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Sure, it’s not like we’ve been away that long, and little changes, right? Yes, pretty much, apart from London’s desire to build and build – bonkers City blocks and rabbit hutch flats further out. Even the jars of passata at the Italian deli were in exactly the same position, just new photos of the owners’s recent offspring pinned … Continue reading
How does the song go?: ‘If you leave me now, you’ll take away the biggest part of me.‘ This is the story about a ghost who didn’t want a family it haunted to move house. When we were aged around ten, our family moved to an old farmhouse in County Wicklow, Ireland. It was a … Continue reading
In the sad week that both England and Spain were dumped out of the Copa del Mundo and one of the best songwriters ever, Gerry Goffin, died at 75, we had a celebration – a birthday. Not a major one but perhaps a toe-dip into the other side of life’s pond. Apart from the odd curry we’re … Continue reading
Readers who have stuck with us from the start may remember this post about our Andalucian Acclimatisation Capsule (try saying that after a few sherries). After 40 months of rain, blue skies have returned to southern England and our greenhouse, while not in Andalucia, is a warm, wooden womb of loveliness. It’s still months away from spiders, … Continue reading
And gloomy it is in the UK. It was a wrench to leave Andalucia’s blue sky and confetti of pink almond blossom scattering the paths. It’s not the first time – and not forever – we’ve made several trips back home. We jumped on board the carousel of airport lounges, airline seats and airline food. … Continue reading
Exactly this time last year (5 November), instead of enjoying a breezy, warm day in Spain, we were preparing to have our eyes stung with acrid smoke and eardrums battered by a thousand firecrackers. The Spanish may love their fireworks and setting light to things – Valencia’s Las Fallas being one example (see Hola Yessica’s post about … Continue reading
Sitting outside a café we chatted about what we missed about London and the changes that have come our way since being in Spain. For a bit of fun – and like one of those awful blue-sky/thought-shower meetings one would have had at work – here’s a list of things we came up with. Don’t … Continue reading
Kicking around on a piece of ground In your home town Waiting for someone or something To show you the way Time-keeping is less important now we’re here. There are no early morning trains to catch, live sports to watch on TV or meeting times down the pub (not that anyone ever arrived on time). … Continue reading
[Old post] We all arrived safely at Málaga airport. There was a bit miaowing from the back of the car as we drove to Órgiva – the cat equivalent of ‘are we there yet?’. They were pretty frazzled after the three hour flight, but in good health. Getting them to Spain always was the trickiest part of … Continue reading
In a few weeks it’ll be Goodbye London’, for a while at least. We’ll hear you calling. We took these photos today. In just one hour, as London slowly awoke and rubbed its eyes in the bright sunshine, we walked a familiar path around the West End and Soho, visiting our favourite places. It’s possibly … Continue reading
In London we have an Andalucian Acclimatisation Capsule…the greenhouse. Today the outside temperature was a modest 18C but inside the temperature soared into the 30s. In Spain, we’ll no doubt miss our greenhouse as we’ve had many a lovely year growing – or attempting to grow – tomatoes (very successfully), aubergine (couldn’t get them bigger than … Continue reading
Moving abroad, even temporarily, focuses the mind. For raising stress levels, isn’t it in the top three – along with bereavement and divorce? Decisions have to be made about kitchen equipment, books, CDs, old correspondence – and things you’ve thought you’d need one day ‘just in case’ are, in fact, useless, horrendously designed or non-functioning. … Continue reading
Things have moved on since our last post. We’ve resigned from work (huge cheers all round) and found a place to stay in Órgiva. The flights are booked – including the cats (seat 27A and 27B, we’ll sit nearer the front) – and car hire to get our miserly belongings (clothes and stuff, not the cats, … Continue reading
[Old post] Getting our cats from London to Spain is probably the most logistically challenging part of our trip. Overland or by air? Private chauffeur or private jet? The Hippy Trail Overlanders Overland by van from the UK to Málaga – takes three days in an ex-police van, specially adapted for cats and dogs. Hanging … Continue reading
We’re busily preparing our house in London for renting. Believe it or not, we’ve managed without curtains since we got new windows two years ago. But alas, tenants might feel differently. I’ve taught myself to make curtains with the help of the Reader’s Digest Complete DIY Manual and a YouTube video. After a few false … Continue reading
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