Welcome to our new house page

Well, after 32 years living in Huddersfield we have finally decided to move. We fancied a change, something different, a new challenge in life, A patio to sit on and watch the Oranges grow, A pool to cool down in. Sun in the winter and summer, and the mother-in-law 1250 miles away.

So we bought another house and we now can sit back and live the dream. Oh I forgot we have to take the roof off and build a roof terrace. Oh and take the cow sheds down and build the pool. And then there are the solar panels to put up and the central heating to install, and the 30 new double glazed windows and doors, and 3 kitchens and bathrooms. But then we will be able to sit back and watch the Oranges grow.

Our first guest can't wait for us to move in.

February 2003 we find our ideal house only about 30 years old and large enough for us to turn it into a house for us to live in, and to make 2 holiday apartments by utilizing the garage that is big enough to get a Double Decker bus into. The village of Chite is only about 10 minutes away from Casa Eras, so it makes it very convenient to look after both houses.

The road into Chite and a seat to practice watching the Oranges grow

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September 2003 Well we finally arrived the house is still standing and in good order after all these months standing empty. Our furniture arrived a few days later but because of all the work that is to take place a lot of it will stay boxed up in the garage.
We have made great progress the first week new washer and fridge ordered and delivered, telephone installed. new car ordered, not delivered due to us being unable to find our NIE number eventually found in the bottom of box 69 in the garage.
8th September garage rang to say just telling them number was not good enough they needed to see the original document it was written on, they must have been worried we had made it up.
9th September garage rang to say the document was not enough they needed to see the original document with the number on and the original documents to prove we owned the house which is why you need an NIE number in the first place.
Peter Hinchcliffe from the Huddersfield Examiner rang to enquire about doing an article for his column about Huddersfield folk who have moved abroad so watch this space.
10th September Garage rang to say we could have the car. so we dashed straight round before they could change their minds. So we are the proud owners of a Renault Kangaroo ( I know all the things I have said about the French but it does fit the bill for what we wanted)

Tel +34 958 795 328

21st September. Well still no progress on the building front, but the Architect is coming on Monday morning so hopefully we should start marking headway. Thursday was very exciting with the hills behind us catching fire. None of this 3 firemen and a hose pipe to put it out that you get back in the UK. Oh no we get a sea plane and helicopters filling up in the local reservoir and water bombing it very exciting.

The weekly Granada bus stops outside our door

We found this Hen in the barn after we had bought the house

If any body knows how to turn about half a ton of grapes into wine will you let me know

11th October The weeks race by but we are still awaiting our plans. We have had an excellent week for achieving other things. Our new freezer was replaced with another new one because it would not freeze. Our old water heater was replaced by Birt the Irish plumber because it was leaking. We bought a new bed a settee and a gas fire on Monday and they were all delivered the same day. So some times they can move fast

25th October. Well things are really moving now our Architect has completed the plans and submitted them to the college of Architects in Granada. once we get approval from them they can go to the local council for approval. Both these processes appear to be a way of extracting money from the gullible i.e. British.

20th December. How time flies nearly Christmas and things are just starting to appear in the shops. The sun is shining we keep having lunch on the terrace, I could get used to this living in Spain thing.
With just hours to go before Olwyns sister arrives on holiday for Christmas we hear that the council are likely to pass our plans. This is good news because up until now I have not being able to make any alterations to the house at all. So having watched all those TV programs on how to do your house up in 24 hours. I set to work and got really busy and built some new internal walls fitted a new window and door rewired the electrics put a central heating radiator in laid a new floor painted the walls and so now we have a smart new guest bedroom. At this rate the whole house will be finished in 2 weeks.

!st January 2004 Happy New Year to everyone. The sun is shining the oranges are ready for picking and spring flowers are appearing in the hedge rows. Its been a long winter but it looks like the worst is behind us now. Good news on the building front our builder says he can start on the 2nd of February, he also says we just have to go to the council now to get our licence. He also believes in Father Christmas! any way we shall see what happens this coming week when everyone gets back to work.

Thursday 15 January The sun is still shining and now the Almond blossom is out. On Tuesday the local policeman turned up to say that we had been granted our building licence. You then have to pay 2% of the actual building cost to the council and they then issue the licence. Never having had a building licence before, and also requiring a letter from the council saying that we lived in Chite so we could get the tax sorted out on our car that we have been driving for 4 months, we decided it would be better if we took our Spanish friend Eugenio, who knows everybody, with us. This was a wise choice, it was just like a Brian Rix comedy without the trousers dropping. The cast in order of appearance were Roberto town Clerk. two secretaries, the policeman, the roadsweeper, another clerk and the Mayor, all smoking under the no smoking sign and the clock stuck at 8.30. The play took place in various rooms with us and the cast dashing from one to the other with a hand full of papers that were always in the wrong room. The proceedings kept being interrupted by various members of the town who kept coming in and joining in the fun. The last act was finished when they all realised that we had bought the house from Gloria! The final curtain fell and we left, waving good bye to all our new friends. and clutching our building licence and letter signed by the mayor for the car tax.

Monday 2nd February We got up early Monday morning eager to welcome the team of builders who were going to transform our miserable living conditions into our dream palace. 10.30 with no sign of the builders I phone up to find what has happened. The village where the builders live have declared Monday and Tuesday a Fiesta to celebrate the good fortune that has fallen upon the local trades people in the last few days.

Friday 7th February 3 men and a JCB arrive on Wednesday morning and soon got to work demolishing the cow sheds, good progress was made till 11.30 when the JCB broke down. It took about 2 hours to fix, just in time before they disappeared for lunch. By evening the site is cleared. Thursday they dig the foundations.

I only tried to put a picture hook in

Tuesday 2nd March. We have moved out and are staying at the cottage. The builders are concentrating on building the new pool and kitchen only coming inside to work when it rains, which at the moment is quite regularly. One of the agreements we had with the builder was that we had to move back into our house on the 20th March. This was no problemo 2 months ago. Looking at the state of the house it looks like we are going to live with the builder on the 20th.

Our bedroom lounge and kitchen

Friday 9th April. Well the builder missed the 20th March date and we had to move from the cottage because of a holiday booking. We moved to a house about 5 miles away belonging to some friends, we stayed a week and then back to the cottage with an optimistic promise from the builder that we could have our house back on the 10th of April and a total finish date of the 30th of April. Well what a surprise! We discover today that our house has no windows, doors, bathrooms, electric or water so it is back to our friends house again.

Thursday 29th April. Well what an exciting 2 weeks we have had. It started a week last Monday by us hassling the builder to finish 3 rooms for us to move back into the house. Guess what? he promised that he would be able to move us in on time. On the Tuesday we got a note that he wanted half of the final amount that we owe him. Now I was brought up to believe that you paid the final amount when the job was completed, and we still have no Doors, Windows, Water, Electric, Bathrooms and the odd internal walls are missing. So a meeting was called for this Monday so that we could discuss a way round our differing views on who should pay what to whom and when. The meeting basically consisted of me and my friend John who was acting as interpreter and a guest appearance by the builder who was busy with telephone calls. After 15 minutes of no meeting apart from his demands for payment we decided to leave telling him to set up another meeting when it would be convenient for him to attend. His parting shot was if we walked out he would pull his men off the job and that is the only promise he has kept in the 3 months he has been working. So at the moment the house is at a stand still and we are staying at our friends house a few more weeks.

Monday 28th June. Well after 3 weeks absence the builder finally reappeared, Our Architect had entered into the negotiating process and eventually persuaded him that it might be better to complete the project and keep his good name.
The men reappeared, we paid him a bit of money, and we got a firm promise that we could move into one of the apartments on the 1st July, and a total finish date of 31st July. Do I hear you whispering that pigs may fly. I have also started to work at the house in the hope that my presence there may encourage them a little. Progress has been made we now have most of the windows in, the roof terrace is tiled, the upstairs walls are plastered, and the water is ready to be connected. They tried to connect it on Friday but there so many leaks, we had en- suite showers in all rooms. We intend to move in by the 12th of July.

Saturday 28th July. We kept our promise that we would move in on the 12th, it came as a shock to the builders when they turned up on the Monday morning, I don't think they were expecting us to move into the dump they had left Friday afternoon. After a fortnights work I have managed to fit a new kitchen and bathroom in the upstairs apartment, and we have a temporary electric supply, so as long as we continue to wear our rose tinted spectacles we can believe we have a modicum of comfort. The latest estimate from the builders for completing the project is 2-3 months, this is from the man doing the work, not the man taking the money, so we might stand a better chance of hitting this date.

Sunday 15th August. Well August is the big holiday season in Spain and we were led to believe that there would be no building work taking place anywhere. But surprise surprise we awoke on the Monday morning to find 6 builders hammering on the door to get in. This has thrown our plans astray apart from me being the great provider of tools, how they ever manage to build a house without bringing any tools with them is a mystery to me, but they will be alright on the next house as my tool box appears to be getting lighter. We are also the provider of Ice cream lollies and Melon but our stocks had run out, and our offer of a nice cup of tea did not produce the normal response you expect from builders.
They have completed the plaster work and ceiling down stairs and the floors have been prepared for the underfloor heating, upstairs our apartment has now got doors so at least we have some privacy, well we would if on the same day that they fitted the doors they did not decide to bring wheelbarrows full of cement through the lounge so they could work on the balcony. Still at least we can now see some light at the end of the tunnel although its a bit hazy at the moment.

September
Well just to catch us out all the builders decided to take a fortnights holiday, this was unannounced, having told us that they were just going to take 2 days for a Fiesta. At the end of the month the foreman who has been on the job from the beginning kept his promise that he would be finished by the end of the month. He went off to another job.

October 22nd
Well virtually all the building work is now completed, we have now got the walls in for the kitchen, all the windows are in and 2 of the external doors arrived midweek and were fitted the same day. The central heating boiler and radiators are here and the underfloor heating is laid. One thing that does seem to puzzle them is the flue's for our wood burning stoves, they eventually built the chimney but I think this was a good will gesture on their part because we had kept nattering them to install it.We nattered before they tiled the roof terrace so that they would not have to make holes in the new tiles, We nattered before they plastered the upstairs ceiling so that they would not have to make more holes in the plaster, and we nattered again before they put the ceiling up down stairs, but to no avail, we have got holes everywhere. Most of our neighbours have allotments or campos and we keep being inundated with fresh produce, many a time we will go out and find a big bag of vegetables or fruit hanging on the door, and this is despite all the noise, mess, rubbish, and the general inconvenience caused by all the sand and skips that are permanently parked in the street.

November 14th
Well the big day arrived on Friday, the builders finally finished. But our excitement was spoilt by an angry confrontation with Pepe the builder. He wanted us to pay the full and final amount of money for the completed project. He could not understand our reluctance to part with any more money, when he still had to supply all the internal doors, install the central heating, finish the pool, and a few other jobs. He asked us to trust him, and that all the work would be finished by the following Monday, this is the day after one supplier had told us it would take 3 weeks to make a window. The hole for the window has not changed in 3 months, and the carpenter has not started to make the doors yet. We think we are wise to Pepe's ways, but each time we meet him he has a new scam for trying to extract money from us.

December 24th
They finally fitted the big sliding door on the pool yesterday, the internal doors were fitted a week ago and the central heating is working. You can't believe that central heating is required when you look out of the window cloudless blue sky and temperatures in the 20 degrees, but once the sun goes the temperature falls. The heating system for the house is designed to run from solar panels supplemented by an oil fired boiler and they said that it would take 1 week to install., After a month of coming and going by the heating engineers ,and technical engineers from the manufacturers. new pumps, valves, computers and a lot of pipe work that is connected then disappears. They finally told us yesterday that this is the first system in Andalucia like this. This filled us full of confidence, but at least they do appear to be slowly getting the system fine tuned and working to maximum efficiency. The pool is leaking so we are awaiting a pool specialist who is going to fix it. This will probably mean some one will turn up with a tube of silicone. We have finally got the small apartment ready for our first guest in January and the larger apartment where we are living at the moment is nearly finished so things are definately improving

Since May we have only had 3 wet days, at the end of November, which brought some welcome snow to the ski resort and made the mountains of the Sierra Nevada look even more impressive than they are already. This past year I have managed to do quite a number of walks with my friend John. The range of walks from forest and river side to spectacular high mountain make this area the most interesting walking country I have ever come across.

26th March 2005
With the summer season fast approaching we have been very busy trying to get the house in a fit state for our guests, but I keep getting distracted sorting problems out caused by our builder, the latest is that the he is refusing to pay the subcontractors who supplied the heating and windows,even though we paid him in November, and this means they are unwilling to come back to sort out some problems that have arisen. It may be time to get the base ball bat out again and pay him another visit. That said the pool is now finished and is looking good.
We have now decided on a name for our house henceforth it will be called Casa Solares because of the prominent feature our Solar panels are on the village landscape, and the 2 apartments are named after the flowers that adorn them Jasmine and Rosa.
What started out as 2 old geezers going out for a walk has now expanded into a group of 30 ad hoc members and misfits going out most weekends for a walk in the hills and valleys then back to someone's house, usually ours, to sample the local wines, beers and tapas. Collectively we are known as the Lecrin Valley Limpers.

The lounge area in Jasmine

Limpers staggering home

Well the house is finished, except for the finishing off things, and the bits that we could not decide how we wanted them at the time, and you know how it is there is always something that needs doing, changing, replacing. I think that the biggest change must be to our lounge. What once was the garage, and then became the store room and general tip for all our possessions, is now a room of tranquillity and appears to be the size of a football pitch. Well suited to the increasingly popular Lecrin valley Limpers after walk tapa parties. The group continues to grow and there are now over 50 members fortunately not all out at once. I can't decide if they are coming for the walks or the tapa afterwards, but it is all good fun with some fabulous walks and wonderful meals to look forward to.
We had the first real rain of the year at the weekend and some snow on the Sierra Nevada Mountains, hopefully this will help the water shortage situation a bit, but we need a lot more before the reservoirs recover. The situation was not helped when some idiots went for a walk in the mountains at the beginning of September, finding themselves slightly lost they decided to ring some friends up and get them to drive into the mountains and rescue them. They then decided to light a beacon to guide them in. In the end the beacon spread to cover an area of about 30 sq miles. It took 250 firemen and 24 aeroplanes 3 days to put the fire out. To make things worse the idiots were an English and French couple. It was not a good week to be a foreigner in the valley. Fortunately our neighbours don't hold grudges long and it was not long before the bags of fresh fruit and vegetables started to reappear on our doorstep.