WWOOF España - Torrox

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Gill and David run walking holidays for folks mostly from the UK. We tended their gardens independently and helped out with preparations for lunches and daily walks. As a bonus we also got to have a number of traditional Spanish tapa dinners and walks with the walkers. Karen learnt how to hang crab stick in plastic bottles to keep the fruit flies off the oranges while Clarissa practiced some brutal trimming on a water-logged nispero tree and perfected her lemon slice recipe - awesome for afternoon tea with the Brits and earned us some serious WWOOFER points! Coupled with the animal interactions this was a really nice experience in which we worked hard but with some freedom and experienced some genuine generosity from Gill and David (including amazing French cheeses … all the way from France). These guys are great so be prepared to put them up when they head out WWOFFING themselves in the next few years.

While small trips to Frigaliani, Malaga, and the Nerja Caves helped to busy us on our days off the show stoppers for our time WWOOFING in Torrox were their crazy menagerie of rescue dogs and cats. Each had a story before they found paradise, and each has a touch of the special stick to remind us all how lucky we are. So our blog here is more about them and how they have left a little spot in our hearts.

So here they are and their stories …
Rubia - a 200+ pound husky mix found beside a garbage bin in a plastic bag with her brother. The alpha dog with an entire couch and harem of cats to prove it.
Rocko - a scraggly and scruffy ex-circus dog who ran away after having his leg broken and was nursed back to health. At his happiest when his curls fly in the wind as he rounds up the walkers
Biggie - this black and brown bandit was only a puppy when he tried to follow the group but collapsed from dehydration. Only one addiction - his ball!
Canella - the small hairy dog with Fu Manchu whiskers. Had a mat of dags on her tummy, ran in circles chasing her tail whilst growling, was always around at dinnertime, and was Karen’s garden buddy
Buttons - mischievous male ginger who was found 3 days old after having fallen out of the ‘drowning bag’. Nursed from an eye dropper and now a shirt sucker less a few nuts. Yes Buttons lost his buttons after some serious house spraying
Pumpkin - a squished faced rare female ginger Persian cross who was found with a huge abscess in her mouth which prevented her from eating and feeding her kittens. Pumpkin survived but was often found staring into the void perhaps contemplating her loss
Johnny Cash - the cross eyed tabby runt once thought to be a male (hence the name). Johnny Cash was at her best when fending off Buttons, having little ‘special’ moments in the kitchen, and doing yoga with Clarissa
Peabody - black and white lounge cat and keeper of the peace. Found by and named after a former WWOOFER and the chill-est cat on the block
Miscellaneous cats - these were the 13 or so more outside cats who lounged around the pool and ate the fish scraps, but who also had stories of their own

Although all of these animals came from really rough beginnings they had certainly landed in the right place when they chose Gill and David. Thanks to these two their stories are now dim memories clouded by fish scraps and the rind of French cheese.

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Comments

[Mum]

Just beautiful
What a beautiful blog (just to see the joy on the faces of all was great), beautiful pics, and 2 beautiful girls - love you xx