Whenever I write a message in Spanish, I still run it through Google Translate before sending, just to check I'm not saying my hovercraft is full of eels.
In recent weeks, I've been sending our architect Jesús lots of messages relating to Los Picantes, which Google amusingly renders as The Spicy Ones.
Los Picantes are the Granada-based company of craftsmen who specialise in empedrados, the intricate stone mosaics you see on many a Spanish town square. They also maintain the pathways in the gardens of the Alhambra.
If you follow this blog, you'll have seen that last month they did a stellar job with our patio, and we were so impressed that when it came to deciding how to restore the floor in our barn's porch, we decided to ask them back.
When we texted Jesús to let him know this decision, he told us the two-man team was working on a job in the northern region of Rioja some 750km away, but that they would be willing to come back in a fortnight or so.
This time we didn't even bother to suggest a design, we just said: there's the space, do with it whatever you think best. And please take lots of photos.
"They are amazing!" said Jesús as work got underway. "They do it so calmly, like a kid drawing a doodle in the spur of the moment. Son unos artistas - they are artists."
Within two days, the job was complete. Here's a photo masterclass in the traditional art of empedrados, courtesy of the Spicy Ones. (Click arrow on the right).
Photos by Jesús Bonilla, Pláci Verde and Los Picantes