Riba Roja to Riba Rocks

The Valley as viewed from Yoga Rock

Sarah, Chris and Caroline

It's November already, how time flies. Just back from a great week's holiday at my friends' Sarah & Chris', place in Riba Roja D'Ebre, Catalonia. It's a lovely place, so peaceful and laid back it makes me want to slow down and just take in the view.

They've had the place now for 4 years and are slowly doing it up. It's a lovely wee hoose and quite a few acres of land, most of which is hill, with olive trees lining terraced soil. Their intentions are toward self sufficiency with solar panels galore and land full of veg patches. The good life indeed. 

They are also planning an ambitious project of creating an artist village within their land. Sarah, being an artist herself and Chris, a graphic designer, want to give artists time and space to live and make work in a creative environment; an artists retreat, if you will. I'm looking forward to seeing the developments as they start to build more.

Also, next year in late summer, with the ready organising skills of Sarah's sister Caroline, they're planning to produce an arts and music festival to be held on their land called Riba Rocks. With local and international bands due to be booked, poets and writers planning readings and artists creating workshops, it's gonna be a fabulous event. I'm planning my return trip already.

I can't talk about this place without mentioning its newest residents; Tut and Khamun. They are two little kittens that were found under a manky sofa in a supermaket car park by two friends who nursed them to health. Tut was so tiny, found in a puddle and not moving, they thought he was dead. Khamun on the other hand, Tut's big sister, was very vocal, fortunately for them. Sarah & Chris were asked if they would like to take them on. As they are very rural, they can have a bit of a mouse problem, so thought why not. The kittens had only been there a week by the time I had arrived but I could see Sarah & Chris had fallen in love with them already. Well, they are quite adorable. We'll see how long it takes them to move residence from the shed to in front of the wood burner in the house during the winter.

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Tut & Khamun