that converts DC to AC current but also charges the batteries and generally controls the whole system) has succumbed to old age and corrosion.

Only two weeks until we move in!

It took three long (rather cold and windy) days to paint the outside walls and sails. The sails took the time. They are made of steel which had rusted, so they needed to be rubbed down and then painted with rust-proofing Hammerite. The high up sections including the roof could only be reached using a 'cherry picker'.

I feel we are making progress. I have had a JCB to remove the pile of rubbish outside the conservatory, level the land around the windmill and in the field. This has resulted in finding quite a few nice stones which can be used for building walls. The stone is a sympathetic soft cream colour. Its local name is 'Laja'. To avoid the problem we had with rain water running down the hill onto our land the JCB driver made a bund across the slope outside the wall.

Daughter Harriet is visiting. It has been an opportunity for us to explore more of the island with Harriet and partner Jon. Here they are in Ajuy on the west coast.

Harriet has embarked on another marathon 100 painting in as many days. Here she is painting the coastline at El Costillo.

We should have the kitchen finished this week. Then the painting and decorating work inside can start in earnest. I will also have the concreting finished ready to crane the container to its new home, move the dog kennel, and gravel the road to the field. Now we need to find a dog.....

Christmas and New Year have rather got in the way of making progress. 

Here the builders are waterproofing the conservatory roof, using a rubberised paint with fibre mesh.

We had an early morning departure on the Fred Olsen car ferry from Morro Jable to Las Palmas on Monday. This is the capital of Gran Canaria and it is the 7th largest city in Spain. From mostly empty roads on Fuerteventura to clogged motorways and crazy driving we somehow managed to find our way to the main furniture shops to see what was available. We need some furniture for when we move in later this month. 

We took the opportunity to visit the inland town of Valsequillo where there are a number of strawberry farms. Since the decline of the cut flower industry in Gran Canaria farmers have been seeking to diversify their production. They concentrate production for the winter months when strawberries from mainland Spain are in short supply and prices are high. Retail prices right now are around €10 per kilo. I see no reason why I could not grow strawberries here on Fuerteventura where there are higher levels of solar radiation and higher temperatures. 

Our daughter Harriet and partner Jon arrived on New Years Eve. Something we have been looking forward to for a long time. Harriet is an artist and I am hoping to bounce some design ideas off her. She has been doing some fantastic work which you can see at www.harrietbrittaine.co.uk.