Thank you very much to the kind people who responded in my hour of need. Enrique once again climbed onto his galloping white charger and came over the mountain to help me. He deserves extra gold stars for not once telling me what a complete nitwit I am for not being able to answer most of his questi...

My computer and I are both feeling suicidal. I switch it on and it takes five minutes to respond . . . . and two minutes after that it tells me there is an error and it needs to shut down and restart. Tells me I need to look online for more information . . . but I can't stay online long enough to do...

Sorry, I haven't got anything helpful to say . . . but I have had a good giggle reading these posts. Thank you.

A good hike round El Torcal might have shrunk your waist back down to fit into your trousers Gerry!

When one considers that they have no competition for miles around, one might understand if they adopted a "take it or leave it" attitude, but they don't. The food is very acceptable, the coffee is excellent, service with a smile and the loos are clean. Surroundings are breathtaking and we ...

Our village fountain runs into a trough that is about two metres long. one metre wide and about half a metre deep. A constant stream of fresh clear water runs into it and then runs out into a little stream that irrigates the huertas that run down to the river. I was looking at it yesterday and I tho...

Lavanda, your garden sounds gorgeous . . . and so it should with that wonderful rich growing medium. Plants look so much nicer when they are not too carefully manicured and are lovely all tumbled in together. It might be as well to keep a closer eye on the Bignonia as they can be a bit thuggish if n...

You ideally need advice from someone living in your area and with similar conditions. Look around locally and ask; people like being asked for advice! Meantime . . . there is not much you can do at this time of the year. The one important thing is to keep the vine watered and thin out the forming bu...

An interesting way to look at the unexpected difficulties of living peacefully in Spain. Yes, perhaps patience is the quality one needs most . . . and persistence. The frustration comes from the awareness that most of the delays and obstructions are completely unnecessary and largely caused by the i...

Many thanks, Floriana. I'll give that a try and let you know how successful I am.

Some time ago I asked how I could get rid of the gremlins that were wrecking my CD players. I had six and none of them would play CDs any more . . . . and there are times when you just have to have music! I carefully followed the advice given . . . . to the point of obsession . . . . and dusted and ...

Good to read your post Gordon. I'm still here too. I've had family problems and some difficult times and moments when I wanted to scream at the chaotic bureaucracy here, but I have never considered going back to the UK. I've seen lots of people move here and later decide to return to the UK and can ...

I am not very bright when it comes to all this modern high tech stuff (though I am OK on some other things - honest!) I currently have five portable CD players/radios varying in ages from 6 years to 4 months. None of them very expensive and all different makes. All worked fine when I got them. Now, ...

Thank you both for the information. I will follow it up and let you know what happens. I really appreciate you both taking the time to reply.

I have only just caught up with the thread about pensions . . no one ever told me that life in Spain would be so hectic. (I thought I had retired here!). There was mention of people getting some compensation because of the Equitable Life fiasco. How did anyone set about that please? I get a minute a...

Anyroads commented that he had never heard anyone say that they had paid too much into a private pension. . . . . . Those of us who paid our retirement money to Equitable Life would be unlikely to agree with that. Just as well that we can have a great life in Spain without it costing a fortune. My b...

Wollie didn't mention that if you decide to go for the striped paint you must consider the proportions of the room. Stripes running sideways make the room look wider whilst vertical stripes create the illusion of height. Of course, the latest trend is to do diagonal lines!

Really enjoyed reading this. It is almost nine years since I moved here. The early years were tough - I moved here with almost no Spanish and on my own. A real case of a fool rushing in where angels would have feared to tread. . . . . but I was lucky . . . . I had, and still have, fabulous neighbour...

There are quite a number of us here living on a great deal less than 10K a year and living happily without pleading poverty. The loss of the winter fuel allowance will be a financial blow though, especially for those of us who ring fence it to pay for extra fuel. It does seem unfair that having paid...

Especially for Gordon and also for all the nice people here, very best wishes for a happy Christmas. I watched the King's speech last night and was inspired to remember that we are all walking the same road and we have so much to be grateful for.