La Golondrina

We occasionally refer to our house as La Golondrina - 'The Swallow' in English. I'm not fond of house names, but the villarenters site requires you to call your house something, and La Golondrina is more evocative than Calle Altillo 26.

Anyway, this is the lady responsible for the choice of name. She nested in our despensa (the larder, I suppose you'd call it, at the back of the kitchen) while the house was being built and before the windows went in. More precisely, she nested in a small cardboard box that had previously contained some electrical fittings. She raised four or five chicks then, and last Spring they all came back from Africa and sat on the telephone wire outside our bedroom window, looking resentful as hell that we wouldn't let them in. Given a chance and an open window she will indeed come in and fly around a bit; she once did so when I was having an argument with Jesus our builder, and she managed to magically diffuse the ugly atmosphere for a few seconds. Of course, once she'd gone he and I were back to threatening each other with legal action over some door handles or something, but she'd done her bit for peace.

Anyway, I was just thinking she's probably been in Juviles for a week or so now. I believe the first swallows are in the South of England already, so they'll have been in Andalucia for a good while. With a bit of luck she'll build a nest in the ruined stables above our house rather than inside our property, this time. Unless our guests let her in at Easter time......