Weekly Deadlines

 

Wargame 

When we retired to Spain in 2006 Jan and I had two hobbies which we wanted to pursue

One was, of course, Wargaming

The second was hill walking

 

We are fortunate to have a permanent wargames room to pursue the first

And our 1813 campaign was developed to provide an endless supply of wargames

 

We are also fortunate to live is a very beautiful part of Spain, well known as an impressive area for hill walking

This is the main reason we choose the Jalon valley, half an hour drive inland, and a world apart, from busy Benidorm

 

Within a year of moving to Spain we had established a weekly routine, which we have followed ever since

One day a week we walk, currently we lead a U3A walking group

Most days we spend an hour at the wargames table

 

We also record both interests in a series of blogs

The wargames blog was started as record of my various projects

A second blog was soon added to record the progress of my 1813 campaign

The third blog was to keep family and friends in the UK up to date with our new life in Spain.

 

The weekly routine worked well until recently.

I could complete one wargame a week, have an enjoyable walk and update the three blogs

 

Jan has long suffered from problems with her neck, and recently this has got worse

The doctor has advised that she should avoid the jarring effect of hill walks over difficult terrain

This has become a very important part of our social life here, and to give it up would be a real loss

So we decided to create a second U3A walking group, this time gentle morning walks around the valley

This has been a great success, and we have made many new friends

When we meet each Thursday I am reminded of an expression we had in the army for those reporting sick.

They were called the “sick, lame and lazy”.

Our new group are not in any way lazy, or even sick, but many are lame

Hill Walking

Organising two weekly walking groups, and recording them on our blog, has greatly increased my workload

I find it harder and harder to find time to keep the campaign administration up to date and fight a wargame each week

Finding time for the wargame is no problem, but after each battle it takes the best part of a day to update the campaign

Instead of being one day, and one battle, ahead of the weekly blog dateline I am now struggling to complete the current one in time

 

I have always considered that Wargaming is a hobby, and as such should be enjoyable and not a chore

But now I realise how much I actually enjoy the discipline of the weekly routine

The blogs greatly add to my enjoyment of both Wargaming and hill walking

I also find that I have a very rewarding “following”.

More so perhaps on the walking blog and Facebook.

 

But it does mean that I will have to abandon the current objective of posting one campaign day and battle each week on this blog

I am sure that most of you will not actually notice the change

But just in case any of you do notice, I wanted you to know why.

 

I am very aware of  how lucky we are to be able to pursue such a pleasant lifestyle

And I am not in any way complaining about “my lot”

But it is interesting how we make our own life difficult by these self imposed deadlines

Understandable when it is necessary to earn a living

But quite silly when we are retired and can prioritise as we wish

Spanish Lockdown

When we retired to Spain 14 years ago we established a very pleasant weekly routine.    We divide our time between hill walking and wargaming.   Both take up a considerable amount of time, and provide a good balance between energetic and restful pursuits.

For the past five years our weekly routine has been quite full with these two hobbies.   On Monday and Thursday we lead a day long walk for our local U3A.   On Tuesday and Friday I prepare a blog on each walk.   That takes up the best part of four days.

Running my 1813 campaign, and gaming the battles from it, take up a large part of the remaining three days.

Last Saturday this pleasant life style came to an abrupt end with the Spanish government declaring a state of emergency to fight the Coronavirus.   With immediate effect all bars, restaurants and non food shops were closed.   In addition everyone in Spain was ordered to remain within their home for two weeks.   The only exceptions were

Emergency workers to and from their place of work       

To visit a food shop

To visit a doctor or chemist

To walk a dog within a short distance of your home

Each individual has to carry out the above on their own.   Only one in a car, only one to the food shop or doctor.  Even partners were not allowed to travel together, except in an emergency

All outside leisure activity was banned, including walking or other exercise

We were warned that anyone breaking any of the above rules would be fined.   In the week since then 31,000 people have been fined for breaking the restrictions.

This is a wargame blog, and I do not usually post anything not related to the hobby.   But I wanted to explain why I will be increasing my weekly posts to two a week whilst the emergency lasts.    The reason is that we are doing a lot more wargaming.  

Obviously I am not posting on our twice weekly walking blog, instead I will be posting on the progress of the Lockdown and its effect of our life here in Spain.  If you would like to follow those posts you will find them here

https://leniston2020.blogspot.com/

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have mentioned in the past that our two hobbies are wargaming and hill walking.   Our main consideration when deciding where to live in Spain was that it must be a good walking area, and the house must have a wargames room.

We choose the Jalon Valley because it is a favourite walking area in the Costa Blanca.   It is about half an hour from the busy coastal holiday towns of Javea, Moraira, Calpe and Benidorm.   It is also a completely different world.   The coast is busy all year, but particularly in the summer.   The valley is a peaceful haven all year around.   It is a popular spot for ex pats to retire and have holiday homes.   But unlike the coast we are a small minority and the valley maintains its very Spanish feel.

Parcent is a small town of 1,000 people, about 100 are British, German, Dutch or Russian.   We choose it because of the beautiful views, excellent walking and extremely friendly population, both Spanish and ex pat.  It also has more than its share of good restaurants and bars.  There are four excellent restaurants, including one which specialises in paella and where you must book in advance all year around.    There are also three bars which are popular with Spanish and ex pats.   The village is very popular with ex pats living on the coast who enjoy the beautiful valley views as a break from the busy coast.     

Our introduction to walking in this area was with the Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers, the largest walking group in the area.  We soon joined a smaller group, and walked with them every week for about 9 years.   Four years ago we decided to form our own walking group.  By then we knew enough walks to offer a different one each week during the walking season

We wanted to restrict numbers to no more than 20, and to encourage members to walk each week.  In this way we would be walking with friends, rather than the more impersonal feel of large walking groups who vary leaders and walkers each week.

We soon reached the magic number, and not wanting to turn members away decided to start a second group to walk each Monday.   Our original group walked on Thursday.   We used the same walks, but separated them by six months.

Last year half of our Monday group broke away to form their own group.  We decided to take advantage of this to reform the Monday group to offer shorter walks of 4-5 hours.   Our Thursday group would continue to offer 5-6 hour walks.

The problem was that we did not have many walks less than 5 hours, and would have to create new ones.  This would mean a number of recce before we could offer them to the new group.

Both of our hobbies are very time consuming, and it is sometimes difficult getting the balance right.  It is too hot to do any serious walking June to September, so we tend to do much more wargaming in those months.

However we have managed to keep an even balance over the years.   The walking takes up about four days a week.  Two days walking and two days recording walks on the blog and preparing for the next week walk.   On the remaining three days we fit in our wargaming.   The table is always set up with a game, so we can play for an hour or two when we feel like it.

However since we started regular walking again at the start of October, we have had to fit in extra walks to recce new shorter walks for the Monday group.   This could only be done at the expense of our wargaming.

All of this is just to explain why the reports of the current campaign have slowed down.   During the summer it was twice a week, and even then difficult to keep up with the campaign.   Since October it has reverted to the normal once a week.  But this week we have failed to complete the latest wargame and prepare the report.

You might well say that if this is the worse of our troubles then we have little to complain about.  And indeed I would agree.   We are very fortunate that we have the health to enjoy both hobbies and to live in such a beautiful area so well suited to enjoy both.

But I will be glad when we have completed the new walk recce and can revert to our more usual and relaxing weekly routine.