The Big Return

Well I certainly didn't think I would be writing on here again! What a shock to be back in residence after our mistake move to Bulgaria. We came back in September but its been full on since then and I have not had any time to just sit and think and write. 4 months later and I can fill in the gaps.

We rented the house out twice whilst gone and very nearly sold it! Rich never wanted that to happen and I can see why now we are back. I guess the saying "you don't know what you have until its gone" is very true!

First tenants came up here with loads of dogs and rescued some donkies, they loved the house but the living off grid and the crap track got to them so they moved out. Second tenant was a single women, no car and no money so you can see where I am going with that one! She moved out leaving a bit of a mess and lots of rubbish for us to remove. We then did a stint on airbnb and that went really well and we rented it quite a bit and people did love the remoteness and the views of course.

Horses back on the mountain!

12 months ago though we decided that we would not rent anymore and that Rich would use it as a base when he was here working, which became more and more. We think was one of the nails in the coffin for him and Bulgaria lost his shine as he wanted to be here most of the time. So after 3 years full time in BG we made the decision to come back, sold one of the 3 houses and did the big drive back. We had 2 horses with us and 9 dogs, an interesting journey you could say.

So what did we find after a whole summer away! ARGHHHH, BIG LESSONS learnt re the solar batteries!!! COVER AND DISCONNECT! Out of sight out of mind! We certainly didn't give the system up here another thought and as Spain cooked with very hot temps so did our batteries so when we returned we found dry cells! We filled them up anyway and lucky they did work in a fashion!

Old batteries

We had bought the system second hand and when we had cloudy days in a row we had to run the generator and never used anything like a kettle or washing machine, any item that normal people used. It was one of the things we did love about Bulgaria, buying all the items we could that used electricity. What a treat!!! lol

We knew that to update the system would cost us money we didn't have. Spending time in Bulgaria and running a dog rescue with a charity shop and many, many dogs in foster homes had taken up way too much of my time (and my soul) and the business really did suffer! The idea of spending time on the laptop promoting The Orange House went out of the window very fast! Another reason to leave and come back and find my focus. That and meeting the worst expats I have ever come across meant Spain was the right move.

We muddled on for a few months and Rich moaned like hell each morning when his coffee machine tripped the fuse and all power went! Time to have a look around and I found a nice group on facebook called Living off-grid in spain, I asked if anyone could recommend someone to give us a price for some new batteries. Lucky for us they said contact Paul from Solar Batteries in Spain.

Paul answered really quickly and gave us an amazing price, less than 1000 euros and said that within reason we would be able to use more electrical items. Oh to be able to use a washing machine even on a cold wash would be awesome. If one day we could ever have a microwave to heat up my milk in a morning would be double awesome!

look how smart these things are! Ex forklift truck batteries!

Christmas came and went and I contacted Paul and said how quick can you come, I think he could feel my pain so he said he would come on a Sunday. I warned him we had loads of dogs, to which he answered he liked dogs more than people, I knew we would get on!

So old ones out and new ones in, don't they look lovely. Now the test is to use things, I went down to The Orange House and brought up a small microwave. GUESS WHAT? its working. We can now plumb in the washing machine and Rich should always be able to have his coffee from his machine in the morning. So very happy and added bonus Paul fell in love with Penny one of the rescues we brought from BG and she left with him, I knew she would have the most perfect home and from the updates I am getting I was right.

So what are the future plans for this place? Its great to have a small space to keep clean but its a tad too small we have decided. After talking about extending sideways towards the mountain a great mate Rachel came to stay and we chatted about other places we could build out! After a quick walk around we worked out that we could use the wasted space in the courtyard that we never use. The wall is always moving on its own when we have heavy rain that it makes sense to build a large retaining wall and extend backwards.

That will become the bedroom! Trust me...

That space will then become the bedroom and I want some glass in the ceiling so we can lay in bed and watch the stars. It will have a window down the corridor to the front and then I want double doors out onto the remaining courtyard with the Yucca, with a shade over that in the summer if really should make a fantastic cool room. You will access the new room from the wardrobe/office/ and will make the house hopefully the great size for a couple.

That then means that we can extend the lounge into the bedroom and take down the pallet wood wall, bigger space all round. Much easier when we have guests and more dogs than is normal.

We have also bought a second hand giant glass door, being here in the winter and I can see that I want more sun inside the house so the wooden doors at the front will be pulled back and used as shutters and the new glass will allow light to flood inside.

We also are about to order the hessian bags and get them filled with top soil and get the living roof started! No idea how that will go and how long it will take to grow but will at least stop the sound of the naughty cats running around in the sand up there and risking the epdm getting holes in!

Loads more ideas and build plans but that's enough in one blog post.

If anyone wants to follow the dog rescue which will be on a very small scale, check out Tufas Trust on this link.