Ridgeback adventures

A month has gone and I am back in Albir, this time with Per and our 6-year-old  Rhodesian Ridgeback Uzanna. We took along our darling to be able to stay here longer, to enjoy the sunny weather and nice walks in the neighborhood.

We were a bit anxious before the flight but everything worked out better than we could hope. Our main concerns were that the travelcage would be too large to fit into the plane or that Uzanna would refuse to enter the cage at the airport… Luckily we managed to get the 42 kg dog in the cage, on the second try… We arrived in Alicante in the middle of the night. We met Uzanna at a special meeting point where she was sitting in the cage and waiting. Of course she was overjoyed seeing us again but showed a great dignity waiting for the luggage and walking out from the airport building.  Uzanna was excited – everything smelled different – we spent at least 15 minutes to find some grass so she could pee but the ground was dry with no grass and she just kept on seeking for the right place. After several tries we gave up and packed the dog and all our stuff in the rental car. Uzanna was exhausted after the trip but when we arrived to our temporary home in Albir she jumped out and happily examined the house. After some time she could relax and we left her sleeping downstairs in a sofa.

Next day we visited a pet shop and found what could be the most cozy dog bed ever… Uzanna loves her new bed and has already adopted to the life here – the sunny weather is so right for an african dog like ridgeback.

Of course we visited our house, casa Alegria, directly in the morning to catch up and meet our builders! Lot of work has been done with piping, drains, electricity, ventilation etc. The kind of work you will not notice when the walls are closed and painted. The most visible work however was the Great Outer Wall that finally is ready! It looks really impressive, what a great job they have done!

The past days we have been meeting suppliers of different services like security, water cleaning system, elevator etc, and running around in lots of shops looking for tiles, bathroom equipment, doors, kitchen, furniture, beds etc. There are so many materials to choose from and decisions to make! Already from the start we decided to change several windows and sliding doors. Now finally the works are coming to the end and the new sliding doors will be installed the closest days. I really look forward to that – it will make a huge difference in the livingroom area! We reuse the old living room windows in the basement floor that is going to contain a guest apartment and a training room.

This weekend we will be happy to meet both our girls here in Spain! It will be so much fun to gather the whole family here and finally show our daughters the house we have bought! So far they only have seen it on photos. Even if the house is not so nice yet, it will be interesting for them to see the work in progress and make plans for furnishing etc. We hope they will love it! It will also give them an idea how big effort it takes to build an own house – and how big fun it is!