Cortijo Los Lobos - Rural mountain retreat

28/04/2025

The sun coming over the mountain was beautiful early this morning but It was very windy so we decided to take a picnic to lake Iznajar . It was still windy there but not as bad, though I did lose the beach umbrella in the lake! Sadly Clive wasn't quick enough to take a photo as I launched myself into the lake to swim after the umbrella that was heading out into the lake as fast as a speed boat! (I stole a photo off the internet 🤣) I gave up trying to catch it and sadly watched it eventually turn over and sink to the bottom 🥲. I was just in the middle of messaging someone when the internet went, and , with no shade and my kindle almost out of charge we decided to head home. Luckily we did as it was chaos, it wasn't just lack of signal out and about, there was no internet or electricity at home either. Clive and Martin rigged up the generator to get the wifi back on and we found out that the whole of Spain and Portugal and some of France had a total power outage. Everyone was advised to stay at home as travel was of course chaotic with no traffic lights, no shops able to function, it was like the end of the world! Technology is great while it is working! We had the extra worry of trying to keep our guests comfortable and also the worry of new guests arriving from the coast - how would they find us without google! Luckily they turned up at the time they had said, having asked their hotel for directions to Trabuco and then asked someone in Trabuco for directions to us - phew ! One problem solved at least. It has been a challenge to feed the horses too, with the wind so strong. Marmalade obviously didn't like it either as I found him hiding under the hay cover. We are just hoping that the electric comes on before dark or it will be early nights all round. Keeping everything crossed that by tomorrow the wind has gone and the electricity is restored - what a day!

28/04/2025

*Deadline to book on the June date is Sunday 4th May as we need to finalise numbers - don't miss your chance!
Treat yourself to some 'me' time - Last minute special offer 4th to 8th June only 500 euros all inclusive for private room or 400 each if sharing a room with a friend - Reading, yoga, country, walks, swimming, relaxing, eating healthy food - the perfect chance to relax and unwind
https://cortijoloslobos.com/women-only-4-day-book-retreat/
(25th to 29th September also available)

Unwind in a book lover’s paradise! Join our exclusive book retreat at Cortijo Los Lobos; Combine peace & nature with a good read. Book today!

27/04/2025

It was such a stunning morning that we decided to have breakfast on the pool patio, followed by a swim. The pool felt so warm at that time of day. As we walked past the pool to do the horses we noticed stray cat Bandit looking very comfy on a sun bed. Olive didn't look quite as comfortable in my basket 🤣. After our swim we walked down to El Patio del Molino for brunch. There were some very pretty wild flowers. When we got back we just had to cool off in the pool again, such a hard life 🤣 - well it is Sunday. Matilda and Carlotta showed their little friend how to groom the ponies, then I helped Lily lay a stone edge to a new path they are building to their vegetable plot. The horses had to come over to see what we were doing of course and enjoyed some of the weeds we pulled up. The Hawthorn hedge around the field is spectacular this year, it must have enjoyed all the rain 🌧️

26/04/2025

A late blog tonight as we've had a lovely paella party for Martin's birthday. The weather couldn't have been nicer and it's been an idyllic day. The girls helped with the poo picking, then Matilda planned to join us on a ride. She was determined to use the mountain block to get on herself, bless her. Unfortunately just after setting off she changed her mind so Lily rode Fern instead. On this day 8 years ago we were riding out with 11 horses, so hard to imagine now that most of the horses are retired now. The horse camera captured Bonnie and Twiggy having a mutual grooming session and I caught the boys having a meeting at the bottom of the field in the sunset ❤️. Matilda is having such a lovely time with her little German friend this week, it's lovely to hear her speaking German 🥰. The children have played every day in the round pen making sandcastle, it keeps them occupied for hours. Carlotta sat and watched Chino eating his dinner, she was fascinated, funny girl. Clive put up some fly netting on our apartment window and fitted the glass in the tree house window. The red robin is finally in full flower and the garden looked so colourful today against the blue sky. Clive's bonsais looked lovely too, against the new white paint

25/04/2025

It's Poppy time again - so beautiful. We walked along the river to towards the Cien Caños just after lunch to see if there were lots of people picnicking for San Marcos. We were surprised that everyone seemed to be on the big picnic area, but I suppose that's what it's all about, everyone being together. It couldn't have been a more perfect day for it, it's been so hot and sunny. We ticked off lots of jobs early on , putting up the pool umbrellas and some new signs. I had to print out some signs for the horses to stop people feeding them as we have had a few cases of plants from the garden being picked and fed to them and some plants are poisonous so it is a big worry. Old horses can also choke on things like carrots and apples. Horses are unable to vomit so anything they eat has to pass through them which is why they are so sensitive and can easily die of colic. Lovely to see the Lilac in flower and wild daisies in the garden - daisies might be weeds but they are so pretty. I did some more weeding with some help from the girls, Matilda is developing her own style and looked very cute 🥰. We heard grandad working on the tree house window so we had to go and have a look. There's a great view from up there 😊. After all the hard work the girls had a cool off in the pool. Matilda almost swam a whole length unaided, she is getting so confident. I had to read in the shade as it was so hot. This evening I gave the courtyard sofas a quick coat of paint, it's terrible how grubby they get over the winter. Always too much to do but the lovely weather eases the work ❤️

24/04/2025

After trimming Lola's feet and picking up the poo with some help from Carlotta, we did one of our favourite mountain walks - we're so lucky to have these stunning trails straight from our doorstep. Clive decided he wanted to look over the edge to a different mountain which involved some serious scrambling over rocks - he forgets that his legs are a lot longer than mine! Lots of lovely flowers and wild life as usual and good to see the ponds with newts and frogs with water in for a change. It's incredible how flowers can grow on rocks with seemingly no soil . Lovely to see bluebells too, not something we see here so much. The wild peonies aren't out yet, they're a bit late due to the bad weather. The town hall have been taping sections off to stop people from going there for some reason, maybe as it is a big fiesta day tomorrow, San Marcos, a day when everyone goes into the countryside to picnic. Fair enough if there are reasons for not wanting people to use particular spots but we were horrified to see the discarded cardboard rolls that the tape was on littering the ground everywhere. I just hope that they will go and pick it all up and remove all the tape when they no longer need it. We put the sun shade up in the El Establo courtyard ready for guests arriving this afternoon, then it was time for a little read by the pool, joined by Milly . The Ash tree is hanging over the sunbed deck a bit which is just perfect for head shade for reading 😍. This afternoon we did a bit of maintenance in our courtyard, the persistant rain had messed up some of the render on the sofas and there was a lot of green algae that needed scrubbing off. Carlotta was very helpful and even had a go at rendering - holding the trowel right first time! - She is a natural 🥰.

24/04/2025

Treat yourself to some 'me' time - Last minute special offer 4th to 8th June only 500 euros all inclusive for private room or 400 each if sharing a room with a friend - Reading, yoga, country, walks, swimming, relaxing, eating healthy food - the perfect chance to relax and unwind
https://cortijoloslobos.com/women-only-4-day-book-retreat/
(25th to 29th September also available)

Unwind in a book lover’s paradise! Join our exclusive book retreat at Cortijo Los Lobos; Combine peace & nature with a good read. Book today!

23/04/2025

book now, thank us later 😉

23/04/2025

The light was stunning this evening, the perfect end to a perfect day. It's been lovely to put all the outside cushions out and make everything look pretty. I found time for an afternoon read by the pool, watching the girls having fun . They wanted photos taken of them lifting the heavy rock again ( it's actually made of plastic 🤣). The day finished with a BBQ and birthday cake for Martin's birthday 🎈🎂. I put the horses out on the grass this morning but by late morning they wanted to come in, they were getting really excited, running around, strange creatures, you'd think they would prefer the grass. Silly Annie is up to her old tricks - Clive found a nest of 20 eggs in the periwinkle, what are we going to do with her?

22/04/2025

So lovely to have the deep blue sky back ❤️. The horses are enjoying being back on their fields too and Lucky was very happy to have the courtyard sofa cushions to sleep on. Olive likes to drink out of the fish trough but luckily doesn't try to catch the fish. I caught Bella and son Smudge hanging out together on the secret garden rock pool. Milly made herself comfortable on the children's playmat, cheeky girl. The Acanthus are almost flowering, it's a race against the hot weather now, will we get flowers before the plants wilt and die as they really don't like the heat. I had 3 changeovers to do and I lost count of how many loads of washing but it was a perfect drying day at least. We have barely seen Matilda today as she has been playing with her little German friend Len so we have spent a lot of time with Carlotta, she is so chatty now and certainly keeps us entertained 🥰.

21/04/2025

Bella loves to sit on this particular stone and watch the world go by. The colours in the garden are incredible, I love the jumble of marigolds, iris and the wild gladioli and the tulips are gorgeous. Matilda and Carlotta found chocolate eggs in the hen house this morning, clever chickens, they must have known it was Easter 🥰. Cute to see Annie and daughter Suzie having a sand bath together and Lola, Blackie and Fern having a nap ❤️.The girls have had a lovely day in the much awaited sunshine, Matilda was happy to strip down to her vest at last and it was sweet seeing them practicing their language skills with our little German guests. Nice to see new hens Bluey and Bingo in the garden with the other hens now though Martin discovered a pile of eggs down at the bottom of the horses field when he was strimming in preparation for growing tomatoes. The silly hens must have been laying there while they were too shy to join the others. No wonder we haven't been getting many eggs. The boys thought what Martin was doing was very interesting and couldn't resist breaking through the fence when Martin had turned it off, naughty boys. Picasso managed to get his legs tangled in the tape when I went to the rescue, he really is a clumsy boy.I hope they're not going to make a habit of it now. We did a morning and afternoon ride today with two lots of young guests. The newly cut pathways through the olives are just perfect ❤️. The little German girls were keen to help after and did some poo picking, I do love to see keen Youngsters 🥰

20/04/2025

Happy 27th birthday Bracken, such a little cutie 🥰. It was a wet and cold morning but the girls braved the rain for an Easter egg hunt with some little guests and had fun jumping in puddles. My Facebook memories like to rub it in, reminding me that on this day last year I was enjoying a more tropical cloud in the Maldives and 2 years ago we were replacing the apartment roof in scorching weather. Oh well, we are promised sun from tomorrow 🤞

19/04/2025

Yet more rain this morning but it stopped just in time to take the guests for a ride. We were excited to see that the waist high grass and weeds in the olives have been cut and there's a lovely lawn effect to ride through now ❤️. Twiggy was so keen to see us when we got back, she was trying to climb through the fence 🤣. Bonnie had her feet trimmed, then after lunch we took the girls and the dogs for a walk down to the river. Lola and Blackie were having a nice siesta as we walked past. Lovely to see all the wild flowers and so much water flowing fast. The girls had fun having their photos taken amongst the flowers 🥰

18/04/2025

Hooray! It was lovely and warm and sunny today after a slightly misty start in the valley and we even had lunch outside with some friends of Lily and Martin's. We had a lovely ride into the mountains this morning and the girls have enjoyed playing outside all day. Naughty Carlotta discovered the joy of peeling paint off of the play train. Another job to add to the list.Annie enjoyed a dust bath and Marmalade looked like a giant cat sitting next to one of the fairy houses. The daisies are really incredible, they are taking over the garden ❤️. This afternoon I made Easter chocolate bark with the girls ❤️. The Easter processions are in full force everywhere and our village procession is pretty impressive! Luckily the rain has held off for both nights. On this day last year I was enjoying our own private sandbank beach, a short trip off the dive boat in the Maldives with Lily and Martin and the girls , paradise 🥰, it feels like a million years ago.

17/04/2025

Good night from

17/04/2025

We treated ourselves to a day out today to the beautiful Frigiliana. We had a fantastic tofu and mushroom kebab in sourdough wrap for lunch, the flavours were incredible, we would definitely recommend the El Boquetillo street food cafe and bakery - (not just for vegetarians or vegans though it makes a change to have such a choice) the cakes looked amazing too, even English scones, though sadly we were too full to partake. We came home in time to feed the animals and finish off some jobs. Clive put up the re-painted signs (incredible to think we've lost 11 horses over the years, mostly to old age) and the solar lights in the secret garden and along the path to it. He also cleaned both pools. I finished getting the apartment ready for guests arriving late tonight, it looks so cosy. Nice to see the hawthorn hedge in flower too ❤️

16/04/2025

We managed an early morning ride , taking the guests up to the pines on Twiggy and Sierra. There was a cold wind but at least it didn't rain. The horses enjoyed a little grass stop . It was crazy how many fallen down trees there are up along the pine track since all the rain and storms of the past few weeks. When we got back we got the Secret Garden apartment ready for guests arriving tomorrow. Clive cut the hedge so that the horses can be seen out of the kitchen window and cleaned the rock pool. He found a lot of dead processionary caterpillars in the skimmer basket. The new hens Bingo and Bluey joined me in the front garden of the apartment, nice that they are venturing a bit further now, just need them to start laying eggs! The horses new I was there and were watching me , hoping for more food. Bandit was looking comfy on some hay nets when I went down to feed this afternoon, but sadly he rain off when he saw me, he really doesn't want to be tamed. Olive also made herself comfortable on Matilda's lap though Matilda wasn't too happy when she jumped off as she always digs her claws in, silly cat. On this day last year we were watching Manta rays from the back of the boat and at home Clive was doing a good job caring for the puppies who were getting very cute! Three years ago today we were enjoying the last day with our love regular guests Rachel and Janette with a nice meal on the front patio and lots of cuddles for Peanut, bless him, miss his cute little face 😌.We are really missing that lovely hot weather this Easter but at least it looks like getting better now. Rachel had fun riding Bonnie past a field of crops, the temptation was too much for her 🤣. Our lovely old Irene was looking super cute with her cuddly winter coat, another animal sadly missed 🥰