I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. What other catchy title could I use for a post about capers? Just Capers sounded really boring, Caper-bility Brown was the wrong colour and Tossing The Caper sounded a bit […]
Orange Salad – A Culinary Ray Of Sunshine.
Back in the early days of our courtship, when Pete and I were first stepping out, he described in loving detail an orange salad that he’d eaten on previous family holidays in Spain. My first […]
Come And Join Us At Atelier 88
Opening in July! Atelier 88 is a new and exciting creative space in the heart of rural Andalucia. Stay with us and enjoy a genuine encounter with authentic Spain. Situated between Granada (Alhambra) and Cordoba […]
The Grand Tour #Rioja Vlog Dos
Here it is, The Grand Tour of our new project in Alcala la Real. It is a little longer than I had anticipated (and I’m not happy with the sound quality) but at least you […]
Learning The Ropes #RiojaVlog Uno
Wilma and I had an entire morning’s entertainment planned for you; fire-eaters, jugglers, the works, but the weather was so vile this morning, we had to abandon filming. I was hoping to give you a […]
Reportage From The Groves
I’ve had a fancy to try my hand at vlogging for some time. Ages in fact. With this in mind, and the fact that I’m going to be in front of the camera, I took […]
Linoleum Lottie
Here are a couple of lino cut prints that I’ve made this week; inspired by the house and the countryside around me. They are a work in progress as I’m new to lino (apart from […]
Busy With The Pooper Scooper
Just as Irishman and I had finally got some semblance of order back in our lives, there was a knock at the door. Stood on the doorstep was my dear friend Mo with a tiny […]
Scheming & Dreaming. The Latest From Your Iberian Correspondent.
Your Iberian Correspondent has been somewhat remiss on keeping up with her Rioja Diaries. Four months has lapsed since the last entry; enough time that were I a hamster, I’d have produced five litters of […]
Bloody Sunday
Mercifully, I can probably count on one hand the amount of times in my life that I’ve been so embarrassed or ashamed that I’ve wanted the ground to swallow me up, right there, right then. […]
Queremos, Podemos, Tenemos – One Year In Andalucia
It was a scorchio day in early August. Walking back down through the village after putting our rubbish in to the bin, I spotted Carlos coming out of his house. He was noticeably hot and […]
My Epic Mother Of The Bride Fail
As I troughed down the last of the roast potatoes, polished off the remnants of pudding, and then sank an entire packet of Jelly Belly’s, I vowed, not just to myself, but also to the […]
Snail Mail And A Postcard From Malta
Our Internet has been playing up, again. Nothing unusual but it is frustrating as we are dependant on it for work and keeping in touch with life on the other side of the mountain. I […]
A Wing And A Prayer – A Swallow’s Tale.
You may recall a couple of month’s back, my mentioning a visit from Mr and Mrs Swallow? Well, I’m sorry to say but there have been a series of unfortunate events that have occurred over […]
Concrete Jam And Ipads
Judging from the amount of homemade jam, pickles and chutneys that I now have stored in the larder, you’d be forgiven for thinking that I was some sort of Domestic Goddess like Nigella Lawson (I […]
Life In The Slow Lane
Temperatures have now hit the 40’s and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. On the plus side, washing dries in about 3 minutes flat – the downside is that in this sort of […]
Donkey Xote
An interesting feature of our sitting room and also something of a talking point, are the 6-inch long wooden penises that protrude suggestively from the back wall. These phallic oddities may seem incongruous surrounded by […]
The Axe Man Cometh
If it hadn’t been for Colin Snout, I’m not sure that we would have discovered Fort Bravo. I first went there by accident last November. It was the day that I’d arranged to collect Colin […]
Un Paseo Con Colin
I’m writing this post in bed. Hidden from view underneath the duvet is my companion, Colin Snout. He’s snoring loudly and I am watching the covers as they rise and fall to the rhythm of […]
Fairies & Cherries
The wait is over. Blossom has turned to fruit and the cherry harvest has begun. The trees are so laden with their scarlet bounty that the boughs are sagging under the weight. The ladies in […]
Swallows And Artichokes
Soon the cloudless Andalucían sky was teeming with swallows. Their fork tailed silhouettes swooping and darting across the brilliant azure. Beneath their flight path, Primavera had been busy spreading her verdant cloak across the landscape; […]
Fatty’s First Spanish Winter
Winter caught us with our pants down. Not only were we ill prepared, we hadn’t realized just how freezing it can get here. One minute we’d been enjoying the warm October sunshine; the next there […]
Twelve Grapes
The novelty of pooing in a bucket wore off sooner than I had imagined . I’d rather hoped that the entertainment factor would see me through at least a few weeks but in fact it […]
Extra Virgin
No sooner had the frenzy of chorizo and sausage making finally ground to a halt and the last rings of La Matanza’s prized morcilla been hung out to dry, than it was time for the […]
La Matanza – Rural living in Andalucia
For days afterwards, the smell of onions permeated everything; it was in my hair, on my hands, impregnated in my clothes. My hands were cut to shreds and fingers stained dark brown from the onion […]
Know Your Spanish Onions
I think I must have downed at least four sherries whilst sat in the bar with Antonia, pondering on what to do with the mysterious icons. I weaved my way back to the house, went […]
Mysterious Happenings At Bleak House
The novelty of camping in our new home ended the moment the builders arrived. Up until that point we’d been coping well; it was basic living, but we were managing. Within days of their starting […]
Introducing Colin Snout. Rescue Me!
The chocolate brown eyes looked lovingly up at me from inside Manolo’s coat. ‘Oh you little darling’ I said, lifting the puppy from Manolo’s arms and taking the furry bundle into my own. ‘He is […]
My Cup Runneth Over
Within a week or so, quotes starting arriving for the various building works that we urgently needed to do. So far we’d been lucky with the weather. Although it had become cold at night, each […]
Which Juan? That Juan? Or This Juan? Or The Other Juan?
Looking on the bright side, having a car with a mind of its own did mean that we got to meet most of the villagers on our first day. Perhaps not the most orthodox social […]
The Joy Ride
Paco seemed most amused at being the bearer of bad news. He watched the shock on our faces as our eyes scanned the empty parking spot where the car had previously stood. He started laughing, […]
Buckets Of Fun
It must have been around 1.30am when I woke up needing a pee. I rolled over to get out of bed but some force of gravity pushed me back down into the centre of the […]
Our Baptism Of Fire
< Irishman squeezed my hand lovingly. This was it, our baptism of fire. Our initiation into Spanish village life was about to begin. We parted the beaded curtain and walked into the dimly lit bar. […]
The Road From Bilbao
The first roundabout we encountered outside the Port of Bilbao proved something of a challenge. Just for the record, we went around it 10 times. ‘The road map, Lottie, where’s the bloody road map?’ ‘ […]
The Bucket List
The last of the bags, bedding, and essentials, had been crammed into the back of the car. All that remained for me to do the moment that Irishman’s back was turned, was to smuggle in […]
Eid al-Adha Jakarta 2013 : The Feast Of Sacrifice
I must warn you that this post contains graphic images of animals being slaughtered. If you are vegan, vegetarian or in any way squeamish, then please do not read it. If on the other hand […]
Glue, Codeine & Beer – The Perks Of Packing
God only knows what goes into the glue here but it’s good! I’ve been up since 5am packing and my back is now knackered. A fistful of 30mg codeine, a few cans of beer and […]
Mi aerodeslizador está lleno de anguilas – Lottie’s answer to learning Spanish
I know Irishman meant well and was only trying to offer encouragement by telling me that Thomas Jefferson taught himself Spanish in nineteen days, but did I really need to hear it? I’m pretty sure […]
Yes, we’ve arrived in Jakarta! (Looking Back At My First Post)
Originally posted on Lottie Nevin – The Rioja Diaries:
The Prelude In the past week we have travelled over 17,442 miles. We’ve both laughed and we’ve cried. There has been a divorce and a marriage…
Lottie’s Survival Tips For Big Girls In Jakarta #2
I rarely wear knickers so buying skimpies in Jakarta hasn’t as yet posed a problem. Unfortunately, though I may get away with going commando, I cannot for health and safety reasons abandon my büstenhalter. Since […]
Memory Lane – Two Years Down The Line
Two years ago today, I received an anxious phone call from our removal company. ‘Mrs. Nevin, we have an 18 tonne articulated lorry parked outside your house and 4 packers ready to box your things […]
Lottie’s Survival Tips For Living In Jakarta #1
Before I leave Jakarta, I feel honour and duty bound to write at least one post on vittels. This post is therefore dedicated to fellow lushes and curry freaks, especially the ones who find them […]
Plato’s Cave In Jakarta
I’ve not written about my bowels for ages, months in fact. There was a time when almost every post I wrote had some reference to having the shits or being rendered housebound by flatulence or […]
Rare Sighting Of Unicorn In Bali
“Visitors flocked to the Kintamani area of Bali yesterday after hearing reports that a unicorn had been sighted earlier in the day” “We are told that the unicorn caused quite a stir. Babies screamed, and […]
Taking A Left Turn Or, How The Other Half Live
After arriving at an ungodly hour of the morning at Soekarno-Hatta airport, I checked in for my Emirates flight back to London via Dubai and then went to find a cup of coffee. As the […]
Holding My Nerve And, A Near Miss With A Rabbit Hutch.
Before I venture any further with this story, it might be helpful to first explain why in the end we decided to focus on Spain rather than Portugal as a place to re-locate to. Having […]
Lottie’s Project – House Hunting In Andalucia
Two weeks ago, I was flying off on a mission. Armed with a motley assortment of Irishman’s maxed out credit cards, airplane tickets, vouchers for hotel and car hire in Malaga and whatever clothes I […]
Just A Bit Of Fun – F/2.8
A spectacular sunrise greeted me the other morning as I stumbled bleary-eyed from my bed. Keen to capture this rare treat for posterity (there is normally too much smog) I grabbed my camera and went […]
Fancy A Walk?
I’m taking you on a walk today. You’ll need to be nimble, have 20/20 vision, good hearing and a sense of humour. Kick off your kitten heels and put on your flatties, I can assure […]
Driving The Vicar
About 13 years ago, I moved with my first husband and our five young children to a small, pretty village on the edge of the Dales in North Yorkshire. We had previously lived in a […]
