Two weeks today!

Prices are in for the solar water heater, photo voltaic panels for electricity generation, widening the kitchen window to let more light in, a new kitchen, a new kitchen door, wall repairs and painting the outside of the windmill including the sails. Softening the blow a little was news that grants are available from the Canary Islands Government (Cabildo) which could cover two thirds of the cost. 

On my way to work this morning :

Lots of clearing of rubbish still to do. It seems a shame to burn valuable fuelwood but it is quicker than cutting and storing everything. There are loads of pallets lying around, some of which I will keep for fuel in case we decide to install a wood burning stove. I could also possibly use them placed in line on concrete block supports and covered with waterproof plastic as a base for the hydroponic beds. A low cost option!

Back in Caleta where we are renting a house I have been busy taking cuttings and sowing seeds from what I can scavenge from the roadside and gardens. Bougainvillea is one of the most colourful of plants and these scrambling, climbing and thorny shrubs do extremely well here in the hot dry climate. In the Maldives we used to strike cuttings in water and I am trying that here. These cuttings (from our neighbour's hedge) have lovely deep red flower bracts. They have been sitting in water for two to three weeks and are now showing some nice root initials and new top growth.

One of the most drought tolerant trees is the Casaurina, found growing in coastal areas of Australia. It has thin wispy leaves like a conifer which helps it to conserve water. I collected some seed from the roadside and here they are just germinating. Considering a mature tree will grow to 35 metres tall (here perhaps 10-15 metres), the seedlings are tiny.

A very easy one to raise from seed is Thevetia peruviana which is a roadside tree, again nice and drought tolerant, with tubular yellow flowers. Below right are Oleander cuttings. I have taken lots of these. There are deep red, deep pink, soft pink and white flowered varieties. After standing in water for two weeks you can just see new roots appearing from the bottom of the stems.

When there is not so much planting material available it is often necessary to use softwood cuttings. These need more care to stop them drying out before they have formed decent roots. For my Hibiscus softwood cuttings I have cut the top off a large water bottle and put this over the pot to make a mini greenhouse which helps maintain a humid atmosphere around the leaves.

Yesterday marks one week of owning our windmill. Hooray! What did we do? First thing was to try and open the doors and windows with the aid of a little WD40 or in Spanish 'doble uve de cuarenta'

Remove a tree and bushes growing outside the front door.

Look at a huge pile of rocks - and quickly look away again.

I wonder what is inside the container? The estate agent said that there were just a few bits of garden furniture and nothing else. He said it was a problem to open the doors to show us, as they were a bit rusted. I made him promise there was nothing nasty in there. 

So when I finally managed to prise the doors open it was a bit like 'Storage Wars'. Those of you who watch rubbishy television will know what I mean. Sure enough there was a work bench, a box of tools, a chainsaw, garden tools, a welding set, a lawnmower (where's the lawn?) and loads of useful bits and pieces. Jackpot!

On Tuesday I met the builder who built the windmill in 2004. Senor Bernat Jove. He has lent us photographs taken during the building works, which is fascinating. Particularly the picture of the fellow dangling on a rope hung from a large crane fixing the windmill sails. 

We plan to make a few changes, a larger kitchen window to let in more light, new kitchen units, and repairs and painting the outside of the windmill. I found in the container a body harness so that in theory I could tie myself onto a roof beam on the top floor of the mill and clamber out of the skylight onto the roof armed with a paintbrush. But Wendy had other ideas and we agreed we should get the professionals in.

On Wednesday we met two young lads who run a renewable energy business in Villaverde - Solarland SL. They had installed the photovoltaic (PV) system and wind generators 10 years ago. Since then PV prices have tumbled and it is now not normally economic to use wind generated power. Which is just as well as the two wind generators are totally knackered. So, we discussed fitting a solar powered unit to provide hot water to the bathrooms and kitchen, with a back up gas boiler. This will reduce the electric power requirement considerably. We will need to fit more PV panels to replace the power generation from the wind generators.... So here we go - more money!

Here we go with my very first blog post. This will also probably be the shortest as I am totally knackered. But today is the day we bought our windmill!

Much shuffling and signing of papers in the Notary's office in Puerto del Rosario. Then to the windmill to sit and look at the huge amount of work to be done. More on that later.

The afternoon delving into hidden recesses of ferreterias (ironmongers/DIY stores) looking for WD40, grease, soap, hose pipes etc etc so we can embark on the BIG CLEAN UP. This place needs some serious TLC.