Tag Chilled

Talmont-sur-Gironde

Steve and Carole 1 Comment

My blog buddy, Carolyn, had planned our day at Talmont-sur-Gironde and we set off early. We arrived 2 hours later at this picturesque village situated 15km south of Royan in Charente Maritime.

As we walk from the carpark, there are beautiful views of the coastline and the traditional wood fishing huts ‘carrelets’ (even with grey skies!). The port peaked in the first half of the 20th century with fishing for sturgeon and its caviar production.

The fortified village was built in this strategic location, overlooking the Gironde estuary, on the orders of King Edward I in the 13th century.

After a coffee, we took a windy walk around the ramparts to the imposing church Sainte Radegonde. The Romanesque church was built between the 11th and 14th century. At one time the church became a resting place for the pilgrims en- route to Santiago de Compostela.

Inside the church, the atmosphere was very peaceful and I took a moment to light a candle for mum, who would have loved the position of the church by the coast.

Talmont is also known for all the abundance of hollyhocks that pop up everywhere and add to its charm. The village is a member of Plus Beaux Villages de France which as of 2024, has almost 180 member ‘beautiful villages’ across France. It was very easy to see why as we strolled through the narrow cobbled streets full of white washed artisan shops and houses.

We stopped for lunch at La Petite Cour crêperie. I tried a galette for the first time which is a savoury crèpe made with buckwheat flour. It has a slightly stronger flavour and is also gluten free. However, we did laugh ordering the ‘galette Italienne’ in France. ‘Lunch was well timed as the heavens opened but afterwards, it was back to the shops to treat ourselves to some goodies. Well, it would be rude not to!

In the summer months, Tuesday evenings the shops stay open until 21.00 and the village is all lit up and I can imagine just magical.

Anyway, armed with our bags, we walked back in the sunshine to the carpark and it was time to go home.

Simply, a fabulous day and thoroughly recommend a visit.

And here is my garden decoration from Oh Pardi! and my dishes for nibbles, with apéros of course, from Terre D’ Argile.

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Château de La Roche Courbon

Steve and Carole 1 Comment

Last week the sun was shining and it felt like spring was in the air, so my ‘blog buddy’ Carolyn suggested visiting Château de La Roche Courbon, at Saint – Porchaire. Only an hour and twenty minutes drive away and as we pulled up in the carpark, the grandeur, charm and size of the château was a real ‘wow’!

The château dates back in the 15th century and was built by Jehan de Latour. After living there for more than two centuries, the Courbon family started to refurbish the château in the 17th century, making it a more elegant and comfortable residence which was eventually sold in 1817. The château was then mainly abandoned until Pierre Loti discovered and bought the château and then using his fame as a novelist, he launched a public appeal to save the château and forest by taking out a page in La Figaro in 1908. Paul Chénereau purchased in 1920 and set about fully restoring the château and its gardens to its former glory. It is still privately owned by the family.

The French gardens have the expected formality, topiary, fountains and statues and even on a February day, still looked stunning surrounding the ‘mirror pond’. Will need to revisit when the gardens are in full bloom!

The river Bruant flows through the grounds and there are ornamental steps leading to higher ground and giving you the best view of the château.

At this time of the year, only one of the walking routes was open and it took us through pretty woodlands to the sandstone cliffs and caves dating to prehistoric times. Neanderthal man lived in these caves approximately 50,000 years ago. The first prehistoric art works were probably made by Neanderthal. And here is the geology bit – the caves have been carved out by running rainwater through the limestone layer and the backwash of the river’s flow which follows the whole length of the caves.

The maintenance of the château and the grounds is on going, of course. Sadly, during a terrible storm in December 1999, 60% of the forest was destroyed. The project of replanting rows of oaks, lindons and field maples alongside the natural regeneration of the forest continues to this day.

So, a beautiful morning with the added plus of notching up 8000 plus steps! Oh! and in case you are wondering, there are about 45,000 châteaux in France.

One year on at our French home

Steve and Carole 4 Comments

We celebrated one year in our house at the end of November. Life in France is good and we have made some lovely friends. Charlie has also made some doggy friends!

Since the summer, we have been working hard on the house, well I say ‘we’, I mean Steve! I can only assist with the odd bit of painting where I can be trusted and keep the cups of tea coming. Our first priority was to be warm this winter, so we had a ‘pompe à chaleur’ (heat pump) installed and some insulation on the walls and floor. We discovered that our exterior walls are one metre thick after one of the mega drills got stuck!

So, I am typing this in the warm! Our second priority being to have our lounge cosy and finally order some sofas. Our wood flooring is a lot warmer than the tiles. Here are a few ‘before’ and ‘nearly there’ photos!

Almost finished …..

We’ve moved upstairs to one of the bedrooms and added an en-suite shower room.

So, still some finishing bits, window to be painted white and these lovely tiles for the en-suite.

Next project will be the guest room as we have now bought the bed. Can’t wait to have friends and family over to visit. However, we bought the paint for the kitchen so maybe there will be two projects on the go!

We bought some garden furniture including sunbeds which took a while (days!) to put together and a well deserved beer was needed afterwards.

Finally, it’s been interesting to see what has flowered in our garden during our first full year and there are some fantastic plants that we can add to.

But next year will be about pots, pots and more pots!

I hope to be back motivated with a lot of blogging on our French adventures in 2024.

We say ‘goodbye’ to a very tough and sad 2023 with mum unexpectedly leaving us in May and life just isn’t the same, we all miss her so much. Especially at this time of year as mum loved Christmas!

Take care and I wish you a peaceful, healthy and happy 2024.

Home Sweet Home

Steve and Carole 1 Comment

Where has the time gone, my last blog post was October 2022 and now we are in March 2023!

So, just a short update. From the photo above, you can see we finally moved into our own house, just over five months after arriving in France. back in June 2022. A hectic time and moving in at the end of November meant it was best to unpack the Christmas decorations first! That helped take the pain away of yet more French admin, setting up utility accounts etc…. As I type this, we have just had our health cards come through (Carte Vitale). All that is left on the French admin list is to change our driving licences and then start the application for the residency visa.

But back to Loubillé, where we now live. Unlike our house in Spain, we have quite a few houses around us and we are a less than a mile away from the the centre of the village. Our nearest town is Chef-Boutonne, a ten minute drive and where the supermarkets, vets, banks etc are located. We have beautiful countryside everywhere, even in the winter months, so lots of lovely walks for Charlie.

We have started French language lessons but Loubillé life has been some what ‘on hold’ as sadly my mum has been very poorly and I’ve had to travel back to the UK a few times. I’m very pleased to say that she is now recovering very well.

At the moment, we are waiting on a start date from our builder to get some works done on our home. Mainly cosmetic as the house is in good order. But we do need more insulation as it is a cold house despite the huge wood burner. Plus we are getting a quote for a  heat pump, ‘pompe à chaleur’.

We have a large south facing garden that needs tidying and then we will wait a year to see what plants appear. I have so many ideas for a typical French garden! I already know we have many roses, honeysuckle, lavender and peonies plus right now a few daffodils. Also, plans for a kitchen garden at the side of the house. Steve is waiting to play with his ride on lawnmower!

A few jobs started in the garden including clearing tons of ivy!

Slowly we are getting a social life, meeting some lovely people. Everyone is so helpful. And with spring almost here, I cannot wait to be out and about discovering the area we now call home. And writing more interesting blogs, I promise!!

Au revoir et à bientôt!

Monsieur La Quintinie celebrations

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Every year, on the first weekend of October, the town of Chabanais celebrates La Quintinie.

Why? Well, here’s the history bit in brief!

Jean-Baptisite de La Quintinie was born in 1626 here in Chabanais, Charente. Initially, he went to Paris as a lawyer at the Parliament, as he was known for his exceptional writing skills. The president of the general accounting office requested that La Quintinie teach his son whilst on a trip to Italy. During the trip La Quintinie was impressed with the Italian gardens and became fascinated with horticulture. On their return from Italy, La Quintinie decided to give up his legal career and started studying and practicing in the gardens at an hotel. He visited England twice and King James II offered him a job managing his gardens, but La Quintinie declined preferring to be in France.

La Quintinie’s excellent reputation as a soil expert and gardener saw him work for many dignitaries. Then in 1661, Louis XIV gave him a job in the vegetable garden at Versailles. In 1670 the King created the role of ‘director of the royal fruit and vegetable gardens’ for La Quintinie who went on to design the ‘potager du roi’, the King’s vegetable garden between 1678 and 1683. This was a nine-hectare area. The objective being to provide fresh produce for the royal court and also becoming a horticultural experimental garden to cultivate out of season fruits and vegetables. When La Quintinie died in 1688 at Versailles, Louis XIV said to his wife ‘madame, we have suffered a great loss that we can never repair’.

So here in Chabanais they are very proud of this history. Many exhibitors participate selling their local produce of fruits, vegetables plants and flowers over the weekend, plus their arts and crafts, wine, cheese, honey, nougat, fresh bread and freshly prepared crepes. Indoors, there is a selection of handmade jewellery, soft toys and more.

The theme for the celebrations this year is ‘l’eau au jardin’ and unfortunately Saturday saw continual heavy rain all day, so quite apt! However, Sunday was better and the market nice and busy.

The event was organised in association with the Friends of Quintinie who also ran gardening workshops on the two days.

I just love the charm of these local events. I was so tempted to buy a plant or two, but we are still about seven weeks away to moving into our house in Loubillé.

A Tale of Two Rivers

Steve and Carole 3 Comments

As the sun sets on the river Thames, we now find ourselves on a new dawn on the river Vienne. We’ve arrived in Chabanais!

And now let us go back ten days when we still didn’t have our French visas, therefore we couldn’t book a definite day to travel and Charlie, our lovely dog was too ill to have his travel Pet Health certificate issued. The sale of our apartment was due to complete on 20th June which would mean we would soon be homeless.

We set off for our long awaited visa appointment on 8th June, armed with reams of paper, enough to wallpaper our lounge! So much photocopying that our old printer almost died of exhaustion, so our neighbour took it off our hands. Our second printer was already packed! Our 10.30am visa appointment seemed to be shared with at least 50 other people, still it was a day out!

Meanwhile, back at our our apartment, the hot water pump had packed up and finding a plumber that could replace it within a few days was a challenge. While Steve organised a plumber and two new front tyres for our car, I was back and forth to the vets to to get blood and poo tests done for Charlie. His symptoms pointed to a nasty parasite, so the vet started treatment while still waiting on the results. Thank goodness Charlie got better and his certificate was issued on Tuesday 14th. The very day the removal company and the plumber descended on our home.

Later that day, we received the e mail from the visa centre saying our passports were back from the French Embassy and ready for collection. But no actual confirmation of the visas being approved. Even on the French Embassy website, there was no confirmation. We had to wait anxiously until 8.30am Wednesday 15th when I collected them and nervously opened the envelopes and looked inside the passports and we’d been approved! Bienvenue en France! Couldn’t quite believe it and I admit I shed a tear. When I arrived home, Steve dashed off to get a new front tyre fitted and yes, if you’re keeping up, I got a puncture in one of the brand new tyres on Tuesday night!

We were now booked on Eurotunnel 07.50 Thursday 16th with a nice 5am start! After such an exhausting week, with not much sleep, we decided to take up our friends Lucie and Tom’s kind offer to stay overnight at their place in France.

But there was still time for a little more stress on our way to Folkestone with an accident closing the M25 resulting in us missing the train, along with many other passengers. But the staff met us with a smile, no fuss and booked us on a later train. The friendliness, facilities and efficiency at the terminal were a very welcome surprise. Charlie was happy as he had longer to play on the agility course set up in the dog area! We drank a bucket of coffee!

Were these signs for us not to go? ….. were they heck, nothing was going to stop our “aventure français”.

We arrived early evening in pretty Chitenay, (pronounced as you may think!) in Loir-et-Cher.

We were given a lovely French welcome and met Lucie and Tom’s young children for the first time, so did Charlie and he finally relaxed enough to receive a lot of fuss and cuddles from them! Lucie and Tom moved to their beautiful house in March. It will be their long term family renovation project, along with the gardens and woods. An idyllic location for their children to grow up in.

And potentially, only a few hours from where we may find our new home? Next morning, fresh croissants and coffee for breakfast and dear Lucie sent us on our way feeling refreshed for the first time in weeks.

Finally, I now feel we can get really excited as we are here. Our little rental house is right in the village centre and 2 minutes walk from the river, the local café and local shops.

Now the house hunting begins!

What next ….. new location to be ‘chilled at sunset’?

Steve and Carole 3 Comments

Finally, I’m writing a blog post, well just a short catch up really, as the gap has been much longer than intended!

I can’t believe its 19 months since we arrived back in England from Spain. In fact, I think we’re all wondering how the last two years or so have vanished so quickly when we’ve been locked up, quarantined, socially distanced, masked, you name it, we’ve all been through it, haven’t we?

Back in October 2020, our plan was to return from Spain, decorate our apartment ready to sell and move on. But like the best laid plans things took longer than expected. Two buyers later and our sale is completing next month. Life also got busy, back to ‘normal’ spending time with family and friends. I became a volunteer at the vaccine centre in Chertsey Hall and felt a part of a real community sprit. It was very hectic and I have sanitized hundreds of chairs and had some great laughs!

We also joined the `’Big German Shepherd Club’ walks on many Sunday mornings.

Then, there was my lovely part-time job at Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands which ended up lasting a year but I have made some truly special friends there.

We imagined moving to the English countryside for a while but our hearts weren’t quite there. Our budget was being pushed more and more with the ever increasing property prices, also there are lifestyle choices to consider, especially at our age! After many months of Steve showing me beautiful country houses online, we took a short trip to South West France and viewed some properties. Decision finalized, France would be our next adventure! Right now I’m thinking, goodness another language to try and learn!

Moving to the EU after Brexit certainly throws up challenges, a lot of research, visa issues, shipping belongings etc etc…. Now we cross our fingers that our visa appointment, early June, (after two month wait) will result in a huge ‘Oui’! Then, we will be on our way, first stop Chabanais, Charente where we have booked a rental property and storage for three months.

So, I must get back to packing and say goodbye for now or ‘au revoir pour l’instant?

Charlie … chilled at last!

Steve and Carole 9 Comments

I am so chuffed that I finally get my own blog post, although I did think and hope it was a new type of treat or toy? So, here I am, Charlie, a German shepherd of two years and five months. Some of you will have met me or at least know about me. I’m quite a complicated chap and there were times when my owners worried if I was going to make it and stay living with them? But here I am!

We all met when I was 3 months old and I lived with my two sisters (I was one of eleven pups). Carole and Steve certainly gave me loads of cuddles when we met and then imagine, they came back the next day to see me again! This time, though, I left with them. I can still remember the garden gate slowly opening and them leading me outside. Whoa! I was so scared. But he scooped me up and I lay on the seat in the car and was stroked until I fell asleep.

I entered their house and they let me wander around so I could sniff (and wee!) and take in my new surroundings. There was also a huge dog bed with a duvet waiting for me but sleep was the last thing on my mind. They seemed to have bought so many things for me! I wasn’t that co-ordinated and I can remember when I decided to try my new bed, I climbed up and promptly fell out! A few months later, I also fell in the swimming pool, put me off water for life!

My safe place became a shelf or step, see I am a strange chap!

The first few weeks were intriguing discovering a new home meeting a new vet, my first walk outside and getting to know my new owners. One day, she sat on the floor with me, teaching me to look at her when she said ‘Charlie’ and rewarding me with a tasty treat. No problem for me. Ah! that was now going to be my name! Charlie ….. Yeah! I liked that name.

He would also sit on the floor a lot with me, trying to get me to play with a ball or rope toy. Nope, couldn’t get the hang of that. Although, I did get to love chasing sticks he’d throw outside for me and today this is still my favourite game.

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The bigger I got … the bigger the stick!

Every evening we all went walking along the promenade at Garrucha. Lots of people, bikes, skateboards, pushchairs etc. I was getting along OK being introduced to so much stuff. So many people stopped and wanted to stroke me and quite a few laughed at my huge ears! 

I really loved the garden at the house, firstly it had no fences so I could take off and chase the farmer on his tractor! Secondly, the plants tasted delicious, especially the figs, although I don’t recommend such a detox diet for a young growing pup! I was meant to be putting weight on.

But then overnight I became frightened of everything? All the training and socializing they had been doing with me went pear shaped. I didn’t want to go out, I didn’t want to be stroked and my toilet habits left a lot to be desired! I drove my owners crazy and quite frankly they drove me crazy trying to stop me doing my own thing and became an uncontrollable rebel. How were we going to live together, as deep down inside I didn’t really want to leave but it wasn’t looking promising?

I had made friends with the neighbours dog, Woody, a podenco (Spanish hunting dog) and occasionally we would make a break for freedom and be gone for an hour or so. However, one day when we were out, it felt like a really long time, in fact it was hours. I realised Woody and I had lost our scent to get home and this wasn’t a good game any more. It was very hot and both tired. Somehow, I got us walking in the right direction and then, out of nowhere I heard a car – my car- and Steve had found us! We leapt into the back feeling shattered and stressed. Goodness, I drank several bowls of water when I got home and I could tell I was in the really bad books. The rebel in me wasn’t helping secure a future with my owners?

And that ‘op guarantees no future Charlies!

Then, one day, we all went to meet Paqui, who runs the training school (Adiestramiento Canino Zadhir). She specialises in German Shepherds and trains police dogs. I just sat behind the fridge while they all chatted. Now, what was going to happen to me? I decided to make Paqui wait 6 weeks before I would let her stroke me, let alone give me a treat. Twice a week, we all went to training classes and it was so stressful and so tiring having to obey commands ‘sit’ ‘stay’ ‘wait’ ‘down, ‘here’ etc. On and on and on it went but I did smile inside, as my owners were also being trained! At the end of each class, I would be let off my lead along with the other dogs. We were all young playful puppies except my nerves kicked in and none of them played with me. They were chasing each other but I wasn’t ‘invited’. What was that about, my world was going backwards.

Well, I better not keep talking about my bad habits, let us fast forward over a year and after many, many more ups and downs and never-ending training classes plus a house move, another trauma (and story!), I have finally become quite a nice pet, even if I do say so myself! I now love playing games, being brushed and lap up affection and being stroked! I’m still anxious with people and children terrify me so I bark a lot. Paqui says as one fear is conquered, I’ll invent another one! But hey, she entered me into her local dog competition the training school organised and I did quite well!

And there’s more, I’m happy to tell you, I have a girlfriend, a beautiful, lovely German Shepherd, Aura. We met at training classes just over a year ago.

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Charlie (left and Aura (right)

It turned out she was a complicated gal! She barked a lot at other dogs and barked and went crazy at the birds. But she adores people. Aura’s owners, Rhona and Ian really like me and goodness, they always give me so many treats. I’m even allowed on their sofa! And get this, Aura lives only a ten-minute walk away. Aura and I have fun and help each other when we are together! We also go to the beach together and Aura loves the sea but I still have a fear of water. But I take my frisbee and run and run.

So, you could say “once upon a time there was a dog called Charlie ………. and they all lived ‘chilled’ ever after” Paws crossed!

 

If I was having a coffee right now ……

Steve and Carole 5 Comments

 

If I was having a coffee right now, I would be sat on the shady terrace of our apartment , which is currently ‘home’. I’d be scrolling through photos and videos, I took a few nights ago in Vera at the Moors and Christians parade. But, I’m under strict instructions from Steve, not to write another blog on Spanish fiestas, parades, carnivals etc! Sipping on my coffee, I would be stressed about the fact that I haven’t written a blog post for 3 months. Or maybe I’d be preoccupied again with Brexit which is making it impossible to plan anything and be wondering what the impact will be on living in Spain for us?  Life has been busy and very sociable and I do still have my list of ‘must visit’ places in this lovely area of Spain, which I can then share on my blog.

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But there is also a place I would like to re visit, Nijar, which sits between Sierra de Alhamilla and the Mediterranean coast. To be more precise , Cactus Nijar which is a commercial nursery on the outskirts of town. The founder and owner Toni Brugger moved from Austria and set up the nursery and garden almost 20 years ago. I was first taken there by friends when there was small music and art event one hot balmy evening. What a setting, and of course my photos cannot do it justice. Nijar is not far from the film studios where the ‘spaghetti westerns’ were made. and you could easily imagine Clint Eastwood riding amongst the cacti!

The garden’s many varieties of trees include olive and palm with strategically placed sculptures throughout the garden and highlighting the different types of cactus plants. It is an inspiration however large or small your garden or terrace may be?

Of course cactus plants just thrive in our climate here, as I well know from our last garden. In fact I’ve grown (excuse the pun) to think they can be quite stunning and beautiful and more importantly, fairly low maintenance.

PS… for those of you who don’t get bored of seeing photos of Spanish fiestas, parades and carnivals……!! Vera Moors and Christians parade……

Now if Steve was sitting having a coffee right now ……

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If I was sat here having a coffee right now …… Carole would have made it!

‘Thank you Darling’ …… what would I be thinking about? Well if I were still a smoker, I would be thinking about the sheer pleasure of finishing said coffee and then lighting up. The coffee taste still fresh in my mouth, as I flip the lid of the fag packet and slowly remove a ciggy. The excited anticipation of the first drag and feeling the nicotine ‘hit’ as my brain shouts its approval and writes ‘pleasure’ in my eyes. But, sadly, that little pleasure is no more. I’ve tried to get high on cacti but it just doesn’t do it for me. So what would I be thinking about? Maybe the book that I’ve been writing for so long, that now, when I decide to write, I have to re-read  the first few chapters to remind me what its about! One day soon it will be finished and I will unleash it to the public scrutiny. It will be trashed and I will be ridiculed and I will know that I should have spent my coffee breaks more productively. So what am I to think about as the aroma of the beans and my taste buds combine to provoke an idea? Life. Life is a subject of incalculable facets. A subject of such magnitude that I think I’ll go and watch the Michael Macintyre ‘Waitrose’ sketch on YouTube.

“Lovely coffee Darling and good luck with the blog …… no fiestas etc”

 

A Change of Sunset

Steve and Carole 3 Comments

 

Happy New Year …… and we have moved!

Yes, we decided to shake it all up and start a different chapter to our adventure in Spain. Of course we are still ‘chilled at sunset’ but a new location not so far away from Antas. We are back amongst people, bars and Spanish restaurants, plus a spa and a gym and all within walking distance. Still close to all our lovely friends and with stunning views, open spaces and can now add a sea view to the mix. In fact we are now just an 8 minute drive to the Mediterranean coast at Garrucha. Sounds good eh?

We will be at least six months here at Valle del Este, Campo de Golf. Renting for us, right now, is a good option and not being financially tied to Spain. Brexit is such a shambles but cannot be totally ignored, so we will sit back and see what pans out …… definitely do not feel like discussing Brexit in our blog!

Meanwhile, the immediate plan in our garden apartment is to relax more, finally get my easel set up and paint at home as well as at my weekly class. Steve will finally finish writing his book! And we want to travel more in Spain and visit family and friends more often back in the UK.

I still can’t believe it is three and a half years ago we arrived in Spain, a dream we finally made come true. We planned as much as we thought possible, after reading endless information, soaking up episodes of ‘Place in the Sun’ and taking Spanish language lessons before we arrived! Once actually living here day-to-day the dream and reality were so often different and I don’t mean in a bad or negative way at all but just different.

Firstly, making new friends, we found our new life soon became very sociable! But they also became our lifeline for advice in our first year. Everyone helped each other especially when being so rural in the campo. Just back in November, we had storms and small flash floods and with non-stop WhatsApp chats, we all checked who had flooded where and if help was needed? I admit, I did have one of those ‘I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here’ moments when one day we had no internet, intermittent electricity and no water indoors (plenty outside!). But then that lovely Spanish sunshine returned and the stormy days were quickly forgotten and all was back to normal.

‘Normal? now that is a word to give some thought to? We have had so many ‘firsts’ since starting our adventure here which are now considered our ‘normal’!

Speaking Spanish, sadly still poorly, almost everyday including texting in Spanish to couriers, builders and Spanish friends.

Pruned (and respected) the many different, often giant cacti we had in our garden without them attacking either of us!

We owned a swimming pool, learnt how to maintain, tough job, I know but someone had to do it!

Saw snakes (not poisonous) up close and personal on our patios and in the courtyard.

I still have a Spanish hairdresser who doesn’t speak much English, so those first few visits caused me the same anxious feelings I get when going to the dentist!

I’d peg out the washing and wonder at the fab views of rolling hills and seeing rabbits and partridges wandering in our garden …… OK, there were also a few ‘nasties’ crawling as well!

I started taking art classes and even hanged some of my finished pieces in our home.

We were recommended Felix, the four foot tall and wide, one eyed local Spanish gardener (bless him!) who arrived at dusk, a few months after we moved in, waving a saw and he soon pruned every tree and more!

We picked our olives and took them to the olive press in exchange for extra virgin oil, delicious and such fun!

It was so normal to go outside and pick a lemon from our tree to accompany our fish dishes …… Oh! OK, …… gin and tonics!

We had lived here 10 months, when we were invited for the weekend to Granada with our Spanish friends. That was a very intense Spanish lesson but we learnt so much about the Spanish lifestyle, really great. After a few wines, I really thought I could be fluent in Spanish but ……

Fiestas became an important fixture on our calendar and we still always try and visit a new one each year as well as being loyal to our dear Antas fiesta.

Honestly, so much has happened since we arrived here, too much to mention but our blog is a lovely diary of the highlights!

Having lived in a Spanish cortijo, it was wonderful in so many ways but they do need never ending TLC almost everyday of the week. The renovations improved our cortijo and were a true labour of love but often the work needed redoing every year due to the nature of the build and climate. We asked ourselves, did we really want to continue spending our savings and time working hard on the cortijo for a few more years? The answer was ‘no’. Nobody sees themselves getting older …… who bloomin’ wants to? But if something happened to us in our home, the emergency services would never have come out to us, it would have been quicker to drive to the medial centre, if you could! I guess, when Steve fell off his ladder and only injured his ankle, it made us look at the reality of where we lived a bit more. It is a tough balance, our dream house with so much space, potential, lots of land, swimming pool and surrounded by countryside with such privacy versus total practicality.

But we moved a month ago and it is so different here and impossible to compare, it really feels like a new exciting and happy chapter!

What are you planning in 2019 ?