Bought & sold

"You've sold the house!" I exclaimed.

"I thought you were going to sell and upgrade to a better Motorhome". 

I said as I shook my head trying to take in the exciting news Lenny and Win were both trying to tell me at the same time.

Like three quarters of properties in Spain Lenny and Wins lovely villa atop the mountain overlooking 'Oliva' was for sale and had been for the past five years. I hear one or two stories each week in both Spain and Portugal of people with changed life circumstances stuck with property worth a lot less than they paid for it and is unsellable. In fact the more of these sad and poignant tales I hear the more I appreciate the simplicity, financial viability and flexibility of my motorhome way of life.

What I was hearing from L & W though was very different. Out of the blue a buyer had appeared and bought their Villa for the asking price. I have to say their Villa does stand out as Lenny, being a good gardener cum all round handyman, has over time, transformed the place to a very high 'buyability' standard.

The really exciting part though was that they had sourced another villa complete with smallholding. This was a dream for both of them and one they never thought would come true. Neither have any desire to leave Spain or the church and community links they already have. So finding this new place, not too far away, is a fantastic new beginning for them both.

The other good news is there will be plenty room to park Sadie and ..... wait for this ..... the seller has agreed to chuck in his little tractor plus implements as part of the deal. A tractor ...... !!  Oh yes! I'll be back there to visit next year just you wait and see!

I left L & W busy packing and all the other stressful stuff that goes with house moves. For Sadie, Tanya and I it was time to turn North. Time to hit the busy N340 and put a few miles behind us before the day was out. Just past 'Vinaros' was where enough was enough for one day. Hang a right and within five minutes we are perched atop the crumbling cliff face overlooking the blue and breeze whipped Mediterrainian.

Next morning I am sitting outside in the sun finishing my morning cuppa when along comes another dog followed by it's owner, a tall Dutch lady. We are soon chatting, as you do, and it is soon agreed I will pop across to her Villa to meet her husband and have coffee after my planned swim / snorkell in the invitingly calm early morning sun touched sea. A good swim it was too with Tanya, as usual, keeping her distance on the pebbly beach but faithfully staying put always a few meters from where I enter the water.

Our visit to the Danish couples very smart clifftop villa turned out to be another of the story's I talked of earlier. She was tall, fit, loved her walking, birdwatching (and baby bird rescuing!) and keeping the villa in tip top condition. She loved the place and the area. He, sadly, does not now enjoy the best of health which severely limits what he, a hands on physical work type of guy, can do. He feels increasingly frustrated and isolated. So they have the villa up for sale and plan to move back permanently to Denmark rather than the present arrangement of six months Spain, six months Denmark.

Cue problems. Value well down with very few highly selective buyers available. Their property is also in the front line of the clifftop erosion zone being about forty meters back. I learned that if a property becomes less than twenty meters from the crumbling cliff edge that's it. You can stay living in it but the property reverts to state ownership and jurisdiction with very little compensation. It all adds to the difficulty and firmly places stress and worry in that place originally labelled 'dream'.

On we go, with Sadie's wheels on less crowded roads now. We settle into a quiet and secluded spot for the night on a disused road, well you could continue to drive but you would son find yourself driving into the deep waters of the 'Panta de Rialb'. One of the two large man made lakes/reservoirs on the road from 'Lleida' to 'Andorra'. With water for the taking, and  swimming (quietly in the early morning cos your not supposed to according to the half submerged sign.) I took the opportunity to give Sadie a quick wash over. My goodness some of those flies do stick. At least I have a clear windscreen now.

But I don't have Mrs Sat nav on my posh Smartphone anymore. Her bosses sent a lovely big update with all sorts of new features like intelligent memorizing of your daily commute and a new street map for Puerto Rico. (Derrrrr!) You'd have thought she'd be really pleased with all that would you not?  

Ha! 

Well, being female she without notice and with immediate effect took offence at being told to do things differently. She shut down completely instead. Nothing! Nada! No matter what I do she aint having none of it! I presume divorce papers will be e mailed shortly. Ahh well; it was good while we were together and she knows she is always welcome back once she discovers it was'nae me ordering her about. Meanwhile, for me, it's back to good old paper maps and, as has already happened, getting frequently lost.