John Bray

Sydney

2011-05-16T17:43:00.001+02:00

Also added some photo's from our time with Sarah, Greg and family at the milennium like More at: sydney photos / sydney prints

Prints of photos and paintings

2011-05-16T17:14:00.004+02:00

Just joined up with "Fine Art America" as an additional outlet for getting my work ditributed, such as on this page: new york canvas prints or manhattan printsSee also: spain art

Moving on

2011-04-29T15:33:00.000+02:00

Rather than continue to use this blog, it's probably better to add the odd comment to Vicki's blog here.

There is also our own website at: http://vickiandjohn.net/ for more info about us and where we now live.

Fishing

2011-02-18T11:29:00.001+01:00

Fishing off the Mediterranean coast at La Rabita, Andalucia. This is an original oil-painting by me which has been sold now - but we still have some prints left. See here.

This is a computer file, A4 @ 300dpi, of which some detail is below:

Morning clouds

2011-02-17T09:10:00.004+01:00

Some times, when conditions are just right in our valley in Las Alpujarras, the clouds can be both above us and below us. It's particularly impressive when the early morning sun is trying to get through.

This is a computer file, A4 @ 300dpi, of which some detail is below:

Mountain village

2011-02-16T09:06:00.000+01:00

The village of El Golco in the municipio of Alpujarra de La Sierra.

This is a computer file, A4 @ 300dpi, of which some detail is below:

Plants and plates

2011-02-15T11:44:00.002+01:00

We went down to the coast yesterday to get the ITV (Spanish MoT) done on the Polo. Whilst there we also went into Salobrena. This is a typical well-kept street on the way up to the Castle.

This is a computer file, A4 @ 300dpi, of which some detail is below:

Sunrise

2011-02-14T11:17:00.001+01:00

Seen from Montenegro in La Alpujarra.

This is a computer file, A4 @ 300dpi, of which some detail is below:

Village church

2011-02-11T11:39:00.000+01:00

A view towards the village church of Murtas in La Alpujarra.

This is a computer file, A4 @ 300dpi, of which some detail is below:

Calle del Pescado

2011-02-10T10:43:00.000+01:00

Today, a print - derived from a photo but edited and modified on my Mac to print out at A4 size.

Below is some detail from it:

Daily Alpujarran

2011-02-10T10:06:00.000+01:00

The Daily Alpujarran is now on-line:

Ugijar

2011-02-09T12:55:00.001+01:00

Went out with Vicki yesterday to get some shopping in Ugijar. What a difference to last year when we were cut off by rain-damage to the pista and roads. While I was out I got some pics for the web site page of Ugijar.

Olives

2011-02-07T18:26:00.000+01:00

As we are struggling to make much money out of harvesting olives at 30c a kilo - maybe there's more to be made by painting them.This one's a watercolour.

Sierra de Gador

2011-02-03T15:57:00.001+01:00

Today's picture is of a view towards Sierra de Gador from Montenegro in La Alpujarra . ..

Oils again, size A4.

Photos of Las Alpujarras

2011-02-02T10:34:00.002+01:00

I have added a new “Photos” page which contains a selection of photographs in and around Las Alpujarras. They are the “top-50” from Panoramio’s collection of this area. Additionally, each individual pueblo now has a selection of photos from in or around the particular town/village. You can click on an individual picture to get more information and a larger view of it.

First paintings

2011-02-01T16:31:00.012+01:00

I decided that this year would be when I get back into painting and drawing. It's about 20 years since I last did any commercial drawing or painting - though I've done a lot of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop work in the intervening years This is my first oil painting - an Alpujarran scene:

If you click on the picture you can see a bigger version. The real thing is 24cm x 32cm.

and below is another interpretation . . .

and yet another one, this time more zoomed in . . .

Basically, I've been experimenting with different styles to get the hang of it again. Tomorrow I'll do a different view

These will now need a couple of months before they have thoroughly dried out and can then be varnishied and sold.

Access to Spanish Healthcare - 2011

2011-01-11T10:09:00.000+01:00

I have just found out today (admittedly a bit behind the times on this!) that access to the Spanish healthcare system should be made available to all from April of this year.

It was approved in November, roughly:

First Vice President and Government Spokesman, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, announced that next month April 2011 a new law will achieve true universal health coverage in the NHS, "many years after the adoption of the Law of Health. " Currently some 200,000 people remain out of public health in Spain.

In the press conference after the Council of Ministers, Rubalcaba has advanced that the future Law of Universal Health Coverage SNS will allow 200,000 people "of different groups" are still being excluded in the coverage of public health. "There is the idea that everyone in Spain is presently covered by the national health system, but it is not," he admitted.

The government spokesman has Apostille that complete adoption of this law, many years after the adoption of the Health Act, universal health coverage. "

from Europa Press

So maybe those of us ex-pats who are not retired over here can now get access to the health care system in Spain at last!

Eagles in la Alpujarra?

2010-10-16T10:12:00.001+02:00

We have seen quite a few - over the years here - of what we have presumed were Bonelli's Eagles. Today, a couple came and sat in a tree opposite our land for about half an hour or more. It was a gloomy afternoon - as you can see from the dark sky in the background. Additionally, they were about 400m away so apologies for the poor-quality photo.

This year they have been making more noise - a high-pitched screech (a bit like a seagull) so maybe they are something other than what we thought.

Clearing up

2010-10-10T10:10:00.002+02:00

The clouds are starting to clear now after over twelve hours of fairly constant rain or drizzle.

Now is a good time for digital photography, of course: 10:10 on 10/10/10

Catherine of Aragon

2010-10-01T10:16:00.002+02:00

Until very recently, I wasn't even aware of any connection with the Alpujarra but - apparently - the pesky Alpujarrans played a part in upsetting her wedding plans.

According the The Anne Boleyn Files", in Spring 1500, the Moors of the Alpujarras in Southern Spain rebelled and Isabella and Ferdinand had more pressing things to think about than sending their daughter to England".

Lest we forget, the "revolt" was pretty-much self-inflicted ...

1498: The Catholic hierarchy was pressing Ferdinand and Isabella to give their new subjects the alternative of baptism or exile, and that such an act was required of the Monarchy as “gratitude to God”. Ferdinand and Isabella were not keen on this: maybe because they had so recently pledged otherwise, or thought it might provoke an uprising or perhaps they hoped that conversion would occur gradually anyway. But not everyone was willing to be so patient.

In December, Cardinal Ximenes "persuaded" up to 3,000 Moslems to be baptised and closed down the Mosque in the ancient Moorish Albaycin district of Granada City, consecrating it as the Church of San Salvador.

When some Moslems dared to question these "persuasions", Ximenes had them locked up in chains. Moslem priests were told to hand over their books which were publicly burnt. Some of these 5,000 books were ancient and priceless works of art.

1500: Tensions were building and Ximenes made sure it would come to a swift conclusion. Although christian renegades were protected under the capitulation terms, he decided that this wouldn’t extend to their children unless they were baptised. Consequently, these offspring should be subject to the Spanish Inquisition. He set about arresting them. Riots and skirmishes followed and a settlement was agreed along the lines that if the Moors stopped the hassle and went back to work it would be overlooked on the grounds that it was not a revolt - just seeking to maintain the capitulation terms. It was agreed that those terms would be strictly enforced in the future.

Ferdinand (slightly unimpressed by what was going on) wrote, on the 27th January, to the Moorish leaders of the Alpujarras to inform them that forced Christianisation was not to be. To appease those who had been baptised and to encourage others to follow, on the 27th February he issued a general pardon to all new Christians. These excused them of any crimes prior to becoming a Christian and renounced any claims for confiscation. As insurance, he also set about raising an army to quell any coming unrest.

Undeterred, Ximenes argued that the Moors had forfeited their rights to life and property through rebellion and so could only be pardoned on agreeing either to be baptised or expatriated. And he got his way: the “Capitulation of Santa Fe” would therefore collapse.

1501: 14th January – After a combination of “massacre and baptism” had succeeded in pacifying the Alpujarras, the army was disbanded in the area.

. . . . what followed was just standard ethnic-cleansing,

Such a shame the poor little Catharine had to have her wedding plans disrupted for something so trivial.

Off to work

2010-09-07T10:19:00.000+02:00

Getting ready to go to work this morning, I saw this and thought that those of you people way up north might like to see what you are missing:

Fresh fig wine

2010-09-04T10:21:00.001+02:00

The figs are ripening nicely now and we've already started the first batch of wine from them - about 20 litres-worth. Last September, and earlier this year we made wine to a combination of a recipe we found at jackkeller.net and some of our own experiments. Because it worked so well, last autumn, we thought we'd really go for it this year and make as much as we can.

Our pista (dirt-track) is about to be closed in the next week or two for several months - while it is upgraded to a two-lane road. So, in preparation, we bought 20kg of sugar this week to get us started. But it occurred to me that seen as figs are available and free, whereas sugar is neither, it might be worth looking at using more figs and less sugar. So I did some investigating . . .

Of all the common fruits, the fig has the highest sugar content. Dried, a fig is about 50 percent sugar; fresh, about 10 percent.
(allonhealth.com)

Fresh fruits contain about 1% of protein, 15-23% of sugar. If just a little too ripe, figs in the sun, a tasty mixture immediately begins to ferment, turning the fruit into wine berries
(10diets4you.com)

Melgarejo et al. (2003) studied sugars in fresh figs from different Spanish varieties using high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) techniques and obtained values of glucose from 10.66 to 15.89g/100 g fresh matter, and fructose contents from 4.33 to 6.28 g/ 100 g fresh matter.

from calorie-counter.net:

		Figs	Grapes
Water content	(grams per 100g)	79.11	80.54
Calorie content	(kcals per 100g/3.5oz)	74	69
Protein content	(grams per 100g)	0.75	0.72
Fat content	(lipids) (grams per 100g)	0.3	0.16
Ash content	(grams per 100g)	0.66	0.48
Carbohydrate content	(grams per 100g)	19.18	18.1
Dietary Fiber content	(grams per 100g)	2.9	0.9
Sugar content	(grams per 100g)	16.26	15.48

It would appear that a fig is very similar to a grape in water/sugar content So my theory is that you could make wine straight from figs without needing to add water and sugar. Next week we'll give it a try!

My calculations based on a 5L batch (finished) and 120g/Kilo for fig sugar content:

Figs(kg)	3	4	5	6	7	8	10
= fruit sugar(kg)	0.36	0.48	0.6	0.72	0.84	0.96	1.2
sugar to add (kg)	0.89	0.77	0.65	0.53	0.41	0.29	0.05

Note that this should make a fairly hefty brew (about 14% ABV if it ferments out completely).

Good morning Alpujarras

2010-08-31T10:24:00.002+02:00

A fine start to the last day of August
The sun coming up at 0755 this morning.

Low clouds

2010-08-30T10:25:00.002+02:00

Very strange weather early this morning, with clouds rolling over the Contraviesa and into the main valley of Las Alpujarras:

But it's cleared up nicely now.

Big cloud day

2010-08-19T10:27:00.002+02:00

Some very impressive clouds, forming to the north this morning above Mecina Bombaron and the Sierra Nevada in Las Alpujarras

Testing the new photo gallery

2010-08-10T16:48:00.002+02:00

I've just added a new "photo gallery" to my own website at JohnBray.com.
This is an example of a thumb-nail it generates for putting into a blog or web-page.

Clicking on it will take you to the full-size image.

Lanjaron picture

2010-07-26T16:28:00.004+02:00

Lanjaron Castle by John Bray

I did this picture for my other websites and have decided to make it so that other people can use it if they want. Just click on the picture to see what I mean.I'm hoping to produce some more images over the summer holidays and will make them available as I produce them.

Defining Las Alpujarras

2010-07-08T09:49:00.002+02:00

When I set up the Alpujarras pages some years ago, I tried to define what was (or were) La(s) Alpujarra(s). Since then, it has sat at the bottom of the homepage - as a footnote. I recently joined the Costa Living Forum and it made made me go back and look at it again. The "Consejería de Turismo y Deporte de la Junta de Andalucía" (roughly the Sport & Tourism Office) considers there to be two Alpujarras: La Alpujarra Almeriense and La Alpujarra Granadina. So there are two of them - one now in Granada province and one in Almeria Province (at least by this interpretation). It is probably close to being the Alpujarras that was given to the last Moorish Kings after they were expelled from Granada city (see history page). Though in those days it also extended down to the coast.
And this is the way they appear on the current map of "comarcas" (roughly: shires or counties): Comarcas have no formal/administrative recognition - they are areas with geographic, cultural, or historical connections. Though there is the possibility that they may one day have some legal standing (ie: one up from a municipio and one down from a provincia).
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, on the other hand, the Granadan Alpujarra is defined as "Las Alpujarras" and the Almerian Alpujarra as "Alto Andarax".
	Some people also consider the Alpujarras to extend, even to this day, across the Contraviesa mountain range and down to the coast. The recently published guide book entitled "The Alpujarra of Granada", for example, includes the municipalities of Albondon, Albunol, Gulachos, Lujar, Polopo, Rubite and Sorvilan. Produced by the "Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Alpujarra Granadina", this book is well worth the 15€ the Ayuntamiento make it available for.
From Wikipedia: The current statutory entity that most closely resembles a comarca is the mancomunidad, a freely chosen, bottom-up association of municipalities intended as an instrument of socioeconomic development and coordination between municipal governments. and . . . . Almost every Andalusian municipality outside of the capitals and major cities is a member of some such group. These groups consist of municipalities freely united by their economic interests and are often endowed with funds used for external dissemination of their identity. Perhaps the guide-book mentioned above may have got some funding from this source. Interestingly, looking at Almeria Province, I see that there is a " Mancomunidad del Medio-Alto Andarax y Bajo Nacimiento" so that would seem to make some of the east-enders no longer Alpujareños. They may have been taken over by the Andraxians! Just to further confuse the issue, there is also a Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa Tropica! They even have their own website at http://www.ctropical.org/ and have staked a claim on our very-own Murtas and Turon! So, in our southern regions we are in danger of being grabbed by the tropics. Here is a quote from the Alpujarra/Vallee de Lecrin leaflet published by the GRANADA tourist office: The heart of the district is the Sierra de la Contraviesa, situated between Sierra Nevada and the Mediterranean coast. Vineyards abound on its hillsides, producing the excellent“Costa” wine, the ideal drink to accompany the area’s meat and cured ham products. It doesn't include anywhere in Almeria (of course!) but does include Albondón, Albuñol/la Rábita,Lujar, Polopos, Rubite and Sorvilán. Even the name *Alpujarra* doesn't really help much as its original meaning has been lost in history. There are some links at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpujarras if you really want to follow it up but, in summary: The name Alpujarras may derive from Arabic *al Busherat* meaning "the grass-land". Pedro Antonio de Alarcón travelled through the Alpujarras in the second half of the nineteenth century publishing in 1874 a book about the experience titled La Alpujarra. In this book he gives four possible origins for the name, based on the classical writer Luis del Mármol: From Arabic "*abuxarra" ('turbulent') referring to the tendency of its inhabitants to rebel against authority. From Arabic "abuxarra" ('the unvanquished') based on the work of the Arabist Miguel Lafuente Alcántara. From Arabic "albordjela" ('fortified'), following opinion of the Arabists Romey and Silvestre de Sacy. They based their conclusions on the work of the Arab historian Suar el-Kaicí. From Arabic "albuxarrat*" ('white mountains' or 'snowy mountains'), following the view of Spanish historian Simonet. So, in the spirit of inclusiveness, I will amend the site to include all the pueblos that have a claim to be Alpujarran. But it might not all get done this week!

Villages, towns and cities in the South of Spain

2010-06-26T13:01:00.002+02:00

I have just started a new website called "Pueblos Andalucia". I started this site as a personal project to learn more about the area I now live in. Hopefully the information I find will also be of use to you also! I have lived here for 7 years after leaving my home in England.

At the moment is is really just a skeleton - and there's a lot more work to be done on it. Apart from looking after my land and growing fruit & veg, making wine etc this website will be my main interest for a while now. It will hopefully get me out a bit more to see the area and get back to some of my earlier interests in life: photography, drawing and painting.

New for 2010

2010-02-20T19:24:00.002+01:00

This is hopefully to be a new version that will eventually replace johnbray.com

All white now

2010-01-10T10:39:00.008+01:00

Snow has started to fall in Las Alpujarras (at least in Mecina-Bombaron, El Golco, Yegen, Montenegro and Yator – which is about as far as I can see at the moment!

Full marks to ElTimpo.es that forecasted this within minutes of it actually happening 24 hours in advance.

But zero points for David Viner (a climate scientist at UEA - the university of ClimateGate fame) who said that within a few years “British children just aren’t going to know what snow is” (Times). Now even most Spanish children know.

End of the deluge?

2009-12-26T10:46:00.001+01:00

It has rained pretty constantly now for over five days and caused quite a few problems for road travel in Las Alpujarras! Certainly the most rain I have experienced over the last six years.

Roads between Cadiar/Berchules and Cadiar/Torvizcon were blocked on Christmas eve but may be passable today. The access to the Sierra Nevada was blocked because of snow build-up.

Bad weather seems also to be causing some mains-water problems - either non-existent or muddy.

Here is some info from locals in Bayacas, Cadiar, Lanjaron, and Montenegro.

The Trafico website can be found here: DGT showing road conditions - particularly for anyone travelling to/from airports.