David & Simon returned home on the same bus that brought me to Orce. I picked them up at 8pm and they were tired, and found it a little strange (“We’ve picked up a lot of people like this, but never been on the other end.”) I had dinner waiting for them when we get home, and we chat for a few hours, comparing our respective journeys, before everyone needs to head to bed. The following day they drive me to Baza, where I catch a bus to Granada. It is sad to go, but we have developed a good relationship and I feel like I could come and house sit here again. I’m exhausted on the bus and stare blankly at the beautiful (now snow covered) mountains. In Granada I have decided to take the train to Madrid which means getting from the bus station to the train station. I ask the info person and she says “take a bus, it’s very far” but it seems to be 30 minutes walk according to Google. I have about 3 hours until the train.

This past week I have not done very much sketching. The weather has gotten “bad” and I’m also getting tired of driving. I knew going into the housesit the place was remote, I would need to drive for groceries, restaurants, etc. So it was nice to have an excuse to just stay in because of the rain. I do feel bad for the outside cats who are quite miserable. Many of them are huddled in a pile of leaves under shelter in the feeding area during rainstorms. 

The past few sketches I’ve worked on have tried to capture a little more of the vistas around here, which often include mountains in the background. One day I hike into the hills on the other side of the valley and sketch back towards the village and house where I’m staying. It’s quiet, save for the flies buzzing around. Nearby a chimney spins in the wind, squeaking rhythmically, reminding me of the introduction to a Western film I can’t put my finger on. 

I spent a day sketching in Galera, which is a town built upwards around a couple small mountains. There are many cave houses in the town and narrow streets running up the hills providing views of the town creeping up the hillsides. I walked around the streets and made 4 sketches over 2 hours - quick, loose and slightly abstracted. During this time it was very quiet, I am usually sketching during the warmer part of the day (early/mid afternoon) which is also siesta hour. I received more attention from cats than people. 

In 2015 I read an article about house-sitting, and I thought this would be a good way to travel, keep it affordable (important for an artist) and have a base where I could maintain work in Ottawa. I signed up for a website, set up a profile and began looking at listings for potential sits. Many revolve around the holidays, which didn’t interest me: getting away from Ottawa in the colder months did.

House-sits are all different, often requiring looking after animals. Eventually an opportunity came up to house-sit in southern Spain. I connected with the home-owners and eventually we met on Skype, and set up a house-sit for November while they are in Malaysia. In this case, my ward is the house, 2 cats inside, and at least two dozen feral cats outside. By the time we’d agreed to everything and worked out flights and details it was June 2016.