#1 We Spent Our Savings on a Remote Spanish Cottage

I'm standing on the edge of a small village in southern Spain and this is where we bought our Cottage it's just down there oh nearly fell off the edge Welcome to our Channel still can't really believe that we've actually got a house here so originally then we were looking were somewhere quite isolated but then we found this we realized actually it would probably be a good idea to be in a community and we are so grateful that we are because the neighbors have been absolutely wonderful so three beds a barn a garage lovely and cool in inside and actually it's very oldfashioned it's a traditional work person's Cottage and we are just so grateful that we found this [Applause] the Deeds or the esur In Spanish say this Cottage is 70 years old but some properties don't even have an escal so it could well be a lot older anyway Welcome to our simple Spanish Cottage shall we go inside as you can see um the front door opens straight onto the living room and what you can see here is exactly how it was when we we bought it um with the exception of two things so we bought the house in the October and in the December me Rob and our youngest son came down and put this stove in and we needed it it was absolutely freezing in December I think that the temperature um easily was likeus 3 something like that anyway we love this fireplace we love these tiles we're going to keep these um we just think they're really really pretty so in um traditional Spanish Cottages farmhouses buildings of this size and a bit bigger they all have this um layout they have the fireplace in the middle and the cupboards either side um there were lots lots of lovely Crockery items in these cupboards we are we are we are keeping quite a few of them um some of them were just broken or chick but also it's really great to have these cupboards because as you'll see in a few minutes there is not actually a lot of coverboard space in the kitchen um so at the moment this one is we just got some books in it and some electricity bills that we need to open um so um cupboards okay also this was here so we're keeping this nice little broom and then um that painting was here we really like that and also if it just go very nicely with the color scheme um perhaps not quite so lovely but very traditional is this well no it is lovely I'll take that back is this crocheted picture of a donkey on the top it says buo that's Spanish for donkey so we're keeping that because um Rob in particular likes that and hey I can forgive it some some occasional taste errors okay uh we'll have to we'll have to talk about that later um this table was also here there were there were about there were about 12 chairs in the house most of them are deeply uncomfortable these two are the best so we're keeping those so this sofa um we're going to keep this because it's a really nice color it's comfortable um and I've given it a really good scrub so we're happy with that so nice little uh sideboard here well I say nice it's not really very nice but it's what was what was in the house and we want to keep what was in the house and on here then we've got a look at that oh okay we've got the um this lovely light I've got a love hate relationship with this light really I I hate it and I think it's horrible but it was in the house so he you know get smashed it's not going to get smashed is I'm guarding this there's not be an accident coming with a hand no seriously though I do like it because it's what was in the house it is traditional okay it's from the 60s or the 70s traditional tactic yeah that's fine it was here we want to keep it so leading off from the living room is this Corridor okay um we have a little understairs cupboard here just full of junk at the moment but that will be really use I mean it's really useful now but in the future we can put lovely shelves in and make it nice and tidy after we moved in in October and then we put the stove in the next thing we did was to have it rewired and um it cost about I think it cost about $1,500 to have the whole Cottage rewired and um if the electrician didn't have to dig um like furrows I'm not saying not the proper technical term but if the electrician didn't have to dig into the walls and sort of bury the um cables it was considerably cheaper so that's why there's cables everywhere but that's fine we've got enough electricity for the moment okay so kitchen right it's a good job that the living room is so pretty with its tiles because these tiles are horrible and shocking but never mind that's great we can put our own tiles in and that'll be lovely so little sink um again traditionally they have like a little little gathered cloth under the sink so um we will be looking for some fabric to put there um one of the first things we're going to do um when we come here in the summer is replace these tiles now here there was I mean what was it it wasn't a cooker Hood was it there was some kind of dodgy chipboard thing here can you do you know what it was for uh no because it was like a vent but there was no fan in there as an extractor okay so no idea but it was uh yeah anyway nice to get rid of was nice to get rid of so at the moment we' just got that bag stuffed up there um to stop was already stuffed up there was it yeah that's a genuine bag a genuine stuffed up their bag okay Spanish espan see okay we I said we then okay so sink that's okay we are going to keep the sink because it's okay um little window here again with a mosquito netting a mirror a useful mirror for the kitchen but that's fine it just I think it's just there to let extra lighting okay right then so moving around the kitchen and for the M oh yes seriously mang right but which is the most bangy the walls or the cupboard okay so the walls need some serious attention that is because of damp as far as we know in old Spanish houses that don't have a damp proof course who knows why anyway so all around the back of these cupboards and here that will need replacing we have kept a few of the traditional utensils I mean look at that that's quite sweet isn't it so we're keeping there anyway D the cupboards okay if you're watching this on your own you might need a bit of support for this okay well first of all then let's just see around the back oh hang on have you have you nailed that on I thought those cupboards I thought this was all coming off uh yeah I it back have you everything go falling out the back yeah oh that's great then put anything that was round it just roll out yeah oh F I didn't know you've done that okay so yes these are our kitchen cupboards at the moment moment um oh my goodness it's an ant I before we film this I took all these out washed these wiped it but there's an ant okay never mind so we've got that got this sauce band and stuff at the bottom knives and forks in there so you can see why we put all our food apart from tins and jars and um stuffing stuffing bags you can see now while we put everything in the fridge but that's okay one day we will have beautiful units we're not sure what's s at the moment but that's yeah lovely thing to think about for the Future Okay so this kitchen area is quite small but very good news because we have joined onto it I think on the on the esur the Deeds I think it called this a store and um the good news about this is this room is the coolest room in the house okay I mean it's February now it's apparent but it's unseasonably warm it's 28 outside when we're filming this um but it is still it's the coolest room in the house okay so this um platform thing that's useful because you can either sit on it or you can put things on it um we're going to put some shelves up somewhere in here we have got this cooker Hood and the cooker you want to come around here there okay so this cooker was here and it works so that that's brilliant because obviously if we had to put a new cooker in that would be quite a big expense um so it works the Rings work I should say at the moment we're not sure about the oven okay this is my kettle that's all right for the moment we did go in one or two shops um we are out here in the country in the camper so there aren't like big electrical stores near to us which is fine so for the moment I make my tea in that saucepan there is a fan here we haven't put that on yet I don't know what to do about that any thoughts about that looks a bit mangy to me it looks quite seriously mangy I've only given it I don't think I want to put that on while I'm cooking what might exactly yeah so we you know it's got potential we'll see what happens being Spain the cooker runs on an LPG bottle which is quite normal being in the country and you don't get min's gas yeah that's right yeah so that was okay that mean that's one less thing the guy comes around is it once a week I think so yeah so you can just put your gas bottle outside the house and um then he'll give you a new one and you pay him so that's good okay so oh my goodness when we bought the um fridge freezer we also bought the washing machine so that was like Wow brilliant and the microwave okay microwave on one of these chairs I was talking about well it's great that the microwave can go on the chair because a person would not want to sit on that chair and um it's fine there for the moment the job isn't it put shelves yeah that's right get a microwave bracket on the wall or we might put it in there maybe on the work surface yeah okay so um I don't know how clearly they'll show up but these beams are riddled with holes now they got holes in say they rid okay if we take that one there you can see the OD I mean there's quite a lot of holes to be fair yeah but it's not fresh so so no it's not fresh I you know and um the owner did say they're old holes okay however if we go over here if we go over here you'll see this I don't know if you can pick it up but um the this we' got some yellowish Blobs of paint and that was because a couple of months ago when we came I did see them some fresh swust so I painted it with whatever paint we had here I think it was just like gloss and that seems to have stopped it so that's good so here is the yard very useful um that is a Barn twostory Barn so that's brilliant we don't know what we're going to do with that yet um but these so these stairs are actually quite nice because every morning Rob comes to sit here and eat his breakfast and look out at the beautiful view H starting to cut down the Olive Tree oh Ola oh hola haven't seen you for ages B do hello doggy oh Morena Morena hola hola oh come here how lovely to see you yes how lovely oh this is the first time I've seen marinaa good good good chopped off very hot very very hot oh yes you have that's Fab well done duck that's lovely that's Mirena being here the whole time now she only turned up that making that ret [Music] oh she is so lovely well they're all so lovely oh yes what we this is such another lovely thing about this Village there are five dogs who wonderand around and they're all really really friendly and one of them is timid but the other four just love to be stroked and played with yeah how lovely for [Music] H originally when we bought this Cottage we were thinking that we would maybe come here three times a year and say to our friends and family that they could come whenever they wanted but as we came here more and more we realized that wasn't what we wanted we really started to fall in love with this Cottage with the views the surroundings the countryside yeah Lifestyle the lifestyle Y and something else yeah dogs the dogs yeah the dogs and um so we things change for us and really just decided that we we just really want to live here fulltime um so at the moment I'm working as a French teacher and I've got a temporary contract by choice so that gives me a lot of flexibility Rob is a lorry driver you've got a permanent job haven't you yep yep and um we live and work in England so what we've decided to do is we are going to sell our house in England um which we have got a mortgage on and we've been doing a lot of work on that house as well um to get that ready for sale so we'll be putting that on the market in about a month or so and the idea is oh my goodness car car hola you got that biscuit sorry got to feed the dog come on then very good anyway yeah anyway anyway so um putting the house on the market so we're hoping to sell that house and just buy a little house in England with no mortgage and the things that we're going to do in the immediate future are um we are going to get air conditioning so we can come and work here during the school summer holidays in the summer um we allowed in our budget um the finances to have airon and also to have solar panels that's really important to us isn't it yeah definitely um because we want to be environmentally friendly we want to live a simple life offgrid grow our own vegetables yes we love vegetables fruit yeah get us some fruit trees soon um definitely grow loads of vegetables and um also we've realized since we've been coming here that the bedroom behind us and the bathroom attached to it are they get very very warm when the sun's out because they've got a metal roof so at the moment we're saving um to have that replace so immediate plans then room Ro airon start renovating the kitchen and start building red raised beds in the garden yeah solar panels and I roof will be ideal for solar panels to go on once we had it replaced change of tiles on it so there'll be a good fix of solar panels yeah that's a plan this is where we're going to walk tonight so this is about 10 minutes from the house okay he [Music] tmy so that's it's like a plan then doesn't it March April we w't run the path if we go much further down here I'll carry my home very good thank you you do some research as to which system will suit as best yeah why we go completely off grid one that you can switch on and off grid quite good yes [Music] we very much hope you enjoy watching along with us let us know what you think any suggestions that would be lovely okay good thank you and yes more photos and More film of the dogs and he's coming again car he not he not he walking past it's just not on [Music]