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[Mossy]

One of the thing that I like about North Spain is the climate which, is similar to that of the Westcountry of the UK.
I like the fact that in the winter if the cold gets too annoying you can just jump in the car and head south for the weekend etc.

Yeah..one of our Friends..stanko lived in the north..but an hour inland..it is always warmer on the coast.
During one record breaking cold patch he got minus 15 'C....we went down to -4'C..it does get cold.

I love the fact you are aquainted with the rabbit paella, when I tell my Uk friends about it, they think I think I have the wrong end of the stick and tell me it is always made with seafood, lmao.

When we first came over the local council has a Fiesta day.
Everyone who attended used to get a Live rabbit and a bag of rice to make paella..but they gave it up coz the Brts didn't know what to do with the live rabbit..most of them let them go...
Now they give you chicken drumsticks and a bit of sausage..

I have always had a passion for food and I also love to embrace other Nationalities cultures, I love to find out about the many regional styles of cooking in spain but have mostly concentrated on northern dishes so far.

Hubby has a tapas spot..the Mother does all the traditional cooking...and it is in a bodega full of barrels of wine that you just go help yourself to and tell them at the end how many glasses you had.
The takeaway wine that hubby likes is 1.40 euros a LITRE...

Recently I found a house with 3 Acres of land (mostly pasture with and orchard) south facing aspect.

The house needs renovation but has a brand new roof and chimney and is 10 mins from the local village whcih has all the shop and services you need. They even had good quality internet there too

The cost for this is £27,000 so I gonna keep saving my pennies, I realize this won't be the house I will buy but it does show that the dream isn't too hard to achieve.

If I wanted to buy the same in the UK it would cost a bloody fortune.

A couple of things you have to watch..the country properties usually have no mains services..so you will probably be on tanked water and a cess-pit..which us fine coz spain is geared up to work like that..so you have no real probs..
The second is the electricity..which you would need for your net.
Everyone I have spoken to says that to get a decent solar system will bankrupt you..so it is worth bearing in mind.
Our friend has spent about 8 YEARS fighting the local government to get electricity to his house..and there is a connection next door to him.

Watch kyero.com..you can key in the areas you are interested in..and get the names of estate agents selling in your areas of interest.

If you like an area..go rent for a while..most of the old Spanish properties go through word of mouth..they won't pay estate agent fees.

Hello Mossy, Great Info. The train it is then. I hope they are more comfortable than the British rail I took from London to Dover, The scenery was worth the pain but pain is pain. The view as we passed Canterbury was awesome.

Second hand info coz we were checking out a trip to Barcelona..but they say if you are used to british rail..you are in for a Pleasant Surprise with the Spanish trains.
They run on time and are clean and comfortable..

Speaking of pain, I get to spend this holiday week end horizontal with my leg elevated thanks to a sneaky Black Widow that got me right behind the left knee

Feel better soon.

Mossy, rabbit, nom nom nom......

nom...nom...nom...

 

[Mossy]

This is the under 50,000 euro listings..but check out Land too..our portable cabin was listed on land.

http://www.kyero.com/browse/best-spain-country-house-for-sale-mxp50000pag1pgr4ppp20slt0srt6

 

[Feenix]

Second hand info coz we were checking out a trip to Barcelona..but they say if you are used to british rail..you are in for a Pleasant Surprise with the Spanish trains.
They run on time and are clean and comfortable..
nom...nom...nom...

To be fair to British Rail, The only pain came from the bench seat. Us spoiled yanks, we expect adjustable everything.

 

[Dr Fluff]

I'm better with excessive cold than excessive heat, which is why the North is so appealing plus the amount of rain is a bonus in my eyes.

Services such as water and electricity are not always in the properties as you mentioned. A lot of properties have wells which I'm fine with. The property I mentioned was no electricity but had a supple near by, good to know it is not always easy getting it connected.

A while back I found a cheap water mill, it would have been amazing hydro power all the way, with no worries of connection plus the possibility to sell excess power.

Alternative power is something I have been researching for years, China is knocking out solar panels and the price is definitely getting cheaper ,wind power is relatively cheap but wind is also unpredictable , solar water heating is very cost effective.

Renting is a great idea and I'm also planning to do a tour of the north and meet the locals on my travels.

I used to go ferreting for rabbits, so no problem there, a drumstick and a sausage lmao us Brits have seriously lost the art of traditional living, self sufficiency is another of my interests plus chuck in a good measure of permaculture too.

I'm loving the sound of hubby's tapas spot and that wine for 1.40 EUR a Liter much more my style, I don't like buying alcohol in the UK at £3.50 a pint at that price it is a waste of money.
Thanks for the Kyero link but now you'll have me looking through properties and not reading posts lmao

I recently joined my local cannabis club in the UK but would also do the same in Spain and see if something can't be done to legalize it (I have more faith in the Spannish doing it before the UK).

Anytime you want to pass me info about living in Spain I'm all ears and thanks for all the advice and time spent helping me understand the pit falls.

One thing I have been told to be wary of is covenants which have clauses in them that if you ever want to sell the property, you have to sell it back to the family you bought it from. When the time comes a good lawyer will be needed and one that is bilingual.

 

[Dr Fluff]

why cant you get tuna in the UK eP? they dont make tuna chips? heey that sounds tasty! id mix ketchup and Tabasco for that..

If your referring to these potato chips with a tuna salad flavor, then no we aint got them here in Blighty. lol

Keep sending your US food pics etc it is just so informative and who know maybe I'll have to visit the US and have a food holiday and pay for a bigger seat on the plane on the journey back.

 

[Feenix]

Arty, If you have a running stream , you have all the power you can use with a little up front outlay. Your mill sounds interesting but look into a high speed turbine generator. A school has a video out where they modernized a cabin and they cobbed one for a few hundred dollars or so using scavenged parts. The key was stepping down the feed pipe size so at the turbine it had gone from 6 inch to 1 inch diameter. The rig was no bigger than and looked like a pool pump but when it spooled up it continuously cranked out all the power they needed +. A $2000 budget should give you 2. so there's a backup.

Ah, American food! Two things you seldom hear in the US are: Lets eat American and Lets go eat Canadian. We eat every ethnic food in the world. But have little of our own.
A huge phenomena here is mixing flavors. Drinks like Orange-Mango, sauce like garlic-basil, (usual ingredients any how.) The bottom line on it is the manufacturers labs don't have to get either flavor right. We do have some great BBQ and its worth planning a tour around due to the different regional styles.

 

[Mossy]

Services such as water and electricity are not always in the properties as you mentioned. A lot of properties have wells which I'm fine with. The property I mentioned was no electricity but had a supple near by, good to know it is not always easy getting it connected.

The Friend who battled the council..and his next door neighbour are now connected to the national grid..
they paid 1,000 euros between them..and an "electricity worker" come out and hooked them up..illegally..on the Black.
As much electricity as they need..no bills.

I'd be too worried about getting caught....but it can be done.

On the contrary..it cost another friend 19,000 euros to get electric to the house..coz they couldn't sell it without it.
Sometimes even the ones with a connection nearby can cost around 4,000 euros to get hooked up..so you have to take it into consideration when you are looking.
It does affect the price.

Renting is a great idea and I'm also planning to do a tour of the north and meet the locals on my travels.

They built new houses here with automated solar panels..they are supposed to sell their electric back to the national grid but they reckon you have to fight the electric company tooth and nail to get the payments..I know one guy waited 18 months..and I still don't know if he got it...

Renting is a great idea and I'm also planning to do a tour of the north and meet the locals on my travels.

Once you find the area you want to settle in..and the locals get to know you..is when you start hearing about non-tourist sales.

self sufficiency is another of my interests plus chuck in a good measure of permaculture too.

What would you do for work..unemployment here is much higher than the UK..?

I'm loving the sound of hubby's tapas spot and that wine for 1.40 EUR a Liter much more my style, I don't like buying alcohol in the UK at £3.50 a pint at that price it is a waste of money.

Yeah..hubby nearly faints when he is back in the UK for a bottle of wine...not worth making your own at that price..

Thanks for the Kyero link but now you'll have me looking through properties and not reading posts lmao

yeah me too..I spent 4 years or more perusing everything I couldn't afford until I found our place.
So many Dreams.

I recently joined my local cannabis club in the UK but would also do the same in Spain and see if something can't be done to legalize it (I have more faith in the Spannish doing it before the UK).

DP Tony says there is one within 15 minutes of where I live..but I haven't had time to go check it out.
The Legalise canna movement is well orchestrated here..they are Fighting the government..lawyered up and with a great plan.
If they provide bud at cost price..4 euros a gram to med patients..it takes the drug dealers straight out of the equation..no Black Market....Simple huh..?

Fingers Crossed.

One thing I have been told to be wary of is covenants which have clauses in them that if you ever want to sell the property, you have to sell it back to the family you bought it from. When the time comes a good lawyer will be needed and one that is bilingual.

100%

To be fair to British Rail, The only pain came from the bench seat. Us spoiled yanks, we expect adjustable everything.

If you Can..you might as well...

 

[gardenhackle]

What's your Poison..?...:Hookah:

[h=2]Marijuana is often attacked as a 'gateway drug'. But a look at drug use data shows that others may be worse[/h]

​

Is marijuana a 'gateway drug', luring users into a cycle of dependency on ever-more dangerous substances? That's one theory, but a look at data on actual drug use tells a different story.
The annual US federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration survey maps the drug habits of around 70,000 randomly-selected Americans, to draw a picture of the ways in which drug use changes.
Advocacy group Treatment4Addiction analysed this year's data and created an interactive that traces how users switch from one drug to another.
[h=3]Here's how that looks for marijuana:[/h]

For about one in five drug users in the survey marijuana was the first substance they tried. Some 60% of those went on to try other drugs.
But once you take alcohol out of the equation, just 43% of marijuana smokers went on to harder stuff. Some quick maths reveals that 8.6% of our starting group began with marijuana and moved onto other drugs.

8.6 %
Marijuana first-timers who took another drug



[h=3]Now let's look at alcohol:[/h]
treatment4addiction

Quite a different story.
For an overwhelming 88% of our study group, alcohol was the first drug they tried. And 50% of those then moved onto other drugs, including marijuana.
The same maths as above says that an astonishing 44% of our original group began with alcohol before moving to harder stuff.

44 %
Alcohol first-timers who took another drug



[h=3]Meth: That one drug that makes you try ALL the drugs[/h]
treatment4addiction

By way of comparison, there's just a 3% chance that people who try methamphetamine WON'T go on to try other drugs. But hardly anyone takes meth as their first drug experience.
[h=3]Tranquilisers:[/h]
treatment4addiction

And at the other end of the scale, 51% of tranquiliser users never bother to go find another drug.
[h=3]Is alcohol the REAL gateway drug?[/h]Maybe. It looks that way from this exercise, but then alcohol is a really socially-acceptable drug. Lots of people drink and it might have no connection to them later taking crack.
What this survey shows is correlation, not causation. There's no information as to why these changes happen, only that they do and that they're striking.
The infographic's creators also note that this is a snapshot of people - some of whom will go on to try other drugs later in life. Also, you have to be alive to fill in a survey, so people killed by their drug abuse are not represented here.
[h=3]Absent: The REAL 'real gateway drug'?[/h]One drug isn't mentioned in the survey, because abusing it is rarely seen as a social problem. That drug is nicotine.

Tim Ireland/PA Wire

Buy this photo » Studies have shown that exposure to alcohol and THC (the active ingredient of marijuana) can increase 'drug-seeking' behaviour in lab animals. But the drug with by far the greatest effect? Nicotine. It made the rats particularly fond of cocaine.

I'm just flabbergasted at the importance of this data. It proves the very shocking presumption that people inclined to try "drugs" recreationally often end up trying more than one instead of just settling for whatever the first drug of choice was without ever trying any others. Just plain shocking.

Marijuana is no more a "gateway drug" than alcohol or tobacco in my estimation. And of all the drugs we consume recreationally, cannabis is the only one that isn't addictive.

 

[Feenix]

I was just looking at the Euro pass and a 1 country pass for Spain will give me 8 days first class senior pass of travel for around 450. euros. If it's a day to Barcelona, and 2 to Bilbao, it leaves me 5 more to use in a month to end up where ever I choose to depart from. Probably back in Malaga. I'm so hot for this trip already that I wish I could just up and go this year but at such short notice the airfare would be crazy. Other commitments are in the way anyhow.

 

[Dr Fluff]

Top banana Mossy

very useful and interesting stuff, thanks