My life in Spain

After searching for more than 2 years for a new house I was about ready to give up. We’d travelled the country, mainly further north, and viewed so many possibilities that looked lovely online but hideous in real life. Then I spotted one online that looked more than interesting. The husband walked past the computer as I asked him to look, and said “too small” in passing. I only had up the first photo of the house, from the front, which looked a bit like a bungalow. However, when I made him look again and told him it had 6 bedrooms and 4 reception rooms, including a bodega, plus 2 courtyards and outbuildings and about three quarters of an acre of land, he managed a second look!

The rest is history. We went to view – it was about 150km from where we’d been living and was the most romantic looking place, over 100 years old with some add-on parts over the years, and with fabulous views of the mountains and pine trees.

We moved in during a very, very cold February and quickly discovered that the quaint little wooden shuttered windows were so draughty that the bitter wind whistled freely through every one of them. I think they might have been made by a 10 year old as a Primary School project. The first night we slept there Peter wore his ski suit and we had to put an actual rug on the bed as it was so cold!

When it rained – yes, it does rain in Spain – we quickly learned where the leaks were in the various roofs. At least we knew where to fix them!

The garden is going to take a bit of taming. Most of it is terraced and we need to make proper steps down to each level so I don’t hurl myself over by mistake and break my neck.

It’s a bit of a labour of love, this house, and will take a while to get it right. So far though, we’ve managed to have two upstairs terraces sealed, some damaged roof tiles replaced, and we’ve changed every window into new double-glazing-keep the cold-out fabulous ones! Happily they are still in keeping with the house, so not only do they do a great job at keeping out noise and wind, they look good too.

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The hot topic at the minute seems to be all about the menopause and its effects on women. I have to say I feel quite guilty that I never had a single symptom, so I got away with everything very, very lightly. However, I do remember when I was 52 thinking that if the change of life was coming then I was going to have a very big change, in a different way – so I moved to Spain!

My first house was a very standard 3 bed, 2 bath house with a lovely pool. I used to look out of my kitchen window and be totally amazed that I had a swimming pool all to myself, bliss!

My younger daughter, Alice, came with me to Spain. She is a qualified beauty therapist and she opened her own salon in our little town. Her clientele was made up of both English-speaking as well as Spanish people, so she learned to speak Spanish rather more rapidy than I did. She also had a Spanish boyfriend which also helped!

Winters in Almeria province are generally mild, to the extent that you can often have Christmas dinner outside on the patio, a real change from Northern Ireland.

There were so many changes in my first couple of years in Spain that looking back on things now it seems like a different life. I moved to Spain on St Patrick’s Day 2008, and in November of that year my mother died. A horrible shock, and even worse as I was no longer within a few miles of home.

However, the following year I met Peter, and we’ve been together ever since. So, together now for 14 years this year, and married for 4 years this September.

We lived together in my house – he was divorced and temporarily staying in an apartment in our little town, Arboleas, but had a big apartment in La Mata, near Torrevieja. We decided that we needed to buy a house that belonged to both of us so we put both properties on the market, took a big deep breath and found the house we now live in, the one you can see on the front page.

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