Happy New Year xxxx

... and wishing our reader a very Happy New Year too !!!

We thought we would do a bit of a 'year in review', so here are some pics from 2015 adventures ...

January saw us paddling about in the snow in Goyt Valley in the Peak District National Park ... 

In February, we bought our new motorhome (but we didn't pick it up 'til March) ...

March saw us waving goodbye to Diane and Ray from NB Ferndale, after they had wintered for a couple of months around Bollington ...

In early April we had a little cruise aboard NB Ewn Ha Cul with Dot and Gordon, while they were in the area ...

In May I went to see Man Utd play, with Diane and Ray from NB Ferndale ...

June saw us leaving Bollington ... here I am saying a sad farewell to the landlord of the Spinners arms ... 

Our travels in the new motorhome took us to Anglesea, Barmouth and Trefin in Wales, then to Bath, London and then to Stoneleigh to watch my niece show jumping.  On this occasion Neeko refused, catapulting Kimberley over the jump instead.  It was spectacular and thankfully neither horse nor rider were damaged ...

After sunny (!) Stoneleigh, August saw us at Cropredy Folk festival for three days, which was just fantastic ...

In September we were well underway on our European adventure.  This is a pic of our friends, Pat and Martin from Australia, who joined us for a couple of days in Collioure - such a top spot!

By October we had commenced our travels through Spain.  This is a pic of the dogs at Benicassim ...

By November we reached our lovely Mojacar ...

... and in December we moved into our new Villa!  This is the view from it ... 

So, that's it - just a few hightlights from a very eventful year!  

Once again, wishing you a very Happy New Year ...

Christmas Adventures...

Elaine's old school friend from Macclesfield has been staying with us over Christmas, which has been fun.

On Christmas Eve we went to the Emerald Isle Christmas party.

The dogs came to 'early doors' with us, then we took them home before the crowds arrived ...

It was by far the biggest crowd we have ever seen at the pub ...

Everyone was in the spirit! 

On Christmas day we went to one of the beach-side restaurants for lunch.  Unfortunately the head chef had done a runner the week before so we were a tad apprehensive!  The food, however, was pretty good but the service was absolutely woeful!  I wasn't too fussed that they undercharged us for the drinks at the end ... and the tip stayed in my pocket!

We took a Christmas selfie after lunch ...

For the rest of the Christmas week we just chilled and took Jane to a few of our favourite spots ...

We have also been looking after our Canadian friends' dog, Maxx, for a few days whilst they were out of town ...

Elaine had the pleasure of three dogs waking her in the morning ...

Jane left us on Monday so we decided to move up to the villa full-time.  We have been staying in the flat as we are paid up to the end of January but the lure of the house on the hill has proven too much!

We were lucky as there were no cars parked outside the flat so I squeezed the van around the back of the units right outside the door. We loaded the van quick smart and headed up the hill to the new abode ...

It's lovely to be in the big house, we have so much room ... we still cant believe it!

We went to an Iceland store today in the nearby town of Vera.  We have never been to one in the UK before so it was like being in a toy shop! We only popped in to buy a couple of things and ended up with a trolley load!  Everything is imported from the UK (and consequently all the labels are in English!).  I thought they only sold frozen goods but no it's a full-on supermarket selling everything from the UK.  Even the checkout chicks are English, so at least you get a smile when you hand over the hard earned!

Elaine was delighted to have found a range of Linda McCartney products in Iceland today ... so we had one of her pies for dinner, very nice it was too!  Treats from 'back home' are always worth their weight in gold!

Merry Christmas XXXXXX

Wishing our reader a very very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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The Start Of A New Life

A year ago today we signed up on a six month lease in Bollington in the UK. 

A few days ago we signed up for a one year lease on a villa in Mojacar Spain!

We really enjoyed our six months in Bolly and I am pretty sure we will enjoy our one year here, although to be fair we won't be here for the whole year as we will be going off on excursions in the motorhome and will probably cruise north for a wee while in the hotter months.

We have been busy lately, sorting out the new place. The owner left a few days ago and, in his words, 'do what you want with the place'.  He left everything behind, including all  the white goods, furniture, bedding, absolutely everything.

So today we just about finished sorting everything out.  We will personalise it a bit more once we collect all of our stuff from storage in Manchester and from my mum's house in Milton Keynes.  I'm not sure how we are going to get the goods here yet but we will find a way. 

We started off the day with, once again, a fantastic sunrise.  Sometimes I get up, watch it then go back to bed.  Actually, most times I go back to bed!

We then took the dogs for a walk along the paseo, as you can see the crowds haven't arrived yet. 

To the left ...

Middle ...

And to the right ...

We walked right to the end of the paseo then backtracked, walking along the beach ...

After the walk we headed up to the villa, where I took a few indoor shots.

This is the lower deck leading off of the bedrooms, it looks straight down the cliff out to the sea.

The framework is a flyscreen which covers all the outdoor areas. It looks a bit strange but the owner said he got so fed up with the flies and mozzies that he had it built and now you can sit outside all summer without getting eaten alive.  It will also allow us to have all the doors and windows open in the house, without having any nasties buzzing around ...

The upper deck leads off of the lounge and kitchen. This also has a perspex roof over it,so that we will be able to dine outside in all weather!  Once again, glorious views of the med ...

It also has a roof terrace which has 360 degree views. It was hot up there today so in the summer it would be unbearable, but it will be very handy to dry the washing! 

Looking up the hill which is a dead end, so very little passing traffic ...

You do get the best views from up there though ...

The main living room ...

Looking back towards the kitchen ...

Upstairs dunny.  It's all very Spanish in design, as is the whole villa ...

Laundry and store room (still being sorted!) ...

Ditto ...

Downstairs bathroom ...

Main Bedroom ... 

En suite ...

The smallest bedroom, which Elaine is making into her massage room.  She just needs her massage table in it now and she will be away ...

Ditto ...

The third bedroom, which will look a lot nicer when we have sorted it out a bit more ...

I had to take a pic of two passing tugs as the sea for the last few days has been so flat that you can't pick out the horizon!  It's just above the tugs ...

 Other news, very quickly cos it's getting late ...

Tonight we have been to a house warming of a couple we met a few weeks ago.  I went go kart racing yesterday with some local lads whose average age was about 25 ... they flogged me and I came last!  I was so knackered I had to go to bed at 19.30!   Finally we have another visitor arriving tomorrow, Elaine's old school friend, Jane, from Macclesfield who is joining us for Christmas.

We have the keys to the Villa!

We woke to a lovely sunrise this morning ... in anticipation of an exciting day ...

We went down to the Real Estate agents at noon, to sign the lease and pick up the keys to our new villa!

I took a pic whilst down there, ours is the place at the bottom left ...

- and zooming in further ...

It only took a few minutes to sign the lease and get the keys and then we zoomed up to the villa in the van!

Elaine started sorting out the lounge room while I took some pics.

This is the view from one of the outside areas ...

We are totally on our own up there.  These neighbours are below us ...

And this is the view behind us ...

I also bought his motorbike ...

It will be so handy when it gets busy here ...

We will post some photos of the inside of the villa when we have sorted it out a bit more!

So how did we end up with a fully furnished villa in the best place in Spain, you may ask??

Basically I met a bloke down the pub that I frequent!   I also met him last year when we were here. He is a very nice chap and extremely generous.  He owns a few properties around the world including one in Brisbane. 

He is moving to Australia for the next five years or more but didn't want to sell the Mojacar villa or leave it unoccupied.  He was living in Ireland so flew out here a few times a year.   

He offered it to us as 'caretakers', as in we live in it and look after it, pay the electric, water and gas ... and that's it!

We have a lease for a year, just to make everything legal and above board.

We are so happy, we can't believe our luck ... and we now have the 'base' that Elaine has been desperate for!

It also means we will keep the motorhome and use it to explore Spain, France and Portugal etc,. but just for short trips during the year.  

The moral to this story is ... 

Go to the pub as much as possible, you never know who you will meet!