I now pronounce you Head Gardener!

Hi everyone!
So you all know I have ordered the new connector I need for my camera so fingers crossed I can start getting pictures on here again soon!
I've been keeping super busy here at Casa Pedro Motel this week trying to get the garden looking top notch for our host's friend visiting on Sunday for a few days! Normally the friend - Jan is forever commenting on the health (or lack of health) of the plants - hopefully she'll be in for a nice surprise this time!
So on Monday I got up nice and early, rummaged around for something to eat and after a quick coffee I got straight to work. Its much better to get up early and get as much as possible done before it gets too hot to keep working. By 11am I had finished weeding rose bed number one  and apparently that was all I had to do for the day - the problem here is that we're not allowed to work enough to make up for what we get in return!
After lunch we went to a local town called Olite. The town is home to the The Palacio de los Reyes de Navarra de Olite, ie: the palace of the kings of Navarra of Olite. And it is an impressive palace. Allegedly it was the inspiration for Walt Disney's Cinderella palace and looking it it you can see why. It's amazing. Towers and turrets and big Gothic window, old enclosed courtyards and HUGE fireplaces big enough to walk in. I only managed to spend an hour there as it had to close but it was wonderful! I took loads of photos so eventually you'll get to have a look and decide for yourself if it looks like a fairytale palace.
Once we left there it was back home for dinner then I spent the evening trying to organise two of my favourite people visiting me in Portugal in September. I can't wait to see them although the organisation's a nightmare! Now I know some people wonder why I would travel so much when I have such close ties to people back home - I speak to my better half most days and my mother when she remembers how to use her computer (only joking mum), I miss them, and my friends, tremendously when I'm away. However I have always wanted to travel the world and go on grand adventures and I wouldn't know what to do if I didn't travel. Beside I know I always have those people to come back to, and I think it makes me appreciate them even more.
Anyway on with the tale. Tuesday morning was spent weeding once again. This time I was clearing rose bed number 2  of all the stray grass and weeds. This one was quite a bit harder but I kept going. Around midday Linda (the host) returned from town to find me still working - minus the hand trowel as it had just broken - so she ordered me to stop working and have a rest. I guess I'd just been too immersed in my work to notice the time!
On the afternoon I just relaxed on the terrace for a bit and went swimming in the pool. It's a lovely little pool although it took forever to wash the chlorine out of my dreadlocks!!
After dinner I, once again, spent my time trying to organise things for Portugal before a quick Skype then off to bed. That evening I also went to retrieve Donkey and thanks to Linda's terrible influence(!) I ended up riding him bareback and barefoot back, in shorts, to his hut! One of those things you've just got to do.
On Wednesday morning I got up nice and early as usual despite the fact Linda said we could probably take it easy since Pedro was away for the day.
However I wanted to do some more work in the flower beds so I had a quick breakfast when went to ask Linda a different trowel or for something to fix it. Instead I was asked to clean the terrace outside the rooms for the guests because the weeds and the bird muck needed to be gotten rid of. It really is a two person job since you need to hose and sweep at the same time but Jon was nowhere to be seen so i made do on my own and a couple of hours later it was finished - although, annoyingly, I passed it today to find loads of new fallen leaves to be cleared away - typical.
After a quick snack Linda and I left Martin and Jon who was being made useful and painting the tables while we went to buy plants fun! We drove to Tafalla to the garden centre then off we went in search of 30 new plants for the terracotta planters on the terraces. We got a few different herbs  like lemon thyme and lavender then we settle on some cheap geraniums, carnations, plants that aren't to easy to kill. Once that was finished we stopped by a bar for a quick drink then it was off to Ildl for the shopping - that's right everyone Lidl is one of the main supermarkets here, none of this Tescos nonsense.
We had a bit of a delay when we tried to get home since the car wouldn't start. Its an old mk2 VW golf  so luckily it was possible to look under the bonnet actually see what was going on - unlike with all the modern cars- but we still couldn't work out the problem, even with the trusty Haynes manual. Fortunately there were a group of young lads hanging around and watching so with a nice smile from me and a little chat with Linda they offered to help by push starting it and luckily as they ran down the road, pushing it at an impressive speed, they got the car started.
With no further incident we got home.
I had considered going in the pool but I was determined not to have to wash my hair properly twice in one week so I sat outside and read until about 5pm when our new guests arrived a Dutch pair - brother and sister. They wanted to go to a vineyard so Linda offered to take them - and me - the same day since she was leaving the next day for a four day holiday with Pedro to see their son in Malaga. So off we went to Bodegas Beramendi for a tour. Considering the fact I got right through Bordeaux without stopping by a vineyard is ridiculous so this was time to make up for it and it was worth it. We were shown around the production rooms with Linda as the translator then we got to try a selection of the wine they produced - pretty good way to spend the early evening.
When we got back however it was all hands on deck - for most of us anyway. The Dutch couple wanted dinner - starter, main, desert and coffee, Pedro called to say his car had broken down so Linda had to go and get him from the bus station, the donkey needed to be seen to, I had to get my university funding forms done while I had the use of Linda's laptop and to top it of one of the dogs - Rex - spotted a stray dog in the garden - a gorgeous young Basset Hound - and decided to chase it a good 400m down the road, with me hot on his tail trying to get him to come back. It was a very busy evening that's for sure.
Linda and Pedro left this morning with the usual last minute panic of leaving the house for more than a day. While they're away Fatna is looking after the place, I'm trying to improve the garden and Jon is....well I don't quite know what he's meant to be doing but i can always put him to work in the garden!
So after they left I had a quick coffee then got straight to work planting all the new herbs and flowers we got. It took a while since I was trying to match them up so each pot looked nice but I finished with some time to spare before lunch so I went and retrieved Donkey (it's his name) and put him back in his hut where it's cooler.
Anyway I think I'm going to have a nice relaxing afternoon with maybe a bit more weeding and holiday planning. Thanks for reading!
See you all next time!