Life between the mountains and the sea
It’s that time of year again, the annual Arroz con Leche festival in Cabranes. On Friday the traditional umbrella was stuck up the tree in the main square to ward off bad weather for the duration of the festivities. A back-up marquee was also erected but they needn’t have bothered. The umbrella did its job […]
When you find yourself, over a fine pot of tea, nodding in agreement as your friend suggests that the city you’re in right now, the one that is 30 minutes from home, is the best city in the world, then you know you’ve landed on your feet. Of course Gijón starts off with the massive advantage of […]
Packing up your entire life to go and live in another country can feel daunting (go figure!) As a self-proclaimed packing phobic it was always going to be particularly tough for me. My preferred style of packing is usually ignore, ignore, ignore until the last possible minute then spend the last 15 minutes before I […]
We are coming up to our 9 year anniversary of living in Spain. Nearly a decade. A lot has happened in that time. We’ve bought three houses and renovated them. We’ve set up a couple of businesses. My other half has written and published a sport climbing guide book to the region. I’ve gained a titanium […]
I’ve been largely absent from this blog for quite some time, happily wrapped up in family life over the lengthy summer holidays, so it seems appropriate that this week’s Gallery theme of ‘Family’ should be the jumping off point to draw me back into the blogging fold. This summer was the first time that my […]
The pace of country life can be a little slow. I’m not complaining, I’m just trying to explain why our local Carnaval celebrations took place last Saturday instead of on Shrove Tuesday, some weeks ago. Better late than never though, and mistiming your celebrations can have some advantages. Not being in competition with the larger […]
Christmas Eve eve. The wind howls around the house, rattling the doors and windows and whistling like an enraged banshee. Outside, unidentified objects clatter about and crashes come at irregular intervals. I have never heard anything quite like it. I lie rigid and sleepless in bed, my head full of the weather reports and the […]
We’ve just had a four day weekend here in Spain. I’ll be honest, I was slightly dreading it as I was going to be on my own with my four year old son for the whole time. That makes me sound terrible, doesn’t it? Possibly accurately. But really it was just a sense that 4×24 […]
It was a hot, summer’s day way back in the eighties. (Think: hazy Instagram tones, unflattering ra-ra skirts and bad hair. I shall not be supplying a photo.) My best friend Deirdre and I were bored. And what do nearly-teens do when they’re bored? Why experiment of course. This was the west of Ireland, however, […]
It was always going to be a difficult conversation. Sensitive negotiation would be vital. Careful preparation would have been nice but when he rang out of the blue on a Saturday afternoon he put R on the spot. Unsurprisingly, R fumbled the first contact. It took a moment to figure out who the Spanish speaking […]
