My husband Marcus’ 41st year started with the unveiling of a power tool. For his 40th birthday last year I bought him an impressive red concrete mixer. He was very proud. Our knowledge of concrete making was limited - but it couldn’t be that hard, could it? We got out our big book of DIY, purchased the ingredients and cheerfully began preparing the mixture in the baking August sun in rural Murcia. After a year living here, we’d just had our mains electricity connected and we were still in that first flush of excitement at pressing buttons and seeing the magic happen! Our 81-year-old Spanish neighbour, David, was on hand to assist and cheerlead things like: “Nice concrete mixer. You could do that by hand, you know.”
We carefully measured out the dry ingredients and threw them into the tumbling mixer and then began to add the prescribed volume of water. David, on tip-toes, peered into the barrel and declared “¡más agua!” (more water), grabbed Marcus’ arm and encouraged him vigorously.
Marcus turned to consult the big book of DIY and in a flash, this surprisingly nimble octogenarian grabbed the bucket and threw the lot in, repeating “¡más agua!”.
The mix continued to slosh as David skulked away, swung his slipper clad foot over the bar of an ancient moped and puttered off to the village … no doubt to tell more tales of the mad ingleses, at the teleclub.
Just another typical day in La Murta really.
