In January 2020 Mike and I embarked on our biggest adventure yet. The purchase of Casa Perla Negra, two cottages set in a beautiful village

At the start of week 2 we began the process of removing the old floorboards which were riddled with woodworm and replacing them with new

This is the view that makes all of the hard work and mess worth while, The stunning Picos de Europa – The peaks of Europe.

Week 4 and its time for Ivan the electrician to work his magic. The guys were working so quickly we had to finish building a

Week 5 and we are starting a job that we’ve not been looking forward too, the removal of an old dresser. The mould was awful

The commencement of week six in glorious sunshine. Ceilings progressing from some not very ‘elf n safety’ angles with the aid of some really useful

Week 7 and WE HAVE INTERNET! woohoo!  Ceilings pretty much up and Cris is back to do some plumbing for which he needed to drill

Week 8 and getting closer to moving in day. This week was the installation of the flue for the pellet burner through the existing chimney

Week 9 and we are moving in! Our lovely friends Carolina and her husband Manuel kindly offered to help on moving day, We hired a

Week 10 – A quiet week recovering from the move. The local cats are finding places to escape when Sparrow breaks into chase mode and

So week 11 saw us bounce back into action in the kitchen and the garden. The land underneath where bramble mountain once stood had a

Week 12 saw the first week of Covid 19 Lockdown. At this point we were so grateful to have the new house and so much

Week 13 and the sun shines, Spring has sprung and the Wheel B Q is born! With all of this extra time on our hands

And just like that it snowed! Quite a shock after last weeks shorts and T-shirt weather! We decided to process the wood from Bramble mountain

Week 15 and Mike REALLY needed a haircut so in true lockdown fashion he got his beard trimmer and shaved it all off! Not a

Week 16 and more time spent on the garden. When we arrived the pig shed was in a very sorry state, full of cobwebs, and

The battle of the strimmer begins! We had ordered a Brushcutter trimmer from a third party seller on Amazon and when it finally arrived it

Week 18 and we have relented to allowing the neighbours cows into the garden to tackle the grass as we still have only half a

After a mammoth fight the strimmer finally arrives!  Rufino came round this week with a beautiful stem of roses – 4 colours on one stem.

The invasion of the Asian Wasps! We had been seeing a large Asian wasp flying around the house and in and out of the roof

In Week two of Phase One of the lockdown deescalation and we get to go to the garden centre!! woohoo!!! This was Mikes first trip

Week 22 and into Phase 2 all be it we really don’t fancy going far.  The Weber BBQ has arrived, the sun is shining and

Phase 2 for one more week. Sorry! More plants!  The raised beds are coming along and the fence is up in its final position. Thyme

Into Week 24 and Phase 3, Things are starting to happen again and we were able to take delivery of some wood from our lovely

In week 25 still in Phase 3 Mike finished the greenhouse after we could go to Bricomart (B&Q) to buy some plastic for the roof,

Week 26 – The new normal. With the beginning of week 26 as we enter ‘the new normal’ The aeroplanes return to our blue skies,

Week 27 and lots going on, We haven’t been able to use the balconies on the houses very much as the wood was so rotten,

Week 28 and a poorly pirate puppy. Sparrow has always been a delicate little thing and the pollen here is so abundant that her allergies

Week 29 – Sparrow update, we went to the vet and got her some anti itch pills, her scabs have healed so off with the

Week 30 – This week we were very excited to welcome Cris back to do what he does best – knocking holes in walls! So

Week 31 – Not a lot to report this week I’m afraid, with the weather being so ridiculously hot we decided to have a slow

Week 32 and another week of veggie gardening and not a lot else as it was Mikes Birthday, we took a long weekend and went

Week 33 and exciting things are happening once again. Up until now, in order to get to the other side of the house we had

Week 34 and as promised another wall demolished! With the two new doors it felt right to take out the dividing wall between the two

Week 35 and a quiet wet week here at Casa Perla Negra. As expected we had a weekend of torrential rain which gave us the

Week 36 – Another reasonably quiet week here as Autumn starts to set in. We awoke after all of last weeks rain to snow on

Week 37 – A bit over due! This week our lovely neighbour in the village just below us gifted us some produce from his beautiful

Week 38 – Still playing catch up! This week has been all about the beetroot! I was slightly concerned about the flavour and texture of

Week 39 – Behind again!  Another relatively quiet week here, although we did enlist the services of a local ex pat man with a van

Week 40 – On time! Woohoo!  Just when I had got on top of the dust from the woodwork M decided part of the ceiling

Week 41 – Happy Birthday to me!! A lovely and productive week this week. I shall spare you the successes of the mouse trap pictures

Week 42 – Running late again! A quiet week here at Casa Perla Negra. With stormy skies and rain looming we turned our attention to

Week 43 – Running late still! This week Mike turned his attentions inside to the cable management and draught proofing. We will never get an

Week 44 – Back on track! Having lived with the improvements that we made in the kitchen for a few months now we decided that

Week 45 – A busy and exciting week at Casa Perla Negra. This week Cris is back helping us with the waterproofing of the back

Week 46 – Beautiful weather and the waterproofing continues. We were lucky enough to have Cris back this week to continue with the waterproofing and

Week 47 – Beautiful weather and the waterproofing continues. A busy busy weekend here again. The tin roof shelter is complete so we set our

Week 48 – Late again! During Fernando’s visit last week he offered to chop down our very sad walnut tree that was losing branches in

Week 48 – Taking late to a whole new level!! Apologies for these last few weeks of silence, I lost the swing of things and

Week 50 – Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We were cheered to see the Christmas tree and lights up in Infiesto and

Week 51- Its Christmas! A very quiet Christmas here at Casa Perla Negra. We woke up on Christmas morning and had a lovely zoom call

Week 52 – And just like that its been a year! What a year it has been too! We hope you’ve enjoyed our adventures so