We could not believe our eyes. The top field was completely under water and there was a river flowing past the windmill. Inside, the mill appeared to be dry, until we reached the top floor. About an inch of water was lying on the (fortunately stone) floor. There is a large skylight in the roof which appears to be leaking and the window too, though closed, probably had let in a fair amount of rain. The rain has been torrential and driven horizontal by strong winds. I am sure we are not the only ones with a leaky roof.

The water has pooled in the top right field. The top left field is where I have planned to build the first greenhouse, so that is alright. I had thought to build the second one in the top right field but I think it may be better to use this for tree crops (citrus, olives etc) as there will probably be the most soil moisture here.

I have been told that it last rained like this about 12 years ago. In fact about the time the windmill was being built. I have some very nice pictures taken by the builder of the different stages of construction. In the background of the photos I was surprised to see green fields, due to the rain. So, I am confidently expecting Fuerteventura to turn bright green very shortly.

Other jobs this week (other than mopping up) were clearing the front fence of dead bindweed, tying a tarpaulin over the top of the container as it leaks like a sieve, painting the kitchen (again). The kitchen walls have taken three coats and 15 litres of white paint to cover the blue. I have also been repairing the chainlink fence and getting the walls ready to paint. I want to paint the perimeter walls a sandy colour to blend with the landscape, leaving the white windmill to stand out in stark contrast. When that is done the plan is to tie on a sandy coloured shade cloth to the chainlink fence which will make it difficult for people (and particularly local planning officers) to see in. Then we can get on with building a few little extensions and walls. This is not being sneaky, it is what everyone does.

With all this work it was a relief when the boss put me on reception duties again.

And just as I was beginning to think it is as dry here as the Atacama desert, the rain started.

My first job on Monday morning was to pick up some freebie plants. The Environment Services Department of the Cabildo (Island Government) were advertising that they were distributing some 2000 indigenous plants to residents. So among others I now have two Canary Palms (Phoenix canariensis), a Dragon Tree (Dracaena draco), centre picture below, and a succulent (Tabaiba dulce). Many of these indigenous plants, once common throughout the Mediterranean region, are now only found here in the Canary Islands due to the ice sheet which developed during the last ice age not reaching this far south. 

The Dragon Tree is an endangered species which produces a bright red resin when the bark is cut. The resin was used for dyeing cloth and it has medicinal properties also. They grow to a great age and the tree at Icod on Tenerife is reputed to be 2000 years old. So in a thousand years or so my Dragon Tree should form a nice focal point in the garden.

The wind generators were, as far as I was concerned, beyond repair. But of course one man's rubbish is another man's treasure and Alan from across the valley came and offered to do the hard work, to take the masts down and remove the generators.

I hadn't realised how heavy these things are. Very wisely, Alan secured a cable to the tow hitch on his car and then encouraged his wife to reverse slowly, so dropping the mast safely. I had been thinking of asking Wendy to hold a rope while I stood under the mast taking the weight with my hands. I can imagine now what would have happened. Wendy would have shot into the air with the mast landing on my head, driving me into the ground just like in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

The work on the kitchen is progressing with the plastering finished, the electric points all installed, and the horrible horrible blue walls painted over. Outside, the new hot water pipes are in place and the water pump housing has been built.

I think we made the right choice of builder with Berna. Certainly he has already proved his worth when he pointed out to us last week that there was a big chunk of land outside which belonged to us. But he seems to be quite honest and reasonable (for a builder). I have to be careful what I say here in case he spots this blog. He has made and lost a couple of fortunes, the last one in 2007 with the economic crash when the bank took the house he had been building. Still, you can see from the picture that he is not starving.

As you can see from the Blog title, our windmill has had a name change, to Finca El Molino. Los Palos was a name we never really understood. It means sticks or clubs, but which sticks and which clubs? Maybe the previous owner liked the idea of living 'out in the sticks' ? Anyway, it is really obvious that it should be called The Windmill Farm or Finca El Molino. So today's job was chipping off the old names and sticking new ones on. It was fun in the ferreteria sorting out all the letters I needed. And of course I was tempted to try on the old Ronnie Barker trick of asking for two 'o's, or hoes, or hose..... Shame it doesn't work in Spanish.

Well , the kitchen has now been ripped out and the electrics and plumbing put in place ready.

A short distance from the kitchen window there is a concrete water storage tank which has never been used. I decided it would be useful to reinstate it in case the water supply is ever interrupted (a distinct possibility in Fuerteventura). The water supply is being arranged to feed the tank and we will draw water from either the main supply or the tank via a pressurized pump. 

Rather than keep the existing arrangement of electric water heaters in the bathrooms and a gas heater in the kitchen,  we are going to install a solar water heater which will feed the two bathrooms and kitchen via a back up gas water heater. It is a lot of work but it will reduce our electricity consumption from the solar panels and batteries and therefore reduce our carbon footprint. Below left shows the pipes running from the tank, buried in a large pipe, to the house. On the right is Antonio the Fontanero feeding the hot water supply pipe through the wall of the Molino, from where it goes up through a void to the first floor bathroom.

Wendy has been helping out when she can get away from the school. It is important to keep hydrated in this climate, though it is not easy drinking out of an 8 litre bottle, as she found out!

Some very surprising and very good news this week was that we have some extra land we didn't know about. It seems that the previous owner had the front garden wall built inside the boundary to allow for parking cars outside the gate. I haven't measured it but it must be another 200 m2 or so! It is funny to think back on when we were in England last year and my boundary dispute with our neighbours in Chacombe. All over 6 inches. Here is a view of the extra land.

Back in our rented house in Caleta my Oleander cuttings are coming on nicely and have put out lots of roots. Here they are ready for potting up. And a last look at the windmill at the end of another day.

Wearing my property developer hat - the builders were due to start on the new kitchen on Monday so Sunday was spent clearing out the rubbish. There are some people who you just know never ever threw anything away in their lives.

Fortunately my truck arrived this week - just in time.

My farming aspirations are starting with applying for permission to build a greenhouse. I have contracted a technician to apply for a 'calificacion territorial' from the Cabildo and, with this, we can then apply for a licence from the Town hall to build the greenhouse. How long will it take? They say more than four months, so don't hold your breath. In fact what I want to build is not really best described as a greenhouse, but more a shade house which is covered with a fine nylon netting instead of PVC or glass. It serves to keep out the worst of the larger insects, provides protection against wind and rain, and provides some shade which keeps the plants cool on hot summer days. Wendy and I staked out one of the fields at the back where we can erect a 70 metre x 15 metre shade house.

A last look at the old kitchen.

I have never had a job as a receptionist before. Wendy's girl left rather abruptly and I was bought in, I think rather in desperation. As it turned out the work mainly involved taking people's money which I find quite easy to do in any language. It was quite an eye opener to be there amid noisy children coming and going. Re-arranging timetables and new people enquiring. Poor Wendy in the middle trying to impose some sort of order. She is doing a fantastic job and it looks like the business will be quite successful. If you don't know, it is called English House in Puerto del Rosario. The website is here: www.english-house.es.