That's it...I have done it now......

Well the contract (of sorts) is signed. Or rather the two pieces of paper that the estate agents wrote herself the night before and really doesn't have much on it is signed. I think it is more of a case that it is an agreement between me and the landlord and if broken my name would be mud in these here parts forever. He took a deposit and we shook hands and signed. He is a very nice and honest looking ex teacher who is retired and seems a really nice man. He will teach me to look after the pool and water the land and he has said we can have all the fruit we want and salad and other produce from his other house too. He seems sweet, but talks very fast!! He just talks at me like I can understand every word. So we go up to the house next week again to have another look around and take some pics for you guys. I can then try and remember what is there and what I need from England. We went to the park again last night and did the activities. We also went to visit another family today who home educate  five year old boy here. I am trying to slow down, but there seems to be something every day to do. We are off to the market again tomorrow and hope to then have a few days of nothing...We will see.

This is the park in Lanjaron where we do the crafts and chat with other mums. (Or just listen mostly!)

And this is Lanjaron.

This is the view from the camp site we are in now.

So the count down begins until we can move into the house. we move in on the 12th and it will be wired not having all our stuff over here. It will be very good to get into a house though and we will really have had enough of the caravan by then. It is hot here now, however we are lucky that where the caravan is there is a breeze nearly every afternoon. We went to visit the local Steiner school here yesterday. It is a tiny school (not legal here yet) run out of three large yurt like structures. They don't have many children and it isn't very organised. As the Montessori only goes up the age 6, maybe there would be room for a decent run provision here? I am thinking though it would be better to teach English as a after school thing to local children and maybe on a Saturday, and then just home educate ours during the week. This would give us more time together as a family and still hopefully provide the income that we need to get by on. I think this is what I will try first. I will wait until we are back in October and then set it up and advertise. There are loads of boards, shops, and places that I can advertise for free here and I will approach the local school s when they start back too. Until I have all my teaching stuff from England I don't want to start here as I want to look as professional as I can from the start as reputation is everything here. If I can get it right from the start it will work. If not people just won't come. So now we wait. I will try and keep meeting local people and have been invited to a choir meeting on Friday evening. I can take the children and they only speak in Spanish. It will be good for me and I will get to meet some more people. Plodding on with forging a new life for my family, where hopefully my husband can join us and we can all be together in the sun....plodding, plodding, plodding......

Glad i'm making the effort...but knackard.

So we are off to sign the house contract tomorrow and I am starting to think about if I am doing the right thing. It is a gamble when you take any house as you don't really know what you are getting until you live there, but with numerous other variables such as not know the weather here in winter, who stays for winter, or generally anything about the place other then what I have seen, everything is new and unknown here. Oh well, six months and we will really know by then!.  If it all goes pete tong we get on the ferry and come back. (This is what I keep saying to myself) I was only planing a few months and right now I don't want to go back so it feels right.  I don't however want to do much longer in the caravan. Living in a small box with two children for four months has been hard at times and I miss being in a room on my own to sleep. It is like the waltons here at night. We all say good night and I turn off the light. I haven't stayed up later then the children in three months, and they sleep 50cm away. It will be nice to have the space and moving from the caravan to the house will be like moving into a museum. I won't know what to do with myself. We will defiantly need visitors...hint hint! I have been dragging myself down to the park in Lajaron in the evenings to do the craft sessions laid on there. It has proved really helpful in meeting two English families in the area and with practising my Spanish, or listening to it at least. It is a bunch of Spanish mums and me sat around a table doing crafts with the children. It is interesting that they are still at the stage here with education where they do it all for the children because it is more important it looks nice and neat at the end then the children learn from it. They are not sure what to make of Amys entirely own efforts compared to the rest of the ones on the table made by the parents and not the children. They all struggle to get it to look exactly as the picture show and the children are mostly just allowed to do odd bits or colouring on a piece of paper while the adults make the craft. It is very funny. They all laughed when Amy coloured here sheep's wool blue to be different. It isn't a problem though. They are a nice bunch and really impressed with my effort to learn Spanish. They say that they think English is much harder to learn and they would really struggle to learn it, so the fact that I am here learning Spanish is viewed with respect. It is an effort to get there as it doesn't start till 6pm and by then I am knardard and not wanting to pile in the car and drive up the hill. However when I get there I realise that it is the only way to meet people. Sitting in the caravan is not going to get me far. We wondered around Lajaron this morning and brought the biggest bag or churrios you have ever seen. They sell them by the kilo and cover them in sugar while warm. The kids loved them we walked around while the munched and looked at all the shops selling massive hams and local honey. We also went to the park today to a gathering for charity. There was a massive paella , drinks and live Spanish music. It was really nice and although I didn't meet any families I did chat to a couple of ladies who live here and saw a lot of the English people who have lived here a very long time. I don't think they mix much with the people they consider to be passing through. I have to go off to Motril on Tuesday to get an NA number from the police station to register for the house. I will then officially be a temporary resident of Spain. I don't know what I am doing...but do we ever really. I do know that I wanted to come here and see if it would work, and that is what I am doing. If it will or not is out of my control ultimately. I can just do my best and see. Hasta Manana...until tomorrow...

Photos to follow when my pone has finished having a breakdown....

Ok...this is scary....

We went to see a house yesterday that was amazing. It has five big double bedrooms, some with three beds in, enough parking for loads of cars, out door kitchen, oh and a pool. It has a massive room on the side of the house that I can use for teaching space and set up as a after school or holiday club and a terrace where you can see the mountains.  The garden has a massive covered area and grass, and then there is the massive orange, lemon, and olive grove all around the house the children can run and play in. As many oranges as you could want! I spent the whole viewing with my mouth open. And all for £397 a month. I couldn't believe the space. It made our house in England look small! So after talking to Tim we sign the contract on Monday for six months. This will give me chance to see if I can really get work out here or not. If not we can return to England and just rent again. I must admit I was really scared as I walked around the house and it dawned on me what we are doing. This could be the start of something new where we get to all be together at last all the time. We are in the village of Orgiva, 25 mins from the skiing, 35 from the beach and an hour to Granada. I have no idea how this is going to go, but if it all goes wrong we just come back. So the plan is to return to England in September and pack up the house. We will then bring the stuff we need over here and try and sell the rest. Tim is going to try and manage as much of the business over the winter as he can from here, but we will still rent a small place for him and as a foot hold in the uk too. So we can move in on the 12 August. We have two spare rooms in the house and the caravan for people to come and stay. I don't know if it will work here work wise, but we have to be here long enough to give it a try. We will get internet installed in the first week and then we can skype everyone at last! It all seems serious now, but I keep reminding myself that we are just renting and can come back at any point. The point of doing this is to see if it will work without the long term commitment of buying.  Pictures of house and others to follow on Monday. Sending a big hug to all...xxx

Erm...that didn't go to plan........

So we go to the house today to find that things didn't go to plan at all. First the caravan would not get up the drive which is by far the steepest hill we have tried so far. The angle was just to steep and it just hit the ground with a thud. Doh, Then we were told on arrival that the water that supplies the house is agricultural water and it will be shut off at the start of next month and will not fill up until it rains again, Which of course could be some time here! So I politely declined the house and moved on to the camp site down the road. On arriving at the camp site we were told that it was closed for the rest of the summer as it is being sold and they are not taking on customers until the new owners move in. Oh, we said, erm.....We explained we were looking for a rent in the area and the situation and they very kindly said we could stay anyway! We have a reduced rate and nobody else on the site at all. The pool is great and we have the run of the place. I have had a call to say there is a house to look at tomorrow down the road. I have no details about it at all, but am going to have a look and see just for the fun of it I think. In the mean time we are exploring a lot and I managed to go to the optician and get some prescription sun glasses ordered. We are chilling at the caravan tonight and then off to see the house tomorrow and back to the park for more crafts in the evening. I am trying to get out and meet people, but at the moment I am tiered and feeling like I just need to rest for a bit. I just need a few days of feeling like I have stopped. We are moving every few days and both the children and myself are feeling it. I will be glad when we find somewhere to stop for a bit longer and feel a bit like home. No more running around and a few days of doing nothing is well needed. We will see....

Driving over lemons.......

The last few days have been mad. We have been up and down mountains, (and I mean that literally!) through rivers, up valleys, and in some places I never would have imagined. We went to see another family yesterday who live on the bottom of a river bed. They live in a really big truck and to say it was hot down there was an understatement. They were lovely and have a little girl of five. The children played all afternoon and we had a lovely time. To get to it though you have to drive first up the mountain and then down into the valley and across the river bed. I am so glad I got a 4x4! It is well needed here. So we got back late last night and went straight to bed and then we got up this morning and went off to see another family. If I thought yesterday track was tough I was in for a shock today. Up a gravel travel climbing in first gear all the way and peeing my pants we went. I never thought I would have done that in my life ever. However the view from the top was breath taking. We stayed for the afternoon and the children played and swam and it was the one year olds birthday so we had food and sang. It was lovely. We then stopped in on the village of Lanjaron to see what the park was like and there in the middle was a beautiful waterfall running all the way through. It was stunning. There was a group of people there doing kids crafts and we stopped and made a pompom with them. I got chatting to an English man who has been here 23 years. He said that there should be lots of work for an English teacher here as there isn't anyone doing it at the moment around here. He said that he could put me in contact with the local school and a language centre in Orgiva. The kids got on really well and we said we would meet up again on Sunday as there is going to be a fiesta in the park then with food and live music all afternoon. I came away really positive. I also met a lady who has a house to rent. She has said that we can have it cheaply to stay in for a while rather then staying in the camp site. So we are  moving the caravan there on Thursday to have a two bedroom house with....and get this...a washing machine, internet, and running water! It has two bedrooms in the house, but also a 7mt yurt in the garden. It is beautiful. It has lemon and orange trees in the garden and a couple of hammocks. We are going to buy a blow up pool tomorrow to stick in the garden and some more tarps to have where we really want loads of shade. It will give us loads more room though and be much cheaper for August then the camp site. I will take some pics when we arrive on Thursday. We can park the caravan and have the house, yurt and out side space to ourselves. It will be lovely. It is also in between the villages of Orgiva and Lanjaron, which are the two we want to spend loads of time in. We are going to head to the market on Thursday too, which is meant to be amazing. There is certainly loads going on here and I have fallen in love with it, and everyone is so nice here.  Lets see what the next week bring. We are all a bit travel weary and looking forward to having a firm base for a month at least.....On with the adventure.

Am I the only one that didn't know about Benificio?........

Ok, so how was I to know that the area I had come to was one of the most famous, erm how do I put this?....hippy camps in Spain, if not the world. Yes I went to see the family yesterday who live right in the middle of the most stunning valley. It is all wooded with a river running right down the middle. We travelled through what could only be described as a travellers site with vans and trucks parked up and then entered a wooded area where there was lots of random people with no where else to go. She explained that this was the travelling area where people passed through. I felt a bit uncomfortable here, but then we continued through the woods and there on either side pitched up amongst the trees are tipis, yurts, huts built out of scrap and the most pretty cob houses. Now when I say it was a hike up to her house, I really mean it. I was panting like a dog by time I got to the top of the valley where she had built her cob house. It was really steep and me and my fip flops felt it. Note to anyone planning on going...no flip flops! We climbed all the way up to find a tiny little hut made of cob that she had built all her self. On a ridge over looking the whole valley. She was lovely and we chatted for ages about the home ed project they wanted to start in the valley. They had built a cob house that the teacher would live in and they would pay a wage in food. I realised as we were talking that the possibility of me doing this was a no goer as feeding five of us and living a one room hut just isn't an option. It was lovely to meet them though and she gave me loads of numbers and contacts for of other home ed families in the area. She explained that it was fine her and people where used to seeing the children out and about during the day. So before it got dark I rapidly made my way down of the ridge, mostly on my bum, and back through the "traveller" bit and drove of the very scary track that leads to the valley. Be warned your heart will be in your mouth! So now I have lots of telephone numbers for people in the are and am off tomorrow to meet some other families and have a look around the town. I will try and get some pics, although while trying to scramble up a cliff this isn't easy. I will go back though to see the families that I have met, so I will try and get some them. Who needs a gym here!

Ok, so that didn't go so well?.....

Sigh.....So much has happened since I last wrote that I will find it hard to recall it all, but here goes. After I last blogged I called the family and went over to meet them for the day on the Monday (I think???) Anyway, I had learnt my lesson well and was not just about to tow the caravan on to someone's land with out first having met them and spent some time with them. We all know what you can end up with. So off we went. We arrived and I was talked at non stop pretty much with out drawing breath for the first two hours. The dad of the family ranted about (and these are the thing I can remember) his plan for the land, a community, how people had come and gone and not been right, how the police were horrible here, how all other land apart from there's was bad, how all the ex pats in the area took drugs and were not nice, oh and how they had just had a court case because the social services had wanted them to send their children to school and vaccinate them, also that there were aliens up on the mountains around them. (This was in passing and I though was a joke at this point) Basically it will be hard life here. I felt really drained at this point. They explained how they wanted people to come and work the land with them, but I got the real feeling that he would want it all done his way s rightly so it was his land. I couldn't see it working. Anyway we were jut staying for a while and would park our caravan up the hill or the duration of our stay and just help out a bit. There kids seemed lovely and fair enough. Then he went out and the mum got really emotional and talked about how she was lonely and isolated. Their son had no one to play with and she was really frustrated about waiting for seven years so far for the right people to come. She cried and got upset at being so isolated and also spoke about how the dad would shout a lot and this was why others had left. I think he is very dominant and people have found this hard to deal with. I felt very sorry for her. They had moved out here, got their dream bit of land, animals, sun, but no people at all. They didn't get on with the villagers or their neighbours either. My heart did go out to her......Then she started talking about the aliens again. Ok, then the penny dropped. They were not joking. So I had managed to find depressed, broke, isolated alien believing healers in the middle of Portugal. Well, with the luck I have had with families so far what did I expect. She desperately wanted us to come and stay (unsurprisingly) and we left saying that we would call in a few days if we were going to come and stay. 

We didn't call. 

On the way back to the camp site we passed what looked a abandoned puppy by the side of the road. This upset me as what the hell could I do. (Still feeling bad about this) and several drunken men staggering out in the road shouting?

So we woke up on the Tuesday to pouring rain which lasted all day. We went into the local village and got tug buy the prices. I think this is due to the nearest big town being a long way away. We sat in the caravan chatted and decided that we were heading back to Spain. Portugal wasn't for us. I felt it was just too rural for us. (Sorry Clare! We will visit when your settled I promise. xx) We need to be a bit nearer a big town and I was missing my Spanish very much. So we woke up...oh God I don't know Thursday? and headed of to Sevilla with the plan of exploring Granada. Why I don't know? I wanted too. We got to Sevilla yesterday and stayed one night before heading to Granada where we are now. During this two days I managed to get on the internet, this is not easy here, and get an email from someone near Granada who is looking for someone to run some home school sessions. How weird! So we got in contact and are of to meet them all tomorrow. Apparently this area is the biggest congregation of home eders in Spain! There are loads and a Montessori school and a Steiner. I had no idea. We are off to a community in a valley an hour away who re starting a home school project and want someone to run it. They are building a straw bale house for the person to live in. I have no idea what to expect other then being told that all sorts of people live there in some kind of a community and there are in their words "hippies and punks" there. I'm really interested. We have been invited to go and stay with the caravan, but due to all of my experiences so far being, lets say, a bit dodgy we are visiting for the day. I will up date you when we get back. Wish me luck! Glad to be back in Spain and Matt currently sat in the caravan with a Spain friend. Really like it here a lot. 

The mountains in the back ground are the Sierra Nevada. There is still some snow on the top. Tim would love to live here....he can snow board in winter!