An uncharacteristically flattering portrait of the author. It’s a Polyphoto, and they would have taken a hundred or so to get this one. Admittedly, it’s country life that brings us all these delights. Other more urban expatriates might see things differently. It’s in the nature of the expat to grumble and criticise the host country, and lord knows there’s enough to moan about… as there is in whatever land you choose to make your stand. If you don’t like it, you can always leave… but I can’t imagine how bad things would have to be to get us to leave. Sea cual sea la máquina que consigamos, lo que no queremos es una con ruedas de goma. No sirven para nada. Esteban tiene una de ésas, y además es un buen conductor pero es un sinvergüenza, así que no iremos a verle.

Hace tiempo que no ME COMÍA un libro. Lo empecé en un finde relajado y de repente... se acabó el finde. Es una gozada de principio a fin, exceptuando quizá las partes donde se faenan a los animales, aunque al menos están en el campo y literalmente se los comen y viven de ello. When an author is as modest and humorous as this, his story cannot be told too often. (Elizabeth Buchan The Times) The UK-Spain co-production will have Dan Sefton ( Good Karma Hospital, Delicious, The Mallorca Files) write the screenplay and serve as showrunner. I was instantly, and always thereafter, surrounded by women: mother, grandmother, sisters, nannies, a Labrador bitch called Candy, and a character now dimmed by the shades of time, who was called Auntie Eyson even though she wasn’t an aunt at all. My father was mostly away at work, trying to build a business which one day I, as the only son, would supposedly take over. He is now better known for his autobiographical books, Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia (1999, ISBN 0-9535227-0-9) and the sequels, A Parrot In The Pepper Tree (ISBN 0-9535227-5-X) and The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society (2006, ISBN 0-9548995-0-4), about his work farming in Spain. All three are also available as audiobooks (Lemons ISBN 0-14-180143-3; Parrot ISBN 0-14-180402-5), and Almond ISBN 0-7528-8597-9, narrated by Stewart.

Then they bought sheep, and their dog chased them up the mountain, and Chris could not get them to come down. The sheep just kept going, heading for the next county or whtever it would be called in Spain. He has no sheep dogs that know how to herd, and he is afraid that they will fall off the mountain. Maybe they should have bought mountain goats instead. What else happened? Try selling their offspring at a good price. That was another fiasco. Of course, there are things that I can still learn form the Spanish locals – after all I have only been living here for 5 years. But those same locals take for granted things that make my jaw drop, such as the ever-present Griffon Vultures. On the other hand, I have heard that people have been seen in Orgiva clutching the book. This is wonderful. If the book succeeds in giving a shot in the arm to the rural tourism in an otherwise depressed area, then that’s just great! Finally, I arrived in Sevilla, the self-proclaimed Queen of Andalucia, and the only place for a romantically inclined young man to learn the guitar. There, in Triana and the Barrio Santa Cruz, the spell was finally cast, and yet another Englishman was caught by the enchantment of Spain.

The family celebrating something at Tolaini’s. The smallest one is my sister Carole, looking uncharacteristically angelic. Not long after she was ruling the roost. Ninguno de los dos tenían mucha experiencia en llevar un cortijo sin agua corriente, electricidad, perdido en medio de una naturaleza casi virgen y con unos pintorescos vecinos que intentan ayudar a su manera a estos "extranjeros de costumbres tan extrañas".

Absolutely amazed by your comment ' Spain is litle more than a massive quarry', after a visit to probably the poorest (and tattiest) town in Spain. What about Granada, Seville, Cordoba, nothing remotely ugly there! My eccentric advertisement drew two eccentric replies: one from a ‘rehearsal and drinking’ Glen Miller band, that played every Thursday in the Hare and Hounds, and the other from Sir Robert Fossett’s Circus. I sat in a couple of times with the Glen Miller band, but my sight reading was feeble, and besides, I didn’t drink. The ability to sink huge quantities of beer seemed, for some reason that escaped me, to be the essential quality required for membership of the band. So I went off with the circus on its 1972 North of England tour. (See Parrot in the Pepper Tree). Lo mejor del libro es la naturalidad. Este extranjero viene y no idealiza al mundo rural, tampoco se idealiza a sí mismo. Tiene sentido del humor y se nota que ama el lugar en donde está. Eso hace que a una casi le den ganas de tomar sus pilchas y buscar su propio paraíso-no paraíso agreste.

I was quite devoid of musical talent, couldn’t even tune the thing, but in the knowledge that a minimal mastery of this sonorous wooden box would secure me all the sex and love I could cope with, I persevered. I practiced till the blisters beneath the blisters on my fingertips were blue. In time, I achieved a certain pathetic proficiency; I mastered a Bourrée by Bach, a couple of simple pop songs, and found myself a mate. That is so true. We live in a mountain village near Ronda and, like Chris, I can never see myself leaving here, except in a coffin. Finalmente la espantosa sesión llegó a su fin. "Maravilloso.", dije con un suspiro, "¿No conocen otras tonadas?". Eduardo y Manuel me analizaron frunciendo el ceño. "De acuerdo, vamos a tocar otra". Me estaba bien empleado. A: I don’t think anyone would ever dare answer part one of that question with a no. You’d lose the beauty contest fair and square. But working for the Rough Guides in 1984 at 33 years old was when I realized what was meant by travelling. The Rough Guide to China was a very significant event in my life. I recap: So what happened? Why am I not head over heels for this story? The writing was quite good, the descriptions were also nicely done. There is nothing glaringly obvious throughout the entire length.Christopher 'Chris' Stewart (born 1951), was the original drummer and a founding member of Genesis. He is now a farmer and an author. A classmate of Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel at Charterhouse School, Stewart joined them in a school band called The Garden Wall, and they later formed another band with schoolmates Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips, called Anon. This band eventually became Genesis in January 1967. Stewart appears on the band's first two singles, "The Silent Sun"/"That's Me" and "A Winter's Tale"/"One-Eyed Hound." Although several demos from Stewart's time with Genesis appear on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set, he is not credited with playing on any of them. (Peter Gabriel seems to have played drums on a couple, and the Christopher 'Chris' Stewart (born 1951), was the original drummer and a founding member of Genesis. He is now a farmer and an author. A classmate of Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel at Charterhouse School, Stewart joined them in a school band called The Garden Wall, and they later formed another band with schoolmates Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips, called Anon. This band eventually became Genesis in January 1967. Stewart appears on the band's first two singles, "The Silent Sun"/"That's Me" and "A Winter's Tale"/"One-Eyed Hound." Although several demos from Stewart's time with Genesis appear on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set, he is not credited with playing on any of them. (Peter Gabriel seems to have played drums on a couple, and the rest do not feature drums.) Stewart's adventure in Andalucia is what dreams are made of and has been an absolute delight to read about. The lush gardens set within the mountains seems an idyllic location to set up home and he'll be the envy of millions 'living the dream'. " — Tim, 11/26/2013 Recommended by my sister who says it is a cross between Peter Mayle (A Year in Provence, etc.) and Bill Bryson (A Walk in the Woods, etc.). I'm looking forward to reading it! " — Jane, 7/27/2013 Christopher Stewart (born 27 March 1951) is a British author who was the original drummer and a founder member of Genesis. When not writing, he runs a farm, where he lives, near Orgiva in Spain. Stewart's publisher, Sort of Books, announced plans to release yet another Stewart memoir in 2009, this one focused on sailing, entitled Three Ways to Capsize a Boat: An Optimist Afloat.