Bonus & Wendy's Big Adventure . . . .

[Bonus]

We've had a good couple of weeks. . . .

 

Last week we stopped at a pavement cafe for coffee and got talking to a couple from Colorado in the US who were touring the area and had hired an MTB each. We ended up riding together on some of the local Zona Zero trails around Ainsa. It was good for me to get out with other riders for a change - usually I ride MTB alone. They have taken our details and they are watching our "blog". They've also given me the details of a business local to them that does MTB tours with a view to sending people our way once we're up and running :-) We rode up to our place and they had a good look around - they plan to come back next year and spend more time here in Ainsa and less time touring around.

 

Aside from a few days of good riding I've been spending my time with the continued job of "taming the garden" whilst Wendy practices her recipes for Tapas dishes, and we're both still trying to learn Spanish.

 

We're still waiting for our planning permission application to come back from the council but in the meantime we've had a quote back from the first of the three builders we've talked to.

 

Slowly but surely, we're getting there . . . .

Edited May 25, 2016 by Bonus

[Gen]

We've had a good couple of weeks. . . .

 

Last week we stopped at a pavement cafe for coffee and got talking to a couple from Colorado in the US who were touring the area and had hired an MTB each. We ended up riding together on some of the local Zona Zero trails around Ainsa. It was good for me to get out with other riders for a change - usually I ride MTB alone. They have taken our details and they are watching our "blog". They've also given me the details of a business local to them that does MTB tours with a view to sending people our way once we're up and running :-) We rode up to our place and they had a good look around - they plan to come back next year and spend more time here in Ainsa and less time touring around.

 

Aside from a few days of good riding I've been spending my time with the continued job of "taming the garden" whilst Wendy practices her recipes for Tapas dishes, and we're both still trying to learn Spanish.

 

We're still waiting for our planning permission application to come back from the council but in the meantime we've had a quote back from the first of the three builders we've talked to.

 

Slowly but surely, we're getting there . . . .

. It sounds so nice.. and laid back and.. I wanna move there too.

[TheBritishTwit]

Hi Bonus and Wendy, Congrads on the move. This has been an amazing "blog" to read on how you guys are progressing through life and allowing everyone to live in Spain through you 2.

 

How is there security over there as in crime etc? 

[Mntboy]

Hi Bonus and Wendy, Congrads on the move. This has been an amazing "blog" to read on how you guys are progressing through life and allowing everyone to live in Spain through you 2.

 

How is there security over there as in crime etc?

Pretty inspirational couple they are! (Said in Yoda-like voice)

 

They are proof that as CS Lewis once said 'One is not to old to follow a new dream or find a new adventure!'.

 

Sent from my GT-S6790 using Tapatalk

[TheBritishTwit]

Pretty inspirational couple they are! (Said in Yoda-like voice)

 

They are proof that as CS Lewis once said 'One is not to old to follow a new dream or find a new adventure!'.

 

Sent from my GT-S6790 using Tapatalk

very much true that is... (Said in Yoda-like voice)

[Bonus]

Hi Bonus and Wendy, Congrads on the move. This has been an amazing "blog" to read on how you guys are progressing through life and allowing everyone to live in Spain through you 2.

 

How is there security over there as in crime etc? 

 

Thanks TBT - glad you're enjoying the thread :-)

 

With regards to the question of crime - we made a firm decision to try not to run SA down "on our way out the door" - no matter how hard News24 tries to temp us . . . .  We both have friends & family left in SA whom we care about and we hope that, in the end, things will work out positively for them and for everybody else.

 

Bearing that in mind, and so without malice,  . . . .      I can tell you that our property has no fences or walls around it. The properties in the village around us either have no fences/walls or they have low fences/walls - to mark boundaries and contain gardens I guess. The same goes for the properties in the bigger town of Ainsa, which is a few km's away.

 

I assume people lock their doors at night and properties here tend to have external shutters over their windows (to keep out the sun at the height of summer and keep out the cold at the height of winter). So people probably feel pretty secure in their homes at night.

 

I've never seen people standing at traffic lights asking for money, or sitting on street corners hoping for work, or knocking on our front door asking for help. Consequently, the chances of someone smash & grabbing you at the traffic lights are nil - there's just no one there to do it. The chances of someone wandering around your property under the guise of "looking for work" but actually casing the joint and then taking advantage of finding an unoccupied property and robbing it also appear to be nil.

 

Whether our area is the exception, or whether this is due to low unemployment or a good social security system I can't say. The general population of Spain has certainly had it hard for the last 8 years or so, but they seem to have avoided turning themselves into a  "stealing anything that isn't nailed down" society. They have their share of immigrants (including us I guess) but foreigners seem to try to integrate and pull their own weight. All in all it's a nice place to be . . . .

 

:-)

 

[Bonus]

Pretty inspirational couple they are! (Said in Yoda-like voice)

 

They are proof that as CS Lewis once said 'One is not to old to follow a new dream or find a new adventure!'.

 

Sent from my GT-S6790 using Tapatalk

 

 

Oi! less of the "old references" from the young whippersnappers thank you very much.

 

 

Young we are. Far we can ride . . . .   :-)

[Mntboy]

Oi! less of the "old references" from the young whippersnappers thank you very much.

 

 

Young we are. Far we can ride . . . . :-)

Jammer oom!

 

One is only as old as you think yourself to be. It's all a matter of perspective really.

 

Sent from my GT-S6790 using Tapatalk

Edited May 29, 2016 by Mntboy

[TheBritishTwit]

Thanks TBT - glad you're enjoying the thread :-)

 

With regards to the question of crime - we made a firm decision to try not to run SA down "on our way out the door" - no matter how hard News24 tries to temp us . . . .  We both have friends & family left in SA whom we care about and we hope that, in the end, things will work out positively for them and for everybody else.

 

Bearing that in mind, and so without malice,  . . . .      I can tell you that our property has no fences or walls around it. The properties in the village around us either have no fences/walls or they have low fences/walls - to mark boundaries and contain gardens I guess. The same goes for the properties in the bigger town of Ainsa, which is a few km's away.

 

I assume people lock their doors at night and properties here tend to have external shutters over their windows (to keep out the sun at the height of summer and keep out the cold at the height of winter). So people probably feel pretty secure in their homes at night.

 

I've never seen people standing at traffic lights asking for money, or sitting on street corners hoping for work, or knocking on our front door asking for help. Consequently, the chances of someone smash & grabbing you at the traffic lights are nil - there's just no one there to do it. The chances of someone wandering around your property under the guise of "looking for work" but actually casing the joint and then taking advantage of finding an unoccupied property and robbing it also appear to be nil.

 

Whether our area is the exception, or whether this is due to low unemployment or a good social security system I can't say. The general population of Spain has certainly had it hard for the last 8 years or so, but they seem to have avoided turning themselves into a  "stealing anything that isn't nailed down" society. They have their share of immigrants (including us I guess) but foreigners seem to try to integrate and pull their own weight. All in all it's a nice place to be . . . .

 

:-)

 

Thanks Bonus for the above, sorry if I affected the mood of the thread, wasn't my intention.

 

Will be keeping up with this thread as its amazing. Best of luck

 

Edit: Spelling

Edited May 30, 2016 by TheBritishTwit

[King_Crispy]

Pictures, Bonus, pictures. You know the way we are. Pics or it didn't happen.

This thread as a marketing platform is huge for you

[Bonus]

Thanks Bonus for the above, sorry if I affected the mood of the thread, wasn't my intense.

 

Will be keeping up with this thread as its amazing. Best of luck

 

 

Don't worry - not much can effect the mood of this thread!. . .  :-)

[Gen]

Don't worry - not much can effect the mood of this thread!. . . :-)

Nope

[TheBritishTwit]

Don't worry - not much can effect the mood of this thread!. . .  :-)

Pretty valid point

[Wendy]

Thanks Bonus for the above, sorry if I affected the mood of the thread, wasn't my intention.

 

Will be keeping up with this thread as its amazing. Best of luck

 

Edit: Spelling

Don't worry about that TBT. This thread was started because there were many people out there asking all sorts of questions about up sticks and leaving. So we welcome all questions and crime is something on every South Africans mind. (If I move will it be better?) We want to help as many of our followers ( now friends [emoji4] ) as we can.

[Gen]

Don't worry about that TBT. This thread was started because there were many people out there asking all sorts of questions about up sticks and leaving. So we welcome all questions and crime is something on every South Africans mind. (If I move will it be better?) We want to help as many of our followers ( now friends [emoji4] ) as we can.

Yes.. you do want to help

. Help make everyone green with envy [emoji6] [emoji23] [emoji23]

[Bonus]

We've finally had the first part of our planning permission application approved! :-)

 

We now have permission to connect to the municipal fresh water and waste water systems in the street. I'll get digging tonight after dark . . . . . .  ;-)