Monday last was officially the most depressing day of the year – in western Europe anyway.  Christmas has been done, New Year has been done, Three Kings has  been done and everyone is back at work or school and feeling thoroughly fed up.  When I read about it, thought about it,  I agreed with it. …

‘Tis the Season to drive on some of the most boring roads in Europe for nine hours to come home for a few weeks.  Of course it is. And to re-acquaint yourself with the language that you have not spoken for months on end and have been really bad at practising on Duolingo.  My level…

Giving Thanks I had a day off this week!  Yay!  It was a bank holiday to celebrate the independence of Portugal many centuries ago, independence from the evil Spanish empire.  I did wonder if our car, with its Spanish number plates, would be marked in some way.  It didn’t in the end but we do…

The clocks have gone back and the village looks quite dreary compared to how we left it back in August.  No bar in the plaza during the winter months of course and the xmas lights are yet to be erected to bring that explosion of colour every evening.  Still, it is good to be back…

Well, it is safe to say that the past five weeks have been absolutely mental.  It has been unbelievably hectic for the both of us.  Me trying to get to grips with working in a new school doing a job I have not done before (as a senior school English teacher) and Sonalee trying to…

So, we’ve had a heatwave hit us for the past three days – one more to go.  The temperatures have been in the mid 40’s and the night time ones have been in the high twenties.  The dogs have suffered, the cat has suffered just as much and I think Sonalee and I have managed…

So, at last, we were on the way to the north east of Spain, to a place that wouldn’t  be described as our  cup of tea but somewhere that is very important to the both of us.  We were going to Oropesa Del Mar, a very very Spanish beach resort town – think Benidorm for…

Well, my year (actually ten months) of isolation is now officially at an end.  My wife is finally home!   Hurrah! And I have been out more in the past week than I have in the past ten months as well, which is a bit weird but does confirm my status as the ultimate misanthrope.  Anyway,…

So, a few weeks ago, I made cheese on toast.  Lovely!  The next day I decided to do the same but this time add Worcestershire Sauce that had been in the fridge a while.  An hour later we were on the Mirador.  It’s a plateau that overlooks the village and you can see for miles…

I did a few plumbing courses many years ago in Bristol.  The first thing the very much old-school instructor told us was his number one rule; never encase your pipes in concrete.  He was scathing about those who think it is a good idea.  God only knows what he would have thought of the plumbing…