Do you like to draw your signature? Then you should come to Spain. We had to put more signatures on papers in these past months than in the last 10 years in the Netherlands. And we didn’t make any big purchases yet. I wonder what we will have to sign when we buy a house … Read more
I am trying to grow plants. The avocado took about 3 months before I could put that in the soil. By the way, that one is thriving now. It has several leaves and looks very healthy. The succulents were easy, which I expected. They had roots within a week. So now I tried some branches … Read more
On a regular basis, I read books about personal development. The latest is “Living by Design” by Nisandeh Neta. One of the pieces of advice in that book is ‘do new things’. From my own experience, I now know that this is very good advice. I have believed for the last couple of years that … Read more
This picture epitomizes our lifestyle. At least, if it comes to food. This is the fruit snack with which we start the day. And we do this already for years. As far as I can remember from 1991 onwards. In that year we went to the USA for the first time. But there is more … Read more
Once a year I do a 6-week program called “The Elements of Success”. One of the assignments is to create 7 goals. And one of those goals is that I want to ground. Having no house and no place with our own stuff around us might grow a sense of non-earthiness. Which I don’t want. … Read more
I don’t have a lot of pictures with a smiling Tom. Usually, he has some funny face, or looks awkward, or has something in his mouth so his face looks distorted. But now I know what makes him smile in a relaxed way: we have to buy a new car! 🙂 And as you can … Read more
Notwithstanding the fact that our current car, a Volvo V70, is still in fairly good shape, it’s about time to consider another one. Our car is from 2001 and has over 520.000 kilometers on the clock. The other car shouldn’t be too big and not too small. It has to be able to drive comfortably … Read more
I think we are adjusting to the Spanish timetable regarding food pretty well. In Spain lunch is the main meal of the day. It is served between 2 and 4 pm. In most restaurants and cafes you can have a menĂş del dĂa for 10€ over here.We either go out for a menu or we … Read more
Craftsmen, no matter if they are in the Netherlands or in Spain, always start with remarking that something is difficult, will cause many problems, or isn’t even possible at all. I am sort of getting used to that by now. So when the men of the internet came this morning I was well prepared. I … Read more
So far we are not very impressed by the service level of the Spanish shops, restaurants, or civil servants. In most cases, they give us the impression we should be grateful they take notice of us at all. But we are very grateful there are some outstanding exceptions. And these past few days were made … Read more