I know I shouldn't be complaining about the weather here in East Anglia because even as I write the south west is being battered by more storms, there have been villages isolated since Christmas by flood water and electricity lines are down again. But this has been an awful winter, day after day of relentless grey.
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| View from the sitting room this morning |
Usually I like winter but it has been utterly miserable, only a handful of crisp, frosty days and not a hint of snow. Mortimer's walks are less running in the orchards and more trudging the tarmac with the ground like this.
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| Ankle deep in mud |
Many of the French bloggers I follow are suffering the same weather,
Margaret has been unable to do her weekly hikes (but at least she can escape to snowy mountains).
Walt in the Loire is not faring any better so I'm beginning to wonder if Quercy, my favourite area in France, might not cut the mustard. So I've been casting my net far and wide and have settled on Andalucia.
Andalucia. I love the sound of the word, just saying it conjures up pictures of white-washed villages, gorgeous ceramics
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| From OcceSerranoHam.com |
and of course warm winters. Granada is currently 18C and sunny. It isn't that I'm a sun worshipper, I haven't sunbathed for decades (I burn easily) and every day, without fail, SPF 30 cream goes on my face. It's just I crave some colour and life. I even have relatives there, including my grandmother who is 101 so there must be something to the lifestyle! And no worries about getting the right oranges for marmalade.
We could buy
this house and I could swap my espress' for a cafe solo on the roof terrace. At 54,000 euros (approximately £44800) it's a snip.
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| Perfect for morning coffee |
Or
this one with a bit more work but only £28700.
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| Bargain village house |
But could I swap croissants for ensaimadas?
St.Emilion for Rioja? Aperos for tapas?
I'm sure when spring arrives I'll feel better, but until then I'll dream of warm sun and white washed villages.
